Victor Hugo’s ‘La Captive’ (1829)

Some originary Orientalism

[Paul Gavarni’s 1843 illustration to the poem]

Here’s a poem from Hugo’s early collection Les Orientales (1829). The speaker is a Western woman held captive in ‘the East’. My English translation follows the French.

La captive
Si je n’étais captive,
J’aimerais ce pays,
Et cette mer plaintive,
Et ces champs de maïs,
Et ces a…