Translation: Victor Hugo, “Demain, dès l’aube” 1856

Edouard Vuillard, Vase of Flowers on a Mantelpiece, 1900

Tomorrow at Sunrise

Tomorrow at sunrise, at the hour the fields lighten

I will set off. I know you wait, you see

I will go by the forest, I will go by the mountain

For the time is past, I cannot keep away

I will walk with my eyes fixed on inward sights

Seeing nothing before me, and hearing no noise

Alone, known to none, back bent and hands clasped

Bereft, and the day for me will be as the night

I will not look to the gold evening’s fall

Nor the sails afar coming down to Harfleur

And when I arrive, I will place on your tomb

A sprig of green holly and of heather in flower

This poem was written as an attempt of Hugo’s to find peace with the death of his daughter. The French translates into English straightforwardly, so interpretations tend to sound alike. I wanted an original take, without departures for the sake of originality. Instead, I wanted English words and idioms that have resonance; resonance apt to the feelings Hugo expresses—the reason I picked sunrise over dawn for the title. 

Demain, dès l’aube, à l’heure où blanchit la campagne,

Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m’attends.

J’irai par la forêt, j’irai par la montagne

Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.

Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées,

Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit,

Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,

Triste, et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit.

Je ne regarderai ni l’or du soir qui tombe,

Ni les voiles au loin descendant vers Harfleur, 

Et, quand j’arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe

Un bouquet de houx vert et de bruyère en fleur.

(2024, translation by Stephanie Foster)