The last chapter of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago consists of a cycle of twenty-five poems…. These poems express the quintessence of Zhivago's life experience and the insights he has reached in the course of events described in the prose part of the novel. Whereas in the prose Zhivago's life is narrated and forms a part of a larger context, in the poetry it is he himself who, in his capacity of poet, is the sole "central intelligence." This does not mean that Zhivago's existential attitudes are immediately and directly revealed in the last lyrical chapter, in spite of the formal simplicity of the poems. Their meaning is hidden in certain key images and concepts, and in the very structure of separate poems and the cycle…. The main principle which unifies the Zhivago poems into a cycle containing a closed system of thought, is both structural and philosophical. It may be termed an "alternation of opposites."

The Zhivago cycle is permeated with certain contrasting concepts and images. These are: (a) darkness and light, (b) oblivion and remembrance (or departure and return), (c) sickness and health, (d) autumn and spring (winter and summer), (e) sleep and vigil (awakening), and (f) death and life (resurrection). These opposites which may be further generalized under headings such as "passivity" and "activity," or "disintegration" and "synthesis," are shown in sequences of alternation, either in one poem, or several poems, or the whole cycle. Awareness of the constant presence of this pattern is a help to understanding the cycle. (pp. 438-39)

The whole cycle with its seasonal pattern demonstrates the alternation principle. It is "framed" by spring poems, which appear both in the beginning and towards the end of the cycle, thereby indicating an "eternal pattern." The recurrence of spring is emphasized through the use of similar motifs and images…. The device of placing spring poems as an (inner) frame within the cycle, giving it a ring-structure, repeats on a different thematic level the structural principle of "two meetings" in (19) or the sequence (15)—(16)—(17). The spring theme of Zemlia is brought to its thematic climax in the last poems, dealing with resurrection.

The periods of Zhivago's life, as reflected in the cycle, also follow this basic pattern. Very generally, it may be said that Gamlet presents an archetypal existential situation…. The first spring poems would mark a time of an awakening awareness of life; then follow a passionate love … and its end…. There follow doubts about the meaning of life …, a new love "in the midst of winter," a love which entails suffering as well as passion in the more conventional sense. This is a period of search, doubt, reflection, trial and error, but also of new insights, leading to the third period, which can be seen as a "second awakening," i.e., a deeper and more religious understanding of life (as an emulation of Christ); here the themes of spring, love, Christ, and resurrection blend into a complex synthesis, after the "analytic interlude." Rassvet (19) reflects this development in concentration, as it summarizes the past, including the "second awakening," and points towards the third stage of illumination.

The alternation of opposites is thus a fundamental structural characteristic of the cycle. This pattern reflects a concept of life. If the reappearance of positive phenomena is called "recurrence" and the reappearance of negative phenomena "intervals" or "interludes," the function of the pattern is indicated: (positive) recurrence offers a sense of continuity, the (negative) interval or interim period, is necessary in order to maintain fresh responses to reality. Zhivago both senses a superimposed structure in existence and shuns the dulling of perceptions. (pp. 441-43)

Zhivago's concept of life as a rhythmic sequence of recurrences and intervals, sleepy states and awakenings, swoons and revivals, leads to the central question in Zhivago's thinking and the basic significance of the pattern. Of all the oppositions of the cycle, the opposition between life and death is the central one. All previously discussed oppositions may be regarded as analogies to the life—death opposition, all phenomena of the positive series being "images of life" and all the phenomena of the negative series being "images of death." Zhivago whose name and two callings (poet and doctor) connect him with life, attempts to define the relationship between life and death—the darkest of the intervals. He seeks to understand the function of death; he contemplates the extension of the parallelism between the other oppositions and this particular one. He attempts to answer questions such as these: is it possible to speak of the pattern, life—death—resurrection as analogous to, e.g., the pattern, consciousness—swoon—regained consciousness, or memory—oblivion—regained memory; or is the life—death opposition unique amongst the oppositions of the cycle by being unrepeatable, at least on an individual level? Is death the end of the wavelike movement of life, leading to the dissolving of consciousness in "black abysses" … of oblivion or is "recurrence of life," i.e., resurrection, possible? Which opposite triumphs—life or death? These questions receive different answers in the cycle…. Zhivago's thinking on this topic also follows the pattern of alternating opposites. (pp. 454-55)

Zhivago expects to survive death because he is a poet and his poetry will speak for him when he himself is dead…. This type of resurrection would be open to all those who leave a spiritual testament behind, which ensures them of "everyday immortality." Clearly the artist is here particularly favored, but this form of resurrection is open to anyone who has contributed to history, or the "Kingdom of Heaven."… History is the accumulation of spiritual testaments. Contributions to history include work of any kind—art and artifacts; leaving a cherished image behind, which may be transformed into art, is a historical contribution also. This form of resurrection entails no mean effort to "stay awake" while alive, and it is dear to Zhivago with his respect for history. But perhaps "historical resurrection" is not the whole truth of resurrection. Transfiguration, as presented in [Avgust] may well be based on more mysterious transformations than that of a living voice into a recorded one. Furthermore, future forms of resurrection may differ from present ones….

