Akhmatova wrote this in 1943. The greatest Russian poet of the twentieth century addresses the greatest Russian poet, who famously delighted in the feet of the ladies on the St Petersburg embankment.
So, who can know what makes for glory!
What did he pay to tell the story,
For opportunity or grace
So sly and wise to cause furore,
Present mysterious, silent face
And to those dainty feet give chase?
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Кто знает, что такое слава!
Какой ценой купил он право,
Возможность или благодать
Над всем так мудро и лукаво
Шутить, таинственно молчать
И ногу ножкой называть?..
Translation by Rupert Moreton
lingua fennica 