Vietnam Classic Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJHKELMNEOPQ PHRESTUVPPWXYCKVZVA2 VVVB2HC2JD2CE2F2G2A2 FH2I2B2J2K2L2YM2PN2O 2P2VA2Q2PR2VL2 YS2The Vietnam classic | A |
was a seventy year old child | B |
with the face of a tired wise turtle | C |
Not from his own extraordinary fame | D |
did he suffer | E |
but from the fact | F |
that he was in fear | G |
of the behavior of a red haired tomcat | H |
that followed after us with an ulterior motive | I |
The cat reclined on a bookshelf | J |
choosing a volume of Saint John Perse as his mat | H |
The Vietnam classic kept a wary eye | K |
when he tossed three pepper pods on a saucer | E |
though cats | L |
when sitting half starved | M |
won't eat perhaps only peppers | N |
A prose writer | E |
but in essence a poet | O |
though afraid of not entertaining | P |
as one should | Q |
the classic never once fell to complaining | P |
that | H |
there wasn't a spare crust in the house | R |
He poured a dropp of whiskey in a glass of water | E |
and over an alcohol lamp | S |
with a rolling laugh | T |
heated small pieces of cuttlefish | U |
a dried delicacy of war | V |
In him was the striking | P |
deeply moving | P |
spiritual staying power of a Buddhist | W |
and on a bicyclist's trouser leg | X |
was a forgotten clothespin | Y |
Dismissing with a hand the flames of battle | C |
he spoke of Bo Tzu i | K |
Baudelaire | V |
and I thought | Z |
'What could be meaner | V |
than to destroy such a man ' | A2 |
And fear | V |
pierced through | V |
broke through | V |
burned through me | B2 |
the tomcat | H |
made a jump | C2 |
from the bookshelf | J |
Burning hunger had flared up in him | D2 |
The cat landed near a bottle | C |
and snatched a piece of cuttlefish in his teeth | E2 |
right from my fork | F2 |
The host in Vietnamese screamed | G2 |
'Scat ' | A2 |
and dismayed by the tactless act | F |
spread his hands | H2 |
visibly afraid | I2 |
that I will consider it all unseemly | B2 |
I took the cat joylessly in my arms | J2 |
The cat himself was none too joyful about the theft | K2 |
and I froze with numbness | L2 |
when | Y |
suddenly I sensed | M2 |
he weighed nothing | P |
A red haired bit of nature and a warm grain of sand | N2 |
trying to arch his back like a wheel | O2 |
he was weightless in my palms | P2 |
like the fluff of a poplar | V |
'Forgive me ' | A2 |
sadly glimmered in his pupils | Q2 |
And nothing | P |
I say in all conscience | R2 |
did I ever hold in my hands heavier | V |
than the weight of that terrifying weightlessness | L2 |
- | |
- | |
- | |
Hanoi | Y |
Trans lated by Albert C Todd | S2 |
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
<< Envy Poem
Humor Poem>>