ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS, GRUESOME
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1.
"The theme of death and reversibility reappears in the ambivalent status of toys like the little guillotines that were sold in France during the time of the Revolution. In 1793 Goethe wrote to his mother in Frankfurt requesting that she buy a toy guillotine for his son, August. This was a request she refused, saying that the toy's maker should be put in stocks."
~ Susan Stewart
~ from On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature,
the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection
2.
Marie Antoinette
Only fourteen, sent from Austria
Destined to be queen
When I married Louis, the Dauphin of France
Wonder if I’d stand a chance
Blonde and pretty, but no intimacy
Inability to do my duty – to produce an heir
Ridicule, I’ve had my share
And you know the rumors fly
“Madame Deficit!” “She’s such a cruel spendthrift!”
They don’t know me
I am just Marie
“Look at the Dauphine, she’s such a silly teen”
“She’s gambling all the Treasury!”
Is pleasure such a crime?
The finer things in life were always mine
Decadent, it’s true, but in my heart I’m blue
It fills me, this empty Marie
Shunned the nobility, all that ceremony
Built my rustic retreat at Petit Trianon
Just my friends and me
Losing popularity
Where did we go so wrong?
Louis wasn’t strong
Helping the colonies
And then our country suffered tragedy
Starvation and poverty
And I lost my baby, why?
In ’89 they stormed into Versailles and made me face them
On the balcony
End of monarchy, taken to Tuileries
To the border we would try to flee
Caught in the Varennes Flight
Discovered that my hair was shocked to white
Conciergerie, Prisoner 280
I’m only Citizen Marie
Louis tried, condemned
I knew this was the end
The Terror
Everyone against me
My son testified
They forced him to say lies
Found guilty for depravity
To mothers I do plea
much can you take away from me?
So to the guillotine I’ll ride with dignity
I’m your Queen
I am still Marie
~ by Lady Gaga
3.
And lastly, a few words to the wise from poet Jim Barnes:
"Bastille Day in France is a big joke, but they don't tell many that it is: the prisoners behind bars on that day were countable in single digits. The salute by the slipstreams (blue, white, red) of the low and roaring jets make it fun, though. Wish I could be there to pretend something really important happened that day.
"Be sure to say your Hail Maries, just in case!"
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| Marie Antoinette [1755-1793] in a Muslin Dress, 1783
by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755 - 1842) |
Click to read more Bastille Day poems
Additional Bastille & Independence Day Posts
from previous years:
Bastille Day: Is There A World You Long To See?
Two Poems for Bastille Day
Eagles is Freedom
Carriker Barrel
Viva la Revolution
Hail Marie!
No More Forever
Andrea Dworkin
Liberté, égalité, fraternité!
If I Had a Hammer
Happy Bat - stille Day!
Indpendence Day 2009
Resident Alien
Red, White & Blue Pie
Who Needs Fireworks?!
May God Bless and Keep the Upstart Americans
Loving America the Al Franken Way
American Tune
Practice Pysanky, Practice Resurrection, Practice Revolution
I Pledge Allegiance
******************
Next Fortnightly Post
Thursday, July 28th
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THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
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KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com
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