Do not fret, do not cry, do not tax...

Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)



Do not fret, do not cry, do not tax
Your last strength, and your heart do not torture.
You're alive, you're inside me, intact,
As a buttress, a friend, an adventure.

I've no fear of standing exposed
As a fraud in my faith in the future.
It's not life, not a union of souls
We are breaking off, but a hoax mutual.

From straw mattresses' sick wretchedness
To the fresh air of wide open spaces!
It's my brother and hand. It's addressed
Like a letter, to you, crisp and bracing.

Like an envelope, tear it across,
With Horizon begin correspondence,
Give your speech the sheer Alpian force,
Overcome the sick sense of forlornness.

O'er the bowl of Bavarian lakes
With the marrow of osseous mountains
You will know I was not a glib fake
And of sugared assurances spouter.

Fare ye well and God bless you! Our bond
And our honour aren't tamely domestic.
Like a sprout in the sunlight, unbend,
And then things will assume a new aspect.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
154

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXB XBXX AXXX XXXA XXXB XXXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 910
Words 171
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 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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    "Do not fret, do not cry, do not tax..." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4480/do-not-fret,-do-not-cry,-do-not-tax...>.

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