Analysis of The Swan
Gavril Romanovich Derzhavin 1743 (Kazan Governorate) – 1816 (Zvanka manor, Novgorod Governorate)
I'll leave the mortal world behind,
Take wing in an flight fantastical,
With singing, my eternal soul
Will rise up swan-like in the air.
Possessing two immortal traits,
In Purgatory I won't not linger,
But rising over jealousy
I'll leave behind me kingdoms' shine.
'Tis so! Though not renowned by birth,
I am the muses favorite,
From other notables a world apart-
I'll be preferred by death itself.
The tomb will not confine me,
I will not turn to dust among the stars,
But like a heavenly set of pipes,
My voice will ring out from the sky.
And now I see that feathered skin
My figure covers all around.
My breast is downy and my back is winged,
I shine with pearly swan-like white.
I fly, I soar-and see below
The world entire-- oceans, woods.
Like mountains they lift up their heads
To hear my lofty hymn to God.
From Kuril Islands to the river Bug,
From White Sea to the Caspian,
Peoples from half the world
Of whom the Russian race's comprised,
Will hear of me in time:
Slavs, Huns, the Scythians, and Finns,
And others locked today in battle,
Will point at me and they'll pronounce:
"There flies the one who tuned his lyre
To speak the language of the heart,
And preaching peace to the whole world,
Enjoyed the happiness of all."
Forget a big and stately funeral,
My friends! Cease singing, muses' choir!
My wife! With patience gird yourself!
Don't keen upon what seems a corpse.
Scheme | XAAX XBCX XXDE CXXX XXXX AXXX XXFX XXAX XDFA ABEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 11010101 110111 11010101 11111001 01010101 010011110 11010100 11011101 11110111 11010100 1101000101 11011101 0111011 1111110101 110100111 11111101 01111101 11010101 1111001111 11110111 11110101 01010101 11011111 11110111 1001010101 11110100 101101 110101001 111101 110101 010101010 11110101 11011111 11010101 01011011 01010011 0101010100 111101010 11110101 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,354 |
Words | 254 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 107 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 141 Views
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"The Swan" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14588/the-swan>.
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