O had I known that thus it happens...
Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)
O had I known that thus it happens,
When first I started, that at will
Your lines with blood in them destroy you,
Roll up into your throat and kill,
My answer to this kind of joking
Had been a most decisive 'no'.
So distant was the start, so timid
The first approach-what could one know?
But older age is Rome, demanding
From actors not a gaudy blend
Of props and reading, but in earnest
A tragedy, with tragic end.
A slave is sent to the arena
When feeling has produced a line.
Tnen breathing soil and fate take over
And art has done and must resign.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 139 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXA BCXC BDXD XEXE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 544 |
Words | 109 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"O had I known that thus it happens..." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4521/o-had-i-known-that-thus-it-happens...>.
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