A Poem For The End Of The Century Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEF GHGIJKL MNOPQR CCSTKU PFVWXY ZA2CNB2C2 UD2B2C2 E2F2G2H2YVI2J2 JK2L2KM2ON2J O2P2Q2NUR2UCWhen everything was fine | A |
And the notion of sin had vanished | B |
And the earth was ready | C |
In universal peace | D |
To consume and rejoice | E |
Without creeds and utopias | F |
- | |
I for unknown reasons | G |
Surrounded by the books | H |
Of prophets and theologians | G |
Of philosophers poets | I |
Searched for an answer | J |
Scowling grimacing | K |
Waking up at night muttering at dawn | L |
- | |
What oppressed me so much | M |
Was a bit shameful | N |
Talking of it aloud | O |
Would show neither tact nor prudence | P |
It might even seem an outrage | Q |
Against the health of mankind | R |
- | |
Alas my memory | C |
Does not want to leave me | C |
And in it live beings | S |
Each with its own pain | T |
Each with its own dying | K |
Its own trepidation | U |
- | |
Why then innocence | P |
On paradisal beaches | F |
An impeccable sky | V |
Over the church of hygiene | W |
Is it because that | X |
Was long ago | Y |
- | |
To a saintly man | Z |
So goes an Arab tale | A2 |
God said somewhat maliciously | C |
Had I revealed to people | N |
How great a sinner you are | B2 |
They could not praise you | C2 |
- | |
And I answered the pious one | U |
Had I unveiled to them | D2 |
How merciful you are | B2 |
They would not care for you | C2 |
- | |
To whom should I turn | E2 |
With that affair so dark | F2 |
Of pain and also guilt | G2 |
In the structure of the world | H2 |
If either here below | Y |
Or over there on high | V |
No power can abolish | I2 |
The cause and the effect | J2 |
- | |
Don't think don't remember | J |
The death on the cross | K2 |
Though everyday He dies | L2 |
The only one all loving | K |
Who without any need | M2 |
Consented and allowed | O |
To exist all that is | N2 |
Including nails of torture | J |
- | |
Totally enigmatic | O2 |
Impossibly intricate | P2 |
Better to stop speech here | Q2 |
This language is not for people | N |
Blessed be jubilation | U |
Vintages and harvests | R2 |
Even if not everyone | U |
Is granted serenity | C |
Czeslaw Milosz
(1)
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