Главная страница «Первого сентября»Главная страница журнала «Английский язык»Содержание №12/2007

YOUTH ENGLISH SECTION

MSU Students to David Constantine

Last year a famous British poet and translator Professor David Constantine came to Russia for a fortnight to lecture on modern British poetry at the seminar for Russian translators. The seminar was arranged by The British Council in Russia and was held in January 2006 not far from Pskov in Petrovskoye. Senior Instructor of Moscow State University Helena Shatskikh took part in the seminar and later initiated a series of translations made by the students of MSU’s philosophy school. Several translations were sent with respect to David Constantine to Oxford and before long he answered the students to their great delight. Here are some extracts from the correspondence that show the genuine interest of the Russian public in modern English verse.

 

 

Dear Mr. Constantine!
Recently I have read some of your poems. I was really impressed by them. I cannot say that I understand all your poems, but I think that in some way I feel them. I think that I even learnt some new emotions from your poems. And some of your emotions were rather close to mine.
Our instructor Helena Shatskikh also gave us some poems of other modern English poets. I noticed that English poems are quite different from ours. Even the rhythm is different. And rhythm is one of the most important things in modern literature. Rhythm can change the meanings of words. As I’ve mentioned English poets and Russian poets are different. I cannot imagine a Russian poet writing on the same topic as Pascale Petit. But still there are some things that are the same for people from all countries. And I think that in your poems I found things like this.
Another important thing is the style of writing and words a poet uses. It depends on a person. For example, I like beautiful words and images. Beautiful does not mean happy. Feelings of sorrow can be very beautiful. And feelings of sorrow do not mean ugly feelings. I know that the world has its drawbacks, but I do not like it when people concentrate on its ugliness. So, for example, actually I cannot say that I liked “Lipstick” by Sasha Dugdale very much.
At the end of this letter I just want to thank you for your poems. I am not a writer so I am not able to describe feelings and emotions in words and so I like to find these feelings written in words by other people. Your poems helped me to enrich my mind in some way and to understand myself more deeply.

Sincerely yours,
Andrey Vinokurov

Dear Mr. Constantine!
This year I have got acquainted with modem English poetry. I had not heard anything about it until our English language instructor Helena Shatskikh gave us interesting information about it and we have read some poems.
Modem English poetry is so different. Some of the poems are close to the classical style, some are vanguard. Some are touching and sublime, some are very extravagant.
I have really enjoyed poems by Carol Ann Duffy. They are so romantic; there are so many emotions in them.
Also I have read some of your poems. I like them very much. Especially the poem “Peacock”. When you read it you feel a touch of the butterfly, wind blowing… These are wonderful feelings. Thank you very much for your poetry.
In Russia we have such an expression: “A poet in Russia is more than just a poet”. I wish all modern English poetry to be more than just poetry.
Looking forward to reading your new poems.

Вest wishes,
Lydia

Dear Mr. Constantine,
I’d like to tell you what I think about modem English poetry and especially about your poems. What can I say? First of all I’d like you to know that I respect (more or less) most creative persons. No matter what type of culture they are creating. But of course I don’t like all of them. As for me – some of them are better, some of them are worse. I’m telling you all this (about what I like) because it will mean a lot later, when I will speak about my vision of your poetry. I think it is important to understand why I have this impression of what you write. So what is about my favorite style (or genre) in culture? It is avant-garde. By this word I mean also futurism, surrealism, Dadaism and others. Because they all have got one meaning I am dividing all culture into two main types, avant-garde and realism. Now about your poems according to my classification.
Obviously – your style is realism. I don’t like it, except some rare examples. Of course you can say that your poetry is not a realistic one. You can say that this is romanticism, symbolism, classicism or others. But for me all these “styles” are realistic! You may not agree but… You describe everyday life, everyday thoughts and everyday feelings. And you do it in such usual and daily words. Is not this realism? For example: “So happy to be my love set me free/Lucky to know the beauty that your eyes can’t see” or “My heart cries for the people I miss/Controlled by the souls of the young” or “Take a look at my world/Fighting to be the diamond of this world”. This is completely realistic kind of poetry. One may say: “There are such great ideas! Look deeper into them! There are so many meanings!” So what? Why do you need meanings? Why can’t you write some kind of impromptu? Like this:

Kind of a guilty feeling I’m now.
Is it a cow?!
Am I a zoo?!
Or can I play just some part on the roof?
Wondering of what it is on my ankles.
“THIS IS RABBITISH SCOTTY INDEED!!” –
shouted some crabbishly man on the street.
I did not believe him, cause this one is my head.

