Napoleon

I’ve come to learn some truths about Napoleon I.
Tho rumored short, his height was roughly average at worst,
Recorded five-foot-two, but France used longer inches then,
So figure five-foot-five at least, the mean for France’s men.

Admittedly, that still would make him shorter than his wife,
His brothers, and a bunch of guards and soldiers in his life.
He also got promoted at the age of 24
And called “the little corporal,” which pushed the rumor more.

What really got it going was his way of making foes
In grabbing for dominion; lots of mockery arose.
James Gillray drew him harshly as a childlike little clown.
Napoleon said Gillray did the most to bring him down.

The other thing I’ve learned about Napoleon of note
Is why his portrait shows him with his right hand in his coat:
Contemporary painters took a cue from ancient Greeks
Conveying men of breeding, so it hardly is unique.