The "Ballad of the Hanged" by François Villon

Imaginary portrait of François Villon, made between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Lithograph by Ludwig Rullmann • WIKIMEDIA

François de Montcorbier, known as François Villon, was born in Paris in 1431 and disappeared from our sources after 1463. As a university student, he obtained the master's degree in 1452 es arts which allows him to be a cleric and therefore to be justiciable before the ecclesiastical courts, reputed to be more lenient. Fortunately, because the poet has often had to deal with justice. Thus, in January 1456, he obtained from King Charles VII a letter of remission after being involved in a brawl during which a priest was assassinated. Imprisoned in Meung-sur-Loire in 1461, he only owed his release to the accession of King Louis XI, before being recaptured and imprisoned at Châtelet, in Paris, for thefts and brawls. Sentenced to be hanged, he saw his sentence commuted to a ten-year exile.

A poem filled with regret

The first editions of his works appeared posthumously in 1489. His most famous poem is unquestionably La Ballade des pendus, which he may have composed in prison. He sees himself already dead with his companions on the gallows, invokes the pity of men and of God, and calls Christians to charity. The poet also expresses regret for having taken more care of his body than of his soul.

Human brothers who live after us,
Do not have your hearts hardened towards us,
For, if you have pity on us poor,
God will have you sooner, thank you .
You see us tied here, five, six:
As for our flesh, which we have fed too much,
It has long been devoured and rotten,
And we, the bones, let us become ashes and dust.
Of our misfortune, let no one laugh,
But pray to God that we will all be absolved!

If we call you brothers, you need not
Disdain it, though we have been slain
For righteousness. However, you know
That not all men have a calm mind.
Excuse us, since we are dead,
To the son of the Virgin Mary,
So that his grace may not be dried up for us,
And may he preserve us from the infernal thunderbolt.
We are dead, let no one torment us,
But pray to God that all please absolve us!

The rain has washed and washed us
And the sun has dried and blackened us;
Magpies, crows have gouged out our eyes,
And torn beards and eyebrows.
We are never seated for a single moment;
From here to there, as the wind turns,
It keeps tossing us at will,
/>More beaked birds than thimbles.
So don't be of our brotherhood,
But pray to God that we all will be absolved!

Prince Jesus who has power over all,
Make hell have no power over us:
Let us have nothing to do or pay with him.
Men, no joke here,
But pray to God that we all will be absolved.

Francois Villon
The Ballad of the Hanged Man in The Testament.