When strolling once in old Berlin
I was stopped by man and violin
For two coins in his new tin can
He would play me Dr Forssmann
As a young student in Berlin, still old
Werner had been quite the intern bold
One thing however had set him apart
The catheter he inserted into his heart
Numbing his arm and making a slit
A narrow tube he pushed ‘til he hit
Watching the act on a fluoroscope screen
And then dashing off to the X-ray machine
Enraptured at his undoubted success
A number of papers he put into press
But others of his ilk merely thought him a kook
And from his seniors an almighty rebuke
Forced to give up on cardiology
Werner instead turned to looking at wee
Rising to Major in the Second World War
His role of course in the Medical Corps
After the fighting he returned from overseas
And took up a job felling large trees
All of the while in the land of the free
Two scientists read an old paper with glee
Two decades on from stabbing his chest
Came the call from Sweden saying he was the best
Received with characteristic humility
A village parson made into a Bishop, said he
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