After the Interval
Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)
About three months ago, when first
Upon our open, unprotected
And freezing garden snowstorms burst
In sudden fury, I reflected
That I would shut myself away
And in seclusion write a section
Of winter poems, day by day,
To supplement my spring collection.
But nonsense piled up mountain-high,
Like snow-drifts hindering and stifling
And half the winter had gone by,
Against all hopes, in petty trifling.
I understood, alas, too late
Why winter-while the snow was falling,
Piercing the darkness with its flakes-
From outside at my house was calling;
And while with numb white-frozen lips
It whispered, urging me to hurry,
I sharpened pencils, played with clips,
Made feeble jokes and did not worry.
While at my desk I dawdled on
By lamp-light on an early morning,
The winter had appeared and gone-
A wasted and unheeded warning.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 52 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXAX BCBC DEDE XEXE FGFG XEXE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 811 |
Words | 141 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"After the Interval" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4466/after-the-interval>.
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