Hi, Carl—
Very interesting background material. Of course, Pushkin would have some difficulty using the Alexandria (Diocletian’s) Column as an excuse, since it was a meter taller than the Alexander Column. If his памятник is higher than the Alexandrian Column, even with his head unbowed, then it is that much higher than the Alexander Column. If he meant the Lighthouse of Alexandria, would he have used столп instead of маяк or башня?
Knowing that Pushkin intended this poem as a taunt to Tsar Aleksandr I makes his comment in stanza 2, “I won’t die wholly: . . .I’ll be famed as long . . .as just one poet sees the day.” suggest that by comparison, Aleksandr will be relegated to the list of less memorable tsars. How clever of Pushkin to dress up his insults as homage to Horace.
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