Fence of the Monastery
GREGORY. O, what a weariness is our poor life,What misery! Day comes, day goes, and everIs seen, is heard one thing alone; one seesOnly black cassocks, only hears the bell.Yawning by day you wander, wander, nothingTo do; you doze; the whole night long till daylightThe poor monk lies awake; and when in sleepYou lose yourself, black dreams disturb the soul;Glad that they sound the bell, that with a crutchThey rouse you. No, I will not suffer it!I cannot! Through this fence I'll flee! The worldIs great; my path is on the highways neverThou'lt hear of me again.
MONK. Truly your lifeIs but a sorry one, ye dissolute,Wicked young monks!
GREGORY. Would that the Khan againWould come upon us, or Lithuania riseOnce more in insurrection. Good! I would thenCross swords with them! Or what if the tsarevichShould suddenly arise from out the grave,Should cry, "Where are ye, children, faithful servants?Help me against Boris, against my murderer!Seize my foe, lead him to me!"
MONK. Enough, my friend,Of empty babble. We cannot raise the dead.No, clearly it was fated otherwiseFor the tsarevich--But hearken; if you wishTo do a thing, then do it.GREGORY. What to do?
MONK. If I were young as thou, if these grey hairsHad not already streaked my beard--Dost take me?
MONK. Hearken; our folk are dull of brain,Easy of faith, and glad to be amazedBy miracles and novelties. The boyarsRemember Godunov as erst he was,Peer to themselves; and even now the raceOf the old Varyags is loved by all. Thy yearsMatch those of the tsarevich. If thou hastCunning and hardihood--Dost take me now?
GREGORY. I take thee.
MONK. Well, what say'st thou?
GREGORY. 'Tis resolved.I am Dimitry, I tsarevich!
MONK. Give meThy hand, my bold young friend. Thou shalt be tsar!
Words in this poem
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- crutch n.
- A staff with a crosspiece at the head, to be placed under the arm or shoulder, to support the lame or infirm in walking. [OE. cruche, AS. crycc, cricc; akin to D. kruk, G. kr, Dan. krykke, Sw. krycka, and to E. crook. See Crook, and cf. Cricket a low stool.]
- dissolute a.
- With nerves unstrung; weak. [L. dissolutus, p. p. of dissolvere: cf. F. dissolu. See Dissolve.]
- khan n.
- A king; a prince; a chief; a governor; -- so called among the Tartars, Turks, and Persians, and in countries now or formerly governed by them. [Pers. & Tart. khan.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- tsar n.
- The title of the emperor of Russia. See Czar.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fence of the Monastery is in the public domain. This text is taken from Boris Godunov: a drama in verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #5089; 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, Fence of the Monastery, in Boris Godunov (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5089, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-boris-godunov/fence-of-the-monastery.html, id L25957.
Form and metre
Fence of the Monastery is 46 lines in 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -A---------A- life · everA · sees · bell · nothing · daylight · sleep · soul · crutch · it · world · neverA · again
- 3 A-A----- againA · rise · thenA · tsarevich · grave · servants · murderer · me
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| GREGORY. O, what a weariness is our poor life, | 11 | /˘···/˘·/·· |
| What misery! Day comes, day goes, and ever | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| Is seen, is heard one thing alone; one sees | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Only black cassocks, only hears the bell. | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Yawning by day you wander, wander, nothing | 11 | /˘···/˘/˘/˘ |
| To do; you doze; the whole night long till daylight | 11 | ·········/· |
| The poor monk lies awake; and when in sleep | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| You lose yourself, black dreams disturb the soul; | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Glad that they sound the bell, that with a crutch | 10 | ·········· |
| They rouse you. No, I will not suffer it! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I cannot! Through this fence I'll flee! The world | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Is great; my path is on the highways never | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
| Thou'lt hear of me again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| MONK. Truly your life | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Is but a sorry one, ye dissolute, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Wicked young monks! | 4 | /˘·· |
| GREGORY. Would that the Khan again | 9 | /˘˘····˘/ |
| Would come upon us, or Lithuania rise | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| Once more in insurrection. Good! I would then | 11 | ····˘/˘···· |
| Cross swords with them! Or what if the tsarevich | 11 | ··········· |
| Should suddenly arise from out the grave, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| Should cry, "Where are ye, children, faithful servants? | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Help me against Boris, against my murderer! | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| Seize my foe, lead him to me!" | 7 | ······· |
| MONK. Enough, my friend, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Of empty babble. We cannot raise the dead. | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/··· |
| No, clearly it was fated otherwise | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For the tsarevich--But hearken; if you wish | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| To do a thing, then do it. | 7 | ······· |
| GREGORY. What to do? | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| MONK. If I were young as thou, if these grey hairs | 11 | ··········· |
| Had not already streaked my beard--Dost take me? | 11 | ··˘/˘······ |
| MONK. Hearken; our folk are dull of brain, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Easy of faith, and glad to be amazed | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| By miracles and novelties. The boyars | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘·˘/ |
| Remember Godunov as erst he was, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘···· |
| Peer to themselves; and even now the race | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Of the old Varyags is loved by all. Thy years | 11 | ··········· |
| Match those of the tsarevich. If thou hast | 10 | ·········· |
| Cunning and hardihood--Dost take me now? | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| GREGORY. I take thee. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| MONK. Well, what say'st thou? | 5 | ····· |
| GREGORY. 'Tis resolved. | 6 | /˘˘·˘/ |
| I am Dimitry, I tsarevich! | 9 | ········· |
| MONK. Give me | 3 | ··· |
| Thy hand, my bold young friend. Thou shalt be tsar! | 10 | ·········· |
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.