I did not come as tourist,
Seeking neither amusement nor the unique,
And age had squelched the need
For pedagogical refinement;
You were simply the portal:
From the old to the new,
From common to the scholastic,
And to both the sacred and the profane--
And you welcomed warmly—twice,
And competently sent me onward:
First to the mountains,
Then to the inviting familiarity
Of the Rhineland.

And you were as I imagined—
Aged and elegant,
Eclectic European grace,
And too that Swiss reserve.
And I felt him there:
Received and physically
Entombed within your walls,
A vaunted hero of many decades:
Champion of Scholarship and Faith,
Guardian of truth, provider for Truth,
The very prince of Christian Humanism,
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.

05/26/2026

Posted on 05/26/2026
Copyright © 2026 Leonard M Hawkes