Poems by Victor Hugo Part 19

ELIZABETH COLLINS.

[Footnote 1: The pupils of the Polytechnic Military School distinguished themselves by their patriotic zeal and military skill, through all the troubles.]

TRIBUTE TO THE VANQUISHED.

_("Laissez-moi pleurer sur cette race.")_

[I. v.]

Oh! let me weep that race whose day is past, By exile given, by exile claimed once more, Thrice swept away upon that fatal blast.

Whate'er its blame, escort we to our sh.o.r.e These relics of the monarchy of yore; And to th' outmarching oriflamme be paid War's honors by the flag on Fleurus' field displayed!

_Fraser's Magazine_

ANGEL OR DEMON.

_("Tu domines notre age; ange ou demon, qu'importe!")_

[I. vii.]

Angel or demon! thou,--whether of light The minister, or darkness--still dost sway This age of ours; thine eagle's soaring flight Bears us, all breathless, after it away.

The eye that from thy presence fain would stray, Shuns thee in vain; thy mighty shadow thrown Rests on all pictures of the living day, And on the threshold of our time alone, Dazzling, yet sombre, stands thy form, Napoleon!

Thus, when the admiring stranger's steps explore The subject-lands that 'neath Vesuvius be, Whether he wind along the enchanting sh.o.r.e To Portici from fair Parthenope, Or, lingering long in dreamy reverie, O'er loveliest Ischia's od'rous isle he stray, Wooed by whose breath the soft and am'rous sea Seems like some languishing sultana's lay, A voice for very sweets that scarce can win its way.

Him, whether Paestum's solemn fane detain, Shrouding his soul with meditation's power; Or at Pozzuoli, to the sprightly strain Of tarantella danced 'neath Tuscan tower, Listening, he while away the evening hour; Or wake the echoes, mournful, lone and deep, Of that sad city, in its dreaming bower By the volcano seized, where mansions keep The likeness which they wore at that last fatal sleep;

Or be his bark at Posillippo laid, While as the swarthy boatman at his side Chants Ta.s.so's lays to Virgil's pleased shade, Ever he sees, throughout that circuit wide, From shaded nook or sunny lawn espied, From rocky headland viewed, or flow'ry sh.o.r.e, From sea, and spreading mead alike descried, _The Giant Mount_, tow'ring all objects o'er, And black'ning with its breath th' horizon evermore!

_Fraser's Magazine_

THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS.

_("Quand longtemps a gronde la bouche du Vesuve.")_

[I. vii.]

When huge Vesuvius in its torment long, Threatening has growled its cavernous jaws among, When its hot lava, like the bubbling wine, Foaming doth all its monstrous edge incarnadine, Then is alarm in Naples.

With dismay, Wanton and wild her weeping thousands pour, Convulsive grasp the ground, its rage to stay, Implore the angry Mount--in vain implore!

For lo! a column tow'ring more and more, Of smoke and ashes from the burning crest Shoots like a vulture's neck reared from its airy nest.

Sudden a flash, and from th' enormous den Th' eruption's lurid ma.s.s bursts forth amain, Bounding in frantic ecstasy. Ah! then Farewell to Grecian fount and Tuscan fane!

Sails in the bay imbibe the purpling stain, The while the lava in profusion wide Flings o'er the mountain's neck its showery locks untied.

It comes--it comes! that lava deep and rich, That dower which fertilizes fields and fills New moles upon the waters, bay and beach.

Broad sea and cl.u.s.tered isles, one terror thrills As roll the red inexorable rills; While Naples trembles in her palaces, More helpless than the leaves when tempests shake the trees.

Prodigious chaos, streets in ashes lost, Dwellings devoured and vomited again.

Roof against neighbor-roof, bewildered, tossed.

The waters boiling and the burning plain; While clang the giant steeples as they reel, Unprompted, their own tocsin peal.

Yet 'mid the wreck of cities, and the pride Of the green valleys and the isles laid low, The crash of walls, the tumult waste and wide, O'er sea and land; 'mid all this work of woe, Vesuvius still, though close its crater-glow, Forgetful spares--Heaven wills that it should spare, The lonely cell where kneels an aged priest in prayer.

_Fraser's Magazine_.

MARRIAGE AND FEASTS.

_("La salle est magnifique.")_

[IV. Aug. 23, 1839.]

The hall is gay with limpid l.u.s.tre bright-- The feast to pampered palate gives delight-- The sated guests pick at the spicy food, And drink profusely, for the cheer is good; And at that table--where the wise are few-- Both s.e.xes and all ages meet the view; The st.u.r.dy warrior with a thoughtful face-- The am'rous youth, the maid replete with grace, The prattling infant, and the h.o.a.ry hair Of second childhood's proselytes--are there;-- And the most gaudy in that s.p.a.cious hall, Are e'er the young, or oldest of them all Helmet and banner, ornament and crest, The lion rampant, and the jewelled vest, The silver star that glitters fair and white, The arms that tell of many a nation's might-- Heraldic blazonry, ancestral pride, And all mankind invents for pomp beside, The winged leopard, and the eagle wild-- All these encircle woman, chief and child; Shine on the carpet burying their feet, Adorn the dishes that contain their meat; And hang upon the drapery, which around Falls from the lofty ceiling to the ground, Till on the floor its waving fringe is spread, As the bird's wing may sweep the roses' bed.--

Thus is the banquet ruled by Noise and Light, Since Light and Noise are foremost on the site.

The chamber echoes to the joy of them Who throng around, each with his diadem-- Each seated on proud throne--but, lesson vain!

Each sceptre holds its master with a chain!

Thus hope of flight were futile from that hall, Where chiefest guest was most enslaved of all!

The G.o.dlike-making draught that fires the soul The Love--sweet poison-honey--past control, (Formed of the s.e.xual breath--an idle name, Offspring of Fancy and a nervous frame)-- Pleasure, mad daughter of the darksome Night, Whose languid eye flames when is fading light-- The gallant chases where a man is borne By stalwart charger, to the sounding horn-- The sheeny silk, the bed of leaves of rose, Made more to soothe the sight than court repose; The mighty palaces that raise the sneer Of jealous mendicants and wretches near-- The s.p.a.cious parks, from which horizon blue Arches o'er alabaster statues new; Where Superst.i.tion still her walk will take, Unto soft music stealing o'er the lake-- The innocent modesty by gems undone-- The qualms of judges by small brib'ry won-- The dread of children, trembling while they play-- The bliss of monarchs, potent in their sway-- The note of war struck by the culverin, That snakes its brazen neck through battle din-- The military millipede That tramples out the guilty seed-- The capital all pleasure and delight-- And all that like a town or army chokes The gazer with foul dust or sulphur smokes.

The budget, prize for which ten thousand bait A subtle hook, that ever, as they wait Catches a weed, and drags them to their fate, While gleamingly its golden scales still spread-- Such were the meats by which these guests were fed.

A hundred slaves for lazy master cared, And served each one with what was e'er prepared By him, who in a sombre vault below, Peppered the royal pig with peoples' woe, And grimly glad went laboring till late-- The morose alchemist we know as Fate!

That ev'ry guest might learn to suit his taste, Behind had Conscience, real or mock'ry, placed; Conscience a guide who every evil spies, But royal nurses early pluck out both his eyes!

Oh! at the table there be all the great, Whose lives are bubbles that best joys inflate!

Superb, magnificent of revels--doubt That sagest lose their heads in such a rout!

In the long laughter, ceaseless roaming round, Joy, mirth and glee give out a maelstrom's sound; And the astonished gazer casts his care, Where ev'ry eyeball glistens in the flare.