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Ivan Shmelyov – The Year of God. Christmas. Part 2

Arkhip Kuindzhi – Moonlight Spots in the Forest in Winter (1898-1908)

Three days or so before Christmas all markets and squares were like a great forest of fir-trees. And what fir-trees they were! Russia is very rich in them. The ones here are thin and brittle. The Russian fir-tree, after it warmed up and spread its branches, was like a conifer thicket.

Moscow’s Theatre Square was like a thick forest. All trees stood there, covered in snow. And when it snowed, you could literally get lost! Traders were dressed in thick coats, as if they worked in the woods. And people were walking there, choosing a tree.

My word, the dogs looked like wolves in those fir-trees. The fires were burning, for people to warm up. The smoke was billowing in huge clouds. And in the thickness of the trees the sellers of sbiten were shouting: “Here, sweet sbiten, hot kalach!” Sbiten was everywhere – in samovars, in buckets with long handles. What is sbiten? My, it is so hot, and better than tea. It is a drink with honey and ginger, fragrant and sweet. One glass cost one copeck.

The roll was frosted, and a glass with sbiten was thick and faceted, it burned your fingers. Sbiten was nice to drink in that snowy forest. You sipped the drink, and your breath went up in clouds, like in a steam train. The roll was a veritable icicle, so you had to dunk it in sbiten, to make it softer. And so you walked in those fir-trees till late. The frost was getting bitterer. The foggy sky was burning purple. The branches were covered in frost. Now and again you would stumble on a frozen crow that crackled like a piece of glass.

Frosty may be Russia but… warm!

On Christmas Eve, we usually did not eat until the first star. Kutya was cooked with rye and honey, and so was stewed fruit: prunes, pears, and dried peaches…They were put on a heap of hay, under the icons.

Why did we do so? This was like a gift to Christ. Well, as if He was there in the manger, on that hay.  

As you were waiting for that star, you would wipe all windows in the house. The glass was all covered with ice because of the frost. Oh, dear, how beautiful that ice was! There were fir-trees and wonderful streaks, all lace-like. You would scratch it with your nail: is there a star to be seen? There is indeed! First, there was one, then another. The glass turned blue. The stove was crackling because of the frost, the shadows were galloping, and the stars were lighting up one by one. And what stars they were!..  You would open a window pane, and the frosty air would sear you with its bitterness. Oh, those stars..! They were trembling and twinkling, and the black sky was boiling with their light. Oh, what stars! They were live and whiskered, and they were breaking into pieces that blinded your eyes. The air was so cold that it made stars appear bigger, and they shone like coloured crystals, sending down the arrows: azure, and blue, and green. And you would also hear the tinkle, as if it was coming from those stars! It was icy and resonant, like a silver bell was ringing. There was nothing like this, ever. In the Kremlin, when the bells rang, the peal was ancient, sedate, and very deep. And this starry peal was from tight silver bells, all velvety. It seemed like a thousand churches were ringing their bells at once. You would not hear such sound on any other day. At Easter, the bells were chiming, and at Christmas, it was a silvery hum that spread for miles and miles, like a song that had neither a beginning nor the end… 

Translated from Russian by Julia Shuvalova.

Ivan Shmelyov, Christmas, part 1.

Ivan Shmelyov – The Year of God. Christmas. Part 1

Ivan Shmelyov (1873-1950) was a Russian writer and essayist who emigrated to France after the October Revolution. The Year of God (Лето Господне) is a book of his recollections of pre-revolutionary life in Russia. The narrator, an adult person, recalls everyday life and religious festivals of a merchant family in Moscow, into which he was born. He turns a loving eye to his childhood memories, going through them like a fantastic kaleidoscope of events. For this Christmas season I have translated a respective chapter of his book…

Ivan Shmelyov – Christmas

You want, my dear boy, that I told you about our Christmas season.   Well… Should you not understand something, let your heart guide you.  

Konstantin Korovin – Winter. A Street.

Imagine me as old as you are now. Do you know what snow is? Here it is rare, and it melts as soon as it falls. But in Russia once the snowfall started, no light of the day would be seen for three days or so! The snow covered everything. The streets were all white, with large drifts. The snow was everywhere: on the roofs, on the fences, on the streetlights – lots of snow! It would even hang down from the roofs – and suddenly it would drop, like a heap of flour, and even get behind one’s collar. The caretakers collected the snow and took it away, otherwise everything would sink in it.    

