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Secular or Eclectic
20th Century

About Marina Tsvetaeva

Timeline (1892 - 1941)

Marina Tsvetaeva, Marina Tsvetaeva poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry

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English version by
Elaine Feinstein

Original Language
Russian

I know the truth

Commentary by
Ivan M. Granger

Themes
  Lover and Beloved
  Night
  Silence
  Sky
  Water

 

Recommended Books

Marina Tsvetaeva: The Double Beat of Heaven and Hell, by Lily Feiler
Milestones, by Marina Tsvetaeva / Translated by Robin Kemball
The Ratcatcher: A Lyrical Satire, by Marina Tsvetaeva / Translated by Angela Livingstone
A Russian Psyche: The Poetic Mind of Marina Tsvetaeva, by Alyssa W. Dinega
Tsvetaeva, by Viktoria Schweitzer

More >>

I know the truth -- give up all other truths!
No need for people anywhere on earth to struggle.
Look -- it is evening, look, it is nearly night:
what do you speak of, poets, lovers, generals?

The wind is level now, the earth is wet with dew,
the storm of stars in the sky will turn to quiet.
And soon all of us will sleep under the earth, we
who never let each other sleep above it.

 

1915

 

-- from Tsvetayeva: Selected Poems, by Marina Tsvetaeva / Translated by Elaine Feinstein

Amazon.com

 

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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

There is such a beautiful, weary compassion in these lines.

The question is not whether we will live or die. We all live (though we may not always feel as if we do). And we all die (though we may discover that death is not what we imagined).

The real question is, while we move and act upon the earth, do we ease the suffering of others or add to it? Will we let each other rest above the earth, or only beneath it?

Life and death are a given. It is what we do with them that matters.

The whole while the earth says, "Is not every beautiful thing yours already?" And the night sky, for all its immense movement, is completely at peace. So what has humanity lost sight of?

May our eyes see, though our hearts break.
May our hearts break, that they may open.
May our hearts bleed, that we know life flows through them.


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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.