Prince Shuisky and Vorotinsky
VOROTINSKY. To keep the city's peace, that is the taskEntrusted to us twain, but you forsoothHave little need to watch; Moscow is empty;The people to the Monastery have flockedAfter the patriarch. What thinkest thou?How will this trouble end?
SHUISKY. How will it end?That is not hard to tell. A little moreThe multitude will groan and wail, BorisPucker awhile his forehead, like a toperEyeing a glass of wine, and in the endWill humbly of his graciousness consentTo take the crown; and then--and then will rule usJust as before.
VOROTINSKY. A month has flown alreadySince, cloistered with his sister, he forsookThe world's affairs. None hitherto hath shakenHis purpose, not the patriarch, not the boyarsHis counselors; their tears, their prayers he heeds not;Deaf is he to the wail of Moscow, deafTo the Great Council's voice; vainly they urgedThe sorrowful nun-queen to consecrateBoris to sovereignty; firm was his sister,Inexorable as he; methinks BorisInspired her with this spirit. What if our rulerBe sick in very deed of cares of stateAnd hath no strength to mount the throne? WhatSay'st thou?
SHUISKY. I say that in that case the blood in vainFlowed of the young tsarevich, that DimitryMight just as well be living.
VOROTINSKY. Fearful crime!Is it beyond all doubt Boris contrivedThe young boy's murder?
SHUISKY. Who besides? Who elseBribed Chepchugov in vain? Who sent in secretThe brothers Bityagovsky with Kachalov?Myself was sent to Uglich, there to probeThis matter on the spot; fresh traces thereI found; the whole town bore witness to the crime;With one accord the burghers all affirmed it;And with a single word, when I returned,I could have proved the secret villain's guilt.VOROTINSKY. Why didst thou then not crush him?
SHUISKY. At the time,I do confess, his unexpected calmness,His shamelessness, dismayed me. HonestlyHe looked me in the eyes; he questioned meClosely, and I repeated to his faceThe foolish tale himself had whispered to me.
VOROTINSKY. An ugly business, prince.
SHUISKY. What could I do?Declare all to Feodor? But the tsarSaw all things with the eyes of Godunov.Heard all things with the ears of Godunov;Grant even that I might have fully proved it,Boris would have denied it there and then,And I should have been haled away to prison,And in good time--like mine own uncle--strangledWithin the silence of some deaf-walled dungeon.I boast not when I say that, given occasion,No penalty affrights me. I am no coward,But also am no fool, and do not chooseOf my free will to walk into a halter.
VOROTINSKY. Monstrous misdeed! Listen; I warrant youRemorse already gnaws the murderer;Be sure the blood of that same innocent childWill hinder him from mounting to the throne.
SHUISKY. That will not baulk him; Boris is not so timid!What honour for ourselves, ay, for all Russia!A slave of yesterday, a Tartar, sonBy marriage of Maliuta, of a hangman,Himself in soul a hangman, he to wearThe crown and robe of Monomakh!--
VOROTINSKY. You are right;He is of lowly birth; we twain can boastA nobler lineage.SHUISKY. Indeed we may!
VOROTINSKY. Let us remember, Shuisky, VorotinskyAre, let me say, born princes.
SHUISKY. Yea, born princes,And of the blood of Rurik.
VOROTINSKY. Listen, prince;Then we, 'twould seem, should have the right to mountFeodor's throne.
SHUISKY. Rather than Godunov.
VOROTINSKY. In very truth 'twould seem so.
SHUISKY. And what then?If still Boris pursue his crafty ways,Let us contrive by skilful means to rouseThe people. Let them turn from Godunov;Princes they have in plenty of their own;Let them from out their number choose a tsar.
VOROTINSKY. Of us, Varyags in blood, there are full many,But 'tis no easy thing for us to vieWith Godunov; the people are not wontTo recognise in us an ancient branchOf their old warlike masters; long alreadyHave we our appanages forfeited,Long served but as lieutenants of the tsars,And he hath known, by fear, and love, and glory,How to bewitch the people.
