Post by jeannerené on Jun 2, 2007 14:37:51 GMT -8
VICTOR HUGO. . . 1802-1885
Victor (-Marie) Hugo (1802-1885) was the most important of the French Romantic writers. He is considered one of the finest French poets. In English, he is best known for his two novels "Notre-Dame de Paris" (also "The Hunchback of Notre Dame") (1831) and "Les Miserables." (1862).
Hugo lived an unstable childhood as a result of friction between his parents. His mother was a royalist and his father a supporter of successive governments in fractious France. He began writing at an early age and his first book of poetry "Odes at Poesies Diverses" (1821) earned him a salary from the Crown. He then abandoned his misery-inducing law practice, and took up writing full-time. The young Marius in "Les Miserables" illustrates Hugo's own poor study habits as a law student.
Hugo translated Virgil for years and from him developed his classical style. The epic nature of "Les Miserables" in particular reflects his reverence for Greek and Roman poetry; the tale of the struggle between Jean Valjean, imprisoned so long for a loaf of bread, and the policeman, Javert, who persues him.
His poetry used a variety of metres and was transparent in language and emotion. He published many volumes of poetry and with "Cromwell" (1827 ), a verse-drama, his reputation soared. They play was too long to stage and its reputation rests primarily on the prologue.
~This article was written by Knowledgerush staff or contributed by users. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
******
Hugo's father was an officer in the French army, and most of his early life was spent in Paris with the exception of a year in Madrid where his father's military duties had taken him. This youthful experience left its imprint both on Hernani and Ruy Blas.
Hugo's interest in literature began young. In his early teens he was already entering poetical contests and was occasionally successful. At seventeen he founded a fortnightly journal which, however, was short-lived. At nineteen he wrote a play, Amy Robsart, taken for the most part from Scott's Kenilworth. This was put aside, and when at twenty-five, his Cromwell was successfully produced, he did not consider it fitting that his earlier effort on a borrowed subject should appear under his own name. He gave Amy Robsart to his brother-in-law, Paul Foucher, but when the latter produced it anonymously it was enthusiastically hissed. The youthful Hugo promptly claimed his share of the failure, a welcome character contrast to his later years which were "devoid of humor and filled with a self-glorifying vanity."
When Hugo was twenty-eight his much fought-over Hernani was produced, playing for 100 nights to audiences almost equally divided between disapproving classicists and adherents of the new romanticism. His thirtieth year saw the production of L' roi s'amuse which later became the libretto for Verdi's opera, Rigoletto. A great many critics consider Ruy Blas which appeared in 1838 his best dramatic effort, although, if popularity be the test, the laurels must rest with Hernani.
When Hugo died in Paris at the age of eighty-three his funeral became a pageant any sovereign might envy. He is probably better known to posterity as the author of the lengthy novel, Les Miserables, than as a successful playwright.
†This document was originally published in Minute History of the Drama. Alice B. Fort & Herbert S. Kates. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1935. p. 74.
********
I copied this poem down many years ago, while in High School I believe. I still love this poem as much as the first time I read it.
MORE STRONG THAN TIME
by: Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
Since I have set my lips to your full cup, my sweet,
Since I my pallid face between your hands have laid,
Since I have known your soul, and all the bloom of it,
And all the perfume rare, now buried in the shade;
Since it was given to me to hear on happy while,
The words wherein your heart spoke all its mysteries,
Since I have seen you weep, and since I have seen you smile,
Your lips upon my lips, and your eyes upon my eyes;
Since I have known above my forehead glance and gleam,
A ray, a single ray, of your star, veiled always,
Since I have felt the fall, upon my lifetime's stream,
Of one rose petal plucked from the roses of your days;
I now am bold to say to the swift changing hours,
Pass, pass upon your way, for I grow never old,
Fleet to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers,
One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold.
Your flying wings may smite, but they can never spill
The cup fulfilled of love, from which my lips are wet;
My heart has far more fire than you can frost to chill,
My soul more love than you can make my soul forget.
This English translation of "More Strong than Time" was composed by Andrew Lang (1844-1912).
********
After the Battle
by: Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
MY father, hero of benignant mien,
On horseback visited the gory scene,
After the battle as the evening fell,
And took with him a trooper loved right well,
Because of bravery and presence bold.
The field was covered with the dead, all cold,
And shades of night were deepening : came a sound,
Feeble and hoarse, from something on the ground ;
It was a Spaniard of the vanquished force,
Who dragged himself with pain beside their course.
Wounded and bleeding, livid and half dead,
"Give me to drink -- in pity, drink!" he said.
My father, touched, stretched to his follower now
A flask of rum that from his saddle-bow
Hung down : "The poor soul -- give him drink," said he
But while the trooper prompt, obediently
Stooped towards the other, he of Moorish race
Pointed a pistol at my father's face,
And with a savage oath the trigger drew :
The hat flew off, a bullet passing through.
As swerved his charger in a backward stride,
"Give him to drink the same," my father cried.
