The FatherlandHanns Heinz EwersLorie A. Vanchena, The University of KansasEncoded byJanelle Fox4.61The University of KansasLawrence, KS2016Creative Commons license for electronic versionWorld War I American Immigrant PoetryUniversity of KansasDepartment of German StudiesMax Kade Center for German-American Studies1445 Jayhawk Blvd.Lawrence, KS 66045vanchena@ku.eduHanns HeinzEwersWe and the WorldSimon LiebanThe Fatherland CorporationGeorge Sylvester ViereckNew York, NYThe Fatherland Corporation1914-09-23PrintWeekly1No. 79294.5219
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English
WE AND THE WORLD
HANNS HEINZ EWERS.
Translated by Simon Lieban
In the council of nations we silent remained,Once and twice and again.We stood aside and their tricks disdained—Once and twice and again.We never hurried, we never rushedWhen the earth was divided; thenWe heard the others greedily cry;WE WANTED PEACE—and we stood by—Twice and thrice and again.And yet, they never gave us a restNever and never again;And envied our bounty with jealous breastOnce and twice and again.With jeers and jibes, they poisoned our lives,They sharpened their swords and they whetted their knives;To slander the Germans they never stop.WE WANTED PEACE—and we shut upOnce and twice and again.For years they played their wanton gameMore and more again,Till the morning dawned when the reckoning came,Once and never again.Till the earth was sick with their brazen lies,Till the stench of their misdeeds sullied the skies,Till the German said: "Now be it enough!I’ll suffer no longer the lies and the scoffNever and never again."And up he went like a lightning ray,Anxious to settle the score;And he saw the enemy in great array—One and many more.Saw the enemy East and the enemy WestThe French and the Russian breast to breast.The Serb to the rear, the Belgian aforeAnd the lying Britain, as of yoreStill the others and many more.With Sengalese Negroes, oh shameful time!The Frenchman supports his troops.With the desert’s outcasts, the earth’s slimeWith them and others to boot;And out of Britannia’s gigantic lapRoman name for the British Isles and female personification of Britain.Forth come the Negro, the Hindu, the Jap&;And as the English bagpipes playFive hundred million slaves will preyUpon one and crave for the loot.The enemy’s jeers and the coward's prodResound from mountain to plain;And the German prays; "Now help me God,Once, but once again.‘’And his fist came down with a mighty strokeTill the Belgians' stubborn resistance broke,Till the newborn day the Frenchman foundWith tremblind knees embracing the ground.Well done, once more and again.Tremble, ye Britain! The German hitsAnd the German hits to the core.Like a typhoon strong his stainless swordSmote once and again and more.Tremble, ye Russians! and be awareThe time has come for our score to square;And the broth you were brewing for us of lateYou will swallow and we will hold the plate,Once and again and more.A sound re—echoes throughout the worldSuch as never was heard before.When the German strikes, the enemy is hurledTo the ground, ‘midst the cannon’s roar.Quiet listens the world and out of breathFor this fight is a fight for life or death;And when the final reckoning is doneThe Germans will have their place in the sun,Victorious, as ever before!(Translated forThe Fatherlandby Simon Lieban.)