Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0004298, Mon, 26 Jul 1999 18:59:18 -0700

Subject
VN Epigram??
Date
Body
In a minor Russian literary provincial magazine "Angara" (May 1999) an
epigram is published attributed to V.Sirin, 1924.

"Psqqjhl on}r`l.

Qnlmhrek|m` oew`rm` oew`k|:
Jrn bg k oepn h p`gdna{k asl`cs -
Rnr onknm qhk, h sf ecn me f`k|.
@ f`k| m` f`kna{ onxedxs~ nrb`cs."

"Russkim poetam.

Somnitel'na pechatnaya pechal'.
Kto vzyal pero i razdobyl bumagu -
Tot polon sil, i uzh ego ne zhal'.
A zhal' na zhaloby poshedshuyu otvagu."

I don't dare to translate it. Has anyone heard something about this
quatrain? Where was it published for the first time?
Is it a real Sirin, at least?

Oleg Dorman.