Saturday, 3 October 2026

Draft versions of a poetic list of peoples differ from the familiar text

The lines in the third stanza of Pushkin's "Monument" listing the peoples of Russia who will remember the poet.

"And the proud grandson of the Slavs, and the Finn, and the now-savage
Tungus, and the Kalmyk, friend of the steppes"
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Literal translation

in the draft differed greatly from the version familiar to us and were first written down thus:

"And the Finn, and the grandson of the Slavs, the Georgian, now savage,
The cruel Tungus and the Kalmyk.."

Literal translation

And then changed to:

"The mighty grandson of the Slavs and the Finn, the Georgian, now savage,
The Circassian, the Kirghiz and the Kalmyk".

Literal translation

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