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1803.8
Buonaparte's Will
“Hafiz”
[Thomas Stott]
The Gentleman's Magazine, LXXIII (October 1803), p. 956
The Anti-Gallican (1804), p. 427 (with its source given as The
Morning Post)
As I am on a voyage bent,
That may prove good or ill,
I thus, confusion to prevent,
Think fit to make my WILL:
And, first, Madame, my loving wife
(Though sorry to forsake her),
I leave, should I depart this life,
To BARRAS[1]—if
he'll take her.
She of unfruitful vines was one!
I wish he still had kept her:
Then, haply, to a duteous son,
I now might leave—my sceptre.
But not a needle do I care
Who wields it after me,
Provided he be no proud heir
Of BOURBON'S family.
Then, to my FELLOW-CONSULS, next,
I leave their titled bubble—
To TALLEYRAND,[2]
this wholesome text,
"A man is born to trouble!"[3]
To my dear BROTHERS I bequeath
All they can get by rapine;
That is, provided that my death,
Ere I return, shall happen.
To my companions, brave in arms
(If they get safely over),
I give up all the wealth, and charms,
Beyond the Cliffs of Dover.
My friends, th' Italians, Dutch, and Swiss,
To me so true and steady,
I leave my fond fraternal kiss—
So now to die I'm ready.
Translated from the original,
October 1, 1803, by HAFIZ