Classic Poem

My father and mother came from Germany
Many years ago.
But I was born in America.
To look at my name
One would think I was French,
But I am not.
Father keeps a delicatessen shop
On Seventh Avenue.
Before the war my father's name was Sauer.
Then came August, 1914.
My father soon realized
That Sauer spelled starvation,
So he slightly altered his name
To keep the wolf away
From scratching the front door
Of our little shop.
Father says that Shakespeare
Would never have written the line:
“What's in a name?”
Had he owned a delicatessen shop
On Seventh Avenue
In war time
With a name like Sauer!