At the grave of J. Brodsky

[Alexandra Smith]

Dear Vadim,

If you look at the videoclip produced by Svetlana Surganova (St  
Petersburg song writer and performer), you'll see Brodsky's grave and  
the cemetery itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CUOJFwa4O4
It shows the sign directing to Brodsky's grave. There is a name that  
says Joseph Brodsky. It's hand-written and is located next to the sign  
that says "Ezra Pound".
The grave itself looks strikingly different from other graves because  
of the growing ivy and flowers, a bowl with messages, a bottle of  
vodka, etc.
I would imagine that Morton's use of the word "undisputed" here might  
evoke the title of the album of the psychedelic soul music produced in  
the 1971 -- "The Undisputed Truth".
But the link with Pound is very important, especially in relation to  
the theme of arguments that you would like to uncover. Brodsky wrote  
on Ezra Pound and translated him into Russian. I'm sure that Morton  
was aware of a "quarrel" regarding the authorities' decision to bury  
Brodsky next to Ezra Pound. It is described in Ludmila Shtern's book  
(Joseph Bridsky. a Personal Memoir by Ludmila Shtern, 2004, pp.  
371-72). Shtern suggests that the authorities didn't allow Brodsky's  
family to bury Brodsky in the Russian part of the family next to  
famous Russian exiles such as Diagilev and Stravinsky because he was  
not baptised as Russian Orthodox. Some parts of the book including the  
description of the grave are accessible through the site called  
Google.scholar.

I do like Konstantin Kustanovich's 's translation. It's very precise.
In my own rendering I've tried to put more emphasis on memory:

"Kak tol'ko ia okazyvaius'
Riadom s Tvoim nadgrob'em,
Ia myslenno vsegda perenoshus'
V Venetsiiu, gde dvadsat' let nazad...." etc.

To my mind, the most important message of the poem is related to the  
notion of simultaneity that highlights the importance of personal  
memories.




With best wishes,
Alexandra








-------------------------------------
Alexandra Smith (PhD, University of London)
Reader in Russian
Department of European Languages and Cultures
School of  Languages, Literatures and Cultures
The University of Edinburgh
David Hume Tower
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9JX
UK

tel. +44-(0)131-6511381
fax: +44- (0)131- 650-3604
e-mail: Alexandra.Smith at ed.ac.uk





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The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

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