Poems by Victor Hugo - HTML preview

THE PATIENCE OF THE PEOPLE.

("Il s'est dit tant de fois.")
     {III., May, 1830.}

How often have the people said: "What's power?"
     Who reigns soon is dethroned? each fleeting hour
     Has onward borne, as in a fevered dream,
     Such quick reverses, like a judge supreme—
     Austere but just, they contemplate the end
     To which the current of events must tend.
     Self-confidence has taught them to forbear,
     And in the vastness of their strength, they spare.
     Armed with impunity, for one in vain     Resists a nation, they let others reign.

     G.W.M. REYNOLDS.