In my Masterpieces of Russian Literature class, I like to start with Pushkin and Eugene Onegin. The beginning of the course can be difficult -- how can I convince my students that Pushkin really is the be all and end all of Russian literature, that poets and prose writers of the 19th, 20th, and even 21st century are often engaging with this Ur-poet?
It is especially difficult because his poetic masterpieces don't always read well in English.
This autumn I used "God Grant that I not Lose My Mind..." ... in an atrocious translation. I was reminded pretty quickly that in order to convince students of something, you need to show them, not tell them.
Which is why with Eugene Onegin I often use a pedagogical exercise a colleague, Romy Taylor, wrote about in The Pushkin Review a number of years ago.
The translation I use, James Falen's, is excellent. I really like it. But as I say to the students, if Pushkin sparkles, then Falen only shines. Better than the thud one sometimes hears in reading poetry in translation, but not yet Pushkin.
In order to help students explore Pushkin's virtuosity for themselves, I have them spend a little time doing free-writing on any topic (using some of Turgenev's "poems in prose" as models). And then they are supposed to take their free-writing and turn it into an Onegin stanza. 14 lines are a must, meter and rhyme are a bonus.
This year I was at the annual AATSEEL Convention in Chicago when I was supposed to do my own free writing. I wrote some about Stephanie Sandler's terrific keynote address and a little bit about contemporary poetry, including of course my favorite contemporary Ukrainian "rock star" poet, Andriy Lyubka.
And then I penned this stanza:
At games Olympic down in Sochi
O Pushkin, now in Putin’s day,
We’ll hear your voice, the voice of poetry,
As athletes gather, run and play.
With dreams of love and peace, not soldiers,
On Black Sea beaches (in Moldova),
Dear Pushkin too strolled on the shore,
As we, he dreaded bombs and war.
Today’s new poets cast our news --
On Youtube Lyubka makes his gains
Where once Mick, Paul, and Jimi reigned –
New verses, videos, interviews.
Once Golden Age, then Silver shine,
Now Platinum rules from Ural mines.
Not as good as some years, but better than others. I hope the students have something to show me tomorrow.
It is especially difficult because his poetic masterpieces don't always read well in English.
This autumn I used "God Grant that I not Lose My Mind..." ... in an atrocious translation. I was reminded pretty quickly that in order to convince students of something, you need to show them, not tell them.
Which is why with Eugene Onegin I often use a pedagogical exercise a colleague, Romy Taylor, wrote about in The Pushkin Review a number of years ago.
The translation I use, James Falen's, is excellent. I really like it. But as I say to the students, if Pushkin sparkles, then Falen only shines. Better than the thud one sometimes hears in reading poetry in translation, but not yet Pushkin.In order to help students explore Pushkin's virtuosity for themselves, I have them spend a little time doing free-writing on any topic (using some of Turgenev's "poems in prose" as models). And then they are supposed to take their free-writing and turn it into an Onegin stanza. 14 lines are a must, meter and rhyme are a bonus.
This year I was at the annual AATSEEL Convention in Chicago when I was supposed to do my own free writing. I wrote some about Stephanie Sandler's terrific keynote address and a little bit about contemporary poetry, including of course my favorite contemporary Ukrainian "rock star" poet, Andriy Lyubka.
And then I penned this stanza:
At games Olympic down in Sochi
O Pushkin, now in Putin’s day,
We’ll hear your voice, the voice of poetry,
As athletes gather, run and play.
With dreams of love and peace, not soldiers,
On Black Sea beaches (in Moldova),
Dear Pushkin too strolled on the shore,
As we, he dreaded bombs and war.
Today’s new poets cast our news --
On Youtube Lyubka makes his gains
Where once Mick, Paul, and Jimi reigned –
New verses, videos, interviews.
Once Golden Age, then Silver shine,
Now Platinum rules from Ural mines.
Not as good as some years, but better than others. I hope the students have something to show me tomorrow.
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