Written on the Windowpane of a Flemish Window, Poem by Victor Hugo

Poem by Victor Hugo Collection Les Rayons et les OmbresPeriod 19th century

XVIII

WRITTEN ON THE WINDOWPANE OF A FLEMISH WINDOW

I love the carillon in your ancient cities,
O old country guardian of your domestic ways,
Noble Flanders, where the North warms itself, numb,
In the sun of Castile and mates with the South!
The carillon is the unexpected and mad hour,
That the eye thinks it sees, dressed as a Spanish dancer,
Suddenly appear through the bright and clear hole
That a door of air would make in opening.
She comes, shaking over the lethargic rooftops
Her silver apron full of magic notes,
Pitilessly waking tiresome sleepers,
Hopping with little steps like a joyous bird,
Vibrating like a dart that trembles in the target;
By a frail staircase of invisible crystal,
Frightened and dancing, she descends from the heavens;
And the mind, that watcher made of ears and eyes,
While she goes, comes, ascends and descends again,
Hears from step to step her sonorous foot wander!
Malines-Louvain, August 19, 1837.

Victor Hugo

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