202
THE STATUE OF VICTOR HUGO.
25.
Earth, which hast not shown the sun a nobler birth,
Time, that hast not on thy scroll denied and gory
One man’s name writ brighter in its whole wide girth,
Witness, till the final years fulfil their story,
Till the stars break off the music of their mirth,
What among the sons of men was this man’s glory,
What the vesture of his soul revealed on earth.