Meeting
Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)
The snow will dust the roadway,
And load the roofs still more.
I'll stretch my legs a little:
You're there outside the door.
Autumn, not winter coat,
Hat-none, galoshes-none.
You struggle with excitement
Out there all on your own.
Far, far into the darkness
Fences and trees withdraw.
You stand there on the corner,
Under the falling snow.
The water trickles down from
The kerchief that you wear
Into your sleeves, while dewdrops
Shine sparkling in your hair.
And now illumined by
A single strand of light
Are features, kerchief, figure
And coat of autumn cut.
There's wet snow on your lashes
And in your eyes, distress,
And your external image
Is all, all of apiece.
As if an iron point
With truly consummate art,
Dipped into antimony,
Had scribed you on my heart.
Those modest, humble features
Are in it now to stay,
And if the world's cruel-hearted,
That's merely by the way.
And therefore it is doubled,
All this night in snow;
To draw frontiers between us
Is more than I can do.
But who are we and whence,
If, of those years gone by,
Scandal alone remains
And we have ceased to be.
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 88 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABXB XCXX DXEF XGDG HXEX XXXX XICI XAXA XFDX XHXX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,055 |
Words | 198 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Meeting" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4516/meeting>.
Discuss the poem Meeting with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In