Part I: Section 11
There stood a chapel on the roadWherein a saint reposed in God,(This saint had been a prince in life,Slain long ago in vengeful strife,)And whosoever fared that way,On warfare or on pleasure bent,Passed never heedless by, but wentTo the old lonely shrine to pray,And that same prayer would guard him wellFrom dagger of the infidel.But the young bridegroom, pausing not,Rode on secure, his prayers forgot,For, weaving dreams of fond conceit,The crafty Fiend was at his side,"Haste, bridegroom, haste—more fleet, more fleet,Else other lips will kiss thy bride."Sudden in front two forms appeared—A shot rang out—the charger reared—And on his clanging stirrups roseThe impulsive prince to face his foes,For words of parley lingering not,But straight with poniard gleaming, flashing,Like eagle from its eyrie dashing,'Mid crack of whip and pistol shot.Loud rang the pass with musket rattle,With cries and groans of wounded men,As craven Grusians through the glenFled from the short contested battle.
Words in this poem
- reposed a.
- Composed; calm; tranquil; at rest.
- vengeful a.
- Vindictive; retributive; revengeful.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- infidel a.
- Not holding the faith; -- applied esp. to one who does not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the supernatural origin of Christianity. [L. infidelis; pref. in- not + fidelis faithful, fr. fides faith: cf. F. infidèle. See Fidelity.]
- 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]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- impulsive a.
- Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an impulse; moving; impellent. [Cf. F. impulsif.]
- eyrie n.
- The nest of a bird of prey or other large bird that builds in a lofty place; aerie. [See Aerie]
- craven v. t.
- To make recreant, weak, spiritless, or cowardly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I: Section 11 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 11, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/1-11.html, id L28464.
Form and metre
Part I: Section 11 is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See 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 --AABCCBDDEEFGFGHHIIEJJEKLLK road · god · lifeA · strifeA · wayB · bentC · wentC · prayB · wellD · infidelD · notE · forgotE · conceitF · sideG · fleetF · brideG · appearedH · rearedH · roseI · foesI · notE · flashingJ · dashingJ · shotE · rattleK · menL · glenL · battleK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There stood a chapel on the road | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wherein a saint reposed in God, | 8 | ····/··· |
| (This saint had been a prince in life, | 8 | ········ |
| Slain long ago in vengeful strife,) | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And whosoever fared that way, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| On warfare or on pleasure bent, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Passed never heedless by, but went | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To the old lonely shrine to pray, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And that same prayer would guard him well | 8 | ········ |
| From dagger of the infidel. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But the young bridegroom, pausing not, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Rode on secure, his prayers forgot, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| For, weaving dreams of fond conceit, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The crafty Fiend was at his side, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Haste, bridegroom, haste—more fleet, more fleet, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Else other lips will kiss thy bride." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sudden in front two forms appeared— | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| A shot rang out—the charger reared— | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And on his clanging stirrups rose | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The impulsive prince to face his foes, | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| For words of parley lingering not, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But straight with poniard gleaming, flashing, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Like eagle from its eyrie dashing, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| 'Mid crack of whip and pistol shot. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Loud rang the pass with musket rattle, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| With cries and groans of wounded men, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As craven Grusians through the glen | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Fled from the short contested battle. | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
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.