You are disappointed? You thought...

Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)



You are disappointed? You thought that in peace we
Would part to the sound of a requiem, a swan-song?
You counted on grief, with your pupils dilated,
Their invincibility trying in tears on?

At the mass from the vaults then the murals had crumbled,
By the play on the lips of Sebastian shaken…
But tonight to my hatred all seems drawn-out dawdling,
What a pity there is not a whip for my hatred!

In darkness, collecting its wits instantaneously,
It knew without thinking: it would plough it over-
That it's time; that a suicide would be superfluous;
That this too would have been of a tortoise-like slowness.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
121

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXBX XXXB AXCC
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 606
Words 109
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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    "You are disappointed? You thought..." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4577/you--are-disappointed?-you-thought...>.

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