The poet

Le poète

Victor Hugo (1802-85)

Le poète
"Le poète en des jours impies Vient préparer des jours meilleurs, Il est l’homme des utopies, Les pieds ici, les yeux ailleurs."
The poet
The poet comes in reprobate times, to prepare for better days. He is the man utopiate: his feet are here, but not his gaze.
Les Rayons et les Ombres, Préface, 1840 From the Preface to: ‘Sunbeams and Shadows’

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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