She Passed By, I Think She Had Smiled at Me

Poem by Victor Hugo Period 19th century

She passed by, I think she had smiled at me.
She was a working girl or else a houri.
I do not know if the effect was moral or physical,
But her step in walking made a music.
What! Your noisy and muddy pavement, O Paris,
Has such ineffable visions! I took
Her eyes fixed on me for two blue stars.
Fresh and joyful child! Sparrows and wagtails
Have less mad gaiety and vivacity.
She had a dress of summer taffeta,
Small ankle boots the color of a beetle,
The air of a shadow passing before nightfall,
Somehow proud that allowed hope.

While I mused, still believing I saw her
Even after she had fled and disappeared,
And while standing, pensive in the middle of the street,
Contemplating, dazzled, that graceful being,
I had my eye in space and my soul in the heavens,
An old woman, half cat and half harpy,
Her chin bristling with a beard of lint,
Frightfully dressed in a sinister rag,
Dreadful, and speaking as if with a gag,
Said to me softly: — Does the gentleman want this girl?

O poor hummingbird sold by a caterpillar!

Victor Hugo

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

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/poem-she-passed-by-i-think-she-had-smiled-at-me-victor-hugo/