The Vale to You, to Me the Heights
A lion camped beside a spring, where came the BirdOf Jove to drink:When, haply, sought two kings, without their courtier herd,The moistened brink,Beneath the palm--they always tempt pugnacious hands--Both travel-sore;But quickly, on the recognition, out flew brandsStraight to each core;As dying breaths commingle, o'er them rose the callOf Eagle shrill:"Yon crownèd couple, who supposed the world too small,Now one grave fill!Chiefs blinded by your rage! each bleachèd sapless boneBecomes a pipeThrough which siroccos whistle, trodden 'mong the stoneBy quail and snipe.Folly's liege-men, what boots such murd'rous raid,And mortal feud?I, Eagle, dwell as friend with Leo--none afraid--In solitude:At the same pool we bathe and quaff in placid mood.Kings, he and I;For I to him leave prairie, desert sands and wood,And he to me the sky."
Words in this poem
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- courtier n.
- One who is in attendance at the court of a prince; one who has an appointment at court. [From Court.]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- pugnacious a.
- Disposed to fight; inclined to fighting; quarrelsome; fighting. [L. pugnax, -acis, fr. pugnare to fight. Cf. Pugilism, Fist.]
- commingle v. t.
- To mingle together; to mix in one mass, or intimately; to blend.
- sapless a.
- Destitute of sap; not juicy.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Vale to You, to Me the Heights 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 Vale to You, to Me the Heights, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-vale-to-you-to-me-the-heights.html, id L26808.
Form and metre
The Vale to You, to Me the Heights is 24 lines in a single stanza. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJJK-K birdA · drinkB · herdA · brinkB · handsC · soreD · brandsC · coreD · callE · shrillF · smallE · fillF · boneG · pipeH · stoneG · snipeH · raidI · feudJ · afraidI · solitudeJ · moodJ · iK · wood · skyK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A lion camped beside a spring, where came the Bird | 11 | ·/·˘/······ |
| Of Jove to drink: | 4 | ···· |
| When, haply, sought two kings, without their courtier herd, | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| The moistened brink, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Beneath the palm--they always tempt pugnacious hands-- | 12 | ·····/··˘/˘· |
| Both travel-sore; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But quickly, on the recognition, out flew brands | 12 | ·/˘···˘/˘··· |
| Straight to each core; | 4 | ···· |
| As dying breaths commingle, o'er them rose the call | 12 | ·/˘·˘/˘····· |
| Of Eagle shrill: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| "Yon crownèd couple, who supposed the world too small, | 11 | ··/˘·˘/···· |
| Now one grave fill! | 4 | ···· |
| Chiefs blinded by your rage! each bleachèd sapless bone | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| Becomes a pipe | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Through which siroccos whistle, trodden 'mong the stone | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| By quail and snipe. | 4 | ···· |
| Folly's liege-men, what boots such murd'rous raid, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And mortal feud? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I, Eagle, dwell as friend with Leo--none afraid-- | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·˘/ |
| In solitude: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| At the same pool we bathe and quaff in placid mood. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Kings, he and I; | 4 | ···· |
| For I to him leave prairie, desert sands and wood, | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| And he to me the sky." | 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.