Caput XVII

I wrangled in dream with the Emperor thus,--
In dream,--I say it advisedly;
In waking hours we never dare talk
To princes so undisguisedly.

The Germans only venture to speak
When asleep, in a dream ideal,
The thoughts that they bear in their faithful hearts,
So German and yet so real.

When I awoke, I was passing a wood,
And the sight of the trees in such numbers,
And their naked wooden reality,
Soon scared away my slumbers.

The oaks with solemnity shook their heads;
The twigs of the birch-trees, in token
Of warning, nodded,--and I exclaim’d:
“Dear monarch, forgive what I’ve spoken!

“Forgive, Barbarossa, my headstrong speech,
“I know that thou art far wiser
“Than I, for impatient by nature I am--
“Yet hasten thy coming, my Kaiser!

“If guillotining contents thee not,
“Retain the old plan for the present:
“The sword for the nobleman, keeping the rope
“For the townsman and vulgar peasant.

“But frequently change the order, and let
“The nobles be hang’d, beheading
“The townsmen and peasants, for God cares alike
“For all who life’s pathways are treading.

“Restore again the Criminal Court
“That Charles the Fifth invented;
“With orders, corporations, and guilds
“Let the people again be contented.

“To the sacred old Roman Empire again
“In all its integrity yoke us;
“Its musty frippery give us once more,
“And all its hocus-pocus.

“The middle ages, if you like,
“The genuine middle ages
“I’ll gladly endure,--but free us, I pray,
“From the nonsense that now all the rage is,--

“From all that mongrel chivalry
“That such a nauseous dish is
“Of Gothic fancies and modern deceit,
“And neither flesh nor fish is.

“The troops of Comedians drive away,
“And close the theatres sickly,
“Wherein they parody former times,--
“O Emperor, come thou quickly!”