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The Threadbare Coat
Long live silk stockings and patent leather shoes!
The Chair with the Broken Straps
God said to the good armchairs: armchairs, I bless you!
The Cold Stove
Like a great fire that blazes and crackles in December,
It lights up your soul, flushing the room crimson!
The Glass Full of Water
Upon my word, I love wine.
The Saucer Full of Dust
As for me, I love coffee.
The Wooden Bowl
It’s charming to shout: Waiter! Truffled partridge,
Bordeaux returned from the Indies, and salmon with oyster sauce!
The Broken Tile
A window is beautiful when it has panes.
The Empty Pocket
Let the hideous, wheezing usurer to whom you owe
Wave an old banknote in his old fingers,
Even if he be gray as a cantor and filthy as a deacon,
Venus comes all naked in her mother-of-pearl shell.
The Camp Bed
A featherbed is soft.
The Writing Desk
Aretino, full of wit,
Lives content; beneath his feet when he writes he has
A charming Turkish rug that warms his prose.
The Keyhole
I esteem a thick door-curtain, and, green or pink,
Letting one see, in the folds of quilted satin,
A mandarin taking a cup of tea.
A Stamped Paper
Verrès is rich and great; before him no one stirs.
The Cracked Mirror
On a gold-embroidered dress coat I love a fine red ribbon.
The Limping Stool
What happiness to gallop to the Croix de Berny
On some fiery horse full of infinite breath,
A demon with scattered mane born of the winds of Ukraine!
The Pierced Sole
What joy! In winter, to roll along the Cours-la-Reine,
When the sun dissolves the rainy mists,
In a landau that makes the envious turn pale!
The Hole in the Ceiling
And, while outside the fierce wind whistles,
To contemplate, through the windows of the carriage,
The blue sky, radiant with a gentle light!
The Blue Sky
Peace! Do you count for nothing this serenity
Of walking with head high, and saying to yourself: all in all,
I eat black bread, but I am an honest man!
November 17, 1853.
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-voices-in-the-attic-victor-hugo/