The Emperor here interrupted my speech:
“Be silent! May heaven confuse it,
“That foul machine! and God forbid
“That I should ever use it!
“The King and Queen! What? To a board
“Both fasten’d! What a position!
“’Tis contrary to all respect,
“And etiquette in addition!
“And who art thou, that darest to speak
“So coolly and so much, man?
“Just wait a while, and I’ll soon clip
“Thy wings, or I’m a Dutchman!
“My inmost bile is deeply stirr’d
“At words so out of season;
“Thy very breath is full of crime
“And guilty of high treason!”
When in his zeal the old man rail’d,
And treated me thus cavalierly,
Surpassing all bounds,—I sharply replied,
And told him my mind quite clearly.
“Barbarossa!” I cried, “thou’rt just as absurd
“As an old woman’s silly fable;
“Go, lie down and sleep! without thy aid
“To free ourselves we are able.
“The republicans all would scoff and jeer,
“And shake their sides with laughter
“To see such a spectre, with sceptre and crown
“Act as leader, while we went after.
“Thy standard, too, no more I respect;
“My love for the black-red-golden
“Has been quench’d by the fools of the Burschenschaft,
“With their rage for the so-call’d olden.
“In Old Kyffhauser ’twere better that thou
“Shouldst pass thy days morosely;
“In truth, we’ve no need of an Emperor now,
“When I view the matter closely.”