The Russian winter is silent and dull. The sledge may ride fast, but you do not hear a sound. Only when the frost comes, then the runners screech. And when the spring arrives, and you hear the sound of the wheels, then what a joy it is!

 Our Christmas comes from afar, very quietly. The snow is deep, and the frost is getting stronger.  

Once you see the frozen pork being delivered, then you know that Christmas is near. For six weeks people were fasting on fish. The wealthier ate beluga, sturgeon, walleye, navaga; the poorer had herring, catfish, bream… In Russia, we had all kinds of fish. But at Christmas everyone ate pork. At the butcher’s, they would lay those pigs, like tree logs – up to the ceiling. The gammon was cut off, for corning. And so these cuts were lying in rows, and the snow dusted the pink stripes on the ground.    

The frost was so strong that it riveted the air, turning it into a foggy frosty haze. The wagon trains were coming for Christmas. What is it, you ask? Well, it is like a train, except there were wide sledges instead of carriages, and they were riding on the snow, coming from the distant lands. One after one, they went in single file, stretching for miles.  

The horses were from the steppe, to be sold. The drivers were all healthy, strong men from the Volga Region, near Samara. They brought pork, piglets, geese and turkeys, from the “ardent frost”, as they said. Then there was a Siberian grouse and a black grouse. Do you know a Siberian grouse? It is mottled, or pockmarked, that’s what its Russian name means. It is as big as a pigeon, methinks. It is a game, a forest bird. It feeds on rowan, cranberry, and juniper. And what taste it had, my brother! Here this bird is rare, but in Russia it was delivered by wagon trains. The merchants would sell everything, including the sledge and horses, buy the cloths and calico and go back home by cast iron. What is cast iron? Ah well, it is the railroad. It was more profitable to travel to Moscow on a wagon train: the merchant carried his own oats for his horses from his plants on the shoals of the steppe, and sold the horses in the capital.

Just before Christmas, in Konnaya Square in Moscow – or the Horse Square, for they sold horses there – the groans never stopped. This square… how to say it? It was more spacious than… the one where the Eiffel Tower is, you know? And there were sledges everywhere.    

Thousands of sledges stood in rows. Frozen pigs were piled like firewood for miles on end. The snow would cover them, but snouts and bottoms were lurking from beneath. Next stood the vats as great… as this room, perhaps! The corned pork was cooked there. The frost was so strong that the brine froze, and you could see thin ice on it. The butcher was cutting the pork with an axe, and sometimes a piece of it, as much as half a pound, would bounce off – no care! A beggar would pick it up. These pork “crumbs” were thrown to beggars by armful: have it, the fasting is over! In front of the pork there was a piglet row, for another mile. And farther they traded geese, chicken, ducks, black grouse, Siberian grouse… They traded directly from the sledge. There were no scales, and everything was mostly sold by piece. Russia is a very hearty country: no scales, things are done by the eye. Sometimes the factory workers would harness themselves to the large sledge and off they went, laughing. And in the sledge there was a pile of piglets, and pork, and corned pork, and mutton… Life was rich then.

Translated from Russian by Julia Shuvalova.

Other posts in Translations.

Ivan Shmelyov, Christmas, part 2.

An Empire Reborn

Russia is moving from the servile copying of liberalism to creating the Russian national state and the renaissance of the Russian empire

by Roman Antonovsky

Today’s speech by Vladimir Putin will definitely go down in history.

In fact, this is a manifesto. It is a manifesto of conservative antiglobalism. Evidently, Russia has finally defined its present-day ideology, combining the best that was in the Russian Empire and to some extent – in the USSR.

First of all, Putin has declared our country a stronghold of traditional conservative values where 15o genders, LGBT-propaganda, destigmatization of paedophilia and transsexuality are all out of place. Meanwhile, the left liberals from the U.S. Democratic party are trying to impose the above as the “new normal” on the rest of the world.

Secondly, our President has proclaimed Russia the leader of the global anti-colonial movement. Such was the USSR in the mid-20th century when it helped the nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America to free themselves from the European and American colonialism.

