Angel
By gates of Eden, Angel, gentle,
Shone with his softly drooped head,
And Demon, gloomy and resentful
Over the hellish crevasse flapped.
The spirit of qualm and negation
Looked at another one – of good,
And fire of the forced elation
First time he vaguely understood.
“I’ve seen you,” he enunciated, -
“And not in vain you’ve sent me light:
Not all in heaven I have hated,
Not all in world I have despised.”
I feel this is obviously something to do with matters that are beyond those
on earth. Spirtutal things. Now what I don't understand is, is it an angel
and demon as stated in the poem - or is it a human that is encountering his
final destination after death? Anyways it could perceived either way.
I feel that the last two lines have a strong meaning, now I believe what it
states is good and evil. Heaven and hell and there is some sort of descison
making going on. Whatever is it I hope he goes to heaven :P .
Can someone tell me their views on this poem, especially the last two lines.
Is it referring to how not everything that seems perfect is liked? Or no one
is a saint? We are all sinners and no one is an angel?? Help me out?
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GlamourPrin 
I have a better translation by Roger Clarke:
The Angel
A shining angel, gentle, pensive,
stood radiant by the gates of bliss;
meanwhile a demon, dark, offensive,
flew hovering over hell’s abyss.
Spirit of doubt and of negation,
he eyed the radiant soul above
and sensed within, in consternation,
a first reluctant glow of love.
He spoke: “How can I be forgiven?
I’ve seen your light – it’s proved its worth.
I can’t hate all there is in heaven,
I can’t spurn all there is on earth.”
Now I think this translation is much clearer. There is no pure evil, light overcomes darkness eventually. A beautiful and positive message, especially now in these times of terrorism. A wonderful choice, dear Prinnie!
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Loveee this translation – Thankyou so much Elizabeth it makes soo much more sense ! 🙂
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It’s from ‘Love Poems’ from Pushkin, edited and translated by Roger Clarke:-)
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By the way, there is a wonderful narrative poem by Lermontov that is called The Demon. I intend to talk about it on my blog some time. It is of course possible that Lermontov was influenced by this Pushkin poem. Anyway I recommend it, it’s beautiful!
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I am looking forward to your post! Oh how beautiful is the world of poetry – it made me meet a lovely human being like you 🙂 🙂
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Likewise, dear Prinnie! I really enjoy our conversations 😊
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You’re one of my favourite people on here 🙂 ! Keep staying fantastic and I look forward to your post 🙂
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That’s so cool! ☺️ You keep glamorous and keep challenging me with poets like Gumilyov 😄
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