Analysis of To Anna Akhmatova

Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)



I think I can call on words

that will last: you are there.

But if I can’t, no matter –

I’ll persist, I won’t care.

I hear the muttering of wet roofs,

pale eclogues from stones and kerb.

From the opening lines, that city,

is alive in each sound, each word.

You can’t leave town though it’s spring,

and your customers won’t wait.

Dawn glows, by lamplight sewing

with unbowed back, eyes wet.

Breathing the calm of far-off Ladoga,

stumbling towards the water.

There’s no relief from such trips.

The shallows smell mustier, darker.

The wind dances, it’s a walnut shell,

a glitter, the warm wind blows

branches and stars, lights, and views,

as the seamstress watches the flow.

Eyesight can be sharp, differently,

form be precise in varying ways,

but a solvent of acid power’s

out there under the white night’s blaze.

That’s how I see your face and look.

Not that pillar of salt, in mind,

in which five years ago you fixed

our fears of looking behind.

From your first verses where grains

of clear speech hardened, to the last,

your eye, the spark that shakes the wire,

makes all things quiver with the past.


Scheme X A B A X X C X D X D X D B X B X X X X C E X E X F X F X G B G
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111 111111 1111110 101111 110100111 111101 101001110 10101111 1111111 0110011 111110 101111 10011111 10001010 1101111 011110 01101011 0100111 1001101 10101001 1111100 110101001 101011010 11100111 11111101 11101101 01110111 10111001 1111011 11110101 110111010 11110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,101
Words 200
Sentences 15
Stanzas 32
Stanza Lengths 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 27
Words per stanza (avg) 6
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

1:00 min read
139

Boris Pasternak

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

All Boris Pasternak poems | Boris Pasternak Books

3 fans

Discuss this Boris Pasternak poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "To Anna Akhmatova" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4562/to-anna-akhmatova>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    11
    hours
    46
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Which poet is known for writing "Ode to a Nightingale"?
    A William Wordsworth
    B Samuel Taylor Coleridge
    C Percy Bysshe Shelley
    D John Keats