Nil nisi bonum
Pushkin belongs not only to his near and dear, but to his fatherland, and to history. His memory must be preserved with clarity and complete truth. —Vyazemsky, in a letter to A. Ya. Bulgakov (February 5, 1837)
Have you no shame, sending me a copy of that classical, academical, prim-and-proper description of Pushkin’s death, that article worthy only of Prince Shalikov writing for the Moscow News. —N. I. Krivtsov, in a letter to Vyazemsky (June 5, 1837)
Be careful what you say about the dead: Their stories call for sensitive curation. Perhaps some things are better left unsaid, And unrecorded. Too much information Is chaos. Where’s the underlying curve? The clarity that comes with retrospection? To dwell on every petty imperfection Denies the dignity that they deserve.
You might not even call it a revision; Just cleaning house, removing dust and lint. The lines are drawn with surgical precision: Here’s what we saw — and here’s what’s fit for print. Loose threads are snipped, untidy implications Are scrubbed away, as if they were unclean. A tale retold takes on a polished sheen Across the centuries and generations.
Their stories are no longer theirs to tell. But must the false starts and the indiscretions Be lost? The quiet hopes and fears, as well? The strange asides and trivial digressions That skew a storyline — must these be shed To find the truth? Or does such prim insistence Erase the human core of an existence? Be careful what you say about the dead.
