Writings from the Golden Age of Russian Poetry

For fans of Russian poetry, and especially for Russophone poets, Batyushkov (17871855) is a vital figure who wrote exquisite verse and helped to usher in what is known as the Golden Age of Russian poetry. . . . Writings from the Golden Age of Russian Poetry interweaves translations of poetry (plus excerpts from prose essays and personal letters) with history and biography. . . . Poets and general readers should appreciate this volume as much as teachers and scholars who can now quote elegant translations. -- Sibelan Forrester * Los Angeles Review of Books * Writings From the Golden Age of Russian Poetry by Konstantin Batyushkov is far from a straightforward anthology of poems. It is a biographical essay into which are dispersed more than sixty translations, in whole or in part. (The original Russian is not included.) The reader comes to the poetry by way of the prose. The latter ranging from Frances informative narrative to Batyushkovs own essays and letters. -- Jim Kates * The Arts Fuse * [Konstantin Batyushkov] did for the Russian language what Petrarch did for Italian. -- Alexander Pushkin Konstantin Batyushkov was one of the great Russian poets of the nineteenth century, and Peter France has done a superlative job in bringing his work to an English-speaking audience. The volume deserves praise for its careful yet mellifluous translations of verse and for a biography that provides a rich cultural and historical context. -- Michael Wachtel, Princeton University Peter Frances book is a unique journey into Batyushkovs turbulent and tragic life, expertly placed within the context of the equally turbulent Russian nineteenth century. Just as importantly, France's virtuoso translations introduce Batyushkov in English poetic language as it exists now. -- Ilya Kutik, Northwestern University This selective anthology of Batyushkovs poetry with commentary by Peter France is a welcome complement to Ilya Z. Sermans study of the poets life and works. -- Carrol F. Coates, Independent Scholar * Slavic and East European Journal * The translations of shorter poems are often equimetrical and also reproduce rhyme. . . The longer poems are rendered with a grace and clarity that takes them beyond the standard of cribs. Comments on form supplement translation helpfully. Nothing, one imagines, could work better in classes on Russian poetry of the Pushkin period. * Slavonic and East European Review *

Konstantin Batyushkov (1787-1855) was a celebrated Russian poet and essayist. He served in three campaigns of the Napoleonic wars and was posted to Naples on diplomatic service before succumbing to incurable mental illness in 1822. Peter France is honorary fellow and professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh. He has translated French and Russian prose texts as well as many Russian poets, most recently Lermontov, Baratynsky, Mandelstam, and Aygi.

Contents Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1. Vologda to St. Petersburg 2. War and Peace 3. The City and the Country 4. Back to War 5. The Return of Odysseus 6. Arzamas and the Essays 7. To Italy 8. Into the Dark Index