Saturday, 3 October 2026

N. A. Nekrasov in his poem “Sovremenniki” addresses the reader about the sons of his age

Drawing of a bearded man in a frock coat holding a hat by a door with signs “Устрицы” and “Homards”, a waiter standing beside him.

I took a book, risen from my sleep, And read in it: "There have been worse times, But none more base"

I flung the book far from me.
Can it be that you and I
Are sons of such an age,
O friend and reader mine?..

Literal translation

From N.A. Nekrasov's poem "Contemporaries"

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