Omens inspired her soul with fear,

Mysteriously all objects near

A hidden meaning could impart,

Presentiments oppressed her heart.

Lo! the prim cat upon the stove

With one paw strokes her face and purrs,

Tattiana certainly infers

That guests approach: and when above

The new moon's crescent slim she spied,

Suddenly to the left hand side,

VI.

She trembled and grew deadly pale.

Or a swift meteor, may be,

Across the gloom of heaven would sail

And disappear in space; then she

Would haste in agitation dire

To mutter her concealed desire

Ere the bright messenger had set.

When in her walks abroad she met

A friar black approaching near,(50)

Or a swift hare from mead to mead

Had run across her path at speed,

Wholly beside herself with fear,

Anticipating woe she pined,

Certain misfortune near opined.

[Note 50: The Russian clergy are divided into two classes: the white or secular, which is made up of the mass of parish priests, and the black who inhabit the monasteries, furnish the high dignitaries of the Church, and constitute that swarm of useless drones for whom Peter the Great felt such a deep repugnance.]

VII.

Wherefore? She found a secret joy

In horror for itself alone,

Thus Nature doth our souls alloy,

Thus her perversity hath shown.

Twelfth Night approaches. Merry eves!(51)

When thoughtless youth whom nothing grieves,

Before whose inexperienced sight

Life lies extended, vast and bright,