Mourning
Charles, Charles, my son! hast thou, then, quitted me?Must all fade, naught endure?Hast vanished in that radiance, clear for thee,But still for us obscure?
My sunset lingers, boy, thy morn declines!Sweet mutual love we've known;For man, alas! plans, dreams, and smiling twinesWith others' souls his own.
He cries, "This has no end!" pursues his way:He soon is downward bound:He lives, he suffers; in his grasp one dayMere dust and ashes found.
I've wandered twenty years, in distant lands,With sore heart forced to stay:Why fell the blow Fate only understands!God took my home away.
To-day one daughter and one son remainOf all my goodly show:Wellnigh in solitude my dark hours wane;God takes my children now.
Linger, ye two still left me! though decaysOur nest, our hearts remain;In gloom of death your mother silent prays,I in this life of pain.
Martyr of Sion! holding Thee in sight,I'll drain this cup of gall,And scale with step resolved that dangerous height,Which rather seems a fall.
Truth is sufficient guide; no more man needsThan end so nobly shown.Mourning, but brave, I march; where duty leads,I seek the vast unknown.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mourning is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, Mourning, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/mourning.html, id L26839.
Form and metre
Mourning is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB meA · endureB · theeA · obscureB
- 2 ABAB declinesA · knownB · twinesA · ownB
- 3 ABAB wayA · boundB · dayA · foundB
- 4 ABAB landsA · stayB · understandsA · awayB
- 5 A-A- remainA · show · waneA · now
- 6 ABAB decaysA · remainB · praysA · painB
- 7 ABAB sightA · gallB · heightA · fallB
- 8 ABAB needsA · shownB · leadsA · unknownB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Charles, Charles, my son! hast thou, then, quitted me? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Must all fade, naught endure? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Hast vanished in that radiance, clear for thee, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| But still for us obscure? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| My sunset lingers, boy, thy morn declines! | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| Sweet mutual love we've known; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| For man, alas! plans, dreams, and smiling twines | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| With others' souls his own. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He cries, "This has no end!" pursues his way: | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| He soon is downward bound: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He lives, he suffers; in his grasp one day | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Mere dust and ashes found. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I've wandered twenty years, in distant lands, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With sore heart forced to stay: | 6 | ······ |
| Why fell the blow Fate only understands! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| God took my home away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To-day one daughter and one son remain | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Of all my goodly show: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wellnigh in solitude my dark hours wane; | 10 | /˘·/˘···/· |
| God takes my children now. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Linger, ye two still left me! though decays | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Our nest, our hearts remain; | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| In gloom of death your mother silent prays, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I in this life of pain. | 6 | ······ |
| Martyr of Sion! holding Thee in sight, | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| I'll drain this cup of gall, | 6 | ······ |
| And scale with step resolved that dangerous height, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Which rather seems a fall. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Truth is sufficient guide; no more man needs | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Than end so nobly shown. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Mourning, but brave, I march; where duty leads, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| I seek the vast unknown. | 6 | ····˘/ |
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