Help with Tsvetaeva poems

Sat Aug 4 01:00:07 UTC 2007

Dear Boris:

Thank you so much for letting me know about Raine's adaptation. Quite 
interesting. Still, I think I went overboard. That adaptation of mine 
was done a good fifteen years ago (or more). I enjoyed doing it and 
clearly saw it as an adaptation. Will try it again sometime, hopefully 
with more success.

Benjamin

Boris Dagaev wrote:
> Benjamin,
>
> You are in good company :-) Craig Raine did an interesting adaptation
> of "Попытка ревности". It's with a twist, but quite recognizable -
>
> http://plagiarist.com/poetry/2628/
>
> and this is Raine's statement of purpose, if you will -
>
> "One of Hemingway's linguistic projects is to write in Spanish using
> English.  I myself once began a translation of Marina Tsvetayeva's 'An
> Attempt at Jealousy' in which I aimed to write a kind of
> Russian-English, without articles and reproducing the Russian
> word-order.  In the event, Tsvetayeva's subject matter, jealousy,
> interested me more than the linguistic project and I ended up writing
> a traditional ballad"
> (see http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=5254)
>
> Boris
>
> On 8/3/07, Inna Caron <caron.4 at osu.edu> wrote:
>   
>> But they were recognizable! :)
>>
>> Inna
>>
>>
>>
>> Inna Caron
>> Ph.D. Candidate, Slavic Languages and Literatures
>> Graduate Senator (College of Humanities)
>> The Ohio State University
>> 400 Hagerty Hall
>> Columbus, OH 43210
>> 614-292-6733
>> caron.4 at osu.edu
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
>> [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Benjamin Sher
>> Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 3:36 PM
>> To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Help with Tsvetaeva poems
>>
>> Dear Inna:
>>
>> Thank you very much. Really appreciate your help. Yes, my adaptations
>> are really wild and free. I don't think it's fair for me to even call
>> them adaptations. I will try to do more accurate renditions at some
>> point in the future. Thank you again.
>>
>> Benjamin
>>
>> Inna Caron wrote:
>>     
>>> Dear Benjamin,
>>>
>>> These are, indeed, quite interpretive. The first poem ("Resurrection"
>>>       
>> in
>>     
>>> your rendition) corresponds to Tsvetaeva's "Liubov', liubov', i v
>>> sudoragakh, i v grobe..." (the original is not broken into four
>>>       
>> numbered
>>     
>>> sections). The second poem (the one you have titled Stabat Mater) - to
>>> "Okh, gribok ty moi, gribochek, belyi gruzd'!" The third is titled
>>> "Vziatie Kryma." All are written in 1920. See full texts below.
>>>
>>> Любовь! Любовь! И в судорогах, и в гробе
>>> Насторожусь - прельщусь - смущусь - рванусь.
>>> О милая! Ни в гробовом сугробе,
>>> Ни в облачном с тобою не прощусь.
>>>
>>> И не на то мне пара крыл прекрасных
>>> Дана, чтоб на сердце держать пуды.
>>> Спеленутых, безглазых и безгласных
>>> Я не умножу жалкой слободы.
>>>
>>> Нет, выпростаю руки, стан упругий
>>> Единым взмахом из твоих пелен,
>>> Смерть, выбью! - Верст на тысячу в округе
>>> Растоплены снега - и лес спален.
>>>
>>> И если все ж - плеча, крыла, колена
>>> Сжав - на погост дала себя увесть, -
>>> То лишь затем, чтобы, смеясь над тленом,
>>> Стихом восстать - иль розаном расцвесть!
>>>
>>> * * *
>>>
>>> Ox, грибок ты мой, грибочек, белый груздь!
>>> То шатаясь причитает в поле - Русь.
>>> Помогите - на ногах нетверда!
>>> Затуманила меня кровь-руда!
>>>
>>> И справа и слева
>>> Кровавые зевы,
>>> И каждая рана:
>>> - Мама!
>>>
>>> И только и это
>>> И внятно мне, пьяной,
>>> Из чрева - ив чрево:
>>> - Мама!
>>>
>>> Все рядком лежат -
>>> Не развесть межой.
>>> Поглядеть: солдат.
>>> Где свой, где чужой?
>>>
>>> Белый был - красным стал:
>>> Кровь обагрила.
>>> Красным был - белый стал:
>>> Смерть побелила.
>>>
>>> - Кто ты? - белый? - не пойму! - привстань!
>>> Аль у красных пропадал? - Ря-азань.
>>>
>>> И справа и слева
>>> И сзади и прямо
>>> И красный и белый:
>>> - Мама!
>>>
>>> Без воли - без гнева -
>>> Протяжно - упрямо -
>>> До самого неба:
>>> - Мама!
>>>
>>> * * *
>>>
>>> ВЗЯТИЕ КРЫМА
>>>
>>> И страшные мне снятся сны:
>>> Телега красная,
>>> За ней - согбенные - моей страны
>>> Идут сыны.
>>>
>>> Золотокудрого воздев
>>> Ребенка - матери
>>> Вопят. На паперти
>>> На стяг
>>> Пурпуровый маша рукой беспалой
>>> Вопит калека, тряпкой алой
>>> Горит безногого костыль,
>>> И красная - до неба - пыль.
>>>
>>> Колеса ржавые скрипят.
>>> Конь пляшет, взбешенный.
>>> Все окна флагами кипят.
>>> Одно - завешено.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps.
>>>
>>>
>>> Inna Caron
>>> The Ohio State University
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
>>> [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Benjamin Sher
>>> Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 4:04 PM
>>> To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
>>> Subject: [SEELANGS] Help with Tsvetaeva poems
>>>
>>> Dear friends:
>>>
>>> I would appreciate your help in locating a few poems by Tsvetaeva.
>>>       
>> Here
>>     
>>> is the problem: About ten years ago I translated a number of poems by
>>> Tsvetaeva. These are interpretative translations (or adaptations). My
>>> problem in locating the original Russian texts is twofold: first, I
>>>       
>> lost
>>     
>>> the Russian texts that included the originals for these translations
>>> and, secondly, the fact that these are interpretative translations
>>>       
>> means
>>     
>>> that I cannot easily locate them by title or first line. In fact, I am
>>>       
>>> not sure that the titles are my own and not Tsvetaeva's. Here are the
>>> three poems in question:
>>>
>>> http://www.russianpoetry.org/ruspoet/soviet/index.html
>>>
>>> (Click on Tsvetaeva, English on the menu)
>>>
>>> Can you help me locate the original poems that these translations are
>>> based on? All I really need are the exact Russian titles. I can
>>>       
>> probably
>>     
>>> find the Russian texts online.
>>>
>>> Thank you so much.
>>>
>>> Benjamin
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>     
>>> No virus found in this incoming message.
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>> 8/2/2007 2:22 PM
>>     
>> --
>> Sher's Russian Web
>> http://www.websher.net
>> Benjamin Sher
>> sher07 at mindspring.com
>>
>>
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-- 
Sher's Russian Web
http://www.websher.net
Benjamin Sher
sher07 at mindspring.com

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