Once People Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNMGOPQR STGMUVJGWWWAXLYJGZA2 B2C2D2M A| Once people get under my skin | A |
| they never find the exit | B |
| They romp around | C |
| fill my insides with their song and dance | D |
| make lots of noise using my dumbness as their cover up | E |
| I'm full to bursting with wise men | F |
| and fools they've utterly exhausted me | G |
| So much so that my skin's | H |
| quite worn through | I |
| by their heels rubbing from inside | J |
| Give me a chance to breathe | K |
| It's all impossible | L |
| I'm stuffed to the gills | M |
| with those who've brought me so much joy | N |
| as well as those who've given most offence | M |
| What has come over me | G |
| What can I do with this great throng | O |
| stuck in my own small heart | P |
| police are needed to keep order there | Q |
| I've gone a little cracked | R |
| for there in that secluded shade | S |
| I've dropped none of the women | T |
| and none of them's dropped me | G |
| It's awkward to revive dead friendships | M |
| however much you tire yourself with trying | U |
| The only friends I've lost | V |
| were on the outside | J |
| but of those inside I've lost nobody | G |
| All the people in my life I've quarreled with | W |
| or made friends with | W |
| or only shaken hands with | W |
| have merged in a new life under the old one's skin | A |
| a secret conflagration without flame | X |
| The repossession of the unpossessable | L |
| is like a waterfall that rushes upward | Y |
| Those who have died | J |
| have been born again in me | G |
| those who have not been born as yet | Z |
| cry out | A2 |
| My population is too large | B2 |
| beyond the strength of just one man | C2 |
| but then a person would be incomplete | D2 |
| if he contained no others | M |
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| Translated by Arthur Boyars and Simon Franklin | A |
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
(1)
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About Once People
Once People is a poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.