Lènin

by Vladimir Mayakovsky

First published in Russian by Gosizdat, 1925.

Genres: Poetry, Soviet Union, Russia

179 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Vladimir Mayakovsky (Владимир Владимирович Маяковский) was born the last of three children in Baghdati, Russian Empire (now in Georgia) where his father worked as a forest ranger. His father was of Ukrainian Cossack descent and his mother was of Ukrainian descent. Although Mayakovsky spoke Georgian at school and with friends, his family spoke primarily Russian at home. At the age of 14 Mayakovsky took part in socialist demonstrations at the town of Kutaisi, where he attended the local grammar school. After the sudden and premature death of his father in 1906, the family — Mayakovsky, his mother, and his two sisters — moved to Moscow, where he attended School No. 5.

In Moscow, Mayakovsky developed a passion for Marxist literature and took part in numerous activities of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party; he was to later become an RSDLP (Bolshevik) member. In 1908, he was dismissed from the grammar school because his mother was no longer able to afford the tuition fees.

Around this time, Mayakovsky was imprisoned on three occasions for subversive political activities but, being underage, he avoided transportation. During a period of solitary confinement in Butyrka prison in 1909, he began to write poetry, but his poems were confiscated. On his release from prison, he continued working within the socialist movement, and in 1911 he joined the Moscow Art School where he became acquainted with members of the Russian Futurist movement. He became a leading spokesman for the group Gileas (Гилея), and a close friend of David Burlyuk, whom he saw as his mentor.

The 1912 Futurist publication A Slap in the Face of Public Taste (Пощёчина общественному вкусу) contained Mayakovsky's first published poems: Night (Ночь) and Morning (Утро). Because of their political activities, Burlyuk and Mayakovsky were expelled from the Moscow Art School in 1914.
His work continued in the Futurist vein until 1914. His artistic development then shifted increasingly in the direction of narrative and it was this work, published during the period immediately preceding the Russian Revolution, which was to establish his reputation as a poet in Russia and abroad.

Mayakovsky was rejected as a volunteer at the beginning of WWI, and during 1915-1917 worked at the Petrograd Military Automobile School as a draftsman. At the onset of the Russian Revolution, Mayakovsky was in Smolny, Petrograd. There he witnessed the October Revolution.

After moving back to Moscow, Mayakovsky worked for the Russian State Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) creating — both graphic and text — satirical Agitprop posters. In 1919, he published his first collection of poems Collected Works 1909-1919 (Все сочиненное Владимиром Маяковским). In the cultural climate of the early Soviet Union, his popularity grew rapidly. As one of the few Soviet writers who were allowed to travel freely, his voyages to Latvia, Britain, Germany, the United States, Mexico and Cuba influenced works like My Discovery of America (Мое открытие Америки, 1925). He also travelled extensively throughout the Soviet Union.

The relevance of Mayakovsky's influence cannot be limited to Soviet poetry. While for years he was considered the Soviet poet par excellence, he also changed the perceptions of poetry in wider 20th century culture. His political activism as a propagandistic agitator was rarely understood and often looked upon unfavourably by contemporaries, even close friends like Boris Pasternak. Near the end of the 1920s, Mayakovsky became increasingly disillusioned with the course the Soviet Union was taking under Joseph Stalin: his satirical plays The Bedbug (Клоп, 1929) and The Bathhouse (Баня, 1930), which deal with the Soviet philistinism and bureaucracy, illustrate this development.

On the evening of April 14, 1930, Mayakovsky shot himself.

Reviews

[Ehsan]

But there aren’t any miracles
Only Lenin.

Lenin,
his coffin
and our bent shoulders.

[nunete]

“Lenin ahora, más vivo está que todos los vivos.
Él es nuestro saber, y fuerza, y arma”

Maiakovski sintetiza da forma máis potente a vida de Lenin (o mortal) pero sinalando a inmortalidade do seu legado e aportación á tarefa histórica do proletariado. Tamén sinala con crudeza o perigo de que se tome o Lenin embalsamado e se enterren as súas aprendizaxes. E faino dunha maneira encantadoramente sinxela e directa.

“Temo que los desfiles y los mausoleos,
los honores y rituales pompas en su rigidez,
cubran de empalagoso óleo la leninista sencillez.
Cual de las niñas de mis propios ojos, yo cuido de él,
para que no lo envuelvan en vistoso papel.”

[Cristian Bordiga]

Me l'he llegit en 3 dies i quina potència tenia el fill de puta, he quedat desolat quasi plorant mentre arribava a la feina. DISCLAIMER: he llegit l'edició de Dos Cuadrados. Va dura.

[Minäpäminä]

I, 2.9.22
*

Hirveätä propagandaa.


II, 19.3.24
****

Aukesi vasta toisella luennalla ja historiallisella kontekstilla. Hieno taideteos, jossa hehkuvat jännitteet romantiikan ja realismin; utooppisten toiveiden ja seuraavien sadan vuoden todellisuuden; kollektivistisen materialismin ja kohteen apoteoosin; runollisuuden ja historiallisen kerronnan välillä. Kiehtovalla tavalla Majakovski itse tuo näitä ristiriitoja aloitteellisesti esiin, kirjoittaen mutkattoman tuntuisesti auki oman runoilijuutensa ja siihen liittyvät ongelmat. Futuristinen sotaballadi. Näennäisistä eroistaan huolimatta jotakin hyvin samaa ja ikiaikaista kuin Homeroksen ja Runebergin runoissa.

