Капитал (Capital)
A caricatured capitalist in a top hat sits enthroned on heaps of gold coins inside a web of church spires and factory smokestacks, boasting in accompanying verse that kings' crowns, courts, the church and war itself all answer to him. The single grotesque body stands in for an entire class, giving the reader's anger one target to land on rather than a documented mechanism.
- Date
- 1919
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Bolshevik state agitprop); artist Viktor Deni, verse by Demyan Bedny
- Region
- Eastern Europe and Eurasia
- Country
- Soviet Russia
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Soviet Russia
- Leader
- Vladimir Lenin
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Themes
- Economy and finance, Religion
- Event
- Russian Civil War
- Techniques
- Name-callingScapegoating
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved September 28, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (per Wikimedia Commons)
http://redavantgarde.com/collection/show-collection/1738-the-capital-.html?authorId=8
Text on the object
КАПИТАЛ. Да не будут тебе бози инии, разве мене. Любуясь дивною картиной, Рабы, склонитесь предо мной! Своей стальною паутиной Опутал я весь шар земной, Я—воплощенье КАПИТАЛА, Я—повелитель мировой. Волшебный блеск и звон металла— Мой взгляд и голос властный мой. Тускнеют царские короны, Когда надену я свою. Одной рукой ломая троны, Другой—я троны создаю. Моя рука чертит законы И отменяет их она. Мне все "отечества"—загоны, Где скот—людские племена. Хочу—пасу стада в долинах, Хочу—на бойню их гоню. Мой взмах—и области в руинах, И храмы преданы огню. Средь всех твердынь—моя твердыня Стоит незыблемой скалой, Храм биржевой—моя святыня, Конторский стол—мой аналой. Мое евангелье—балансы, Богослужение—„игра", Дары священные—финансы, Жрецы—мои бухгалтера. Я в этом храме—жрец верховный, Первосвященник ваш и вождь. Свершая подвиг мой духовный, Я золотой сбираю дождь. Мои сокровища несметны. Их не отдам я без борьбы. Да будут вечно ж безответны Мной усмиренные рабы! Да будут святы им ступени, Где жду я жертвы их трудов! Да склонят все они колени, Целуя прах моих следов! Демьян Бедный
CAPITAL. "Thou shalt have no other gods, but Me." [epigraph, Church Slavonic, cf. Exodus 20:3] Admiring the wondrous picture, Slaves, bow down before me! With my steel web I have entangled the whole globe, I am the embodiment of CAPITAL, I am the ruler of the world. The magical gleam and ring of metal— That is my gaze and my commanding voice. Royal crowns grow dim When I put on my own. With one hand breaking thrones, With the other—I create thrones. My hand draws up the laws And (that same hand) repeals them. To me every "fatherland" is a pen, Where cattle—are the tribes of men. If I wish—I graze herds in the valleys, If I wish—I drive them to the slaughterhouse. One wave of my hand—and whole regions lie in ruins, And temples are given to the fire. Among all strongholds—my stronghold Stands as an unshakeable rock, The temple of the stock exchange—is my shrine, The office desk—is my altar. My gospel is the balance-sheet, My divine service is "the game", My sacred offerings are finances, My priests are my bookkeepers. In this temple I am the supreme priest, Your high priest and leader. Accomplishing my spiritual feat, I gather a golden rain. My treasures are countless. I will not give them up without a fight. May they forever remain without answer— The slaves I have tamed! May the steps be holy to them, Where I await the fruits of their labour! May they all bend the knee, Kissing the dust of my footprints! Demyan Bedny
The two-line epigraph above the poem is a Church Slavonic Biblical quotation (cf. Exodus 20:3, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me'), printed in smaller type set off from the main verse; transcribed and translated separately above. Artist/printer credit lines 'В. Н. Дени. Москва' and 'V. Deni. Moskou' beneath the image are captions, not part of the poem, and are not included in originalText.
