Marina Tsvetaeva

It is 1918 in Moscow. The communist revolution is in full swing. Food is scarce, living conditions harsh. Two women meet on the stage of an empty theater. One is the now famous twenty-six-year-old poet Maria Tsvetaeva, the other the twenty-four-year-old actress Sonia Holliday (Sonechka). The Story of Sonechka, written almost twenty years later, is a vivid account, at once comic and tragic, of their love for each other. A previously untranslated masterpiece (Dmitry Bikov calls it “one of the five best books in world literature”), it stands as a testament to the artistry with which Tsvetaeva wrote prose; the vicissitudes of her life, love, and work; and the intense dynamics of Moscow culture in the wake of the Revolution. It also constitutes an exceedingly rare and early example of queer prose literature originally written in Russian.

Sbornik podarit vam vozmozhnost okunutsja v mir tsvetov, oschutit ikh aromaty i krasotu cherez stroki znakomykh poetov. Ot romanticheskikh opisanij roz do misticheskikh obrazov lilij - kazhdoe stikhotvorenie napolneno glubokimi emotsijami, eto iskusstvo vdokhnovenija i ocharovanija. V etoj knige sobrany stikhotvorenija o tsvetakh A. Feta, A. Pushkina, M. Tsvetaevoj i mnogikh drugikh. Izdanie organichno dopolnjajut jarkie illjustratsii, podobrannye dlja kazhdogo poeticheskogo shedevra.

100 and 1 Poems, in Russian language.

"Moim stikham, kak dragotsennym vinam, nastanet svoj chered..." Eti slova sovsem esche junoj Mariny Tsvetaevoj okazalis prorocheskimi. Ee tvorchestvo stalo krupnejshim i samobytnejshim javleniem russkoj literatury XX veka, velichie i tragediju kotorogo ona tak talantlivo vyrazila v svoikh proizvedenijakh. Predelnaja iskrennost, vysokij romantizm, glubokij tragizm liriki otlichajut proizvedenija, voshedshie v etu knigu.

"Kakie stikhi Vy pishete, Marina... Vy vozmutitelno bolshoj poet", - pisal Marine Tsvetaevoj Boris Pasternak. V sbornik voshli stikhotvorenija, v kotorykh jarko predstavleno vse mnogoobrazie i vmeste s tem tselnost poeticheskogo mira Mariny Tsvetaevoj.

Po analogii s pushkinskim zolotym vekom epokha rubezha XIX i XX stoletija poluchila nazvanie Serebrjanogo veka i byla oznamenovana javleniem nebyvalogo chisla jarkikh imen v russkoj poezii: Balmont i Brjusov, Gippius i Merezhkovskij, Sologub i Annenskij, Blok i Akhmatova, Gumilev i Mandelshtam, Tsvetaeva i Pasternak, Esenin i Majakovskij i desjatki drugikh. No ne tolko velikoe mnozhestvo poeticheskikh darovanij porodila eta epokha. Serebrjanomu veku bylo prisusche osoboe romanticheskoe mirooschuschenie, udivitelnaja atmosfera, stavshaja otrazheniem dukhovnogo podema i novykh vejanij, kotorye zatronuli kak russkuju literaturu, tak i russkuju zhivopis, filosofiju, muzyku i teatr, - eto byl nastojaschij "kulturnyj renessans", kak pisal Nikolaj Berdjaev. V etoj antologii s dostatochnoj polnotoj predstavleny naibolee jarkie poety Serebrjanogo veka, tvorchestvo kotorykh proshlo ispytanie vremenem i stalo dostojaniem ne tolko epokhi proshlogo, no i chastju russkoj literatury v tselom. Sostavlenie i statja: O. Saburovoj.

Marina Tsvetaeva ne prinadlezhala ni k odnoj poeticheskoj shkole, ne priznavala literaturnykh vlijanij - tolko chelovecheskie. Odna "za vsekh" i odna "protivu vsekh". Oshelomljajuschij temperament v sochetanii s neobyknovennym ritmicheskim raznoobraziem - otlichitelnye cherty tsvetaevskoj liriki. Ne zabotjas o granitsakh dozvolennogo, Tsvetaeva vpustila v poeziju stikhijnoe nachalo. I, naperekor neponimaniju, odinochestvu i nischenskomu "stopudovomu" bytu, vsegda ostavalas vnutrenne svobodnoj. V knigu voshli stikhotvorenija i poemy Mariny Tsvetaevoj, napisannye v raznye gody zhizni.

"Kakie stikhi Vy pishete, Marina... Vy vozmutitelno bolshoj poet", - govoril Marine Tsvetaevoj Boris Pasternak. Poezija Tsvetaevoj, kazhetsja, ne nuzhdaetsja v otsenkakh: takoj sovershennoj i v to zhe vremja dostupnoj ona predstajot pered chitatelem. Vyverennye i jarkie stikhi odnoj iz glavnykh geroin Serebrjanogo veka zvuchat moschno i strastno, v nikh organichno sochetaetsja stojkost i ranimaja lirichnost. V sostav etoj knigi vkhodjat samye izvestnye stikhotvornye tsikly i poemy Mariny Tsvetaevoj. Sbornik soprovozhdjon predisloviem i illjustratsijami, pomogajuschimi eschjo luchshe pochuvstvovat dukh togo velikogo vremeni, v kotorom zhila i tvorila Tsvetaeva.

