The Vale to You, To Me the Heights
by Victor Hugo
'The Vale to You, To Me the Heights' Summary
A lion camped beside a spring, where came the Bird
Of 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 brands
Straight to each core;
As dying breaths commingle, o'er them rose the call
Of Eagle shrill:
"Yon crownë"d couple, who supposed the world too small,
Now one grave fill!
Chiefs blinded by your rage! each bleachë"d sapless bone
Becomes a pipe
Through which siroccos whistle, trodden 'mong the stone
By 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."
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1846Author
Victor Hugo
France
Victor-Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic Movement. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote abundantly in an exceptional variety of gen...
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