The Exile’s Desire

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



Would I could see you, native land,
Where lilacs and the almond stand
Behind fields flowering to the strand--
But no!

Can I--oh, father, mother, crave
Another final blessing save
To rest my head upon your grave?--
But no!

In the one pit where ye repose,
Would I could tell of France's woes,
My brethren, who fell facing foes--
But no!

Would I had--oh, my dove of light,
After whose flight came ceaseless night,
One plume to clasp so purely white.--
But no!

Far from ye all--oh, dead, bewailed!
The fog-bell deafens me empaled
Upon this rock--I feel enjailed--
Though free.

Like one who watches at the gate
Lest some shall 'scape the doomed strait.
I watch! the tyrant, howe'er late,
Must fall!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
101

Quick analysis:

Scheme aaaB cccB dddB eeeB aaax fffx
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 678
Words 127
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

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…

All Victor Marie Hugo poems | Victor Marie Hugo Books

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