Part I: Section 3
O'er many a lofty Caucas peakThe exile's soaring pinion rose,Below him, as with gems, KazbèkSparkled with everlasting snows.And Darial's opposing sidesShowed black, as when a serpent hidesIts winding coils in some dark lair.And Terek, bounding from its fountain,Like lion with wild shaggy hair,Roared, and each mountain beast and mountainBird in the azure deep of airCircled in endless panorama,And gold-rimmed clouds from Eastern landsWhirled with him on to northern strands,And lofty rock and promontory,Full of the secret of a dream,Bent their proud heads beneath him flying,Tracing the course of glittering stream.And rival tower with tower vyingScowled on the clouds that lay between;Till last, like sentinel stupendous,The Caucasus shed dazzling sheenVeiling a majesty tremendous.All wild and wondrous was the sceneOf God's fair world; but his proud visionScanned his Creator's works in vain,Reflecting nought but calm derision,Although that scorn was deathless pain.
Words in this poem
- pinion n.
- A moth of the genus Lithophane, as L. antennata, whose larva bores large holes in young peaches and apples.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- terek n.
- A sandpiper (Terekia cinerea) of the Old World, breeding in the far north of eastern Europe and Asia and migrating to South Africa and Australia. It frequents rivers.
- circled a.
- Having the form of a circle; round.
- vying
- a. & n. from Vie.
- stupendous a.
- Astonishing; wonderful; amazing; especially, astonishing in magnitude or elevation; as, a stupendous pile. [L. stupendus astonishing, p. future pass. of stupere to be astonished at. Cf. Stupid.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- veiling n.
- A veil; a thin covering; also, material for making veils.
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I: Section 3 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 3, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/1-3.html, id L28456.
Form and metre
Part I: Section 3 is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 -A-ABBCDCDC-EE-FGFGHIHIHJKJK peak · roseA · kazbèk · snowsA · sidesB · hidesB · lairC · fountainD · hairC · mountainD · airC · panorama · landsE · strandsE · promontory · dreamF · flyingG · streamF · vyingG · betweenH · stupendousI · sheenH · tremendousI · sceneH · visionJ · vainK · derisionJ · painK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O'er many a lofty Caucas peak | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| The exile's soaring pinion rose, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Below him, as with gems, Kazbèk | 8 | ········ |
| Sparkled with everlasting snows. | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| And Darial's opposing sides | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Showed black, as when a serpent hides | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its winding coils in some dark lair. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And Terek, bounding from its fountain, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Like lion with wild shaggy hair, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Roared, and each mountain beast and mountain | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Bird in the azure deep of air | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Circled in endless panorama, | 9 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| And gold-rimmed clouds from Eastern lands | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whirled with him on to northern strands, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And lofty rock and promontory, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘ |
| Full of the secret of a dream, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Bent their proud heads beneath him flying, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Tracing the course of glittering stream. | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| And rival tower with tower vying | 9 | ·/˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Scowled on the clouds that lay between; | 8 | ········ |
| Till last, like sentinel stupendous, | 9 | ···/˘˘˘/˘ |
| The Caucasus shed dazzling sheen | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Veiling a majesty tremendous. | 9 | /˘·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| All wild and wondrous was the scene | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of God's fair world; but his proud vision | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Scanned his Creator's works in vain, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Reflecting nought but calm derision, | 9 | ˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| Although that scorn was deathless pain. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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