Selected Poems of Victor Hugo: A Bilingual Edition

by Victor Hugo, E.H. Blackmore (Translator), A.M. Blackmore (Translator)

Although best known as the author of Notre Dame de Paris and Les Misérables , Victor Hugo was primarily a poet—one of the most important and prolific in French history. Despite his renown, however, there are few comprehensive collections of his verse available and even fewer translated editions.

Translators E. H. and A. M. Blackmore have collected Victor Hugo's essential verse into a single, bilingual volume that showcases all the facets of Hugo's oeuvre, including intimate love poems, satires against the political establishment, serene meditations, religious verse, and narrative poems illustrating his mastery of the art of storytelling and his abiding concern for the social issues of his time. More than half of this volume's eight thousand lines of verse appear here for the first time in English, providing readers with a new perspective on each of the fascinating periods of Hugo's career and aspects of his style. Introductions to each section guide the reader through the stages of Hugo's writing, while notes on individual poems provide information not found in even the most detailed French-language editions.

Illustrated with Hugo's own paintings and drawings, this lucid translation—available on the eve of Hugo's bicentenary—pays homage to this towering figure of nineteenth-century literature by capturing the energy of his poetry, the drama and satirical force of his language, and the visionary beauty of his writing as a whole.

Genres: Poetry, France, Classics, French Literature, Literature, Reference, Fiction

664 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

After Napoleon III seized power in 1851, French writer Victor Marie Hugo went into exile and in 1870 returned to France; his novels include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

This poet, playwright, novelist, dramatist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, and perhaps the most influential, important exponent of the Romantic movement in France, campaigned for human rights. People in France regard him as one of greatest poets of that country and know him better abroad.

Reviews

[esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

how does one Read a poetry book? I feel like I'll never truly be done reading this.

[Rosa Ramôa · Rating 4 out of 5]

*
O Homem e a Mulher

O homem é a mais elevada das criaturas;
A mulher é o mais sublime dos ideais.
O homem é o cérebro;
A mulher é o coração.
O cérebro fabrica a luz;
O coração, o amor.
A luz fecunda, o amor ressuscita.
O homem é forte pela razão;
A mulher é invencível pelas lágrimas.
A razão convence, as lágrimas comovem.
O homem é capaz de todos os heroísmos;
A mulher, de todos os martírios.
O heroísmo enobrece, o martírio sublima.
O homem é um código;
A mulher é um evangelho.
O código corrige; o evangelho aperfeiçoa.
O homem é um templo; a mulher é o sacrário.
Ante o templo nos descobrimos;
Ante o sacrário nos ajoelhamos.
O homem pensa; a mulher sonha.
Pensar é ter , no crânio, uma larva;
Sonhar é ter , na fronte, uma auréola.
O homem é um oceano; a mulher é um lago.
O oceano tem a pérola que adorna;
O lago, a poesia que deslumbra.
O homem é a águia que voa;
A mulher é o rouxinol que canta.
Voar é dominar o espaço;
Cantar é conquistar a alma.
Enfim, o homem está colocado onde termina a terra;
A mulher, onde começa o céu.

[Svetlana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelent descriptions. I love how he makes things, the wind, the sea, rivers mountains... even a sunset come to life.

[Vera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dutch is my native language, I live in Germany so that is the language of my daily life, I encounter a lot of English in publications, music, movies, foreign friends and so on, so I would call that my third language. I did learn some French in school, but I haven't kept much more than the basics. Much of Hugo's poetry wasn't translated or isn't available to a non-French speaking audience anymore. Being about 9 months into my course, DuoLingo is now helping me understanding at least 50% of his writing.

Not having the hope of ever going to be a fluent reader of French, and the total lack of German or Dutch translations, I hoped this bilingual selection of his poetry would help me getting acquainted with Hugo's poems, but I have to admit I am rather disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the book is utterly beautiful: the velvety cover, the fonts, the typeset, the extensive introduction, footnotes and biographical information and so on, and the translators are clearly professionals. But the book didn't help me as I hoped it would, and that's why it took me 9 months to read it.

