Pictures in Rhyme/On a Portrait of Napoleon I by David
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ON A PORTRAIT OF NAPOLEON I. BY DAVID
A meteor-man of destiny,
Who trod,
Through others' weakness, up the paths of strength,
Uncumbered and unshod
Of charity,
Till in the sky
He flamed, at length,
A mid-day sun,
A people's god—
Napoleon.
His courtiers shone
Like bees upon his mantle strewn;
And yet his fate
Left him with rent robes, desolate.
How less than little was he on his throne!
How little also in his fallen days!
Whose harp can praise
Napoleon?