PIRON (Alexis). - Lot 181

PIRON (Alexis). Born in Dijon. 1689-1773. Poet and playwright. Autograph manuscript: two epigrams addressed to "Mr Dangervilliers who had given a very rich garment to Sarrazin" and "to the same, Minister of War". S.l.n.d. 4 pages in-4. Joint: an original lithograph by Delpech (19th century) depicting Piron in bust (with facsimile of his signature) and a woodcut (truncated) depicting a dinner party at Piron's home after the painting by Etienne Jeurat. - THE FIRST EPIGRAMM (12 VERS) IS A CHARGE AGAINST THE MINISTER OF WAR DANGERVILLIERS, ...Donnez toujours, Monseigneur, / Vous donnez et homme sage, / Car en donnant, votre usage / Est de garder le meilleur / sans en être un bienfaicteur / moins digne de tout hommage / Sarrazin, dans la splendeur, / Qu'il soit à votre grandeur, / En est un vif témoignage : / You give this Actor / Of a Roy, the rich crew; / In you keep the heart....- THE SECOND (90 LINES), ADDRESSED TO THE SAME, ...:IN FAVOR OF AN INVALID ORDERED TO MARCH TO A DETACHMENT... ...Sage Ministre de Bellone / Qui, du cercle de la Couronne, / Soutiens le quart le plus pesant! [There were then only 4 sectors of State] / And the most shining jewel! / O Foy, from whom the Ministry / Makes all the hope of the Military! / O Foy, one of the four great chiefs / Expedians du Roi les Brefs! / And verians the Proverb / Quicy bas a laissé le Verbe / Beaucoup dAppelés, peu dElus / Encore une grace & puis plus. / It was I, who, in a more serious tone, / Read Gustave, / In a Hotel [L'hôtel de Nêle, where M. de Nêle lodged par en-bas, when I read: & which was abandoned when I wrote this] where dez longtems. / Lodent par bas les quatre vens. C'est moi, qui, la dernière année, / Lûs une Pièce condamnée [lAmant mysterieux qui en efecta essuya ces 2 condamnacions d'un jour à l'autre] / La Veille, à lHôtel de Billard, / Le lendemain, de toutes parts. It's Moy again who proposes / To read something soon / In another kind of hotel [lhôtel de la Comédie françoise] / Whose casual income, / thanks, to my Pareils, is so slim, / That, of this beautiful State, the Prince / Would have, without your liberal heart, / A smock, for a royal mantle [Voy LEpig. previous].Finally, it's me who should make / No, a new prayer! / But thanks to thousands, / to my lord Dangervilliers. / But how can I refuse my help! / To the wretch for whom I plead! / He's an old maimed soldier / Whom sorrow and age have peeled off. / I'd think myself a villain & a dunce / To spare a few grotesques / For a white-haired man / Who shed his blood for the King / The Prince had paid his debt, / Giving him a royal Retraitte; / The Bonvieux has, if he doesn't lose them, / Rest, clothes, food & shelter; / Rest is already taken away; / Without fail, he must leave on Sunday : / Loaded with sixty & ten years / And Martyr of the jackets cuisans / That from head to toe, luy leaves / The good employ of his youth / More fit to carry indeed / Crutches, than musket. / Such finally, that (when I think of it) / Of any placet I dispense him; / For in spite of the King himself, I have / Who will sign his leave / By good & valid ordinance / Whose effect Navarre or France / Will not be able to prevent Monseigneur is all amazed: / Ouy, my prayers are finished: / That's a lot of ceremony! / The poor cacochyme has / Nothing to do but show himself to Sylva; / And I swear, on the palette [Sylva's murderous system was for all kinds of requested, to bleed to death: jay perdu 20 amis à ce jeu là ; Et il s'y a perdu enfin lui-même] / De St Côme & sur sa lancette / Que l'Invalide, sous les yeux / Du Basilic oficieux / Qui vient aussi tôt qu'on le mande, / Obtiendra plus qu'il ne demande : / Et sera pourvû sans appel / Dun Brevet dOisif éternel. But my Customer thanks me: / He doesn't care about the means: / And, unconcerned about the Patent, / He takes me back to his Placet. So I return to the Power / Which sovereignly dispenses / To our great & small Heroes / The wages of their labours: / Power therefore & generous, / Power vast & marvellous / Which leaves you no equal, / And has no limit but evil. Modeste, as-tu jamais Toi-même / Evalüé ton rang suprême? / Des armes & des Etendards, / Que Loüis tourne contre Vienne! / Le Sort est dans la main de Mars: Et le sort de Mars, dans la tienne.On peut trouver une note autographe en pied spécifisant : " Autographe de Piron dont lauthenticité est affirmée par le soussigné, annotateur des OEuvres inédites de ce poète.Signed HENRI BONHOMME and dated "July 18, 1877", Piron himself annotated these epigrams in the margins, probably with a view to publishing them in a collection (at the top, the mention Porté sur le recueil).