Nicolas-Germain Léonard
Encyclopedia
Nicolas-Germain Léonard was a poet and one of Guadeloupe
's first writers. He spent most of his life in France, but travelled back and forth frequently. He first moved to France while young, receiving his education there, and was spurred to return later in life by the political situation in the French colonies
during the period of the French Revolution
. Slavery was an important issue in the colonies, and Léonard was white.
His fairly conventional poetry is most interesting today for its "astonishing evidence for the experience of living through revolutionary France during the months after the declaration of the republic and the trials against Louis XVI" (Gumbrecht, 213).
O lovely place! O Happy Land!
O France, sanctuary of the fine arts!
I bewail the people whose fate
distances them so far from you
They will come, those Days of Darkness,
Where the heavy Finger of Age
Will cover the Images of my Spring
With the Veil of Death.
The French minister Chauvelin was interested in Léonard's poetry and appointed him chargé d'affaires
at Liege. There Léonard wrote "Les lettres de deux amants habitants de Lyon" (1783), a popular romance that was translated into English and Italian. In 1787, he published the fourth edition of his work in three volumes. His work would later attract literary critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve.
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
's first writers. He spent most of his life in France, but travelled back and forth frequently. He first moved to France while young, receiving his education there, and was spurred to return later in life by the political situation in the French colonies
French Colonies
"French Colonies" is the name used by philatelists to refer to the postage stamps issued by France for use in the parts of the French colonial empire that did not have stamps of their own...
during the period of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Slavery was an important issue in the colonies, and Léonard was white.
His fairly conventional poetry is most interesting today for its "astonishing evidence for the experience of living through revolutionary France during the months after the declaration of the republic and the trials against Louis XVI" (Gumbrecht, 213).
O lovely place! O Happy Land!
O France, sanctuary of the fine arts!
I bewail the people whose fate
distances them so far from you
They will come, those Days of Darkness,
Where the heavy Finger of Age
Will cover the Images of my Spring
With the Veil of Death.
The French minister Chauvelin was interested in Léonard's poetry and appointed him chargé d'affaires
Chargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
at Liege. There Léonard wrote "Les lettres de deux amants habitants de Lyon" (1783), a popular romance that was translated into English and Italian. In 1787, he published the fourth edition of his work in three volumes. His work would later attract literary critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve.