From A School Anthology Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCBBDEFBGHBAIJKLMNA OPQOBQROBBOASTUBVBOB WXBBTYZA2B2YJBC2JLD2 A2E2KBTJJOTOSF2BG2OH 2TBBBI2G2I2OJ2TTAATT K2J2TTL2M2OG2TJ2TJ2A TBOJ2J2AG2J2OBM2BBBB TBTTTSN2TOBJ2BTBJ2G2 G2TBOBTTTJ2J2OTO2BOT TG2BTTOBBP2BBATG2BJ2 BSBJ2OBTBQ2G2BOBM2OB TOJ2BOBOJ2J2BJ2TT

E LarionovaA
E Larionova Brunette A colonel'sB
and a typist's daughter LookedC
at you like someone studying a clockfaceB
She tried to help her fellow mortalsB
One day when we were lying side by sideD
upon the beach crumbling some chocolateE
she said looking straight ahead outF
to where the yachts held to their courseB
that if I wanted to I couldG
She loved to kiss Her mouthH
reminded me of the caves of KarsB
But I wasn't scared offA
I holdI
this memory dear like a trophy wonJ
on some unintelligible battleK
front from enemies unknownL
That lover of plump women that lurking tomM
D Kulikov then hove in sightN
he married her did Dima KulikovA
She joined a women's choirO
while he toils in a classified establishmentP
a great bony engineerQ
But I can still recall the long corridorO
and my struggle with her on the chest of drawersB
Dima at the time was an ugly little pioneerQ
Where did it all go Where's the reference pointR
And how can one today hope to discoverO
that which has transfigured all these livesB
A strange world lurked behind her eyesB
she could not understand herself Or ratherO
she did not understand it even as a wifeA
Kulikov is living I am living She is livingS
But what happened to that worldT
Perhaps it is keeping them awakeU
I keep mumbling my wordsB
Snatches of a waltz come to me through the wallV
And the rain rustles on broken bricksB
Oleg PoddobryO
Oleg Poddobry His father wasB
a fencing coach He was familiar withW
it all thrust parry lungeX
No ladies' man neverthelessB
he used to score as sometimes happensB
in the world of sports from offsideT
That was at night His mother was sickY
his little brother wailing in the cribZ
Oleg picked up an axe and whenA2
his father entered battle beganB2
But the neighbours arrived in the nickY
and four of them got the better of the sonJ
I remember his face his handsB
next the foil with a wooden gripC2
Sometimes we practised fencing in the kitchenJ
He got hold of a ring with a whopping stoneL
used to splash around in out communal bathD2
He and I left school together thenA2
he joined a cookery class while IE2
worked as a milling operator in the ArsenalK
He baked pancakes in the Taurid GardensB
We had a good time carting firewoodT
on New Year's Eve sold fir trees at the stationJ
Unfortunately in associationJ
with some low characterO
he did a shop he got three years for thatT
He warmed his ration up over the bonfireO
Was released Survived some heavy drinkingS
Did factory construction workF2
Got married to a nurse it seemsB
Began to paint Wanted apparentlyG2
to take up art His landscapes wereO
in places not unlikeH2
still lifes Then he got pinchedT
for playing tricks with medical certificatesB
Now all there is is silenceB
I haven't seen him now for yearsB
Was inside myself but didn't run into himI2
Now I am free But even out of gaolG2
I never see himI2
SomewhereO
he is surely strolling through the woods breathing inJ2
the wind Neither kitchen gaol nor college couldT
absorb him And he vanished Like Jack FrostT
he managed to disguise himselfA
I hope he is alive and safeA
Now he excites my interestT
like the other characters from out of childhoodT
But he is more unreachable than theyK2
T ZiminaJ2
T Zimina a delightful childT
Her mother was an engineer her dadT
a tally clerk I never knew themL2
She was not easily impressed AlthoughM2
a frontier pilot married herO
But that was later Her troubleG2
started earlier than that She hadT
a relative A district committee manJ2
With a car Her folks were separatedT
Evidently they had problems of their ownJ2
A car was quite unheard ofA
Well it all began with thatT
She was upset But later thingsB
seemed to be improving as it wereO
A gloomy Georgian came on the sceneJ2
But suddenly he landed up in prisonJ2
And then she gave herselfA
to the counter in a large haberdasheryG2
Linen fabrics eau de CologneJ2
She loved the whole atmosphereO
the confidences and her friends' admirersB
Passers by goggling through the windowM2
In the distance the officers' Club And officersB
flocking like birds with a mass of buttonsB
The pilot returning from the skiesB
congratulated her on her good looksB
He gave her a champagne saluteT
Marriage However in the Air ForceB
a high value is placed on chastity itT
is raised to the level of an absoluteT
And it was this scholasticism thatT
accounted for her almost drowningS
She had already found a bridge but winter'd comeN2
The canal was covered with an icy crustT
And again she hurried to her counterO
A fringe edged her eyelashesB
Onto her ashy hair the neonJ2
lights poured their radianceB
Spring and by the doors flung wideT
the current of customers seethesB
She stands and gazes from the piles of linenJ2
into the murky channel like a LoreleiG2
Yu SandulG2
Yu Sandul Sweet tempered as a polecatT
With a face that sharpened towards the noseB
Informed on people Always wore a collarO
Went into raptures over caps with peaksB
Made speeches in the lavatory aboutT
whether the badge should be pinned on the jacketT
Pinned it on Generally enthusedT
over all kinds of emblems and insigniaJ2
Loved ranks and titles to distractionJ2
Styled himself PT Instructor'O
though was as old as Jacob to look atT
Considered furunculosis as his scourgeO2
Was susceptible to coldsB
stayed at home in bad weatherO
Mugged up his Bradis tables Was boredT
Knew chemistry and yearned for the instituteT
But landed in the infantry after schoolG2
those secret underground forcesB
Now he is drilling holes It's saidT
in the Diesel works That may not be so accurateT
But perhaps accuracy is irrelevant hereO
Of course it's a speciality a statusB
What's important is he's doing a correspondence courseB
At this point we will lift the curtain's edgeP2
At dusk besides absorbing Marx he leafsB
through The Strength of Materials Such booksB
incidentally give offA
a special scent at nightT
Doesn't consider himself to beG2
a simple worker In fact looks to the next classB
At dusk he strives for newJ2
horizons Metal's resistanceB
is pleasanter in theory He is burstingS
to be an engineer to get at blueprintsB
And come what may he will be oneJ2
Like this the amount of labourO
surplus value progressB
And all this scholasticism about the marketT
He makes his way through dense thicketsB
Would like to marry But hasn't the timeQ2
And he prefers parries casualG2
relationships addressesB
Our future smiling engineer'O
He remembers the sombre massB
and gazes past the girls out of the windowM2
He is lonely in his own mannerO
He is a traitor to his classB
Perhaps I am overdoing it ButT
the utilization of a class for hireO
is more dangerous than the perfidy of menJ2
Youth is sinful Blood is hot ' he saysB
I even remember that plain speaking posterO
that dealt with casual relationshipsB
But there is no clinic and no doctorO
to guard you against these d class ones toJ2
protect you from the inflammationJ2
And if the age we live in is no wife to usB
then it's so as not to pass on the infectionJ2
from this generation to the nextT
That is a baton we can do withoutT

Joseph Brodsky



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about From A School Anthology poem by Joseph Brodsky


 
Best Poems of Joseph Brodsky

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 4 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets