Poems and Songs of Vladimir Vysotsky. Who For What Runs.

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Commentary to “The Sentimental Boxer’s Song”.

This song calls to mind Publilius Syrus’ words: “Perpetuo vincit, qui utitur clementia.” (“He who employs clemency is forever winner.”)

“Life’s like the one of a rose” is a very loose paraphrase of the quote from Vladimir Maya­kov­sky’s poem “All Right!” (1927) used in the original.

The presented text is adapted from Serge Elnitsky and George Tokarev’s translations.

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