Love

Come when I Sleep

by Victor Hugo 1802–1885

Translated by Wm. W. Tomlinson (1888) · From Les Rayons et les ombres (1840)

Love

Oh! when I sleep, come near my resting-place,
As Laura came to bless her poet's heart,
And let thy breath in passing touch my face--
At once a space
My lips will part.

And on my brow where too long weighed supreme
A vision--haply spent now--black as night,
Let thy look as a star arise and beam--
At once my dream
Will seem of light.

Then press my lips, where plays a flame of bliss--
A pure and holy love-light--and forsake
The angel for the woman in a kiss--
At once, I wis,
My soul will wake!

✦ ✦ ✦

French: "Oh, quand je dors." [XXVII.]

MLA

Hugo, Victor. “Come when I Sleep.” Translated by Wm. W. Tomlinson. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/hugo/50/.

Chicago

Hugo, Victor. “Come when I Sleep.” Translated by Wm. W. Tomlinson. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/hugo/50/.

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