Part II: Section 12
What time the lonely midnight sentryPaced his slow round with iron gong,The old man paused before the entryOf one nun's cell and halted long('Twas the young novice's)—his fingersFelt for his gong to sound the alarm,(His watch is done, but still he lingersIrresolute)—a sense of harmStayed him, for by the breezes driven,Something unwonted sounded nighA kiss, he thought, received and given,A shriek, and then a strangled cry.Misgiving, sudden and distressful,Pierced his old heart to the core;But in a moment all was peacefulAnd still, as it had been before.'Twas but the wind that passing o'erThe rustling foliage gave a greeting—'Twas nought but that the answering shoreWith stream exchanged a kiss in meeting.What thoughts! In him there sure must tarryThe Evil One's late influence,He needs must read his breviaryTo drive such sinful fancies hence;He crossed himself with shaking fingersPaused a brief moment there to pray—Then near the spot no longer lingersBut hastens on his lonely way.
Words in this poem
- gong n.
- A privy or jakes. Chaucer. Gong farmer, Gong man, a cleaner of privies. [AS. gong, gang, a going, passage, drain. See Gang.]
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- unwonted a.
- Not wonted; unaccustomed; unused; not made familiar by practice; as, a child unwonted to strangers.
- misgiving n.
- Evil premonition; doubt; distrust.
- distressful a.
- Full of distress; causing, indicating, or attended with, distress; as, a distressful situation.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II: Section 12 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 II: Section 12, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/2-12.html, id L28481.
Form and metre
Part II: Section 12 is 28 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 ABABCDCDEFEF-G-G-HGHIJIJCKCK sentryA · gongB · entryA · longB · fingersC · alarmD · lingersC · harmD · drivenE · nighF · givenE · cryF · distressful · coreG · peaceful · beforeG · o'er · greetingH · shoreG · meetingH · tarryI · influenceJ · breviaryI · henceJ · fingersC · prayK · lingersC · wayK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What time the lonely midnight sentry | 9 | ···/˘/·/˘ |
| Paced his slow round with iron gong, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The old man paused before the entry | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of one nun's cell and halted long | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| ('Twas the young novice's)—his fingers | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Felt for his gong to sound the alarm, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| (His watch is done, but still he lingers | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Irresolute)—a sense of harm | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| Stayed him, for by the breezes driven, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Something unwonted sounded nigh | 8 | /˘˘/˘/˘· |
| A kiss, he thought, received and given, | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| A shriek, and then a strangled cry. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Misgiving, sudden and distressful, | 9 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Pierced his old heart to the core; | 8 | ·˘······ |
| But in a moment all was peaceful | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And still, as it had been before. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twas but the wind that passing o'er | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The rustling foliage gave a greeting— | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| 'Twas nought but that the answering shore | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With stream exchanged a kiss in meeting. | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| What thoughts! In him there sure must tarry | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The Evil One's late influence, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| He needs must read his breviary | 9 | ·····/˘˘˘ |
| To drive such sinful fancies hence; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| He crossed himself with shaking fingers | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Paused a brief moment there to pray— | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then near the spot no longer lingers | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| But hastens on his lonely way. | 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.