A Glimpse of the Past
To the Editor of the “Nouvelle Chronique.”
Sir, - The death of Victor Hugo recalls to mind a New Year's Card, sent to him for January 1, 1884, by Mrs. Rose, of Portelet, in this Island, in the form of a restored Photograph (date 1853), representing the eminent deceased (then an exile in Jersey) and the late Thomas Rose, Esq., (one of whose houses, in Marine Terrace, the Poet at that time occupied) standing side by side in the attitude of close friends.
The Photograph had beneath it the following Sonnet, composed by a friend of Mrs. Rose:
A Glimpse of the PastSay - by what accident together brought We here behold, fraternally allied In close approximity side by side, Friend Rose of Jersey, zealous for Free Thought, And Victor Hugo - Patriot unbought By all French Caesar's wiles - who, thence denied Safe Home in France by power Liberticide, In Jersey's Caesarea Freedom sought? The illustrious exile, hopeful of new fate, Within Friend Rose's wave-washed confines found A dwelling suited to his banished state; Where each day's breeze brought air from Gallic ground; And in his host he met - and thus would show it, - A kindred soul, and humble brother Poet. This Sonnet has been rendered in French, as follows:-
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If you think these particulars worth publication, they are at your service.
Un Chroniqueur
May 25, 1885
- Poetry in Jersey
- Victor Hugo
- Victor Hugo
- À Victor Hugo
- Victor Hugo
- Victor Hugo on the Jersey idiom
- Serenade
- Salut d'un pouor Rimeux à un Poète
- L'Archipel de la Manche
- Victor Hugo et la Pieuvre