A Long-Thousand Years Ago, There Was A Country Named France

By Konrad Tademar Last updated Jan 2, 2022

For France…
In Germanic Countries prior to the 1500s, one spoke of a long-hundred to mean 120, thus a long-thousand was 1,200 – and a long-thousand years ago France was a part of this tradition.

A long-thousand years ago, there was a country named France…

There once was a country named France
There once was a nation of Frenchmen
There once was a nation of Frenchwomen
There once was a France, a Paris, a West.

A long-thousand years ago…..

There once was a Christian Civilization
With a Christian King and a Christian Queen
But for the Grace of God, Defenders of the Faith
There once was a Europe full of Christians.

There were crosses adorned with flowers
And icons with candles before them
And people of good faith who knew how to pray
Who knew their Hail Mary and their rosary

Who knew their Our Father Who Art in Heaven
Who knew their own names and their own Saints
Who knew their own history, and their own laws
Who knew who they were, and who they must be

There once was a Western World
Full of writers who had hearts full of blood
Not bestsellers writing blockbuster film treatments
There once was a Western Civilization

    A long-thousand years ago
        There once was a France, a Paris, a West.
        A long-thousand years ago…..

There once was a country named France
There once was a nation of Frenchmen
There once was a nation of Frenchwomen
There once was a France, a Paris, a West.

A long-thousand years ago…..

And it was this Paris that was its glorious capital
Paris of the Cathedrals, and of the Museums
Paris of the Knights Cavalier and of the Ladies in Waiting
Paris of song, of dance, of poets!

Paris of painters and women who posed for them
Paris of philosophers and of warriors
Paris full of intrepid men and women
Full of life and vigor and determination

We, the few who yet dare to speak
Are the last remnants of it in the Wild West
For there is no more Western Europe
It is all Chaos between London, Berlin, and Rome

They have divided us with Marx and Lenin
They have divided us with Rainbows and Sex
They have divided us with history writ petty and small
They have divided us with money and welfare checks

    A long-thousand years ago
        There once was a France, a Paris, a West.
        A long-thousand years ago…..

There once was a country named France
There once was a nation of Frenchmen
There once was a nation of Frenchwomen
There once was a France, a Paris, a West.

A long-thousand years ago…..

There once was a man in the West
Who drew a sword against barbarism and indolence
And didn’t stop till he resurrected the Roman Empire
Didn’t stop until all kneeled before reason

He had no doubts about who he was
He had no qualms about the nature of the world
He met reality with brutal abandon
He met it face on unrepentant and unapologetic

He was not an Englishman, nor was he a German
He was not an Italian, nor a Magyar or Slav
He was not a Moor, nor a Byzantine usurper
He was a Westerner, a Christian, a King

But such men are atavists today
Denied any say in public, feared by the political class
Shunned by the universities, emasculated
Because such men cannot be controlled

    A long-thousand years ago
        There once was a France, a Paris, a West.
        A long-thousand years ago…..

There once was a country named France
There once was a nation of Frenchmen
There once was a nation of Frenchwomen
There once was a France, a Paris, a West.

A long-thousand years ago…..

There once was a spirit in the lungs of Europe
And not the phlegm of apathy and cynicism
Or the despair of the conquered and the meek
There once was a King in France

Who knew how to deal with cowards
Who knew how to unite a warring nation
Who knew how to create the new from the old
Who knew who he was and what France was

It was a long time ago, men have forgotten him today
Frenchmen no longer know who they are
Frenchwomen are the prey of Eastern barbarians
And the only faith is the faith of the enemy

For we have lost our faith in ourselves
And without it we are defenseless
We believe only in facts and statistics
No longer in the power of the human heart

    A long-thousand years ago
        There once was a France, a Paris, a West.
        A long-thousand years ago…..

There once was a country named France
There once was a nation of Frenchmen
There once was a nation of Frenchwomen
There once was a France, a Paris, a West.

A long-thousand years ago…..

And a King to rule over all of them
A Mighty King who by the Grace of God
Forged a nation out of Chaos
Raised the Roman Empire from the Dead

By sheer willpower and a sword willingly swung
There once was a France with a King
Worthy of the name, there once was in the West…
Charlemagne, and a Paris and a people

United under God, indivisible, with Hope
With purpose, with tradition, with a common history
With a nation, with a zeal to create, to triumph, to be
There once was a West, a France, a Paris.

Today, there is only Chaos, between London…
…Berlin and Rome, only Chaos and amnesia
But there once was a King who united it all
There once was a France who ruled it all.

    A long-thousand years ago
        There once was a France, a Paris, a West.
        A long-thousand years ago…..

Konrad Tademar
On the long-thousand and first year since the year of the death of Charlemagne.
November 16, 2015