Analysis of Gray-Eyed King
Anna Akhmatova 1889 (Odessa) – 1966 (Moscow)
Glory to you, inescapable pain!
The gray-eyed king died yesterday.
The autumn evening was sultry and red,
My husband returned and quietly said:
'You know, they brought him back from the hunt,
They found his corpse by the old oak tree.
I pity the queen. He was so young!..
In just one night her hair turned white.'
He found his pipe on the mantelpiece
And went out to his nighttime shift.
I'll go and wake my daughter now,
I'll look into her little gray eyes.
While outside the rustling poplars say:
'Your king is no longer upon this earth…'
Another translation.
By Yevgeny Bonver:
The Grey-Eyed King
Hail! Hail to thee, o, immovable pain!
The young grey-eyed king had been yesterday slain.
This autumnal evening was stuffy and red.
My husband, returning, had quietly said,
'He'd left for his hunting; they carried him home;
They'd found him under the old oak's dome.
I pity the queen. He, so young, past away!...
During one night her black hair turned to grey.'
He found his pipe on a warm fire-place,
And quietly left for his usual race.
Now my daughter will wake up and rise --
Mother will look in her dear grey eyes...
And poplars by windows rustle as sing,
'Never again will you see your young king...'
Scheme | AB CC XD XX EX XE BX XD F AA CC GG BB EE EE FF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101001 0111110 0101011001 1100101001 111111101 111110111 110011111 01110111 1111101 0111111 11011101 110101011 11101011 1111100111 010010 1101 0111 1111101001 0111111101 10101011001 11001011001 11111011011 111100111 11001111101 1011011111 1111101101 01001111001 111011101 101100111 011101011 1001111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,187 |
Words | 222 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 58 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 14 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 101 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Gray-Eyed King" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2987/gray-eyed-king>.
Discuss this Anna Akhmatova poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In