Report From The Besieged City Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BC DEF GHI JKLABMBBNO P QRSPTUV KWXJYZPPA2PN B2BC2D2E2F2G2KPH2 PH2H2 BI2H2J2K K2G2M| Too old to carry arms and fight like the others | A |
| - | |
| they graciously gave me the inferior role of chronicler | B |
| I record I don't know for whom the history of the siege | C |
| - | |
| I am supposed to be exact but I don't know when the invasion began | D |
| two hundred years ago in December in September perhaps yesterday at dawn | E |
| everyone here suffers from a loss of the sense of time | F |
| - | |
| all we have left is the place the attachment to the place | G |
| we still rule over the ruins of temples spectres of gardens and houses | H |
| if we lose the ruins nothing will be left | I |
| - | |
| I write as I can in the rhythm of interminable weeks | J |
| monday empty storehouses a rat became the unit of currency | K |
| tuesday the mayor murdered by unknown assailants | L |
| wednesday negotiations for a cease fire the enemy has imprisoned our messengers | A |
| we don't know where they are held that is the place of torture | B |
| thursday after a stormy meeting a majority of voices rejected | M |
| the motion of the spice merchants for unconditional surrender | B |
| friday the beginning of the plague saturday our invincible defender | B |
| N N committed suicide sunday no more water we drove back | N |
| an attack at the eastern gate called the Gate of the Alliance | O |
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| all of this is monotonous I know it can't move anyone | P |
| - | |
| I avoid any commentary I keep a tight hold on my emotions I write about the facts | Q |
| only they it seems are appreciated in foreign markets | R |
| yet with a certain pride I would like to inform the world | S |
| that thanks to the war we have raised a new species of children | P |
| our children don t like fairy tales they play at killing | T |
| awake and asleep they dream of soup of bread and bones | U |
| just like dogs and cats | V |
| - | |
| in the evening I like to wander near the outposts of the city | K |
| along the frontier of our uncertain freedom | W |
| I look at the swarms of soldiers below their lights | X |
| I listen to the noise of drums barbarian shrieks | J |
| truly it is inconceivable the City is still defending itself | Y |
| the siege has lasted a long time the enemies must take turns | Z |
| nothing unites them except the desire for our extermination | P |
| Goths the Tartars Swedes troops of the Emperor regiments of the Transfiguration | P |
| who can count them | A2 |
| the colours of their banners change like the forest on the horizon | P |
| from delicate bird's yellow in spring through green through red to winter's black | N |
| - | |
| and so in the evening released from facts I can think | B2 |
| about distant ancient matters for example our | B |
| friends beyond the sea I know they sincerely sympathize | C2 |
| they send us flour lard sacks of comfort and good advice | D2 |
| they don t even know their fathers betrayed us | E2 |
| our former allies at the time of the second Apocalypse | F2 |
| their sons are blameless they deserve our gratitude therefore we are grateful | G2 |
| they have not experienced a siege as long as eternity | K |
| those struck by misfortune are always alone | P |
| the defenders of the Dalai Lama the Kurds the Afghan mountaineers | H2 |
| - | |
| now as I write these words the advocates of conciliation | P |
| have won the upper hand over the party of inflexibles | H2 |
| a normal hesitation of moods fate still hangs in the balance | H2 |
| - | |
| cemeteries grow larger the number of defenders is smaller | B |
| yet the defence continues it will continue to the end | I2 |
| and if the City falls but a single man escapes | H2 |
| he will carry the City within himself on the roads of exile | J2 |
| he will be the City | K |
| - | |
| we look in the face of hunger the face of fire face of death | K2 |
| worst of all the face of betrayal | G2 |
| and only our dreams have not been humiliated | M |
Zbigniew Herbert
(1)
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