Part II: Section 15
Through broad expanse of blue dominions,Far as infinity extending,A shining angel spread his pinions,Bearing a soul to bliss unending;And with kind word and warm embraceHe strove to soothe her doubts and fears,And wash from her all suffering's traceWith flood of penitential tears.Afar they heard Heaven's anthem sounding,Whose strains the enraptured echoes boreThrough the ambrosial air surrounding—When in the space that lay before,Boisterous as whirlwind from abysses,Blazing as lightning shaft, malignAs furious Hell, the Demon hissesDefiant, "Leave her, she is mine!"She, dumb with dread, in wild endeavourTo clasp that angel form defending,Prays agonized, and waits impendingVerdict of bliss or woe for ever,Meanwhile before her looms her foe,And who that knew him erst, would knowHim now?—he glared a fiend—a DevilOf hate malignant to the last,And from his visage, like a blastThat froze the breeze with humours evilAs charnel house, a chill air passed.
"Avaunt, dark fiend of unrepentance,"Sounded the seraph's clarion voice,"No more let powers of Hell rejoice,For merciful the Heavenly sentence.The Judge her future hath declared:He might have doomed, but He hath spared.Her days of trial all are past,Her earthly dross to earth is cast,Her chains are broke which long oppressed—She comes! our long expected guest.Her soul was one that sought in vainFor happiness, and found but sorrow—To-day God let her suffer pain,To give her boundless joy to-morrow.From finer essence God hath blendedHis purest creatures at their birth—Think not, proud Spirit, He intendedThis earth for her—nor her for earth.Below a debt of pain she borrowedTo pay the price she owed above,She is redeemed! she loved and sorrowed,And Heaven is open wide for love!"He spake, and on the Tempter bendingThe stern reproach of those clear eyes,Spread his glad pinions reascendingInto the Ocean of the skies.With gnashing teeth the Demon rages,Cursing the hopes his fancy wove,Alone! alone! through all the ages!No gleam of hope—no hope of love!
Words in this poem 15
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- 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.]
- anthem v. t.
- To celebrate with anthems.
- ambrosial a.
- Consisting of, or partaking of the nature of, ambrosia; delighting the taste or smell; delicious.
- boisterous a.
- Rough or rude; unbending; unyielding; strong; powerful. [OE. boistous; of uncertain origin; cf. W. bwyst wild, savage, wildness, ferocity, bwystus ferocious.]
- defiant a.
- Full of defiance; bold; insolent; as, a defiant spirit or act. [Cf. F. défiant, p. pr. of défier. See Defy.]
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- visage n.
- The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
- avaunt v. t.
- To advance; to move forward; to elevate.
- clarion n.
- A kind of trumpet, whose note is clear and shrill. [OE. clarioun, OF. clarion, F. clairon, LL. clario, claro; so called from its clear tone, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- sorrowed a.
- Accompanied with sorrow; sorrowful.
- tempter n.
- One who tempts or entices; especially, Satan, or the Devil, regarded as the great enticer to evil.
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II: Section 15 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 15, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/2-15.html, id L28484.
Form and metre
Part II: Section 15 is 57 lines in 2 stanzas. 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIBBIJJ-KK-K dominionsA · extendingB · pinionsA · unendingB · embraceC · fearsD · traceC · tearsD · soundingE · boreF · surroundingE · beforeF · abyssesG · malignH · hissesG · mineH · endeavourI · defendingB · impendingB · everI · foeJ · knowJ · devil · lastK · blastK · evil · passedK
- 2 -AA-BBCCDDEFEFGHGHGIGIJKJKL-LI unrepentance · voiceA · rejoiceA · sentence · declaredB · sparedB · pastC · castC · oppressedD · guestD · vainE · sorrowF · painE · morrowF · blendedG · birthH · intendedG · earthH · borrowedG · aboveI · sorrowedG · loveI · bendingJ · eyesK · reascendingJ · skiesK · ragesL · wove · agesL · loveI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Through broad expanse of blue dominions, | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| Far as infinity extending, | 9 | ··˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| A shining angel spread his pinions, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Bearing a soul to bliss unending; | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| And with kind word and warm embrace | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He strove to soothe her doubts and fears, | 8 | ········ |
| And wash from her all suffering's trace | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With flood of penitential tears. | 8 | ········ |
| Afar they heard Heaven's anthem sounding, | 10 | ˘/··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Whose strains the enraptured echoes bore | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘· |
| Through the ambrosial air surrounding— | 9 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| When in the space that lay before, | 8 | ········ |
| Boisterous as whirlwind from abysses, | 9 | /˘·/··˘/˘ |
| Blazing as lightning shaft, malign | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| As furious Hell, the Demon hisses | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Defiant, "Leave her, she is mine!" | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| She, dumb with dread, in wild endeavour | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| To clasp that angel form defending, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Prays agonized, and waits impending | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Verdict of bliss or woe for ever, | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Meanwhile before her looms her foe, | 8 | /······· |
| And who that knew him erst, would know | 8 | ········ |
| Him now?—he glared a fiend—a Devil | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of hate malignant to the last, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And from his visage, like a blast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That froze the breeze with humours evil | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| As charnel house, a chill air passed. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Avaunt, dark fiend of unrepentance," | 9 | ˘/······· |
| Sounded the seraph's clarion voice, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| "No more let powers of Hell rejoice, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| For merciful the Heavenly sentence. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| The Judge her future hath declared: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| He might have doomed, but He hath spared. | 8 | ········ |
| Her days of trial all are past, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her earthly dross to earth is cast, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her chains are broke which long oppressed— | 8 | ······˘/ |
| She comes! our long expected guest. | 8 | ··/·˘/˘· |
| Her soul was one that sought in vain | 8 | ········ |
| For happiness, and found but sorrow— | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| To-day God let her suffer pain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To give her boundless joy to-morrow. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| From finer essence God hath blended | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| His purest creatures at their birth— | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Think not, proud Spirit, He intended | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| This earth for her—nor her for earth. | 8 | ········ |
| Below a debt of pain she borrowed | 9 | ·······/· |
| To pay the price she owed above, | 8 | ········ |
| She is redeemed! she loved and sorrowed, | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| And Heaven is open wide for love!" | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| He spake, and on the Tempter bending | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| The stern reproach of those clear eyes, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Spread his glad pinions reascending | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Into the Ocean of the skies. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With gnashing teeth the Demon rages, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Cursing the hopes his fancy wove, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Alone! alone! through all the ages! | 9 | ˘/˘/···/˘ |
| No gleam of hope—no hope of love! | 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.