Overcoming the firmness of nature

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Octets (V) ~ Overcoming the firmness of nature… written by Osip Mandelstam

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From Moscow Notebooks. See also Poems. Translated from Russian by Dmitri Smirnov. In Russian: Преодолев затверженность природы...

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V. Overcoming the firmness of nature The hard-blue eye pierces into its law, In the earth's crust the rock plays the fool, And the groans tear from the breast like the ore. 5 And the weak dwarfish shoot spreads out, Like the road bent into the horn, — To comprehend the inner excess of space That is the oath of the petal and cupola. January 1934, Moscow

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

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