Victor Hugo Lives

Hanged Man or John Brown

2009-03-17T16:04:00.002-05:00

As for myself, though I am but a mere atom, yet being, as I am, common with all other men, inspired with the conscience of humanity, I fall on my knees, weeping before the great starry banner of the New World; and with clasped hands, and with profound and filial respect, I implore the illustrious American Republic, sister of the French witness the assassination of Emancipation by Liberty.

From: Letter to the London News, Dec 2, 1859.

To a Lady

2009-03-16T00:15:00.003-05:00

Child, were I king, I'd yield my royal rule,
My chariot, sceptre, vassal-service due,
My crown, my porphyry-basined waters cool,
My fleets, whereto the sea is but a pool,
For a glance from you!

Love, were I God, the earth and its heaving airs,
Angels, the demons abject under me,
Vast chaos with its teeming womby lairs,
Time, space, all would I give--aye, upper spheres,
For a kiss from thee!

Translated by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

From Les Feuilles D'Automne

The Sower

2009-03-13T23:23:00.000-05:00

Sitting in a porchway cool,
Fades the ruddy sunlight fast,
Twilight hastens on to rule--
Working hours are wellnigh past

Shadows shoot across the lands;
But one sower lingers still,
Old, in rags, he patient stands,--
Looking on, I feel a thrill.

Black and high his silhouette
Dominates the furrows deep!
Now to sow the task is set,
Soon shall come a time to reap.

Marches he along the plain,
To and fro, and scatters wide
From his hands the precious grain;
Moody, I, to see him stride.

Darkness deepens. Gone the light.
Now his gestures to mine eyes
Are august; and strange--his height
Seems to touch the starry skies.

Translated by Toru Dutt (1856-1877)

From Les Chansons Des Rues Et Des Bois