THE CAPTAIN "AGAINST THE WALL"
Against the wall!
Said the captain,
Mouth full
And drinking hard,
Against the wall!
"What have you done?"
"Pardon, my brave,
You are hungry, you're eating lunch,
You don't want to be a slave,
Nor to be led by the nose.
All this is good, and it's manly!
But if they take me away, my friend,
Since we think the same,
You must go also.
Do you understand my logic?
Long live the republic!"
Against the wall!
Said the captain,
Mouth full
And drinking hard,
Against the wall!
"What have you done?"
"I am of yours,
I am the vicar at Saint-Bernard.
I had to, to escape from the others,
Stay eight days in a cupboard."
"What have you done?"
"Oh! Not big things,
Some misery and some children.
It's time for me to rest,
I'm seventy years old.
Let's go right away
And shoot me quickly."
Against the wall!
Said the captain,
Mouth full
And drinking hard,
Against the wall!
"What have you done?"
"Here are two lists
With the names of a hundred scoundrels:
Women, children of communists,
I shot all these rascals!..."
"What have you done?"
"I am the widow
Of an officer killed at Bourget...
Oh! Hold on, here is the proof:
Look, please...
Oh! I'm still wearing
My tricolour armband."
Against the wall!
Said the captain,
Mouth full
And drinking hard,
Against the wall!
"What have you done?"
"I have four injuries,
Six campaigns and twice on leave!
I made them see hardships!
I am from Lorrain... they are avenged!
Me, I was in an ambulance:
The women didn't fight...
And I cared for them all the same,
Federates and soldiers.
My name is Auguste,
And I'm only thirteen years old!"
Against the wall!
Said the captain,
Mouth full
And drinking hard,
Against the wall!
"What have you done?"
"Oh, I am dead!
A soldier, probably surrounded,
Killed my father at the door,
And my crime is to have cried!..."
"What have you done?"
"Filthy animal!
Pierce my flesh quickly,
Because I've done some work
With my chassepot.
And for one, you see my ass!
And for another, long live the Commune!"
Against the wall!
Said the captain,
Mouth full
And drinking hard,
Against the wall!
London, 1872.
Editor: Mr. Bassereau, 240 Saint-Martin Street, Paris.
Many of those whom fortune had not caused to perish under the officials that ordered the massacres surrounded with pears and cheese, were, like the citizens of Germany, Brissac, Humbert and many others, sent to prison.
Future generations will have trouble believing this!
Proven republicans, honest men, hard workers who struggled for the sake of the Republic, for the cause of rights and justice, were joined with highwaymen and con men.
These titles which honour them should point especially to the fierceness of the noble builders of the fortifications at Thiers and elsewhere.
Many died there, wearing the cap of a convict, following the poor treatment which they endured and, additionally, anger and despair.
For these, the prison will have been their Pantheon!
Some of them have returned to us and have bravely taken up again their posts of combat in order to deliver all the voluntary prisoners who drag their ball and chain from factory to factory, and from plant to plant.