Perhaps it can be said that resurrection now, in the form of participation in history, is a "blueprint" of future resurrection. Christ has indicated His plan to mankind but left the realization to mankind itself. (p. 457)

In Zhivago's world it is not only the task of the living to remember the dead and resurrect them "daily" through attention to their testaments, but also the task of the dying to exert every effort to remember life. This spiritual energy is not wasted but contributes to the ultimate conquest of death. It may even now be possible to feel intuitively the reality of this spiritual effort. (p. 459)

Interpenetration of spiritual energies would appear to be the answer to death's riddle. If the "dissolving" of oneself in all others … and in nature … would be the goal of all men, and if impressionability and memory were further developed, the final result might well be an intuitive "communication" between all forms of existence. This communication, or intuitive knowledge, would bring information of all states of being, including the "secrets of transformation," which carry the "riddles of life."… In a totally integrated universe without mental-emotional barriers, death would no longer be the "memory gap" it is now.

It is in the field of memory that the poet's specific task lies. His work, it could be said, is to record and to connect. In his service to Life he sees to it that the opposites continue to alternate, never breaking apart. He connects memory with memory, life with life, across the abyss of oblivion and death, storing up and formulating impressions and sensations, uniting them with the help of the "invisible glue" of remembrance. The poet keeps "a candle burning in the midst of winter" … in the hope that it may contribute to a kindling of that fire, which Christ—the Son of Life …—sees as a constant potential of history…. (p. 460)

This inspired state of history may well prove to be the time of the "burning bush," i.e., a time without any "intervals." At present indispensable in all creative processes, whether natural or historical, the interval might lose its raison d'être, if historical effort were allowed to crown evolutionary development.

Zhivago appears to believe in the endless potential of evolution…. He sees the opposition between life and death in Bergsonian terms of spirit (consciousness, creative impetus, élan) versus dull, inert matter. Life is a supreme force and an endless, restless spiritual energy which constantly seeks to animate and spiritualize matter…. In the creation of man—after a long period of trial and error—Life succeeded in finding an adequate expression for its striving. Life is an artist, seeking to perfect its creations, through renewal…. Having established a pattern of alternating opposites, which enables it to create, reject and renew, Life seeks to eliminate the "functional disorders" of the pattern, by reducing the power of inert matter, which is the force of death. The theme of the "sleepers" is so important in the cycle because their existence is in direct opposition to the goals which Life embraces. Sleepers who have dulled their spirits in life, in death turn into dust, return to the realm of dead matter, increasing its domain. Those who "stay awake" are with Life in life and remain with Life, even after death; they remain—as participants of history, the realm of the spirit—an active factor in Life's creative processes. The sleepless, the spiritually active, the artists, the creators, contribute to the animation and spiritualization of matter, to its further refinement and perfection, and thus to a truly live and integrated universe. It is through them that the "laws of nature," the laws of gradual evolution, may be overcome, through a miracle of the spirit. Resurrection may be "just around the corner" … if Christ's example were to become a living reality to mankind—instead of a millennium away, as it is, if merely the "laws of nature" are allowed to operate.

As a result of evolution and historical effort, mankind would presumably reach such mental and physical perfection that it would be capable of eternal creativity, continuous "burning," "eternal memory." (pp. 460-61)

A "sleepless" universe where perfection had been achieved, through cooperation between living man and the force of Life, where all matter was vitalized and organic, where death as well as birth had lost their function, might well be Zhivago's ultimate vision, inspired both by Bergson's evolutionary theories and the biblical promise of life eternal.

Presumably this universe would be timeless, as time, as we now know it, is a function of the alternation pattern. In poems (18) and (25) the possibility of merging all time seems indicated. Thus in (18) (Rozhdestvenskaia zvezda) the future is contained in the present (which from our point of view is the past); in (25) the past re-emerges to be judged (in the future). The frequent shifts from biblical to modern times, as well as the timeless allegorical world (of Skazka, for example) are also factors which create the impression that, potentially, all time is everpresent. Time, to use Bergsonian terms, is not based on segmentation, but duration, not on fragmentariness, but indivisibility. In this organic concept of time a mystical attitude towards it may be discerned.

Zhivago's world is built on many paradoxes. His is a "scientific" world, where, however, the laws of nature are overcome by miracles of the spirit; it is also a world where time passes too quickly to be wasted on "sleep," but where also time never passes away. It is a world where the negative phenomena of inertia, dullness and death predominate, but where also their very power is seen as a challenge to life and creativity. Zhivago's philosophy of existence is an original blend of vitalist doctrines, undogmatic religious beliefs (often inspired by N. Fedorov), and Schellingian thought…. Blending science with faith, Zhivago stresses faith, however. Not science, but Christ, is seen as the ultimate guarantee of life eternal. (pp. 461-62)