THE POOR CHILDREN

by: Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

AKE heed of this small child of earth;

He is great; he hath in him God most high.

Children before their fleshly birth

Are lights alive in the blue sky.

 

In our light bitter world of wrong

They come; God gives us them awhile.

His speech is in their stammering tongue,

And his forgiveness in their smile.

 

Their sweet light rests upon our eyes.

Alas! their right to joy is plain.

If they are hungry Paradise

Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.

 

The want that saps their sinless flower

Speaks judgment on sin's ministers.

Man holds an angel in his power.

Ah! deep in Heaven what thunder stirs,

 

When God seeks out these tender things

Whom in the shadow where we sleep

He sends us clothed about with wings,

And finds them ragged babes that weep!

• Amy Robsart - A history of Victor Hugo's first play.
• Hernani - Analysis of the play which brought the battle between French Classicists and Romantics to a head on February 25, 1830.
• Hugo's Boyhood - A biographical account of Victor Hugo's early years.
• Hugo's Cromwell - A brief analysis of Hugo's historical drama Cromwell.
• Hugo's First Publication - A biographical account of Victor Hugo's early literary career.
• Hugo's Honors and Exile - A biographical account of Hugo's later years.
• Inez de Castro - A brief analysis of Hugo's oldest surviving drama.
• Victor Hugo - An introduction to French dramatist Victor Hugo.
• Victor Hugo (1802-1885) - A biography of the French novelist, dramatist, and poet.
• Victor Hugo Index - An index of articles on Victor Hugo.
• Victor Hugo: Bibliography - A bibliography of the works of Victor Hugo; includes a list of critical and biographical resources.
• Purchase books by Victor Hugo