The Poetry Corner

The Carrier Pigeon.

By Victor-Marie Hugo

("Oh! qu'est-ce que c'est donc que l'Inconnu.") [January, 1871.] Who then - oh, who, is like our God so great, Who makes the seed expand beneath the mountain's weight; Who for a swallow's nest leaves one old castle wall, Who lets for famished beetles savory apples fall, Who bids a pigmy win where Titans fail, in yoke, And, in what we deem fruitless roar and smoke, Makes Etna, Chimborazo, still His praises sing, And saves a city by a word lapped 'neath a pigeon's wing!