The Little Corporal

Napoleon

Source: deviantart,com


Below is a poem I wrote as part of a History project in High School - I must have been in Grade 10.  

He was born on Corsica in 1769
And as a boy he had said, “France must be mine!”
Marie Antoinette lost her head
Because she could not give some hungry people bread.
Royalists in Toulon got their knickers in a knot
And decided they would give Britain a shot.
Then the young Napoleon appeared on the scene
And once the cannon balls flew, they were not too keen.
“Bravo, bravo...you’re a star!”
And it was then he realised he was going to go far.
The success of the Italian campaign
Bolstered his chances of fame.
Prime Minister of Britain, William Pitt,
Was beginning to irritate Napoleon a bit.
If he destroyed England by breaking her trade,
Napoleon thought he would have it made.
Egypt would serve as a base
But Nelson destroyed the French with skill and grace.
Back in France, the Directory were weak
And the people thought they were beginning to reek.
A coup then got the Directory overthrown
And Napoleon was there to snatch the throne.
Down went the armies of Austria and Prussia.
He even signed a treaty with the Tsar of Russia.
But the invasion of Russia was a big mistake,
The same one Hitler was later to make.
The Iberian Peninsula added to his grief
And his remaining time as the man in charge was brief.
In the Battle of Nations, the French were crushed.
It was a defeat that left Napoleon flushed.
He was forced to abdicate the throne
And he was sent to Elba, his new home.
It was not long before he decided to return
But he was not as powerful, as he was soon to learn.
His army was defeated at Waterloo –
The ABBA song must be familiar to you.
After this battle, he was no longer so smart

And his surname would have to become BLOWN-apart!

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