Literary Piece of the Week – Sept. 12, 2016
“Never Revile a woman for her fall!
Who knows what burdens made the poor thing crawl?
Who knows how long her hunger had to fight?
When blasts of hardship shake her sense of right,
Many a girl — haven’t you known her?– stands
Firm a long time — holds on with worn out hands;
As we see on a branch tip, sparkling bright,
A drop of rain gleaming with heaven’s light,
Tossed about with the tree, trembling and hurt,
A pearl before its fall– and after, dirt!
The fault is ours — yours, rich man, with your pay!
And dirt contains pure water to this day.
How can that drop of water leave the slime,
Regain the luster of its former time?
All the things can rise back to the light above;
They need only a ray of sun or love!”
— Victor Hugo
Selected Poems of Victor Hugo, XIV
