What are the Kaiser's favorite poems?
Well, now, you tax me hard:
I know the Kaiser's favorite drink
But do not know his bard;
I'm sure it is not Schiller
Who reigns in German homes.
Nor yet Olympian Goethe,
Who writes the Kaiser's poems.
Perhaps that Heinrich Heine
Has touched the Kaiser's soul;
Or Arndt with his trumpet call
Like a new conscription roll;
Or, Walther von der Vogelweide
With his nest in mythic domes,
Is the author and creator
Of the Kaiser's favorite poems.
If I saw the Kaiser's library
I'd know well what he reads —
The color of his fancy
And the prompter of his deeds:
I'd learn the depth and wisdom
Of his theories and his gnomes,
If I got but just a glance or two
At the Kaiser's favorite poems.
Then let us go to Essen,
Where the Kaiser's books are bound;
They are full of “steel” engravings —
All “best sellers” there are found;
For the Prussian soul and spirit
Speaks in rhythm thro’ those tomes,
And these without a question,
Are the Kaiser's favorite poems.