The Old Man's Love
O mockery! that this halting loveThat fills the heart so full of flame and transport,Forgets the body while it fires the soul!If but a youthful shepherd cross my path,He singing on the way--I sadly musing,He in his fields, I in my darksome alleys--Then my heart murmurs: "O, ye mouldering towers!Thou olden ducal dungeon! O how gladlyWould I exchange ye, and my fields and forests,Mine ancient name, mine ancient rank, my ruins--My ancestors, with whom I soon shall lie,For his thatched cottage and his youthful brow!"His hair is black--his eyes shine forth like thine.Him thou might'st look upon, and say, fair youth,Then turn to me, and think that I am old.And yet the light and giddy souls of cavaliersHarbor no love so fervent as their words bespeak.Let some poor maiden love them and believe them,Then die for them--they smile. Aye! these young birds,With gay and glittering wing and amorous song,Can shed their love as lightly as their plumage.The old, whose voice and colors age has dimmed,Flatter no more, and, though less fair, are faithful.When we love, we love true. Are our steps frail?Our eyes dried up and withered? Are our browsWrinkled? There are no wrinkles in the heart.Ah! when the graybeard loves, he should be spared;The heart is young--that bleeds unto the last.I love thee as a spouse,--and in a thousandOther fashions,--as sire,--as we loveThe morn, the flowers, the overhanging heavens.Ah me! when day by day I gaze upon thee,Thy graceful step, thy purely-polished brow,Thine eyes' calm fire,--I feel my heart leap up,And an eternal sunshine bathe my soul.And think, too! Even the world admires,When age, expiring, for a moment tottersUpon the marble margin of a tomb,To see a wife--a pure and dove-like angel--Watch over him, soothe him, and endure awhileThe useless old man, only fit to die;A sacred task, and worthy of all honor,This latest effort of a faithful heart;Which, in his parting hour, consoles the dying,And, without loving, wears the look of love.Ah! thou wilt be to me this sheltering angel,To cheer the old man's heart--to share with himThe burden of his evil years;--a daughterIn thy respect, a sister in thy pity.
DONNA SOL. My fate may be more to precede than follow.My lord, it is no reason for long lifeThat we are young! Alas! I have seen too oftThe old clamped firm to life, the young torn thence;And the lids close as sudden o'er their eyesAs gravestones sealing up the sepulchre.
Words in this poem 18
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- ducal a.
- Of or pertaining to a duke. [F. ducal. See Duke.]
- 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]
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- 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,]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- bespeak v. t.
- To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. [OE. bispeken, AS. besprecan, to speak to, accuse; pref. be- + sprecan to speak. See Speak.]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- 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.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- expiring a.
- Breathing out air from the lungs; emitting fluid or volatile matter; exhaling; breathing the last breath; dying; ending; terminating.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- donna n.
- A lady; madam; mistress; -- the title given a lady in Italy. [It. donna, L. domina. See Don, Dame.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Old Man's Love 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 Man's Love, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-old-man-s-love.html, id L26876.
Form and metre
The Old Man's Love is 55 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ----------------------AA----------B---BB--------- love · transport · soul · path · musing · alleys · towers · gladly · forests · ruins · lie · brow · thine · youth · old · cavaliers · bespeak · them · birds · song · plumage · dimmed · faithfulA · frailA · brows · heart · spared · last · thousand · love · heavens · thee · brow · up · soulB · admires · totters · tomb · angelB · awhileB · die · honor · heart · dying · love · angel · him · daughter · pity
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O mockery! that this halting love | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| That fills the heart so full of flame and transport, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Forgets the body while it fires the soul! | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/·· |
| If but a youthful shepherd cross my path, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| He singing on the way--I sadly musing, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| He in his fields, I in my darksome alleys-- | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Then my heart murmurs: "O, ye mouldering towers! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘/ |
| Thou olden ducal dungeon! O how gladly | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Would I exchange ye, and my fields and forests, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Mine ancient name, mine ancient rank, my ruins-- | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| My ancestors, with whom I soon shall lie, | 10 | ·/·˘······ |
| For his thatched cottage and his youthful brow!" | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His hair is black--his eyes shine forth like thine. | 10 | ·········· |
| Him thou might'st look upon, and say, fair youth, | 10 | ·········· |
| Then turn to me, and think that I am old. | 10 | ·········· |
| And yet the light and giddy souls of cavaliers | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| Harbor no love so fervent as their words bespeak. | 12 | /˘···/˘···˘/ |
| Let some poor maiden love them and believe them, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/· |
| Then die for them--they smile. Aye! these young birds, | 10 | ·········· |
| With gay and glittering wing and amorous song, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Can shed their love as lightly as their plumage. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| The old, whose voice and colors age has dimmed, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Flatter no more, and, though less fair, are faithful. | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| When we love, we love true. Are our steps frail? | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Our eyes dried up and withered? Are our brows | 10 | /····/˘·/· |
| Wrinkled? There are no wrinkles in the heart. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Ah! when the graybeard loves, he should be spared; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The heart is young--that bleeds unto the last. | 10 | ·········· |
| I love thee as a spouse,--and in a thousand | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Other fashions,--as sire,--as we love | 10 | /˘/˘·/˘··· |
| The morn, the flowers, the overhanging heavens. | 11 | ···/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Ah me! when day by day I gaze upon thee, | 11 | ··········· |
| Thy graceful step, thy purely-polished brow, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Thine eyes' calm fire,--I feel my heart leap up, | 10 | ···/······ |
| And an eternal sunshine bathe my soul. | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| And think, too! Even the world admires, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| When age, expiring, for a moment totters | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Upon the marble margin of a tomb, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To see a wife--a pure and dove-like angel-- | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Watch over him, soothe him, and endure awhile | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| The useless old man, only fit to die; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A sacred task, and worthy of all honor, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| This latest effort of a faithful heart; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Which, in his parting hour, consoles the dying, | 11 | ···/˘/˘/·/˘ |
| And, without loving, wears the look of love. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ah! thou wilt be to me this sheltering angel, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| To cheer the old man's heart--to share with him | 10 | ·········· |
| The burden of his evil years;--a daughter | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| In thy respect, a sister in thy pity. | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| DONNA SOL. My fate may be more to precede than follow. | 14 | /˘·······˘/·/˘ |
| My lord, it is no reason for long life | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That we are young! Alas! I have seen too oft | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| The old clamped firm to life, the young torn thence; | 10 | ·········· |
| And the lids close as sudden o'er their eyes | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As gravestones sealing up the sepulchre. | 9 | ·/·/˘···· |
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