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
136

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BCXC BDXD XEXE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 544
Words 109
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 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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    "O had I known that thus it happens..." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4521/o-had-i-known-that-thus-it-happens...>.

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