The Feast of Freedom
When the Christians were doomed to the lions of oldBy the priest and the praetor, combined to upholdAn idolatrous cause,Forth they came while the vast Colosseum throughoutGathered thousands looked on, and they fell 'mid the shoutOf "the People's" applause.
On the eve of that day of their evenings the last!At the gates of their dungeon a gorgeous repast,Rich, unstinted, unpriced,That the doomed might (forsooth) gather strength ere they bled,With an ignorant pity the jailers would spreadFor the martyrs of Christ.
Oh, 'twas strange for a pupil of Paul to reclineOn voluptuous couch, while Falernian wineFill'd his cup to the brim!Dulcet music of Greece, Asiatic repose,Spicy fragrance of Araby, Italian rose,All united for him!
Every luxury known through the earth's wide expanse,In profusion procured was put forth to enhanceThe repast that they gave;And no Sybarite, nursed in the lap of delight,Such a banquet ere tasted as welcomed that nightThe elect of the grave.
And the lion, meantime, shook his ponderous chain,Loud and fierce howled the tiger, impatient to stainThe bloodthirsty arena;Whilst the women of Rome, who applauded those deedsAnd who hailed the forthcoming enjoyment, must needsShame the restless hyena.
They who figured as guests on that ultimate eve,In their turn on the morrow were destined to giveTo the lions their food;For, behold, in the guise of a slave at that board,Where his victims enjoyed all that life can afford,Death administering stood.
Such, O monarchs of earth! was your banquet of power,But the tocsin has burst on your festival hour--'Tis your knell that it rings!To the popular tiger a prey is decreed,And the maw of Republican hunger will feedOn a banquet of Kings!
Words in this poem 16
- colosseum n.
- The amphitheater of Vespasian in Rome. [Also written Coliseum.] [Neut., fr. L. coloseus gigantic. See Coliseum.]
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- unpriced a.
- Not priced; being without a fixed or certain value; also, priceless.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- falernian a.
- Of or pertaining to Mount Falernus, in Italy; as, Falernianwine.
- dulcet a.
- Sweet to the taste; luscious. [OF. doucet, dim. of dous sweet, F. doux, L. dulcis; akin to Gr. Doucet.]
- araby n.
- The country of Arabia.
- enhance v. t.
- To raise or lift up; to exalt. Wyclif. [Norm. F. enhauncer, enhaucer, OF. enhaleier, enhaucier; pref. en- (L. in) + haucier to lift, raise up, from an assumed L. altiare, fr. L. altus high; cf. Pr. en]
- sybarite n.
- A person devoted to luxury and pleasure; a voluptuary. [L. Sybarita, Gr. Sybarite.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- bloodthirsty a.
- Eager to shed blood; cruel; sanguinary; murderous.
- forthcoming a.
- Ready or about to appear; making appearance.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- hyena n.
- Any carnivorous mammal of the family Hyænidæ, of which three living species are known. They are large and strong, but cowardly. [L. hyaena, Gr. hyène. See Sow female hog.]
- tocsin n.
- An alarm bell, or the ringing of a bell for the purpose of alarm. [F., fr. OF. toquier to touch, F. toquer (originally, a dialectic form of F. toucher) + seint (for sein) a bell, LL. signum, fr. L. signum a sign, signal. See To]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Feast of Freedom 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 Feast of Freedom, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-feast-of-freedom.html, id L26701.
Form and metre
The Feast of Freedom is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABCCB oldA · upholdA · causeB · throughoutC · shoutC · applauseB
- 2 AABCCB lastA · repastA · unpricedB · bledC · spreadC · christB
- 3 AABCCB reclineA · wineA · brimB · reposeC · roseC · himB
- 4 AABCCB expanseA · enhanceA · gaveB · delightC · nightC · graveB
- 5 AABCCB chainA · stainA · arenaB · deedsC · needsC · hyenaB
- 6 ---AA- eve · give · food · boardA · affordA · stood
- 7 AABCCB powerA · hourA · ringsB · decreedC · feedC · kingsB
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the Christians were doomed to the lions of old | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| By the priest and the praetor, combined to uphold | 12 | ·····/˘˘/·˘/ |
| An idolatrous cause, | 6 | ·˘/˘˘· |
| Forth they came while the vast Colosseum throughout | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| Gathered thousands looked on, and they fell 'mid the shout | 12 | /˘/˘········ |
| Of "the People's" applause. | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| On the eve of that day of their evenings the last! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| At the gates of their dungeon a gorgeous repast, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Rich, unstinted, unpriced, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That the doomed might (forsooth) gather strength ere they bled, | 12 | ····˘//˘···· |
| With an ignorant pity the jailers would spread | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| For the martyrs of Christ. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Oh, 'twas strange for a pupil of Paul to recline | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| On voluptuous couch, while Falernian wine | 12 | ·˘/˘˘··˘/˘˘· |
| Fill'd his cup to the brim! | 6 | ······ |
| Dulcet music of Greece, Asiatic repose, | 12 | /˘/˘···˘/˘˘/ |
| Spicy fragrance of Araby, Italian rose, | 12 | /˘/˘·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| All united for him! | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| Every luxury known through the earth's wide expanse, | 12 | /˘/˘˘·····˘/ |
| In profusion procured was put forth to enhance | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/····˘/ |
| The repast that they gave; | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| And no Sybarite, nursed in the lap of delight, | 12 | ··/˘˘·····˘/ |
| Such a banquet ere tasted as welcomed that night | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| The elect of the grave. | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| And the lion, meantime, shook his ponderous chain, | 12 | ··/˘/···/˘˘· |
| Loud and fierce howled the tiger, impatient to stain | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| The bloodthirsty arena; | 7 | ·/·˘˘/˘ |
| Whilst the women of Rome, who applauded those deeds | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘·· |
| And who hailed the forthcoming enjoyment, must needs | 12 | ····//˘˘/˘·· |
| Shame the restless hyena. | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| They who figured as guests on that ultimate eve, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘· |
| In their turn on the morrow were destined to give | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| To the lions their food; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| For, behold, in the guise of a slave at that board, | 12 | ·˘/········· |
| Where his victims enjoyed all that life can afford, | 12 | ··/˘˘/····˘/ |
| Death administering stood. | 7 | ·˘/˘˘˘· |
| Such, O monarchs of earth! was your banquet of power, | 13 | ··/·····/˘·/˘ |
| But the tocsin has burst on your festival hour-- | 13 | ··/˘····/˘˘/˘ |
| 'Tis your knell that it rings! | 6 | ······ |
| To the popular tiger a prey is decreed, | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| And the maw of Republican hunger will feed | 12 | ····˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| On a banquet of Kings! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
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.