The original Russian title of VN's novel Glory is Podvig (1932). Pale words (now forsaken) pobeda ("victory"), slava ("glory"), podvig ("exploit") resounded like a thunder, like Lord's voice in the wilderness, in Gumilyov's soul. His poem I am courteous with modern life... (1913) begins:
Я вежлив с жизнью современною,
Но между нами есть преграда,
Всё, что смешит её, надменную,
Моя единая отрада.
Победа, слава, подвиг — бледные
Слова, затерянные ныне,
Гремят в душе, как громы медные,
Как голос Господа в пустыне...
The author of "Романтические цветы" (The Romantic Flowers, 1903-07), Nikolay Gumilyov was executed in 1921. The working title of Podvig (whose hero has a floral name Martyn Edelweiss) was Romanticheskiy vek ("The Romantic Age"). The novel ends in Martyn crossing the border to the Soviet Union and disappearing there.
Alexey Sklyarenko