Crush Over Books

 Topic: Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy

Train steam lifts the winter morning lull, as an omen is about to occur

A man of the world, passing the beauty

Could not believe his eyes, and looked for a second time

Forgetting his duty, he stared into the gray eyes, which seemed to caress

And as the train’s wheels crushed a man under its wake

So enchanted was he by the charm; without mistake

Did he glean: There’s something caressing about her eyes.

But the dame was more than overcome:

Because they did not know what was to come.

 

Her swirling, curly hair

And mystical, gray eyes

Lured them all… And at the ball,

Her black gown with pansy wreaths, a distinctive mark

Of her fascinating nature,

Enchanted the youth

 

But the man was betrothed, and it was quite a settled thing

That on Kitty’s finger will lie the Vronsky ring

And as luck would have it

The beauty was already married, and had a child

Their love certainly would not last long

 

But love is calamitous, and wild

And so turned the fates’ dice

That their union came to life

But nothing lasts for long…

 

 

Illicit affairs only bring the lovers shame

And so it was, for the unlucky dame

As her eight faithful, virtuous years

Were muddled by her constant fears

About her son, and his tears

 

Her domestic worries became fetters

Her infidelity discovered through letters

Her child cried, for his mother

And the olive branch was sought by her brother

Her husband’s name was marred beyond repair

And the father and son, grew to be a weary pair

The child’s pure imagination could not erase

The mother’s memory and malaise

 

The lovers found a refuge in Italy

And their love blossomed under their roof

But jealousy is always at hand

When love’s foundations are new

 

At last, the goading spectators

Found their moment of triumph

They threw their handfuls of filth

At the disgraced woman,

And so crushed was her will

That she sought to kill

Herself, after having born her lover

An illegitimate child

Because, fallen women

Live for love, and die for it, too

 

Wild passion and passing fancies

Were too massive for her slender figure to hold

And even the omens told:

This love would not last for long

 

And her life ended the same way it had begun

And the train crushed a woman under its wake

Crushed was the fascination that lured them all

And crushed was the heart, diseased beyond cure

This tragedy was too much for her lover to take.

And he left for war, maybe never to return.

 

This was the tragedy of Madame Karenina

Told by a spectator of her doom

To all those who listen, remember

Love is calamitous

A bane or a camouflaged boon.