Part Black Sea merchant, part milord,
a half-baked sage and halfwit fool,
a semi-scoundrel – but there’s hope
his scoundrelhood may soon be full.
by Александр Сергеевич Пушкин (Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin)
a.k.a. Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin
(1824)
translated by Robert Chandler
Fun fact: The subject of this epigram poem is Count Mikhail Vorontsov (1782-1856) the Governor General of ‘New Russia and of Bessarabia’, which consisted of most of southern Russia. Vorontsov was Pushkin’s boss during much of his southern exile.
Rambling At The Bridge Head 