Stanzas
He whose soul from sorrow dreary,Weak and wretched, nought can save,Who in sadness, sick and weary,Hopes no refuge but the grave;On his visage Pleasure beaming,Ne'er shall shed her placid ray,Till kind Fate, from wo redeeming,Leads him to his latest day.
Thou this life preservest ever,My distress and my delight!And, though soul and body sever,Still I'll live a spirit bright;In my breast the heart that's kindledDeath's dread strength can ne'er destroy,Sure the soul with thine that's mingledMust immortal life enjoy!
That inspired by breath from heavenNeed not shrink at mortal doom,To thee shall my vows be givenIn this world and that to come.My fond shade shall constant trace thee,And attend in friendly guise,Still surround thee, still embrace thee,Catch thy thoughts, thy looks, thy sighs.
To divine its secret pondering,Close to clasp thy soul 'twill brave,And if chance shall find thee wanderingHeedless near my silent grave,Even my ashes then shall tremble,Thy approach relume their fire,And that stone in dust shall crumble,Covering what can ne'er expire!
Words in this poem
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- 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.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- relume v. t.
- To rekindle; to light again. [OF. relumer (cf. F. rallumer), L. reluminare; pref. re- re- + luminare to light. Cf. Reillume.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bakchesarian Fountain and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8192; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alexander Pushkin, Stanzas, in The Bakchesarian Fountain and Other Poems (1849), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8192, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-bakchesarian/by-nelaidinsky.html, id L25561.
Form and metre
Stanzas is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCDCD drearyA · saveB · wearyA · graveB · beamingC · rayD · redeemingC · dayD
- 2 ABAB-C-C everA · delightB · severA · brightB · kindled · destroyC · mingled · enjoyC
- 3 ----ABAB heaven · doom · given · come · theeA · guiseB · theeA · sighsB
- 4 ABAB-C-C ponderingA · braveB · wanderingA · graveB · tremble · fireC · crumble · expireC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| He whose soul from sorrow dreary, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Weak and wretched, nought can save, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who in sadness, sick and weary, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Hopes no refuge but the grave; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| On his visage Pleasure beaming, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Ne'er shall shed her placid ray, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Till kind Fate, from wo redeeming, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Leads him to his latest day. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thou this life preservest ever, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| My distress and my delight! | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| And, though soul and body sever, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Still I'll live a spirit bright; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In my breast the heart that's kindled | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Death's dread strength can ne'er destroy, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Sure the soul with thine that's mingled | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Must immortal life enjoy! | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
| That inspired by breath from heaven | 9 | ·˘/˘···/˘ |
| Need not shrink at mortal doom, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To thee shall my vows be given | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In this world and that to come. | 7 | ······· |
| My fond shade shall constant trace thee, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And attend in friendly guise, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Still surround thee, still embrace thee, | 8 | ·˘/··˘/· |
| Catch thy thoughts, thy looks, thy sighs. | 7 | ······· |
| To divine its secret pondering, | 9 | ·˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Close to clasp thy soul 'twill brave, | 7 | ······· |
| And if chance shall find thee wandering | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Heedless near my silent grave, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Even my ashes then shall tremble, | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
| Thy approach relume their fire, | 8 | ·˘/˘/·/˘ |
| And that stone in dust shall crumble, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Covering what can ne'er expire! | 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.