Notes
1] Rose's German-English regularly substitutes v for w, t for d, d for th, and f for v. The first stanza, for example, can be read:
The Kaiser of the Fatherland
And God on high all things command,
We two! Oh! don't you understand?
Myself -- and God.
Kaiser: Frederick Wilhelm Viktor Albert of Hohenzollern, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, who reigned from 1888 until he was forced to abdicate in 1918. The so-called "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse," a huge four-stack ship, had her maiden voyage on Sept. 19, 1897, from Bremerhaven to New York. Rose suggests that the Kaiser is "grosser" than his great ship.
10] "Die Wacht am Rhein" ("The Watch on the Rhein"), by Carl Wilhelm (1815-1873) was written in 1840 by Max Schneckenburger and put into its present form in 1854 by Karl Wilhelm. The song became the German national anthem until 1922. The last stanza and a translation follow:
So führe uns, du bist bewährt;
In Gottvertrau'n greif' zu dem Schwert,
Hoch Wilhelm! Nieder mit der Brut!
Und tilg' die Schmach mit Feindesblut!
Lieb' Vaterland, magst ruhig sein,
Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhein!So lead us, you are tested;
With trust in God, take the sword,
Hail Wilhelm! Down with that brood!
Erase our shame with the enemy's blood!
Beloved land of our fathers, have no fear,
Fast and true stands the watch on the Rhein.
14] ausgespieldt: played out, exhausted.
19] Elass und ... Lorraine: Alsace and Lorraine are at the northeast border of France, west of the Rhine river. Germany conquered this long-disputed region in 1871 for its iron mines.
21] Prince Otto Furst von Bismarck-Schonhausen, "the Iron Chancellor," re-unified Germany in 1871 but resigned in March 1890 at the Kaiser's urging.
31] Caprivi: Count Georg Leo von Caprivi, Bismarck's successor.
37] Grandma: Queen Victoria of England.
38] Boers: the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 between Britain and the two Boer republics, the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State, ended on May 31, 1902, with the peace treaty of Vereeniging and a victory for Britain.
46] Betersburg by Nicholas: June 18, 1881 saw the signing of the Three Emperors League (Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia) but by 1890 only the Russo-German reinsurance treaty was in in effect. Caprivi did not renegotiate it then and so paved the road for the Franco-Russian alliance, signed August 18, 1892, and anticipating a Russian attack on Germany.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Poems of A. MacGregor Rose (Gordon), ed. Robert Dey (London: John Heywood, no date): 142-45. British Library
First publication date:
1897
Publication date note: Montreal Herald 1897.
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 2001
Recent editing: 2:2002/2/28
Composition date:
1897
-
1898
Rhyme: aaab cccb dddb ...