The Outcast III. 5
On a rainy autumn eveningInto desert places went a maid;And the secret fruit of unhappy loveIn her trembling hands she held.All was still: the hills and the woodsAsleep in the darkness of the night.And her searching glancesIn terror about she cast.
And on this babe, the innocent,Her glance she paused with a sigh:Asleep thou art, my child, my grief.Thou knowest not my sadness.Thine eyes will ope, and tho' with longing,To my breast shalt no more cling.No kiss for thee to-morrowFrom thine unhappy mother.
Beckon in vain for her thou wilt,My everlasting shame, my guilt!Me forget thou shalt for aye,But thee forget shall not I.Shelter thou shalt receive from strangers,Who 'll say: Thou art none of ours!Thou wilt ask, Where are my parents?But for thee no kin is found!
Hapless one! With heart filled with sorrow,Lonely amid thy mates,Thy spirit sullen to the end,Thou shalt behold fondling mothers.A lonely wanderer everywhereCursing thy fate at all times,Thou the bitter reproach shalt hear....Forgive me, oh, forgive me then!
Asleep! let me then, O hapless oneTo my bosom press thee once for all.A law unjust and terribleThee and me to sorrow dooms.While the years have not yet chasedThe guiltless joy of thy days,Sleep, my darling, let no griefs bitterMar thy childhood's quiet life!
But lo! behind the woods, near byThe moon brings a hut to light.Forlorn, pale, and tremblingTo the doors nigh she came.She stooped and gently laid she downThe babe on the threshold strange.In terror away her eyes she turnedAnd in the dark night disappeared.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- beckon v. t.
- To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.
- 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,]
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- guiltless a.
- Free from guilt; innocent.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Outcast III. 5 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, The Outcast III. 5, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54991, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pushkin-poems/the-outcast-iii-5.html, id L25533.
Form and metre
The Outcast III. 5 is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. 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-- innocent · sigh · grief · sadness · longingA · clingA · morrow · mother
- 3 AABB---- wiltA · guiltA · ayeB · iB · strangers · ours · parents · found
- 4 ----A-A- sorrow · mates · end · mothers · everywhereA · times · hearA · then
- 5 -AA----- one · allA · terribleA · dooms · chased · days · bitter · life
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 |
|---|---|---|
| On a rainy autumn evening | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Into desert places went a maid; | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| And the secret fruit of unhappy love | 10 | ··/˘··˘/˘· |
| In her trembling hands she held. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| All was still: the hills and the woods | 8 | ········ |
| Asleep in the darkness of the night. | 9 | ˘/··/˘··· |
| And her searching glances | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| In terror about she cast. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And on this babe, the innocent, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Her glance she paused with a sigh: | 7 | ······· |
| Asleep thou art, my child, my grief. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Thou knowest not my sadness. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Thine eyes will ope, and tho' with longing, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To my breast shalt no more cling. | 7 | ······· |
| No kiss for thee to-morrow | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| From thine unhappy mother. | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Beckon in vain for her thou wilt, | 8 | /˘······ |
| My everlasting shame, my guilt! | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Me forget thou shalt for aye, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| But thee forget shall not I. | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Shelter thou shalt receive from strangers, | 9 | /˘··˘/·/˘ |
| Who 'll say: Thou art none of ours! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Thou wilt ask, Where are my parents? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But for thee no kin is found! | 7 | ······· |
| Hapless one! With heart filled with sorrow, | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Lonely amid thy mates, | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| Thy spirit sullen to the end, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thou shalt behold fondling mothers. | 9 | ··˘//˘˘/˘ |
| A lonely wanderer everywhere | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Cursing thy fate at all times, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Thou the bitter reproach shalt hear.... | 8 | ··/˘˘/·· |
| Forgive me, oh, forgive me then! | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Asleep! let me then, O hapless one | 9 | ˘/····/˘· |
| To my bosom press thee once for all. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| A law unjust and terrible | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| Thee and me to sorrow dooms. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| While the years have not yet chased | 7 | ······· |
| The guiltless joy of thy days, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Sleep, my darling, let no griefs bitter | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Mar thy childhood's quiet life! | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| But lo! behind the woods, near by | 8 | ········ |
| The moon brings a hut to light. | 7 | ······· |
| Forlorn, pale, and trembling | 7 | ˘/··/˘˘ |
| To the doors nigh she came. | 6 | ······ |
| She stooped and gently laid she down | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The babe on the threshold strange. | 7 | ····/·· |
| In terror away her eyes she turned | 9 | ·/˘˘/···· |
| And in the dark night disappeared. | 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.