| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | December 2 | | To Louis Napoleon | | By George H. Boker (1823–1890) |
| | | O, SHAMELESS thief! a nation trusted thee | |
| With all the wealth her bleeding hands had won, | |
| Proclaimed thee guardian of her liberty: | |
| So proud a title never lay upon | |
| Thy uncle’s forehead: thou wast linked with one, | 5 |
| First President of France, whose name shall be | |
| Fixed in the heavens, like God’s eternal sun— | |
| Second to him alone—to Washington! | |
| Was it for thee to stoop unto a crown? | |
| Pick up the Bourbon’s leavings? yield thy height | 10 |
| Of simple majesty, and totter down | |
| Full of discovered frailties—sorry sight! | |
| One of a mob of kings? or, baser grown, | |
| Was it for thee to steal it in the night? | | | | |
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