“Elect as your Monarch Colonia’s son,
“The crown to dull Kobes awarding;
“The genius of Dulness well-nigh is he,
“His people he’ll ne’er be defrauding.
“A log is ever the best of kings,
“As Esop has shown in the fable;
“He cannot devour us poor frogs up,
“As the stork with his long bill is able.
“Be sure that Kobes no tyrant will be,
“No Holofernes or Nero;
“He boasts no terrible antique heart,
“A soft modern heart has our hero.
“Though vulgar pride might scorn such a heart
“Yet in the arms of the helot
“Of work the unfortunate threw himself,
“Becoming a regular zealot.
“The men of the journeymen’s Burschenschaft
“As president Kobes elected;
“He shared with them their last piece of bread,
“They held him vastly respected.
“They boasted that he in all his life
“Had never been at college,
“And out of his head composed his books
“By the light of intuitive knowledge.
“Yes, his consummate ignorance
“Was the fruit of his own endeavour;
“With foreign wisdom and training he
“Had injured his intellect never.
“From abstract philosophy’s influence he
“Kept likewise his thoughts and his spirit
“Entirely free.—Himself he remain’d!
“Yes, Kobes has really his merit!
“The tear of the usual stereotype form
“In his beautiful eye is gleaming,
“And from his lips incessantly
“The grossest stupidity’s streaming.
“He prates and he grins, and he grins and prates,
“His words with long ears are provided;
“A pregnant woman who heard him speak
“Gave birth to a donkey decided.