More strong than the strength of armored ships is the firing pin’s frail
    spark,
  More sure than the helm of the mighty fleet are my rudders to their mark,
The faint foam fades from the bright screw blades—­and I strike from the
    under dark!

Death, our mother, gave us her three gray gifts from the sea—­
  (Cherish your birthright, Brothers!)—­speed, cunning, and certainty. 
And mailed Mars, he blest us—­but his blessing was most to me!

“God Punish England, Brother”

A New Hymn of Germany’s Gospel of Hatred

[From Public Opinion, London, Feb. 5, 1915.]

The amazing outburst of hatred against England in Germany is responsible for a new form of greeting which has displaced the conventional formulas of salutation and farewell:  “God punish England!” ("Gott strafe England!”) is the form of address, to which the reply is:  “May God punish her!” ("Gott moeg’es strafen!”)

“This extraordinary formula,” says The Mail, “which is now being used all over Germany, is celebrated in a set of verses by Herr Hochstetter in a recent number of the well-known German weekly, Lustige Blaetter.  In its way this poem is as remarkable as Herr Ernst Lissauer’s famous ’Hymn of Hate.’”

Among the prayers at Bruges Cathedral on the Kaiser’s birthday was this
German chant of hate, “God Punish England!”

A HYMN OF HATE.

Translated by

G. VALENTINE WILLIAMS.

    This is the German greeting
    When men their fellows meet,
    The merchants in the market-place,
    The beggars in the street. 
    A pledge of bitter enmity,
    Thus runs the winged word: 
    “God punish England, brother!—­
    Yea!  Punish her, O Lord!”

    With raucous voice, brass-throated,
    Our German shells shall bear
    This curse that is our greeting
    To the “cousin” in his lair. 
    This be our German battle cry,
    The motto on our sword: 
    “God punish England, brother!—­Yea! 
    Punish her, O Lord!”

    By shell from sea, by bomb from air,
    Our greeting shall be sped,
    Making each English homestead
    A mansion of the dead. 
    And even Grey will tremble
    As falls each iron word: 
    “God punish England, brother!—­
    Yea!  Punish her, O Lord!”

    This is the German greeting
    When men their fellows meet,
    The merchants in the market-place,
    The beggars in the street. 
    A pledge of bitter enmity,
    Thus runs the winged word: 
    “God punish England, brother!—­
    Yea!  Punish her, O Lord!”

“What German Lutheran pastors think of the gospel of hate that is at present being preached throughout the Fatherland may be judged from an article on the subject written for the Vossische Zeitung of Berlin, by Dr. Julius Schiller of Nuernberg, who describes himself as a royal Protestant pastor,” says The Morning Post.