The statue of the great poet was being raised in Pushkin Square as her cortege passed slowly by

It was followed by a street urchin who sang in a sweet voice well above his earthly station

Lately our land has been visited by a beauty who sings in a heavenly way

As there was an obstruction in the road the cortege stopped for a moment

The urchin still sweet of song removed the withered branch and watched the casual theatre

Their final meeting will soon be forgotten by everybody in the square today that is for sure

But it will be remembered in the folksongs that I will write in my mature years

Urban Legend – It is said that Anna Petrovna Kern’s funeral procession passed the square where Pushkin’s statue was being erected – Anna was one his most famous mistresses

The urchin’s folksongs collected in later life record this final meeting in 1879 some forty years after Pushkin’s death