Song of the German Lanzknecht
By Victor Hugo
Flourish the trumpet! and rattle the drum!
The Reiters are mounted! the Reiters will come!
When our bullets cease singing
And long swords cease ringing
On backplates of fearsomest foes in full flight,
We'll dig up their dollars
To string for girls' collars —
They'll jingle around them before it is night!
When flourish the trumpets, etc.
We're the Emperor's winners
Of right royal dinners,
Where cities are served up and flanked by estates,
While we wallow in claret,
Knowing not how to spare it,
Though beer is less likely to muddle our pates —
While flourish the trumpets, etc.
Gods of battle! red-handed!
Wise it was to have banded
Such arms as are these for embracing of gain!
Hearken to each war-vulture
Crying, "Down with all culture
Of land or religion!" Hoch! to our refrain
Of flourish the trumpets, etc.
Give us "bones of the devil"
To exchange in our revel
The ingot, the gem, and yellow doubloon;
Coronets are but playthings —
We reck not who say things
When the Reiters have ridden to death! none too soon! —
To flourish of trumpet and rattle of drum,
The Reiters will finish as firm as they come!
Poem Analysis:
Victor Hugo’s Song of the German Lanzknecht is a darkly triumphant war song that echoes with martial energy, satirical bite, and a brutal glorification of mercenary life. The “Lanzknecht” were German foot soldiers and mercenaries of the 15th–17th centuries, known for their flamboyant dress and violent reputation. In this poem, Hugo channels their voice to offer a biting portrait of the glorified chaos of war, masked in bravado and drunken revelry.
Structure and Tone
The poem is structured like a marching song or chant, with a recurring refrain:
Flourish the trumpet! and rattle the drum!The Reiters are mounted! the Reiters will come!
This refrain acts like a rallying cry and sets the poem’s martial rhythm. Each stanza mixes celebration with violence, wealth with death, all underscored by music and militaristic joy. The tone is boisterous, mocking, and at times grotesquely cheerful — reveling in destruction and conquest as if it were a festival.
Despite its surface-level bombast, the tone is also deeply ironic. Hugo does not praise the Lanzknechts uncritically; he adopts their voice to expose the savage heart of militarism and the corruption that follows unbridled power.
Themes
1. War as a Violent Spectacle
The poem presents war not as a noble struggle, but as a bloody, profitable spectacle. The soldiers’ excitement comes not from ideology or patriotism, but from the spoils of conquest:
We’re the Emperor’s winners / Of right royal dinners,Where cities are served up and flanked by estates…
Cities are reduced to dishes on a banquet table, reflecting how mercenaries consume the world for pleasure and profit. Their appetite is literal and metaphorical — for drink, riches, and domination.
2. Plunder and Materialism
The Lanzknechts are mercenaries — they fight for money, not cause. Their delight in conquest is primarily economic:
We’ll dig up their dollars / To string for girls’ collars —They’ll jingle around them before it is night!
Jewelry made from stolen money, given to women, adds a grotesque romanticism to the image of theft and slaughter. The final stanza hammers this home:
Give us “bones of the devil” / To exchange in our revelThe ingot, the gem, and yellow doubloon…
Gold is gathered not through trade or inheritance, but through bloodshed — and turned into fuel for more revelry. This rampant materialism mocks any idealized vision of war.
3. Satire of Culture and Religion
Hugo doesn't just satirize war, but the cultural decay it causes. The poem's third stanza contains one of the sharpest critiques:
Hearken to each war-vulture / Crying, "Down with all cultureOf land or religion!"
The Lanzknechts are portrayed as enemies of civilization, destroying not just armies, but knowledge, art, and faith. The image of war-vultures — scavengers — evokes the spiritual and cultural barrenness left in their wake.
4. The Futility and Finality of War
In the closing lines, there is a moment of grim awareness:
The Reiters will finish as firm as they come!
The poem ends with a recognition that the mercenaries, for all their swagger, face death like everyone else. Their pride is doomed; the march leads not just to plunder, but to their own destruction. This final turn gives the poem a tragic edge beneath its bravado.
Style and Language
Hugo’s use of vivid imagery, militaristic sound effects, and rhythmic refrains gives the poem its visceral power. The mix of high diction ("coronets," "culture") with coarse expressions ("bones of the devil") reflects the clash between civilization and barbarism — a central irony of the mercenary worldview.
The poem's ironic style is one of its greatest achievements. By speaking through the voice of the mercenaries themselves, Hugo does not need to condemn them directly — their own words expose the grotesque nature of their world.
Historical and Political Context
Victor Hugo was a passionate critic of authoritarianism and militarism. Written during the 19th century, a time of upheaval and empire-building in Europe, the poem can be read as a response to the glorification of conquest and imperial warfare. The Lanzknechts, though historical, become a symbol for any professional army that wages war for profit rather than principle.
The reference to “Reiters” (mounted mercenaries) broadens the critique, suggesting that violence in service of empires—no matter the century—is always tinged with corruption and cynicism.
Song of the German Lanzknecht is a fierce and ironic war chant that skewers the brutality, greed, and false glory of militarism. Hugo gives voice to the mercenaries not to praise them, but to let their own savage joy reveal the cost of unchecked violence. Beneath the raucous drums and trumpets lies a damning critique of war’s dehumanizing force — and a warning that those who live by the sword may die with little more than gold and glory to show for it.
It is a poem that, much like the mercenaries it portrays, sings loudly — but ends in silence.