{"id":6786,"date":"2026-08-14T17:13:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/poems\/a-game-of-skat\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T09:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T06:20:24","slug":"a-game-of-skat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/poems\/a-game-of-skat\/","title":{"rendered":"A Game of Skat by Danil Rudoy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"dr-poem-page\">\n<section id=\"a-game-of-skat\">\n<p><strong>\u201cA Game of Skat\u201d by Danil Rudoy<\/strong> is a 2006 poem from <em>Love Is Poetry<\/em>. Cards, trumps, aces and the language of play carry an erotic contest toward exhaustion and departure.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"poem\">\n<h2>A Game of Skat<\/h2>\n<div class=\"dr-poem-text\">\n<p>The cards are lying on the surface.<br \/>Behind her soft and curvy back<br \/>The empty, cold and hungry furnace<br \/>Reflects her colors: gold and black.<\/p>\n<p>She smiles, she knows and she possesses\u2013<br \/>I have just lost by \u201cwithout four\u201d.<br \/>She cursed me then but now she blesses:<br \/>I have another chance to score.<\/p>\n<p><em>Was soll ich machen?<\/em> Tell me, dear.<br \/>The game is mine, but what\u2019s the prize?<br \/>It cannot be that pain severe<br \/>Which I am trying to disguise!<\/p>\n<p>I am in love and I am playing<br \/>Without the faintest chance to win.<br \/>Her steady gaze my soul is flaying<br \/>And burning flesh beneath my skin.<\/p>\n<p>She knows it all and knows for sure:<br \/>She shrewdly senses and perceives.<br \/>Her smile is but another lure<br \/>That tempts, seduces and deceives.<\/p>\n<p>I had so many expectations<br \/>But she pretended she was blind.<br \/>I\u2019m lost, and I am out of patience:<br \/>I\u2019ve gone too far, I can\u2019t rewind.<\/p>\n<p>The tricks are always won by aces,<br \/>Unless you trump with all your might.<br \/>My palm again the cards embraces\u2026<br \/>But I am calling it a night!<\/p>\n<p>The storm is gone, the air is quiet,<br \/>She shuffles someone else\u2019s deck.<br \/>I strived to win her, now I\u2019m tired.<br \/>I\u2019m through, I\u2019m done, <em>ich sage \u201cweg\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>2006<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"notes\">\n<h2>Notes<\/h2>\n<p>Skat is a German card game. \u201cWithout four\u201d names an exceptionally difficult Skat contract. <em>Was soll ich machen?<\/em> means \u201cWhat should I do?\u201d; <em>weg<\/em> signals that the player is out.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"publication\">\n<h2>Publication<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cA Game of Skat\u201d appears in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/love-is-poetry\/\"><em>Love Is Poetry: Rhyming Poems About Love Life<\/em><\/a>, in <em>The Marriage Market<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"imagery\">\n<h2>Gold, black and fire<\/h2>\n<p>The opening places the woman against a \u201ccold and hungry furnace\u201d that reflects gold and black. Later the speaker feels her gaze as flaying and \u201cburning flesh beneath my skin.\u201d The card table, furnace and body occupy the same field of heat and danger until the final stanza cools into quiet air and a relinquished deck.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"critical-reading\">\n<h2>Critical reading<\/h2>\n<p>A detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prose-n-poetry.com\/a-game-of-skat-danil-rudoy-poem-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">critical reading of \u201cA Game of Skat\u201d<\/a> on Prose &amp; Poetry follows the card-game conceit, imagery, German phrases, alternating rhyme, risk and final withdrawal.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"related-reading\">\n<h2>Related reading<\/h2>\n<p>Continue with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/poems\/ticket-to-impeccability\/\"><em>Ticket to Impeccability<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/poetry\/\">Poetry by Danil Rudoy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/love-poems\/\">Love Poems by Danil Rudoy<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/rhyming-poetry\/\">Rhyming Poetry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"rights\">\n<h2>Text and citation<\/h2>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 Danil Rudoy. The poem is published here as the author\u2019s canonical text. Short excerpts may be quoted for criticism, scholarship, teaching and literary discussion with attribution to Danil Rudoy and a link to this page. Full reproduction requires separate permission.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cA Game of Skat\u201d by Danil Rudoy is a 2006 rhyming poem from Love Is Poetry in which a card game becomes a drama of desire, risk, defeat and release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["dr-evergreen-document","dr-schema-webpage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6786"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6899,"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6786\/revisions\/6899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danilrudoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}