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Home  »  Poems of Places An Anthology in 31 Volumes  »  The Germans to Their Emperor

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.

Miscellaneous

The Germans to Their Emperor

By From the German

July 1813

Translated by J. S. Blackie

GERMAN Kaiser! German Kaiser!

Come, our savior, our avenger!

Save thy Deutschland from the stranger,

Take the wreath we wove for thee.

See the league is true and German!

Only German hopes have swayed us,

Only thou and God shall aid us,

Not the Dane, and not the Swede.

Come, in ancient holy harness!

See thy sires entreat, adjure thee!

Of Germania’s weal secure thee,

Make the Empire’s freedom sure.

Like a shepherd, strong yet gentle,

Rudolph from his Alps descended,

Jarring strifes in peace were blended,

Under Harsburg’s kindly sway.

Praise to thee, fleet chamois-hunter!

War his tent, and her pavilion

Peace, for thee, brave Maximilian

Spreads,—our Kaiser-Cavalier!

When dissension tore the Empire,

Shaking ancient Faith’s foundations,

Deutschland pined among the nations

Thirty dark and dreary years.

With no tears to spare for pity,

Half apostle, and half warrior,

’Gainst the storm a strong rock-barrier

Stood the pious Ferdinand.

German Kaiser! German Kaiser!

Lagg’st thou?—sleep’st thou?—up, awaken!

Let the lion’s mane be shaken!

Be a Rudolph! be a Charles!

Let the Empire be the watchword!

Where the ancient banner leads us,

Where the eagle’s pride precedes us,

We will march to victory.

Cast not off what God hath given!

On thy German throne reseated,

Kaiser crowned, and Kaiser greeted,

Be the star of Christendom!