THE BRITISH DRAGON.
Reading edition
[The Kaiser's Chancellor, in an interview with the American journalist, Karl von Wiegand, accuses England of militarism, and alleges that we pursued towards Germany a policy of envelopment (Einkreisungspolitik).]
They mocked us for a peaceful folk, A land that flowed with beer and chops; Napoleon (ere we had him broke) Remarked our taste for keeping shops; And William, in his humorous way, Thought that we must have all gone barmy Because we joined so large a fray With so absurdly small an army. Opinions alter. Now it seems, Under our outer rind, or peel, Deep at the core of England's schemes There lurked a lust for blood and steel; Herr Bethmann-Hollweg he proclaims The War was due to our intrigue and Expounds our militaristic aims Into the ear of Herr von Wiegand. We are a dragon belching fire, One of those horrors, spawned in hell, Who come from wallowing in the mire To crunch the innocent damosel; And when we've nosed about and found What looks to be a toothsome jawful We call our mates and ring her round With other dragons just as awful. Prussia was ever such a maid; Pink-toed and fair and free from guile She frolicked in the flowery glade, Pursuing Culture all the while; Then, coached by Grey, the monsters came, And their behaviour (something horrid) Bethmann condemns, and brands the blame Upon the premier dragon's forehead.
O.S.