This is real poetry for me. This is real avant-garde. One may shout: “There are no meanings! There are no ideas! This is just words gathered together in some strange way!” But what if we think about it? If we want we will find all that you want in there. Just try. The main value of this kind of poems is that everyone can find his/her own meaning, his/her own idea. In realistic poems you’ll find only author’s thoughts, author’s meanings. It’s a pity! When you’re writing some avant-garde poem you don’t know what it will be in the end, what it will mean. You’re writing only with the help of your subconscious mind. Unfortunately I can’t say it about all avant-garde poems, because some authors think that they put some ideas and meanings in their verses.

Also I can show you another example of avant-garde poetry:
pIlhoinous LY Is this his JOUrnalesky?
IF TheY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Guests, let’s talk seriously! This is my crocodile and I won’t…
DeAr me dinng in my room. Can you bring some kind of broom? Gihlko. Opilko. Sardiny. НО!!
THIS IS SO TASTY!!!! GO. GU. JLA. XO!!
Ki. G t r TTTTTTTTTTcyryu. Jigly diving shows a napkin.

People may not like it and even think that this is not poetry at all! But it is. This is a more impressive, more emotional (but not more rational) kind of poetry. We can find here as many meanings as we want. There is an ocean of ideas! Just try and you’re in.
I have read some of your poems but I can’t say that your poetry is close to me. This is only my personal subjective opinion. I hope you found it interesting to read what I wrote to you in this letter. And of course people need this kind of poems because nowadays the world needs more and more real culture. I think most people like it. It was nice to get in touch with modern English verse through your poetry!

Best regards,
Anton Vagin

Dear Mr. Constantine!
My name is Marina Shkapina. I am a student of Moscow State University, the philosophy school. My home city is Smolensk.
As for English poetry, I heard about it as long as our instructor Helena Shatskikh devoted a seminar to this theme. We read such modern English poets, as Carol Ann Duffy, Sasha Dugdale, etc.
I was really charmed by the beauty of your style, the simplicity and openness combined with the philosophical depth of ideas. You really have a big talent, similarly to the artist, who by his light brush draws an enigmatic world, its attractive modesty and graceful originality. Your poem “Peacock” not only made me see, but, what is most important, feel a gentle shiver of perfect wings of the butterfly in a man’s hand.
I repeatedly observed the flight of butterflies in the beginning of boring autumn days. And I like the image created by you, the butterfly – shining, which illuminates by light a sad autumn landscape.
I have tried, as precisely as possible, to transfer the feelings arising during reading of the original in the translation. I hope, it was successful, but you should judge. This is my translation:

Peacock

Ладонь мужчины нежна, как бархат,
Когда берёт он бабочку с оконного стекла
И ощущает дрожь её крыла, подобную сближенью век печальных.

Давно она мечту в душе лелеет,
Всем существом изображая
Могущество свободы через лед стекла.

Опять октябрь. Ветр бушует.
Деревьям отведён последний вздох.
И всё, что умерло иль умирает, несёт с собою ветряной поток.

Раскрылись крылья бабочки, подобно озаренью,
Как брошка семицветная под лампою в ночи.
И в окошко дикий ветер стучит, стучит, стучит.

Глаза глядят в темноту. Бабочки свет перед ними.

The Beauty in You

Гляжу в темноту, не зная толком, с чего начать.
«Королю одинокому нужна королева», – мне думается невзначай.
В коридорах жизни так много закрытых дверей.
Как роза нежны мои мысли о ней, о ней, о ней…
Цель моя отныне – тебе стать ближе,
Ведь ты так похожа на солнечный день, самый прекрасный во всей моей жизни.

