The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.

The shortest correspondence in history is said to have been between Hugo and his publiVictor Hugor Hurst and Blackett in 1862. His last novel Quatre-vingt-treize (Ninety-Three) publiVictor Hugod in 1874 dealt with a subject that Hugo had previously avoided: the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Well over one thousand musical compositions have been inspired by Hugo's works from the 19th century until the present day.

Among many volumes of poetry Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Victor Marie Hugo (French pronunciation: ​[viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo]; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet novelist and dramatist of the Romantic movement.