Ode to Amsterdamse Stedenmaagd | Ode to Amsterdam's Stedenmaagd

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The Stedenmaagd

For seven hundred and fifty years she has sat with her legs wide open
Yet in all that time she never lost her sparkle
For on her breast never lay a prince drooling uninvited
On a high plaza always gleamed the right of our old maiden

Her mother is the water, both stream and inland sea
Reverent was the daughter yes but never was she meek
See in the Amstel came a dam supported by wood and stone
With canals around it stood ready the fair maiden of cities

A miracle in Kalverstraat gave way to the fleet of cogs
Granted by the devout pilgrim Maximilian 
Henceforth protected by him the trade border was blurred
Hence so beautiful the emperor's crown on our maiden's head

She dealt blows to the world and many a nation had fear
Still she remained soft and proud, thirsty for power and washed flesh
When overseas was plundered she was not unmindful
For all that blood brought the most precious commodity to the swollen maiden

Boundlessness seems a virtue with which she girds herself
Break taboos with your flamoes? Then you do her wrong
But true that she is a party animal, proves really not trite
She goes on like a tunnel borer and still remains the virgin

Tourist foam from far and wide now litters the city
The soul diminishes, her brood disappears, the greatest treasure of all
It becomes very bleak as the culture continues to be challenged 
Come here soon for flat entertainment but honor the old maiden

Philip of Laws