Fiat

Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)



Dawn will set candles guttering.
It will light up and loose the swifts.
With this reminder I'll burst in:
Let life be just as fresh as this!

Dawn's like a gunshot in the dark.
A bang-and flying burning bits
Of wadding go out, spark by spark.
Let life be just as fresh as this.

Another guest outside's the wind.
At night, it huddled close to us.
It's shivering-at dawn, it rained.
Let life be just as fresh as this.

It's so ridiculous and vain!
Why did it want to guard this place?
It saw the 'No admittance' sign.
Let life be just as fresh as this.

I'll do your bidding at a sign-
A wave of kerchief-now,
While in the darkness you still reign
And while the fire's not out.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

41 sec read
53

Quick analysis:

Scheme xxxA bxbA xxxA cxdA dxcx
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 661
Words 132
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

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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