[_The Frankfurter Zeitung_ protests against the idea that "the KAISER
in Germany's gravest times allows anxiety about himself or his dynasty
to have access to his thoughts."]
Among the penalties imposed on Kings
Who govern absolutely by divine right,
I am no more affected by the things
That Socialists and other dirty swine write
Than when a pin is thrust
Into a pachyderm's indifferent crust.
But now I deign to answer, even I,
The vilest yet of these revolting sallies,
Where they allege that when our German sky
Rocks to the air of "_Deutschland über alles_,"
"_Und Ich,_" I add (aside),
"_Ich über Deutschland!_" There the blighters lied.
I'm not like that. I never use the first
Personal pronoun, like the Monarch LOUIS,
Who said (in French--a tongue I deem accurst),
"_L'etat, c'est moi._" My conscience, clear and dewy,
Tells me that, as a Kaiser,
I am a very poor self-advertiser.
This is a feature of our dynasty;
And no historian who has ever studied
The traits peculiar to the family tree
On which the Hohenzollern _genus_ budded
In all that noble list
Has come across a single egoist.
They loved their people better than their throne;
Lightly they sat on it, dispensing Freedom;
They never said, "Your souls are not your own,
But simply there in case your King should need 'em;"
They would have thought it odd
To want to be regarded as a god.
Thus have I served my land; and if a wave
Of lurid revolution overswept her,
And I, her loyal and obedient slave,
Were called upon to down my orb and sceptre,
That grace I'd freely do,
And so, I'm sure, would LITTLE WILLIE too.