# Trophimus — Poetry character guide

> Trophimus in Poetry by Taras Shevchenko.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Old Trophimus, old Trophim

**First appearance:** 0000-the-night-of-taras

## Snapshot

An old man who buries his wife, plans his son's wedding with dancing glee, and cannot understand why the servant weeps at the mother's empty chair.

## Who they are

Trophimus is the household's surviving patriarch—grieving 'Stasia, then throwing himself into wedding preparations with kegs of home-brew and a joy that nearly outruns his old legs. He clings to the servant Anna as a substitute mother for Mark, pleading with her to stay, and reads her refusal as a slight he cannot parse. His blundering cheer against her hidden sorrow gives the poem its cruelest irony: a father celebrating a marriage while the woman who raised his son quietly leaves to die.

## Relationships

### [The Servant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/characters/the_servant)

_friendship_

The Servant and Trophimus are allies, possibly fellow servants or confidants, working together in the household.

### [Katherine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/characters/katherine)

_friendship_

Katherine and Trophimus share a friendly, supportive bond, with Trophimus acting as a trusted companion.

## In the story

### [Naimechka (The Servant)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters/naimechka)

The old man who finds the abandoned child with his wife and adopts him; later he helps arrange Mark's marriage.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters/ii)

The old man who hears the child's cry and urges his wife to take the baby in.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters/iii)

Old Trophimus agrees with Stasia to take the servant into their home.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters/iv)

Survives the death of Stasia and helps plan Mark's marriage, giving sage advice.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters/vi)

Old Trophimus sits in garments white, playing with his grandchildren, and gruffly responds about Mark's absence.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters/vii)

Old Trophimus walks in the courtyard, moving like a stricken thing, distressed by Anna's illness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/characters/trophimus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_22_se/characters