How did the king set forth to the Rhine?
Was he enticed there by the fiery gleam of combat?
Did he go out to the battle and the blood
With a hard spirit and a wild courage?
Oh no, I saw that his eye was wet,
-- That was not a craving for conflict, not hate --,
He thought of every child of the land,
Whose red blood was dripping upon the earth;
Through his heart already passed a premonition
Of the wife’s and the mother’s pain;
He saw the wounded, weary and pale;
That is why the king’s eye was wet.
 
How did the king set forth to war?
Did he imagine that the bloody victory would be so easy?
Did he place his trust upon man and steed,
And the shooting of his thunderstick?
Oh no, he did not count only on
Himself and his rows of troops,
He bowed his grizzled head,
Thickly woven about with fresh laurel,
Free of all haughtiness
Humbly before the Lord of Lords
And from His hand alone wanted
Victory for our homeland.
 
Thus the king set forth from Berlin,
Therefore God gave him victory,
And brought the proud might of his enemies
To fall before his sword.
And as he went, he returned,
May his victor’s happiness, replete with tears,
Unite anew, with a holy tie,
The king and the homeland.
May he return thus from the bloody field,
Protected by God, the valued hero,
When he has completed his work,
Return into his faithful city!