Quotes from Selected Poems

“And soon all of us will sleep under the earth, we who never let each other sleep above it.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“I opened my veins. Unstoppably
life spurts out with no remedy.
Now I set out bowls and plates.
Every bowl will be shallow.
Every plate will be small.

And overflowing their rims,
into the black earth, to nourish
the rushes unstoppably
without cure, gushes
poetry ...”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“Somewhere in the night a
human being is drowning.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“At the skin, my blood calls out to
your heart, my whole sky craves
an island of tenderness.
My rivers tilt towards you.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“I have two enemies in all the world,
Two twins, inseparably fused:
The hunger of the hungry and the fullness of the full.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“What shall I do, singer and first-born, in a
world where the deepest black is grey,
and inspiration is kept in a thermos?
with all this immensity
in a measured world? ”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“The eclipses of
poets are not foretold in the calender.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“For the way of the comets is the poet's way.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“I am only a shell where the ocean is still sounding.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“У меня в Москве — купола горят!
У меня в Москве — колокола звонят!
И гробницы в ряд у меня стоят, —
В них царицы спят, и цари.

И не знаешь ты, что зарёй в Кремле
Легче дышится — чем на всей земле!
И не знаешь ты, что зарёй в Кремле
Я молюсь тебе — до зари!

И проходишь ты над своей Невой
О ту пору, как над рекой-Москвой
Я стою с опущенной головой,
И слипаются фонари.

Всей бессонницей я тебя люблю,
Всей бессонницей я тебе внемлю —
О ту пору, как по всему Кремлю
Просыпаются звонари…

Но моя река — да с твоей рекой,
Но моя рука — да с твоей рукой
Не сойдутся, Радость моя, доколь
Не догонит заря — зари.

7 мая 1916

At home in Moscow - where the domes are burning,
at home in Moscow - in the sound of bells,
where I live the tombs - in their rows are standing
and in them Tsaritsas - are asleep and tsars.

And you don't know how - at dawn the Kremlin is
the easiest place to - breathe in the whole wide earth
and you don't know when - dawn reaches the Kremlin
I pray to you until - the next day comes

and I go with you - by your river Neva
even while beside - the Moscow river
I am standing here - with my head lowered
and the line of street lights - sticks fast together.

With my insomnia - I love you wholly.
With my insomnia - I listen for you,
just at the hour throughout - the Kremlin, men
who ring the bells - begin to waken,

Still my river - and your river
still my hand - and your hand
will never join, or not until
one dawn catches up another dawning.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“An Attempt at Jealousy"

How is your life with an ordinary
woman? without the god inside her?
The queen supplanted—

How do you breathe now?
Flinch, waking up?
What do you do, poor man?

How’s your life with a tourist
on Earth? Her rib (do you love her?)
is it to your liking?

How do you live with cheap goods: is the market rising?
How’s kissing plaster-dust?

Are you bored with her new body?
How’s it going, with an earthly woman,
with no sixth sense?

Are you happy?
No? In a shallow pit—how is your life,
my beloved? Hard as mine
with another man?”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

“Посвящаю эти строки
Тем, кто мне устроит гроб.
Приоткроют мой высокий,
Ненавистный лоб.
Измененная без нужды,
С венчиком на лбу,-
Собственному сердцу чуждой
Буду я в гробу.
Не увидят на лице:
"Все мне слышно! Все мне видно!
Мне в гробу еще обидно
Быть как все".
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Идешь, на меня похожий,
Глаза устремляя вниз.
Я их опускала – тоже!
Прохожий, остановись!
[...]
Не думай, что здесь – могила,
Что я появлюсь, грозя...
Я слишком сама любила
Смеяться, когда нельзя!
И кровь приливала к коже,
И кудри мои вились...
Я тоже была, прохожий!
Прохожий, остановись!
[...]
Но только не стой угрюмо,
Главу опустив на грудь.
Легко обо мне подумай,
Легко обо мне забудь.
Как луч тебя освещает!
Ты весь в золотой пыли...
- И пусть тебя не смущает
Мой голос из-под земли.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.