59 - BANVILLE (Théodore de). Signed autograph poem, dated “January 1868.” 4 six-line stanzas on 2 pp., in-8.

BANVILLE (Théodore de). Signed autograph poem, dated “January 1868.” 4 six-line stanzas on 2 pp., in-8. A complete poem in its own right, published untitled in 1869 as the second part of the poetic suite “Le siècle à aiguille,” in his collection *Nouvelles odes funambulesques* (Paris, Alphonse Lemerre). Since Théodore de Banville subsequently split this collection into two parts for the edition of his works published by the same Lemerre in 1875, this poem, along with its sequel, appeared in the volume titled *Les Occidentales*. First celebrating the revolutionary wars that brought freedom to oppressed peoples (“You brought them faith, hope, and the idea!”), Théodore de Banville then, by contrast, denounces the wars of conquest waged by Napoleon III, clearly alluding to the Mexican campaign (1862–1867): “... So, when it comes upon some austere people, Sword in hand, making its invading foot resound across the earth Its invading footstep And its bugles bellow from every rock, And it says: ‘Take me, I am yours,’ GAVROCHE ASKS IT: ‘AND YOUR SISTER?’”