Analysis of Sea Song of the Exiles

Victor Marie Hugo 1802 (Besançon) – 1885 (Paris)

Dear land, farewell!
Waves surge and swell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!

Farewell, white cot whence the ripe grapes fall,
Gold blooms that bask on the mossy wall!

Dear land, farewell!
Hill, plain, and dell!
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!

Dear land, farewell!
Waves surge and swell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!

Farewell, betrothed, with the pure, pale brow;
'Neath sombre heaven dark billows we plough.

Dear land, farewell!
In thee our loves dwell;
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!

Dear land, farewell!
Waves surge and swell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!

Our eyes, whose tears all brightness blot,
Leave the dark wave for a darker lot!

Dear land, farewell!
In our heart's a knell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!

Scheme AAAB cc AaAB AAAB dd AaAB AAAB ee AaAB
Poetic Form Tetractys  (83%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 111 1101 111 11 11110111 11111011 111 1101 111 11 111 1101 111 11 1110111 111011011 111 011011 111 11 111 1101 111 11 101111101 101110101 111 010101 111 11
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 720
Words 127
Sentences 21
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 4
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 61
Words per stanza (avg) 14
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
108

Victor Marie Hugo

Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831. Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed; he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, and his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic trends of his time. He was buried in the Panthéon. more…

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