Osip Mandelstam's "Stalin Epigram", 1933.

Our lives no longer feel ground under them. 

At ten paces you can’t hear our words.  

But whenever there’s a snatch of talk 

it turns to the Kremlin mountaineer,

the ten thick worms his fingers, 

his words like measures of weight,

the huge laughing cockroaches on his top lip, 

the glitter of his boot-rims.  

Ringed with a scum of chicken-necked bosses

he toys with the tributes of half-men.  

One whistles, another meows, a third snivels. 

He pokes out his finger and he alone goes boom.  

He forges decrees in a line like horseshoes, 

One for the groin, one the forehead, temple, eye.  

He rolls the executions on his tongue like berries. 

He wishes he could hug them like big friends from home.

            

             

             “Stalin Epigram” by Osip Mandelstam written in 1933, illustrates the unjust life of the Russian population under Stalin’s rules. Stalin, similar to other absolute rulers in this blog, used force to control and maintain power in his country. Stalin’s militaristic methods made the people of Russia became fearful of him because anyone who went against Stalin was executed, exiled, or imprisoned. He also made considerable changes to Russia when it just became stable during Lenin’s rule. For example, Stalin made the five-year plan that initiated rapid industrialization (Duiker). Osip was a Russian poet who was anti-Stalin and wrote “Stalin Epigram” despite the consequences he could face. As a result, he was exiled to a remote part of Russia, Siberia, where he and his wife were forced to live doing miscellaneous jobs and borrowing money (Patrick). Stalin is a perfect example of a ruler who abused his power.  When he took power, a majority of Russians wanted a communist ruler, but Stalin came into power as a socialist dictator. He killed millions to maintain his power, he made reforms contradicting the communist changes, and thought mostly of himself (Patrick). 

           “Stalin Epigram” reveals Osip’s dislike towards Stalin. This short passionate poem about Stalin’s Russia brings up the lack of support in Stalin’s government, the common hatred the Russians have towards Stalin, Stalin’s omnipotence, and a negative description of Stalin.  The first line explains the lack of support from the government under Stalin’s rule because Stalin did not think about his citizens only his power. He next calls Stalin “the Kremlin mountaineer” because Stalin climbed his way up to the top of the Russian government. Osip suggests that the only subject Russians talk about is Stalin because of his bad policies. Also, Osip shows Stalin as the only person who has say in his country because all the businessmen make noises and Stalin says, “Boom”. Osip creates a metaphor comparing Stalin to grotesque things; for example, he explains Stalin’s fingers as “ten thick worms” and Stalin’s lips as “cockroaches.” Using these images Osip creates a negative depiction of Stalin. Osip’s use of irony in the last two lines reveals that Stalin effortlessly executes Russians. This emphasizes the unjustness of Stalin’s rule, similar to the other rulers depicted in the artwork of this blog. Also, this poem’s negative view of Stalin shows the common reaction to a ruler whom abused his power in the blog (Patrick). This poem brings a different prospective to this blog because the poet was directly affected by Stalin’s abuse of power.