Sunday, February 4, 2024

Le Calendrier Républicain Français, Adopted 22 September 1792

a year consists of twelve months

a month of three ten-day weeks

all honor what farm & nature bring


Véndemiaire stamps the vintage red

Brumaire fog swallows cranberry

Frimaire frost crusts the standing weeds


no more gods, death to the last king


Nivôse snow floats, flurries, drifts

Pluviôse proffers rain

Ventôse favors wind


high regard for weather, water, air


Germinal marks the rupture of seed

Floréal waves its blossoms

Prairial sheep hike to high meadow


the earth’s body, the sky’s face


Messidor farmers harvest peas

Thermidor heat hatches mosquitoes

Fructidor fruit swells, sweetens, savors


nature, people, tools, reason


finally,  Les Fêtes Sansculottides

five days (in La Franciade, six)

when free citizens dance & sing


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