The Three Glorious Days
Youth of France, sons of the bold,Your oak-leaf victor-wreaths behold!Our civic-laurels--honored dead!So bright your triumphs in life's morn,Your maiden-standards hacked and torn,On Austerlitz might lustre shed.
All that your fathers did re-done--A people's rights all nobly won--Ye tore them living from the shroud!Three glorious days bright July's gift,The Bastiles off our hearts ye lift!Oh! of such deeds be ever proud!
Of patriot sires ye lineage claim,Their souls shone in your eye of flame;Commencing the great work was theirs;On you the task to finish laidYour fruitful mother, France, who badeFlow in one day a hundred years.
E'en chilly Albion admires,The grand example Europe fires;America shall clap her hands,When swiftly o'er the Atlantic wave,Fame sounds the news of how the brave,In three bright days, have burst their bands!
With tyrant dead your fathers tracedA circle wide, with battles graced;Victorious garland, red and vast!Which blooming out from home did goTo Cadiz, Cairo, Rome, Moscow,From Jemappes to Montmirail passed!
Of warlike Lyceums ye areThe favored sons; there, deeds of warFormed e'en your plays, while o'er you shookThe battle-flags in air aloft!Passing your lines, Napoleon oftElectrified you with a look!
Eagle of France! whose vivid wingDid in a hundred places flingA bloody feather, till one nightThe arrow whelmed thee 'neath the wave!Look up--rejoice--for now thy braveAnd worthy eaglets dare the light.
Words in this poem
- civic a.
- Relating to, or derived from, a city or citizen; relating to man as a member of society, or to civil affairs. Civic crown (Rom. [L.civicus, fr. civis citizen. See City.]
- 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.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- albion n.
- An ancient name of England, still retained in poetry. [Prob. from the same root as Gael. alp a height or hill. "It may have been bestowed on the land lying behind the white cliffs visible from the coast of Gaul. Alb]
- 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,]
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- napoleon n.
- A French gold coin of twenty francs, or about $3.86. [From the Emperor Napoleon 1.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Three Glorious Days 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 Three Glorious Days, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-three-glorious-days.html, id L26746.
Form and metre
The Three Glorious Days is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See 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 AABCCB boldA · beholdA · deadB · mornC · tornC · shedB
- 2 AABCCB doneA · wonA · shroudB · giftC · liftC · proudB
- 3 AABCCB claimA · flameA · theirsB · laidC · badeC · yearsB
- 4 AABCCB admiresA · firesA · handsB · waveC · braveC · bandsB
- 5 AABCCB tracedA · gracedA · vastB · goC · moscowC · passedB
- 6 AABCCB areA · warA · shookB · aloftC · oftC · lookB
- 7 AABCCB wingA · flingA · nightB · waveC · braveC · lightB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Youth of France, sons of the bold, | 7 | ······· |
| Your oak-leaf victor-wreaths behold! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Our civic-laurels--honored dead! | 8 | //˘/˘/˘· |
| So bright your triumphs in life's morn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Your maiden-standards hacked and torn, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| On Austerlitz might lustre shed. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All that your fathers did re-done-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A people's rights all nobly won-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ye tore them living from the shroud! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Three glorious days bright July's gift, | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| The Bastiles off our hearts ye lift! | 8 | ····/··· |
| Oh! of such deeds be ever proud! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of patriot sires ye lineage claim, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Their souls shone in your eye of flame; | 8 | ········ |
| Commencing the great work was theirs; | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| On you the task to finish laid | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Your fruitful mother, France, who bade | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Flow in one day a hundred years. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| E'en chilly Albion admires, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| The grand example Europe fires; | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| America shall clap her hands, | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| When swiftly o'er the Atlantic wave, | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| Fame sounds the news of how the brave, | 8 | ········ |
| In three bright days, have burst their bands! | 8 | ········ |
| With tyrant dead your fathers traced | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A circle wide, with battles graced; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Victorious garland, red and vast! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Which blooming out from home did go | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To Cadiz, Cairo, Rome, Moscow, | 8 | ·˘//˘·/˘ |
| From Jemappes to Montmirail passed! | 8 | ········ |
| Of warlike Lyceums ye are | 7 | ·/····· |
| The favored sons; there, deeds of war | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Formed e'en your plays, while o'er you shook | 8 | ········ |
| The battle-flags in air aloft! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Passing your lines, Napoleon oft | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Electrified you with a look! | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Eagle of France! whose vivid wing | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Did in a hundred places fling | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A bloody feather, till one night | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The arrow whelmed thee 'neath the wave! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Look up--rejoice--for now thy brave | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And worthy eaglets dare the light. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.