The Demon In Me

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva 1892 (Moscow) – 1941 (Yelabuga, Tatar ASSR)



The demon in me's not dead,
He's living, and well.
In the body as in a hold,
In the self as in a cell.
The world is but walls.
The exit's the axe.
("All the world's a stage,"
The actor prates.)
And that hobbling buffoon
Is no joker;
In the body as in glory,
In the body as in a toga.
May you live forever!
Cherish your life,
Only poets in bone
Are as in a lie.
No, my eloquent brothers,
We'll not have much fun,
In the body as with Father's
Dressing-gown on.
We deserve something better.
We wilt in the warm.
In the body as in a byre.
In the self as in a cauldron.
Marvels that perish
We don't collect.
In the body as in a marsh,
In the body as in a crypt.
In the body as in furthest
Exile. It blights.
In the body as in a secret,
In the body as in the vice
Of an iron mask.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

52 sec read
96

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBDEFDGHIJHKLMNONPHQHORSTUVDWXY
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 750
Words 168
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 33

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian and Soviet poet. more…

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