The Patient's Sweater
Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)
A life of its own and a long one is led
By this penguin, with nothing to do with the breast-
The wingless pullover, the patient's old vest;
Now pass it some warmth, move the lamp to the bed.
It dreams of the skiing; in darkness it poured
From shaftbows, from harness, from bodies; it seemed
That Christmas itself also sweated and snored;
The walking, the riding-all squeaked and all steamed.
A homestead, and horror and bareness beside,
Cut-glass in the sideboards, and carpets and chests;
The house was inflamed; this attracted the fence;
The lights swam in pleurisy, seen from outside.
Consumed by the sky, bloated shrubs on the way
Were white as a scare and had ice in their looks.
The blaze from the kitchen laid down by the sleigh
On the snow the enormous hands of the cooks.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 22, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 100 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBA XCAC DXXD EFEF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 773 |
Words | 143 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Patient's Sweater" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4550/the-patient's-sweater>.
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