To The Emperor William.

LONDON, May 15, 1889. - "The promised interview with the Emperor William was granted to-day to the delegates from the coal-miners now on strike in Westphalia; but the audience lasted for only ten minutes. The men asked that the Emperor would inquire into the merits of their case and the hardships under which they suffered. His Majesty replied that he was already inquiring into the matter. He then warned the miners that he would employ all his great powers to repress socialistic agitation and intrigue. If the slightest resistance was shown he would shoot every man so offending. On the other hand, he promised to protect them if peaceable." - Cablegram.


Son of a Man and grandson of a Man,
    Mannikin most miserable in thy shrunken shape
    And peevish, shrivelled-soul, is't thou wouldst ape
The thunder-bearer of Fate's blustering clan?
Know, then, that never, since the years began,
    The terrible truth was surer of this word:
    "Who takes the sword, shall perish by the sword!"
For mankind's nod makes mannikin and man.

Surely it was not shed too long ago,
That Emperor's blood that stained the Northern snow,
    O thou King Stork aspiring that art King Log,
    Wild-boar that wouldst be, reeking there all hog;
To teach thy brutish brainlessness to know
    Those who pulled down a lion can shoot a dog.

Francis William Lauderdale Adams

Francis William Lauderdale Adams (27 September 1862 – 4 September 1893) was an English writer, poet, dramatist, and social reformer. His literary work often reflected his radical socialist views. Adams lived a life marred by poverty and struggles with his health, eventually committing suicide at the age of 30. Despite his brief life, his contributions to literature and social thought remain significant.

Francis William Lauderdale Adams

Mount Rennie. (The Time-Spirit speaks.)

Francis William Lauderdale Adams, Simple Poetry

From A Verandah. (Sydney.) "Armageddon."

Francis William Lauderdale Adams, Simple Poetry

To The Christians.

Francis William Lauderdale Adams, Simple Poetry

In Trafalgar Square.

Francis William Lauderdale Adams, Simple Poetry

English

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To The Emperor William.

You are at least a man, of men a king.
    You have a heart, and with that heart you love.
    The race you come from is not gendered of
The filthy sty whose latest litter cling
Round England's flesh-pots, gorged and gluttoning.
    No, but on flaming battle-fields, in courts
    Of honour and of danger old resorts,
The name of Hohen-Zollern clear doth ring.
O Father William, you, not falsely weak,
    Who never spared the rod to spoil the child,
Our mighty Germany, we only speak
    To bless you with a blessing sweet and mild,
Ere that near heaven your weary footsteps seek
    Where love with liberty is reconciled.

Francis William Lauderdale Adams

Bertrand And Gourgaud Talk Over Old Times

Gourgaud, these tears are tears - but look, this laugh,
How hearty and serene - you see a laugh
Which settles to a smile of lips and eyes
Makes tears just drops of water on the leaves
When rain falls from a sun-lit sky, my friend,
Drink to me, clasp my hand, embrace me, call me
Beloved Bertrand. Ha! I sigh for joy.
Look at our Paris, happy, whole, renewed,
Refreshed by youth, new dressed in human leaves,
Shaking its fresh blown blossoms to the world.
And here we sit grown old, of memories
Top-full - your hand - my breast is all afire
With happiness that warms, makes young again.

You see it is not what we saw to-day
That makes me spirit, rids me of the flesh: -
But all that I remember, we remember
Of what the world was, what it is to-day,
Beholding h...

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To The Lord Of Potsdam

[On sending a certain telegram.]


Majestic Monarch! whom the other gods,
    For fear of their immediate removal,
Consulting hourly, seek your awful nod's
            Approval;

Lift but your little finger up to strike,
    And lo! 'the massy earth is riven' (Shelley),
The habitable globe is shaken like
            A jelly.

By your express permission for the last
    Eight years the sun has regularly risen;
And editors, that questioned this, have passed
            To prison.

In Art you simply have to say, "I shall!"
    Beethoven's fame is rendered transitory;
And Titian cloys beside your clever all-
            -egory.

We hailed you Admiral: your eagle sight
    Foresaw Her Majesty's benign intentions;
A unifo...

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An Imperial Rescript

Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser decreed,
To ease the strong of their burden, to help the weak in their need,
He sent a word to the peoples, who struggle, and pant, and sweat,
That the straw might be counted fairly and the tally of bricks be set.

The Lords of Their Hands assembled; from the East and the West they drew
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And some were black from the furnace, and some were brown from the soil,
And some were blue from the dye-vat; but all were wearied of toil.

And the young King said: "I have found it, the road to the rest ye seek:
The strong shall wait for the weary, the hale shall halt for the weak:
With the even tramp of an army where no man breaks from the line,
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Policeman X. If He Would But Dare

I stood, unseen, within a sumptous room,
Where one clothed all in white sat silently.
So sweet his presence that a pure soft light
Rayed from him, and I saw--most wondrous sight!--
The Love of God shrined in the flesh once more,
And glowing softly like a misted sun.
His back was towards me. Had I seen his face
Methought I must have fallen. I was wrong.
The door flung wide. With hasty step
Came one in royal robes and all the pride
And pomp of majesty, and on his head
A helmet with an eagle poised for flight.
He stood amazed at sight of him in white,
His lips apart in haughty questioning.
But no words came. Breathless, he raised his hand
And gave salute as to a mightier lord,
And doffed his helm, and stood. And in his eyes I saw
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Concerning Emperors

    I. God Send the Regicide

Would that the lying rulers of the world
Were brought to block for tyrannies abhorred.
Would that the sword of Cromwell and the Lord,
The sword of Joshua and Gideon,
Hewed hip and thigh the hosts of Midian.
God send that ironside ere tomorrow's sun;
Let Gabriel and Michael with him ride.
God send the Regicide.


    II. A Colloquial Reply: To Any Newsboy

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You have missed the moral of the play.
He will have a midnight supper with Othello and his wife.
They will chirp together and be gay.
But the things Iago stands for must go down into the dust:
Lying and suspicion and conspiracy and lust.
And I cannot hate the Kaiser (I hope you understand.)
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