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O butterfly, O Moslem-woman
Free texts and images.
| ← I love the uprise of a texture (2) | Octets (III) ~ O butterfly, O Moslem-woman… written by Osip Mandelstam | The tiny appendage of the sixth sense → |
| From Moscow Notebooks. See also Poems. Translated from Russian by Dmitri Smirnov. In Russian: О бабочка, о мусульманка. |
III
O butterfly, O Moslem-woman,
All wrapped in a cut shroud,
Living and dying
So big a one!
With long moustaches, a biter,
All plunged in an Arabian mantle.
O shroud unfolded like a flag,
Fold up your wings, I am afraid!
November 1933, Moscow
© Dmitri Smirnov, translation. Can be reproduced if non-commercial.