Indeed, the West acknowledged the independence to its former colonies. However, it has de-facto continued to exploit these countries economically and has not shun from applying military force to overthrow the regimes it dislikes.

Thirdly, it is no coincidence why, speaking of Russian national interests, Putin finished his landmark speech with a quote from the work by Ivan Ilyin. Ilyin was the principal ideologist of the Russian Orthodox Imperial national-patriotism. This philosopher’s works that were written at the beginning and in the mid-20th century, are extremely relevant today. Everything he wrote about external and internal enemies, the West and Ukraine fits perfectly into the current agenda. Moreover, apart from warnings about the dangers on the path of the Russian state and its people, his writings contain the working recipes how to overcome both dangers and enemies. Putin quoted Ilyin’s work “For national Russia. The manifesto of the Russian movement”.

Today, the speech of Putin himself has become such manifesto. The speech contained reference to the Bible, Ilyin, and traditional values and indicated that Russia is moving away from the servile copying of the Western liberalism towards creating the Russian national state and the renaissance of the Russian empire, whose interests the rest of the world will have to reckon with. Novorossiya’s comeback to the native harbour is but the beginning of Russia’s gathering its lands and gaining full sovereignty.

Translated from Russian by Julia Shuvalova

More on Russia

Football Fans in Russia Turn to the Front

Russian football fans unite behind the team “RUSSIA”. They make the support of the country and soldiers their priority.

Russia may not be the most potent football power, but its football fans are known for their ability to unite behind their favourite team. Today they unite behind the team “RUSSIA”. Below is an extract from the Russian football fan club CSKA Vandals address to other fan clubs:

“Dear friends, regardless of your club preferences,

Some of you have long followed the event in Donbass and have already made their contribution to the fight, but for some of you the war is only just beginning to get personal. Now that each of us has seen (or may see) their pals, friends, or relatives go to the front, it is high time to stop having vain hopes and thinking that this war is far enough to pass you by. It won’t. It is time to realise your personal responsibility for the guys at the frontline and for the future of our country and to start helping each other, so as to bring closer the end of fighting and the peace. Better later than never.

Many were emotionally driven by fear to flee the country in haste, but we are staying here, in our homeland, with our near and dear, and with you. From now on we stop any football-linked activity and make the support of our brothers and the victory of Russia our sole priority”.

Translated from Russian by Julia Shuvalova

Other posts On Russia.

Ukraine is the New Afghanistan for the USA

The cost of maintaining the war in Afghanistan was the same for the US as is presently the cost of Ukraine.

The pandemic that struck in 2020 now seems far less terrifying than impeding hunger, cold, and a global war. A lot of people throughout the world still hope to somehow escape the conflict by moving elsewhere. But I doubt there is a place on earth where one can confidently hide. So, I believe we’d be better off facing the real circumstances. Here’s a text from another Telegram channel with a brief analysis of America’s plans to make Ukraine the new Afghanistan.

from The Empire of a Smoker TG channel

An interesting fact: the cost of maintaining the war in Afghanistan was the same for the US as is presently the cost of Ukraine.

The US expenditure on sustaining the military contingent in Afghanistan amounted to $42 bln. The cost of maintaining the Afghani government in the form of external assistance was 42% of GDP in 2020, or some $8-9 bln.

Altogether, Afghanistan cost the U.S. $50-52 bln per year.

Notably, Ukraine’s cost is roughly the same: $50-60 bln. Of these, around $30 bln go towards the budget, and the other $20-30 bln – towards the arms supplies.

Conclusions

First, the U.S. had made a decision to start their own military operation in Ukraine BEFORE August 31, 2021 when they withdrew from Afghanistan in haste.

Secondly, the U.S. had been staying in Afghanistan for 20 years, hence they have been planning to stay in Ukraine for just as long.

Thirdly, since the Ukrainian economy is totally destroyed, and over 54% of its budget is refilled by external assistance, then the primary business of Ukraine is the war with Russia ((and soon perhaps it will be the only business). This means there will be no negotiations, for the war is now the sole guarantee of Ukraine’s existence.

What this means, is that it is highly unlikely that the war will end tomorrow or in a month. It will last for as long as the U.S. need it, until they reach their goals or lose the opportunity to do so.

