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Published Books by William Hermanns - Click cover image for it's webpage.

Einstein and the Poet - In Search of the Cosmic Man by William Hermanns - cover

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The Holocaust - from a Survivor of Verdun by William Hermanns - cover

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To My Neighbor

I lift you higher,
lift you out
of your body cells
stuffed with anxiety
of your past -
an evil load that smells.

I'll fill each cell
with love and joy
that makes the
angels dance.
You'll glide through earthly
filth and stench -
a spiritual trance.

From your youth filled eyes,
your hands
and feet,
a holy peace shall flow,
so you and I
be filled with grace -
let us be still
and know.

William Hermanns
[P527]

Seelentränen

Seelentränen sind Gedichte,
rot mit Herzblut aufgeschrieben,
tiefem Menschenleid zum Ruhm,

Lies sie still in reinem Lichte,
unbeschattet,
frei von Trieben:
Du betrittst ein Heiligtum.

Wilhelm Hermanns
[G001]

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Poem of William Hermanns

P359

Father

You are no more: My life fills emptiness.
The nation comes and speaks: "My faithful son,
don't mourn, I'll glorify you, take up arms.
My General is your father from now on.

I learned to hate, to hate my unknown brother.
Were we not both born in a mother's womb
of love and labor? But my sword changed values.
At Verdun a million found their tomb.

Woe, who like me stands at a father's grave,
dust steals his watchful eye, his helpful hand.
Woe, whose young ears like mine are then exposed
to malehood trumpets of the marching band!

Is there still innocence, the State will rape it.
Woe, who like me, believing undefiled,
is listening to the Siren call of glory!
Is there no Angel to protect the child?

William Hermanns [P359]

Note: P359. Father; January 5, 1982, Stanford; translation from German G103. The poet inscribed the Gedicht Vater G103 on his father's grave in the Jewish cemetery in Koblenz. Willi Hermann's lost his father to heart disease when he was 10 years old in 1905, which completely orphaned him and his two sisters, who lost their mother 3 years before. Willi's last living experience of his father was on his deathbed, and Michael was so worried about his son's future, that on reading Willi's latin class report he became angry, slapped Willi and shouted: "You got an F in Latin. You are a failure and great disappointment to me." The nurse quickly pushed Willi out of the room. It took a lifetime for Willi to reconcile this perception of his father, a journey that took him through the holocaust of the battle of Verdun, which he wrote about in his book. Michael's sister Veronika accepted Willi in her home on her farm in Neuwerk in Mönchengladbach, whom he credited for her mentoring in ethics and compassion for those less fortunate.

Grave of Michael Hermans with William Hermanns, Koblenz Jewish Cemetary, Sept. 1979

William Hermanns at the grave of his father Michael Hermanns in Koblenz Jewish Cemetary, September 1977, Photo by Kenneth E. Norton

Vater bei William Hermanns in bronze on grave of Michael Hermanns, Koblenz Jewish Cemetary, September1977

Gedicht Vater (G103) by William Hermanns affixed as bronze plaque the grave of his father Michael Hermanns in Koblenz Jewish Cemetary, September 1977, Photo by Kenneth E. Norton

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Father by William Hermanns (translation of his Gedicht Vater)