***
Links:
The Victor Hugo Website (lots of information .. good site)
www.hugo-online.org/
**
TheatreHistory.com
www.theatrehistory.com/french/hugo001.html
Victor (-Marie) Hugo (1802-1885) was the most important of the French Romantic writers. He is considered one of the finest French poets. In English, he is best known for his two novels "Notre-Dame de Paris" (also "The Hunchback of Notre Dame") (1831) and "Les Miserables." (1862).
Hugo lived an unstable childhood as a result of friction between his parents. His mother was a royalist and his father a supporter of successive governments in fractious France. He began writing at an early age and his first book of poetry "Odes at Poesies Diverses" (1821) earned him a salary from the Crown. He then abandoned his misery-inducing law practice, and took up writing full-time. The young Marius in "Les Miserables" illustrates Hugo's own poor study habits as a law student.
Hugo translated Virgil for years and from him developed his classical style. The epic nature of "Les Miserables" in particular reflects his reverence for Greek and Roman poetry; the tale of the struggle between Jean Valjean, imprisoned so long for a loaf of bread, and the policeman, Javert, who persues him.
His poetry used a variety of metres and was transparent in language and emotion. He published many volumes of poetry and with "Cromwell" (1827 ), a verse-drama, his reputation soared. They play was too long to stage and its reputation rests primarily on the prologue.
~This article was written by Knowledgerush staff or contributed by users. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
******
Hugo's father was an officer in the French army, and most of his early life was spent in Paris with the exception of a year in Madrid where his father's military duties had taken him. This youthful experience left its imprint both on Hernani and Ruy Blas.
Hugo's interest in literature began young. In his early teens he was already entering poetical contests and was occasionally successful. At seventeen he founded a fortnightly journal which, however, was short-lived. At nineteen he wrote a play, Amy Robsart, taken for the most part from Scott's Kenilworth. This was put aside, and when at twenty-five, his Cromwell was successfully produced, he did not consider it fitting that his earlier effort on a borrowed subject should appear under his own name. He gave Amy Robsart to his brother-in-law, Paul Foucher, but when the latter produced it anonymously it was enthusiastically hissed. The youthful Hugo promptly claimed his share of the failure, a welcome character contrast to his later years which were "devoid of humor and filled with a self-glorifying vanity."
When Hugo was twenty-eight his much fought-over Hernani was produced, playing for 100 nights to audiences almost equally divided between disapproving classicists and adherents of the new romanticism. His thirtieth year saw the production of L' roi s'amuse which later became the libretto for Verdi's opera, Rigoletto. A great many critics consider Ruy Blas which appeared in 1838 his best dramatic effort, although, if popularity be the test, the laurels must rest with Hernani.
When Hugo died in Paris at the age of eighty-three his funeral became a pageant any sovereign might envy. He is probably better known to posterity as the author of the lengthy novel, Les Miserables, than as a successful playwright.
†This document was originally published in Minute History of the Drama. Alice B. Fort & Herbert S. Kates. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1935. p. 74.
********
I copied this poem down many years ago, while in High School I believe. I still love this poem as much as the first time I read it.
MORE STRONG THAN TIME
by: Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
Since I have set my lips to your full cup, my sweet,
Since I my pallid face between your hands have laid,
Since I have known your soul, and all the bloom of it,
And all the perfume rare, now buried in the shade;
Since it was given to me to hear on happy while,
The words wherein your heart spoke all its mysteries,
Since I have seen you weep, and since I have seen you smile,
Your lips upon my lips, and your eyes upon my eyes;
Since I have known above my forehead glance and gleam,
A ray, a single ray, of your star, veiled always,
Since I have felt the fall, upon my lifetime's stream,
Of one rose petal plucked from the roses of your days;
I now am bold to say to the swift changing hours,
Pass, pass upon your way, for I grow never old,
Fleet to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers,
One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold.
Your flying wings may smite, but they can never spill
The cup fulfilled of love, from which my lips are wet;
My heart has far more fire than you can frost to chill,
My soul more love than you can make my soul forget.
This English translation of "More Strong than Time" was composed by Andrew Lang (1844-1912).
********
After the Battle
by: Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
MY father, hero of benignant mien,
On horseback visited the gory scene,
After the battle as the evening fell,
And took with him a trooper loved right well,
Because of bravery and presence bold.
The field was covered with the dead, all cold,
And shades of night were deepening : came a sound,
Feeble and hoarse, from something on the ground ;
It was a Spaniard of the vanquished force,
Who dragged himself with pain beside their course.
Wounded and bleeding, livid and half dead,
"Give me to drink -- in pity, drink!" he said.
My father, touched, stretched to his follower now
A flask of rum that from his saddle-bow
Hung down : "The poor soul -- give him drink," said he
But while the trooper prompt, obediently
Stooped towards the other, he of Moorish race
Pointed a pistol at my father's face,
And with a savage oath the trigger drew :
The hat flew off, a bullet passing through.
As swerved his charger in a backward stride,
"Give him to drink the same," my father cried.
***
Links:
The Victor Hugo Website (lots of information .. good site)
www.hugo-online.org/
**
TheatreHistory.com
www.theatrehistory.com/french/hugo001.html
