Apollo in the Grass : Selected Poems by Aleksandr Kushner download book EPUB
9780374105730 English 0374105731 "To renew the wish to live, I remember a waterfall.""""It clutches at stones, hangs like a wild grapevine""""In a blind homeland of stone letters, stone books--""""Here's the one who takes life in totally, perishing every instant.""""--from "The Waterfall""For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, the work of Aleksandr Kushner was indispensable. "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian." Kushner's poems are simultaneously deeply traditional in their mastery of form--as well as in their influences, which trace back through the "Silver Age" poets to the rootstock of the Russian lyric--and utterly contemporary in their idiom and way of speaking, a contrast that's often wryly provocative and laced with subtle political protest. The poems in "Apollo in the Grass," mostly written after the fall of the Soviet Union speak from a place where the the mythic and the historic coexist with the everyday, where Odysseus is one of us, and the "stern voice" of history can transform any public square into a harrowing schoolroom. But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but "greatness is . . . sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous.", "To renew the wish to live, I remember a waterfall.""It clutches at stones, hangs like a wild grapevine""In a blind homeland of stone letters, stone books--""Here's the one who takes life in totally, perishing every instant.""--from "The Waterfall""For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, the work of Aleksandr Kushner was indispensable. "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian." Kushner's poems are simultaneously deeply traditional in their mastery of form--as well as in their influences, which trace back through the "Silver Age" poets to the rootstock of the Russian lyric--and utterly contemporary in their idiom and way of speaking, a contrast that's often wryly provocative and laced with subtle political protest. The poems in "Apollo in the Grass," mostly written after the fall of the Soviet Union speak from a place where the the mythic and the historic coexist with the everyday, where Odysseus is one of us, and the "stern voice" of history can transform any public square into a harrowing schoolroom. But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but "greatness is . . . sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous.", A selection of poems from one of Russia's greatest contemporary poets To renew the wish to live, I remember a waterfall.It clutches at stones, hangs like a wild grapevineIn a blind homeland of stone letters, stone books-Here's the one who takes life in totally, perishing every instant. -from The Waterfall"For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodksy, the work of Aleksandr Kushner was indispensable. "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian. This name is destined to outlive most of us and our children and grandchildren, as well as its bearer himself . . . Poetry is essentially the soul's search for its release in language, and the work of Aleksandr Kushner isa case where the soul has obtained that release." Kushner's poems are simultaneously deeply traditional in their mastery of form-as well as in their influences, which can be traced through Akhmatova back to Pushkin-and wryly provocative in their subtle political protests. The poems in Apollo in the Grass, written after the fall of the Soviet Union as Russia entered the age of Putin, are a place where the mythical and the everyday coexist, where ancient Greece and St. Petersburg are neighbors, and the Fall of Icarus and the Siege of Leningrad are contemporaneous. Kushner's Russia, a place that's "brazen, despotic, beggarly, harrowing," is a land of "creatures made of snow and bruises." But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but the poet wonders "If greatness is not sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous."", The more softly the word is pronounced The more ardent, the more miraculous. The less it dreams of becoming a song That much nearer it draws to music. -from "Apollo in the Grass" For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, the poems of Aleksandr Kushner were essential: "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian." Apollo in the Grass is the first collection in English translation of Kushner's post-Soviet poems, and also includes certain earlier ones that could not be published during the Soviet era. Kushner speaks to us from a place where the mythic and the historic coexist with the everyday, where Odysseus is one of us, and the "stern voice" of history can transform any public square into a harrowing schoolroom. This layering of times and events is also embodied in Kushner's distinctive poetic voice. Echoes of earlier Russian poets and styles enrich and complicate an idiom that is utterly natural and contemporary. Now, as in the Soviet era, Kushner's work is especially cherished for its exemplary stoic integrity. But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but "greatness is . . . sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous."
9780374105730 English 0374105731 "To renew the wish to live, I remember a waterfall.""""It clutches at stones, hangs like a wild grapevine""""In a blind homeland of stone letters, stone books--""""Here's the one who takes life in totally, perishing every instant.""""--from "The Waterfall""For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, the work of Aleksandr Kushner was indispensable. "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian." Kushner's poems are simultaneously deeply traditional in their mastery of form--as well as in their influences, which trace back through the "Silver Age" poets to the rootstock of the Russian lyric--and utterly contemporary in their idiom and way of speaking, a contrast that's often wryly provocative and laced with subtle political protest. The poems in "Apollo in the Grass," mostly written after the fall of the Soviet Union speak from a place where the the mythic and the historic coexist with the everyday, where Odysseus is one of us, and the "stern voice" of history can transform any public square into a harrowing schoolroom. But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but "greatness is . . . sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous.", "To renew the wish to live, I remember a waterfall.""It clutches at stones, hangs like a wild grapevine""In a blind homeland of stone letters, stone books--""Here's the one who takes life in totally, perishing every instant.""--from "The Waterfall""For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, the work of Aleksandr Kushner was indispensable. "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian." Kushner's poems are simultaneously deeply traditional in their mastery of form--as well as in their influences, which trace back through the "Silver Age" poets to the rootstock of the Russian lyric--and utterly contemporary in their idiom and way of speaking, a contrast that's often wryly provocative and laced with subtle political protest. The poems in "Apollo in the Grass," mostly written after the fall of the Soviet Union speak from a place where the the mythic and the historic coexist with the everyday, where Odysseus is one of us, and the "stern voice" of history can transform any public square into a harrowing schoolroom. But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but "greatness is . . . sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous.", A selection of poems from one of Russia's greatest contemporary poets To renew the wish to live, I remember a waterfall.It clutches at stones, hangs like a wild grapevineIn a blind homeland of stone letters, stone books-Here's the one who takes life in totally, perishing every instant. -from The Waterfall"For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodksy, the work of Aleksandr Kushner was indispensable. "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian. This name is destined to outlive most of us and our children and grandchildren, as well as its bearer himself . . . Poetry is essentially the soul's search for its release in language, and the work of Aleksandr Kushner isa case where the soul has obtained that release." Kushner's poems are simultaneously deeply traditional in their mastery of form-as well as in their influences, which can be traced through Akhmatova back to Pushkin-and wryly provocative in their subtle political protests. The poems in Apollo in the Grass, written after the fall of the Soviet Union as Russia entered the age of Putin, are a place where the mythical and the everyday coexist, where ancient Greece and St. Petersburg are neighbors, and the Fall of Icarus and the Siege of Leningrad are contemporaneous. Kushner's Russia, a place that's "brazen, despotic, beggarly, harrowing," is a land of "creatures made of snow and bruises." But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but the poet wonders "If greatness is not sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous."", The more softly the word is pronounced The more ardent, the more miraculous. The less it dreams of becoming a song That much nearer it draws to music. -from "Apollo in the Grass" For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, the poems of Aleksandr Kushner were essential: "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian." Apollo in the Grass is the first collection in English translation of Kushner's post-Soviet poems, and also includes certain earlier ones that could not be published during the Soviet era. Kushner speaks to us from a place where the mythic and the historic coexist with the everyday, where Odysseus is one of us, and the "stern voice" of history can transform any public square into a harrowing schoolroom. This layering of times and events is also embodied in Kushner's distinctive poetic voice. Echoes of earlier Russian poets and styles enrich and complicate an idiom that is utterly natural and contemporary. Now, as in the Soviet era, Kushner's work is especially cherished for its exemplary stoic integrity. But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but "greatness is . . . sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous."