Einhard gather near... come hither to my bedside
The hour that I must retire is drawing ever near
From the exigencies of this life
My deeds laid out before your eyes
And my conscience must be clear.
Charles my dear son the time has now come
The House of Arnulf had produced the heir and son
To lead the faithless where we are all waiting for you now
In the eternal kingdom where we at last are one.
Finally you can look back upon your many great deeds
Like your fathers before you have been planted the seeds
The consummation of your ancestors' ambitions
The founding of a great empire of Christian nations.
Father, this oath I swear that I shall fight to keep the Lord
In all of Francia and beyond
To heathen fields and Saxon hordes
Who would tread upon a sacred place of ours?
Shall learn to fear the name of Charlemagne
One that will be without peer even long after I have gone
Charlemagne, oh Charlemagne
A shaft of light in a Dark Age
For now he is the King of the Franks
Standing tall above men of all ranks
Homage and tribute to him will pay
And all his enemies shall be cast away
'Cause now he has inherited the throne
The young prince who soon came into his own.
Carloman, my dear brother, we grew apart
But my love for you did not depart.
You let the plotters turn your head against me
And then... oh father! Now he is dead...
How his widow and children weep by his bed
Now I am ruler of all your empire
And I am... alone in the adventure
But you came to me, father,
I feel not on my own
And guided me on my sword
As sure as on my throne.
And now you are being besieged by the Saracen,
But holding firm are the Christian Kings of Spain
The Frankish might pushed them back south
'Cross the mountains to form the Spanish March.
And what of the other pagan tribes
Who disrespected His Holy See?
They knelt before him and gave back that
Which they had taken from The Holy City.
The hour that I must retire is drawing ever near
From the exigencies of this life
My deeds laid out before your eyes
And my conscience must be clear.
Charles my dear son the time has now come
The House of Arnulf had produced the heir and son
To lead the faithless where we are all waiting for you now
In the eternal kingdom where we at last are one.
Finally you can look back upon your many great deeds
Like your fathers before you have been planted the seeds
The consummation of your ancestors' ambitions
The founding of a great empire of Christian nations.
Father, this oath I swear that I shall fight to keep the Lord
In all of Francia and beyond
To heathen fields and Saxon hordes
Who would tread upon a sacred place of ours?
Shall learn to fear the name of Charlemagne
One that will be without peer even long after I have gone
Charlemagne, oh Charlemagne
A shaft of light in a Dark Age
For now he is the King of the Franks
Standing tall above men of all ranks
Homage and tribute to him will pay
And all his enemies shall be cast away
'Cause now he has inherited the throne
The young prince who soon came into his own.
Carloman, my dear brother, we grew apart
But my love for you did not depart.
You let the plotters turn your head against me
And then... oh father! Now he is dead...
How his widow and children weep by his bed
Now I am ruler of all your empire
And I am... alone in the adventure
But you came to me, father,
I feel not on my own
And guided me on my sword
As sure as on my throne.
And now you are being besieged by the Saracen,
But holding firm are the Christian Kings of Spain
The Frankish might pushed them back south
'Cross the mountains to form the Spanish March.
And what of the other pagan tribes
Who disrespected His Holy See?
They knelt before him and gave back that
Which they had taken from The Holy City.