Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage | 1926 | dir. F.W. Murnau
Werner Fuetterer as Archangel & Emil Jannings as Mephisto
Matt Bollinger (American, b. 1980, Kansas City, MO, USA, based Brooklyn, NY, USA) - Fracture, 2024, Paintings: Flashe, Acrylic on Canvas
The shadows of the smallest stones lay like pencil lines across the sand and the shapes of the men and their mounts advanced elongate before them like strands of the night from which they'd ridden, like tentacles to bind them to the darkness yet to come Blood Meridian
The only torment of the righteous at their final hour And the only one by which I will be torn apart Is to see, in dying, pale and dark envy Drip onto my brow both disgrace and infamy To die for the people and be by them abhorred.
(Maximilien Robespierre. What he feared, came to pass)
About the poem:
The poem in question was published in the memoirs of Maximilien Robespierre's sister, Charlotte. According to her: "A single fear tormented him, it was that the wicked, after having assassinated him, would pour calumny upon him.โ Charlotte further claims that: โ On this subject, he composed some verses of which I only recall the following five.โ
However, it's important to approach this account with caution. Both Charlotte and the editor of her memoirs, Albert Laponneraye, had a clear motive: they aimed to restore the reputations of the Robespierre brothers. This intention likely influenced their portrayal of events and characters, casting them in an overly favorable light.
That being said, the older Robespierre was quite an apt poet. Itโs also not a stretch that he was acutely aware the end was near. Taking this into account, itโs not far fetched that he would have written the five verses Charlotte remembered. And if not? Well it means Charlotte is pretty good at writing fanfiction, I supposeโฆ
Source
Memories of Charlotte Robespierre of her two brothers