The Veil
What has happened, my brothers? Your spirit to-daySome secret sorrow dampsThere's a cloud on your brow. What has happened? Oh, say,For your eyeballs glare out with a sinister rayLike the light of funeral lamps.And the blades of your poniards are half unsheathedIn your belt--and ye frown on me!There's a woe untold, there's a pang unbreathedIn your bosom, my brothers three!
Gulnara, make answer! Hast thou, since the dawn,To the eye of a stranger thy veil withdrawn?
As I came, oh, my brother! at noon--from the bath--As I came--it was noon, my lords--And your sister had then, as she constantly hath,Drawn her veil close around her, aware that the pathIs beset by these foreign hordes.But the weight of the noonday's sultry hourNear the mosque was so oppressiveThat--forgetting a moment the eye of the Giaour--I yielded to th' heat excessive.
Gulnara, make answer! Whom, then, hast thou seen,In a turban of white and a caftan of green?
Nay, he might have been there; but I muflled me so,He could scarcely have seen my figure.--But why to your sister thus dark do you grow?What words to yourselves do you mutter thus low,Of "blood" and "an intriguer"?Oh! ye cannot of murder bring down the red guiltOn your souls, my brothers, surely!Though I fear--from the hands that are chafing the hilt,And the hints you give obscurely.
Gulnara, this evening when sank the red sun,Didst thou mark how like blood in descending it shone?
Mercy! Allah! have pity! oh, spare!See! I cling to your knees repenting!Kind brothers, forgive me! for mercy, forbear!Be appeased at the cry of a sister's despair,For our mother's sake relenting.O God! must I die? They are deaf to my cries!Their sister's life-blood shedding;They have stabbed me each one--I faint--o'er my eyesA veil of Death is spreading!
Gulnara, farewell! take that veil; 'tis the giftOf thy brothers--a veil thou wilt never lift!
Words in this poem
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- giaour n.
- An infidel; -- a term applied by Turks to disbelievers in the Mohammedan religion, especially Christrians. [Turk. giaur an infidel, Per. gawr, another form of ghebr fire worshiper. Cf. Kaffir, Gheber .]
- caftan n.
- A garment worn throughout the Levant, consisting of a long gown with sleeves reaching below the hands. It is generally fastened by a belt or sash. [Turk. qaftan: cf. F. cafetan.]
- intriguer n.
- One who intrigues.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- allah n.
- The name of the Supreme Being, in use among the Arabs and the Mohammedans generally. [contr. fr. the article al the + ilah God.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Veil 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 Veil, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-veil.html, id L26719.
Form and metre
The Veil is 44 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 ABAABCDCD dayA · dampsB · sayA · rayA · lampsB · unsheathedC · meD · unbreathedC · threeD
- 2 AA dawnA · withdrawnA
- 3 ABAAB-C-C bathA · lordsB · hathA · pathA · hordesB · hour · oppressiveC · giaour · excessiveC
- 4 AA seenA · greenA
- 5 A-AA-BCBC soA · figure · growA · lowA · intriguer · guiltB · surelyC · hiltB · obscurelyC
- 7 AB-ABCDCD spareA · repentingB · forbear · despairA · relentingB · criesC · sheddingD · eyesC · spreadingD
- 8 AA giftA · liftA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What has happened, my brothers? Your spirit to-day | 11 | ··/˘·/˘·/·· |
| Some secret sorrow damps | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| There's a cloud on your brow. What has happened? Oh, say, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| For your eyeballs glare out with a sinister ray | 11 | ··/·····/˘· |
| Like the light of funeral lamps. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And the blades of your poniards are half unsheathed | 11 | ··········· |
| In your belt--and ye frown on me! | 8 | ········ |
| There's a woe untold, there's a pang unbreathed | 10 | ···˘/···˘/ |
| In your bosom, my brothers three! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Gulnara, make answer! Hast thou, since the dawn, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| To the eye of a stranger thy veil withdrawn? | 11 | ·····/˘··˘/ |
| As I came, oh, my brother! at noon--from the bath-- | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| As I came--it was noon, my lords-- | 8 | ········ |
| And your sister had then, as she constantly hath, | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| Drawn her veil close around her, aware that the path | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| Is beset by these foreign hordes. | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| But the weight of the noonday's sultry hour | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Near the mosque was so oppressive | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| That--forgetting a moment the eye of the Giaour-- | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘····· |
| I yielded to th' heat excessive. | 8 | ·/˘··˘/˘ |
| Gulnara, make answer! Whom, then, hast thou seen, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| In a turban of white and a caftan of green? | 12 | ··/˘····/··· |
| Nay, he might have been there; but I muflled me so, | 11 | ··········· |
| He could scarcely have seen my figure.-- | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| But why to your sister thus dark do you grow? | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| What words to yourselves do you mutter thus low, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Of "blood" and "an intriguer"? | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Oh! ye cannot of murder bring down the red guilt | 12 | ··˘/·/˘····· |
| On your souls, my brothers, surely! | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Though I fear--from the hands that are chafing the hilt, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| And the hints you give obscurely. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Gulnara, this evening when sank the red sun, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Didst thou mark how like blood in descending it shone? | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| Mercy! Allah! have pity! oh, spare! | 9 | /˘/˘·/˘·· |
| See! I cling to your knees repenting! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Kind brothers, forgive me! for mercy, forbear! | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘˘/ |
| Be appeased at the cry of a sister's despair, | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘˘/ |
| For our mother's sake relenting. | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| O God! must I die? They are deaf to my cries! | 11 | ··········· |
| Their sister's life-blood shedding; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| They have stabbed me each one--I faint--o'er my eyes | 11 | ··········· |
| A veil of Death is spreading! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Gulnara, farewell! take that veil; 'tis the gift | 11 | ····/······ |
| Of thy brothers--a veil thou wilt never lift! | 10 | ··/˘····/· |
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