Les Orientales

Les Orientales is a collection of poems published in 1828 by the French poet Victor Hugo. It celebrates Eastern cultures, landscapes, and peoples, inspired by Hugo’s travels and the 19th-century European fascination with the Orient. The poems evoke exotic scenes, traditions, and colors, blending admiration with a sense of mystique and curiosity. Through vivid imagery and lyrical language, Hugo aims to capture the allure and diversity of the East, reflecting both fascination and the broader Romantic era's interest in exploring distant lands beyond Europe.