And the Emperor, who in his private friendships has undergone many disappointments and disillusions, becomes increasingly conscious of the soul solitude brought by advancing years.
Yet, though suffering from occasional moods of depression, he faces the future with confidence in the destiny of his house.
Among his later literary admirations Kipling’s poem
“If” holds first place. A copy hangs above his writing-table; he quotes it frequently to his sons, and translates it into terse and expressive German for the benefit of his adjutants. It embodies his own experience of Life, crystallizes his own aspirations. He too has always been anxious
“to fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty-seconds’ worth of distance run.”