Description
Book SynopsisTRANSLATED BY PETER ORAM
On the Century of Anna Akhmatova's Birth
(Joseph Brodsky, July 1989)
The page and the fire, the millstone, the grain,
the blade of the axe, the hacked crop of hair –
God cares much for these, yet, as were they his own,
for two words – Love, Forgiveness – still fonder's his care.
In them beats a broken pulse, cracking of bones,
the knock of the spade; and even-paced, soft
(since life comes once only), more clear ring their tones
from the dead's mouths than from soundproofed
heavens aloft.
Great soul, over oceans my reverence I'm sending
for finding them for us; to you, your remains
in our native soil sleeping, I give thanks for finding
the blest gift of speech in earth's deaf-mute domains.
An anthology of poems by the major literary figures in Russia, writing to, about, or in memory of other poets, following a tradition which started in the early years of the twentieth century and continued through the subsequent decades, more or less until the millennium.
With the great names of Russian poetry represented – among them Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Mandelstam, Pasternak, Bloch, Nabakov and Brodsky – this is a unique approach and promises to be a publication of great significance both in the UK and in Russia.
Peter Oram is known both as a translator (from Russian and German) and as a poet, novelist and short story writer. He has had two novels published – Maddocks (Gomer Press), and The Rub (Starborn Books) and a collection of poems, White (Starborn Books).
Table of ContentsIntroduction / 7 A Note on the Translations / 9 Akhmatova on Blok / 14 Tsvetaeva on Blok / 16 Blok on Akhmatova / 18 Akhmatova on Pasternak / 20 Pasternak on Tsvetaeva / 22 Tsvetaeva on Akhmatova / 24 Akhmatova on Tsvetaeva / 28 Tsvetaeva on Pasternak / 30 Pasternak on Blok / 32 Vosnesensky on Akhmadulina / 34 Akhmadulina on Mandelstam / 38 Mandelstam on Akhmatova / 42 Akhmatova on Mandelstam / 44 Mandelstam on Tsvetaeva / 46 Tsvetaeva on Mandelstam / 48 Tsvetaeva on Mayakovsky / 50 Severyanin on Mayakovsky / 52 Severyanin on Pasternak / 54 Pasternak on Akhmatova / 56 Akhmatova on Annensky / 60 Akhmatova on Annensky / 62 Yevtushenko on Akhmatova / 64 Akhmatova on Mayakovsky / 72 Mayakovsky on Yesenin / 74 Severyanin on Yesenin / 86 Akhmadulina on Pasternak / 88 Pasternak on Tsvetaeva / 90 Tsvetaeva on Yesenin / 92 Akhmadulina on Akhmatova / 94 Akhmatova on Gumilev / 96 Gumilev on Annensky / 98 Severyanin on Gumilev / 102 Akhmatova on Yesenin / 104 Kushner on Akhmadulina / 106 Severyanin on Blok / 108 Yevtushenko on Blok / 110 Severyanin on Akhmatova / 112 Severyanin on Tsvetaeva / 114 Tarkovsky on Tsvetaeva / 116 Tarkovsky on Akhmatova / 118 Akhmadulina on Tsvetaeva / 120 Nabokov on Blok / 124 Yevtushenko on Mayakovsky / 126 Brodsky on Akhmatova / 128 Akhmatova on Blok, Mandelstam, and Tsvetaeva / 130 Reyn on Akhmadulina / 132 Biographical Notes / 134 Notes on the Poems / 140
