THE TRANSLATOR and TBOTNS

On pp. 178-80 of John Crowley's new novel THE TRANSLATOR, there is a poem (actually the first draft of a translation of a poem) written by a Russian poet in exile during the Cold War which begins: In some worlds my torturer is but a man as I am And his bosses are men, as well And their bosses men like me And the leader a man, a man I myself could be. The third stanza is: In some worlds my torturer is a being not like me And his father is a fallen angel whose father is a heedless god whose father is the abyss to whom the leader bows. And the fourth stanza ends with the line: In some he never dies, outlives the sun. In his LOCUS interview Crowley doesn't mention having read Wolfe; but if he really hasn't read TBOTNS it's a remarkable coincidence. Incidentally, while I haven't yet finished THE TRANSLATOR, I recommend it highly, although it's quite a bit different from his other novels. --Adam