‘The Legend of the Centuries’: A Masterwork of French Literature

The “only modern epic possible” Charles Baudelaire said, “The Legend of the Centuries” (“La Légende des siècles”The masterpiece of French literature is “(“). Victor Hugo wrote this poem, which aims at describing the human history from the beginning to the end of the nineteenth century. It is an enormous task.

Epic Masterwork

This compilation of narrative poems, written in 1885 and 1876 was published in the following three series: “Little Epics” This work opens with the 1859, then follows by the first series (1877), followed by the last (1883).

The second series’ beginning line begins. “The vision from which this book came out,” Hugo announces that he will be using poetry to explore the past of man, from his origins through Hugo’s time. “I had a dream: the walls of centuries appeared to me”—an imagined wall where scenes of humanity’s past, present, and future are drawn. The history of humanity is represented by this imagined wall. He becomes a poet-prophet and sees all.

Nadar. Victor Hugo in 1870. (Public Domain)

Hugo picks an epic poem or long narrative form to begin this epic task. His style is one of extraordinary heroes and exceptional adventures. It’s a style that combines oral and writing compositions with the grande epic poems. “Gilgamesh,” The “Odyssey,” The “Iliad,” The “Aeneid,” “Beowulf,” “Paradise Lost.”

Hugo employs a form that dates back to the early human civilisations, and blends it with French Romantic styles. Hugo employs lyrical contrasts in these poems (the beautiful and the ugly, the fantastic and the sublime), following the example of Shakespearean theatre. He also combines them to create epic themes (myths and heroic legends) and moral and philosophical theories, modernizing an ancient model.

Hugo Uses

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