Translated by George Curzon (1859 - 1925)

The poem was written in Paris during the Siege, November 1870 and celebrates caring nurses (specifically, nuns) who work with difficult patients.

François Coppée was a French poet and novelist. He was famed as le poète des humbles (the poet of the humble). His verse and prose focus on plain expressions of emotion, patriotism, the joy of young love, and the pitifulness of the poor.