Analysis of Testament

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov

Russian Empire · 1814 · Moscow
Russian Empire · 1841 · Pyatigorsk, Caucasus Oblast


I feel I'd like to be alone
with you, friend, if you'll stay:
my time on earth is nearly gone;
at least that's what they say.
And you'll be going home on leave:
mind you… what odds? I do believe,
to tel the truth, not many
will give a brass halfpenny.

If anyone should ask of you…
well, anyone at all…
you tell them where that bullet flew
right through the chest, one ball:
'He died with honour for the Tsar'
- and say how bad our surgeons are -
'and to his habitation
he sent his salutation.'

You'll likely find that my old dad
and mother both are dead…
I wouldn't want to make them sad
or send them tears to shed;
but if you find that they're all right,
just say I haven't time to write,
the regiment's campaigning
and there's no use complaining.

They've got a woman neighbour there?
God knows how long ago
we parted!… She will hardly care
to ask you.. Let it go,
tell her the truth, leave out no part,
no need to spare an empty heart;
she'll shed a tear or two there…
but it means nothing to her!


Scheme ABXBCCXA DEDEFFXA GHGHIIJJ KLKLMMKX
Poetic Form
Metre 11111101 111111 11111101 111111 01110111 11111101 1101110 11011 1101111 11011 11111101 110111 1111101 011110101 011010 1111 11011111 010111 11011111 111111 11111111 11110111 01010 0111010 1101011 111101 11011101 111111 10011111 11111101 1101111 1111010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,010
Words 201
Sentences 10
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 188
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

1:03 min read
140

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837 and the greatest figure in Russian Romanticism. more…

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