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Prussian Nights: A Poem
"The pictorial quality of the whole poem is an eye-opener. There is always a tendency, on the part of his detractors, to make of Solzhenitsyn something less than he is, but here is further evidence that he is something more than even his admirers thought." - Clive James, New Statesman
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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236 people want to read
About the author
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
285 books4,082 followersalso known as
Alexander Solzenitsyn (English, alternate)
Αλεξάντρ Σολζενίτσιν (Greek)
Works, including One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) and The Gulag Archipelago (1973-1975), of Soviet writer and dissident Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970, exposed the brutality of the labor camp system.
This known Russian novelist, dramatist, and historian best helped to make the world aware of the forced Gulag.
Exiled in 1974, he returned to Russia in 1994. Solzhenitsyn fathered of Ignat Solzhenitsyn, a conductor and pianist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksan...
Alexander Solzenitsyn (English, alternate)
Αλεξάντρ Σολζενίτσιν (Greek)
Works, including One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) and The Gulag Archipelago (1973-1975), of Soviet writer and dissident Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970, exposed the brutality of the labor camp system.
This known Russian novelist, dramatist, and historian best helped to make the world aware of the forced Gulag.
Exiled in 1974, he returned to Russia in 1994. Solzhenitsyn fathered of Ignat Solzhenitsyn, a conductor and pianist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksan...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 2, 2013
Prussian Nights offers no real surprise. The beauty is in the detail. The language rolls along. Robert Conquest translated such and does remarkable job of maintaining meter. Over the last few weeks I have had countless opportunities to absorb the flowing song of foreign speech. Slavic voices forge a song in this dolt's ears. Points are made, gaffes are acknowledged, a human tsk-ing underscores each philosophical observation. Ontology is brazen but rented with tragic oversights.
Solzhenitsyn recounts the Red Army's push into Deutschland and the plunder and terror which followed. The protagonist is horrified until the tide overtakes him. Every reader with his feet of clay can sympathize.
Solzhenitsyn recounts the Red Army's push into Deutschland and the plunder and terror which followed. The protagonist is horrified until the tide overtakes him. Every reader with his feet of clay can sympathize.
May 16, 2021
"I nursed inside me till I filled
With muffled shouting, all the pain,
And all the shame, of that campaign.
In the dark cathedral gloom
Of one or another reading room
I shared with none my boyish grief,
I bent over the yellowed pages
Of those aging maps and plans,
Till little circles, dots, and arrows
Came alive beneath my hands,
Now as a fire fight in the marshes,
Now as a tumult in the night:
Thirst. Hunger. August. Heat.
—Now the wildly lunging muzzles
Of horses tearing at the rein,
Now broken units turned to raving
Mobs of men who'd gone insane…" (23)Prussian Nights is a long poem that Solzhenitsyn composed, mostly in his head, while he was serving a sentence of forced labor (he apparently wrote lines of it on bars of soap in order to memorize them). Although not strictly autobiographical, the poem recounts Solzhenitsyn's experiences in the war, when his battery formed part of the Second Belorussian Front that invaded East Prussia from the south in January 1945. The acts of rape and murder, of looting and revenge, that were part of the campaign weighed heavily on Solzhenitsyn and ended up making their way into Prussian Nights. He was arrested soon after the campaign, in part because of his critique of the treatment of German civilians by Russian soldiers.
October 16, 2023
War = Atrocities. We may think we’re different, but we aren’t. Then again, “In the heat / Of battles, in the thick of hell, / Who knows who’s guilty”.
February 12, 2019
This long-form narrative poem tells a tale of inhumanity in the Soviet advance toward Germany during the Second World War. The narrator is a run-of-the-mill soldier who witnesses rape and murder by his comrades. Solzhenitsyn was a young officer in the military during the war, and it’s probable that the story of the poem draws from his real-world experience during the war. It’s said that he composed and memorized the poem while he was in the Gulag.
While the poem’s story focuses on violence and inhumanity perpetrated by some soldiers, it isn’t particularly graphic in its description. Rather, the author sets up scenes and leaves it to the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. It’s also true that in some cases the narrator is witnessing the aftermath of violence and not the act itself. It’s not a pretty story, but readers needn’t be concerned it will be gratuitously graphic.
While the translator chose to stick to rhyming verse, the poem is quite readable. The story is told in a straightforward fashion. Many will find this appealing because the readability is high. However, others may find the lack of metaphor and poetic approaches to language to make for unappealing poetry. There’s not a lot of symbolism and the meanings seem quite literal. That said, the imagery is often vivid and evocative, and the metered verse reads smoothly and lyrically.
