Prediction of Nostradamus
Prediction de Nostradamus.
Nostradamus, who served Henri Quatre as a nurse —
Great astrologer he — has predicted in verse,
That anno 2000, (the date is scarce true,)
The reverse of the medal shall come into view
" Then Paris, " says he, " in its joyous career
At the door of the Louvre shall a supplicant hear —
" O fortunate Frenchmen, come, lighten my woe;
Your alms on the last of your monarchs bestow!"
" Now the voice shall be that of one stricken in years,
One who scrofulous, tattered, and shoeless appears;
Who arriving from Rome, there proscribed at his birth;
Shall in urchins from school move, or pity, or mirth
" Ho! beggar!" perchance shall a Senator cry,
" The mendicant here is forbidden to ply" —
" I, alas! only I, Sir, survive of my race;
I'm the last of your monarchs: Oh, pity my case!"
" " But say, dost thou truly belong to that race?"
" Yes," he'll answer, for nought all his pride can efface;
" And in Rome, when 'twas Papacy's seat, have I seen
Crown and sceptre of gold, that my grandsire's had been.
But he sold them, to keep up the courage of men
Who were false as his agents, and weak with the pen:
I, for sceptre, the staff of the wanderer own;
For the last of your Kings be your sympathy shown!
" " Imprisoned for debt, my old sire, ere he died,
A good honest trade for me dared not provide;
So I beg: but ye rich, ye bear hard on the poor
In all lands — God has forced me the proofs to endure.
Now, at length, on this flourishing soil I can tread,
Whence so oft, driven forth, have my ancestors fled:
Ah! in pity look back to our pomp and our show;
And your alms on the last of your monarchs bestow!"
" Then shall answer the Senator, " Come, be my guest;
In my palace amongst us be happy, and rest!
We have no animosity now against kings;
To our knees what is left of them lovingly clings
Come, awaiting to know if the Senate's decree
Will acknowledge a claim on its bounty for thee,
I, whose race from the blood of a regicide springs,
Will in charity succor the last of our kings." "
Nostradamus then adds in his old-fashioned way,
That a hundred a year the Republic will pay
To the Prince; and that he, a good citizen too,
Some day will be chosen as Mayor of St. Cloud
2000 in story will thus bear its part
As the date when, presiding o'er Order and Art,
At peace, and beneath Glory's shadowing wings,
France pitied and succored the last of her Kings.
Nostradamus, who served Henri Quatre as a nurse —
Great astrologer he — has predicted in verse,
That anno 2000, (the date is scarce true,)
The reverse of the medal shall come into view
" Then Paris, " says he, " in its joyous career
At the door of the Louvre shall a supplicant hear —
" O fortunate Frenchmen, come, lighten my woe;
Your alms on the last of your monarchs bestow!"
" Now the voice shall be that of one stricken in years,
One who scrofulous, tattered, and shoeless appears;
Who arriving from Rome, there proscribed at his birth;
Shall in urchins from school move, or pity, or mirth
" Ho! beggar!" perchance shall a Senator cry,
" The mendicant here is forbidden to ply" —
" I, alas! only I, Sir, survive of my race;
I'm the last of your monarchs: Oh, pity my case!"
" " But say, dost thou truly belong to that race?"
" Yes," he'll answer, for nought all his pride can efface;
" And in Rome, when 'twas Papacy's seat, have I seen
Crown and sceptre of gold, that my grandsire's had been.
But he sold them, to keep up the courage of men
Who were false as his agents, and weak with the pen:
I, for sceptre, the staff of the wanderer own;
For the last of your Kings be your sympathy shown!
" " Imprisoned for debt, my old sire, ere he died,
A good honest trade for me dared not provide;
So I beg: but ye rich, ye bear hard on the poor
In all lands — God has forced me the proofs to endure.
Now, at length, on this flourishing soil I can tread,
Whence so oft, driven forth, have my ancestors fled:
Ah! in pity look back to our pomp and our show;
And your alms on the last of your monarchs bestow!"
" Then shall answer the Senator, " Come, be my guest;
In my palace amongst us be happy, and rest!
We have no animosity now against kings;
To our knees what is left of them lovingly clings
Come, awaiting to know if the Senate's decree
Will acknowledge a claim on its bounty for thee,
I, whose race from the blood of a regicide springs,
Will in charity succor the last of our kings." "
Nostradamus then adds in his old-fashioned way,
That a hundred a year the Republic will pay
To the Prince; and that he, a good citizen too,
Some day will be chosen as Mayor of St. Cloud
2000 in story will thus bear its part
As the date when, presiding o'er Order and Art,
At peace, and beneath Glory's shadowing wings,
France pitied and succored the last of her Kings.
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