108. OCEANO NOX. July, 1836; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. The
title is from Vergil, _Aen._ ii, 250: _Vertitur interea caelum et ruit
Oceano nox_.
110. NUITS DE JUIN. 1837; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. "LA TOMBE
DIT À LA ROSE." June 3, 1837; from _les Voix intérieures_. TRISTESSE
D'OLYMPIO. October, 1837; from _les Rayons et les ombres_. See the
discussion of this poem in Brunetière, _Évolution de la poésie
lyrique_, i, 200 ff. His view is indicated in the following extract:
"Ces grands thèmes, les plus riches de tous,--la Nature, l'Amour et la
Mort,--dans le développement desquels nous sommes convenus de chercher
et de vérifier la mesure du pouvoir lyrique, Hugo les mêle ou les fond
ensemble, il les enchevêtre, il les complique, il les multiplie les
uns par les autres, et de cette complication, admirez les effets qu'il
tire.... C'est en effet ici qu'éclate, à mon avis, la supériorité
de la _Tristesse d'Olympio_ sur le _Lac_ de Lamartine ou sur le
_Souvenir_ de Musset, qu'on lui a si souvent, et à tort, préférés. Non
pas du tout, vous le pensez bien, que je veuille nier le charme pur
et pénétrant du _Lac_, ou la douloureuse et poignante éloquence du
_Souvenir_! Incomparable élégie, le _Lac_ de Lamartine a pour lui la
discrétion même, l'élégance, l'idéale mélancolie, la caresse ou la
volupté de sa plainte; et, dans le _Souvenir_ de Musset, nous le
verrons bientôt, c'est la passion même qui parle toute pure. Mais,
dans la _Tristesse d'Olympio_, de même que les voix des instruments se
marient dans l'orchestre, la note aiguë, déchirante et prolongée du
violon à la lamentation plus profonde et plus grave de l'alto, le
tumulte éclatant des cuivres aux sons plus perçants de la flûte,
tandis qu'au-dessus d'eux la voix humaine continue son chant d'amour
ou de colère, de haine ou d'adoration, c'est ainsi que la mélodie très
simple et comme élémentaire du souvenir s'enrichit, s'augmente,
se renforce, et se soutient chez Hugo d'un accompagnement d'une
prodigieuse richesse, ou tout concourt ensemble, toute la nature et
tout l'homme, toute la poésie de l'amour, toute celle des bois et des
plaines, toute la poésie de la mort."
116. "A QUOI BON ENTENDRE." July, 1838; from the drama _Ruy Blas_, act
ii, scene I.
117. CHANSON. "SI VOUS N'AVEZ RIEN À ME DIRE." May, 18--; from _les
Contemplations_.
118. "QUAND NOUS HABITIONS TOUS ENSEMBLE." Sept. 4, 1844; from _les
Contemplations_. The poet's daughter Léopoldine had married Charles
Vacquerie in the summer of 1843. On the fourth of September of the
same year she was drowned, together with her husband, in the Seine
near Villequier. Her death was a great shock to Hugo, and the few
verses that we have from these years are full of the bitterness of
loss sweetened by remembrance of happy earlier days. Her memory is
everywhere present in the _Contemplations_; compare the following
poems.
119. 5. SI JEUNE ENCORE; _jeune_ refers of course to the subject; Hugo
was twenty-two when Léopoldine was born. "O SOUVENIRS! PRINTEMPS!
AURORE!" Villequier, Sept. 4, 1846; from _les Contemplations_. Notice
the date.
120. 2. MONTLIGNON, Saint-Leu, small places just out of Paris to the
north.
121. ARIOSTE, Ariosto (1474-1533), a famous Italian poet, author of
_Orlando Furioso_. "DEMAIN, DÈS L'AUBE." Sept. 3, 1847; from _les
Contemplations_. Notice the date. 21. DEMAIN, i.e. the anniversary of
his daughter's death.
122. 2. HARFLEUR, a small town on the Channel coast, a few miles from
Havre, near the mouth of the Seine. VENI, VIDI, VIXI. April, 1848;
from _les Contemplations_.
123. LE CHANT DE CEUX QUI S'EN VONT SUR MER. Dated: _En mer, 1er août,
1852_. This and the next following poems, from _les Châtiments_, are
the expression of the poet's hatred for Napoleon III. This volume
was the direct fruit of his exile in consequence of his determined
opposition to the imperial ambitions of Napoleon. He had been active
in trying to organize resistance after the _coup d'état_, and with
difficulty had evaded arrest and escaped to Brussels. After the
publication of his denunciatory volume, _Napoléon le Petit_, the
Belgian government expelled him. and he took refuge first in England,
whence he passed immediately to the island of Jersey, where he
arrived on the fifth of August, 1852. In 1855 residence in Jersey was
forbidden him and he removed to Guernsey, where he continued to reside
till the downfall of Napoleon I.
124. LUNA. July, 1853. 23. L'AN QUATRE-VINGT-ONZE, 1791, the beginning
of the French Revolution.
126. LE CHASSEUR NOIR. September, 1853. 27. SAINT ANTOINE; Saint
Anthony (250-356) was a native of Upper Egypt, withdrew to the desert,
and gave his life up to ascetic devotion in solitude and voluntary
poverty. Legend represents him as beset by tempting demons.
128. LUX. December, 1853. 9. Capets; the kings of France from the
accession of Hugh Capet in 987 to that of the house of Valois with
Philip VI. in 1328 were Capets.
129. ULTIMA VERBA. December, 1853. 4. Mandrin, a notorious bandit,
executed in 1755.
130. 3. Louvre, see note p. 318. 22. Sylla, see note p. 319. CHANSON.
"_Proscrit, regarde les roses_." May, 1854; from _les Quatre Vents de
l'esprit_, livre lyrique. Concerning the inexact rhyme _semai_: _mai_,
rare with Hugo, see _Revue politique et littéraire_, July 16, 1881.
132. EXIL. Between 1868 and 1881; from _les Quatre Vents de l'esprit_,
_livre lyrique_. 5. COLOMBE, his daughter Léopoldine. 6. ET TOI, MÈRE;
Mme Victor Hugo died in 1868. SAISON DES SEMAILLES. LE SOIR. From les_
Chansons des rues et des bois_. The poem is not dated; the volume
appeared in 1865.
133. 2. LABOURS, _plowed fields_. This seems almost to have been
written for the well-known painting of "The Sower" by Millet,
exhibited in 1850. However, Millet's sower is a young man. UN HYMNE
HARMONIEUX. From _les Quatre Vents de l'esprit_, the poem bears no
date.
134. PROMENADE DANS LES ROCHERS. From _les Quatre Vents de l'esprit_;
not dated.