The hunger song
The Hunger Song is a poem by Georg Weerth ( 1822 - 1856 ), which was written in 1844 during the weavers' uprisings and as a work of political poetry from the literary era of Vormärz .
poem
Dear Lord and King,
Do you know the bad story?
We ate little on Monday
And we didn't eat on Tuesday.
And on Wednesday we had to starve
And on Thursday we suffered hardship;
And oh, died on Friday
We almost starve to death!
So let's bake on Saturday
The bread neatly -
Otherwise we will pack on Sundays
And eat you, O King!
Form and interpretation
The poem is divided into 3 stanzas with 4 verses each. It has a simple cross rhyme throughout .
In all stanzas the people speak to the king and, on the basis of the days of the week, lament his growing famine, which on Fridays almost leads to starvation. The anaphor "And on Wednesday [...] and on Thursday [...] and [...] on Friday" in connection with the climax of the intensity of hunger in the second stanza increases the tension on the last line. In the third stanza, the overthrow of the king is metaphorically indicated if he continues to starve his people.
The poem describes the social hardship during pauperism and the growing readiness of the people to rebel against the absolutist rule of the king and nobility. It is a portent of the later March Revolution of 1848/49 as well as other revolutionary developments in Central Europe.
