Part I: Section 13
Swifter than stag, the noble steed,As though rebuked for tardy speed,Pausing a moment's space to sniffThe breeze that flutters on the cliff,Snorts, stamping the insensate groundWith angry hoof's metallic sound;Tosses his mane from side to side,His nostrils red, distended wide...A rider motionless he bears,With wound that gapes, with eye that stares,Whose head is sunk on horse's mane,Whose nerveless hand still grasps the rein,Whose feet the stirrups press in vain,While the dark crimson splash uponHarness and gay caparisonSpreads to a deeper, broader stain.Bold courser! thou didst bear thy masterFleeter than arrow from the fight,But the fell bullet followed fasterFrom dastard ambuscade that night.
Words in this poem
- swifter v. t.
- To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.
- 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.]
- insensate a.
- Wanting sensibility; destitute of sense; stupid; foolish. [L. insensatus. See In- not, and Sensate.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- nerveless a.
- Destitute of nerves.
- caparison n.
- An ornamental covering or housing for a horse; the harness or trappings of a horse, taken collectively, esp. when decorative. [F. capara, fr. Sp. caparazon a cover for a saddle, coach, etc.; capa cloak, cover (fr. LL. capa, cf. LL. caparo also fr. capa) + the term. azon. See Cap.]
- courser n.
- One who courses or hunts. [F. coursier.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- dastard n.
- One who meanly shrinks from danger; an arrant coward; a poltroon. [Prob. from Icel. dæstr exhausted. breathless, p. p. of dæsa to groan, lose one's breath; cf. dasask to become exhausted, and E. daze.]
- ambuscade n.
- A lying in a wood, concealed, for the purpose of attacking an enemy by surprise. Hence: A lying in wait, and concealed in any situation, for a like purpose; a snare laid for an enemy; an ambush. [F. embuscade, fr. It. imboscata, or Sp. emboscada, fr. emboscar to ambush, fr. LL. imboscare. See Ambush, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I: Section 13 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 13, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/1-13.html, id L28466.
Form and metre
Part I: Section 13 is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFF--FGHGH steedA · speedA · sniffB · cliffB · groundC · soundC · sideD · wideD · bearsE · staresE · maneF · reinF · vainF · upon · caparison · stainF · masterG · fightH · fasterG · nightH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Swifter than stag, the noble steed, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| As though rebuked for tardy speed, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Pausing a moment's space to sniff | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| The breeze that flutters on the cliff, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Snorts, stamping the insensate ground | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| With angry hoof's metallic sound; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Tosses his mane from side to side, | 8 | /˘······ |
| His nostrils red, distended wide... | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| A rider motionless he bears, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| With wound that gapes, with eye that stares, | 8 | ········ |
| Whose head is sunk on horse's mane, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whose nerveless hand still grasps the rein, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Whose feet the stirrups press in vain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While the dark crimson splash upon | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Harness and gay caparison | 8 | /˘··˘/˘˘ |
| Spreads to a deeper, broader stain. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Bold courser! thou didst bear thy master | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Fleeter than arrow from the fight, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But the fell bullet followed faster | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| From dastard ambuscade that night. | 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.