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