This poem ‘Hymn’ was written by Victor Hugo and celebrates the heroes of the French Revolution of 1830. The poem was translated by G.W.M. Reynolds and published in the Monthly Magazine. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo in 2021.[1]

Around the tombs of them that fell

Their country’s rights to save,

The songs of crowds admiring swell

To eulogise the brave.

The patriot’s fame will never die;

The land for which he bled

Shall cradle it eternally,

And venerate the dead.

               Glory to thee, immortal France!

               Hail! Those who fell for her!

               And welcome all that now advance

               To seek a patriot’s sepulchre.

The morning beams of Phoebus shine

Upon the lofty dome

That stands above the sacred shrine

Where heroes found a tomb.

Far o’er the city’s turrets high

That glitt’ring dome appears;

Saint Genevieve unto the sky

Her tow’ring summit rears.

               Glory to thee, eternal France!

               Hail! Those who fell for her!

               And welcome all who now advance

               To seek a patriot’s sepulchre.

‘Tis thus that those whose bones are laid

Within the sacred fane,

‘Tis thus, in glorious garb array’d,

Their memories remain.

Each day with them will rise more bright,

Each day their deeds are told;

Their names amid the clouds of night

Can never be enrolled.

               Glory to thee, immortal France!

               Hail! Those who fell for her!

               And welcome all who now advance

               To seek a patriot’s sepulchre.

[1] Victor Hugo, ‘Hymn’, The Monthly Magazine, May 1837, 239–40.