Poeticheskij obraz Moskvy... Kakoj on? V stikhakh vydajuschikhsja poetov stolitsa ozhivaet, stanovjas glavnoj geroinej i istochnikom vdokhnovenija. V etom sbornike vy najdjote kak klassicheskie stikhi, tak i maloizvestnye raboty, otrazhajuschie bogatstvo istorii i kultury Moskvy. Opisanija ulits i ploschadej, menjajuschikhsja na protjazhenii vekov, krasoty i raznoobrazija gorodskoj zhizni, a takzhe otkrovennye i tjoplye emotsii avtorov k prekrasnomu gorodu. Ot liricheskikh stikhov do filosofskikh razmyshlenij o sudbe i istorii serdtsa Rossii - eti stroki okunut vas v atmosferu Moskvy i pozvoljat uvidet ejo glazami A. Pushkina, M. Tsvetaevoj, S. Esenina i drugikh talantlivykh poetov.

V nastojaschem poeticheskom sbornike sobrany stikhotvorenija Mariny Tsvetaevoj o ljubvi. Pozhaluj, stolko ottenkov chuvstva, kotoroe pravit mirom, mogla perezhit i jarko zapechatlet na bumage tolko ona. "Kak ja ljublju - ljubit! Kak ja bezumno ljublju - sama ljubit!" - v etikh tsvetaevskikh frazakh kroetsja sekret pritjazhenija ee liricheskikh strochek. V nikh - uragan strastej, napor, ironija, sarkazm, stradanie, proschenie, obida, utrata, razluka, svidanie, vdokhnovenie. Stremitelnyj vikhr samykh raznykh oschuschenij zakhvatyvaet chitatelja, kruzhit, vyzyvaet lichnye vospominanija i ne otpuskaet do kontsa knigi, bogato illjustrirovannoj kartinami izvestnykh khudozhnikov.

Nastojaschij sbornik sostavili stikhotvorenija Mariny Tsvetaevoj, v osnovnom napisannye v emigratsii. Vo vtoroj i tretij razdely voshli preimuschestvenno proizvedenija iz poslednego prizhiznennogo sbornika 1940 goda, kotoryj ej ne udalos napechatat. A v pervom chitatel najdjot stikhi, davno stavshie izvestnymi pesnjami: "Mne nravitsja, chto Vy bolny ne mnoj", "Pod laskoj pljushevogo pleda", "Vchera esche v glaza gljadel" i drugie. Navernoe, nikto iz poetov Serebrjanogo veka tak pronzitelno i otkrovenno, s takoj emotsionalnoj tochnostju, kak M. Tsvetaeva, ne napisal o sebe, o zhizni, o tvorchestve i o ljubvi. Ee poeticheskie stroki voskhischajut virtuoznostju sozdanija, slog zavorazhivaet, obrazy potrjasajut voploscheniem.

Three of the legendary Russian dissident writer's greatest poems, two autobiographical and one based on a Russian folktale, now in a new, invigorating English translation. The three poems in this collection, "Backstreets", "Poem of the Mountain" and "Poem of the End," were all written in the few short years spanning the period immediately preceding Tsvetaeva's move from the Soviet Union to Prague in 1922. "Poem of the Mountain" and "Poem of the End" are generally considered some of her finest poems and have been translated widely; "Backstreets," initially dismissed by Russian readers as nigh unintelligible, is almost unknown in English. Andrew Davis's translation is a first, and it reveals the poem in all in its emotional intensity and poetic pyrotechnics as among Tsvetaeva's greatest achievements. "Poem of the Mountain" and "Poem of the End" both concern the end of an affair. "Backsteets," by contrast, is a retelling of the Russian folk-tale of Dobrynya and Marinka. It is a very free retelling, however. In the original story a hero (Dobrynya) is seduced by a witch (Marinka) and turned into an aurochs, the extinct European ancestor to modern cattle. Marinka is then forced by Dobrynya's sister, herself possessed of magic powers, to restore Dobrynya to his original form. This she does, though at the same time extorting from him a promise to marry her in exchange for the restoration. He marries her, but murders her on their wedding night. Almost none of this makes it into "Backstreets," though the poem does retain the sense of magic and menace of the original. What is actually being described, is, beneath everything, a remarkable description of a highly charged erotic encounter. The poem is the clearest expression of Tsvetaeva's understanding of love and its possibilities. Davis's versions of Osip Mandelstam's Voronezh Notebooks have been widely admired. Here he brings his talents as poet and translator to the work of a Russian poet whose achievement has loomed ever larger with the years.

