Théodore Géricault, French
Wondering if He Should Go Back for the Sunglasses He Dropped or Just Screw It, 1814
Oil on canvas
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The most accurate depiction of a horse’s a$$ I’ve ever seen!
The chap in the shaggy chapeau/
Is French- as I’m certain you know/
Pierre’s riding high now/
But we’ve got to allow/
That this was a long time ago…///
The painter will not be forgot/
His style impressed people a lot/
It’s hard to find fault/
With monsieur Gericault/
(And he surely can’t find fault with you)///
Pierre lost all at Waterloo/
Horse, saddle, and leopard skin, too../
And that fuzzy chapeau/
Was further brought low/
By what happened in World War Two.
Info, or links that point to more info, about this artist can be found here, here, here, here, here (archived if necessary), here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, perhaps in addition to what’s in his Wikipedia page (Google translated French Wikipedia page has more).
Reply to Bookworm:
When he saw that his troops had declined/
To follow his horses behind /
He abandoned his quest/
And he re-joined the rest/
Having suddenly changed his mind!
/// On its hind legs his horse starts to veer,
but The Charging Chasseur shows no fear.
Swivels round looking back.
Flees the foe’s fierce attack,
charging, in full retreat, to the rear.
/// To fend off rear assaults he won’t fail.
With his sabre he’ll viciously flail.
Foes pursue him, but each
one is just out of reach.
Chasseur’s horse, though, becomes a bobtail.
/// The Chasseur on his rearing white steed
had been born with divine right to lead.
But his troops on that day,
quickly galloped away.
To keep living was their greater need.
/// The poor horse wasn’t shocked to discover
the Chasseur is no animal lover.
For the proof of his lack
see what’s on his mount’s back:
Leopard skin (with its head!) saddle cover.
/// As a leopard cannot chance his spots,
so this horse only rears up or trots.
He won’t charge into battle
in a taxidermed saddle,
so he’ll stand there amid rifle shots.
/// He’d just eaten his full daily ration,
but he’s filled also with a great passion.
Not for battles and strife;
no, the joy in his life
comes from soldiers’ sartorial fashion.
/// Chasseur rides through this battlefield hell.
Does he sense an orchestral theme swell?
As his fiery horse rears
he imagines he hears
stirring music that’s from William Tell.
/// In eight decades, his grandson, named Reed,
would be riding a similar steed.
In America’s west,
wearing (cut from a vest)
a black mask, he’ll help people in need.