Germania

HURRAH, GERMANIA!

Ferdinand Freiligrath

Hurrah! thou lady proud and fair,
      Hurrah! Germania mine!
What fire is in thine eye, as there
      Thou bendest o'er the Rhine!
How in July's full blaze dost thou
      Flash forth thy sword, and go,
With heart elate and knitted brow,
      To strike the invader low!
            Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
            Hurrah! Germania!

No thought hadst thou, so calm and light,
      Of war or battle plain,
But on thy broad fields, waving bright,
      Didst mow the golden grain,
With clashing sickles, wreaths of corn,
      Thy sheaves didst garner in,
When, hark! across the Rhine War's horn
      Breaks through the merry din!
            Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
            Hurrah! Germania!

Down sickle then and wreath of wheat
      Amidst the corn were cast,
And, starting fiercely to thy feet,
      Thy heart beat loud and fast;
Then with a shout I heard thee call:
      "Well, since you will, you may!
Up, up, my children, one and all,
      On to the Rhine! Away!"
            Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
            Hurrah! Germania!

From port to port the summons flew,
      Rang o'er our German wave;
The Oder on her harness drew,
      The Elbe girt on her glaive;
Neckar and Weser swell the tide,
      Main flashes to the sun,
Old feuds, old hates are dashed aside,
      All German men are one!
            Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
            Hurrah! Germania!

Suabian and Prussian, hand in hand,
      North, South, one host, one vow!
"What is the German's Fatherland?"
      Who asks that question now?
One soul, one arm, one close-knit frame,
      One will are we today;
Hurrah, Germania! thou proud dame,
      Oh, glorious time, hurrah!
            Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
            Hurrah! Germania!

Germania now, let come what may,
      Wll stand unshook through all;
This is our country's festal day;
      Now woe betide thee, Gaul!
Woe worth the hour a robber thrust
      Thy sword into thy hand!
A curse upon him that we must
      Unsheathe our German brand!
            Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
            Hurrah! Germania!

For home and hearth, for wife and child,
      For all loved things that we
Are bound to keep all undefiled
      From foreign ruffianry!
For German right, for German speech,
      For German household ways,
For German homesteads, all and each,
      Strike home through battle's blaze!
            Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
            Hurrah! Germania!

Up, Germans, up, with God! The die
      Clicks loud — we wait the throw!
Oh, who may think without a sigh
      What blood is doom'd to flow?
Yet, look thou up, with fearless heart!
      Thou must, thou shalt prevail!
Great, glorious, free as ne'er thou wert,
      All hail, Germania, hail!
            Hurrah! Victoria!
            Hurrah! Germania!

1870


-trans. Pall Mall Gazette
-German title: Hurra, Germania



Illustrations show the magnificent Niederwalddenkmal (literally, "Lower Forest Monument") along the Rhine (1883), topped with the statue of personified Germania by Johannes Schilling.