Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Rocek
Michael,
not really--he wrote this secretly, but the authorities found out and arrested him. It didn't lead immediately to his death--that came 5 years later. See Wikepedia article, which includes this amazing quote:
Here is a selection of his poems--some are grim, some life-affirming: Mandelstam poems. |
I think there was more confrontation by design in the history of this poem. Mandelstam, though smart enough to fear and not relish prison and death, never the less was driven by some sense of destiny regarding the piece. He willfully read it aloud at more than a few occassions as if he could not bear for the words to be unheard by Stalin any more than he could bear the possible consequences. His widow spoke of his temperment and imagination saying he was not the kind who was made stronger from prison but rather broken by it. This made he actions in writing the piece and reading it aloud in the atmosphere of constant eavesdropping and betrayal all the more courageous. He had to overcome his own terror and anxiety to meet what he saw as his destiny. The relation of this piece to his Ode to Stalin is fascinating BTW. So, Martin, I guess I am objecting to the idea of the epigram as secret in some senses of the word.
His later poetry (Moscow and Voronezh notebooks) is quite different from his earlier stuff, Michael. I would suggest starting with those works. Mandelstam, in my opinion, still looks for his translator(s) but I like the Bloodaxe versions of those notebooks or the Complete Works but the latter is often expensive and hard to get a hold of.
Tony Brinkley at UMaine has some good translations online as well. There is Christian Wiman's newer versions as well but I didn't like them as much as I had hoped I would. The Bloodaxe versions remain my favorites as far as larger collections go. Definitely one of those poets to read alonngside some his biography and some commentary, again IMO. His widow's
Hope Against Hope is a memoir of their lives and is an amazing work. Also Clare Cavanagh's
Osip Mandelstam and the Modernist Creation of Tradition is a great read.
I love the White Review and I am gonna go check out the link you gave, Martin. Thanks.