| Deutsch and Yarmolinsky, comps. Modern Russian Poetry. 1921. | | | | From “The Twelve” | | By Alexander Blok (1880–1921) |
| | 9
THE CITY’S roar is far away, | |
| Black silence broods on Neva’s brink. | |
| No more police! We can be gay, | |
| Comrades, without a drop to drink. | |
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| A boorzhooy, a lonely mourner, | 5 |
| His nose tucked in his ragged fur, | |
| Stands lost and idle on the corner, | |
| Tagged by a cringing, mangy cur. | |
| |
| The boorzhooy like a hungry mongrel: | |
| A silent question stands and begs; | 10 |
| The old world like a kinless mongrel | |
| Stands there, its tail between its legs. | | | | |
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