"Mne nravitsja, chto vy bolny ne mnoj...", "Uzh skolko ikh upalo v etu bezdnu...", "Pod laskoj pljushevogo pleda..." - blagodarja kinematografu eti i mnogie drugie stikhi stali izvestny shirokomu chitatelju. Poezija Tsvetaevoj otlichaetsja nepovtorimymi zhenskimi intonatsijami, "ochen russkim govorom", kak utverzhdali sovremenniki. To napevnye, to stremitelnye; to zadornye, to pechalnye - ee proizvedenija ponjatny i ljubimy po sej den.

Marina Tsvetaeva nachala vesti dnevnik esche v desjatiletnem vozraste i prodolzhila fiksirovat mysli i nabljudenija na protjazhenii vsej zhizni. V sbornik "Volnyj proezd" vkljucheny avtobiograficheskaja proza Tsvetaevoj i ee dnevnikovye zapisi. V pozdnej proze 30-kh godov dokumentalnaja storona vse silnee ottesnjaetsja razmyshlenijami; perekhod s urovnja lichnykh istorij na uroven vsechelovecheskogo stanovitsja vse zametnee.

"Vetrenyj vek my zastali, Lira!" - vosklitsaet Marina Tsvetaeva v odnom iz svoikh stikhotvorenij. Kakoj meroj merit iskusstvo v zhestokie vremena revoljutsij, vojn, krushenija idealov? Dlja Tsvetaevoj est tolko odin otvet: nikakikh popravok na vremena, nikakikh skidok na mnenie chitatelja. Kazhdyj poet - sam sebe merilo i otvetchik na sude sobstvennoj sovesti. V sbornike privedeny teoreticheskie i polemicheskie stati Tsvetaevoj, v nikh ona govorit o vazhnykh dlja nee poetakh-sovremennikakh - Maksimiliane Voloshine i Valerii Brjusove, Borise Pasternake i Vladimire Majakovskom, Andree Belom i Mikhaile Kuzmine.

Ljubov - chuvstvo, kotoroe blizko ljudjam vsekh pokolenij, kotoroe budorazhit krov i razum, rozhdaet potrjasajuschie po svoej sile stroki i metafory. Vzaimnaja ili bezotvetnaja, vsepogloschajuschaja, nezhnaja, strastnaja ili bezrassudnaja, vozvyshajuschaja ili dovodjaschaja do kraja bezdny... - vsemi granjami sverkaet ona i perelivaetsja v stikhotvorenijakh F. Tjutcheva, A. Feta, M. Tsvetaevoj, A. Akhmatovoj i mnogikh drugikh poetov.

From 1912 to 1920 Marina Tsvetaeva wrote copiously but published no books. Later she would claim that at least three major collections had fallen by the wayside in those years. The poems translated here offer readers the flavour of those vanished books, covering the period roughly from her daughter Alya's first birthday to the Tsar's abdication in March 1917 and the summer which followed. They reflect involvements with the poet Sonya Parnok and with a married economist of Polish origin, Nikodim Plutser-Sarnya. But there are also evocations of the Middle East, tributes to the Jews and to her sister Asya, plus a cycle in which Don Juan accosts Carmen and is buried in a grave amidst the Russian snow. Generally appearing in English for the very first time, they include several of the most accomplished and unforgettable poems Tsvetaeva was ever to write.

"Otgovorila roscha zolotaja...", "Mne nravitsja, chto Vy bolny ne mnoj...", "Na dalnej stantsii sojdu..." - stroki, znakomye kazhdomu. V sbornik voshli stikhotvorenija A. Pushkina, S. Esenina, M. Tsvetaevoj, A. Fatjanova, M. Tanicha i mnogikh drugikh. Pesni na stikhi izvestnykh poetov stali ochen populjarny, oni zvuchat s estrady, po radio i v kinofilmakh. V ikh slovakh organichno splelis istorija i sovremennost, mudrost vekov i kraski segodnjashnego dnja. Oni volnujut, zavorazhivajut i vdokhnovljajut.

"Moim stikham, kak dragotsennym vinam, nastanet svoj chered..." Eti slova sovsem esche junoj Mariny Tsvetaevoj okazalis prorocheskimi. Ee tvorchestvo stalo krupnejshim i samobytnejshim javleniem russkoj literatury XX veka, velichie i tragediju kotorogo ona tak talantlivo vyrazila v svoikh proizvedenijakh. Predelnaja iskrennost, vysokij romantizm, glubokij tragizm liriki otlichajut proizvedenija, voshedshie v etu knigu.

Stikhotvorenija Mariny Tsvetaevoj, vkljuchennye v knigu, vystraivajutsja v posledovatelnuju retrospektivu, kotoraja shag za shagom znakomit chitatelej s ee talantom: pervye izdannye raboty, znamenitye stikhi rastsveta tvorchestva Mariny Ivanovny, stikhotvorenija iz poslednego sbornika "Posle Rossii", a takzhe vpervye opublikovannye uzhe posle gibeli velikoj poetessy. Dlja shirokogo kruga chitatelej. Sostavitel Rozhnikova E. L.