Poetry of Revolution: Romanticism and National Projects

3.7 RECASTING THE REVOLUTION

The “bard noir” is in fact most empowered when referencing the Haitian Revolution.

One explicit reference to the poet’s identity as the “bard noir” within Rires et Pleurs is in

Durand’s “Aux Cubains,” in which the poet speaks to Cubans as black brothers fighting against

the oppression of slavery. Haiti’s national heroes are specifically those in whom the black race

will continue to prosper and achieve freedom:

A vous qui combattez depuis nombre d’années

Pour conquérir la liberté... (1-2)

Et qui nous rappelez les combats héroïques

De Toussaint, le géant des noirs;

A vous, frères Cubains, qui, contre un joug infâme...(7-9)

A vous, le bard noir vient répétez: “Courage!” (13)

Here, the poet’s authority comes from his national belonging, a proud connection to this

ancestry of black, revolutionary heroes. Haiti’s revolutionary ideals are grounded in its national

past and expand to hemispheric concerns and racial solidarity. Toussaint is not just a giant for

the Haitian nation but for the black race, taking on the tremendous historical significance of

Haiti’s Revolution which Firmin had cited in “L’égalite des races humaines.” The following

chapter will illustrate how Haiti’s solidarity with those of the African diaspora takes on more

pronounced significance in Massillon Coicou’s poetry.

Another poem which centers on Haiti’s Revolution and the notion of equality is “Chant

National.” The poem’s refrain, which appears four times in the poem, contains some variation of

these verses: “L’Indépendance est éphèmere/Sans le droit à l’égalité!” The date of the poem is

not known, but Pompilus includes a note that it was made into a presidential hymn by Haitian