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1914 – Lissauer, Ernst: (Hassgesang gegen England)

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    French and Russian, they matter not,
    A blow for a blow and a shot for a shot!
    We love them not, we hate them not,
    We hold the Weichsel and Vosges gate.
    We have but one and only hate,
    We love as one, we hate as one,
    We have one foe and one alone.
    He is known to you all, he is known to you all,
    He crouches behind the dark gray flood,
    Full of envy, of rage, of craft, of gall,
    Cut off by waves that are thicker than blood.

    Come, let us stand at the Judgment Place,
    An oath to swear to, face to face,
    An oath of bronze no wind can shake,
    An oath for our sons and their sons to take.
    Come, hear the word, repeat the word,
    Throughout the Fatherland make it heard.
    We will never forego our hate,
    We have all but a single hate,
    We love as one, we hate as one,
    We have one foe and one alone —
    ENGLAND!

    In the Captain's Mess, in the banquet hall,
    Sat feasting the officers, one and all,
    Like a sabre blow, like the swing of a sail,
    One seized his glass and held high to hail;
    Sharp-snapped like the stroke of a rudder's play,
    Spoke three words only: "To the Day!"
    Whose glass this fate?
    They had all but a single hate.
    Who was thus known?
    They had one foe and one alone--
    ENGLAND!

    Take you the folk of the Earth in pay,
    With bars of gold your ramparts lay,
    Bedeck the ocean with bow on bow,
    Ye reckon well, but not well enough now.
    French and Russian, they matter not,
    A blow for a blow, a shot for a shot,
    We fight the battle with bronze and steel,
    And the time that is coming Peace will seal.
    You we will hate with a lasting hate,
    We will never forego our hate,
    Hate by water and hate by land,
    Hate of the head and hate of the hand,
    Hate of the hammer and hate of the crown,
    Hate of seventy millions choking down.
    We love as one, we hate as one,
    We have one foe and one alone--
    ENGLAND!

     

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    Word Count: 362

  • GermanLiterature (poetry/verse)
  • Year
    1914
    Author
    Lissauer, Ernst
    Title (translation)
    Song of hate against England
    Title (original)
    Hassgesang gegen England
    Text genre
    Poetry/Verse
    Notes

    English translation by Barbara Henderson as published in the New York Times, 15 October 1915. The poem was widely popular in German and notorious in Britain, and earned the author Prussian and Bavarian decorations. Ernst Lissauer (Berlin 1882 – Vienna 1937) also coined the war slogan Gott strafe England! The pledge to maintain unreitting hatred against the nation’s enemies was first used by Arndt, in moral pamphlets such as Über Volkshass and in verse such as Des deutschen Knaben Robert Schwur (1813). The poem provoked a response by the ageing Thomas Hardy, England to Germany in 1914.

    Word Count: 91

    Text (original)

    Was schiert uns Russe und Franzos'?
    Schuß wider Schuß und Stoß um Stoß!
    Wir lieben sie nicht,
    Wir hassen sie nicht,
    Wir schützen Weichsel und Wasgaupass, —
    Wir haben nur einen einzigen Haß,
    Wir lieben vereint, wir hassen vereint,
    Wir haben nur einen einzigen Feind:
    Denn ihr alle wißt, denn ihr alle wißt,
    Er sitzt geduckt hinter der grauen Flut,
    Voll Neid, voll Wut, voll Schläue, voll List,
    Durch Wasser getrennt, die sind dicker als Blut.

    Wir wollen treten in ein Gericht,
    Einen Schwur zu schwören, Gesicht in Gesicht,
    Einen Schwur von Erz, den verbläst kein Wind,
    Einen Schwur für Kind und für Kindeskind,
    Vernehmt das Wort, sagt nach das Wort,
    Es wälzt sich durch ganz Deutschland fort:
    Wir wollen nicht lassen von unserem Haß,
    Wir haben alle nur einen Haß,
    Wir lieben vereint, wir hassen vereint,
    Wir alle haben nur einen Feind:
    ENGLAND!

    In der Bordkajüte, im Feiersaal,
    Sassen Schiffsoffiziere beim Liebesmahl,
    Wie ein Säbelhieb, wie ein Segelschwung,
    Einer riß grüssend empor den Trunk,
    Knapp hinknallend wie Ruderschlag,
    Drei Worte sprach er: „Auf den Tag!“
    Wem galt das Glas?
    Sie hatten alle nur einen Haß.
    Wer war gemeint?
    Sie hatten alle nur einen Feind:
    ENGLAND!

    Nimm du die Völker der Erde in Sold,
    Baue Wälle aus Barren von Gold,
    Bedecke die Meerflut mit Bug bei Bug,
    Du rechnetest klug, doch nicht klug genug.
    Was schiert uns Russe und Franzos'?
    Schuß wider Schuß, und Stoß um Stoß!
    Wir kämpfen den Kampf mit Bronze und Stahl,
    Und schliessen den Frieden irgend einmal, —
    Dich werden wir hassen mit langem Haß,
    Wir werden nicht lassen von unserem Haß,
    Haß zu Wasser und Haß zu Land,
    Haß des Hauptes und Haß der Hand,
    Haß der Hämmer und Haß der Kronen,
    Drosselnder Haß von siebzig Millionen,
    Sie lieben vereint, sie hassen vereint,
    Sie alle haben nur einen Feind:
    ENGLAND!

     

    Word Count: 319

    Text (translation)

    French and Russian, they matter not,
    A blow for a blow and a shot for a shot!
    We love them not, we hate them not,
    We hold the Weichsel and Vosges gate.
    We have but one and only hate,
    We love as one, we hate as one,
    We have one foe and one alone.
    He is known to you all, he is known to you all,
    He crouches behind the dark gray flood,
    Full of envy, of rage, of craft, of gall,
    Cut off by waves that are thicker than blood.

    Come, let us stand at the Judgment Place,
    An oath to swear to, face to face,
    An oath of bronze no wind can shake,
    An oath for our sons and their sons to take.
    Come, hear the word, repeat the word,
    Throughout the Fatherland make it heard.
    We will never forego our hate,
    We have all but a single hate,
    We love as one, we hate as one,
    We have one foe and one alone —
    ENGLAND!

    In the Captain's Mess, in the banquet hall,
    Sat feasting the officers, one and all,
    Like a sabre blow, like the swing of a sail,
    One seized his glass and held high to hail;
    Sharp-snapped like the stroke of a rudder's play,
    Spoke three words only: "To the Day!"
    Whose glass this fate?
    They had all but a single hate.
    Who was thus known?
    They had one foe and one alone--
    ENGLAND!

    Take you the folk of the Earth in pay,
    With bars of gold your ramparts lay,
    Bedeck the ocean with bow on bow,
    Ye reckon well, but not well enough now.
    French and Russian, they matter not,
    A blow for a blow, a shot for a shot,
    We fight the battle with bronze and steel,
    And the time that is coming Peace will seal.
    You we will hate with a lasting hate,
    We will never forego our hate,
    Hate by water and hate by land,
    Hate of the head and hate of the hand,
    Hate of the hammer and hate of the crown,
    Hate of seventy millions choking down.
    We love as one, we hate as one,
    We have one foe and one alone--
    ENGLAND!

     

    Word Count: 362