If I were a king, I would see the pain of the people,
And I would have deep mourning in my heart,
I would not be blind for its great misery,
Not dearf for its wailing when it is threatyened by ruin.

I would see one group wallow in their decadent rooms,
Slurp noble wines out of silver and gold vessels,
Rest in down feather beds, covered with silk,
Until the sun wakens them from sweet slumber.

I would see how they sacrifice to their vain desires,
Proudly drawn by horses, rolling from party to opera,
How they sleep without worries, in a secure today,
Trusting in the future that awaits them.

But I would also see the others in unhealthy rooms,
Who works ceaselessly, who never take a rest,
Who live beneath the roof [in drafty attics] on beds of straw,
Hardly coveed with rags, who never enjoy life,

Who cannot earn enough through hard work and effort
To feed the children who nearly die of hunger,
Who can only keep the smallest children warm who are freezing night and day
And who must live nevertheless because Death rejects them.

Their [the childen’s] lives full of deprivations, full of grief and worries,
Crowned by a thorn of pain, afraid of the next day
Because they are not able to know whether he [the father] will
Give the poor little ones a hard piece of bread, whether their misery will grow.

And if I saw the rich man, and if saw the poor one,
I would hasve tender mercy on the latter;
With those who suffer I would suffer as well,
I would proudly accept thetask to improve their fate.

As long as in my kingdom there would still be beggars,
As long as there were still workers with stronghard-working hands
Who knock on doors in vain, looking for work,
As long as this was happening I would believe that I had not done enough.

I would not believe the lying ministers who often cockily
Speak of the wealth of the country with a tongue that is for sale,
As long as the poor man’s sweat bears fruit for the rich people
Of which he knows nothing.

I would have pity on those poor mothers
Who with a broken heart and trembling hands
Abandon the newborn boy in the gutter
Because he is threatened by hunger’s pain at home.

On the orphans, too, who hardly ever enjoyed
Sweet parental love, I would always have pity,
Those who are deprived of mother’s kiss and father’s care,
Who are burdened at the beginning of their lives with pressures and burdens.

I would have pity on girls and women
Who are young and pretty and who look in vain
For work until the misery undresses them
And pushes them into vitiation [prostitution] with brutal feet.

And I would bestow my pity on the factory worker
And would ponder with special concern how to lift him up
Because he is the prisoner, the slave of industry,
And his hour of liberation never comes.

Well yes, it comes in the end, when Death comes to rescue
Those so tired from the chains of life into the deep grave;
While living only a machine, he is never allowed to stand still,
And like the Eternal Jew, he must always walk on.

I would have pity on the weaver, who quietly turns the shuttle,
Who weaves rich cloths and himself goes half naked;
I would have pity on the stone mason who toils from dawn to dusk,
Who builds hgouses for others and who does not have a roof over his head.

I would have pity on the farmer who piles up the golden grain sheaves
And who must starve with bran [remnant of the milling process] bread in his poverty;
I would have pity on all those who strive so industriously
To produce riches for the opthers and who themselves live in misery.

The people’s loud lamentations, the falling tears,
These would echo in my heart continuously.
I could never rest until I had found the reasons why,
Until I had helped those who trusted me with their fate.

And if I succeeded in spreading prosperity
Where now poverty reigns, where misery and suffering fight,
If I had stilled the bleeding of the people