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# Poem “The Struggle for Existence”, dedicated to Darwin, about a summer on the Istra
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/prochital-u-egora-kholmogorova-obstoiatelnuiu-otpoved-veruiushchim-v-darvinizm-i-vspomnil-stikhotvorenie-poeta-satirika-petra-shumakhera-1817-1891-posviashchennoe-kak-raz-darvinu/
- Published: 2024-02-08T12:05:15.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:50:24.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Observations, Science, Nature, Humour

I read Yegor Kholmogorov's thorough rebuke of believers in Darwinism, and recalled a poem by the satirist Pyotr Shumakher (1817-1891), dedicated to Darwin himself.

**The Struggle for Existence (Dedicated to Darwin)**

*I was on the Istra this summer,* 
*In a remote, forgotten corner;* 
*I lived as a contemplative poet,* 
*And breathed so easily.*

*With me was my faithful dog Trezorka,* 
*I rose early in the morning,* 
*Picked wild strawberries by the knoll* 
*And in the heat lay in the damp pinewood.*

*I wandered in reveries, like a wild man,* 
*In the fragrant meadow among the bushes* 
*And came home weary* 
*With a bunch of the loveliest flowers.*

*Dinner: bread, butter, soft-boiled eggs;* 
*Then I drank tea; and in the evening,* 
*Having treated the crested hen to a grain,* 
*I gave the lamb its milk.*

*Two swallows darted swiftly* 
*Up under the eaves, to their dear nest;* 
*At night the Istra murmured me a song* 
*And a nightingale whistled in the garden!..*

*All passed away like a beautiful dream!* 
*But I grow sad when I remember* 
*By what a terrible death* 
*All my friends perished.*

*The little chirping swallows at my window* 
*Are not fated to be seen again:* 
*They fell into the paws of a cat,* 
*And their nest was destroyed;*

*My crested hen a keen-eyed hawk* 
*Seized and soared with her to the heavens;* 
*The wolf bounded into the dark forest with Trezorka,* 
*And the lamb I ate — myself.*

*Literal translation*