Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IMPROVISATION, by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: A flock of keys I had feeding out of my hand | ||||||||
A flock of keys I had feeding out of my hand, To clapping of wings and croaking and feathery fight; On tiptoe I stood and stretched out my arm, and the sleeve Rolled up, so I felt at my elbow the nudging of night. And the dark. And a pond in the dark, and the lapping of waves. And the birds of the species. I-love-you that others deny Would be killed, so it seemed, before the savage black beaks, The strong and the strident, were ever to falter and die. And a pond. And the dark. And festive the palpitant flares From pipkins of midnight pitch. And the boat's keel By the wave. And always the greedy noise of the birds Who fighting over the elbow fluttered and cawed. The gullets of dams were agurgle, gulping the night. And the mother-birds, if the fledglings on whom they dote Were not to be fed, would kill, so it seemed, before The roulades would die in the strident, the crooked throat. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON EARLY TRAINS by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK THE PROXY by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK IN EVERYTHING I SEEK TO GRASP by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK DO NOT TOUCH by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK DROWSY GARDEN by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK SUMMER DAY by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK WE'RE FEW by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK TO A FRIEND by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK OUT OF SUPERSTITION by BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK |
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