The book has a feature that I like, which is the original [Russian] is on the left-hand page with the English translation, produced by Robert Conquest, on the right. The translation didn’t come in greatly useful for me. I had two years of Russian back in college, but that was a long time ago and I read Cyrillic with the unconfident stammer of a first grader. Still, it’s interesting to get a taste of the original.
I’d recommend this book, regardless of whether one is a poetry reader. The story can be read as just that, a story, and it offers insight into the ugly inhumanity too often set free in the act of warring.
While the poem’s story focuses on violence and inhumanity perpetrated by some soldiers, it isn’t particularly graphic in its description. Rather, the author sets up scenes and leaves it to the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. It’s also true that in some cases the narrator is witnessing the aftermath of violence and not the act itself. It’s not a pretty story, but readers needn’t be concerned it will be gratuitously graphic.
While the translator chose to stick to rhyming verse, the poem is quite readable. The story is told in a straightforward fashion. Many will find this appealing because the readability is high. However, others may find the lack of metaphor and poetic approaches to language to make for unappealing poetry. There’s not a lot of symbolism and the meanings seem quite literal. That said, the imagery is often vivid and evocative, and the metered verse reads smoothly and lyrically.
The book has a feature that I like, which is the original [Russian] is on the left-hand page with the English translation, produced by Robert Conquest, on the right. The translation didn’t come in greatly useful for me. I had two years of Russian back in college, but that was a long time ago and I read Cyrillic with the unconfident stammer of a first grader. Still, it’s interesting to get a taste of the original.
I’d recommend this book, regardless of whether one is a poetry reader. The story can be read as just that, a story, and it offers insight into the ugly inhumanity too often set free in the act of warring.
April 24, 2025
Zajímavé dílo, které poodkrývá hrůzy války a zároveň působí jako Solženicynovo osobní svědectví.
June 7, 2024
A book length poem of Russian atrocities against the Germans as they advanced during the war. I suspect much of it is based on Solzhenitsyn's own experiences in the war. Solzhenitsyn doesn't use graphic descriptions in his story but leaves no doubt about the rape and murder that took place. It was quite a good poem but I suspect it lost a lot in the translation because the translator tried to maintain rhyme in it which would alter the poet's intent.
February 26, 2020
This isn’t exactly autobiography, nor is it pure poetry. Russian linguists will have to judge the translation quality. It’s readable, thus making it superior to 100% of modern poetry. On the surface level it is Solzhenitsyn’s account of the Red Army’s invasion into eastern Germany. It’s not pretty, but Solzhenitsyn never gets graphic. He leaves the details to your imagination.
The first thing that strikes the reader is the theme of burning. This is literally quite true, as the Red Army is torching German villages. The movement of the meter, however, also suggests the chaotic nature of burning.
On a deeper level, Solzhenitsyn sees the Red Army’s invasion as undoing the inept Russian invasion of 1914 (Solzhenitsyn 19). The year 1914 is key for Solzhenitsyn’s works.
“Evil and good, fears and delights
The silver of Prussian noons
The crimson of Prussian nights” (67).
The poem can be read in one or two sittings. It isn’t pretty, but neither is it graphic. It also alludes to the time and place where Solzhenitsyn was arrested (think Bernie’s Amerika).
The first thing that strikes the reader is the theme of burning. This is literally quite true, as the Red Army is torching German villages. The movement of the meter, however, also suggests the chaotic nature of burning.
On a deeper level, Solzhenitsyn sees the Red Army’s invasion as undoing the inept Russian invasion of 1914 (Solzhenitsyn 19). The year 1914 is key for Solzhenitsyn’s works.
“Evil and good, fears and delights
The silver of Prussian noons
The crimson of Prussian nights” (67).
The poem can be read in one or two sittings. It isn’t pretty, but neither is it graphic. It also alludes to the time and place where Solzhenitsyn was arrested (think Bernie’s Amerika).
Read
November 28, 2019Describing the tragedy and horror of the soviet war crimes against the Germans from the point of a Russian commander.
January 28, 2025
I might suggest that one read this book accompanied by the trills of Sarasate, which Solzhenitsyn said was in his head while he was pillaging across East Prussia in January, 1945.
Solzhenitsyn wrote this poem based on his own experiences serving under Konstantin Rokossovksy's Second Belorussian Front during the invasion of East Prussia.
Interestingly, the route his army took was similar to that taken by the forlorn Russian Second Army under Alexander Samsonov, which was destroyed at Tannenberg in 1914. Allusions are made to the bones of Russians in the Prussian forests.
At the time the situation could only be described as utter chaos. The Germans were in full retreat, but not just their army, the German civilian population was rushing to escape the Red Army.
