The Emperor's Return
HATTO. This goodly masque but lacked a fool!First gypsy; next a beggar;--good! Thy name?
BARBAROSSA. Frederick of Swabia, Emperor of Almain.
ALL. The Red Beard?
BARBAROSSA. Aye, Frederick, by my mountain birthright PrinceO' th' Romans, chosen king, crowned emperor,Heaven's sword-bearer, monarch of BurgundyAnd Arles--the tomb of Karl I dared profane,But have repented me on bended kneesIn penance 'midst the desert twenty years;My drink the rain, the rocky herbs my food,Myself a ghost the shepherds fled before,And the world named me as among the dead.But I have heard my country call--come forth,Lifted the shroud--broken the sepulchre.This hour is one when dead men needs must rise.Ye own me? Ye mind me marching through these valesWhen golden spur was ringing at my heel?Now know me what I am, your master, earls!Brave knights you deem! You say, "The sons we areOf puissant barons and great noblemen,Whose honors we prolong." You do prolong them?Your sires were soldiers brave, not prowlers base,Rogues, miscreants, felons, village-ravagers!They made great wars, they rode like heroes forth,And, worthy, won broad lands and towers and towns,So firmly won that thirty years of strifeMade of their followers dukes, their leaders kings!While you! like jackal and the bird of prey,Who lurk in copses or 'mid muddy beds--Crouching and hushed, with dagger ready drawn,Hide in the noisome marsh that skirts the way,Trembling lest passing hounds snuff out your lair!Listen at eventide on lonesome pathFor traveller's footfall, or the mule-bell's chime,Pouncing by hundreds on one helpless man,To cut him down, then back to your retreats--You dare to vaunt your sires? I call your sires,Bravest of brave and greatest 'mid the great,A line of warriors! you, a pack of thieves!
Words in this poem 18
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- masque n.
- A mask; a masquerade.
- almain n.
- A German. Also adj., [OF. Aleman, F. Allemand, fr. L. Alemanni, ancient Ger. tribes.]
- burgundy n.
- An old province of France (in the eastern central part).
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- sepulchre n.
- The place in which the dead body of a human being is interred, or a place set apart for that purpose; a grave; a tomb. [OE. sepulcre, OF. sepulcre, F. sépulcre, fr. L. sepulcrum, sepulchrum, fr. sepelire to bury.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- puissant a.
- Powerful; strong; mighty; forcible; as, a puissant prince or empire. [F., originally, a p. pr. formed fr. L. posse to be able: cf. L. potens powerful. See Potent.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- noisome a.
- Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as, noisome effluvia. [For noysome, fr. noy for annoy. See Annoy.]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- eventide n.
- The time of evening; evening. [AS. æfentid. See Tide.]
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- footfall n.
- A setting down of the foot; a footstep; the sound of a footstep.
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- pouncing n.
- The art or practice of transferring a design by means of pounce.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Emperor's Return 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, The Emperor's Return, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-emperor-s-return.html, id L26884.
Form and metre
The Emperor's Return is 40 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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.
- 4 ------------------------A--A-------- prince · emperor · burgundy · profane · knees · years · food · before · dead · forth · sepulchre · rise · vales · heel · earls · are · noblemen · them · base · ravagers · forth · towns · strife · kings · preyA · beds · drawn · wayA · lair · path · chime · man · retreats · sires · great · thieves
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HATTO. This goodly masque but lacked a fool! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| First gypsy; next a beggar;--good! Thy name? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| BARBAROSSA. Frederick of Swabia, Emperor of Almain. | 14 | ····/˘···/˘··· |
| ALL. The Red Beard? | 4 | ···· |
| BARBAROSSA. Aye, Frederick, by my mountain birthright Prince | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘/·· |
| O' th' Romans, chosen king, crowned emperor, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Heaven's sword-bearer, monarch of Burgundy | 11 | /˘·/˘/··/˘˘ |
| And Arles--the tomb of Karl I dared profane, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| But have repented me on bended knees | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| In penance 'midst the desert twenty years; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| My drink the rain, the rocky herbs my food, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Myself a ghost the shepherds fled before, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And the world named me as among the dead. | 10 | ·········· |
| But I have heard my country call--come forth, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Lifted the shroud--broken the sepulchre. | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| This hour is one when dead men needs must rise. | 10 | ·/········ |
| Ye own me? Ye mind me marching through these vales | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| When golden spur was ringing at my heel? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Now know me what I am, your master, earls! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Brave knights you deem! You say, "The sons we are | 10 | ·········· |
| Of puissant barons and great noblemen, | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| Whose honors we prolong." You do prolong them? | 11 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/· |
| Your sires were soldiers brave, not prowlers base, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Rogues, miscreants, felons, village-ravagers! | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| They made great wars, they rode like heroes forth, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And, worthy, won broad lands and towers and towns, | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| So firmly won that thirty years of strife | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Made of their followers dukes, their leaders kings! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While you! like jackal and the bird of prey, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who lurk in copses or 'mid muddy beds-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Crouching and hushed, with dagger ready drawn, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Hide in the noisome marsh that skirts the way, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Trembling lest passing hounds snuff out your lair! | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Listen at eventide on lonesome path | 10 | /˘·/˘˘·/˘· |
| For traveller's footfall, or the mule-bell's chime, | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Pouncing by hundreds on one helpless man, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| To cut him down, then back to your retreats-- | 10 | ········˘/ |
| You dare to vaunt your sires? I call your sires, | 10 | ·········· |
| Bravest of brave and greatest 'mid the great, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| A line of warriors! you, a pack of thieves! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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