Unrecorded French poem.- Premier & dernier chant, manuscript on paper, 7pp. on two leaves folded in half, each page 240 x c. 170mm., written in brown ink by a single hand, minor corrections and running numeration of verses in the same hand, some words erased including perhaps the dedicatee's name on first page, lightly browned throughout, occasional foxing, some ink stains, a few minor holes not affecting text, 240 x 342 mm., France (possibly Paris), mid-18th century.

⁂ An apparently unrecorded poem in French, including 137 verses, and introduced by the generic title 'Premier & dernier chant'. After the word 'Fin' at the end nine further verses follow in the form of an address to an unnamed woman, 'M........'.

The poem opens with a long description of the inclemency of winter and its effects on the nature. The unidentified author makes a metaphorical treatment of cold, winds ('froid aquilon, ministre des hyvers'), frost, and snow to describe human misery. Cold was traditionally associated with misery, and some of the images used here represent literary commonplaces. But the second and more lengthy part of the poem comments on social issues, dramatically narrating the pitiful condition of families living in poverty and hunger, in stark contrast to the opulence of Versailles, the Louvre, and other palaces, which had been built by hundreds of skilled but miserable workmen.