Translated from Russian by Julia Shuvalova

Other posts in Ukraine

Mobilization in Russia and Thoughts on the “Flight”

While mobilization is underway, some people chose to flee Russia. The majority’s sentiment towards them is disdain.

Something we have expected from February is now happening. The mobilization has started in Russia last Wednesday, and today the reserve officers have departed for the training centres. A lot of experts were arguing for it since the beginning of the Special Military Operation, but I believe there is time for everything. Now is the time for Russian men to protect the newly-freed territories of Donbass and the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions.

The new “Flight”

Meanwhile, some people chose to flee Russia back in February, and some are leaving now. If you want to know the sentiment of the majority of Russians towards this “flight”, it is mostly a disdain.

People often confuse the government and the country. Whereas the love and support for the country often mean the approval of the government, the attitude to the government doesn’t equal the attitude to the country, its people and culture. I may dislike the government for some of its (in)actions but my love for my country will not let me seek the revolution.

The effect of globalization and “democratization” has been such that the notions of national pride and patriotism have been mocked for years on end. Yet, as the recent events show, they have not become obsolete or redundant. Having something to be proud of is pertinent to a man. Having a role model is vital for self-development. And love for a country is the same as love for a family. This is what we see in Serbia – and in Italy, following the victory of the Brothers of Italy.

Alas, as we see today, the institute of a family is being destroyed in Europe and America, and love for the country is considered a manifestation of racism. In truth, however, loving the country, one’s family and compatriots is healthy and indicates a high degree of self-awareness and development, for this love prepares you to sacrifice many things for your loved one. Including your love.

Patriots Abroad

The reason why the Russian government is not preventing those fleeing the country from doing so is quite obvious. We don’t need cowards, we don’t need those who may work to destroy the country from within. We want real men, real citizens who love their country and their compatriots.

Someone I studied with at the Lomonosov MSU went to Turkey in February. He studied Art History, so obviously he considers himself a mouthpiece of the Russian “intelligentzia“. Recently he felt the urge to express his attitude to the military operation, Putin, and all of us who have not fled the country. We, he said, are his enemies.

Well, if so, then he and his co-thinkers are better off to be away from the Russian horde. However, I reminded him about the General Denikin who fled Russia in the aftermath of the Civil War but who one of the first to provide financial assistance to the Soviet State during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). The Russian composer Sergey Rachmaninov also donated his concert money to the USSR throughout the war years until his death in 1943. This is what he wrote in letters from 1941-1942:

November 19, 1941: “This is the only way in which I can express my compassion for the sufferings of the people of my homeland”.

March 25, 1942: “From one of the Russians – here is my assistance to the Russian nation in its fight against the enemies. I want to believe, and I do believe, in complete victory”.

Following the victory at Stalingrad, 1943, Rachmaninov addressed Joseph Stalin with a short letter:

“I am now confident that my Motherland will defeat the agressors. I also admire the fact that despite its greatest ordeal the musical culture of fighting Russia, including that of the Russian nation, continues to enthrall the world, it is alive and continues to develop. I am willing to accept that we were probably wrong in the early 1920s when we thought that the Russian art was doomed to be destroyed or degraded”.

Mobilization

So, mobilization is going well. The soldiers are not being sent straight to the front. They first arrive at the training camp and it is not certain that they will actually go to fight. The territories of Donbass and other two regions need the people militia and other male help. The link will take you to a report in Telegram of Moscow reserve soldiers departing for Donbass. As for those “scared patriots” who chose to leave their homeland, we kind-heartedly mock them. They still have not realised that nobody wants them in either Europe or America. But I would also close the boundary, for we want to live, make families and do business with reliable people. I wouldn’t want anyone who chose to run away to ever come back and claim back their workplaces and chairs.

Likewise, there is more than one military operation going on at the moment. There is a lot to do within the country, in Moscow alone, in the spheres of civil life, e.g. education, health service, etc. So, we have all been mobilized, but, as the events of the bygone days show, we will conquer Mars after this Victory. Watch this space (sic!)

Other posts on Ukraine and Russia.

Nabi Khazri – The Garden of Rocks (from A Japanese Notebook)

Ryōan-ji rock garden (Wikipedia)

Nabi Khazri (Nabi Alekper ogly Babaev) is the national poet of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The poem that I translated into English was rendered into Russian by Anatoly Peredreev. The Garden of Rocks is, obviously, the famous Ryōan-ji.