This poem does not make for fun reading, it catalogues, even if opaquely and metaphorically, the terrible advance of the victorious Russians as they looted, raped, and burned their way across the German countryside.
The poem is ambiguous in that it presents the narrator, presumably Solzhenitsyn himself, as morally conflicted. But in the end he, too, participates in the rapine.
This makes for an uncomfortable window into what happened in the final days of WWII, when the Germans were facing defeat and the Soviets were seizing control of Eastern Europe, from the mind of one who was there himself.
But whether one chooses to read it along with the strains of Sarasate or Tartini or any other, it is a veritable descent into hell.
Solzhenitsyn wrote this poem based on his own experiences serving under Konstantin Rokossovksy's Second Belorussian Front during the invasion of East Prussia.
Interestingly, the route his army took was similar to that taken by the forlorn Russian Second Army under Alexander Samsonov, which was destroyed at Tannenberg in 1914. Allusions are made to the bones of Russians in the Prussian forests.
At the time the situation could only be described as utter chaos. The Germans were in full retreat, but not just their army, the German civilian population was rushing to escape the Red Army.
This poem does not make for fun reading, it catalogues, even if opaquely and metaphorically, the terrible advance of the victorious Russians as they looted, raped, and burned their way across the German countryside.
The poem is ambiguous in that it presents the narrator, presumably Solzhenitsyn himself, as morally conflicted. But in the end he, too, participates in the rapine.
This makes for an uncomfortable window into what happened in the final days of WWII, when the Germans were facing defeat and the Soviets were seizing control of Eastern Europe, from the mind of one who was there himself.
But whether one chooses to read it along with the strains of Sarasate or Tartini or any other, it is a veritable descent into hell.
August 5, 2025
This poem presents a solid semi-autobiographical picture of the horrors of war.
I do wish that there was a slightly greater emphasis on the driving force behind the military push described in this poem, even though the reader can generally be expected to have been well aware of it.
Solzhenitsyn served in Byelorussia before this push into East Prussia, and his experiences frame this poem, how he wrote it, and why. (Side note, film recommendation: Come and See, the only war film anyone should watch, as it effectively portrays the horror of war from the perspective of a byellorussian child.)
Every page of this poem is haunting, but one section that sticks out to me is the description of the freed russian prisoners of war, marching to soviet labour camps. (p. 75). It leaves the reader asking "what is it all for? was it not for them, the prisoners?" In other scenes, the reader might ask "what good is a Liberating Army that kills and rapes and steals from the very people it claims to liberate?"
You can feel the hopelessness of a Solzhenitsyn who composes this poem in a Soviet labour camp himself.
War is good for no one, and societies built on the engines and industries of war are doomed to collapse, taking countless innocents with them.
I do wish that there was a slightly greater emphasis on the driving force behind the military push described in this poem, even though the reader can generally be expected to have been well aware of it.
Solzhenitsyn served in Byelorussia before this push into East Prussia, and his experiences frame this poem, how he wrote it, and why. (Side note, film recommendation: Come and See, the only war film anyone should watch, as it effectively portrays the horror of war from the perspective of a byellorussian child.)
Every page of this poem is haunting, but one section that sticks out to me is the description of the freed russian prisoners of war, marching to soviet labour camps. (p. 75). It leaves the reader asking "what is it all for? was it not for them, the prisoners?" In other scenes, the reader might ask "what good is a Liberating Army that kills and rapes and steals from the very people it claims to liberate?"
You can feel the hopelessness of a Solzhenitsyn who composes this poem in a Soviet labour camp himself.
War is good for no one, and societies built on the engines and industries of war are doomed to collapse, taking countless innocents with them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2024
Didn't know that he was the same guy to write the gulag archipelago for the longest time. I have loved this book for many many years but it has become especially dear to me this year.
I think about this stanza often:
"Zweiundzwanzig, Horingstrasse.
It’s not been burned, just looted, rifled.
A moaning, by the walls half muffled:
The mother’s wounded, still alive.
The little daughter’s on the mattress,
Dead. How many have been on it?
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl’s been turned into a woman,
A woman turned into a corpse."
I think about this stanza often:
"Zweiundzwanzig, Horingstrasse.
It’s not been burned, just looted, rifled.
A moaning, by the walls half muffled:
The mother’s wounded, still alive.
The little daughter’s on the mattress,
Dead. How many have been on it?
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl’s been turned into a woman,
A woman turned into a corpse."
September 6, 2019
Read it in original, a lot better than poor English language with distorted translation (saw only parts of it). For anyone interested, here's the source. Poem is basically about revenge, i.e. looting and war crimes.
