Inner Life
"A certain evil spirit thenBegan in secret me to visit.Grievous were our meetings,His smile, and his wonderful glance,His speeches, these so stinging,Cold poison poured into my soul.Providence with slanderInexhaustible he tempted;Of Beauty as a dream he spakeAnd inspiration he despised;Nor love, nor freedom trusted he,On life with scorn he looked--And nought in all natureTo bless he ever wished."
And this demon--"the Spirit of Denial, the Spirit of Doubt"--of whichhe sings afterwards so pathetically tormented him long. He began with"Questionings:"--
"Useless gift, accidental gift,Life, why art thou given me?Or, why by fate mysteriousTo torture art thou doomed?
"Who with hostile power meOut has called from the nought?Who my soul with passion thrilled,Who my spirit with doubt has filled?..."
"I cannot sleep, I have no light;Darkness 'bout me, and sleep is slow;The beat monotonous aloneNear me of the clock is heardOf the Fates the womanish babble,Of sleeping night the trembling,Of life the mice-like running-about,--Why disturbing me art thou?What art thou, O tedious whisper?The reproaches, or the murmurOf the day by me misspent?What from me wilt thou have?Art thou calling or prophesying?Thee I wish to understand,Thy tongue obscure I study now."
"The longed-for moment here is. Ended is my long-yeared task.Why then sadness strange me troubles secretly?My task done, like needless hireling am I to stand,My wage in hand, to other task a stranger?Or my task regret I, of night companion silent mine,Gold Aurora's friend, the friend of my sacred household gods?"
"Thee I greet, O happy race!I recognize thy blazes,I myself at other timesThese tents would have followed.
"With the early rays to-morrowShall disappear your freedom's trace,Go you will--but not with youLonger go shall the bard of you.
"He alas, the changing lodgings,And the pranks of days of yoreHas forgot for rural comfortsAnd for the quiet of a home."
"Mayhap not long am destined IIn exile peaceful to remain,Of dear days of yore to sighAnd rustic muse in quietWith spirit calm to pursue.
"But even far, in a foreign landIn thought forever roam I shallAround Trimountain mine:By meadows, river, by its hills,By garden, linden, nigh the house."
"But where are ye, O moments tenderOf young my hopes, of heartfelt peace?The former heat and grace of inspiration?Come again, O ye, of spring my years!"
"Before me memory in silenceIts lengthy roll unfolds,And with disgust my life I readingTremble I and curse it.Bitterly I moan, and bitterly my tears I shedBut wash away the lines of grief I cannot.In laziness, in senseless feasts,In the madness of ruinous license,In thraldom, poverty, and homeless desertsMy wasted years there I behold...."
Words in this poem
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- needless a.
- Having no need.
- hireling n.
- One who is hired, or who serves for wages; esp., one whose motive and interest in serving another are wholly gainful; a mercenary. [AS. h. See Hire, n., and -ling.]
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
- 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,]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- mayhap adv.
- Perhaps; peradventure. [Prov. or Dialectic]
- heartfelt a.
- Hearty; sincere.
- lengthy a.
- Having length; rather long or too long; prolix; not brief; -- said chiefly of discourses, writings, and the like.
- bitterly adv.
- In a bitter manner.
- laziness n.
- The state or quality of being lazy.
- thraldom n.
- The condition of a thrall; slavery; bondage; state of servitude. [Icel. . See Thrall, and -dom.]
- homeless a.
- Destitute of a home. [AS.hamleas.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Inner Life 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, Inner Life, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/inner-life.html, id L25529.
Form and metre
Inner Life is 82 lines in 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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.