Sit down, take off your shoes,
Don’t say a word
While in the company
Of sand and white rocks,
And let this boundless silence be the ocean –
Immerse yourself in it.

Stay herewith the clouds most serene,
Don’t say a word
Next to the sand and rocks,
And ages set in stone.
May those rocks be isles in the ocean?
Or may they be the clouds most serene?

Can you not see the glow of days finite?
The moss, as green as everlasting life,
Is sparkling with the emerald of spring.
Meanwhile the wind discusses death and life
With the gently touched by sun sakura tree.

Once, like the wind, you’ll fly away in sorrow
And earthly life that you once here led
Will turn into a particle of this white sand
That now lies in silence between the stones.

You’re going… Wait… Eternity is speaking!
Here the sky, forever so blue,
And silence, and infinity are speaking…
Listen to them – for they all speak to you…

Translation © Julia Shuvalova 2011


Russian text

Наби Хазри – Сад камней (из “Японской тетради”)

Разуйся
И в молчанье посиди
Наедине с песком и белым камнем.
И в тишину
Как в океан войди
И растворись в безбрежном океане.
Побудь
В тишайшем мире облаков
Среди камней,
Среди песка
Без слов…
Побудь
С окаменевшими веками…
Не груда ль
Отвердевших облаков,
Не острова ли в океане –
Камни?..
Не свет ли в них
Погаснувших веков?..
Зеленый мох,
Как жизни знак бессмертный,
Весною изумрудною горит,
И ветер
С веткой сакуры рассветной
О жизни и о смерти говорит…
И ты, как ветер, улетишь,
Печальный,
И век земной,
Что был тобой прожит,
Войдет песчинкой
В тот песок хрустальный,
Что меж камней
В безмолвии лежит…
Уходишь ты…
Постой…
Послушай вечность!
Небесный свод
Нетленно-голубой,
И тишина,
И мира бесконечность
С тобою говорят…
С тобой… С тобой…

Авторизованный перевод с азербайджанского Анатолия Передреева.

Julia Shuvalova – Space O

Space O by Julia Shuvalova is a fictional account of David Bowie composing one of his most famous songs, Space Oddity. #bowie75

Space-O-Julia-Shuvalova

I wrote the story “Space O” in Russian in late February 2021, upon learning about a literary contest dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight to space. The contest was organized by Litres.Samizdat, a Russian platform for self-published authors, and Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency. It was shortlisted for the final and was eventually published in a separate collection of novellas by other contestants. Apparently, this collection has recently been delivered to the ISS, too.

space o
A cover of the original Russian story

As I was thinking about the subject for my story, I went through some notebooks but I did not find anything that caught my attention. It had to be a short story or a novella. I began to think “outside the box”. I did not want to delve into too many technical aspects of space flights, nor did I want to populate the story with extraterrestrial characters. I wanted something creative, daring, and utterly humane. Suddenly Space Oddity came to mind…, and I wrote this story overnight.

This is obviously a fictional account of David Bowie’s composing one of his most famous songs, but I did some research for the fictional part. All aspects of the first three chapters fell together almost by themselves, I only had to write it all down. Along the way I realized that I walked the same streets in Soho, I lived in Bromley, accessed from Victoria Station, for 2 weeks in 2004, so I was a regular at Victoria Station, too. The pub I depicted was a beer hole I visited once, but it was probably in Greater Manchester where I lived between 2003 and 2010. And I saw many loaders, like “Major Tom”, in my 7 years in England. After I submitted the story for the contest I decided to check when the first British person went to space. Turned out it was a woman, and her mission was mutually financed by the UK and the USSR, and it took place… on May 19th, 1991. 30 years after the first flight. “Majors” had to wait for a long time.

Space O is a story about dreams – and what breaks them. It is about love and poverty – the topics that Robert Burns was very much aware about. It is about inspiration and thirst for life. And it is about the Earth and space – for “the whole space is about Earth.” And on occasion of David Bowie’s 75th birthday I translated the story into English and share it now on this blog.

