“Mors Imperator”: A Satirical Poem (1887)
Anonymous — Kikeriki, Vienna, 11 August 1887. An anonymous satire from Kikeriki, the famous Viennese humour magazine, taking her side just days after the Berlin jury rejected Mors Imperator. It skewers the jury's hypocrisy: titillating academic nudes pass, but her memento-mori “naked truth” is banned.
Where to find it
"Mors Imperator," anonymous verse satire, Kikeriki (Vienna), 11 August 1887.
The text
The English is this project's own AI-assisted translation from the German, with no human verification against the original.
Ein Bild von zarter Hand gemalt, Nicht von der Grossen Gold bezahlt, „Mors Imperator“ stellt es vor, Der spottend aller ird’schen Macht, Mit — Jedem seine Rechnung macht; Verschlossen blieb dem Bild das Thor Der Kunstausstellung in Berlin; Erkläret mir der Handlung Sinn?
A picture painted by a gentle hand, not bought with the gold of the great; it shows us “Mors Imperator,” who, mocking all earthly power, settles his account with — every one. Yet the gate of Berlin's Art Exhibition stayed shut and barred against it; explain to me the sense of that?
Die Sache ist ganz einfach die, Man hasst das — sittliche Genie. Ein badend Weib, pikant plazirt, Ein „Wonnetraum“, ein „Märchen“ nur, So was von Makart’scher Natur Hat nie die Jury noch genirt; Auf „Nacktheit“ ist man zwar erpicht, Doch auf die — „nackte Wahrheit“ nicht!
The matter is quite simple, this: they hate the — moral genius. A bathing woman, piquantly placed, a “blissful dream,” a “fairy-tale,” something of the Makart1 kind has never yet perturbed the jury; on “nakedness” they are keen enough, but on the — “naked truth,” they're not!
Notes
Identifications, period context, and points where the original carries something English cannot. Added by this project; not in the source.
- ↑Makart — Hans Makart (1840–84), the Viennese painter of lush, sensual, decorative canvases and nudes — a byword for opulent, titillating academic art. (Hans Makart)