Part II: Section 2
To lonely Convent far from thenceHer parents led her forth, and boundA sackcloth garb of penitenceHer guiltless maiden bosom round.But in the cloister garb she wore,As erst in queenly robes arrayed,The quivering heart-strings of the maidThrobbed with wild fancies as before.And when the altar tapers shone,And when the hymn of praise ascended,Even with the words of prayer was blendedThe haunting voice she once had known.And when the filmy cloud of incenseRose to the chapel's vaulted dome,A consciousness would ever comeThat voiceless, traceless, some dim Presence,Still as a star, before her thereStood beckoning her—she knew not where.
Words in this poem
- sackcloth n.
- Linen or cotton cloth such a sacks are made of; coarse cloth; anciently, a cloth or garment worn in mourning, distress, mortification, or penitence.
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
- guiltless a.
- Free from guilt; innocent.
- queenly a.
- Like, becoming, or suitable to, a queen. [AS. cwenlic feminine.]
- filmy a.
- Composed of film or films.
- voiceless a.
- Having no voice, utterance, or vote; silent; mute; dumb.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II: Section 2 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 2, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/2-2.html, id L28471.
Form and metre
Part II: Section 2 is 18 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDDCEFFEAGGAHH. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABABCDDCEFFEAGGAHH thenceA · boundB · penitenceA · roundB · woreC · arrayedD · maidD · beforeC · shoneE · ascendedF · blendedF · knownE · incenseA · domeG · comeG · presenceA · thereH · whereH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To lonely Convent far from thence | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Her parents led her forth, and bound | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A sackcloth garb of penitence | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Her guiltless maiden bosom round. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| But in the cloister garb she wore, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As erst in queenly robes arrayed, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The quivering heart-strings of the maid | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Throbbed with wild fancies as before. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And when the altar tapers shone, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And when the hymn of praise ascended, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Even with the words of prayer was blended | 9 | /······/˘ |
| The haunting voice she once had known. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And when the filmy cloud of incense | 9 | ···/˘··/· |
| Rose to the chapel's vaulted dome, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A consciousness would ever come | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| That voiceless, traceless, some dim Presence, | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| Still as a star, before her there | 8 | ········ |
| Stood beckoning her—she knew not where. | 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.