la légende des siecles

Elle (la terre) sent se plonger la racine, serpent
Qui s'abreuve aux ruisseaux des sèves toujours prêtes.
(Souvenirs d'Enfance.)
cape, a cloak with hood, with which women protect their head and shoulders. Used in
Modern French only in a few provinces, except in certain phrases such as sous cape,
'secretly'. The word is the same as the English 'cape'.
C'est la marine! Marine is often used as a nickname, as we say in English 'Jack'. On the
French coast the word is often familiarly used in speaking to a man who is or has been a
sailor, e.g. Dis-donc, la marine! Tiens, voilá la marine! In this case it means 'Here am
I!'
bonnet de forçat, 'woollen cap worn by convicts and also by fishermen.'
chiffon: used colloquially for a child, especially for a little girl.
PLEINE MER.
Analysis. The vision of a gigantic derelict vessel on a boundless sea. This is the old
world, the past of grandeur and horror.
In the nineteenth century a monster warship was built on the Thames, type of the spirit
of that age. It carried two thousand guns; its topmast was higher than St. Paul's; now it
has become this derelict.
The old world was subject to many plagues and scourges. Its moving spirit was Hatred,
its characteristic, Division. Race strove with race; vice, ignorance, superstition, cruelty
prevailed.
Now the old world has vanished, the ship is deserted. What has become of man? Look
upwards!
cachalot. The cachalot or sperm-whale is one of the largest cetaceans, often attaining a
length of more than 80 ft.
le grand mât, the mainmast.
déferle (of a wave), 'breaks.'
L.38. See the remarks, in the Introduction, on Hugo's treatment of shadows.
étrave, the stern of a vessel.
étambot, the stern-post.