New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-03-24
VICTOR HUGO.
LETTER FROM NJ. ARsENE HoUssAYE.

IL Victor Hugo TO that of Socrates, at the hour
,-ben his friends came to see him. There is con-
.;rnal ebb and flow. child once said: II can't
.oe the ocean for the waves" Every evening the
friends of Victor Hugo prevent his friends from see
;nc Victor Hugo. Yesterday was the poets birth
dav.festval because he was 20 years old But is it
NOT always his birthday perpetual festival
of genius
Victor Hugo determined to mark this anniversary
nv beautiful bOok-his L6geHde des Si6cles This
;u he the Book of the Age 1t lis the second series
~ his great work no one but he has ever opened
.ucb luminous vstas INTO History and into the In
tnite. | behold the true contemporaries of Victor
Hpgo-Homer Dante, Shakespeare, MOliere,-listen-
ING from know not what Olympus, to these marvel
ous symphonies which are the Soul of the World If
Ranbael were to paint his "Parnassus" to-day, what
=. radiant figure he would make of Victor Hugo,
among all the glorious forms of Poetry and Art
Victor Hugo is no less great artist than a great
noet: there is poetry without art, as there is no
ART without poetry. The supreme victory of modern
genius is 10 paint in words: the shining palette
ppon which they spread gives greater glow and
accent to the forms of the imagination. See, thus,
how type created by Victor Hugo asserts itself with
snperhuman power all his figures are living before
us some since yesterday, some for half century,
but ever alive; terrible charming, peOpling and
PASSIONS and sentiments allied to all the forms of
the greatest poets because they collectively repre-
sent the Human Comedy upon the universal theatcr
of the Beautiful and the Good, under the light of
God that great kindlng of candles-I mean to say,
suns!
Dante said "The Divine Comedy" Yes, the
divine comedy when the genius is divine. There
are men who are the children of men, but there arc
also men who are the sons of the gods. Every time
the human mind lifts itself into inaccessible regions
in order to speak of the things of this world we
have the divine comedy 1t must be seen near at
hand but il must be seen from above and also IRON
a distance What great poet has not had his hours
of exileS Dante even as Homer Moere, friend of
O king. was exiled from Armande B6jart his wife;
Victor Hugo, enemy Of an emperor, was exiled from
France, his country. How many immortal tears
necklaces of pearls for immortal POesy-have not
these two eXes provoked! They were both already
great Moliere and Hugo, but they not made
greater by the passionate eOquencc of hours of suf
feringi No poet becomes god, save by the stations
Of the Cross Penetrate into the lives of the greatest
Homer will say to you that he begged, Dante will
write under your eyes "DoGperda,d" tDespairD
Shakespeare will show you his heart bleeding from
the battles of life Even so with all whose fore
heads have been branded by destiny.
A year ago wrote to yOu of the spiritual nature
Paran, given more daring pinions to his SOnl.
Others have seen the finite in the infinite:
Victor Hugo sees the infinite succeeding the in
finite. What is more beautiful in his d" Legend of
the Ages" than the poem Purity of SOulf" 1t is
through the love of good that he advances to the
eternal beauty of truth and hight:
On that same night. no star hlazea in tie sky;
The month Of Eglad twas we CAL july;
And under darkoft azuTc-Myst' rvs face
Wherever Laith preserves Gtsritliacc,
Woods. shores, rayacs, and cap,S of arid stone
The heTmits, who by spirit live alone.
Fathoning eternity, soul, numb Is, time,
Restless still, stiaycd in the gloom sublime.
Revolt was in them, the high mood that brings
prison to him who has the sense of wings:
Each tried a Ink OF bis lone chain to Tend;-
No cheating more! of war and hate an end!
From each OF these se1iiOus souls was driven
stern appeal which mounted unto heaven
The Truth, august, and passioncss and clear,
On each pale forehead made thought appear,
Ofiusticc peace, and amnesty with hell
Pity from those bright minqs let loose her spell,
Kindness. and pardon 10 clho neral lives
In dreams Of sia t IHay ya aaHy y Gg24
Those hermlts plunged IL Elooa thus went their
Dark. lone combining rhythms and algebras.
Numbers and songs. the Present and the Past,
Adding some power to Man. and making vast
The eyes pupil aud the mind, the sncech. the ear.
They broOdCd: daZzled, then, did Dawn appear
Stars are suns to the soul of the poet There is
darkness which lie cannot dispense, save il be the
darkness of foolshness. Bat how shall | go into
the details of this work FIT il world. As
We open the volume, breath" the full atmosphere
of epic poetry: shake from our feet the Infinite lit
tleness of cotempordry poetry, as we leave at the
door before entering the presence of monarch, tie
rumplcd mantle, sparkling with Tain-dTOps, epheme-
raj diamonds. Here recognize that art courts no
petty experiences that the word is a weapon which
Stays mbecility as daylight destroys a. phantom.
We ask whether all that interested Paris yesterday
Of oI-8y( n
falls away, loses itself yaaishes The great vanites
Of little poets return into the shades the clamors
of hate are smothered like the voice of scoundrel
taken by the throat. Hcncefor;h, there is but one
workout one man: la L{geulc dcs S;lcles-VICrOR
HrG0!
II has been said that particular god is necessary
for each race The poet has thus an unheard-of
privilege, since he speaks to all races. l do not
speak only OF the higher orders Of intelligence, for
Victor Hugo also says. Suffer little children to
come to ne" This iSbccausc his genius is composed
of goodness as it of sraEdcuT.-because profound
love Of humanity gives a divine luster TO every
thing he touches. He loves God i'll man, woman,
child, beast trees. roses, waves, and rocks. lie
recognizes the power of the soul Of things, even as
that of the human soul. These two SOILS cXalt ana
fuctlfy ".The Legend of the Ages" We convcraed
one day al Victor Hugos residence upon the various
Stages through which lie DIVINE IrOVldehce
Reaches us and after the beasts, since all is love
in this world of worlds. said him that If he had
bis own pToydential share rs a good man. yet con-
sdered him specially an ambassador, more or less
extraordinary, OF God In fact, who has better
spoken to men in prose and verse? Who has better
expressed the great qualities Of duty and sacrifice!
WAo. since Jesus Christ has so lifted woman in her
G.l so fortified her weakness Who has cried out
more loudly AGAINST Injustice or more tepderly
preached pardon? One might make an entire Cos