Angel
Angel - context Summary
Composed During Pushkin's Exile
Written in 1828 while Pushkin was exiled in southern Russia, the poem stages an encounter at Eden’s gate between a gentle angel and a gloomy demon. The demon, long defined by negation, is unexpectedly moved by the angel’s presence and admits a change of feeling. The scene encapsulates an internal moral struggle and a surprising moment of empathy, hinting at ambiguity between good and evil and personal reconsideration during exile.
Read Complete AnalysesBy 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.” The Angel At Eden’s gates an angel gentle His head did bow with lustred hue, And demon, dark and temperamental, Above the fires of Hades flew. The wicked spirit of negation Upon the other’s pureness gazed And then a warm, unknown sensation His conscience now for first time grazed. “Forgive me, but I’ve seen you,” said he, “So shining on me had its worth: Not everything in heav’n displeased me, Nor did I hate it all on earth.” Translated by Rupert Moreton
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