Tag Archives: Russian

A Christmas poem, by Joseph Brodsky, translated by Derek Walcott

    …………………………………………………………To Elisabeth Leonskaya The air—fierce frost and pine-boughs. We’ll cram ourselves in thick clothes, stumbling in drifts till we’re weary— better a reindeer than a dromedary. In the North if faith does not fail God appears as the warden of a jail where the kicks in our ribs were rough but what you [...]

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“Stella Polaris,” by Viktor Kulle

Russian poet Viktor Kulle is fifty today, today being April 30 in his part of the world. We congratulate him! His is a voice resonating with Russia’s deep classical past. In 1996 he defended Russia’s first doctoral dissertation on Joseph Brodsky (here it is). We offer his poem “Stella Polaris” in a translation by Little [...]

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“Flight Into Egypt,” by Joseph Brodsky, translated by Melissa Green

…where the drover came from, no one knew. Their affinity made the heavens slate the desert for a miracle. There, they chose to light a fire and camp, the cave in a vortex of snow. Not divining his role, the Infant drowsed in a halo of curls that would quickly become accustomed to radiance. Its [...]

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2028. A trusted member of the security services embarks on a royal errand.

Vladimir Sorokin, translated by Jamey Gambrell . We first drive along the highway, then turn onto a narrow road. The road stretches through woodlands, then crawls into the taiga. We ride silently. Pines, firs, and deciduous trees surround us, heavy with snow. But the sun is already heading toward sunset. Another hour or so and [...]

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