SHUISKY. (Looking through a window.) He has dared,That's all--while we--Enough of this. Thou seestDispersedly the people are returning.We'll go forthwith and learn what is resolved.
Words in this poem 18
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- pucker v. t.
- To gather into small folds or wrinkles; to contract into ridges and furrows; to corrugate; -- often with up; as, to pucker up the mouth. [From Poke a pocket, small bag.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- graciousness n.
- Quality of being gracious.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- cloistered a.
- Dwelling in cloisters; solitary.
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- honestly adv.
- Honorably; becomingly; decently.
- tsar n.
- The title of the emperor of Russia. See Czar.
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- misdeed n.
- An evil deed; a wicked action. [AS. misd. See Deed, n.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- recognise v. t.
- To know again; to perceive the identity of, with a person or thing previously known; to recover or recall knowledge of. [From Recognizance; see Cognition, and cf. Reconnoiter.]
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prince Shuisky and Vorotinsky 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, Prince Shuisky and Vorotinsky, in Boris Godunov (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5089, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-boris-godunov/prince-shuisky-and-vorotinsky.html, id L25462.
Form and metre
Prince Shuisky and Vorotinsky is 106 lines in 20 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABC-A-CB endA · moreB · borisC · toper · endA · consent · usC · beforeB
- 3 -------A---A-- already · forsook · shaken · boyars · not · deaf · urged · consecrateA · sister · boris · ruler · stateA · what · thou
- 7 -A-BAB time · calmnessA · honestly · meB · faceA · meB
- 9 --AA-BB-BB--- do · tsar · godunovA · godunovA · it · thenB · prisonB · strangled · dungeonB · occasionB · coward · choose · halter
- 11 --AA-- timid · russia · sonA · hangmanA · wear · monomakh
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 |
|---|---|---|
| VOROTINSKY. To keep the city's peace, that is the task | 14 | ·······/˘····· |
| Entrusted to us twain, but you forsooth | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Have little need to watch; Moscow is empty; | 11 | ·/˘···/··/˘ |
| The people to the Monastery have flocked | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·˘·· |
| After the patriarch. What thinkest thou? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| How will this trouble end? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| SHUISKY. How will it end? | 6 | ······ |
| That is not hard to tell. A little more | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The multitude will groan and wail, Boris | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| Pucker awhile his forehead, like a toper | 11 | /˘˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Eyeing a glass of wine, and in the end | 10 | /˘········ |
| Will humbly of his graciousness consent | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| To take the crown; and then--and then will rule us | 11 | ··········· |
| Just as before. | 4 | ···· |
| VOROTINSKY. A month has flown already | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Since, cloistered with his sister, he forsook | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| The world's affairs. None hitherto hath shaken | 11 | ··˘/·/·/·/˘ |
| His purpose, not the patriarch, not the boyars | 12 | ·/˘··/˘···˘/ |
| His counselors; their tears, their prayers he heeds not; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Deaf is he to the wail of Moscow, deaf | 10 | ·······/·· |
| To the Great Council's voice; vainly they urged | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| The sorrowful nun-queen to consecrate | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Boris to sovereignty; firm was his sister, | 11 | /˘·/˘˘···/˘ |
| Inexorable as he; methinks Boris | 11 | ·/˘˘˘··˘//˘ |
| Inspired her with this spirit. What if our ruler | 11 | ˘/···/··//˘ |
| Be sick in very deed of cares of state | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And hath no strength to mount the throne? What | 9 | ········· |
| Say'st thou? | 2 | ·· |
| SHUISKY. I say that in that case the blood in vain | 12 | ············ |
| Flowed of the young tsarevich, that Dimitry | 11 | ··········· |
| Might just as well be living. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| VOROTINSKY. Fearful crime! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Is it beyond all doubt Boris contrived | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| The young boy's murder? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| SHUISKY. Who besides? Who else | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Bribed Chepchugov in vain? Who sent in secret | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| The brothers Bityagovsky with Kachalov? | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Myself was sent to Uglich, there to probe | 10 | ·/········ |
| This matter on the spot; fresh traces there | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| I found; the whole town bore witness to the crime; | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| With one accord the burghers all affirmed it; | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/· |
