Analysis of The Black Shawl
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin 1799 (Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin Moscow) – 1837 (Saint Petersburg)
As of senses bereft, at a black shawl I stare,
And my chill heart is tortured with deadly despair.
When dreaming too fondly in credulous youth,
I loved a Greek maiden with passion and truth.
My Greek girl was gentle and loving and fair;
But my joy quickly sank in a day of despair.
Once I feasted gay friends; ere the banquet was o'er
A Jew, the accursed, softly knocked at my door.
'Thou art laughing,' he whispered,'in pleasure's mad whirl;
But she hath betrayed thee, thy young Grecian girl.'
I cursed him; but gold as a guerdon I gave,
And took as companion my trustiest slave.
My swift charger I mounted; at once we depart,
And the soft voice of pity was stilled in my heart.
The Greek maiden's dwelling I hardly could mark,
For my limbs they grew faint, and my eyes they grew dark.
I silently entered—alone and amazed;
An Armenian was kissing the girl as I gazed.
I saw not the light; but I seized my good blade;
The betrayer ne'er finished the kiss that betrayed.
On his warm, headless body I trampled, then spurn'd,
And silent and pale to the maiden I turned.
I remember her prayers—in her blood how she strove;
Then perished my Greek girl—then perished my love.
I tore the black shawl from her head as she lay,
Wiped the blood-dripping weapon, and hurried away.
When the mists of the evening rose gloomy, my slave
Threw each corpse in the Danube's dark fastrolling wave.
Since then no bewildering eyes can delight;
Since then I forbear festive banquets at night.
As of senses bereft, at a black shawl I stare,
And my chill heart is tortured with deadly despair.
Scheme | AA bb aa xx cc dd ee ff gg hh ii xx jj dd kk AA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111001101111 011111011001 11011001001 11011011001 11111001001 111101001101 1110111010110 0101101111 11101100111 11101111101 1111110111 011010111 111011011101 001111011011 0111011011 111111011111 11001001001 1010011001111 11101111111 0111001101 111101011011 01001101011 101001001111 11011111011 11011101111 101101001001 101101011011 111001111 11101001101 1111101011 111001101111 011111011001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,573 |
Words | 291 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 77 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 18 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 59 Views
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"The Black Shawl" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/567/the-black-shawl>.
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