(Moscow, 10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1890 – Peredelkino, 30 May 1960).
Russian poet, writer and composer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958.
Boris Pasternak (1959). Photo: wikipedia.org
February, take ink and weep. Write February as you’re sobbing, while black spring burns deep through the slush and throbbing.
Meaning✅: A call to write in the raw, muddy middle of February—with tears and fire—while the “black spring” is already burning under the melting snow. ❄️🔥 Author 👤:Boris Pasternak was a Russian poet and novelist, later known worldwide for Doctor Zhivago (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1958). This quote comes from his early, modernist poetry period. Origin and publication 🗓️: Original incipit (Russian): “Февраль. Достать чернил и плакать!” Dating: usually attributed to 1912. First collection recording: “Поверх барьеров” (Across the Barriers), 1917. Meaning and imagery 🔍: “Take ink and weep”: a paradoxical, intense call to create—as if true poetry arises from emotional excess (to sob, “navzryd” = loudly sobbing). 😢✍️ “Black Spring”: not idyllic green, but the gray, soot-soaked thaw of the city—mud, sludge, and meltwater. Spring is already here, but still “black,” raw, and impure. 🌑🌧️ “Burning through the melting snow”: a powerful metaphor for the underlying energy of renewal and inspiration breaking through the last vestiges of winter. ❄️🔥 Key idea: The creative moment lies precisely in the transition—the restless, noisy slump and thaw of February, where pain and promise converge. Style and context ✨: Early Pasternak: energetic imagery, unexpected metaphors, richness of sound and rhythm (e.g., the “growl”/”thunder” of mud in Russian). Modernist slant with futuristic touches: movement, sensory clashes (cold vs. burning), and an emphasis on the eruptive power of language. This quote is attributed to Boris Pasternak; it is the famous opening and thought process of his poem “February.”
It was the kind of August night when the heart feels its own weight.
Photo: Finnish summernight’ – milja – pixabay
Door Pieter
Mensenmens, zoon, echtgenoot, vader, opa.
Spiritueel, echter niet religieus.
Ik hou van golf, wandelen, lezen en de natuur in veel opzichten.
Onderzoeker, nieuwsgierig, geen fan van de mainstream media (MSM).
