The tiny appendage of the sixth sense

← O butterfly, O Moslem-woman

Octets (IV) ~ The tiny appendage of the sixth sense… written by Osip Mandelstam

Overcoming the firmness of nature →

From Moscow Notebooks. See also Poems. Translated from Russian by Dmitri Smirnov. In Russian: Шестого чувства крошечный придаток.

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IV The tiny appendage of the sixth sense, The pineal eye of the lizard, The monasteries of snails and shells, Or the gabble of the gleaming eyelids, — The unreachable — it is so close! You can’t unfasten or observe it, Like the message put in your hand That you have to answer right away. May 1932, Moscow

Notes

© Dmitri Smirnov, translation. Can be reproduced if non-commercial.

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