Fears Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCD EFCG HIHJ KLMG ENOP QRST UBVW XYZZ A2B2C2D2 E2F2G2E| Fears are dying out in Russia | A |
| like the ghosts of bygone years | B |
| and only like old women here and there | C |
| they still beg for alms on the steps of a church | D |
| - | |
| But I remember them in their strength and power | E |
| at the court of triumphing falsehood | F |
| Like shadows fears crept in everywhere | C |
| and penetrated to every floor | G |
| - | |
| Gradually they made people subservient | H |
| and set their seal upon all things | I |
| they taught us to shout when we should have kept silent | H |
| and to shut our mouths when we had need to shout | J |
| - | |
| Today all this has become remote | K |
| It's strange even to recall nowadays | L |
| the secret fear of being denounced | M |
| the secret fear of a knock at the door | G |
| - | |
| And what of the fear of speaking to a foreigner | E |
| A foreigner's one thing but what of speaking to one's wife | N |
| And what of the boundless fear of remaining | O |
| alone with silence after the brass bands have stopped | P |
| - | |
| We were not afraid of building in the blizzard | Q |
| or of going into battle while shells exploded | R |
| but at times we were mortally afraid | S |
| of even talking to ourselves | T |
| - | |
| We were not corrupted or led astray | U |
| and Russia having conquered her fears | B |
| gives rise not without reason to even | V |
| greater fear among her enemies | W |
| - | |
| I wish that men were possessed of the fear | X |
| of condemning a man without proper trial | Y |
| the fear of debasing ideas by means of untruth | Z |
| the fear of exalting oneself by means of untruth | Z |
| - | |
| the fear of remaining indifferent to others | A2 |
| when someone is in trouble or depressed | B2 |
| the desperate fear of not being fearless | C2 |
| when painting on a canvas or drafting a sketch | D2 |
| - | |
| And as I write these lines | E2 |
| and I am in too great a haste at times | F2 |
| I have only one fear when writing them | G2 |
| the fear of not writing with all my power | E |
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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