Is This Victor Hugo’s Most Famous Poem?
(In his lifetime Victor Hugo was considered the greatest living novelist, playwright and poet. The poem below is thought by many to be his best. I have tried to translate it, and present it to you here, with the original in French.)
My Heroic Father
My dashing and heroic father
With one hussar cherish’d above any other
For his great bravery and for his great height
Were riding from the battlefield one night
With the sun setting on the slain, still and unstirred
When from the shadows a faint noise he heard.
It was a Spanish soldier in full flight
Breathless, creeping away with all his might
Gasping, broken, pale and more than half dead
‘A drink! A drink! For pity’s sake,’ he said
Much moved, father detached a rum-filled jar
From his saddle, toss’d it to his hussar
Saying: ‘Here, buy this poor wounded fellow a round.’
But suddenly whilst the hussar was bending down
The man, no doubt a Blackamoor
Tightene’d his grip on a gun in his hand some more
And shouting,‘Caramba!’ aim’d at father’s forehead
’Twas so close it blew his hat off his head
The horse took fright and bridled up
Father told the marauder: ‘Drink up man, drink up.’
Mon Père Ce Héros
Mon père, ce héros au sourire si doux,
Suivi d’un seul housard qu’il aimait entre tous
Pour sa grande bravoure et pour sa haute taille,
Parcourait à cheval, le soir d’une bataille,
Le champ couvert de morts sur qui tombait la nuit.
Il lui sembla dans l’ombre entendre un faible bruit.
C’était un Espagnol de l’armée en déroute
Qui se traînait sanglant sur le bord de la route,
Râlant, brisé, livide, et mort plus qu’à moitié.
Et qui disait: “ A boire! à boire par pitié !
“Mon père, ému, tendit à son housard fidèle
Une gourde de rhum qui pendait à sa selle,
Et dit: “Tiens, donne à boire à ce pauvre blessé.
“Tout à coup, au moment où le housard baissé
Se penchait vers lui, l’homme, une espèce de maure,
Saisit un pistolet qu’il étreignait encore,
Et vise au front mon père en criant: “Caramba! “
Le coup passa si près que le chapeau tomba
Et que le cheval fit un écart en arrière.
“ Donne-lui tout de même à boire “, dit mon père.
