dots-menu
×

Home  »  Poems of Places An Anthology in 31 Volumes  »  The Marquis de Carabas

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
France: Vols. IX–X. 1876–79.

Miscellaneous

The Marquis de Carabas

By Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780–1857)

Translated by John Oxenford

YON proud old Marquis see,

A conquered race, he thinks, are we.

His steed has brought him home,

Once more amongst us has he come.

To his old château

Only see him go:

How the noble lord

Wears his bloodless sword!

Chapeau bas! chapeau bas!

Hail to the Marquis of Carabas!

“Hear me, ye vassals all,

Castellans, villeins, great and small;

Through me, through me alone,

The king was set upon his throne.

If he should neglect,

All the deep respect

Which I claim, to pay,

Then the deuce I ’ll play.”

Chapeau bas! chapeau bas!

Hail to the Marquis of Carabas!

“Though to calumniate

My name, they of a miller prate;

My lineage I trace

To one of Little Pepin’s race;

By my arms I know

There is none can show

Such a pedigree,

Not his Majesty.”

Chapeau bas! chapeau bas!

Hail to the Marquis of Carabas!

“Who can resist me, pray?

My lady has the tabouret,

My younger son is sure

At court a mitre to procure;

Then my noble heir,

Who a cross would wear,

Three at least shall have,

Though not over brave.”

Chapeau bas! chapeau bas!

Hail to the Marquis of Carabas!

“In peace I mean to live,

Let none a hint of taxes give;

A gentleman, we know,

Can nothing to his country owe.

Snug in my castle, I

Shall all the world defy;

The prefect soon will find

That I can speak my mind.”

Chapeau bas! chapeau bas!

Hail to the Marquis of Carabas!

“Your battle, priests, we fought,

And so in equity we ought

Your tithes with you to share;

The burden let the people bear.

To us belongs the chace.

The vile plebeian race

For nothing else is fit,

But simply to submit.”

Chapeau bas! chapeau bas!

Hail to the Marquis of Carabas!

“Your duty do, curé,

To me with incense homage pay;

Ye lackeys do your best,

And see the rabble’s jackets dressed.

My great forefathers gave

The privilege I have,

And e’en my latest heirs

Shall boast that it is theirs.”

Chapeau bas! chapeau bas!

Hail to the Marquis of Carabas!