Time
O! Time, as thou on rapid wingsEncirclest earth's extensive ball,Fatal thy flight to worldly things,Thy darts cut down and ruin all.
A cloud from us thy form conceals;Enwrapt its gloomy folds among,Thou mov'st eternity's vast wheels,And with them movest us along.
The swift-winged days thou urgest on,With them life's sand beholdest pass,And when our transient hours are gone,Thou smilest at their exhausted glass.
Against Time's look, when he but frowns,All strength, and skill, and power, are vain;He withers laurels, wreaths, and crowns,And breaks the matrimonial chain.
As Time moves onward, far and wideHis restless scythe mows all away,All feels his breath, on every sideAll sinks, resistless, to decay.
To youth's gay bloom and beauty's charmsMercy alike stern Time denies,Like vernal flowers o'erwhelmed by storms,Whate'er he looks at droops and dies.
Huge piles from earth his mighty handSweeps to oblivion's empire dread,What villages, what cities grand,What kingdoms sink beneath his tread!
Heroes in vain, his gauntlet cast,Oppose his stern and ruthless sway,Nor armies brave, nor mountains vast,Can thwart the devastator's way.
Thought strives, but fruitless, to pursueThe traces of Time's rapid flight,Scarce Fancy gains one transient view,He disappears and sinks in night.
Think, thou whom folly's dazzling glareOf worldly vanities may blind,Time frowns and all will disappear,Nor gold a vestige leave behind.
And thou whom fierce distresses sting,Thou by calamities low bowed,Weep not, for Time the day will bringThat ranks the humble with the proud.But, Time, thy course of ruin stay,
The lyre's sweet tones one moment hear,By thee o'er earth is spread dismay,Grief's sigh called forth, and pity's tear.Yet, Time, thy speed the dread decree
Of retribution on thee brings,Eternity will swallow thee,Thy motion stop, and clip thy wings!
Words in this poem
- withers n.
- The ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. See Illust. of Horse. [Properly, the parts which resist the pull or strain in drawing a load; fr. OE. wither resistance, AS. withre, fr. wither against; akin to G. widerrist withers. ]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- gauntlet n.
- A glove of such material that it defends the hand from wounds. [F. gantelet, dim. of gant glove, LL. wantus, of Teutonic origin; cf. D. want, Sw. & Dan. vante, Icel. vöttr, for vantr.]
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Time 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, Time, in The Bakchesarian Fountain and Other Poems (1849), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8192, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-bakchesarian/time.html, id L25571.
Form and metre
Time is 52 lines in 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 ABAB wingsA · ballB · thingsA · allB
- 2 C-C- concealsC · among · wheelsC · along
- 3 -D-D on · passD · gone · glassD
- 4 EFEF frownsE · vainF · crownsE · chainF
- 5 GHGH wideG · awayH · sideG · decayH
- 6 -I-I charms · deniesI · storms · diesI
- 7 JKJK handJ · dreadK · grandJ · treadK
- 8 LMLM castL · swayM · vastL · wayM
- 9 NONO pursueN · flightO · viewN · nightO
- 10 -P-P glare · blindP · disappear · behindP
- 11 QRQRS stingQ · bowedR · bringQ · proudR · stayS
- 12 -S-T hear · dismayS · tear · decreeT
- 13 UTU bringsU · theeT · wingsU
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O! Time, as thou on rapid wings | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Encirclest earth's extensive ball, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Fatal thy flight to worldly things, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Thy darts cut down and ruin all. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A cloud from us thy form conceals; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Enwrapt its gloomy folds among, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou mov'st eternity's vast wheels, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| And with them movest us along. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The swift-winged days thou urgest on, | 8 | ········ |
| With them life's sand beholdest pass, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And when our transient hours are gone, | 8 | ··//˘/·· |
| Thou smilest at their exhausted glass. | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| Against Time's look, when he but frowns, | 8 | ········ |
| All strength, and skill, and power, are vain; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| He withers laurels, wreaths, and crowns, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And breaks the matrimonial chain. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| As Time moves onward, far and wide | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His restless scythe mows all away, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| All feels his breath, on every side | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All sinks, resistless, to decay. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| To youth's gay bloom and beauty's charms | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Mercy alike stern Time denies, | 8 | /˘˘/··˘/ |
| Like vernal flowers o'erwhelmed by storms, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Whate'er he looks at droops and dies. | 9 | ˘˘/······ |
| Huge piles from earth his mighty hand | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sweeps to oblivion's empire dread, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| What villages, what cities grand, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| What kingdoms sink beneath his tread! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Heroes in vain, his gauntlet cast, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Oppose his stern and ruthless sway, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Nor armies brave, nor mountains vast, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Can thwart the devastator's way. | 8 | ········ |
| Thought strives, but fruitless, to pursue | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The traces of Time's rapid flight, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Scarce Fancy gains one transient view, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He disappears and sinks in night. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Think, thou whom folly's dazzling glare | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of worldly vanities may blind, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Time frowns and all will disappear, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor gold a vestige leave behind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And thou whom fierce distresses sting, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Thou by calamities low bowed, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Weep not, for Time the day will bring | 8 | ········ |
| That ranks the humble with the proud. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But, Time, thy course of ruin stay, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The lyre's sweet tones one moment hear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By thee o'er earth is spread dismay, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Grief's sigh called forth, and pity's tear. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet, Time, thy speed the dread decree | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Of retribution on thee brings, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Eternity will swallow thee, | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Thy motion stop, and clip thy wings! | 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.