He showed me Hights I never saw－1
"Would'st Climb"－He said?
I said, "Not so"－
"With me－" He said－"With me"?
He showed me secrets－Morning's Nest－5
The Rope the Nights were put across－
"And now, Would'st have me for a Guest"?
I could not find my "Yes"－
And then－He brake His Life－And lo, 9
A light for me, did solemn glow－
The steadier, as my face withdrew－
And could I further "No"?
"Would'st Climb"－He said?
I said, "Not so"－
"With me－" He said－"With me"?
He showed me secrets－Morning's Nest－5
The Rope the Nights were put across－
"And now, Would'st have me for a Guest"?
I could not find my "Yes"－
And then－He brake His Life－And lo, 9
A light for me, did solemn glow－
The steadier, as my face withdrew－
And could I further "No"?
(F.346.J.446)
[1] He:: Quasimodo, the hunchback bell-ringer of Notre Dame. I:: Esmeralda, a young Gypsy girl.
[5] Morning:: a new beginning, hope. Nest:: a shelter, sanctuary for Esmeralda.
[6] the Nights:: dark people around Esmeralda. The Rope:: constraining, binding; with a bell rope Quasimodo saves Esmeralda; Esmeralda is executed by hanging.
[9] He brake His Life:: Quasimodo starves himself to death with the body of Esmeralda in Montfaucon.
[12] could I further "No"?:: Esmeralda can't reject Quasimodo any more.
Suddenly, at the moment when the superintendent's assistants were preparing to execute Charmolue's phlegmatic order, he threw his leg over the balustrade of the gallery, seized the rope with his feet, his knees and his hands; then he was seen to glide down the facade, as a drop of rain slips down a window-pane, rush to the two executioners with the swiftness of a cat which has fallen from a roof, knock them down with two enormous fists, pick up the gypsy with one hand, as a child would her doll, and dash back into the church with a single bound, lifting the young girl above his head and crying in a formidable voice,—"Sanctuary!"─ The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1849)