Related quote:
"You know very well that we've come to Germany to take our revenge [for Nazi atrocities committed in the Soviet Union]." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Related quote:
"You know very well that we've come to Germany to take our revenge [for Nazi atrocities committed in the Soviet Union]." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
September 3, 2017
When I read Solzhenitsyn, I, born in 1970, feel like I remember World War II. I feel like I was a Russian soldier advancing upon Germany. "already ... Another's soul is upon my soul."
Any year in which I don't read something from Solzhenitsyn is a year with something missing.
Any year in which I don't read something from Solzhenitsyn is a year with something missing.
October 26, 2021
The horrors of war, in grisly detail, narrated by a character who is of one of the cruel victors. A superbly written, gut-wrenching narrative poem. I choose to rate the book on the quality of the writing rather than the story itself, which leaves one aghast at low human beings can go.
July 19, 2022
I would recommend this book, especially if you enjoy the more implicit nature of horrible events.
This was a book Solzhenitsyn composed while he was doing forced labor
The more I read Solzhenitsyn, the more I'm intrigued and gain the desire to read more of him.
This was a book Solzhenitsyn composed while he was doing forced labor
The more I read Solzhenitsyn, the more I'm intrigued and gain the desire to read more of him.
February 17, 2022
Julma sotarunoelma joka meni minulta hukkaan, kun en tunne historiaa tai viittauksia.
May 29, 2009
My Book Review: WW11 Poetry---- 5 Star Rating
Prussian Nights: A Poem (Bilingual ed. Tr from Russian) (Paperback)
Author: Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
Translated By : Robert Conquest
A primary source record of World War 11 in poetry."Prussian Nights," is a 1400 line long poem. Through the eyes of a Russian soldier (himself) he tells of the crimes he witnessed and that were committed against the Germans. It makes for sad reading but it is recorded beautifully and is an important Russian document.
Here are two quotes from the book:
The little daughter’s on the mattress,
Dead. How many have been on it
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl’s been turned into a woman,
A woman turned into a corpse.
It's all come down to simple phrases:
Do not forget! Do not forgive!
Blood for blood! A tooth for a tooth!
Victory's voice with all its joys
--Heart-warming but ear-splitting noise--
Mounts, with a new lot breaking loose:
Howitzers--they're 152's.
Having rendezvous to keep
Behind their tractor-type transporters,
They don't stop night-time and don't sleep
(No weight checks here to hold them up.)
Whirling down the left-hand file,
Studebakers, to support us,
Are hauling lighter three-inch cannons:
"Hey, there, stovepipe! Grab our tail!"
Dodges--the three-quarter-ton ones--
Rush the forty-fives to fight. . . .
Product details
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (May 1977)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0374513910
• ISBN-13: 978-0374513917
• Product Dimensions: 22.1 x 14.3 x 0.9 cm
Prussian Nights: A Poem (Bilingual ed. Tr from Russian) (Paperback)
Author: Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
Translated By : Robert Conquest
A primary source record of World War 11 in poetry."Prussian Nights," is a 1400 line long poem. Through the eyes of a Russian soldier (himself) he tells of the crimes he witnessed and that were committed against the Germans. It makes for sad reading but it is recorded beautifully and is an important Russian document.
Here are two quotes from the book:
The little daughter’s on the mattress,
Dead. How many have been on it
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl’s been turned into a woman,
A woman turned into a corpse.
It's all come down to simple phrases:
Do not forget! Do not forgive!
Blood for blood! A tooth for a tooth!
Victory's voice with all its joys
--Heart-warming but ear-splitting noise--
Mounts, with a new lot breaking loose:
Howitzers--they're 152's.
Having rendezvous to keep
Behind their tractor-type transporters,
They don't stop night-time and don't sleep
(No weight checks here to hold them up.)
Whirling down the left-hand file,
Studebakers, to support us,
Are hauling lighter three-inch cannons:
"Hey, there, stovepipe! Grab our tail!"
Dodges--the three-quarter-ton ones--
Rush the forty-fives to fight. . . .
Product details
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (May 1977)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0374513910
• ISBN-13: 978-0374513917
• Product Dimensions: 22.1 x 14.3 x 0.9 cm
August 2, 2012
This is a vastly under-appreciated book, in my opinion. Perhaps because the English translation makes a lot of concessions in order to keep the rhyme. Still, this made me cry, and I don't cry easily. I sat through Bambi AND Titanic without getting teary. So take that as proof of this book's poignancy.
May 30, 2013
A 1400 word poem. War as seen through the eyes of a russian soldier. I remember crying when I read this - I thought it likely lost some of it's beauty and horror in translation to English but reading this was an incredible experience for me. Read many years ago. I can still feel it inside me.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews