VII

Time was, the breath of early dawn Would agitate a mystic wreath Hung on a pine branch earthward drawn Above the humble urn of death. Time was, two maidens from their home At eventide would hither come, And, by the light the moonbeams gave, Lament, embrace upon that grave. But now—none heeds the monument Of woe: effaced the pathway now: There is no wreath upon the bough: Alone beside it, gray and bent, As formerly the shepherd sits And his poor basten sandal knits.

VIII

My poor Vladimir, bitter tears Thee but a little space bewept, Faithless, alas! thy maid appears, Nor true unto her sorrow kept. Another could her heart engage, Another could her woe assuage By flattery and lover's art— A lancer captivates her heart! A lancer her soul dotes upon: Before the altar, lo! the pair, Mark ye with what a modest air She bows her head beneath the crown;(68) Behold her downcast eyes which glow, Her lips where light smiles come and go!

[Note 68: The crown used in celebrating marriages in Russia according to the forms of the Eastern Church. See Note 28.]

IX

My poor Vladimir! In the tomb, Passed into dull eternity, Was the sad poet filled with gloom, Hearing the fatal perfidy? Or, beyond Lethe lulled to rest, Hath the bard, by indifference blest, Callous to all on earth become— Is the world to him sealed and dumb? The same unmoved oblivion On us beyond the grave attends, The voice of lovers, foes and friends, Dies suddenly: of heirs alone Remains on earth the unseemly rage, Whilst struggling for the heritage.

X

Soon Olga's accents shrill resound No longer through her former home; The lancer, to his calling bound, Back to his regiment must roam. The aged mother, bathed in tears, Distracted by her grief appears When the hour came to bid good-bye— But my Tattiana's eyes were dry. Only her countenance assumed A deadly pallor, air distressed; When all around the entrance pressed, To say farewell, and fussed and fumed Around the carriage of the pair— Tattiana gently led them there.

XI

And long her eyes as through a haze After the wedded couple strain; Alas! the friend of childish days Away, Tattiana, hath been ta'en. Thy dove, thy darling little pet On whom a sister's heart was set Afar is borne by cruel fate, For evermore is separate. She wanders aimless as a sprite, Into the tangled garden goes But nowhere can she find repose, Nor even tears afford respite, Of consolation all bereft— Well nigh her heart in twain was cleft.

XII

In cruel solitude each day With flame more ardent passion burns, And to Oneguine far away Her heart importunately turns. She never more his face may view, For was it not her duty to Detest him for a brother slain? The poet fell; already men No more remembered him; unto Another his betrothed was given; The memory of the bard was driven Like smoke athwart the heaven blue; Two hearts perchance were desolate And mourned him still. Why mourn his fate?

XIII

'Twas eve. 'Twas dusk. The river speeds In tranquil flow. The beetle hums. Already dance to song proceeds; The fisher's fire afar illumes The river's bank. Tattiana lone Beneath the silver of the moon Long time in meditation deep Her path across the plain doth keep— Proceeds, until she from a hill Sees where a noble mansion stood, A village and beneath, a wood, A garden by a shining rill. She gazed thereon, and instant beat Her heart more loudly and more fleet.

XIV

She hesitates, in doubt is thrown— "Shall I proceed, or homeward flee? He is not there: I am not known: The house and garden I would see." Tattiana from the hill descends With bated breath, around she bends A countenance perplexed and scared. She enters a deserted yard— Yelping, a pack of dogs rush out, But at her shriek ran forth with noise The household troop of little boys, Who with a scuffle and a shout The curs away to kennel chase, The damsel under escort place.

XV

"Can I inspect the mansion, please?" Tattiana asks, and hurriedly Unto Anicia for the keys The family of children hie. Anicia soon appears, the door Opens unto her visitor. Into the lonely house she went, Wherein a space Oneguine spent. She gazed—a cue, forgotten long, Doth on the billiard table rest, Upon the tumbled sofa placed, A riding whip. She strolls along. The beldam saith: "The hearth, by it The master always used to sit.

XVI

"Departed Lenski here to dine In winter time would often come. Please follow this way, lady mine, This is my master's sitting-room. 'Tis here he slept, his coffee took, Into accounts would sometimes look, A book at early morn perused. The room my former master used. On Sundays by yon window he, Spectacles upon nose, all day Was wont with me at cards to play. God save his soul eternally And grant his weary bones their rest Deep in our mother Earth's chill breast!"

XVII

Tattiana's eyes with tender gleam On everything around her gaze, Of priceless value all things seem And in her languid bosom raise A pleasure though with sorrow knit: The table with its lamp unlit, The pile of books, with carpet spread Beneath the window-sill his bed, The landscape which the moonbeams fret, The twilight pale which softens all, Lord Byron's portrait on the wall And the cast-iron statuette With folded arms and eyes bent low, Cocked hat and melancholy brow.(69)

[Note 69: The Russians not unfrequently adorn their apartments with effigies of the great Napoleon.]

XVIII

Long in this fashionable cell Tattiana as enchanted stood; But it grew late; cold blew the gale; Dark was the valley and the wood slept o'er the river misty grown. Behind the mountain sank the moon. Long, long the hour had past when home Our youthful wanderer should roam. She hid the trouble of her breast, Heaved an involuntary sigh And turned to leave immediately, But first permission did request Thither in future to proceed That certain volumes she might read.

XIX

Adieu she to the matron said At the front gates, but in brief space At early morn returns the maid To the abandoned dwelling-place. When in the study's calm retreat, Wrapt in oblivion complete, She found herself alone at last, Longtime her tears flowed thick and fast; But presently she tried to read; At first for books was disinclined, But soon their choice seemed to her mind Remarkable. She then indeed Devoured them with an eager zest. A new world was made manifest!

XX

Although we know that Eugene had Long ceased to be a reading man, Still certain authors, I may add, He had excepted from the ban: The bard of Juan and the Giaour, With it may be a couple more; Romances three, in which ye scan Portrayed contemporary man As the reflection of his age, His immorality of mind To arid selfishness resigned, A visionary personage With his exasperated sense, His energy and impotence.

XXI

And numerous pages had preserved The sharp incisions of his nail, And these the attentive maid observed With eye precise and without fail. Tattiana saw with trepidation By what idea or observation Oneguine was the most impressed, In what he merely acquiesced. Upon those margins she perceived Oneguine's pencillings. His mind Made revelations undesigned, Of what he thought and what believed, A dagger, asterisk, or note Interrogation to denote.

XXII

And my Tattiana now began To understand by slow degrees More clearly, God be praised, the man, Whom autocratic fate's decrees Had bid her sigh for without hope— A dangerous, gloomy misanthrope, Being from hell or heaven sent, Angel or fiend malevolent. Which is he? or an imitation, A bogy conjured up in joke, A Russian in Childe Harold's cloak, Of foreign whims the impersonation— Handbook of fashionable phrase Or parody of modern ways?

XXIII

Hath she found out the riddle yet? Hath she a fitting phrase selected? But time flies and she doth forget They long at home have her expected— Whither two neighbouring dames have walked And a long time about her talked. "What can be done? She is no child!" Cried the old dame with anguish filled: "Olinka is her junior, see. 'Tis time to many her, 'tis true, But tell me what am I to do? To all she answers cruelly— I will not wed, and ever weeps And lonely through the forest creeps."

XXIV

"Is she in love?" quoth one. "With whom? Bouyanoff courted. She refused. Petoushkoff met the selfsame doom. The hussar Pikhtin was accused. How the young imp on Tania doted! To captivate her how devoted! I mused: perhaps the matter's squared— O yes! my hopes soon disappeared." "But, matushka, to Moscow you(70) Should go, the market for a maid, With many a vacancy, 'tis said."— "Alas! my friend, no revenue!" "Enough to see one winter's end; If not, the money I will lend."

[Note 70: "Matushka," or "little mother," a term of endearment in constant use amongst Russian females.]

XXV

The venerable dame opined The counsel good and full of reason, Her money counted, and designed To visit Moscow in the season. Tattiana learns the intelligence— Of her provincial innocence The unaffected traits she now Unto a carping world must show— Her toilette's antiquated style, Her antiquated mode of speech, For Moscow fops and Circes each To mark with a contemptuous smile. Horror! had she not better stay Deep in the greenwood far away?

XXVI

Arising with the morning's light, Unto the fields she makes her way, And with emotional delight Surveying them, she thus doth say: "Ye peaceful valleys all, good-bye! Ye well-known mountain summits high, Ye groves whose depths I know so well, Thou beauteous sky above, farewell! Delicious nature, thee I fly, The calm existence which I prize I yield for splendid vanities, Thou too farewell, my liberty! Whither and wherefore do I speed And what will Destiny concede?"

XXVII

Farther Tattiana's walks extend— 'Tis now the hillock now the rill Their natural attractions lend To stay the maid against her will. She the acquaintances she loves, Her spacious fields and shady groves, Another visit hastes to pay. But Summer swiftly fades away And golden Autumn draweth nigh, And pallid nature trembling grieves, A victim decked with golden leaves; Dark clouds before the north wind fly; It blew: it howled: till winter e'en Came forth in all her magic sheen.

XXVIII

The snow descends and buries all, Hangs heavy on the oaken boughs, A white and undulating pall O'er hillock and o'er meadow throws. The channel of the river stilled As if with eider-down is filled. The hoar-frost glitters: all rejoice In mother Winter's strange caprice. But Tania's heart is not at ease, Winter's approach she doth not hail Nor the frost particles inhale Nor the first snow of winter seize Her shoulders, breast and face to lave— Alarm the winter journey gave.

XXIX

The date was fixed though oft postponed, But ultimately doth approach. Examined, mended, newly found Was the old and forgotten coach; Kibitkas three, the accustomed train,(71) The household property contain: Saucepans and mattresses and chairs, Portmanteaus and preserves in jars, Feather-beds, also poultry-coops, Basins and jugs—well! everything To happiness contributing. Behold! beside their dwelling groups Of serfs the farewell wail have given. Nags eighteen to the door are driven.

[Note 71: In former times, and to some extent the practice still continues to the present day, Russian families were wont to travel with every necessary of life, and, in the case of the wealthy, all its luxuries following in their train. As the poet complains in a subsequent stanza there were no inns; and if the simple Larinas required such ample store of creature comforts the impediments accompanying a great noble on his journeys may be easily conceived.]

XXX

These to the coach of state are bound, Breakfast the busy cooks prepare, Baggage is heaped up in a mound, Old women at the coachmen swear. A bearded postillion astride A lean and shaggy nag doth ride, Unto the gates the servants fly To bid the gentlefolk good-bye. These take their seats; the coach of state Leisurely through the gateway glides. "Adieu! thou home where peace abides, Where turmoil cannot penetrate, Shall I behold thee once again?"— Tattiana tears cannot restrain.

XXXI

The limits of enlightenment When to enlarge we shall succeed, In course of time (the whole extent Will not five centuries exceed By computation) it is like Our roads transformed the eye will strike; Highways all Russia will unite And form a network left and right; On iron bridges we shall gaze Which o'er the waters boldly leap, Mountains we'll level and through deep Streams excavate subaqueous ways, And Christian folk will, I expect, An inn at every stage erect.

XXXII

But now, what wretched roads one sees, Our bridges long neglected rot, And at the stages bugs and fleas One moment's slumber suffer not. Inns there are none. Pretentious but Meagre, within a draughty hut, A bill of fare hangs full in sight And irritates the appetite. Meantime a Cyclops of those parts Before a fire which feebly glows Mends with the Russian hammer's blows The flimsy wares of Western marts, With blessings on the ditches and The ruts of his own fatherland.

XXXIII

Yet on a frosty winter day The journey in a sledge doth please, No senseless fashionable lay Glides with a more luxurious ease; For our Automedons are fire And our swift troikas never tire; The verst posts catch the vacant eye And like a palisade flit by.(72) The Larinas unwisely went, From apprehension of the cost, By their own horses, not the post— So Tania to her heart's content Could taste the pleasures of the road. Seven days and nights the travellers plod.

[Note 72: This somewhat musty joke has appeared in more than one national costume. Most Englishmen, if we were to replace verst-posts with milestones and substitute a graveyard for a palisade, would instantly recognize its Yankee extraction. In Russia however its origin is as ancient at least as the reign of Catherine the Second. The witticism ran thus: A courier sent by Prince Potemkin to the Empress drove so fast that his sword, projecting from the vehicle, rattled against the verst-posts as if against a palisade!]

XXXIV

But they draw near. Before them, lo! White Moscow raises her old spires, Whose countless golden crosses glow As with innumerable fires.(73) Ah! brethren, what was my delight When I yon semicircle bright Of churches, gardens, belfries high Descried before me suddenly! Moscow, how oft in evil days, Condemned to exile dire by fate, On thee I used to meditate! Moscow! How much is in the phrase For every loyal Russian breast! How much is in that word expressed!

[Note 73: The aspect of Moscow, especially as seen from the Sparrow Hills, a low range bordering the river Moskva at a short distance from the city, is unique and splendid. It possesses several domes completely plated with gold and some twelve hundred spires most of which are surmounted by a golden cross. At the time of sunset they seem literally tipped with flame. It was from this memorable spot that Napoleon and the Grand Army first obtained a glimpse at the city of the Tsars. There are three hundred and seventy churches in Moscow. The Kremlin itself is however by far the most interesting object to the stranger.]

XXXV

Lo! compassed by his grove of oaks, Petrovski Palace! Gloomily His recent glory he invokes. Here, drunk with his late victory, Napoleon tarried till it please Moscow approach on bended knees, Time-honoured Kremlin's keys present. Not so! My Moscow never went To seek him out with bended head. No gift she bears, no feast proclaims, But lights incendiary flames For the impatient chief instead. From hence engrossed in thought profound He on the conflagration frowned.(74)

[Note 74: Napoleon on his arrival in Moscow on the 14th September took up his quarters in the Kremlin, but on the 16th had to remove to the Petrovski Palace or Castle on account of the conflagration which broke out in all quarters of the city. He however returned to the Kremlin on the 19th September. The Palace itself is placed in the midst of extensive grounds just outside the city, on the road to Tver, i.e. to the northwest. It is perhaps worthy of remark, as one amongst numerous circumstances proving how extensively the poet interwove his own life-experiences with the plot of this poem, that it was by this road that he himself must have been in the habit of approaching Moscow from his favourite country residence of Mikhailovskoe, in the province of Pskoff.]

XXXVI

Adieu, thou witness of our glory, Petrovski Palace; come, astir! Drive on! the city barriers hoary Appear; along the road of Tver The coach is borne o'er ruts and holes, Past women, sentry-boxes, rolls, Past palaces and nunneries, Lamp-posts, shops, sledges, families, Bokharians, peasants, beds of greens, Boulevards, belfries, milliners, Huts, chemists, Cossacks, shopkeepers And fashionable magazines, Balconies, lion's heads on doors, Jackdaws on every spire—in scores.(75)

[Note 75: The first line refers to the prevailing shape of the cast-iron handles which adorn the porte cocheres. The Russians are fond of tame birds—jackdaws, pigeons, starlings, etc., abound in Moscow and elsewhere.]

XXXVII

The weary way still incomplete, An hour passed by—another—till, Near Khariton's in a side street The coach before a house stood still. At an old aunt's they had arrived Who had for four long years survived An invalid from lung complaint. A Kalmuck gray, in caftan rent And spectacles, his knitting staid And the saloon threw open wide; The princess from the sofa cried And the newcomers welcome bade. The two old ladies then embraced And exclamations interlaced.

XXXVIII

"Princesse, mon ange!"—"Pachette!"— "Aline!" "Who would have thought it? As of yore! Is it for long?"—"Ma chere cousine!" "Sit down. How funny, to be sure! 'Tis a scene of romance, I vow!" "Tania, my eldest child, you know"— "Ah! come, Tattiana, come to me! Is it a dream, and can it be? Cousin, rememb'rest Grandison?" "What! Grandison?"—"Yes, certainly!" "Oh! I remember, where is he?"— "Here, he resides with Simeon. He called upon me Christmas Eve— His son is married, just conceive!"

XXXIX

"And he—but of him presently— To-morrow Tania we will show, What say you? to the family— Alas! abroad I cannot go. See, I can hardly crawl about— But you must both be quite tired out! Let us go seek a little rest— Ah! I'm so weak—my throbbing breast! Oppressive now is happiness, Not only sorrow—Ah! my dear, Now I am fit for nothing here. In old age life is weariness!" Then weeping she sank back distressed And fits of coughing racked her chest.

XL

By the sick lady's gaiety And kindness Tania was impressed, But, her own room in memory, The strange apartment her oppressed: Repose her silken curtains fled, She could not sleep in her new bed. The early tinkling of the bells Which of approaching labour tells Aroused Tattiana from her bed. The maiden at her casement sits As daylight glimmers, darkness flits, But ah! discerns nor wood nor mead— Beneath her lay a strange courtyard, A stable, kitchen, fence appeared.

XLI

To consanguineous dinners they Conduct Tattiana constantly, That grandmothers and grandsires may Contemplate her sad reverie. We Russians, friends from distant parts Ever receive with kindly hearts And exclamations and good cheer. "How Tania grows! Doth it appear" "Long since I held thee at the font— Since in these arms I thee did bear— And since I pulled thee by the ear— And I to give thee cakes was wont?"— Then the old dames in chorus sing, "Oh! how our years are vanishing!"

XLII

But nothing changed in them is seen, All in the good old style appears, Our dear old aunt, Princess Helene, Her cap of tulle still ever wears: Luceria Lvovna paint applies, Amy Petrovna utters lies, Ivan Petrovitch still a gaby, Simeon Petrovitch just as shabby; Pelagie Nikolavna has Her friend Monsieur Finemouche the same, Her wolf-dog and her husband tame; Still of his club he member was— As deaf and silly doth remain, Still eats and drinks enough for twain.

XLIII

Their daughters kiss Tattiana fair. In the beginning, cold and mute, Moscow's young Graces at her stare, Examine her from head to foot. They deem her somewhat finical, Outlandish and provincial, A trifle pale, a trifle lean, But plainer girls they oft had seen. Obedient then to Nature's law, With her they did associate, Squeeze tiny hands and osculate; Her tresses curled in fashion saw, And oft in whispers would impart A maiden's secrets—of the heart.

XLIV

Triumphs—their own or those of friends— Hopes, frolics, dreams and sentiment Their harmless conversation blends With scandal's trivial ornament. Then to reward such confidence Her amorous experience With mute appeal to ask they seem— But Tania just as in a dream Without participation hears, Their voices nought to her impart And the lone secret of her heart, Her sacred hoard of joy and tears, She buries deep within her breast Nor aught confides unto the rest.

XLV

Tattiana would have gladly heard The converse of the world polite, But in the drawing-room all appeared To find in gossip such delight, Speech was so tame and colourless Their slander e'en was weariness; In their sterility of prattle, Questions and news and tittle-tattle, No sense was ever manifest Though by an error and unsought— The languid mind could smile at nought, Heart would not throb albeit in jest— Even amusing fools we miss In thee, thou world of empty bliss.

XLVI

In groups, official striplings glance Conceitedly on Tania fair, And views amongst themselves advance Unfavourable unto her. But one buffoon unhappy deemed Her the ideal which he dreamed, And leaning 'gainst the portal closed To her an elegy composed. Also one Viazemski, remarking Tattiana by a poor aunt's side, Successfully to please her tried, And an old gent the poet marking By Tania, smoothing his peruke, To ask her name the trouble took.(76)

[Note 76: One of the obscure satirical allusions contained in this poem. Doubtless the joke was perfectly intelligible to the habitues of contemporary St. Petersburg society. Viazemski of course is the poet and prince, Pushkin's friend.]

XLVII

But where Melpomene doth rave With lengthened howl and accent loud, And her bespangled robe doth wave Before a cold indifferent crowd, And where Thalia softly dreams And heedless of approval seems, Terpsichore alone among Her sisterhood delights the young (So 'twas with us in former years, In your young days and also mine), Never upon my heroine The jealous dame her lorgnette veers, The connoisseur his glances throws From boxes or from stalls in rows.

XLVIII

To the assembly her they bear. There the confusion, pressure, heat, The crash of music, candles' glare And rapid whirl of many feet, The ladies' dresses airy, light, The motley moving mass and bright, Young ladies in a vasty curve, To strike imagination serve. 'Tis there that arrant fops display Their insolence and waistcoats white And glasses unemployed all night; Thither hussars on leave will stray To clank the spur, delight the fair— And vanish like a bird in air.

XLIX

Full many a lovely star hath night And Moscow many a beauty fair: Yet clearer shines than every light The moon in the blue atmosphere. And she to whom my lyre would fain, Yet dares not, dedicate its strain, Shines in the female firmament Like a full moon magnificent. Lo! with what pride celestial Her feet the earth beneath her press! Her heart how full of gentleness, Her glance how wild yet genial! Enough, enough, conclude thy lay— For folly's dues thou hadst to pay.

L

Noise, laughter, bowing, hurrying mixt, Gallop, mazurka, waltzing—see! A pillar by, two aunts betwixt, Tania, observed by nobody, Looks upon all with absent gaze And hates the world's discordant ways. 'Tis noisome to her there: in thought Again her rural life she sought, The hamlet, the poor villagers, The little solitary nook Where shining runs the tiny brook, Her garden, and those books of hers, And the lime alley's twilight dim Where the first time she met with him.

LI

Thus widely meditation erred, Forgot the world, the noisy ball, Whilst from her countenance ne'er stirred The eyes of a grave general. Both aunts looked knowing as a judge, Each gave Tattiana's arm a nudge And in a whisper did repeat: "Look quickly to your left, my sweet!" "The left? Why, what on earth is there?"— "No matter, look immediately. There, in that knot of company, Two dressed in uniform appear— Ah! he has gone the other way"— "Who? Is it that stout general, pray?"—

LII

Let us congratulations pay To our Tattiana conquering, And for a time our course delay, That I forget not whom I sing. Let me explain that in my song "I celebrate a comrade young And the extent of his caprice; O epic Muse, my powers increase And grant success to labour long; Having a trusty staff bestowed, Grant that I err not on the road." Enough! my pack is now unslung— To classicism I've homage paid, Though late, have a beginning made.(77)

[Note 77: Many will consider this mode of bringing the canto to a conclusion of more than doubtful taste. The poet evidently aims a stroke at the pedantic and narrow-minded criticism to which original genius, emancipated from the strait-waistcoat of conventionality, is not unfrequently subjected.]

End of Canto The Seventh



CANTO THE EIGHTH

The Great World

'Fare thee well, and if for ever, Still for ever fare thee well.'—Byron

Canto the Eighth

[St. Petersburg, Boldino, Tsarskoe Selo, 1880-1881]

I

In the Lyceum's noiseless shade As in a garden when I grew, I Apuleius gladly read But would not look at Cicero. 'Twas then in valleys lone, remote, In spring-time, heard the cygnet's note By waters shining tranquilly, That first the Muse appeared to me. Into the study of the boy There came a sudden flash of light, The Muse revealed her first delight, Sang childhood's pastimes and its joy, Glory with which our history teems And the heart's agitated dreams.

II

And the world met her smilingly, A first success light pinions gave, The old Derjavine noticed me, And blest me, sinking to the grave.(78) Then my companions young with pleasure In the unfettered hours of leisure Her utterances ever heard, And by a partial temper stirred And boiling o'er with friendly heat, They first of all my brow did wreathe And an encouragement did breathe That my coy Muse might sing more sweet. O triumphs of my guileless days, How sweet a dream your memories raise!

[Note 78: This touching scene produced a lasting impression on Pushkin's mind. It took place at a public examination at the Lyceum, on which occasion the boy poet produced a poem. The incident recalls the "Mon cher Tibulle" of Voltaire and the youthful Parny (see Note 42). Derjavine flourished during the reigns of Catherine the Second and Alexander the First. His poems are stiff and formal in style and are not much thought of by contemporary Russians. But a century back a very infinitesimal endowment of literary ability was sufficient to secure imperial reward and protection, owing to the backward state of the empire. Stanza II properly concludes with this line, the remainder having been expunged either by the author himself or the censors. I have filled up the void with lines from a fragment left by the author having reference to this canto.]

III

Passion's wild sway I then allowed, Her promptings unto law did make, Pursuits I followed of the crowd, My sportive Muse I used to take To many a noisy feast and fight, Terror of guardians of the night; And wild festivities among She brought with her the gift of song. Like a Bacchante in her sport Beside the cup she sang her rhymes And the young revellers of past times Vociferously paid her court, And I, amid the friendly crowd, Of my light paramour was proud.

IV

But I abandoned their array, And fled afar—she followed me. How oft the kindly Muse away Hath whiled the road's monotony, Entranced me by some mystic tale. How oft beneath the moonbeams pale Like Leonora did she ride(79) With me Caucasian rocks beside! How oft to the Crimean shore She led me through nocturnal mist Unto the sounding sea to list, Where Nereids murmur evermore, And where the billows hoarsely raise To God eternal hymns of praise.

[Note 79: See Note 30, "Leonora," a poem by Gottfried Augustus Burger, b. 1748, d. 1794.]

V

Then, the far capital forgot, Its splendour and its blandishments, In poor Moldavia cast her lot, She visited the humble tents Of migratory gipsy hordes— And wild among them grew her words— Our godlike tongue she could exchange For savage speech, uncouth and strange, And ditties of the steppe she loved. But suddenly all changed around! Lo! in my garden was she found And as a country damsel roved, A pensive sorrow in her glance And in her hand a French romance.

VI

Now for the first time I my Muse Lead into good society, Her steppe-like beauties I peruse With jealous fear, anxiety. Through dense aristocratic rows Of diplomats and warlike beaux And supercilious dames she glides, Sits down and gazes on all sides— Amazed at the confusing crowd, Variety of speech and vests, Deliberate approach of guests Who to the youthful hostess bowed, And the dark fringe of men, like frames Enclosing pictures of fair dames.

VII

Assemblies oligarchical Please her by their decorum fixed, The rigour of cold pride and all Titles and ages intermixed. But who in that choice company With clouded brow stands silently? Unknown to all he doth appear, A vision desolate and drear Doth seem to him the festal scene. Doth his brow wretchedness declare Or suffering pride? Why is he there? Who may he be? Is it Eugene? Pray is it he? It is the same. "And is it long since back he came?

VIII

"Is he the same or grown more wise? Still doth the misanthrope appear? He has returned, say in what guise? What is his latest character? What doth he act? Is it Melmoth,(80) Philanthropist or patriot, Childe Harold, quaker, devotee, Or other mask donned playfully? Or a good fellow for the nonce, Like you and me and all the rest?— But this is my advice, 'twere best Not to behave as he did once— Society he duped enow." "Is he known to you?"—"Yes and No."

[Note 80: A romance by Maturin.]

IX

Wherefore regarding him express Perverse, unfavourable views? Is it that human restlessness For ever carps, condemns, pursues? Is it that ardent souls of flame By recklessness amuse or shame Selfish nonentities around? That mind which yearns for space is bound? And that too often we receive Professions eagerly for deeds, That crass stupidity misleads, That we by cant ourselves deceive, That mediocrity alone Without disgust we look upon?

X

Happy he who in youth was young, Happy who timely grew mature, He who life's frosts which early wrung Hath gradually learnt to endure; By visions who was ne'er deranged Nor from the mob polite estranged, At twenty who was prig or swell, At thirty who was married well, At fifty who relief obtained From public and from private ties, Who glory, wealth and dignities Hath tranquilly in turn attained, And unto whom we all allude As to a worthy man and good!

XI

But sad is the reflection made, In vain was youth by us received, That we her constantly betrayed And she at last hath us deceived; That our desires which noblest seemed, The purest of the dreams we dreamed, Have one by one all withered grown Like rotten leaves by Autumn strown— 'Tis fearful to anticipate Nought but of dinners a long row, To look on life as on a show, Eternally to imitate The seemly crowd, partaking nought Its passions and its modes of thought.

XII

The butt of scandal having been, 'Tis dreadful—ye agree, I hope— To pass with reasonable men For a fictitious misanthrope, A visionary mortified, Or monster of Satanic pride, Or e'en the "Demon" of my strain.(81) Oneguine—take him up again— In duel having killed his friend And reached, with nought his mind to engage, The twenty-sixth year of his age, Wearied of leisure in the end, Without profession, business, wife, He knew not how to spend his life.

[Note 81: The "Demon," a short poem by Pushkin which at its first appearance created some excitement in Russian society. A more appropriate, or at any rate explanatory title, would have been the Tempter. It is descriptive of the first manifestation of doubt and cynicism in his youthful mind, allegorically as the visits of a "demon." Russian society was moved to embody this imaginary demon in the person of a certain friend of Pushkin's. This must not be confounded with Lermontoff's poem bearing the same title upon which Rubinstein's new opera, "Il Demonio," is founded.]

XIII

Him a disquietude did seize, A wish from place to place to roam, A very troublesome disease, In some a willing martyrdom. Abandoned he his country seat, Of woods and fields the calm retreat, Where every day before his eyes A blood-bespattered shade would rise, And aimless journeys did commence— But still remembrance to him clings, His travels like all other things Inspired but weariness intense; Returning, from his ship amid A ball he fell as Tchatzki did.(82)

[Note 82: Tchatzki, one of the principal characters in Griboyedoff's celebrated comedy "Woe from Wit" (Gore ot Ouma).]

XIV

Behold, the crowd begins to stir, A whisper runs along the hall, A lady draws the hostess near, Behind her a grave general. Her manners were deliberate, Reserved, but not inanimate, Her eyes no saucy glance address, There was no angling for success. Her features no grimaces bleared; Of affectation innocent, Calm and without embarrassment, A faithful model she appeared Of "comme il faut." Shishkoff, forgive! I can't translate the adjective.(83)

[Note 83: Shishkoff was a member of the literary school which cultivated the vernacular as opposed to the Arzamass or Gallic school, to which the poet himself and his uncle Vassili Pushkin belonged. He was admiral, author, and minister of education.]

XV

Ladies in crowds around her close, Her with a smile old women greet, The men salute with lower bows And watch her eye's full glance to meet. Maidens before her meekly move Along the hall, and high above The crowd doth head and shoulders rise The general who accompanies. None could her beautiful declare, Yet viewing her from head to foot, None could a trace of that impute, Which in the elevated sphere Of London life is "vulgar" called And ruthless fashion hath blackballed.

XVI

I like this word exceedingly Although it will not bear translation, With us 'tis quite a novelty Not high in general estimation; 'Twould serve ye in an epigram— But turn we once more to our dame. Enchanting, but unwittingly, At table she was sitting by The brilliant Nina Voronskoi, The Neva's Cleopatra, and None the conviction could withstand That Nina's marble symmetry, Though dazzling its effulgence white, Could not eclipse her neighbour's light.

XVII

"And is it," meditates Eugene. "And is it she? It must be—no— How! from the waste of steppes unseen,"— And the eternal lorgnette through Frequent and rapid doth his glance Seek the forgotten countenance Familiar to him long ago. "Inform me, prince, pray dost thou know The lady in the crimson cap Who with the Spanish envoy speaks?"— The prince's eye Oneguine seeks: "Ah! long the world hath missed thy shape! But stop! I will present thee, if You choose."—"But who is she?"—"My wife."

XVIII

"So thou art wed! I did not know. Long ago?"—"'Tis the second year." "To—?"—"Larina."—"Tattiana?"—"So. And dost thou know her?"—"We live near." "Then come with me." The prince proceeds, His wife approaches, with him leads His relative and friend as well. The lady's glance upon him fell— And though her soul might be confused, And vehemently though amazed She on the apparition gazed, No signs of trouble her accused, A mien unaltered she preserved, Her bow was easy, unreserved.

XIX

Ah no! no faintness her attacked Nor sudden turned she red or white, Her brow she did not e'en contract Nor yet her lip compressed did bite. Though he surveyed her at his ease, Not the least trace Oneguine sees Of the Tattiana of times fled. He conversation would have led— But could not. Then she questioned him:— "Had he been long here, and where from? Straight from their province had he come?"— Cast upwards then her eyeballs dim Unto her husband, went away— Transfixed Oneguine mine doth stay.

XX

Is this the same Tattiana, say, Before whom once in solitude, In the beginning of this lay, Deep in the distant province rude, Impelled by zeal for moral worth, He salutary rules poured forth? The maid whose note he still possessed Wherein the heart its vows expressed, Where all upon the surface lies,— That girl—but he must dreaming be— That girl whom once on a time he Could in a humble sphere despise, Can she have been a moment gone Thus haughty, careless in her tone?

XXI

He quits the fashionable throng And meditative homeward goes, Visions, now sad, now grateful, long Do agitate his late repose. He wakes—they with a letter come— The Princess N. will be at home On such a day. O Heavens, 'tis she! Oh! I accept. And instantly He a polite reply doth scrawl. What hath he dreamed? What hath occurred? In the recesses what hath stirred Of a heart cold and cynical? Vexation? Vanity? or strove Again the plague of boyhood—love?

XXII

The hours once more Oneguine counts, Impatient waits the close of day, But ten strikes and his sledge he mounts And gallops to her house away. Trembling he seeks the young princess— Tattiana finds in loneliness. Together moments one or two They sat, but conversation's flow Deserted Eugene. He, distraught, Sits by her gloomily, desponds, Scarce to her questions he responds, Full of exasperating thought. He fixedly upon her stares— She calm and unconcerned appears.

XXIII

The husband comes and interferes With this unpleasant tete-a-tete, With Eugene pranks of former years And jests doth recapitulate. They talked and laughed. The guests arrived. The conversation was revived By the coarse wit of worldly hate; But round the hostess scintillate Light sallies without coxcombry, Awhile sound conversation seems To banish far unworthy themes And platitudes and pedantry, And never was the ear affright By liberties or loose or light.

XXIV

And yet the city's flower was there, Noblesse and models of the mode, Faces which we meet everywhere And necessary fools allowed. Behold the dames who once were fine With roses, caps and looks malign; Some marriageable maids behold, Blank, unapproachable and cold. Lo, the ambassador who speaks Economy political, And with gray hair ambrosial The old man who has had his freaks, Renowned for his acumen, wit, But now ridiculous a bit.

XXV

Behold Sabouroff, whom the age For baseness of the spirit scorns, Saint Priest, who every album's page With blunted pencil-point adorns. Another tribune of the ball Hung like a print against the wall, Pink as Palm Sunday cherubim,(84) Motionless, mute, tight-laced and trim. The traveller, bird of passage he, Stiff, overstarched and insolent, Awakens secret merriment By his embarrassed dignity— Mute glances interchanged aside Meet punishment for him provide.

[Note 84: On Palm Sunday the Russians carry branches, or used to do so. These branches were adorned with little painted pictures of cherubs with the ruddy complexions of tradition. Hence the comparison.]

XXVI

But my Oneguine the whole eve Within his mind Tattiana bore, Not the young timid maid, believe, Enamoured, simple-minded, poor, But the indifferent princess, Divinity without access Of the imperial Neva's shore. O Men, how very like ye are To Eve the universal mother, Possession hath no power to please, The serpent to unlawful trees Aye bids ye in some way or other— Unless forbidden fruit we eat, Our paradise is no more sweet.

XXVII

Ah! how Tattiana was transformed, How thoroughly her part she took! How soon to habits she conformed Which crushing dignity must brook! Who would the maiden innocent In the unmoved, magnificent Autocrat of the drawing-room seek? And he had made her heart beat quick! 'Twas he whom, amid nightly shades, Whilst Morpheus his approach delays, She mourned and to the moon would raise The languid eye of love-sick maids, Dreaming perchance in weal or woe To end with him her path below.

XXVIII

To Love all ages lowly bend, But the young unpolluted heart His gusts should fertilize, amend, As vernal storms the fields athwart. Youth freshens beneath Passion's showers, Develops and matures its powers, And thus in season the rich field Gay flowers and luscious fruit doth yield. But at a later, sterile age, The solstice of our earthly years, Mournful Love's deadly trace appears As storms which in chill autumn rage And leave a marsh the fertile ground And devastate the woods around.

XXIX

There was no doubt! Eugene, alas! Tattiana loved as when a lad, Both day and night he now must pass In love-lorn meditation sad. Careless of every social rule, The crystals of her vestibule He daily in his drives drew near And like a shadow haunted her. Enraptured was he if allowed To swathe her shoulders in the furs, If his hot hand encountered hers, Or he dispersed the motley crowd Of lackeys in her pathway grouped, Or to pick up her kerchief stooped.

XXX

She seemed of him oblivious, Despite the anguish of his breast, Received him freely at her house, At times three words to him addressed In company, or simply bowed, Or recognized not in the crowd. No coquetry was there, I vouch— Society endures not such! Oneguine's cheek grew ashy pale, Either she saw not or ignored; Oneguine wasted; on my word, Already he grew phthisical. All to the doctors Eugene send, And they the waters recommend.

XXXI

He went not—sooner was prepared To write his forefathers to warn Of his approach; but nothing cared Tattiana—thus the sex is born.— He obstinately will remain, Still hopes, endeavours, though in vain. Sickness more courage doth command Than health, so with a trembling hand A love epistle he doth scrawl. Though correspondence as a rule He used to hate—and was no fool— Yet suffering emotional Had rendered him an invalid; But word for word his letter read.

