Part II: Section 5
But she, by evil powers possessed,Feels no response within her breastTo holy joys. Her clouded sightSees only lurid shapes pursuingThe rays of morn or shades of night,And all combined to her undoing.When evening cools the slumberous air,The dark brings fantasies appalling,And at the Saviour's image fallingShe weeps in frenzies of despair,And every wayfarer who hearsPauses a space and strains his ears.And mutters when he passes near it"Some mountain spirit moans with pain,Striving to free himself in vain,"And horseman, shuddering to hear it,Urges his steed with spur and rein.
Words in this poem
- lurid a.
- Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- undoing n.
- The reversal of what has been done.
- slumberous a.
- Inviting slumber; soporiferous.
- appalling a.
- Such as to appall; as, an appalling accident.
- wayfarer n.
- One who travels; a traveler; a passenger.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II: Section 5 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 5, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/2-5.html, id L28474.
Form and metre
Part II: Section 5 is 17 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABCBCD--DEEFGGFG possessedA · breastA · sightB · pursuingC · nightB · undoingC · airD · appalling · falling · despairD · hearsE · earsE · itF · painG · vainG · itF · reinG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| But she, by evil powers possessed, | 8 | ···//˘˘/ |
| Feels no response within her breast | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To holy joys. Her clouded sight | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sees only lurid shapes pursuing | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| The rays of morn or shades of night, | 8 | ········ |
| And all combined to her undoing. | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| When evening cools the slumberous air, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| The dark brings fantasies appalling, | 9 | ···/˘˘˘/˘ |
| And at the Saviour's image falling | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| She weeps in frenzies of despair, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And every wayfarer who hears | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Pauses a space and strains his ears. | 8 | /˘······ |
| And mutters when he passes near it | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| "Some mountain spirit moans with pain, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Striving to free himself in vain," | 8 | /˘··˘/·· |
| And horseman, shuddering to hear it, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Urges his steed with spur and rein. | 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.