"Plainly Hugo was the greatest man of letters of his day. It has been given to few or none to live a life so full of e…"

"Ho! then, the splendour And sheen of my ministry, Clothing the earth With a livery of lightnings! Ho! then, the music…"

"Hark how the Trumpet, The mistress of mistresses, Calls, silver-throated And stern, where the tables Are spread, and …"

"Far in the stillness a cat Languishes loudly. A cinder Falls, and the shadows Lurch to the leap of the flame."

"From the winter's gray despair, From the summer’s golden languor, Death, the lover of Life, Frees us for ever."

"Bland as a Jesuit, sober as a hymn."

"Valiant in velvet, light in ragged luck, Most vain, most generous, sternly critical, Buffoon and poet, lover and sens…"

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerabl…"

"Night with her train of stars And her great gift of sleep."

"Time's right-hand man, the sea Laughs as in joy From his millions of wrinkles: Laughs that his destiny, Great with th…"