More on the topic:

60th Anniversary of the first space flight

Most posts about space

Georgy Beregovoy – Spacе Begins on Earth

Extracts from the book by the Russian cosmonaut, the Hero of the Soviet Union Georgy Beregovoy “Space Begins on Earth” (translated from Russian by Julia Shuvalova).

“Aldrin is wrong, perhaps, on one point: the feeling of unity with mankind has nothing mystical about it. It is a natural consequence of man’s going out into Space where he has acutely realised that he innately belongs to Earth. The alien nature of Space makes people understand more deeply and clearly what these are – the Earth and its human inhabitants. Today mankind is no longer a mere mass of people who lived once or are living now; mankind is something that exists nowhere in the entire universe – except on Earth.

It has long been noted that a parasite consumes far more than someone who lives an active life, who is passionate about his work, interesting work. The parasite strives to fill the void of his existence with objects; they are the only things that preoccupy him. The one who leads an active life creates objects rather than consumes them. For him, things are not the end of it all; they are just the interior of life, and their sense lies in a man’s self-expression, in making use of whatever capabilities and opportunities he has got. These people usually give more to the world than take away from it.

The creative mind is great because it aims at what can be achieved and created, not what has been done. It strives to the future instead of sinking into the present.

The life of a man is but a particle of time; the life of mankind is an uninterrupted chain of these particles that to us is the image of Time itself. And just as it is impossible to either stop the time or to turn it back, so the mankind can only move forward. This is why the Space exploration is inevitable unless we want the mankind to disappear along with our, sadly, mortal planet. Earth is but a humanity’s cradle, in the words of Tsiolkovsky, and its real home is an infinite universe, not bound by either time, or space.

We simply have no choice… We may only choose the means to the goal, not the goal itself. And the goal of delving into Space and its exploration has been set by the very nature of rational life.

Each of us follows his own path to reach the goals of his epoch… I have always strived to do as much as I am capable of, and not less – and I hope to continue to do so! Yet even this skill is rather usual, in that anyone may acquire it, given the desire.

Of course, I didn’t want to waste my life on nonsense, I wanted to serve people. And for that, I knew well, I had to give my all, to live so that I had no energy left of what had been given to me.

In physics they say that when a system energy reaches its critical level, a threshold, it inevitably acquires a new, previously inexistant quality. So I, too, have eventually reached my critical threshold beyond which there lay the road to Space”.

And Once Again about Tichborne’s Elegy

Tichborne’s Elegy a well-known poem by a 28-year-old Tudor guy on the eve of his execution for taking part in conspiracy against Elizabeth I

I have never asked English-speaking readers what or how they felt about Chidiock Tichborne’s Elegy. It is a well-known poem, written by a 28-year-old Tudor guy on the eve of his execution for taking part in the Babington conspiracy against Elizabeth I. It is a tearful meditation on the brevity and fatality of life.

The Translator’s Labour’s Lost

I suspect that it is the poem’s melancholy and romantic feel that has made it so popular among contemporary Russian translators. On the web one can find some 5 or 6 variations, all different. Nothing wrong with this, except one thing: the majority of attempts are based around external (=obvious) characteristics of the poem. Translators have found that “Elegy” consists of monosyllabic, Anglo-Saxon words. This obviously makes the poem very unique, and, because we’re reading a Renaissance poem – and Renaissance is well-known for its fascination with symbols and riddles – the monosyllabic words are (mis)taken for an authorial intent. Tichborne was contemplating the brevity of life, and so he used monosyllabic words to emphasise the point.

There are two problems with such interpretation. First, even when we translate prose, we still miss out on certain symbolic features in the destination text. However good we are as translators, losses are sometimes inevitable. In the end, a written text is a rhetorical exercise, and therefore we still want to entertain the reader with our translation. If it closely follows the original text but is cumbersome and distasteful, then the reader will be tired, annoyed, and not at all pleased. This means that we cannot aim for a complete lexical equivalence in translation, but rather we should aim to translate (i.e. negotiate) something else.

