The Gallows Mount (Jersey), Poem by Victor Hugo

Poem by Victor Hugo Themes DeathPeriod 19th century

They tell me: yesterday two brigs were lost
At night on the shoals near the Gallows Mount.
And I, raising my finger toward the funereal peak,
Say to them: you come to kill before the abyss.
Why then would you have it be better than you?
The waves are senseless, but men are mad.
You set the bad example for the wild seas;
You show them death standing on your shores;
You put a gallows on the cliff; then
Do not be astonished to have, near your harbors,
Watching your departures as your arrivals,
Pitiless rocks that man has depraved.

Victor Hugo

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