Jean-François Marie Bellier, French
“Um, Guys? That’s Either a Band of Angry Revolutionaries Coming Our Way, Or the Touring Company of ‘Les Miz,'” 1790
Oil on canvas
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/// As men battled atop the Bastille,
in front posed Citizen Nau-Deville.
It fell one day before
yet he’s bored by the war.
He’d have fought, but he’s much too genteel.
/// In the garb of the National Guard,
he’s resplendent, not wounded nor scarred.
Here he languidly points
toward the mob which anoints
those who’ll rule. In a week, he’ll be barred.
/// On his weapon’s a sharp bayonet.
Nau-Deville hasn’t bloodied it yet.
He has not pulled a trigger.
(It requires too much vigor.)
His esprit des corps turned to regret.
/// “I’ve brought rifles here, wrapped in a tarp.
Took the best for myself, soldiers carp.
Yes, my weapon’s brand new,
and the longest. Mon Dieu,
what a sharpshooter shoots should be sharp!”