--- title: Prayer to Jehanne of France url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/prayer-to-jehanne-of-france-1942/ description: 'Text-and-drawing sheet: an ink drawing of Joan of Arc on horseback with a banner above Joseph Auslander''s poem ''Prayer to Jehanne of France''.' section: Collection --- 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Prayer to Jehanne of France [![Prayer to Jehanne of France, 1942 US poster: Text-and-drawing sheet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/prayer-to-jehanne-of-france-1942.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/prayer-to-jehanne-of-france-1942.jpg) # Prayer to Jehanne of France Text-and-drawing sheet: an ink drawing of Joan of Arc on horseback with a banner above Joseph Auslander's poem 'Prayer to Jehanne of France'. The poem calls on her to 'strike down the traitor' and names French collaborators 'dupe and parricide and terrorist'. Transfer from the saint's authority; name-calling. ## Propaganda techniques used in this poster [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/) [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) ## Text on the object Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` PRAYER TO JEHANNE OF FRANCE O Jehanne, with the trumpets in your name, By all the lilies of the Oriflamme, By all the faggots and the final shame, By all the burning voices at the Tree, By all the visions that we cannot see, By all you were that we can never be, By all the little lambs, by every lark That spilled a fiery fountain, spark on spark, Of music to your heart, Jehanne of Arc, By all your simple strength, and by the few Straight words like light, and by the dream that grew In your gray well-spaced eyes until you knew The work you had to do— The glory that flared up, and darkened, and withdrew, The death they did to you— Is this your France that made the great horn blow Across the blood-red gap at Roncevaux? Are these the mighty men Who time and time again Rebuffed the Roman, broke the Saracen? Is this indeed the Gaul Who stood, a terrible and living wall Of flesh and blood and bone and spirit's pith compounded, Forged in the furnaces of hell, A solid mass Chanting with hoarse monotonous iteration The battle cry of a beleaguered nation, "They shall not pass!" (Christ, how that cry resounded!) And drove the guttural and gloating Hun Back from the very citadel Of desperate Verdun, Depleted and defeated and confounded? O flash again, bright shield and furious lance, And save the soul of France! Strike down the traitor, cut the coward down, The wolf and buzzard running beak to fang In field and town! Ring out, as yesterday you rang, Clarion of hope, bugle of liberation, To a bewildered and heroic nation By knave and lout Sold out, The furtive coin clenched in the shameful fist Of dupe and parricide and terrorist! Ah France, beloved, brave and beautiful land, On every side they stand, On every hand The dear magnificent dead, A ghostly glorious band— Roland and Oliver and Charlemagne, And the tall Paladins who fought and bled And with the uncounted slain Fattened the kites of Spain; And that bright-bearded captain-king whose name Is a shooting star, A flying flame— Navarre! And she, The gallant martyr-maid of Domremy, Who, when the hearts of men grew faint, Rallied for Dauphin and for St. Denis, Soldier and Saint, The swords that set France free! Ah sweet Jehanne, Jehanne, Now that the spirits of your people languish, And the grim traps are laid, The sordid ambuscade Wherein, convulsed with unendurable anguish, France is once more betrayed— Ah let your piercing clarion Shatter this hideous trance, This nightmare sickness in the soul of France! Refuse this foul infection, And, by the virtue of that proud rejection, Rekindle, repossess The sacred fire, the ancient fearlessness! France is one vast Bastille; The people turning and twisting under a vicious heel: Your France, whose blood-soaked pikestaff banners gave New hope to the oppressed, the prisoner, the slave; Your France, that raised the heart like Lazarus from the grave, Bends now her neck in the vile dust to kiss A monstrous parody of peace. Ride on, Jehanne, ride on and on and on Through the thick darkness ringing your clarion! Lightning of long deliverance, Jehanne of France, Jehanne! Jehanne! Jehanne! —by Joseph Auslander Prayer by courtesy of the magazine, THIS WEEK, and the Author. Drawing by Adolph Treidler, after Frémiet. As an expression of faith in the ultimate victory of courageous idealism, these inspired lines are printed here—a contribution of the Advertising Agency BERMINGHAM, CASTLEMAN & PIERCE, New York Published November 9th, 1942 on the occasion of the first decisive blow for the liberation of France—The invasion of French North Africa by American forces. [signature:] ADOLPH TREIDLER ``` [← Pour it on!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pour-it-on-wpb-1942/) [Prepare for your war job now! Millions are needed. Short free courses →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/prepare-for-your-war-job-now-1942/) ## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques - [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer) - [Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer) - [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial) - [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer) - [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer) - [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account. - [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)