Part I: Section 16
Silence .... all faded far away;Echo for echo, sound for sound.She started up, looked wildly round—Terror, astonishment, dismay,Held in her breast alternate sway,And at her heart strings surging, swelling,She did not know, she could not say,What rapturous joy, all else excelling!Her soul had cast its bondage downAnd rioted through every vein,While diapasons could not drownThe insistence of that new refrainIn that strange voice's haunting strain.But when at dawn her senses slept,Prophetic fancies o'er her creepingTold her that some dim Presence keptWatch over her while she was sleeping.A cloudy form was o'er her bendingOf beauty human thought transcending.He did not speak—he did not move—But in his eyes was speechless love.So anguish-torn that glance fell o'er herWhose only thought was to adore her.'Twas not the angel God had given,Her guardian spirit sent from Heaven;Halo of iridescent raysShone not above the impassioned gaze;'Twas not a Fiend from Hell's abyssesOf tortured agony—oh, nay,He glowed with evening's lovelinesses—Nor dark, nor light—nor night, nor day.
Words in this poem
- astonishment n.
- The condition of one who is stunned. Hence: Numbness; loss of sensation; stupor; loss of sense. [Cf. OF. est, F. étonnement.]
- insistence n.
- The quality of insisting, or being urgent or pressing; the act of dwelling upon as of special importance; persistence; urgency.
- speechless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the faculty of speech.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- impassioned p. p.
- Actuated or characterized by passion or zeal; showing warmth of feeling; ardent; animated; excited; as, an impassioned orator or discourse.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I: Section 16 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 16, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/1-16.html, id L28469.
Form and metre
Part I: Section 16 is 31 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABBAACACDEDEEFGFGHHII----JJJK-K awayA · soundB · roundB · dismayA · swayA · swellingC · sayA · excellingC · downD · veinE · drownD · refrainE · strainE · sleptF · creepingG · keptF · sleepingG · bendingH · transcendingH · moveI · loveI · her · her · given · heaven · raysJ · gazeJ · abyssesJ · nayK · lovelinesses · dayK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Silence .... all faded far away; | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Echo for echo, sound for sound. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| She started up, looked wildly round— | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Terror, astonishment, dismay, | 8 | /˘˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Held in her breast alternate sway, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And at her heart strings surging, swelling, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| She did not know, she could not say, | 8 | ········ |
| What rapturous joy, all else excelling! | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Her soul had cast its bondage down | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And rioted through every vein, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| While diapasons could not drown | 7 | ······· |
| The insistence of that new refrain | 9 | ·˘/˘···˘/ |
| In that strange voice's haunting strain. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But when at dawn her senses slept, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Prophetic fancies o'er her creeping | 9 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Told her that some dim Presence kept | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Watch over her while she was sleeping. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| A cloudy form was o'er her bending | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Of beauty human thought transcending. | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| He did not speak—he did not move— | 8 | ········ |
| But in his eyes was speechless love. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So anguish-torn that glance fell o'er her | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Whose only thought was to adore her. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/· |
| 'Twas not the angel God had given, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Her guardian spirit sent from Heaven; | 9 | ·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| Halo of iridescent rays | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Shone not above the impassioned gaze; | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| 'Twas not a Fiend from Hell's abysses | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Of tortured agony—oh, nay, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| He glowed with evening's lovelinesses— | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Nor dark, nor light—nor night, nor day. | 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.