Analysis of The Road
Boris Pasternak 1890 (Moscow) – 1960 (Peredelkino)
Down into the ravine, then forward
Up the embankment to the top,
The ribbon of the road runs snaking
Through wood and field without a stop.
By all the precepts of perspective
Well-surfaced highway windings rush
Among the fields, among the meadows,
Not raising dust, nor stuck in slush.
The peaceful pond nearby ignoring
(On which a duck with ducklings swam)
The road once more is forward soaring
On having crossed and left the dam.
Now-down a slope again it hastens,
Now-on and upwards, in a climb,
As only life, maybe, is meant to
Strain up and onward all the time.
Through thousands of unheard-of fancies,
Through times and countries, climb and fall,
Through helps and hindrances it races
Relentless, too, towards a goal;
And this is to have lived your fullest,
Experienced all-at home, abroad-
Just as the landscape now is livened
By twists and turnings of the road.
Scheme | XABA XCXC BDBD XEXE XXXX XXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) |
Metre | 101001110 10010101 010101110 11010101 11011010 110111 01010101 11011101 010111010 11011101 011111010 11010101 110101110 11010001 110110111 11010101 110101110 11010101 110100110 01010101 011111110 010011101 11011110 1101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 854 |
Words | 152 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 44 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Road" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4551/the-road>.
Discuss this Boris Pasternak poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In