The Eternal

Det eviga - Wikisource:

"Väl formar den starke med svärdet sin värld,
väl flyga som örnar hans rykten;
men någon gång brytes det vandrande svärd
och örnarna fällas i flykten.
Vad våldet må skapa är vanskligt och kort,
det dör som en stormvind i öknen bort."

This is the first verse of a poem by Esaias Tegnér that was published in 1810. Tegnér was impressed by Napoleon. It could be interesting if the poem is read with Obama in mind instead. The Swedish Radio selected this poem for the New Years Eve celebration of 2009. Since most of the readers of my blog will not listen to P1 at that time, I take the liberty to point this out today.