Apollo in the Grass: Selected Poems

by Aleksandr Kushner, Carol Ueland (Translation), Robert Carnevale (Translation)

The more softly the word is pronounced
The more ardent, the more miraculous.
The less it dreams of becoming a song
That much nearer it draws to music.
-from "Apollo in the Grass"

For the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, the poems of Aleksandr Kushner were essential: "Kushner is one of the best Russian lyric poets of the twentieth century, and his name is destined to rank with those close to the heart of everyone whose mother tongue is Russian."

Apollo in the Grass is the first collection in English translation of Kushner's post-Soviet poems, and also includes certain earlier ones that could not be published during the Soviet era.

Kushner speaks to us from a place where the mythic and the historic coexist with the everyday, where Odysseus is one of us, and the "stern voice" of history can transform any public square into a harrowing schoolroom. This layering of times and events is also embodied in Kushner's distinctive poetic voice. Echoes of earlier Russian poets and styles enrich and complicate an idiom that is utterly natural and contemporary.

Now, as in the Soviet era, Kushner's work is especially cherished for its exemplary stoic integrity. But these lyrical poems are also pieces of exquisite chamber music, songs where poetry dazzles but "greatness is . . . sooner scaled to the heart / Than to anything very enormous."

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 21, 2015

Reviews

[Steno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si Aleksandr Kushner ay isang tanyag na Russian poet, at tulad ng ibang Russian writers then and now, ayaw nilang maging maligaya. Hahaha!

Hindi naman sa tragic o melancholic ang mga tula niya sa librong ito. More on stoic, matiisin at pessimist ang tingin sa buhay. However, kahit ganoon s'ya, hindi nawawala ang beauty at human spirit.

For example, sabi ni Kushner sa tula niya para kay Irina Evsa, "Given the choice, which would you choose: the art/ Or the lives of these Romans, the men and women?/ You'd choose their lives. And so would I. Isn't it sad?/ For, after all, life is short, and doesn't shine with anything."

Paborito ko naman 'yung tulang Farewell To The Century dahil, ewan, natawa ako sa tone ni Kushner kahit seryoso s'ya. Sabi n'ya, "Look at yourself, what a lowlife you are,/ A communist, a total fascist, to put/ The best face on it: an avant-gardist./ Could even a mother love such a one?/ Last year's brown leaf."

Kahit pessimist at stoic si Kushner, kahit papa'no, appreciative naman s'ya sa life in general. In fact, habang nagkocontemplate s'ya sa mga pangyayari sa 20th century, lumalabas ang pagiging grateful n'ya, in a way:

If I had been born in Germany in the same year,
If I'd been born in any European country:
In France, Austria, Poland--I'd have been lost long ago,
Swallowed into a hell of gas, burnt up by fire like a dry twig.
But I was in luck: I was born in Russia, and, outrageous a spot
As it was--has it known one sweet day?--
Brazen, despotic, beggarly, harrowing,
Hellish--still it gave me a chance to survive.

Grabe talaga ang mga Ruso. I wonder kung paano sila nakakatagal sa bansa nila. Parang walang nakangiti, lahat nakabusangot. Hahaha! Pero gusto kong makipag-inuman sa kanila ng vodka. Alam kong malalalim silang kausap. And I don't think they like small talks. I don't like small talks. 🤓

Ang di ko lang gusto sa book na 'to ni Kushner, karamihan sa mga tula niya ay walang pamagat, so minsan akala ko karugtong pa rin 'yung nasa kabilang pahina, pero ibang tula na pala. Iyon lang naman. Tanggap ko na na ayaw nilang lumigaya. Huhu.

[Katie J Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apollo in the Grass: Selected Poems is a slim anthology by renowned Russian poet Aleksandr Kushner. These poems span his long career, and are aptly divided into three different time frames. The book also includes some "bonus" material, such as a biographical introduction and extra notes on the poems themselves.

Many of the poems contained great lines and images. . .

"And for the first time death was not frightening.
All of them were there, they'd made a home of it,
They had filled it up with themselves,
Its houses, flats, hallways, suites;
There too I will not be a stranger,
There too will be loved and made welcome." (page 75)

. . . but as a whole, the collection didn't particularly excite me or make an impression. Then again, it's a translation, so who knows what nuances might have gotten lost? Overall -- this is a good collection, but it's for a reader other than me.

Three Stars: Not bad, but not fantastic either. I'll still recommend it, if I think that person might like it more than me.

I received my copy of Apollo in the Grass: Selected Poems through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

[Stacia Chappell]

Very nice reading : Cover is nice ! Your readers will enjoy this book: I rate this a 5 Star: Be looking for other books you write:

[Jessica Bang · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of good poems. Collection as a whole didn't really engage me.

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the March/Apr 2016 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...