Hence,
"God grant I grow not insane:No, better the stick and beggar's bag;No, better toil and hunger bear.If crazy once,A fright thou art like pestilence,And locked up now shalt thou be.
"To a chain thee, fool, they 'll fastenAnd through the gate, a circus beast,Thee to nettle the people come.
"And at night not hear shall IClear the voice of nightingaleNor the forest's hollow sound,
"But cries alone of companions mineAnd the scolding guards of nightAnd a whizzing, of chains a ringing."
"My wishes I have survived,My ambition I have outgrown!Left only is my smart,The fruit of emptiness of heart.
"Under the storm of cruel FateFaded has my blooming crown!Sad I live and lonely,And wait: Is nigh my end?"
"Whether I roam along the noisy streetsWhether I enter the peopled temple,Whether I sit by thoughtless youth,Haunt my thoughts me everywhere.
"I say, Swiftly go the years by:However great our number now,Must all descend the eternal vaults,--Already struck has some one's hour.
"Every year thus, every dayWith death my thought I joinOf coming death the dayI seek among them to divine."
"Thus my failings vanish tooFrom my wearied soulAnd again within it visions riseOf my early purer days."
"And now I too have consolation:Wherefore murmur against my GodWhen at least to one living beingI could of freedom make a gift?"
"In the future lives the heart:Is the present sad indeed?'T is but a moment, all will pass...."
This is consoling utterance, but not yet of the highest; and theloftiest spiritual song, the song of the Psalmist, was not given untoPushkin to sing.
Words in this poem
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- 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,]
- peopled a.
- Stocked with, or as with, people; inhabited.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- consoling a.
- Adapted to console or comfort; cheering; as, this is consoling news.
- psalmist n.
- A writer or composer of sacred songs; -- a title particularly applied to David and the other authors of the Scriptural psalms. [L. psalmista, Gr. psalmiste. See Psalm.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hence, is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems With Introduction and Notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #54991; 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, Hence,, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/hence.html, id L25530.
Form and metre
Hence, is 49 lines in 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ---AA- insane · bag · bear · onceA · pestilenceA · be
- 5 --AA survived · outgrown · smartA · heartA
- 9 A-A- dayA · join · dayA · divine
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "God grant I grow not insane: | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| No, better the stick and beggar's bag; | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| No, better toil and hunger bear. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| If crazy once, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A fright thou art like pestilence, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And locked up now shalt thou be. | 8 | ··˘····· |
| "To a chain thee, fool, they 'll fasten | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And through the gate, a circus beast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thee to nettle the people come. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| "And at night not hear shall I | 7 | ······· |
| Clear the voice of nightingale | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Nor the forest's hollow sound, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| "But cries alone of companions mine | 9 | ··˘/·˘/˘· |
| And the scolding guards of night | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And a whizzing, of chains a ringing." | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| "My wishes I have survived, | 8 | ·/˘··˘/˘ |
| My ambition I have outgrown! | 8 | ·˘/˘···/ |
| Left only is my smart, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The fruit of emptiness of heart. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| "Under the storm of cruel Fate | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Faded has my blooming crown! | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Sad I live and lonely, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And wait: Is nigh my end?" | 6 | ······ |
| "Whether I roam along the noisy streets | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Whether I enter the peopled temple, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Whether I sit by thoughtless youth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Haunt my thoughts me everywhere. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "I say, Swiftly go the years by: | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| However great our number now, | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| Must all descend the eternal vaults,-- | 9 | ··˘/·˘/˘· |
| Already struck has some one's hour. | 9 | ˘/˘····/˘ |
| "Every year thus, every day | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| With death my thought I join | 6 | ······ |
| Of coming death the day | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I seek among them to divine." | 8 | ······˘/ |
| "Thus my failings vanish too | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| From my wearied soul | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And again within it visions rise | 9 | ·˘/···/˘· |
| Of my early purer days." | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| "And now I too have consolation: | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Wherefore murmur against my God | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| When at least to one living being | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| I could of freedom make a gift?" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "In the future lives the heart: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Is the present sad indeed? | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| 'T is but a moment, all will pass...." | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| This is consoling utterance, but not yet of the highest; and the | 16 | ··˘/˘/˘·····/˘·· |
| loftiest spiritual song, the song of the Psalmist, was not given unto | 16 | ··/˘·····/˘··/·· |
| Pushkin to sing. | 4 | /˘·· |
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.