Three Springs

What it is

This is a short poem by Pushkin from 1827, in English, translated by Avrahm Yarmolinsky as the source notes. The poem describes three springs that rise in life's joyless desert. The spring of youth runs swiftly through sunny lands, the spring of inspiration serves life's exiles, and the deep, cold wellspring of oblivion brings the sweetest relief from thirst and ecstasy.

Why it matters

The poem is a late reflection in Pushkin's verse on youth, creativity and forgetting. It shows a poet thinking about the stages of life and the meaning of inspiration, and it lets students compare his images with other poems of the time.

Look closer

• The poem uses the image of springs in a desert. What does each spring stand for in the speaker's view of life?
• The poem treats oblivion as a relief. Why might a poet describe forgetting in such a positive way?
• The translator has rendered the poem into English. Which images or sounds might change in translation?