Backbone Flute
1919 edition book cover | |
| Author | Vladimir Mayakovsky |
|---|---|
| Original title | Флейта-позвоночник |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Poem |
Publication date | 1915 |
| Publication place | Russia |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Preceded by | A Cloud in Trousers |
| Followed by | The War and the World |
Backbone Flute (Russian: Флейта-позвоночник, romanized: Fleyta-pozvonochnik) is a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky written in the autumn of 1915 and first published in December of that year in Vzyal (Russian: Взял, lit. 'took') almanac, heavily censored. Its first unabridged version appeared in March 1919, in Vladimir Mayakovsky's Collected Works 1909-1919.
The poem deals with the themes of passionate love hurled down to the feet of a woman who still prefers safe haven of domesticity and social status provided by her successful husband, vengeful God's cruelty, death and suicide.