The Arcades Project - Operi

"0 Poets! You have eyes, but you do not see-and ears, but you do not hear!
Great things are unfolding in your midst, and you give us war chants!" [There
follows a characterization of the warlike inspiration for "La Marseillaise;'] "This
hymn to blood, these frightful imprecations bear witness not to any danger that
might be threatening the country, but to the impotence of liberal poetry-poetry
without inspiration beyond that of war, stmggle, and endless complaint. ... 0
people! Sing, nonetheless, sing "La Marseillaise;' since your poets are silent or
can only recite a pale imitation of the hymn of your fathers. Sing! The harmony
of your voices will yet prolong the joy with which triumph had filled your soul;
for you, the days of happiness are few and far between! Sing! .. . Yo ur joy is sweet
to those in sympathy with you! It has been so long since they heard anything but
moans and groans from your lipsP' "Religion Saint-SimomelU1e: La Marseillaise"
(extract from L'Organisateur, September 11, 1830) [according to the catalogue of
the Bibliotheque Nationale, the author is Michel Chevalier], pp. 3-4. The animating
idea of this rhapsody is the conlrontation of the peaceful July Revolution
with the bloody Revolution of 1789. Hence, this observation: "Three days of
combat sufficed to overturn the throne of legitimacy and divine right .... Victory
went to the people, who live from their labors-the rabble that crowds the
workshops, the populace that slaves in misery, proletarians who have no properly
but their hands: it was the race of men so utterly despised by salon dandies
and proper folk. And why? Because they sweat blood and tears to get their bread,
and never strut about in the balcony of the Comic Opera. After forcing their way
into the heart of the palace, ... they pardoned their prisoners . .. ; they bandaged
the wounded .. .. Then they said to themselves: 'Oh, who will sing of our
exploits? Who will tell of our glory and our hopes?'" ("La Marseillaise;' as
above, p. 1). [U7,31
From a reply to an unfriendly review (in La Revue de Paris) of Charles Pradier's
literary labors: "For three years now, we have been appearing daily on the city's
sidewalks, and you probably think we have grown accustomed to it all . ... Well,
you are nus taken. In fact, every time we step up on OUf soapbox, we hesitate and
look around us for excuses; we find the weather unpropitious, the crowds inattentive,
the street too loud. We dare not admit that we ourselves lack daring ....
And now, perhaps, you understand ... why sometimes we exult in the thought of
our work; ... and why, seeing us filled with enthusiasm, . .. you-and others
with you-could take it for undue pride;' Ch. Pradier, "Reponse it La Revue de
Paris," in Le Boheme, Charles Pradier, editor-in-chief, vol. 1, no. 8 (June 10,
1855). The passage is entirely characteristic of the bearing-at once honest and
uncertain-of this newspaper, which did not make it past its initial year of publication.
As early as the first issue, it marks itself off from the lax, morally emancipated
boheme and makes mention of the pious Hussite sect, the Freres Bohemes,
founded by Michel Bradacz, which it would like to ensure a literary posterity.
[U7a,11
Sample of the style of the newspaper Le Boheme: r.'What suffers cruelly in the
garrets is intelligence, art, poetry, t.he soul! . .. For the soul is a wallet containing