The Sun King, Le Roi Soleil
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The Sun King (Le Roi Soleil)
The eyes and lips reveal the majestic, arrogant, smug smile
Of King Louis the Fourteenth, poised pompously in regal style.
Painted in a robe of luxurious cloth of splendid colours,
Shod in high heels, and adorned with a wig to appear taller.
Hangs Rigaud’s nine-by-eight masterpiece portrait of terror
In the Musée du Louvre, a depiction of absolute power
That rips the heart of the patron to see a work of irony,
The evilness of tyrannical rule in splendid glory.
Proclaims the French sovereign by divine right of kings’ edict,
"L'État, c'est moi" ("I am the State!") of his Dominion’s districts,
Yielding a staff in his right hand to break the backs of his subjects
With his left hand free to draw the sword to smite those that reject.
On his deathbed, the journal records Louis le Grand to have said,
"Je m'en vais, mais l'État demeurera toujours.”
("I am going away, but the State will always remain.")
***
Note:
“The Sun King (Le Roi Soleil)” is an ekphrastic poem describing the painting “King Louis XIV of France” (circa 1700/01) painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743). King Louis XIV [aka Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil)] (1638–1715) ruled France for 72 years and 110 days, from 1643 until his death in 1715.
Copyright © Dennis Spilchuk | Year Posted 2018
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