Ode To Victor Hugo-79 'the Miserable' marius Penniless Poem by Freeyad Ibrahim

By Freeyad Ibrahim

Life became very hard for Marius
To have eaten his clothes and his watch was nothing;
He had now to chew the cud of utmost necessity
It was a horrible time of days without food,
Nights without sleep,
Evenings without light,
A hearth without a fire,
Weeks without work,
And a future without hope;
Threadbare clothes,
Doors slammed behind him
because he had not paid the rent,
The insolence underlings
The scorn of neighbours
Humiliation
Loss of self-respect
Menial tasks performed
Disgust
Bitterness
Despair
Marius learned to swallow all these things
To know what it was to have nothing else to swallow.
In that condition of life
when a man has most need of self-esteem
because he lacks love
He felt himself mocked because he was ill-clad
And ridiculous
Because he was Penniless

Fryad Hugo
(writer-author)
Netherlands