Page:Aicard - Molière à Shakspeare, 1879.djvu/19

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Wandering, desolate children of wounded France,
We went spreading abroad our Country’s soul,
And you applauded, with your voices and your hearts,
Unconquerable genius, and victorious Molière.

O land of Shakspeare ! o hospitable land !
We, the comedians and the sons of Molière,
We had promised thee to come back once more.
Well ! we are here all together again,
But prouder, happier, on this English shore
Which wellcomed us in bad times.
And we say : Hail to thee, free country, old soil,
To exiles kind, — thou, nest, whence, every day,
An idea takes its flight, moving its genial wings
To follow thy ships over the waters of two Worlds !
Hail to thee, isolated world, that fillest the Universe
With a noise of labour, like the noise of the Sea !
— In Art and in joy, to England hail !…