Victor Hugo wrote Les Contemplations in 1856 during his political exile, a theme he also explored in Les Châtiments. For several years, he experienced an internal exile that haunts Les Contemplations. The work is composed of two distinct parts: "Autrefois" and "Aujourd'hui". This collection is Hugo's first poetic masterpiece, consisting of over ten thousand lines cast against the sea and sky on the island of Jersey.

Marked forever by the death of his daughter Léopoldine, Hugo announces in his preface that these two parts cannot be reconciled: "an abyss separates them, the grave." Within Les Contemplations are some of Hugo's most beautiful poems about the force of nature, the nostalgia of childhood, and the inevitability of death. The variety of rhythm and tone, ranging from classical to romantic, showcases Hugo's mastery of poetic creation.

The poem "La bouche d'ombre", with its eight hundred verses, elevates the poetic vision to a higher order. Hugo's words transform into a cosmological, theological, and moral treatise. "God dictated, I wrote," Hugo logically concludes at the end of the collection.

Today, even after Rimbaud considered it "the first of the seers" and the surrealists hailed Hugo as a master, his protean genius continues to impress. Les Contemplations remains a testament to his enduring legacy.