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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! 5With 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

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

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