It might very well be a different experience for native English speakers of course. As said, I am able to make *something* out of the French text, and with this knowledge I do recognize the original poems a actually of a much simpler fashion than their translations. The translators have chosen to try their best to keep the original rhythm and rhyme, ànd stay close to the literal meaning, but the result is very complicated nested sentences and the use of uncommon words, and thus the impression that Hugo's work is way less accessible than it actually might have been.

As for the poems themselves: first of all, I am impressed by the vastness of Hugo's oeuvre. He wrote SO MUCH. I've always admired his prose and after working my way through this book I really want to read more of his poetry... but definitely in French, so I'd better get back to my course now!

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent my summer vacation reading through this book, as well as the 2002 Brooks Haxton translation "Victor Hugo Selected Poems." Knowing nothing about Hugo, I also had to read up on the French Revolution and the difference between Napoleon I and Napoleon III. I'm grateful to Angeel ___, the late French scholar who last resided at a retirement home in San Mateo, for turning my attention to this major poet of the Romantic period.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love, love love so many poems here. Some not so much. I like to be able to pick this book up, close my eyes and let the pages flutter by until my finger stops the movement. I always find something new in this collection even if I've read many of the poems many times. Definitely not for everyone, but filled with emotion as only Victor Hugo can...

[Varja Askeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing work by an amazing poet!
A very good translation, since they havn't changed too much in his poems - Victor Hugo's spirit is still in this english translation. Great work, I don't think it could have been done better!

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing wrong with these poems, but none of their themes or metaphors caught my fancy.

[Saimi Korhonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Little of what we were remains alive.
Here the forest has shrunk, there it has spread:
Our gathered memories scatter in the wind
Like a mere pile of ashes, cold and dead

Do we no longer live? Has our time passed?"

3,5/5!

This book collects some of the best and most beloved of Victor Hugo's poetry from different points in his life. It includes poems on love, loss, religion, mythology, politics, dreams, nature and parenthood, and it also includes, alongside the English translation, the original French poem. I cannot read French - I can understand bits and pieces - but it was lovely to be able to see what the original text looked like and try my best to both translate and pronounce it from time to time. The book also provides handy context for where Hugo was in his life when certain poems were published, which aids you in understanding some of the references.

Victor Hugo is one of my favourite writers and the genius behind my favorite book of all time, Les Misérables. This was my first time reading his poetry, and overall, I really enjoyed it. There were some poems, especially in the latter half of the collection, that went over my head and that I ended up skim-reading cause I wasn't enjoying them that much, but most of the time, I enjoyed his poems quite a bit, especially the ones centered around themes of love, parenthood and nature. It's a given, when you read a Hugo book, that there will be some political commentary and criticism of society. I really enjoyed how Hugo wove those classic themes of his - themes that are apparent in pretty much every novel he has written - into his poetry, sometimes through metaphor and sometimes blatantly.

The difficulties I had in understanding some of the poems had to do with their heavy use of metaphor and imagery, their Christian references (I don't know much about the Bible or Christian mythology, so a lot of those references were completely strange to me) and the overall floweriness of the writing. I am much more comfortable with modern poetry: 19th century poetry can be quite difficult for me.

I am happy I powered through this collection, even though sometimes it was a bit dense. I mean, some of the poems were like 15 pages and I don't have the ability to fathom something like that. I think, to me, Hugo is more impressive as a novelist, but I'm happy that I will be able to say that I have explored this side of his literary legacy as well.

[Mohammed omran · Rating 5 out of 5]

