Ah! You Want the Moon?, Poem by Victor Hugo

Poem by Victor Hugo Themes ChildhoodPeriod 19th century

Ah! you want the moon? Where? At the bottom of the well?
No; in the sky. Well then, let us try. I cannot.
And so it always is. Dear little ones, the notion
Passes through your minds of wanting the moon, and into space
I stretch my hands, trying to catch Phoebe in flight.
The adorable chance of being a grandfather has fallen
Upon my head, and made in me a gentle crack.
Seeing you, I feel that fate could have excluded me
From happiness, without having quite struck me down.
But let us talk. You see, Georges, do you see,
Jeanne? God knows us, and knows what a grandfather
Dares to do, for He Himself is a bit of a grandpapa;
The good God, who always defends Himself against us,
Fears this: the old man who wants to please the child;
He knows that it is my law that issues from your mouth,
And that I would obey; He does not want anyone to touch
The stars, and it is to be quite sure of that
That He fastens them to the highest nails of the blue.

Victor Hugo

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

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