Poetic Ideal
"From mom till night in oak's dumb shadowTo the strange maid's teaching intent I listened;And with sparing reward me gladdening,Tossing back her curls from her forehead dear,From my hands the flute herself she took.Now filled the wood was with breath divineAnd the heart with holy enchantment filled."
"A monument not hand-made I have for me erected;The path to it well-trodden, will not overgrow;Risen higher has it with unbending headThan the monument of Alexander.
No! not all of me shall die! my soul in hallowed lyreShall my dust survive, and escape destruction--And famous be I shall, as long as on earth sublunarOne bard at least living shall remain.
"My name will travel over the whole of Russia greatAnd there pronounce my name shall every living tongue:And long to the nation I shall be dear."
"The bidding of God, O Muse, obey.Fear not insult, ask not crown:Praise and blame take with indifferenceAnd dispute not with the fool!"
"Poet, not popular applause shalt thou prize!Of raptured praise shall pass the momentary noise;The fool's judgment thou shalt hear, and the cold mob's laughter--Calm stand, and firm be, and--sober!
"Thou art king: live alone. On the free roadWalk whither draws thee thy spirit free:Ever the fruits of beloved thoughts ripening,Never reward for noble deeds demanding.
"In thyself reward seek. Thine own highest court thou art;Severest judge, thine own works canst measure.Art thou content, O fastidious craftsman?Content? Then let the mob scold,And spit upon the altar, where blazes thy fire.Thy tripod in childlike playfulness let it shake."
... No sooner the heavenly wordHis keen ear hath reached,Then up trembles the singer's soulLike an awakened eagle.
"The world's pastimes now weary himAnd mortals' gossip now he shuns.Wild and stem rushes heOf tumult full and soundTo the shores of desert waveInto the wildly whispering wood."
"And out he tore my sinful tongueAnd ope he cut with sword my breastAnd out he took my trembling heartAnd a coal with gleaming blazeInto the opened breast he shoved.Like a corpse I lay in the desert.And God's Voice unto me called:Arise, O prophet, and listen, and guide.Be thou filled with my willAnd going over land and seaFire with the word the hearts of men!"
Words in this poem
- overgrow v. t.
- To grow over; to cover with growth or herbage, esp. that which is rank.
- unbending a.
- Not bending; not suffering flexure; not yielding to pressure; stiff; -- applied to material things. [In senses 1, 2, and 3, pref. un- not + bending; in sense 4, properly p. pr. unbend.]
- 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,]
- sublunar a.
- Situated beneath the moon; hence, of or pertaining to this world; terrestrial; earthly. [Pref. sub + lunar, or lunary: cf. F. sublunaire.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- craftsman n.
- One skilled in some trade or manual occupation; an artificer; a mechanic.
- tripod n.
- Any utensil or vessel, as a stool, table, altar, caldron, etc., supported on three feet. [L. tripus, -odis, Gr. Tri-) + Foot, and cf. Tripos, Trivet.]
- childlike a.
- Resembling a child, or that which belongs to children; becoming a child; meek; submissive; dutiful.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poetic Ideal 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, Poetic Ideal, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/poetic-ideal.html, id L25528.
Form and metre
Poetic Ideal is 57 lines in 11 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 A-A- erectedA · overgrow · headA · alexander
- 3 -A-A lyre · destructionA · sublunar · remainA
- 9 --AA word · reached · soulA · eagleA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "From mom till night in oak's dumb shadow | 9 | ·······/· |
| To the strange maid's teaching intent I listened; | 11 | ····/˘˘/·/˘ |
| And with sparing reward me gladdening, | 9 | ··/˘˘/·/˘ |
| Tossing back her curls from her forehead dear, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| From my hands the flute herself she took. | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Now filled the wood was with breath divine | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| And the heart with holy enchantment filled." | 10 | ····/˘˘/˘· |
| "A monument not hand-made I have for me erected; | 13 | ·/˘·······˘/˘ |
| The path to it well-trodden, will not overgrow; | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Risen higher has it with unbending head | 10 | /˘/····/˘· |
| Than the monument of Alexander. | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| No! not all of me shall die! my soul in hallowed lyre | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| Shall my dust survive, and escape destruction-- | 11 | ···˘/·˘/˘/˘ |
| And famous be I shall, as long as on earth sublunar | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| One bard at least living shall remain. | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| "My name will travel over the whole of Russia great | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| And there pronounce my name shall every living tongue: | 12 | ··˘/···/˘/˘· |
| And long to the nation I shall be dear." | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| "The bidding of God, O Muse, obey. | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| Fear not insult, ask not crown: | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Praise and blame take with indifference | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| And dispute not with the fool!" | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| "Poet, not popular applause shalt thou prize! | 10 | /˘·/˘˘/··· |
| Of raptured praise shall pass the momentary noise; | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·˘· |
| The fool's judgment thou shalt hear, and the cold mob's laughter-- | 13 | ··/˘·······/˘ |
| Calm stand, and firm be, and--sober! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| "Thou art king: live alone. On the free road | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Walk whither draws thee thy spirit free: | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| Ever the fruits of beloved thoughts ripening, | 9 | /···˘/·/˘ |
| Never reward for noble deeds demanding. | 10 | /˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| "In thyself reward seek. Thine own highest court thou art; | 13 | ·˘/˘/···/˘··· |
| Severest judge, thine own works canst measure. | 10 | ˘/˘·····/˘ |
| Art thou content, O fastidious craftsman? | 10 | ··/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Content? Then let the mob scold, | 7 | /˘····· |
| And spit upon the altar, where blazes thy fire. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·/ |
| Thy tripod in childlike playfulness let it shake." | 11 | ·/··/·/˘··· |
| ... No sooner the heavenly word | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| His keen ear hath reached, | 5 | ····· |
| Then up trembles the singer's soul | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Like an awakened eagle. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| "The world's pastimes now weary him | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| And mortals' gossip now he shuns. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Wild and stem rushes he | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of tumult full and sound | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To the shores of desert wave | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Into the wildly whispering wood." | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| "And out he tore my sinful tongue | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ope he cut with sword my breast | 8 | ········ |
| And out he took my trembling heart | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And a coal with gleaming blaze | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Into the opened breast he shoved. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like a corpse I lay in the desert. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And God's Voice unto me called: | 8 | ·······˘ |
| Arise, O prophet, and listen, and guide. | 10 | ˘/·/˘·/˘·· |
| Be thou filled with my will | 7 | ···˘··· |
| And going over land and sea | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Fire with the word the hearts of men!" | 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.