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The Seaman's Song

A poem retold from Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo was a French poet and novelist who lived in the nineteenth century. He wrote this poem while in exile, far from his homeland. The poem captures the bittersweet moment when a sailor leaves everything familiar to travel the sea. This reader retells the poem as a story so young readers can feel what it means to say farewell to home, family and love, and to begin a journey into the unknown. Hugo's original poem was called 'Adieu, patrie,' which means 'Farewell, homeland.' This text reflects its era.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readersTypical starting range: ages 6–8

Length

medium · about 534 words in 4 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Poems, Victor Hugo

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (8 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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