"As they drove through Kamerger Street Yura noticed that a candle had
melted a patch in the icy crust on one of the windows. The light seemed
to look into the street almost consciously, as if it were watching the
passing carriages and waiting for someone.
'A candle burned on the table,a candle burned...' he whispered to
himself-the beginning of something confused,formless; he hoped that it
would take shape of itself, but nothing more came to him."
--Dr. Zhivago
From this formless beginning Pasternak wrote one of his most profound poems: "Winter Night". I know of few poems that contain the wealth of human emotions as in Winter Night. How many of us have seen a candle burning in our mind's eye and knew that there was some meaning there, but what? Does it symbolize hope, faith, a sense of something beyond, what?? What does Pasternak's candle mean to you? What does it symbolize in Zhivago?
The snow swept through the land
To the ends of the earth.
On the table a candle,
A Candle was burning.
Like moths in the summer
Attracted by flames,
Crowding and rushing
--snowflakes at the window.
The blizzard had drawn
White circles and arrows.
On the table a candle,
A candle was burning.
Shadows softly mingling
On the luminous ceiling,
Arms and legs intertwining,
Destinies crossing.
Two tiny slippers
Fell to the floor,
And the candle was weeping
Wax tears on her dress.
All swirling in the darkness,
Snowy and grey.
On the table a candle,
A candle was burning.
The candle was almost
Put out by a draft.
The heat of temptation
Raised its wings like an angel.
A February blizzard,
Lasting a month.
On the table a candle,
A candle was burning.
