"The word gives birth to reason, the
singing gives birth to light,"
Now substituting singing for a gift and taking it to a different poem (in Russian, called "Есть речи - значенье") with "small grammar slip" for which Michail Yurevich Lermontov did not find replacement, let me offer one, substituting 'дар' for 'пламя' in the third stanza:
Не встретит ответа
Средь шума мирского
Из дара и света
Рождённое слово;
Not a big deal, of course, but what I like in this substitution is consistency with my reading of "The Gift" (and "Pale Fire") where, I think, light ('свет') is used as elaborate metaphor for gift ('дар'), and vice versa.
- George Shimanovich
All private editorial communications, without
exception, are
read by both co-editors.