The following poem titled ‘Divinities of France’ was written by Victor Hugo in the 1830s and was later translated by George W.M. Reynolds (under the pseudonym of Parisianus) and published in the Monthly Magazine.[1] It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo for this website.

Glory! Daughter of our land,

Hark! Your elder sister calls!

You and Freedom, hand in hand,

Reign within these city-walls!

Glory! High thy banner’s streaming—

Liberty! Thy beacon’s beaming:

This we bear unto the war—

That will light us from afar;

But in the splendour of the last,

The former’s gorgeous hues are past!

[1] Victor Hugo (G.W.M. Reynolds, Trans.), ‘Divinities of France’, Monthly Magazine, April 1838, 401.