Teutonesque Poem by Oleg Vorobyov

The sound of German and its look,
The way its words are bent and talked,
Oft makes me think as if of spook,
A doppelganger, "doubly walked".

Here's "Federmesser" for a pen-knife,
And "das Vergangene" for "past",
And "untertauchen" for "dive"
And for "he ate" you say "er aßt"

And longest "hippos" pull their trains
Like "Impulspruchnahme" for "voltage",
Like "Thoraxschmerzen" for "chest pains"
And "paydays" read as "Auszahlungstage"

And verbs, the way they're conjugated,
Like "schlang - geschlungen" for "to creep"
I can't resist the way they're conflated:
Like "unterhalten" for "to keep"

Oh, changelings, you, Umlaut and Ablaut,
You give me creeps, when twist you "Worte":
"Die Männer riefen" - plain or clout?
Als ob plötzlich tauchte Unter-Boote!

Nevertheless, these aberrations
In no wise, demean you, Teuton!
Our English's tongue of German fashion,
It used to be as spoken, written.

All short words, strong report and import
Owe to the common German time:
Lust, king, god, three, bush, bake, red, dimple,
So self-sustained, so fit for rhyme!

And German also trains your logic,
Your mathematical insight,
You love the language (philologic!)
Die Sonne dir sehr freundlich scheint!