| And with a single word, when I returned, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| I could have proved the secret villain's guilt. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| VOROTINSKY. Why didst thou then not crush him? | 11 | ··········· |
| SHUISKY. At the time, | 5 | ····· |
| I do confess, his unexpected calmness, | 11 | ··˘/··˘/˘/˘ |
| His shamelessness, dismayed me. Honestly | 11 | ·····˘/·/˘˘ |
| He looked me in the eyes; he questioned me | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Closely, and I repeated to his face | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| The foolish tale himself had whispered to me. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘·· |
| VOROTINSKY. An ugly business, prince. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| SHUISKY. What could I do? | 6 | ······ |
| Declare all to Feodor? But the tsar | 10 | ˘/··/˘˘··· |
| Saw all things with the eyes of Godunov. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Heard all things with the ears of Godunov; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Grant even that I might have fully proved it, | 10 | ·/····/˘·· |
| Boris would have denied it there and then, | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| And I should have been haled away to prison, | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| And in good time--like mine own uncle--strangled | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Within the silence of some deaf-walled dungeon. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| I boast not when I say that, given occasion, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| No penalty affrights me. I am no coward, | 10 | ·/˘······/ |
| But also am no fool, and do not choose | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of my free will to walk into a halter. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| VOROTINSKY. Monstrous misdeed! Listen; I warrant you | 14 | ····/˘///˘·/˘· |
| Remorse already gnaws the murderer; | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Be sure the blood of that same innocent child | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Will hinder him from mounting to the throne. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| SHUISKY. That will not baulk him; Boris is not so timid! | 14 | ·······/˘···/˘ |
| What honour for ourselves, ay, for all Russia! | 11 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘ |
| A slave of yesterday, a Tartar, son | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By marriage of Maliuta, of a hangman, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Himself in soul a hangman, he to wear | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| The crown and robe of Monomakh!-- | 8 | ········ |
| VOROTINSKY. You are right; | 7 | ······· |
| He is of lowly birth; we twain can boast | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A nobler lineage. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| SHUISKY. Indeed we may! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| VOROTINSKY. Let us remember, Shuisky, Vorotinsky | 15 | ······˘/˘······ |
| Are, let me say, born princes. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| SHUISKY. Yea, born princes, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And of the blood of Rurik. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| VOROTINSKY. Listen, prince; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Then we, 'twould seem, should have the right to mount | 10 | ·········· |
| Feodor's throne. | 4 | /˘˘· |
| SHUISKY. Rather than Godunov. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘˘ |
| VOROTINSKY. In very truth 'twould seem so. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| SHUISKY. And what then? | 5 | ····· |
| If still Boris pursue his crafty ways, | 10 | ··/˘˘/·/˘· |
| Let us contrive by skilful means to rouse | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| The people. Let them turn from Godunov; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Princes they have in plenty of their own; | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Let them from out their number choose a tsar. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| VOROTINSKY. Of us, Varyags in blood, there are full many, | 14 | ·············/ |
| But 'tis no easy thing for us to vie | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With Godunov; the people are not wont | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| To recognise in us an ancient branch | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Of their old warlike masters; long already | 11 | ···/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Have we our appanages forfeited, | 11 | ··/˘····/˘˘ |
| Long served but as lieutenants of the tsars, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And he hath known, by fear, and love, and glory, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| How to bewitch the people. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| SHUISKY. (Looking through a window.) He has dared, | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| That's all--while we--Enough of this. Thou seest | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Dispersedly the people are returning. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| We'll go forthwith and learn what is resolved. | 10 | ··//····˘/ |
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