III. 102
Blessed who to himself has keptHis creation highest of the soul,And from his fellows as from the gravesExpected not appreciation!Blessed he who in silence sangAnd the crown of fame not wearing,By mob despised and forgotten,Forsaken nameless has the world!Deceiver greater than dreams of hope,What is fame? The adorer's whisper?Or the boor's persecution?Or the rapture of the fool?
At the gates of Eden a tender angelWith drooping head was shining;A demon gloomy and rebelliousOver hell's abyss was flying.
The Spirit of Denial, the Spirit of DoubtThe Spirit of Purity espied;And a tender warmth unwittinglyNow first to know it learned he.
Adieu, he spake, thee I saw:Not in vain hast thou shone before me;Not all in the world have I hated,Not all in the world have I scorned.
Words in this poem
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
III. 102 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, III. 102, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/iii-102.html, id L25551.
Form and metre
III. 102 is 24 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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------ kept · soul · graves · appreciation · sangA · wearingA · forgotten · world · hope · whisper · persecution · fool
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Blessed who to himself has kept | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| His creation highest of the soul, | 9 | ·˘/˘/˘··· |
| And from his fellows as from the graves | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Expected not appreciation! | 9 | ˘/˘·˘·˘/˘ |
| Blessed he who in silence sang | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the crown of fame not wearing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| By mob despised and forgotten, | 8 | ··˘/·˘/˘ |
| Forsaken nameless has the world! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Deceiver greater than dreams of hope, | 9 | ˘/˘/˘···· |
| What is fame? The adorer's whisper? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Or the boor's persecution? | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Or the rapture of the fool? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| At the gates of Eden a tender angel | 11 | ····/˘·/˘/˘ |
| With drooping head was shining; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| A demon gloomy and rebellious | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Over hell's abyss was flying. | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| The Spirit of Denial, the Spirit of Doubt | 10 | ·/·˘/˘·/·· |
| The Spirit of Purity espied; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| And a tender warmth unwittingly | 9 | ··/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Now first to know it learned he. | 7 | ······· |
| Adieu, he spake, thee I saw: | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Not in vain hast thou shone before me; | 9 | ········· |
| Not all in the world have I hated, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Not all in the world have I scorned. | 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.