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  1. Culture
  2. Poetry
28 September 2018

A poem from the Voronezh Notebooks

A new poem by Osip Mandelstam

By Osip Mandelstam and Translatedbyalistairnoon

We’re brimming with life, and that’s capital:

through Soviet cities, Chinese

blouses and dresses continue to amble,

patterned with butterflies and leaves.

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The acrid clippers give Grade Ones,

collecting their chestnut bribes;

it falls judiciously, the hair now on

clean aprons, in thickening stripes.

Swallows and swifts delight us,

no comet’s plague yet spreads.

The purple inks continue to write

with stars and tails, to make sense.

25 May 1935

Shortly before this poem was written, the Soviet Union’s criminal code was amended to apply to juveniles down to the age of 12, who thereby became subject to criminal courts and all punishments then on the statutes, including capital punishment. Concert at a Railway Station: Selected Poems by Osip Mandelstam, translated by Alistair Noon, appears from Shearsman Books on 28 September.

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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