Extremely rare poem of youth, with a romantic vein, by the young student of rhetoric from the Lycée Saint-Louis in Aix-en-Provence, signed "Pajot and Zola". Georges Pajot was a classmate and close friend of Emile Zola at Lycée Saint-Louis. Unlike Cézanne, their friendship had no flaws. He was one of those whom Zola considered his true friends and took part in Thursday evenings at the writer's in Paris. These Thursday evenings began around 1865, when Zola was 25 years old, and lasted until the end of his life as a writer. The victory of the French troops in their fight for the unification of Italy gives Zola and his accomplice the opportunity to glorify the Emperor, Napoleon III, whom they compare to his glorious elder.
“Madam pardon if my modest lyre,
To your august ear has the audacity to rustle
Forgive! A child comes here stuttering
But victory gives birth to our novice songs,
We who are placed under the valiant auspices
Of the holy knight king
To deliver oppressed Italy from the yoke
Towards the Alps we saw our army rush forward;
Roses under his feet we sowed the paths
With many cheers welcoming him as he passed,
To his noble worth everyone paid homage
And we clapped our hands.
Go French, go fight on these lands
Where your fathers once nobly fought,
Go and defeat those who crushed their heels
Come on… Our Emperor is leaving us for glory,
As once soldiers our hymn of victory
Will be Napoleon
They moved away, attentive France
Listened…well again! Everything was silent.
From noon suddenly a loud cry arose,
Montebello, Verceil… the cannon are already thundering;
Victory at Palestro…almost immediately resounds
Victory at Magenta.
Magenta! Leap bells of Notre Dame!
May a garland, in the evening, sparkle the flame,
Of the victors of Austerlitz our guard is the sister,
Joseph's troops flee to the army,
Victory to MacMahon! Victory to our armies!
Victory to the Emperor.
France, rejoice, it's a beautiful day of celebration.
May we too celebrate your conquest
We who study hold in deep calm
We who to serve you work alone
Oh ! May we all cry out to our mothers
Long live France and Piedmont.
Pageot and Zola rhetoric class students

Poem appearing in the Complete Works, volume 15, editions Circle of the precious book 1969

In 1859, Napoleon III made a commitment to Victor-Emmanuel II for the unification of Italy then fragmented into duchies, against the Austrian Empire. This military campaign allows France to recover Savoy and the county of Nice but leaves it in a delicate diplomatic situation