III. 69
Ask not why with sad reflection'Mid gayety I oft am darkened,Why ever cheerless eyes I raise,Why sweet life's dream not dear to me is;Ask not why with frigid soulI joyous love no longer crave,And longer none I call dear:Who once has loved, not again can love;Who bliss has known, ne'er again shall know;For one brief moment to us 't is given:Of youth, of joy, of tendernessIs left alone the sadness.
Words in this poem
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- 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,]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
III. 69 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. 69, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/iii-69.html, id L25543.
Form and metre
III. 69 is 12 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ask not why with sad reflection | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| 'Mid gayety I oft am darkened, | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| Why ever cheerless eyes I raise, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Why sweet life's dream not dear to me is; | 9 | ········· |
| Ask not why with frigid soul | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I joyous love no longer crave, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And longer none I call dear: | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Who once has loved, not again can love; | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Who bliss has known, ne'er again shall know; | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| For one brief moment to us 't is given: | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| Of youth, of joy, of tenderness | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Is left alone the sadness. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
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.