Part II: Section 14
From far and near her kin assembleTo follow her to that last rest,And old Gudàl with hands that trembleRends his grey hair and beats his breast,On milk-white steed with solemn pace.And the procession, sad and slow,Moves on, three days and nights to goUntil they reach the burial place.For long ago Gudàl's forefather,Robber of many a caravan,Fell sick, and felt Death's terrors gather,And, full of fear, the godless man,In hope of Heaven by expiatingHis crimes, had vowed on mountain heightTo build a fane on lonely site,Where blizzards hurtled unabating,And only vultures winged their flight.Anon a lonely shrine had risenOn that vast mountain top a speck,A human body to imprisonIn virgin whiteness of Kazbek—Birthright by God to cloudland givenInto a burial place transformedFor man! as though his corpse were warmedBy being a little nearer Heaven!As though the farther moved from men,The calmer sleeps the soul departed!Who, on that pilgrimage once started,Dreams of earth's joy or care again?
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- forefather n.
- One who precedes another in the line of genealogy in any degree, but usually in a remote degree; an ancestor.
- godless a.
- Having, or acknowledging, no God; without reverence for God; impious; wicked.
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- calmer n.
- One who, or that which, makes calm.
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II: Section 14 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 14, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/2-14.html, id L28483.
Form and metre
Part II: Section 14 is 29 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABCDDC-E-EFGGFGH-H-IJJIIKKI assembleA · restB · trembleA · breastB · paceC · slowD · goD · placeC · forefather · caravanE · gather · manE · expiatingF · heightG · siteG · unabatingF · flightG · risenH · speck · imprisonH · kazbek · givenI · transformedJ · warmedJ · heavenI · menI · departedK · startedK · againI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From far and near her kin assemble | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| To follow her to that last rest, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And old Gudàl with hands that tremble | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Rends his grey hair and beats his breast, | 8 | ········ |
| On milk-white steed with solemn pace. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the procession, sad and slow, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Moves on, three days and nights to go | 8 | ········ |
| Until they reach the burial place. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For long ago Gudàl's forefather, | 9 | ··˘/··/·˘ |
| Robber of many a caravan, | 8 | /˘·/·/˘· |
| Fell sick, and felt Death's terrors gather, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And, full of fear, the godless man, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In hope of Heaven by expiating | 9 | ···/·/˘·˘ |
| His crimes, had vowed on mountain height | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To build a fane on lonely site, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where blizzards hurtled unabating, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| And only vultures winged their flight. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Anon a lonely shrine had risen | 9 | ˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| On that vast mountain top a speck, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A human body to imprison | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| In virgin whiteness of Kazbek— | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Birthright by God to cloudland given | 9 | /····/˘/˘ |
| Into a burial place transformed | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For man! as though his corpse were warmed | 8 | ········ |
| By being a little nearer Heaven! | 9 | ·/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| As though the farther moved from men, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The calmer sleeps the soul departed! | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Who, on that pilgrimage once started, | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Dreams of earth's joy or care again? | 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.