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Russian Poetry | Our March, Vladimir Mayakovsky

Global Studies

Beat the tramp of revolt in the square!                                         Annotations

Up, row of proud heads!

We will wash every city in the world

With the surging waters

of a second Flood.

The bull of the days is skewbald.

The cart of the years is slow.

Our god is speed.

The heart is our drum.

Is there a gold more heavenly than ours?

Can the wasp of a bullet sting us?

Our songs are our weapons;

Ringing voices -- our gold.

Meadows, be covered with grass,

Spread out a ground for the days.

Rainbow, harness

the fast-flying horses of the years.

See, the starry heaven is bored!

We weave our songs without its help.

Hey, you, Great Bear, demand

that they take us up to heaven alive!

Drink joys! Sing!

Spring flows in our veins.

Beat to battle, heart!

Our breast is a copper kettledrum.

Title: What does the title of the poem suggest to you as the reader?

Summary: Summarize the poem. What is the poem about?

Connotation, Attitude and Tone: List words from the poem that have strong connotative meaning. Define their meaning and explain what they help you understand as the reader. What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the poem? What is the overall tone of the poem?

Theme: What is the reader supposed to learn by the end of the poem? What is the poem really about?