‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ is a poem about intense grief as it follows the journey of a speaker on a visit to the grave of a loved one. Unfortunately, the poem was inspired by a terrible tragedy endured by Victor Hugo and his family. In the fall of 1843, his daughter and her husband drowned. The writer was blindsided by the event, and it became a fixation in his poetry for years afterward.
This poem was written just four years after she passed and offers a glimpse into Hugo’s struggle with such acute heartbreak and sorrow. Like many of his works, his exquisitely empathetic illustration of such painful and complex emotion is a lasting element of the beauty found in his writing.
Tomorrow, At Dawn Victor HugoTomorrow, at dawn, at the hour when the countryside whitens,I will set out. You see, I know that you wait for me.I will go by the forest, I will go by the mountain.I can no longer remain far from you.I will walk with my eyes fixed on my thoughts,Seeing nothing of outdoors, hearing no noiseAlone, unknown, my back curved, my hands crossed,Sorrowed, and the day for me will be as the night.I will not look at the gold of evening which falls,Nor the distant sails going down towards Harfleur,And when I arrive, I will place on your tombA bouquet of green holly and of flowering heather.
Summary
‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ by Victor Hugo follows a heartbroken speaker who journies to visit the grave of a loved one.
‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ is a short poem that presents poignantly one person’s struggle with the death of a loved one. It opens with the speaker addressing the dead and explaining their intention to “set out” for their burial site in the morning. Expressing morose desperation when they imagine themselves on their journey, intentionally ignorant of anything other than the pain of their grief.
From the mundane to the beautiful, the speaker assures their dead loved one that they will not see or contemplate anything except their arrival at the tomb. Once there, they will place a “bouquet of green holly and of flowering heather” upon the grave. A bittersweet symbol of both their still-flowering love and memory of the dead.
Structure and Form
‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ is comprised of three quatrains with no fixed rhyme scheme or meter. The poem displays Hugo’s use of caesura to create abrupt pauses throughout his verses, which helps the poet mimic the rhythms of speech and thought.
Literary Devices
‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ uses a number of literary devices, the most prominent of which is visual imagery: “Tomorrow, at dawn, at the hour when the countryside whitens” (1); “Alone, unknown, my back curved, my hands crossed,” (7). There are also examples of figurative language: metaphor, “I will walk with my eyes fixed on my thoughts” (5), and simile, “Sorrowed, and the day for me will be as the night” (8).
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
Tomorrow, at dawn, at the hour when the countryside whitens,
I will set out. You see, I know that you wait for me.
I will go by the forest, I will go by the mountain.
I can no longer remain far from you.
The first stanza of ‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ opens with a declaration of intention. The speaker intends to leave their home at first light the next morning to visit someone. Although it’s not yet clear at this point in the poem, the person the speaker is visiting has passed away.
Yet they address them as if they were still alive, a sign that they are still processing the immense grief of such a loss and unable to accept the finality of the death. The last line also implies that the speaker has not visited the grave in some time — possibly because of their own anguish — but now they find themselves overcome by necessity and desperation.
Stanza Two
I will walk with my eyes fixed on my thoughts,
Seeing nothing of outdoors, hearing no noise
Alone, unknown, my back curved, my hands crossed,
Sorrowed, and the day for me will be as the night.
The second stanza of ‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ sees the speaker imagining their journey to the grave. Describing a particular and peculiar desire to ignore everything around them. They tell their dead loved one that they will keep their “eyes fixed on my thoughts” (5) and not the landscape. “Seeing nothing of outdoors, hearing no noise” (6), the speaker reveals the immense weight of the grief they’re carrying.
Whether it’s so potent that it inhibits focus on much else or an expression of the hallowed severity of the speaker’s journey (like a pilgrim visiting the tomb of a revered saint), their intense meditation on their sorrow is formidable. Then there’s the image of them moving silently “alone, unknown, my back curved” (7), which gravely illustrates the all-consuming nature of their mourning.
Stanza Three
I will not look at the gold of evening which falls,
Nor the distant sails going down towards Harfleur,
And when I arrive, I will place on your tomb
A bouquet of green holly and of flowering heather.
The last stanza of ‘Tomorrow, At Dawn’ describes the speaker’s arrival at the tomb of their loved one. The first two lines reiterate their commitment to not view any beautiful spectacle on their journey. The tenderly anticlimactic ending of the poem underscores the quiet devastation and love that comprises the speaker’s grief.
On their way to the grave, they ignored all the splendor of the natural world around them. Yet their placement of a bouquet of “green holly and of flowering heather” (12) serves as a reminder that just as much love lies behind their sorrow — no doubt fueled by the still lingering memories of their loved one.
FAQs
The poem’s theme centers on its deep contemplation of grief. The speaker ignores all else when journeying to the grave of their loved one — possibly out of sorrow and/or pious respect for the dead. If Hugo’s poem is anything, it’s a powerful envisioning of a very particular mourner: one who must prepare themselves for the emotionally arduous (and no less physical given the implied distance traveled) trek ahead of them.
In September 1843, tragedy struck Hugo’s family when his newly married daughter Leopoldine drowned alongside her husband. He wrote this poem on the fourth anniversary of her death as an imagining of his walk to her grave. In such contextual light, the poem’s heartache is made all the more potent, knowing it is an expression of parental grief for the death of a child.
Holly is often associated with the Christmas holiday, though its roots stretch back to Celtic traditions, often associated with an expression of peace and goodwill. The heather is typically associated with protection and luck (the latter developing during the Victorian Era).
Harfleur is a town on the northern coast of France. The speaker describes seeing it in the distance on their way to the grave. Hugo’s daughter was buried in the Villequier Churchyard along the Seine and would’ve been able to see the town they traveled to the burial site.
Similar Poems
- ‘A Nameless Grave’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – this poem also describes a solemn visit to a grave.
- ‘Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep’ by Mary Frye – this poem sees the speaker facing the prospect and aftermath of their own death, advising those left behind how to best remember them.
- ‘On the Death of Anne Brontë’ by Charlotte Brontë – this poem takes an intimately personal look at the poet’s grief over the death of their sister.
