Analysis of Out of Superstition

Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)



A box of glazed sour fruit compact,
My narrow room.
And oh the grime of lodging rooms
This side the tomb!

This cubbyhole, out of superstition,
I chose once more.
The walls seem dappled oaks; the door,
A singing door.

You strove to leave; my hand was steady
Upon the latch.
My forelock touched a wondrous forehead;
My lips felt violets.

O Sweet! Your dress as on a day
Not long ago
To April, like a snowdrop, chirps
A gay 'Hello!'

No vestal-you, I know: You came
With a chair today,
Took down my life as from a shelf,
And blew the dust away.


Scheme XAXA XBBB XXXX CDXD XCXC
Poetic Form Quatrain  (60%)
Tetractys  (35%)
Etheree  (35%)
Metre 011110110 1101 01011101 1101 11011010 1111 0111101 0101 111111110 0101 11101010 111100 11111101 1101 1101011 0101 11011111 10101 11111101 010101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 547
Words 107
Sentences 10
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 82
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
60

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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