Analysis of The Father’s Curse

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



[LE ROI S'AMUSE, Act I.]

M. ST. VALLIER (_an aged nobleman, from whom King Francis I.
decoyed his daughter, the famous beauty, Diana of
Poitiers_).

A king should listen when his subjects speak:
'Tis true your mandate led me to the block,
Where pardon came upon me, like a dream;
I blessed you then, unconscious as I was
That a king's mercy, sharper far than death,
To save a father doomed his child to shame;
Yes, without pity for the noble race
Of Poitiers, spotless for a thousand years,
You, Francis of Valois, without one spark
Of love or pity, honor or remorse,
Did on that night (thy couch her virtue's tom,
With cold embraces, foully bring to scorn
My helpless daughter, Dian of Poitiers.
To save her father's life a knight she sought,
Like Bayard, fearless and without reproach.
She found a heartless king, who sold the boon,
Making cold bargain for his child's dishonor.
Oh! monstrous traffic! foully hast thou done!
My blood was thine, and justly, tho' it springs
Amongst the best and noblest names of France;
But to pretend to spare these poor gray locks,
And yet to trample on a weeping woman,
Was basely done; the father was thine own,
But not the daughter!--thou hast overpassed
The right of monarchs!--yet 'tis mercy deemed.
And I perchance am called ungrateful still.
Oh, hadst thou come within my dungeon walls,
I would have sued upon my knees for death,
But mercy for my child, my name, my race,
Which, once polluted, is my race no more.
Rather than insult, death to them and me.
I come not now to ask her back from thee;
Nay, let her love thee with insensate love;
I take back naught that bears the brand of shame.
Keep her! Yet, still, amidst thy festivals,
Until some father's, brother's, husband's hand
('Twill come to pass!) shall rid us of thy yoke,
My pallid face shall ever haunt thee there,
To tell thee, Francis, it was foully done!...

TRIBOULET _(the Court Jester), sneering._ The poor man
raves.

ST. VILLIER. Accursed be ye both!
Oh Sire! 'tis wrong upon the dying lion
To loose thy dog! _(Turns to Triboulet)_
And thou, whoe'er thou art,
That with a fiendish sneer and viper's tongue
Makest my tears a pastime and a sport,
My curse upon thee!--Sire, thy brow doth bear
The gems of France!--on mine, old age doth sit;
Thine decked with jewels, mine with these gray hairs;
We both are Kings, yet bear a different crown;
And should some impious hand upon thy head
Heap wrongs and insult, with thine own strong arm
Thou canst avenge them! _God avenges mine!_
::::
Freedom And The World
Weak is the People--but will grow beyond all other--
Within thy holy arms, thou fruitful victor-mother!
O Liberty, whose conquering flag is never furled--
Thou bearest Him in whom is centred all the World.


Scheme A ABC XXXCDECCXCXFCGXXHICCCIXGXXCDCXJJBECXXKI XC XIXXXXKXCXXXF LHHGL
Poetic Form
Metre 0110111 1110011100111101 1110010100101 1 0111011101 111111101 1101011101 111110111 1011010111 1101011111 1011010101 111010101 1101010111 1111010101 111111011 110101111 110101011 1101010111 1101000101 1101011101 10110111010 110101111 1111010111 0101010111 1101111111 01110101010 111010111 11010111 011111101 0101110101 1111011101 1111011111 1101111111 1101011111 1010111101 1111110111 11011111 1111110111 1011011100 0111010101 1111111111 1101110111 111101111 1101101011 1 111111 110110101010 111111111 01111 110101011 11101001 11011101111 0111111111 1111011111 11111101001 01101010111 1100111111 11011111 1 10001 1101011101110 0111011101010 1100110011101 1110111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 2,663
Words 492
Sentences 35
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 3, 39, 2, 19
Lines Amount 64
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 418
Words per stanza (avg) 97
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:31 min read
71

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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