The Maid of Orleans (poem)

The Maid of Orleans (French: La Pucelle d'Orléans) is a satirical poem by Voltaire about Joan of Arc, circulated in private readings and in manuscript beginning the 1730's.

In response to pirated prints appearing in the 1750's, Voltaire published an authorized edition (Geneva 1762) shorn of most bawdy and anticlerical passages.

An epic and scandalous satire concerning the life of the not-yet-canonised Joan of Arc ("the Maid of Orleans"), the poem was outlawed, burned and banned throughout a great portion of Europe during the 18th and the 19th centuries.

[4] It was also disseminated by Voltaire himself to some of his colleagues and other members of the upper class,[3] the circle of people and the portion of society for which the text had been specifically intended.

O thou whose violin Produced of old so harsh and vile a din; Whose bow Apollo's malediction had, Which scraped his history in notes so sad; Old Chapelain!