Poems and Songs of Vladimir Vysotsky. The Interrupted Flifht.
Commentary to the song “The Monument”.
Here can be drawn a parallel with Alexander Pushkin’s poem “I’ve built myself a monument mere hands can’t topple...” (1836).
“To direct the dead men’s rank” is a paraphrase of the quote from Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poem “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin” (1924) “directs the living men’s rank”.
T h e C o m m a n d e r means Commander de Salva from Alexander Pushkin’s poetic drama “The Stone Guest” based on the Spanish legend of Don Juan. The phrase “Commander’s steps” has become winged words in Rossia in reference to the approach of a sinister fate.
The presented text is adapted from Stas and Margaret Porokhnya, George Tokarev and Anonymous’ translations.