III. 71
By a lake once in forest darknessA monk his soul was saving,Ever in stern occupationOf prayer, fast, and labor.Already with slackened shovelThe aged man his grave was digging,And only for death in peace and quietTo his saintly patrons prayed he.
Once in summer at the thresholdOf his drooping little hutTo God was praying the hermit.Darker grew the forest.Over the lake was rising fog.And in the clouds the reddish moonWas gently rolling along the sky.Upon the waters the hermit gazed.
He looks, and fears, and knows not why,Himself he cannot understand....Now he sees: the waves are seethingAnd suddenly again are quiet....
Suddenly ... as light as shade of night,As white as early snow of hills,Out cometh a woman nakedAnd on the shore herself she seats.
Upon the aged monk she gazesAnd she combs her moistened tresses--The holy monk with terror trembles,Upon her charms still he gazes;With her hand to him she beckonsAnd her head she's quickly nodding....And suddenly like a falling starThe dreamy wave she vanished under.
The sober monk, all night he slept not,And all day he prayed notThe shadow unwittingly before himOf the wondrous maid he ever sees.Again the forest is clad in darkness,Along the clouds the moon is sailing.Again the maid above the water,Pale and splendent there she sits.
Gaze her eyes, nods her head,Throws kisses, and she's sporting,The wave she sprinkles, and she frolics;Child-like weeping now and laughing;
Sobbing tender--the monk she calls:Monk, O monk, to me, to me!Into the waves transparent she dashes;And again is all in silence deep.
But on the third day the roused hermitThe enchanted shores nigh sitting was,And the beautiful maid he awaited.Upon the trees were falling shades....Night at last by dawn was chased--And nowhere monk could be found,His beard alone, the gray oneIn the water the boys could see.
Words in this poem
- saintly a.
- Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- splendent a.
- Shining; glossy; beaming with light; lustrous; as, splendent planets; splendent metals. See the Note under 3d Luster, 4. [L. splendens, -entis, p. pr. of splendere to shine.]
- sobbing n.
- A series of short, convulsive inspirations, the glottis being suddenly closed so that little or no air enters into the lungs.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
III. 71 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. 71, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/iii-71.html, id L25535.
Form and metre
III. 71 is 56 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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.
- 2 -AA----- threshold · hutA · hermitA · forest · fog · moon · sky · gazed
- 5 A--A---- gazesA · tresses · trembles · gazesA · beckons · nodding · star · under
- 6 AA------ notA · notA · him · sees · darkness · sailing · water · sits
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 |
|---|---|---|
| By a lake once in forest darkness | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| A monk his soul was saving, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ever in stern occupation | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Of prayer, fast, and labor. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Already with slackened shovel | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| The aged man his grave was digging, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And only for death in peace and quiet | 9 | ·/˘·····/ |
| To his saintly patrons prayed he. | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Once in summer at the threshold | 8 | ··/˘··/· |
| Of his drooping little hut | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| To God was praying the hermit. | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Darker grew the forest. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Over the lake was rising fog. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And in the clouds the reddish moon | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Was gently rolling along the sky. | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/·· |
| Upon the waters the hermit gazed. | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| He looks, and fears, and knows not why, | 8 | ········ |
| Himself he cannot understand.... | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Now he sees: the waves are seething | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And suddenly again are quiet.... | 9 | ·/˘˘˘/·/˘ |
| Suddenly ... as light as shade of night, | 8 | /˘······ |
| As white as early snow of hills, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Out cometh a woman naked | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| And on the shore herself she seats. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Upon the aged monk she gazes | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And she combs her moistened tresses-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| The holy monk with terror trembles, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Upon her charms still he gazes; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With her hand to him she beckons | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And her head she's quickly nodding.... | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And suddenly like a falling star | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The dreamy wave she vanished under. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| The sober monk, all night he slept not, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And all day he prayed not | 7 | ·····˘· |
| The shadow unwittingly before him | 9 | ·/·˘/˘··· |
| Of the wondrous maid he ever sees. | 8 | ··/˘··/· |
| Again the forest is clad in darkness, | 10 | ˘/·/˘···/˘ |
| Along the clouds the moon is sailing. | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| Again the maid above the water, | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| Pale and splendent there she sits. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Gaze her eyes, nods her head, | 6 | ······ |
| Throws kisses, and she's sporting, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| The wave she sprinkles, and she frolics; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Child-like weeping now and laughing; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Sobbing tender--the monk she calls: | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Monk, O monk, to me, to me! | 7 | ······· |
| Into the waves transparent she dashes; | 10 | ····˘/˘·/˘ |
| And again is all in silence deep. | 9 | ·˘/···/˘· |
| But on the third day the roused hermit | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The enchanted shores nigh sitting was, | 9 | ·˘/˘··/˘· |
| And the beautiful maid he awaited. | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| Upon the trees were falling shades.... | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Night at last by dawn was chased-- | 8 | ·······˘ |
| And nowhere monk could be found, | 7 | ·/····· |
| His beard alone, the gray one | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| In the water the boys could see. | 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.