by Velimir Khlebnikov
                                                   When the Tsars came out,

Because it was winter

Over the roofs of the palace,

Lifting their heads to the stars,

The royal regiment slunk along, like a wolf,

Behind the crowned head

On all fours through the square—

The favorite regiment of the Tsar,

For whom vodka

Was no cure for boredom.
1921



Tsarskoe Selo (the tsar’s village) is a complex of palaces outside Petersburg built by various

tsars to serve as a summer residence comparable to Versailles in France.