A year before, when the deputies and senators had announced that it [the coronation] would happen, a song expressed a certain expectation:
Let young Pedro come to the throne
And all the nation rejoice
The heroes, the fathers of the nation
Have approved with one voice.
.
Let him wear silk, put on the purple
And all the nation rejoice
The heroes, the fathers of the nation
Have approved with one voice.
.
The camarilla’s gone
That we all hated
The heroes, the fathers of the nation
Have approved with one voice.
Other verses were also heard in the streets, less optimistic sometimes: “We want Pedro II, / Even if he’s not old enough, / Let the nation waive the law, / And long live the majority.”
Others were not so flattering: “No reason for the people to rejoice / Because Pedrinho’s on the throne; / It can’t be a good thing / If he’s ruling with the same people.”
And finally, this one: “When you put the government / In the hands of a child, / You put gobbledygook / In the mouth of the jaguar.”
Source:
Gledson, John, and Lilia Moritz. Schwarcz. “The Little Big King.” The Emperor's Beard: Dom Pedro II and the Tropical Monarchy of Brazil. New York: Hill and Wang, 2004. 48. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Quoted in Calmon, História do Brasil na poesia do povo, 191.
Further Reading:
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