Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
France: Vols. IX–X. 1876–79. | | | | Fontainebleau | | The Bells of Fontainebleau | | Walter Thornbury (1828–1876) |
| | | NAPOLEON in the gray surtout | |
| That kings had learned to dread, | |
| With close-clenched hands behind his back | |
| And heavy bended head, | |
| Climbed slowly (lost in battle plans) | 5 |
| A hill near Fontainebleau, | |
| One, two, three, four, the village chimes | |
| Came to him from below. | |
| |
| The marshals, glittering with gold, | |
| Paced laughingly along, | 10 |
| Nor hushed the scandal and the jest, | |
| Or scrap of opera song; | |
| The Emperor stood silent there, | |
| A monarch turned to stone, | |
| Nor smiled, nor moved,—where great men stand | 15 |
| The spot becomes a throne. | |
| |
| Below, the reapers, singing, toiled | |
| With sickles (not with swords), | |
| Or down in clusters round the sheaves | |
| Lay revelling like lords; | 20 |
| The soldiers pointed to the slopes | |
| That bound the golden plain, | |
| And almost wished that France were lost, | |
| To win it o’er again. | |
| |
| The gray man stood, one foot outstretched, | 25 |
| As if upon a foe, | |
| He cared not for the happy sight, | |
| The plenty spread below, | |
| Although the bells shook music down | |
| From yonder village tower,— | 30 |
| And hark! the royal voice of Time | |
| Exulting in his power. | |
| |
| At last he spoke, and slowly turned | |
| (A moisture in his eyes),— | |
| Massena gave a shrug that showed | 35 |
| A cynical surprise: | |
| “Long years ago, at Malmaison, | |
| When all unknown of men, | |
| I heard just such a laughing peal, | |
| And I was happy then.” | 40 |
| |
| He turned upon his heel, and then | |
| Sat down upon the hill, | |
| Tracing upon the level sand | |
| With sword-sheath (O, that will!) | |
| The star redoubt, the diamond fort, | 45 |
| The battle lines again:— | |
| A month from that he won the day | |
| Upon Marengo’s plain. | | | | |
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