Sigma Alpha Iota

16 Spring 2022 • sai-national.org straight five beat design. Yet it is far from banal: each phrase ends with a musical question mark. Marie-Antoinette had learned to dance beautifully with the dancemaster Noverre while still in Vienna. She enjoyed nothing more than to escape to Paris to attend balls at the opera, sometimes with the Dauphin, but oen not. In this song, she imagines herself a Crimson Rose (Item 5). It was at one such masked ball at the Paris opera that Marie-Antoinette met the Swedish Count Axel Fersen, January 30, 1773. Fersen was to become an ally of Louis XVI and a soulmate for the Queen. He was discreet and loyal in the darkest days of the Revolution, arranging the failed escape to Montmédy, interrupted at Varennes, and bartering in an attempt to save her life. When he first returned to France in August 1778, however, Marie-Antoinette was expecting her first child. Her invitations were to the gaming table and her weekly concerts. She was impressed by Fersen's distinctive blue and gold uniform, as designed by the Swedish King Gustave III, a strong supporter of the French crown. Gustave was a flamboyant figure who wrote his own plays and produced lavish performances in Stockholm in which the nobility was obliged to appear. Axel Fresen was no exception. When traveling in Europe, he took his spinet with him in the baggage. Fersen became part of Marie-Antoinette's inner circle, playing the flute or accompanying her on the harpsichord. When jealousy developed over his perceived favor, Fersen chose to enlist in the forces France sent to support the American Revolution, becoming an aide de camp and translator for General Washington, who nicknamed him "Firchin." Aer the American victory, he received the Order of Cincinnatus and returned to France in 1783, where Louis XVI and Gustave III arranged for him to buy his own regiment, the Royal Suédois, based in Valencienne. e romance Révélation (Item 6) is a testament to his veneration for the Queen. Marie-Antoinette's principal mission of producing heirs for France was finally fulfilled on December 19, 1778 with the birth of her daughter, Marie-érèse Charlotte. Two sons followed in 1781 and 1785, and a second daughter in 1786. Salic law in France meant that a daughter did not count for the dynasty, but the child was of utmost importance for the relationship of Marie- Cposers Worthy people when you would praise your King, And when you would call him your father, You let yourself be ruled by courtesans, You have nothing left in the wide world. But here today all your rights are restored, By Reason you are guided and enlightened? These tyrants are of their rights dispossessed You will have every earthly happiness. Worthy people, if happy you would be, Vanquish those who would dare to oppose you. For a Frenchman, when his freedom is gone, There is nothing of worth in the wide world. g g Item 3 Item 3 Deign to hear me, oh Antoinette, my queen, When good Frenchmen send you their greetings. If they're denied the sight of their Sovereign, Singing her songs, they can relieve their woe. When will you see your bondage at an end? When will you bring us happy times again? Though we have kept your image in our hearts, Still our eyes desire to see it. V V V V Item 4 Item 4 Crimson Rose Oh, lovely rose bloom, Half-opened by the Western breeze No sooner full-blown Than you must die. Should someone take the care To nurture you and tend you, You come to life at early morning; But you must perish On your stem 'ere your petals fall, If no one troubles To gather you. Such is the picture Of the brief moments of our lives, Only by practice Are they made fair. They go, ne'er to return Acloud has borne them from us, That flies away with love's affection. But what misfortune When our heart's true felicity Is lost forever By one mistake. R R R R Item 5 Item 5 The Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles The Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles

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