At the grave of J. Brodsky

[Denis Akhapkin]

The name is printed now.
See photos: http://community.livejournal.com/brodsky/245672.html

2009/2/4 Alexandra Smith <Alexandra.Smith at ed.ac.uk>:
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
> Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
>
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