Analysis of Humble home. But rum, and charcoal...

Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)



Humble home. But rum, and charcoal
Grog of sketches on the wall,
And the cell becomes a mansion,
And the garret is a hall.

No more waves of housecoats: questions,
Even footsteps disappear;
Glassy mica fills the latticed
Work-encompassed vault of air.

Voice, commanding as a levy,
Does not leave a thing immune,
Smelting, fusing… In his gullet
Flows the tin of molten spoons.

What is fame for him, and glory,
Name, position in the world,
When the sudden breath of fusion
Blends his words into the Word?

He will burn for it his chattels,
Friendship, reason, daily round.
On his desk-a glass, unfinished,
World forgotten, clock unwound.

Clustered stanzas change like seething
Wax at fortune-telling times.
He will bless the sleeping children
With the steam of molten rhymes.


Scheme XABA CXDX EXDX EDBD CDDD XFBF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 1011101 1110101 00101010 0010101 1111110 10101 1010101 1010111 10101010 1110101 10100110 1011101 11111010 1010001 10101110 1110101 1111111 1010101 11101010 1010101 10101110 1110101 11101010 1011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 758
Words 131
Sentences 10
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 102
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
109

Boris Pasternak

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator. more…

All Boris Pasternak poems | Boris Pasternak Books

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