Le Souvenir, being an original poem honouring a Freycinet

MLMSS 11660

fonds

probably 1820 or 1821

9662281

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder) - manuscript, ink on paper

Henri de Freycinet was appointed Governor of Île Bourbon [Réunion] in September 1820, to replace Pierre Bernard Milius. His official installation ceremony took place on 15 February 1821, marked by a five-gun salute. He served as Governor of Île Bourbon until October 1826.

This original amateur poem by an unknown author is addressed to 'Freycinet' and carefully written in a display hand on one page of a folded sheet, the others blank, with the red ‘Archives de Laage’ stamp of the Freycinet family (Carton 12 Dossier 260). It was most probably presented to Henri de Freycinet on his installation as Governor of Île Bourbon.

Translation:

The Memory

After perilous journeys, / of which France is proud / Freycinet comes to these Shores / and is welcomed by our love. / As friends our hearts answer each other / the pleasure makes them tremble / Sweet tears mingle together / by the charms of the Memory.

This Era becomes dear to me, / Since the King appointed you / To replace a Second Father / of the Colonists, you will be loved / Let us both feel the same intoxication / For children by whom he was blessed / There remains a leader to their tenderness / The other will live from a Memory.

Dignities & Power / Do not chill the heart. / When we know from experience / That they are not Happiness. / Favour flees with such a quick step / Tomorrow she can betray us / But when a good friend stays with us / Happiness is born from a Memory.

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Annotated in pencil by the Laage archivist: 'Poésies dediées à Rose de F. à son passage à l’Île Bourbon'.

The pencil annotation by the Laage archivist claims that the poem honoured the visit of Rose de Freycinet to Île Bourbon. Rose and Louis de Freycinet were at the island in mid-May 1818 when the Uranie expedition called there, travelling on to Mauritius at the end of the month. However, a close reading of the poem indicates that the addressee was almost certainly a man. Of the two Freycinet brothers, Henri seems to be the more likely candidate. 'After perilous journeys' could refer to his voyage with Baudin and other voyages he had made as a naval officer including his command of the Phaéton during which he lost an arm in battle in 1806. The lines 'Since the King appointed you / To replace a Second Father / of the Colonists, you will be loved' seems to refer to Henri taking up the governorship. It is unlikely that this refers to Louis’ short visit.

The paper on which the poem is written tends to confirm the pencil annotation that the manuscript derives from Île Bourbon. The paper is watermarked by French papermaker F. Johannot and incorporates a complex medallion with two interlaced capital 'L's and the motto 'Dieu et le Roi sauvent la France 1814'. This royalist emblem honours the Bourbon restoration of that year which saw the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814 and the Restoration of the monarchy in the form of Louis XVIII. The island's name reverted to Île Bourbon when the island passed back into French possession after the Treaty of Paris of 1814. After the fall of the Bourbon monarchy, it was once more renamed 'La Réunion' by which name it is still known today.