- 4 --AA me · nought · thrilledA · filledA
- 5 -------A------A light · slow · alone · heard · babble · trembling · about · thouA · whisper · murmur · misspent · have · prophesying · understand · nowA
- 8 --AA morrow · trace · youA · youA
- 10 A-A-- iA · remain · sighA · quiet · pursue
- 13 ---A-A---- silence · unfolds · reading · itA · shed · cannotA · feasts · license · deserts · behold
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "A certain evil spirit then | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Began in secret me to visit. | 9 | ˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Grievous were our meetings, | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| His smile, and his wonderful glance, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| His speeches, these so stinging, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Cold poison poured into my soul. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Providence with slander | 6 | /˘˘·/˘ |
| Inexhaustible he tempted; | 8 | ˘˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Of Beauty as a dream he spake | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And inspiration he despised; | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Nor love, nor freedom trusted he, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| On life with scorn he looked-- | 7 | ······˘ |
| And nought in all nature | 6 | ····/˘ |
| To bless he ever wished." | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| And this demon--"the Spirit of Denial, the Spirit of Doubt"--of which | 16 | ··/˘·/·˘/˘·/···· |
| he sings afterwards so pathetically tormented him long. He began with | 17 | ··/˘·˘/˘/·˘···˘/· |
| "Questionings:"-- | 3 | /˘˘ |
| "Useless gift, accidental gift, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Life, why art thou given me? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Or, why by fate mysterious | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| To torture art thou doomed? | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| "Who with hostile power me | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Out has called from the nought? | 7 | ···˘··· |
| Who my soul with passion thrilled, | 8 | ····/˘·˘ |
| Who my spirit with doubt has filled?..." | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "I cannot sleep, I have no light; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Darkness 'bout me, and sleep is slow; | 8 | /˘······ |
| The beat monotonous alone | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Near me of the clock is heard | 7 | ······· |
| Of the Fates the womanish babble, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Of sleeping night the trembling, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of life the mice-like running-about,-- | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Why disturbing me art thou? | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| What art thou, O tedious whisper? | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| The reproaches, or the murmur | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Of the day by me misspent? | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| What from me wilt thou have? | 6 | ······ |
| Art thou calling or prophesying? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Thee I wish to understand, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Thy tongue obscure I study now." | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| "The longed-for moment here is. Ended is my long-yeared task. | 14 | ···/˘··/˘····· |
| Why then sadness strange me troubles secretly? | 10 | ··/˘··/˘/˘ |
| My task done, like needless hireling am I to stand, | 12 | ····/˘/˘···· |
| My wage in hand, to other task a stranger? | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Or my task regret I, of night companion silent mine, | 14 | ···˘/···˘/˘/˘· |
| Gold Aurora's friend, the friend of my sacred household gods?" | 14 | ·˘/˘·····/˘/·· |
| "Thee I greet, O happy race! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I recognize thy blazes, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| I myself at other times | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| These tents would have followed. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| "With the early rays to-morrow | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Shall disappear your freedom's trace, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Go you will--but not with you | 7 | ······· |
| Longer go shall the bard of you. | 8 | /˘······ |
| "He alas, the changing lodgings, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And the pranks of days of yore | 7 | ······· |
| Has forgot for rural comforts | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And for the quiet of a home." | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Mayhap not long am destined I | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| In exile peaceful to remain, | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| Of dear days of yore to sigh | 7 | ······· |
| And rustic muse in quiet | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| With spirit calm to pursue. | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| "But even far, in a foreign land | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| In thought forever roam I shall | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Around Trimountain mine: | 6 | ······ |
| By meadows, river, by its hills, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| By garden, linden, nigh the house." | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "But where are ye, O moments tender | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Of young my hopes, of heartfelt peace? | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The former heat and grace of inspiration? | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Come again, O ye, of spring my years!" | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| "Before me memory in silence | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Its lengthy roll unfolds, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And with disgust my life I reading | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Tremble I and curse it. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Bitterly I moan, and bitterly my tears I shed | 11 | /˘···/˘···· |
| But wash away the lines of grief I cannot. | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| In laziness, in senseless feasts, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| In the madness of ruinous license, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| In thraldom, poverty, and homeless deserts | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| My wasted years there I behold...." | 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.