III. 131

Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) · 1888

iambic tetrameter · 15 lines · from Poems

Mayhap not long am destined IIn exile peaceful to remain,Of dear days of yore to sigh,And rustic muse in quietWith spirit calm to follow.

But even far, in foreign land,In thought forever roam I shallAround Trimountain mine:By meadows, river, by its hills,By garden, linden nigh the house.

Thus when darkens day the clear,Alone from depths of grave,Spirit home-longingInto the native hall fliesTo espy the loved ones with tender glance.

Words in this poem

mayhap adv.
Perhaps; peradventure. [Prov. or Dialectic]
yore adv.
In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
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,]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

III. 131 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. 131, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/iii-131.html, id L25552.

Form and metre

III. 131 is 15 lines in 3 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).

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. 1 A-A-- iA · remain · sighA · quiet · follow
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.

LineSyl.Stress
Mayhap not long am destined I8/˘···/˘·
In exile peaceful to remain,8·/·/˘·˘/
Of dear days of yore to sigh,7·······
And rustic muse in quiet7·/˘··/˘
With spirit calm to follow.7·/˘··/˘
But even far, in foreign land,8·/˘··/˘·
In thought forever roam I shall8··˘/˘···
Around Trimountain mine:6······
By meadows, river, by its hills,8·/·/˘···
By garden, linden nigh the house.8·/˘/˘···
Thus when darkens day the clear,7··/˘···
Alone from depths of grave,6˘/····
Spirit home-longing5/˘·/˘
Into the native hall flies7···/˘··
To espy the loved ones with tender glance.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.

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