I wrote to Boris Dralyuk asking him about the Russian phrase пятый угол [pyaty ugol] 'fifth corner,' which Brodsky uses in a couple of poems in a way that was opaque to me (in "Кентавры" "спрятавшись в пятый угол" 'hidden in the fifth corner,' and in "Элегия" "заштриховывать пятый угол" 'to shade the fifth corner'); his explanation was so surprising and enlightening I thought I'd share it here, since other lovers of Russian will probably have as much difficulty finding references to it in books or online as I did:
The "fifth corner" is a cruel children's game, in which bullies push a younger student around the four corners of a classroom until he "finds the fifth corner"; police took this up, and would offer a suspect the chance to escape the interrogation if he were to "find the fifth corner." In the broader metaphorical sense, it signifies the desperate, foolhardy attempt to escape one's fate — a pipe dream.The things they don't tell you in Russian class!
Incidentally, Boris was in the UK for the Translators’ Coven in Oxford and various Poetry Week events in London; I wish I could have been there, and I look forward to Lizok's report.