This poem describes a woman suffering under oppression, with thin shoulders turning red from whipping and small child fingers lifting heavy weights. Her tender feet walk on broken glass across bloody sand. The speaker will burn himself up like a black candle for her that cannot pray for relief from their suffering.
Original Description:
Original Title
Osip Mandelstam - Your thin shoulders are for turning red under whips.doc
This poem describes a woman suffering under oppression, with thin shoulders turning red from whipping and small child fingers lifting heavy weights. Her tender feet walk on broken glass across bloody sand. The speaker will burn himself up like a black candle for her that cannot pray for relief from their suffering.
This poem describes a woman suffering under oppression, with thin shoulders turning red from whipping and small child fingers lifting heavy weights. Her tender feet walk on broken glass across bloody sand. The speaker will burn himself up like a black candle for her that cannot pray for relief from their suffering.
Your thin shoulders are for turning red under whips
Your thin shoulders are for turning red under whips,
turning red under whips, and flaming in the raw cold. Your child's fingers are for lifting flatirons, for lifting flatirons, and for knotting cords. Your tender soles are for walking on broken glass, walking on broken glass, across bloody sand. And I'm for burning like a black candle lit for you, for burning like a black candle that dare not pray.