To a Sick Child During the Siege of Paris
If you continue thus so wan and white;If I, one day, beholdYou pass from out our dull air to the light,You, infant--I, so old:If I the thread of our two lives must seeThus blent to human view,I who would fain know death was near to me,And far away for you;If your small hands remain such fragile things;If, in your cradle stirred,You have the mien of waiting there for wings,Like to some new-fledged bird;Not rooted to our earth you seem to be.If still, beneath the skies,You turn, O Jeanne, on our mysterySoft, discontented eyes!If I behold you, gay and strong no more;If you mope sadly thus;If you behind you have not shut the door,Through which you came to us;If you no more like some fair dame I seeLaugh, walk, be well and gay;If like a little soul you seem to meThat fain would fly away--I'll deem that to this world, where oft are blentThe pall and swaddling-band,You came but to depart--an angel sentTo bear me from the land.
Words in this poem
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- jeanne n.
- A twilled cotton cloth. Satin jean, a kind of jean woven smooth and glossy, after the manner of satin. [Prob. named from Genoa. See Jane.]
- mope v. t.
- To make spiritless and stupid.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- 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
To a Sick Child During the Siege of Paris 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, To a Sick Child During the Siege of Paris, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/to-a-sick-child-during-the-siege-of-paris.html, id L26836.
Form and metre
To a Sick Child During the Siege of Paris is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABABCDCDEFEFCG-GHIHICJCJKLKL whiteA · beholdB · lightA · oldB · seeC · viewD · meC · youD · thingsE · stirredF · wingsE · birdF · beC · skiesG · mystery · eyesG · moreH · thusI · doorH · usI · seeC · gayJ · meC · awayJ · blentK · bandL · sentK · landL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If you continue thus so wan and white; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| If I, one day, behold | 6 | ····˘/ |
| You pass from out our dull air to the light, | 10 | ····/····· |
| You, infant--I, so old: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| If I the thread of our two lives must see | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Thus blent to human view, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I who would fain know death was near to me, | 10 | ·········· |
| And far away for you; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| If your small hands remain such fragile things; | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| If, in your cradle stirred, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You have the mien of waiting there for wings, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Like to some new-fledged bird; | 6 | ······ |
| Not rooted to our earth you seem to be. | 10 | ·/˘·/····· |
| If still, beneath the skies, | 6 | ······ |
| You turn, O Jeanne, on our mystery | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Soft, discontented eyes! | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| If I behold you, gay and strong no more; | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| If you mope sadly thus; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If you behind you have not shut the door, | 10 | ·········· |
| Through which you came to us; | 6 | ······ |
| If you no more like some fair dame I see | 10 | ·········· |
| Laugh, walk, be well and gay; | 6 | ······ |
| If like a little soul you seem to me | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That fain would fly away-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I'll deem that to this world, where oft are blent | 10 | ·········· |
| The pall and swaddling-band, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You came but to depart--an angel sent | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| To bear me from the land. | 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.