A/N A rather random and odd bit of poetry, but it is my own attempt to get into the mind of Louis St. Just, a villain in my story "The Legend of the Scarlet Pimpernel".


Dedicated to Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, a real person, who, I hope, was nothing like the Louis St. Just of my story.


The Other St. Just

~o~

We are three.

Two men.

One woman.

I am Louis.

~o~

Our mothers were cousins,

And so are we.

Our fathers were in trade,

And so are we.

She has a following,

And I do not.

I have a dream,

For France.

And she does not.

~o~

The other St. Just,

The forgotten one.

The older,

The keener,

The boughten one.

The one who knows,

The one who sees.

I am Louis.

~o~

Our fates met one day

In Paris.

Our lives grew together

In Paris.

She has a great name,

For France.

I cannot compete with her,

Or France.

One day,

She will be mine.

~o~

The other St. Just,

The forgotten one.

The hoper,

The follower,

The insistent one.

The one who wills,

The one who wants.

I am Antoine.

~o~

The doors open for ones like me,

The Young, the Free.

The age has turned to ones like me,

The Young, the Free.

She does not understand,

But I do.

She will not comply,

But I do.

She is great.

And I am beyond.

~o~

The other St. Just,

The forgotten one.

The learner,

The climber,

The better one.

The one who yearns,

The one who plans.

I am Léon.

~o~

They all stand in her way,

But I could make her see.

They all leech off her like ticks,

But I could give her more.

Her brother is a fool,

But I am not.

Her friends are useless,

But I am not.

She has eyes.

I will be the one to use them.

~o~

The other St. Just,

The forgotten one.

The inspired,

The chosen,

The haughten one.

The one who smiles,

The one who wiles.

I am Saint-Just.

~o~

The webs may outwit me,

For a moment.

She may have the best of me,

For a moment.

But the future is mine,

Now I see.

And I hold the webs now,

Now I see.

She thought to plan,

But Chance has smiled on Me.

~o~

The other St. Just,

The forgotten one.

The holder,

The grasper,

The only one.

The one who must,

The one who hates.

I am powerful.

I am Louis.

~o~