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Victor Hugo, a romantic writer celebrated for his poems as well as novels wrote the mournful and reflective ‘Demain des l’aube’ as part of his collection titled Les Contemplations’. The tragic drowning of his daughter and her husband in the river Seine appears to be the main impetus in composing this particular poem, and increases in poignancy with the fact that it was written the day before the fourth anniversary of her death. The use of the first person narrative makes it a personal and touching dedication, not in the form of a speech, instead containing the sincerity of inward contemplation, as the title of his publication suggests. Without the background knowledge of Hugo’s personal loss the first stanza does not overtly lead the reader to believe it is a memorandum. The narrator describes a voyage he is to be undertaking, and the sonnet form adopted by the author appears initially to promise a dedication to a loved one and an oath to find them, whatever the cost; ‘je sais que tu m’attends’, there is an inevitability in this private journey, as the emphatic language of the stanza reinforces. It is not until a re-reading of the first stanza and an understanding of what the voyage will actually lead to, that the depth of what Hugo is writing can be fully comprehended. The last line, ‘je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps’, transforms in meaning when the reader realises the tragic implications of what he is saying. The alexandrine lines (twelve syllables per line), that Hugo has employed mirror the idea of journey with its regular and lengthy sentences, and allow for development of ideas within each line.
Approximate Word count = 1076
Approximate Pages = 4.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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