Oneguine's Letter to Tattiana

All is foreseen. My secret drear Will sound an insult in your ear. What acrimonious scorn I trace Depicted on your haughty face! What do I ask? What cause assigned That I to you reveal my mind? To what malicious merriment, It may be, I yield nutriment!

Meeting you in times past by chance, Warmth I imagined in your glance, But, knowing not the actual truth, Restrained the impulses of youth; Also my wretched liberty I would not part with finally; This separated us as well— Lenski, unhappy victim, fell, From everything the heart held dear I then resolved my heart to tear; Unknown to all, without a tie, I thought—retirement, liberty, Will happiness replace. My God! How I have erred and felt the rod!

No, ever to behold your face, To follow you in every place, Your smiling lips, your beaming eyes, To watch with lovers' ecstasies, Long listen, comprehend the whole Of your perfections in my soul, Before you agonized to die— This, this were true felicity!

But such is not for me. I brood Daily of love in solitude. My days of life approach their end, Yet I in idleness expend The remnant destiny concedes, And thus each stubbornly proceeds. I feel, allotted is my span; But, that life longer may remain, At morn I must assuredly Know that thy face that day I see.

I tremble lest my humble prayer You with stern countenance declare The artifice of villany— I hear your harsh, reproachful cry. If ye but knew how dreadful 'tis To bear love's parching agonies— To burn, yet reason keep awake The fever of the blood to slake— A passionate desire to bend And, sobbing at your feet, to blend Entreaties, woes and prayers, confess All that the heart would fain express— Yet with a feigned frigidity To arm the tongue and e'en the eye, To be in conversation clear And happy unto you appear.

So be it! But internal strife I cannot longer wage concealed. The die is cast! Thine is my life! Into thy hands my fate I yield!

XXXII

No answer! He another sent. Epistle second, note the third, Remained unnoticed. Once he went To an assembly—she appeared Just as he entered. How severe! She will not see, she will not hear. Alas! she is as hard, behold, And frosty as a Twelfth Night cold. Oh, how her lips compressed restrain The indignation of her heart! A sidelong look doth Eugene dart: Where, where, remorse, compassion, pain? Where, where, the trace of tears? None, none! Upon her brow sits wrath alone—

XXXIII

And it may be a secret dread Lest the world or her lord divine A certain little escapade Well known unto Oneguine mine. 'Tis hopeless! Homeward doth he flee Cursing his own stupidity, And brooding o'er the ills he bore, Society renounced once more. Then in the silent cabinet He in imagination saw The time when Melancholy's claw 'Mid worldly pleasures chased him yet, Caught him and by the collar took And shut him in a lonely nook.

XXXIV

He read as vainly as before, perusing Gibbon and Rousseau, Manzoni, Herder and Chamfort,(85) Madame de Stael, Bichat, Tissot: He read the unbelieving Bayle, Also the works of Fontenelle, Some Russian authors he perused— Nought in the universe refused: Nor almanacs nor newspapers, Which lessons unto us repeat, Wherein I castigation get; And where a madrigal occurs Writ in my honour now and then— E sempre bene, gentlemen!

[Note 85: Owing to the unstable nature of fame the names of some of the above literary worthies necessitate reference at this period in the nineteenth century.

Johann Gottfried von Herder, b. 1744, d. 1803, a German philosopher, philanthropist and author, was the personal friend of Goethe and held the poet of court chaplain at Weimar. His chief work is entitled, "Ideas for a Philosophy of the History of Mankind," in 4 vols.

Sebastien Roch Nicholas Chamfort, b. 1741, d. 1794, was a French novelist and dramatist of the Revolution, who contrary to his real wishes became entangled in its meshes. He exercised a considerable influence over certain of its leaders, notably Mirabeau and Sieyes. He is said to have originated the title of the celebrated tract from the pen of the latter. "What is the Tiers Etat? Nothing. What ought it to be? Everything." He ultimately experienced the common destiny in those days, was thrown into prison and though shortly afterwards released, his incarceration had such an effect upon his mind that he committed suicide.

Marie Francois Xavier Bichat, b. 1771, d. 1802, a French anatomist and physiologist of eminence. His principal works are a "Traite des Membranes," "Anatomie generale appliquee a la Physiologie et a la Medecine," and "Recherches Physiologiques sur la Vie et la Mort." He died at an early age from constant exposure to noxious exhalations during his researches.

Pierre Francois Tissot, b. 1768, d. 1864, a French writer of the Revolution and Empire. In 1812 he was appointed by Napoleon editor of the Gazette de France. He wrote histories of the Revolution, of Napoleon and of France. He was likewise a poet and author of a work entitled "Les trois Irlandais Conjures, ou l'ombre d'Emmet," and is believed to have edited Foy's "History of the Peninsular War."

The above catalogue by its heterogeneous composition gives a fair idea of the intellectual movement in Russia from the Empress Catherine the Second downwards. It is characterized by a feverish thirst for encyclopaedic knowledge without a corresponding power of assimilation.]

XXXV

But what results? His eyes peruse But thoughts meander far away— Ideas, desires and woes confuse His intellect in close array. His eyes, the printed lines betwixt, On lines invisible are fixt; 'Twas these he read and these alone His spirit was intent upon. They were the wonderful traditions Of kindly, dim antiquity, Dreams with no continuity, Prophecies, threats and apparitions, The lively trash of stories long Or letters of a maiden young.

XXXVI

And by degrees upon him grew A lethargy of sense, a trance, And soon imagination threw Before him her wild game of chance. And now upon the snow in thaw A young man motionless he saw, As one who bivouacs afield, And heard a voice cry—Why! He's killed!— And now he views forgotten foes, Poltroons and men of slanderous tongue, Bevies of treacherous maidens young; Of thankless friends the circle rose, A mansion—by the window, see! She sits alone—'tis ever she!

XXXVII

So frequently his mind would stray He well-nigh lost the use of sense, Almost became a poet say— Oh! what had been his eminence! Indeed, by force of magnetism A Russian poem's mechanism My scholar without aptitude At this time almost understood. How like a poet was my chum When, sitting by his fire alone Whilst cheerily the embers shone, He "Benedetta" used to hum, Or "Idol mio," and in the grate Would lose his slippers or gazette.

