The Exile's Desire
Would I could see you, native land,Where lilacs and the almond standBehind fields flowering to the strand--But no!
Can I--oh, father, mother, craveAnother final blessing saveTo rest my head upon your grave?--But no!
In the one pit where ye repose,Would I could tell of France's woes,My brethren, who fell facing foes--But no!
Would I had--oh, my dove of light,After whose flight came ceaseless night,One plume to clasp so purely white.--But no!
Far from ye all--oh, dead, bewailed!The fog-bell deafens me empaledUpon this rock--I feel enjailed--Though free.
Like one who watches at the gateLest some shall 'scape the doomèd strait.I watch! the tyrant, howe'er late,Must fall!
Words in this poem
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Exile's Desire 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 Exile's Desire, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-exile-s-desire.html, id L26851.
Form and metre
The Exile's Desire is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAA- landA · standA · strandA · no
- 2 AAA- craveA · saveA · graveA · no
- 3 AAA- reposeA · woesA · foesA · no
- 4 AAA- lightA · nightA · whiteA · no
- 5 AAA- bewailedA · empaledA · enjailedA · free
- 6 AAA- gateA · straitA · lateA · fall
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Would I could see you, native land, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where lilacs and the almond stand | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Behind fields flowering to the strand-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But no! | 2 | ·· |
| Can I--oh, father, mother, crave | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Another final blessing save | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| To rest my head upon your grave?-- | 8 | ········ |
| But no! | 2 | ·· |
| In the one pit where ye repose, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Would I could tell of France's woes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My brethren, who fell facing foes-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But no! | 2 | ·· |
| Would I had--oh, my dove of light, | 8 | ········ |
| After whose flight came ceaseless night, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| One plume to clasp so purely white.-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But no! | 2 | ·· |
| Far from ye all--oh, dead, bewailed! | 8 | ········ |
| The fog-bell deafens me empaled | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon this rock--I feel enjailed-- | 8 | ········ |
| Though free. | 2 | ·· |
| Like one who watches at the gate | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lest some shall 'scape the doomèd strait. | 7 | ······· |
| I watch! the tyrant, howe'er late, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Must fall! | 2 | ·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.