Childhood.
Victor-Marie Hugo 1802 ( Besançon) – 1885 (Paris)
("L'enfant chantait.")
[Bk. I. xxiii., Paris, January, 1835.]
The small child sang; the mother, outstretched on the low bed,
With anguish moaned, - fair Form pain should possess not long;
For, ever nigher, Death hovered around her head:
I hearkened there this moan, and heard even there that song.
The child was but five years, and, close to the lattice, aye
Made a sweet noise with games and with his laughter bright;
And the wan mother, aside this being the livelong day
Carolling joyously, coughed hoarsely all the night.
The mother went to sleep 'mong them that sleep alway;
And the blithe little lad began anew to sing...
Sorrow is like a fruit: God doth not therewith weigh
Earthward the branch strong yet but for the blossoming.
NELSON R. TYERMAN.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | X ABAB XCDC XEDE X |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 758 |
Words | 138 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
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"Childhood." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/56859/childhood.>.
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