Part I: Section 7
I swear by yon clear midnight star,By rays that flash from east to west,Ne'er emperor of lands afar,Nor king, nor conqueror, nor CzarSuch lovely damsel e'er caressed.Nor e'er did fountain's gentle stormLave with pellucid drops of pearlIn summer's heat so fair a girl,Or sprinkle so divine a form.Never did mortal hand till nowSmooth with soft fingers such a brow,Or twine them in such waving hair.For not since man was thrust from EdenHad ever bloomed so sweet a maiden,So innocent, so heavenly fair.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I: Section 7 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 7, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/1-7.html, id L28460.
Form and metre
Part I: Section 7 is 15 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABAABCDDCEEF--F starA · westB · afarA · czarA · caressedB · stormC · pearlD · girlD · formC · nowE · browE · hairF · eden · maiden · fairF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I swear by yon clear midnight star, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| By rays that flash from east to west, | 8 | ········ |
| Ne'er emperor of lands afar, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Nor king, nor conqueror, nor Czar | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Such lovely damsel e'er caressed. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Nor e'er did fountain's gentle storm | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Lave with pellucid drops of pearl | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| In summer's heat so fair a girl, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or sprinkle so divine a form. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Never did mortal hand till now | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Smooth with soft fingers such a brow, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or twine them in such waving hair. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For not since man was thrust from Eden | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Had ever bloomed so sweet a maiden, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| So innocent, so heavenly fair. | 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.