THE POOR CHILDREN
by: Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
- AKE heed
of this small child of earth;
- He is great; he hath in him God most high.
- Children before their fleshly birth
- Are lights alive in the blue sky.
-
- In our light bitter world of wrong
- They come; God gives us them awhile.
- His speech is in their stammering tongue,
- And his forgiveness in their smile.
-
- Their sweet light rests upon our eyes.
- Alas! their right to joy is plain.
- If they are hungry Paradise
- Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.
-
- The want that saps their sinless flower
- Speaks judgment on sin's ministers.
- Man holds an angel in his power.
- Ah! deep in Heaven what thunder stirs,
-
- When God seeks out these tender things
- Whom in the shadow where we sleep
- He sends us clothed about with wings,
- And finds them ragged babes that weep!
This English translation of "The
Poor Children" was composed by Algernon Charles Swinburne
(1837-1909). |
MORE
POEMS BY VICTOR HUGO |
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