Patriarch, Abbot of the Chudov Monastery
ABBOT. Of the family of the Otrepievs, of the lower nobilityof Galicia; in his youth he took the tonsure, no oneknows where, lived at Suzdal, in the Ephimievskymonastery, departed from there, wandered to variousconvents, finally arrived at my Chudov fraternity;but I, seeing that he was still young and inexperienced,entrusted him at the outset to Father Pimen, an old man,kind and humble. And he was very learned, read ourchronicle, composed canons for the holy brethren; but,to be sure, instruction was not given to him from theLord God--
PATRIARCH. Ah, those learned fellows! What a thing tosay, "I shall be tsar in Moscow." Ah, he is a vessel ofthe devil! However, it is no use even to report to thetsar about this; why disquiet our father sovereign?It will be enough to give information about his flight tothe Secretary Smirnov or the Secretary Ephimiev.What a heresy: "I shall be tsar in Moscow!"...Catch, catch the fawning villain, and send him toSolovetsky to perpetual penance. But this--is it notheresy, Father Abbot?
ABBOT. Heresy, holy Patriarch; downright heresy.
Words in this poem
- tonsure n.
- The act of clipping the hair, or of shaving the crown of the head; also, the state of being shorn. [F., fr. L. tonsura a shearing, clipping, from tondere, tonsum, to shear, shave; cf. Gr. tome.]
- outset n.
- A setting out, starting, or beginning.
- 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,]
- tsar n.
- The title of the emperor of Russia. See Czar.
- downright adv.
- Straight down; perpendicularly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Patriarch, Abbot of the Chudov 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, Patriarch, Abbot of the Chudov Monastery, in Boris Godunov (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5089, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-boris-godunov/patriarch-abbot-of-the-chudov-monastery.html, id L25469.
Form and metre
Patriarch, Abbot of the Chudov Monastery is 22 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 2 A-A-A--ABB toA · of · theA · sovereign · toA · ephimiev · moscow · toA · notB · abbotB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ABBOT. Of the family of the Otrepievs, of the lower nobility | 17 | /˘··/˘·······/˘/˘ |
| of Galicia; in his youth he took the tonsure, no one | 14 | ·˘/˘······/˘·· |
| knows where, lived at Suzdal, in the Ephimievsky | 12 | ············ |
| monastery, departed from there, wandered to various | 14 | /˘·˘˘/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| convents, finally arrived at my Chudov fraternity; | 13 | /·/˘˘/····˘/˘ |
| but I, seeing that he was still young and inexperienced, | 12 | ··/······˘/˘ |
| entrusted him at the outset to Father Pimen, an old man, | 16 | ˘/˘···/··/˘····· |
| kind and humble. And he was very learned, read our | 12 | ··/˘···/˘··/ |
| chronicle, composed canons for the holy brethren; but, | 13 | /˘˘//˘··/˘/˘· |
| to be sure, instruction was not given to him from the | 13 | ···˘/˘··/···· |
| Lord God-- | 2 | ·· |
| PATRIARCH. Ah, those learned fellows! What a thing to | 12 | /˘····/˘···· |
| say, "I shall be tsar in Moscow." Ah, he is a vessel of | 15 | ······/·····/˘· |
| the devil! However, it is no use even to report to the | 15 | ·/·/˘····/·˘/·· |
| tsar about this; why disquiet our father sovereign? | 13 | ·····˘/˘//˘/˘ |
| It will be enough to give information about his flight to | 16 | ···˘/··˘//˘····· |
| the Secretary Smirnov or the Secretary Ephimiev. | 16 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘·˘··· |
| What a heresy: "I shall be tsar in Moscow!"... | 11 | ··/˘·····/· |
| Catch, catch the fawning villain, and send him to | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| Solovetsky to perpetual penance. But this--is it not | 15 | ·····˘/˘/˘····· |
| heresy, Father Abbot? | 7 | /˘˘/˘/˘ |
| ABBOT. Heresy, holy Patriarch; downright heresy. | 13 | /˘/˘/˘/˘·/·/˘ |
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