Patria (French & English)

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



(Musique de Beethoven)

Là-haut qui sourit ?
Est-ce un esprit ?
Est-ce une femme ?
Quel front sombre et doux !
Peuple, à genoux !
Est-ce notre âme
Qui vient à nous ?

Cette figure en deuil
Paraît sur notre seuil,
Et notre antique orgueil
Sort du cercueil.
Ses fiers regards vainqueurs
Réveillent tous les coeurs,
Les nids dans les buissons,
Et les chansons.

C'est l'ange du jour ;
L'espoir, l'amour
Du coeur qui pense
Du monde enchanté
C'est la clarté.
Son nom est France
Ou Vérité.

Bel ange, à ton miroir
Quand s'offre un vil pouvoir,
Tu viens, terrible à voir,
Sous le ciel noir.
Tu dis au monde : Allons !
Formez vos bataillons !
Et le monde ébloui
Te répond : Oui.

C'est l'ange de nuit.
Rois, il vous suit,
Marquant d'avance
Le fatal moment
Au firmament.
Son nom est France
Ou Châtiment.
Ainsi que nous voyons
En mai les alcyons,
Voguez, ô nations,
Dans ses rayons !
Son bras aux cieux dressé
Ferme le noir passé
Et les portes de fer
Du sombre enfer.
C'est l'ange de Dieu.
Dans le ciel bleu
Son aile immense
Couvre avec fierté
L'humanité.
Son nom est France
Ou Liberté !

Patria

Who smiles there? Is it
A stray spirit,
Or woman fair?
Sombre yet soft the brow!
Bow, nations, bow;
O soul in air,
Speak! what art thou?

In grief the fair face seems.
What means those sudden gleams?
Our antique pride from dreams
Starts up, and beams
Its conquering glance,
To make our sad hearts dance,
And wake in woods hushed long
The wild bird's song.
Angel of Day!
Our hope, love, stay,
Thy countenance
Lights land and sea
Eternally:
Thy name is France,
Or Verity.

Fair angel, in thy glass
When vile things move or pass,
Clouds in the skies amass;
Terrible, alas!
They stern commands are then:
'Form your battalions, men;
The flag display!'
And all obey.
Angel of Might
Sent kings to smite,
The words in dark skies glance,
'Mene, Mene,' hiss
Bolts that never miss!
Thy name is France,
Or Nemesis.

As halcyons in May,
O nations! in his ray
Float and bask for aye,
Nor know decay.
One arm upraised to heaven
Seals the past forgiven;
One holds a sword
To quell hell's horde.
Angel of God,
The wings stretch broad
As heaven's expanse,
To shield and free
Humanity!
Thy name is France,
Or Liberty!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:01 min read
106

Quick analysis:

Scheme a bbxccdc eeeecccc fxcbbCb ffxxcced bbcbbCbccccccgfbecbbCb bbghhgh cccccciibbccdCb ccccjjekbbcccCc kkxkaabbbbcdbCb
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 2,154
Words 392
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 1, 7, 8, 7, 8, 22, 7, 15, 15, 15

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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