Bibliography
Esménard is best known for the didactic and descriptive poem entitled La Navigation, first published in 8 verses in 1805, then re-edited to 6 verses in 1806. It is a precise work, drawn from observations made by the author in the course of his travels. Its versification, however, is monotonous and it is marked by a total absence of action and movement.
Esménard wrote Le triomphe de Trajan, a three-act opera with music by Jean-François Lesueur, on the life of Trajan but full of flattering allusions to Napoleon I of France. It was produced to triumphal reviews in 1807. He also wrote the three-act opera Fernand Cortez ou la conquête du Mexique (1809) in collaboration with Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy, with music by Gaspare Spontini. This too proved very successful. He also wrote several verses to the glory of Napoleon, collected as La Couronne poétique de Napoléon (1807).
