Analysis of The Old And The Young Bridegroom
Victor Marie Hugo 1802 (Besançon) – 1885 (Paris)
[HERNANI, Act I.]
Listen. The man for whom your youth is destined,
Your uncle, Ruy de Silva, is the Duke
Of Pastrana, Count of Castile and Aragon.
For lack of youth, he brings you, dearest girl,
Treasures of gold, jewels, and precious gems,
With which your brow might outshine royalty;
And for rank, pride, splendor, and opulence,
Might many a queen be envious of his duchess!
Here is one picture. I am poor; my youth
I passed i' the woods, a barefoot fugitive.
My shield, perchance, may bear some noble blazons
Spotted with blood, defaced though not dishonored.
Perchance I, too, have rights, now veiled in darkness,--
Rights, which the heavy drapery of the scaffold
Now hides beneath its black and ample folds;
Rights which, if my intent deceive me not,
My sword shall one day rescue. To be brief:--
I have received from churlish Fortune nothing
But air, light, water,--Nature's general boon.
Choose, then, between us two, for you must choose;--
Say, will you wed the duke, or follow me?
DONNA SOL. I'll follow you.
HERN. What, 'mongst my rude companions,
Whose names are registered in the hangman's book?
Whose hearts are ever eager as their swords,
Edged by a personal impulse of revenge?
Will you become the queen, dear, of my band?
Will you become a hunted outlaw's bride?
When all Spain else pursued and banished me,--
In her proud forests and air-piercing mountains,
And rocks the lordly eagle only knew,
Old Catalonia took me to her bosom.
Among her mountaineers, free, poor, and brave,
I ripened into manhood, and, to-morrow,
One blast upon my horn, among her hills,
Would draw three thousand of her sons around me.
You shudder,--think upon it. Will you tread
The shores, woods, mountains, with me, among men
Like the dark spirits of your haunted dreams,--
Suspect all eyes, all voices, every footstep,--
Sleep on the grass, drink of the torrent, hear
By night the sharp hiss of the musket-ball
Whistling too near your ear,--a fugitive
Proscribed, and doomed mayhap to follow me
In the path leading to my father's scaffold?
DONNA SOL. I'll follow you.
HERN. This duke is rich, great, prosperous,
No blot attaches to his ancient name.
He is all-powerful. He offers you
His treasures, titles, honors, with his hand.
DONNA SOL. We will depart to-morrow. Do not blame
What may appear a most unwomanly boldness.
Scheme | x xxxxabxcxdaxcexxxxxxb F gxxxhxbgfxxxxbxxxxxxdbe F cifh ic |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111 10011111110 1101110101 1010111010 1111111101 1011100101 111111100 0111100100 1100111001110 1111011111 1110101100 1101111101 10110111010 01111111010 110101001010 1101110101 1111010111 1111110111 11011101010 11110101001 1101111111 1111011101 1011101 11111010 1111000011 1111010111 11010010101 1101011111 110101011 1111010101 00110011010 010110101 1010111010 010101101 1100110110 1101110101 11110101011 1101011111 0111011011 1011011101 01111101001 1101110101 1101110101 1011110100 010111101 00110111010 1011101 111111100 1101011101 1111001101 1101010111 1011101110111 110101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,272 |
Words | 408 |
Sentences | 31 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 21, 1, 23, 1, 4, 2 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 255 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:04 min read
- 76 Views
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