The most unusual thing for me in your verses is the absence of rhyme in many of them. The thing is that most Russian poets write in rhyme. However, the lack of rhyme is wholly compensated by the precisely picked words. I have noticed that in your verses each word is in the place that it should be. It gives your verses harmony and integrity. As a very important feature I consider that the basic idea is expressed at the end of a poem, giving it a result and adjusting the reader to independent reflections of the given theme.
I also translated verses by P. Levi. I love verses about nature, the theme of relation of nature and human mood is close to me, therefore it was interesting for me to translate it.

Ранний август: розы гниют на дожде,
Старая скука вернулась и шелестит по душе.
А под стенами унылого сада
Кружат лепестки, укрываясь от взгляда.

Деревни окраины в жёлто-багровых одеждах,
Вьюнки возле дома уже не пышны так, как прежде.
Лишь мотыльков в это время года
Увидишь повсюду по воле природы.

Не вижу надежды ни в старой, ни в новой луне.
Машины гремят с полудня, но шум их не слышен мне.
Дни напролет предо мной тишина.
Гоню её прочь и знаю: скоро настанет весна.

From all the authors we read, most of all I like just your poems, as they are similar to my view of the world, to my point of view.

I wish you to continue your creative activity.
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Marina Shkapina

Dear David,
Thank you for your poetry. It was interesting to learn what modern English poets write about. I decided to respond to what I’ve read by sending you this letter.
Here are some of my ideas you might get interested in.
Our life is too fast, that’s why we often forget something. On the one hand, it’s a natural process, because there is too much unimportant information: numbers, names, addresses. On the other hand, we risk not to recollect one day who we are and what we are living for.
We live in the society with formal rules and a rather formal morality. We know a lot about what is good and what is bad. Formally. But have we ever thought about meanings of different words that made world famous philosophers think about it seriously? Such definitions as love, family, fidelity, and dignity have become just mathematically functioning symbols that connect people with each other and society. This is a pragmatic position that leads us nowhere.
But in spite of these sad facts we have a very good way to remember the basic values in literature. It acquires beautiful forms in poetry.
In two poems by D. Constantine “Swore friends” and “A bond with friends” on the same page we see really deep author’s feelings. He expresses his thoughts about the value of friendship and his sorrow about losing it.
There is an opinion that all true and reliable friends are from your childhood, because it is a period of open and non-business relations. In childhood we have a big possibility to discover true features of our friends. Only there in “the beautiful past” we built air palaces, sand castles and fight with monsters saving each other. This is friends-team, friends -“family”:

Missing hugs and hand shakes from best friends
Swore to be together to the bitter end

But one day the childhood is over. Everything has changed and children realized that there is another, real world with a lot of difficulties and problems.

Stuck on the hard way to life
Breaking sweats to see a brighter night

But it is still better to overcome obstacles with friends:

Working hard for the dreams that shuttered

We are forced to fight not only with circumstances, but for friendship too. It goes through all your life, but now it undergoes a contest:

A break in the family hugs leads us to a new path
Crushing the memory of us with trust

It’s a sad fact that while reaching something we have to sacrifice in return. And it’s really awful if these are our relations:

Never thought it would be like this
My heart cries for the people I miss.

In this sad moment we remember the basis our relations were built on:

A group of people deign to lead
A family trust is what we believed
We handle our pain by asking for rain
The vision of the future was plain.

Sooner or later you realize that being a success is not everything because the only important thing is people and sincere relations:

Controlled by the souls of the young
Our dreams of rising in power is done.

In the world we live in, with such a wide set of mercantile and abstract relationships, space for friendship, with the existential enrichment it grants, is essential to us.

We are beings who depend on affections, on other people, on fellowship, on brotherhood, on solidarity, on sympathy. We don’t live only by bread. Our “I” exists and defines itself only through others, as their reflexion («If there isn’t other I, there is no I», said Tchuang-Tzu). Without the warmth of friendship and love, life would be insupportable:

We are weaker a part together we are one big heart.

Be well,
Alina Kostina

Dear Helena,
... I was very touched by your student’s interest and attention. There are real differences between the Russian and the British traditions. But your students have tried honestly to sympathize with things that may be quite foreign to them. Please pass on my thanks and my appreciation.

Yours,
David