Swifts (2)

Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)



At twilight the swifts have no power,
to hold back that pale blue coolness.
It bursts from throats, a clamour
an outpour that can’t grow less.

The swifts have no way, high
up there, overhead, of restraining
their clarion cries: ‘O, triumph,
see, see, how the earth’s receding!’

Like steam from a boiling kettle,
the furious flow rushes by –
‘See, see – no space for the earth
between the ravine and the sky.’

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

23 sec read
315

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX BCXC XBXB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 421
Words 78
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 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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