XXXVIII

Time flies! a genial air abroad, Winter resigned her empire white, Oneguine ne'er as poet showed Nor died nor lost his senses quite. Spring cheered him up, and he resigned His chambers close wherein confined He marmot-like did hibernate, His double sashes and his grate, And sallied forth one brilliant morn— Along the Neva's bank he sleighs, On the blue blocks of ice the rays Of the sun glisten; muddy, worn, The snow upon the streets doth melt— Whither along them doth he pelt?

XXXIX

Oneguine whither gallops? Ye Have guessed already. Yes, quite so! Unto his own Tattiana he, Incorrigible rogue, doth go. Her house he enters, ghastly white, The vestibule finds empty quite— He enters the saloon. 'Tis blank! A door he opens. But why shrank He back as from a sudden blow?— Alone the princess sitteth there, Pallid and with dishevelled hair, Gazing upon a note below. Her tears flow plentifully and Her cheek reclines upon her hand.

XL

Oh! who her speechless agonies Could not in that brief moment guess! Who now could fail to recognize Tattiana in the young princess! Tortured by pangs of wild regret, Eugene fell prostrate at her feet— She starts, nor doth a word express, But gazes on Oneguine's face Without amaze or wrath displayed: His sunken eye and aspect faint, Imploring looks and mute complaint She comprehends. The simple maid By fond illusions once possest Is once again made manifest.

XLI

His kneeling posture he retains— Calmly her eyes encounter his— Insensible her hand remains Beneath his lips' devouring kiss. What visions then her fancy thronged— A breathless silence then, prolonged— But finally she softly said: "Enough, arise! for much we need Without disguise ourselves explain. Oneguine, hast forgotten yet The hour when—Fate so willed—we met In the lone garden and the lane? How meekly then I heard you preach— To-day it is my turn to teach.

XLII

"Oneguine, I was younger then, And better, if I judge aright; I loved you—what did I obtain? Affection how did you requite? But with austerity!—for you No novelty—is it not true?— Was the meek love a maiden feels. But now—my very blood congeals, Calling to mind your icy look And sermon—but in that dread hour I blame not your behaviour— An honourable course ye took, Displayed a noble rectitude— My soul is filled with gratitude!

XLIII

"Then, in the country, is't not true? And far removed from rumour vain; I did not please you. Why pursue Me now, inflict upon me pain?— Wherefore am I your quarry held?— Is it that I am now compelled To move in fashionable life, That I am rich, a prince's wife?— Because my lord, in battles maimed, Is petted by the Emperor?— That my dishonour would ensure A notoriety proclaimed, And in society might shed A bastard fame prohibited?

XLIV

"I weep. And if within your breast My image hath not disappeared, Know that your sarcasm ill-suppressed, Your conversation cold and hard, If the choice in my power were, To lawless love I should prefer— And to these letters and these tears. For visions of my childish years Then ye were barely generous, Age immature averse to cheat— But now—what brings you to my feet?— How mean, how pusillanimous! A prudent man like you and brave To shallow sentiment a slave!

XLV

"Oneguine, all this sumptuousness, The gilding of life's vanities, In the world's vortex my success, My splendid house and gaieties— What are they? Gladly would I yield This life in masquerade concealed, This glitter, riot, emptiness, For my wild garden and bookcase,— Yes! for our unpretending home, Oneguine—the beloved place Where the first time I saw your face,— Or for the solitary tomb Wherein my poor old nurse doth lie Beneath a cross and shrubbery.

XLVI

"'Twas possible then, happiness— Nay, near—but destiny decreed— My lot is fixed—with thoughtlessness It may be that I did proceed— With bitter tears my mother prayed, And for Tattiana, mournful maid, Indifferent was her future fate. I married—now, I supplicate— For ever your Tattiana leave. Your heart possesses, I know well, Honour and pride inflexible. I love you—to what end deceive?— But I am now another's bride— For ever faithful will abide."

XLVII

She rose—departed. But Eugene Stood as if struck by lightning fire. What a storm of emotions keen Raged round him and of balked desire! And hark! the clank of spurs is heard And Tania's husband soon appeared.— But now our hero we must leave Just at a moment which I grieve Must be pronounced unfortunate— For long—for ever. To be sure Together we have wandered o'er The world enough. Congratulate Each other as the shore we climb! Hurrah! it long ago was time!

XLVIII

Reader, whoever thou mayst be, Foeman or friend, I do aspire To part in amity with thee! Adieu! whate'er thou didst desire From careless stanzas such as these, Of passion reminiscences, Pictures of the amusing scene, Repose from labour, satire keen, Or faults of grammar on its page— God grant that all who herein glance, In serious mood or dalliance Or in a squabble to engage, May find a crumb to satisfy. Now we must separate. Good-bye!

XLIX

And farewell thou, my gloomy friend, Thou also, my ideal true, And thou, persistent to the end, My little book. With thee I knew All that a poet could desire, Oblivion of life's tempest dire, Of friends the grateful intercourse— Oh, many a year hath run its course Since I beheld Eugene and young Tattiana in a misty dream, And my romance's open theme Glittered in a perspective long, And I discerned through Fancy's prism Distinctly not its mechanism.

L

But ye to whom, when friendship heard, The first-fruits of my tale I read, As Saadi anciently averred—(86) Some are afar and some are dead. Without them Eugene is complete; And thou, from whom Tattiana sweet; Was drawn, ideal of my lay— Ah! what hath fate not torn away! Happy who quit life's banquet seat Before the dregs they shall divine Of the cup brimming o'er with wine— Who the romance do not complete, But who abandon it—as I Have my Oneguine—suddenly.

[Note 86: The celebrated Persian poet. Pushkin uses the passage referred to as an epigraph to the "Fountain of Baktchiserai." It runs thus: "Many, even as I, visited that fountain, but some of these are dead and some have journeyed afar." Saadi was born in 1189 at Shiraz and was a reputed descendant from Ali, Mahomet's son-in-law. In his youth he was a soldier, was taken prisoner by the Crusaders and forced to work in the ditches of Tripoli, whence he was ransomed by a merchant whose daughter he subsequently married. He did not commence writing till an advanced age. His principal work is the "Gulistan," or "Rose Garden," a work which has been translated into almost every European tongue.]

End of Canto The Eighth

The End