1795

They replaced the Dauphin in the cell

With a boy who looked rather like him

And spirited the true Dauphin away to Austria

Or so they say

Transylvania looks very like Austria

When you are only a boy of ten

And one castle could be any other

When you don't speak the language

But the guardian who is only active at night

Who does not dine with his charge

And does not tell the child the truth

Has deeper secrets in mind

He trains the boy, teaches him languages

To fight, to defend himself

To dance, to enjoy poetry

To be a gentleman

The time for teaching the rest is later.

~

1805

A new century