And where, on whom Wilt plant they hoof?

Question

Proud charger, whither art thou ridden

Where leapest thou? And where, on whom

Wilt plant they hoof?

Do those verses above mean " Proud charger, where are you riding to? where are you leaping forward? where will the horses trample on the plant?

Thanks!

In his classic poem “The Bronze Horseman,” Alexander Pushkin wrote:
The Image with an arm flung wide,
Sat on his brazen horse astride …
Him, Who moveless and aloft and dim
Our city by the sea had founded,
Whose will was Fate. Appalling there,
He sat, begirt with mist and air.
What thoughts engrave his brow!
What hidden Power and Authority He claims!
Proud charger, whither art thou ridden
Where leapest thou? And where, on whom
Wilt plant they hoof?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

This is about a bronze statue of a horseman. The lines in blue apparently mean:

Proud war horse (that the man is sitting on), to where is he riding you?

Where are you going to leap (into battle)? And where, and on whom,

will you plant (trample with) your ("thy" not "they") hoof?

Iclearwater · Answer

when I read the poem again, I think thou and charger are referred to the horse, instead of Peter the Great.

GPY · Answer

iclearwaterProud charger, whither art thou ridden

Proud charger, (to) where are you ridden? (i.e. where is the horseman riding you to?)

iclearwaterWhere leapest thou?

(To) where do you leap?

iclearwaterAnd where, on whom
Wilt plant they hoof?

Apparently an error for "thy hoof" ("thy" = archaic word for "your").

And where, and on whom, will your hoof plant (i.e. step on / trample on)?

"plant" is a verb not a noun.

And where, on whom Wilt plant they hoof?

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