يبدأ فيكتور هوغو بالحديث عن الولد الأكبر شارل الذي كان الأول بين الراحلَيْن. فهو يراه مختالاً بنفسه ذكياً ويعمل من دون كلل أو ملل. بيد ان هذا التوصيف لا يعني ان الكاتب- الأب أراد هنا أن يكتب سيرة ابنه الذي كان يرى فيه في البداية نوعاً من الاستكمال لمسيرته الخاصة، ولكن صورة جانبية تتفادى رسم المسار الذي سارت عليه حياة شارل القصيرة. وهكذا، من دون سرد تأريخي كرونولوجي يحدثنا فيكتور كيف كان شارل كاتباً ومؤلف كتب كبيراً وربما بخاصة بفضل روايته «الرؤيوية» المعنونة «خنزير القديس أنطوان». بيد ان من الواضح هنا ان الأب يفضل على هذه الرواية كتابات ابنه المسرحية التي كان من بينها اقتباس رضي فيكتور عنه لحلقة من حلقات رواية «البؤساء»، ناهيك بأن الأب لا يفوته أبداً هنا أن يشيد بمساهمات ابنه في مجال الكتابات الصحافية السياسية حيث ان شارل عُرف فترة بتلك الكتابات التي اعتادت ان تأخذ الجانب التقدمي في الصراعات السياسية والاحتماعية التي كانت محتدمة في فرنسا أواسط القرن التاسع عشر. وفي مقابل الإشادة هنا بإنجازات الابن ومساهماته في هذه المجالات، من المدهش، كما يرى دارسو حياة هوغو الأب وكتاباته ان هذا الأخير يغض الطرف تماماً عن أي ذكر لنشاطات شارل كـ «وسيط روحي» كما عن نشاطه المبكر في ممارسة التصوير الفوتوغرافي، ثم بخاصة عن... التنافس الذي قام بين الأب والابن من حول الارتباط - ارتباط كل منهما وفي الوقت نفسه تقريباً، بالممثلة آليس أوزي. كل هذه الأمور لم يجد فيكتور هوغو مدعاة للحديث عنها مفضلاً سلوك مبدأ «اذكروا محاسن موتاكم» كما يبدو. وفيكتور هوغو كان يرى، كما هو واضح، أن محاسن شارل كانت تكمن في كونه كاتباً واعداً لم تكتمل حياته للأسف. أما الحديث عن حياته المضطربة فأمر تركه كما هو واضح للمؤرخين يدنون منه من بعده!

[genia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first attempt at trying romantic poems was Lord Byron because lots of people seem to love his pieces but well.. I don’t. I then began doubting whether romantic poems are even for me. So I tried Hugo’s and pretty much love them. But I do feel like I would have loved it more if I spoke French because translating poems seems to be trickier than novels. And for that reason I abandoned my Spanish course and started French instead because I could never re-read Les Misérables in its original language thus hopefully I would be able to re-read the French side of this collection again. And that's how much I love Victor Hugo. Because my life is a bleak hallway leading up solely to his oeuvre.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Same old complaint: I don't know French. The introduction has the usual translator's disclaimers. Even poorly translated at least some lines can't escape being tantalizing. I'm not saying this is a poor translation. It doesn't always read as the poems that so heavily influenced France of his day, his contemporary writers and those after him. So many of these lines do sing, singe, pool blood black as a burned disc of paper that would to snow turn with a single touch, or breath's semi-skying untouch. No?

[Vince C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read in the past that Victor Hugo called himself a poet, and not a writer. I found this statement interesting considering he created two “classic” novels in his lifetime. After reading this fine book of selected poems, I now get it… The man was a poet.

[Botezatu Mihaela Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

« La source dit au gouffre amer:
Je te donne, sans bruit ni gloire,
Ce qui te manque, ô vaste mer!
Une goutte d'eau qu'on peut boire. »

[Lilixguegue31 · Rating 4 out of 5]

j’ai beaucoup aimé les poèmes

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 2 out of 5]

That these are mostly pretty terrible, stylistically-speaking, is no reflection on Hugo as a writer: indeed, he is one of the titans of the modern novel, unassailable and profound. Instead, it's mostly a reflection on the stale shape of poetry during the period straddling the middle of the 19th century. With Romanticism twitching about and Symbolism and the "moderns" en route, Hugo unfortunately falls in a weird niche of unbelievably awful verse partly centered on eulogizing and panegyricizing historical events. Yawner yo-ha!

[sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still pick this up and read a bit from it. I love Hugo's poetry.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man was so talented. I have heard that he wrote one poem every day for his entire adult life! Some consider him the father of the romantic period in France.

[Medayat · Rating 3 out of 5]

un grand poete .. un grand homme ..
un celebre intellectuel francais de tous les temmps
ces poemes sont clairs et eternels..

[Singh Gurcharan]

I just start read this book