Poems and Songs of Vladimir Vysotsky. The Nature Reserve.

List. Text. Translation. Back. Forward.

Commentary to the poem “The obstacles we have are begotten by our age...”

The meaning of this poem is obvious: the dogs symbolize the savages coming to Rossia from Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and also their offspring, who act much worse than dogs. These savages have posed a great danger to the peoples inhabiting Rossia, and since we have not yet forced the government to pay attention to it, the only way out of this situation is to form a people’s volunteer corps of those willing to become “dog catchers”.

In Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” (1894), these are the Bandar-log, and here is their road-song:

Here we go in a flung festoon, Half-way up to the jealous moon! Don’t you envy our pranceful bands? Don’t you wish you had extra hands? Wouldn’t you like if your tails were — so — Curved in the shape of a Cupid’s bow? Now you’re angry, but — never mind, Brother, thy tail hangs down behind! Here we sit in a branchy row, Thinking of beautiful things we know; Dreaming of deeds that we mean to do, All complete, in a minute or two — Something noble and grand and good, Won by merely wishing we could. Now we’re going to — never mind, Brother, thy tail hangs down behind! All the talk we ever have heard Uttered by bat or beast or bird — Hide or fin or scale or feather — Jabber it quickly and all together! Excellent! Wonderful! Once again! Now we are talking just like men. Let’s pretend we are... never mind, Brother, thy tail hangs down behind! This is the way of the Monkey-kind. Then join our leaping lines that scumfish through the pines, That rocket by where, light and high, the wild-grape swings, By the rubbish in our wake, and the noble noise we make, Be sure, be sure, we’re going to do some splendid things!

The Red Dog in his “The Second Jungle Book” (1895) also symbolize those savages.

And the author of this publication, who has firsthand knowledge of them, joins the poet in saying, “Hail to the dog catchers!”

In 2022, there appeared in Rossia the Army of Defenders of the Fatherland (this site is in Russian) — an organization of unity of the people and the army, which is aimed to bring order to the country, what includes the liberation of our Homeland from the dominance of ethnic criminals united in diasporas. I would also like to draw the readers’ attention to the Russian Community and to the Telegram channel “The Multinational” (this site and this channel are in Russian).

The words

“Thus, for example, as the earth’s owner, you Speed to Velikiya Luki”

are an allusion to Vasily Lebedev-Kumach’s “A Song about Our Earth” (1936), here are lines from it:

From the capital to any corner, Through the woods and everlasting snows, Man can walk and feel that he’s the owner Of his great interminable earth. ... Our answer will be quick and crushing, If to touch us anyone is bold, Our earth we keep as our mother, And love as the bride and even more.

It is pertinent to quote here Joseph Stalin’s words from his Report to the XVII Party Congress on the work of the Central Committee of the A.U.C.P. (b.) (1934): “Our foreign policy is clear. It is a policy of preserving peace and strengthening trade relations with all countries. The U.S.S.R. does not think of threatening anyone, much less attacking anyone. We stand for peace and defend the cause of peace. But we are not afraid of threats and are ready to respond with a blow to the blow of the warmongers. Those who want peace and seek business ties with us will always find our support. And those who will try to attack our country will receive a crushing rebuff, in order to teach them not to stick their pig’s snout in our Soviet vegetable garden.”

The poem was written in 1972.

Main Page.