Charlotte Corday

By Anonymous

Jean Paul Marat, a famous French revolutionist, was assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Corday on July 13, 1793.

WHO is this, with calm demeanor,

And with form of matchless grace,

Wearing yet the modest beauty

Of her childhood in her face?

Close the white folds of her kerchief

All her neck and bosom wrap,

And her soft brown hair is hidden

Underneath her Norman cap.

This is she who left the convent,

For the fierce and restless throngs,

Who were gathering head for battle,

To avenge her country’s wrongs.

This is she who to its rescue,

Was the foremost to advance-

She who struck to death the tyrant

Of her well-beloved France.

She who had the martyr’s spirit

To perform as she had planned;

Taking thus her life’s sweet promise

In her own presumptuous hand.

All the while, herself deceiving,

With this dangerous subtletry,—

“Evil, surely, is not evil

If a good is gained thereby.

“If I perish for my country,

Is not this a righteous deed?

If I save the lives of thousands,

What is it that one should bleed?”

So, arraigned at the tribunal,

This alone was her reply:

“It was I who did this murder,

And I do not fear to die.”

Therefore pitying, admiration,

More than blame, for her we feel—

Hers was noble and heroic,

Though it was mistaken zeal.

And so long as France shall honour

Those whose blood for her is shed,

Shall the name of Charlotte Corday

Live among the martyred dead!