The Old and the Young Bridegroom
Listen. The man for whom your youth is destined,Your uncle, Ruy de Silva, is the DukeOf Pastrana, Count of Castile and Aragon.For lack of youth, he brings you, dearest girl,Treasures of gold, jewels, and precious gems,With which your brow might outshine royalty;And for rank, pride, splendor, and opulence,Might many a queen be envious of his duchess!Here is one picture. I am poor; my youthI passed i' the woods, a barefoot fugitive.My shield, perchance, may bear some noble blazonsSpotted with blood, defaced though not dishonored.Perchance I, too, have rights, now veiled in darkness,--Rights, which the heavy drapery of the scaffoldNow hides beneath its black and ample folds;Rights which, if my intent deceive me not,My sword shall one day rescue. To be brief:--I have received from churlish Fortune nothingBut air, light, water,--Nature's general boon.Choose, then, between us two, for you must choose;--Say, will you wed the duke, or follow me?
DONNA SOL. I'll follow you.
HERN. What, 'mongst my rude companions,Whose names are registered in the hangman's book?Whose hearts are ever eager as their swords,Edged by a personal impulse of revenge?Will you become the queen, dear, of my band?Will you become a hunted outlaw's bride?When all Spain else pursued and banished me,--In her proud forests and air-piercing mountains,And rocks the lordly eagle only knew,Old Catalonia took me to her bosom.Among her mountaineers, free, poor, and brave,I ripened into manhood, and, to-morrow,One blast upon my horn, among her hills,Would draw three thousand of her sons around me.You shudder,--think upon it. Will you treadThe shores, woods, mountains, with me, among menLike the dark spirits of your haunted dreams,--Suspect all eyes, all voices, every footstep,--Sleep on the grass, drink of the torrent, hearBy night the sharp hiss of the musket-ballWhistling too near your ear,--a fugitiveProscribed, and doomed mayhap to follow meIn the path leading to my father's scaffold?
DONNA SOL. I'll follow you.
HERN. This duke is rich, great, prosperous,No blot attaches to his ancient name.He is all-powerful. He offers youHis treasures, titles, honors, with his hand.
DONNA SOL. We will depart to-morrow. Do not blameWhat may appear a most unwomanly boldness.
Words in this poem
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- outshine v. i.
- To shine forth.
- opulence n.
- Wealth; riches; affluence. Swift [L. opulentia: cf. F. opulence. See Opulent.]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- duchess n.
- The wife or widow of a duke; also, a lady who has the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. [F. duchesse, fr. duc duke.]
- barefoot a.
- With the feet bare; without shoes or stockings.
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- 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,]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- donna n.
- A lady; madam; mistress; -- the title given a lady in Italy. [It. donna, L. domina. See Don, Dame.]
- hern n.
- A heron; esp., the common European heron.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- mayhap adv.
- Perhaps; peradventure. [Prov. or Dialectic]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Old and the Young Bridegroom 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 Old and the Young Bridegroom, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-old-and-the-young-bridegroom.html, id L26873.
Form and metre
The Old and the Young Bridegroom is 52 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 ------A---A---------- destined · duke · aragon · girl · gems · royalty · opulenceA · duchess · youth · fugitive · blazonsA · dishonored · darkness · scaffold · folds · not · brief · nothing · boon · choose · me
- 3 ------A------A-------A- companions · book · swords · revenge · band · bride · meA · mountains · knew · bosom · brave · morrow · hills · meA · tread · men · dreams · footstep · hear · ball · fugitive · meA · scaffold
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Listen. The man for whom your youth is destined, | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| Your uncle, Ruy de Silva, is the Duke | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of Pastrana, Count of Castile and Aragon. | 13 | ·˘/˘······/˘· |
| For lack of youth, he brings you, dearest girl, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Treasures of gold, jewels, and precious gems, | 10 | /˘··/˘·/˘· |
| With which your brow might outshine royalty; | 10 | ·····/·/˘˘ |
| And for rank, pride, splendor, and opulence, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘˘ |
| Might many a queen be envious of his duchess! | 11 | ·/···/˘··/˘ |
| Here is one picture. I am poor; my youth | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I passed i' the woods, a barefoot fugitive. | 11 | ······/·/˘˘ |
| My shield, perchance, may bear some noble blazons | 11 | ··˘/···/˘·· |
| Spotted with blood, defaced though not dishonored. | 11 | /˘··˘/··˘/˘ |
| Perchance I, too, have rights, now veiled in darkness,-- | 11 | ˘/·······/˘ |
| Rights, which the heavy drapery of the scaffold | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Now hides beneath its black and ample folds; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Rights which, if my intent deceive me not, | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| My sword shall one day rescue. To be brief:-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I have received from churlish Fortune nothing | 11 | ··˘/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| But air, light, water,--Nature's general boon. | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Choose, then, between us two, for you must choose;-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Say, will you wed the duke, or follow me? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| DONNA SOL. I'll follow you. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| HERN. What, 'mongst my rude companions, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Whose names are registered in the hangman's book? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whose hearts are ever eager as their swords, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Edged by a personal impulse of revenge? | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Will you become the queen, dear, of my band? | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Will you become a hunted outlaw's bride? | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/·· |
| When all Spain else pursued and banished me,-- | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| In her proud forests and air-piercing mountains, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And rocks the lordly eagle only knew, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Old Catalonia took me to her bosom. | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| Among her mountaineers, free, poor, and brave, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I ripened into manhood, and, to-morrow, | 11 | ·/˘··/···/˘ |
| One blast upon my horn, among her hills, | 10 | ·········· |
| Would draw three thousand of her sons around me. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| You shudder,--think upon it. Will you tread | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The shores, woods, mountains, with me, among men | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Like the dark spirits of your haunted dreams,-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Suspect all eyes, all voices, every footstep,-- | 11 | ˘/···/˘/˘/· |
| Sleep on the grass, drink of the torrent, hear | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| By night the sharp hiss of the musket-ball | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whistling too near your ear,--a fugitive | 10 | /˘·····/˘˘ |
| Proscribed, and doomed mayhap to follow me | 10 | ˘/··/˘·/˘· |
| In the path leading to my father's scaffold? | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| DONNA SOL. I'll follow you. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| HERN. This duke is rich, great, prosperous, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| No blot attaches to his ancient name. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| He is all-powerful. He offers you | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| His treasures, titles, honors, with his hand. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| DONNA SOL. We will depart to-morrow. Do not blame | 13 | /˘···˘/·/˘··· |
| What may appear a most unwomanly boldness. | 12 | ··˘/······/˘ |
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.