Part I: Section 10
Spurring meanwhile his mettled steed,The impatient bridegroom rides with speedWhere bright Aràgve's currents glide'Twixt verdant banks on either side.And following, far down the way,With bells that tinkled as they strode,Came camels faint beneath the loadOf costly gifts for marriage day,And Sinodàl's impetuous lordHimself led this gay cavalcade.With flashing jewels thick inlaidGlittered his poniard and his sword,His richly carven musket gleamingIn the sun's rays, his tunic streaming,Fanned by the breeze that ceaseless playedThrough the loose sleeves and vest confinedBy fringe of lace, his saddle gayWith coloured silks of far Cathay;His bridle decked with every kindOf tasselled store from farthest Ind.And his proud steed of Caucas strain,In fierce revolt 'gainst guiding rein,Tossing his tawny mane, and champingThe foamy bit, impatient stamping,Pricks up his ears to glance asideFrom threatening cliff to seething tide.Narrow and dangerous the wayAlong the gaping chasm lay;To right the angry waters hiss,To left a frowning precipice.The dusk has fallen, the day is gone,The cavalcade moves faster on.
Words in this poem
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- mettled a.
- Having mettle; high-spirited; ardent; full of fire.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- cavalcade n.
- A procession of persons on horseback; a formal, pompous march of horsemen by way of parade. [F. cavalcade, fr. It. cavalcata, fr. cavalcare to go on horseback, fr. LL. caballicare, fr. L. caballus an inferior horse, Gr. Cavalier, Cavalry.]
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- precipice n.
- A sudden or headlong fall. Fuller. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, - cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I: Section 10 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Demon, translated from the Russian of Lermontoff by Robert Burness, B.A. (Oxon.), Edinburgh: Douglas & Foulis, 1918, Internet Archive, the Robert Burness translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mikhail Lermontov, Part I: Section 10, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/1-10.html, id L28463.
Form and metre
Part I: Section 10 is 32 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCDDCEFFEGGFHIIHHJJKKLLMMNN-- steedA · speedA · glideB · sideB · wayC · strodeD · loadD · dayC · lordE · cavalcadeF · inlaidF · swordE · gleamingG · streamingG · playedF · confinedH · gayI · cathayI · kindH · indH · strainJ · reinJ · champingK · stampingK · asideL · tideL · wayM · layM · hissN · precipiceN · gone · on
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Spurring meanwhile his mettled steed, | 8 | /˘/··/˘· |
| The impatient bridegroom rides with speed | 9 | ·˘/˘/···· |
| Where bright Aràgve's currents glide | 7 | ····/˘· |
| 'Twixt verdant banks on either side. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And following, far down the way, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| With bells that tinkled as they strode, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Came camels faint beneath the load | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of costly gifts for marriage day, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Sinodàl's impetuous lord | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Himself led this gay cavalcade. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| With flashing jewels thick inlaid | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/· |
| Glittered his poniard and his sword, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| His richly carven musket gleaming | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| In the sun's rays, his tunic streaming, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Fanned by the breeze that ceaseless played | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Through the loose sleeves and vest confined | 8 | ······˘/ |
| By fringe of lace, his saddle gay | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With coloured silks of far Cathay; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| His bridle decked with every kind | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of tasselled store from farthest Ind. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And his proud steed of Caucas strain, | 8 | ········ |
| In fierce revolt 'gainst guiding rein, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Tossing his tawny mane, and champing | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
| The foamy bit, impatient stamping, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Pricks up his ears to glance aside | 8 | ······˘/ |
| From threatening cliff to seething tide. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Narrow and dangerous the way | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Along the gaping chasm lay; | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| To right the angry waters hiss, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To left a frowning precipice. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The dusk has fallen, the day is gone, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The cavalcade moves faster on. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.