Sentence 3 in Angel
This is a sentence in Russian from Angel. It is composed of 23 words.
«Прости,» он рёк, «тебя я видел, И ты недаром мне сиял: Не всё я в небе ненавидел, Не всё я в мире презирал.»
English translation
“Forgive me,” he said, “I saw you, And it was not for nothing that you shone to me: I didn’t hate everything in the sky, I didn’t despise everything in the world.”
Description
Analysis of the phrase in context.
In the final line, the demon speaks directly, addressing the pure spirit with a heartfelt plea for forgiveness.
His admission, “Прости,” is laden with regret and vulnerability, revealing that the encounter with this radiant being has shaken the foundations of his long-held animosities.
By confessing that the angel’s light shone for him not without reason, he acknowledges that his previous blanket hatred did not extend to all things celestial or worldly.
This confession not only marks a moment of self-realization but also encapsulates the poem’s overarching message: the transformative power of encountering purity.
Even a being defined by darkness and negation can begin to see beauty and experience redemption, suggesting that the seeds of change lie even in the most unlikely hearts.
His admission, “Прости,” is laden with regret and vulnerability, revealing that the encounter with this radiant being has shaken the foundations of his long-held animosities.
By confessing that the angel’s light shone for him not without reason, he acknowledges that his previous blanket hatred did not extend to all things celestial or worldly.
This confession not only marks a moment of self-realization but also encapsulates the poem’s overarching message: the transformative power of encountering purity.
Even a being defined by darkness and negation can begin to see beauty and experience redemption, suggesting that the seeds of change lie even in the most unlikely hearts.
Word sources
A quick overview of the meaning of each word and its etymology.
| Прости | простить | to excuse | Inherited from Old East Slavic простити (prostiti), from Proto-Slavic *prostiti. Cognate to простой. |
| он | он | third-person masculine singular pronoun: he | Inherited from Old East Slavic онъ (onŭ), from Proto-Slavic *onъ. |
| рёк | река | river | Inherited from Old East Slavic рѣка (rěka), from Proto-Slavic *rěka, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃royHkeh₂, from *h₃reyH-, whence English runlet and rivulet and Spanish río. |
| тебя | ты | second-person singular | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ty, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognate with Old Church Slavonic тꙑ (ty). |
| я | я | I | |
| видел | видеть | to see | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *viděti. Cognate with Bulgarian ви́дя (vídja), Latin videō, English wit, wise. |
| И | и | and | From the early Cyrillic letter iže, from Greek Η (I, eta). |
| ты | ты | second-person singular | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ty, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognate with Old Church Slavonic тꙑ (ty). |
| недаром | недаром | not in vain | |
| мне | я | I | |
| сиял | сиять | to shine | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sijati. |
| Не | не | not | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne. Cognates include Lithuanian ne, Old English ne, Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni), Irish ní, Latin ne, Sanskrit न (ná). |
| всё | весь | all | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *vьśь. Cognate with Sanskrit विश्व (viśva, “all”). |
| я | я | I | |
| в | в | ||
| небе | небо | sky | Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic небо (nebo), from Proto-Slavic *nebo. Doublet of нёбо (njóbo), the inherited East Slavic form. |
| ненавидел | ненавидеть | to hate | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *nenaviděti. Cognates include Old Church Slavonic ненавидѣти (nenaviděti), Belarusian ненаві́дзець (njenavídzjecʹ), Ukrainian нена́видіти (nenávydity), Polish nienawidzić, Czech nenávidět, Slovak nenávidieť, and Bulgarian ненави́ждам (nenavíždam). |
| Не | не | not | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne. Cognates include Lithuanian ne, Old English ne, Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni), Irish ní, Latin ne, Sanskrit न (ná). |
| всё | весь | all | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *vьśь. Cognate with Sanskrit विश्व (viśva, “all”). |
| я | я | I | |
| в | в | ||
| мире | мир | peace | Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mirъ (“peace; world”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *meiˀrás (“peace”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey(H)-ró-s. The dual meaning of "peace" and "world" is unique to Slavic. The pre-1918 orthography had an orthographical distinction of the two identically pronounced words to avoid confusion. |
| презирал | презирать | to despise | Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic прѣзирати (prězirati). By surface analysis, пре- (pre-) + -зира́ть (-zirátʹ). See Proto-Slavic *zьrěti for more. |