dawn

by emily de villaincourt

a group of seven prisoners was scheduled to be shot at dawn. lieutenant g———————, the commander of the firing squad , decided to have a little fun with them. he visited each of the seven prisoners the night before the execution and gave them each a pencil and some paper and told them to write a poem. in the morning, he told them, he would read the poems, and decide which was the worst poem and which was the best. he would then free the author of the best poem and the author of the worst poem. the remaining five would then be shot on schedule. five of the prisoners, faced with this prospect, arrived at the same happy thought. the lieutenant had not specifically stated that the poem had to be original - therefore they could write some famous and well-regarded poem from memory, such as one they had learned in school. even if they could not remember it exactly, how bad could it be? one prisoner transcribed a poem from li po, another from sappho, another a few verses from the rubaiyat of omar khayyam. a fourth wrote down a psalm, and the fifth put down shelley’s ozymandias as best he could. the remaining two prisoners penned original verses. count d———— had been convicted of sedition and treason against the empire. his poem read as follows: the world spins around like a kitten chasing a ball snow falls in the winter leaves fall in the fall the sun shines in summer flowers bloom in spring i wish i could live forever but you can’t have everything madame b———— had incurred the displeasure of the lord chamberlain. she wrote: a single rose bloomed in an endless desert the rose asked the desert why do you allow me to bloom? the desert answered because i once was a poet a poor, starving poet in love with a beautiful maiden who sang and danced with every man in the capital except myself or so it seemed to me i grew sad and found a magic lamp in a heap of trash outside a low tavern being conversant with the classics and the lore of all nations i had the sense to make one wish only and forego the other two and i wished to become this desert and i did and how you came along and what i might do for you having surrendered my last two wishes i will never know this ended madame b——’s poem. in the morning lieutenant g————— arrived, but before he had a chance to read the seven poems, his orderly brought him a neatly folded note. it was from the empress. it read: lieutenant g————, my pretty fellow. i am lonely this morning. please visit me. the lieutenant hastened to the empress’s side, leaving the firing squad in the charge of sergeant e————. the seven prisoners attempted to give their poems to sergeant e————, but the worthy sergeant had no patience for the lieutenant’s nonsense, and had all seven taken outside and shot.