Russian is my native language, which I know in depth, and yet even I would struggle to provide monosyllabic equivalents to all the English monosyllabic words in Tichborne’s Elegy. And even if I did manage to find them all, the result would hardly possess much literary merit because I wouldn’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

The second problem with putting too much emphasis on monosyllabic words in Tichborne’s poem is that we’re clearly trying to add to what is already contained in the poem. For some reason we are not satisfied with the fact that “Elegy” is about the fatality and shortness of one’s life, so we think we must find that which would further stress this. Let’s not think about the poem; let’s look at what I’ve just said. “We think we must find that which would further stress this“; “let’s not think about the poem“; “let’s look at what I’ve just said“. Correct me if I’m wrong but the majority of words in those phrases are monosyllabic. Because I am the living and breathing author of those phrases, I certainly declare that I didn’t plan to use monosyllabic words to stress my point. The point is very simple: there are many monosyllabic words in the English language, and a lot of them happened to be used in Tichborne’s “Elegy. Rather than assuming that Tichborne conspired (excuse the pun) to use monosyllabic words in his final poem, one should better look at this as a kind of linguistic peculiarity. It certainly adds to the poem’s feel; but, as far as I am concerned, it cannot be viewed as the poem’s most distinct feature, let alone it cannot dictate how we translate the poem.

As far as the Anglo-Saxon origin of the words goes, again I personally believe we’re walking a useless extra mile in trying to establish the uniqueness of the poem. I think so purely because I am careful of not infusing the poem with my knowledge. This is the biggest disservice I can do to myself as translator and to my readers. The question on these occasions must not be “do I know these words are Anglo-Saxon?” but “did Tichborne know these words were Anglo-Saxon?” I bet the historic origin or the etymology of the words didn’t matter to him in the hours before the execution. Someone may think differently but the question to ask is: would the origin of the words matter to you in Tichborne’s circumstances?

Tichborne’s Elegy Intent

I argued in a short essay in Russian about the complications of translating “Elegy” that it is actually a very easy poem to translate, thanks to the Russian lyrical tradition. Mysticism, melancholy, romantic troubles, forlorn love is what often distinguishes Russian poetry. Tichborne’s “Elegy” could easily be written by a Romanticist poet like Lermontov, should he have found himself in prison awaiting execution. Given Lermontov’s caliber as a poet, his poem would well exceed Tichborne’s in literary merit, but in tone and mood it could be very similar.

Last but not least, the misfortunes of translators who tried to translate “Elegy” have entirely to do with the problem of identifying the context and the intent of the poem. I have already pointed out to the problem of context: we’re placing the poem in the context of the language, whereas we must place it in the context of its own time. The themes of Tichborne’s poem are the brevity of life, fatality, death, and the inevitability of punishment, however unjust and cruel. These very themes were widely discussed not only in contemporary literature, but were explored by painters. In my Russian text I compared the colours of “Elegy” to the palette of Tintoretto’s “Marriage at Cana”: the colours are rich but dim, as if covered by the ‘frost of cares‘. There is a similar kind of melancholy and sadness in Michelangelo’s sonnets, and the whole topic of brevity of life was labeled vanitas in both painting and literature. Seen in this context, Elegy” is a bridge between Renaissance exuberance and lust for life and Baroque melancholy, presented in a rather beautiful and peculiar lyrical form.

chidiock-tichborne-elegy
The text of Tichborne’s Elegy

Tichborne’s intent is quite easy to comprehend. It is known that he was practising poetry, so, in addition to writing a letter to his darling wife, what could be a better way to bid farewell to this earthy life? And the poem’s intent has to do with the context in which we should read it. Again, this is not the context of the language, but of the time. Tichborne wasn’t teaching us a lesson in the English language; he wasn’t trying to tell us how many monosyllabic words there were in the English language, let alone how many of them were Anglo-Saxon. Instead, he suddenly found himself in a prison cell, and, given that he travelled to the Continent and obviously had the chance to view the works of Italian painters, all the images of vanitas, hour-clocks, and hovering deathly shadows rushed into his mind. If, like Dostoevsky in the 19th c, Tichborne had been suddenly pardoned in 1586, “Elegy” could become a stepping stone for a poetic talent. Instead, it became the last and only manifestation of any literary promise. If Tichborne was indeed practising poetry during his life, then this poem also contains his understanding that he could no longer develop his gift, and this should have been distressing also. Therefore, when we translate “Elegy“, we must strive to convey this emotional component of the original text. And, in case you wonder, this is exactly what I did in my translation.

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