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Victor Hugo

Sales price € 39,00

Bust of Hugo on pedestal
Height (incl. pedestal): 9.1 inches (23 cm)
Width: 2.8 inches (7 cm)
Length: 2.4 inches (6 cm)
Base: 3 x 3 x 3.9 inches (7.5 x 7.5 x 10 cm)
Material bust: neolith (resin)
Material base: granite
Weight: 2.10 lbs

Victor Hugo (born February 26, 1802) is one of the greatest French writers of the 19th century. He is a poet, essayist, playwright and novelist. Hugo was a leader in the French Romantic movement. He also had strong opinions on social wrongs. Throughout his life, he fought for the abolition of the death penalty and argued for obligatory but free education for the people.

Among Hugo’s most famous works are Notre-Dame de Paris (published in 1831, known in English as The Hunchback of the Notre-Dame) and Les Misérables (published in 1862).

When Hugo died on May 22, 1885, he was given a state funeral. He was buried in the Panthéon. Huge crowds gathered to pay him their last respects. In their eyes he was the father of the 19th century and a giant among writers.

A life-changing event in the life of Hugo was the death of his daughter Léopoldine. Her death left Hugo devastated. Hugo did not manage to get back in time for her funeral. It took him more than 3 years before he was able to visit her grave. After the visit he wrote down his feelings in the world-famous poem Demain dès l’aube (Tomorrow at dawn):

Demain, dès l'aube...
Demain, dès l'aube, à l'heure où blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m'attends.
J'irai par la forêt, j'irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.
Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées,
Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit,
Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,
Triste, et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit.
Je ne regarderai ni l'or du soir qui tombe,
Ni les voiles au loin descendant vers Harfleur,
Et quand j'arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe
Un bouquet de houx vert et de bruyère en fleur.

In English:

Tomorrow, at dawn, in the hour when the countryside becomes white,
I will leave. You see, I know that you are waiting for me.
I will go by the forest, I will go by the mountain.
I cannot stay far from you any longer.
I will walk the eyes fixed on my thoughts,
Without seeing anything outside, nor hearing any noise,
Alone, unknown, the back curved, the hands crossed,
Sad, and the day for me will be like the night.
I will not look at the gold of the evening which falls,
Nor the faraway sails descending towards Harfleur.
And when I arrive, I will put on your tomb
A green bouquet of holly and flowering heather.