ISO short Russian poem for beginners

[Nina Wieda]

How about Akhmatova's "On liubil tri veshchi na svete": it's short, famous,
and has manageable grammar:

http://www.litera.ru/stixiya/authors/axmatova/on-lyubil-tri.html

My students have also enjoyed reciting Pushkin's "Ia Vas liubil".
Translating it is also a treat:

http://www.litera.ru/stixiya/authors/pushkin/ya-vas-lyubil.html

Blok's "Noch', ulitsa, fonar', apteka" is a classic for beginners:

http://www.litera.ru/stixiya/authors/blok/noch-ulica-fonar.html

Finally, Akhmatova's "Seroglazyi korol'".  It is a longer poem, but a
potentially translatable one; it also has a good mystery-story twist that
invites discussion:

http://www.ahmatova.ru/book/42/

My students love learning through poetry!  It's also a great recruitment
technique for literature classes.

Good luck!
Nina Wieda
-- 
Nina Wieda
PhD Candidate, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Northwestern University
4-130 Crowe Hall
1860 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208

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