Mutta maata
meidän lailla onnetonta,
ei löydä
hakemallakaan.

[Xero]

He llegit la versió de 2cuadrados que ve amb anexos xulitos. L'estil de Maiakovski es molt peculiar i la seua manera d'escriure els versos de manera escalonada estan molt xulos. En quant als poemes hi han alguns on sap conjuntar perfectament teoria i estètica, i altres poemes que pareixen un poc un fanfic de Lenin i la seua vida, arribant a punts molt folclòrics on s'esvaeix aquesta superació de lo estètic i lo polític. En general està molt xulo.

"Amb el Partit obres alçarem fins al cel,
ajudant-mos sempre, elevant-mos mútuament.
El Partit es l'espina dorsal de la classe obrera.
El Partit es la immortalitat de la nostra causa sencera.
El Partit es l'únic que mai hem trairà.
Hui depenenc soc, però demà regnes del mapa podré esborrar.
El cervell de la classe, l'acció de la classe, la força de la classe, la glòria de la classe, Aixó es el Partit!
El Partit i Lenin són germans bessons.
Quan diem: Lenin, es com si diguéssim: El Partit.
Quan diem: el Partit, es com si diguéssim: Lenin"

[Hekmatjar]

Read it in the Hungarian translation.

[Victor]

A 3,000 line poem unlike any other.

A celebration of a life (more than a deification) though also much more - grand and earthy literary expressions combined together, weaving an epic story.

Truly unique, and classic Mayakovsky.

[Levi]

My macho superego cautioned me before saying this, but this book almost made me cry. Mayakovsky's tribute to Lenin is very simple, yet poignant; frank, but powerful.

[Anton]

Iljits, oisitpa täällä vielä

[Sinan Öner]

Soviet Russian Poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote for Soviet revolutionary history and Lenin's works for Russian revolution in his different books, articles and poems. Mayakovsky's "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" is one of the best poetry books which was written for Lenin! Mayakovsky thinks about Lenin's life since his childhood, then, Mayakovsky thinks about Lenin's life in Moscow - Lenin's writings, meetings, leadership in Russian Social Democrat movements, publishing newspapers, periodicals, books, articles and notes, travels in European and Russian cities in the revolutionary history of Russian Social Democrat movements. Mayakovsky writes his poetry when he thinks about Lenin's life, Mayakovsky forms his poetical sentences to describe the stages of Lenin's life, Mayakovsky draws Lenin's life in his poetical historiography. Mayakovsky's "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" is a modern epics of 1917 Soviet October Revolution.

[Rahul Mehta]

Slightly torn about how to feel about this poem. While Mayakovsky scorned the adulation that the Stalinist bureaucracy poured on Lenin's name while defiling his legacy, there were glints of the same in the poem. It's an excellent introduction to the history of Bolshevism, masterfully summarising Lenin's life. But perhaps the form of writing - both as verse and as a poem translated from the rich Russian language to English - is what makes it feel more hagiographic than scientific.
There are numerous memorable quotes which I've noted down because they capture the class struggle so well. But I'm left wondering whether, in trying to wrestle back Lenin's legacy from the claws of the bureaucracy, Mayakovsky accidentally falls into the same trap of focusing on Lenin and not his method.

[Iñigo]

(Reseña de la edición de 2Cuadrados, 2024)

Una vida tan intensa y épica como la de Lenin tenía que ser recogida en una forma que reflejara lo grande de su vida y de su legado.

Este poema épico, escrito tras la muerte de Vladimir Ilich, trata de capturar los principales hitos de la vida de Lenin, y contextualizar la importancia de su legado.

Siendo el primer poema épico que leo, me ha resultado un poco extraño, aunque sin duda volveré a leerlo.

Muy recomendable para quien, estando familiarizado con la biografía del gran revolucionario, quiera aproximarse a la misma desde una visión más artística.

[Jose]

An elegantly written poem, something which I enjoyed pleasantly in High School, one part to impress a girl, and both out of my love for modernist artistic work. Lenin as a Promethean figure, perhaps flawed, perhaps great, but ultimately a man that shaped the world and inspired the masses into a great work of tomorrow. For it isn't just a biography or simply exaltation, but a reminder of great life, and a story of a protector and guide, and everything within that forged him. It is futurist exaltation and materialist analysis within one, and with that sprinkling of great man-ism that is shown within great poems such as this.

[Fernando Pachón Cárdeno]

Por poner una edición ya que no encuentro la que tenemos en casa, una preciosa edición de la editorial Ráduga de Moscú, de la URSS. Una edición larga, ¡físicamente larga, el libro es un rectángulo muy rectangular! Su maquetación es curiosa con las líneas, los versos, quebrados en escalones descendentes. Tanta línea quebrada de negro sobre blanco y negro sobre rojo recuerdan al ambiente vanguardista del que el escritor formaba parte. Encaja muy bien con sus ilustraciones recias y geométricas tan asociadas a la estética soviética.

[Fabian Ellis]

new fav poem. mayakovsky could illustrate in the shortness and sweetness of a poem how trotskyism is leninism, how the proletariat only required the speeches of lenin to carry out the russian revolution, and the tragedy of lenin's death yet still looming positive impact of his recent presence in 1924 before things later took a turn for the worse.

[Eirin]

Leste den norske oversettelsen av denne.
Meget bra skrevet!
Deilig å lese noe håpefullt om kommunismen fra perspektivet til noen som levde igjennom det

[Matt Morris]

Read my review of this & other books at https://miscmss.blogspot.com/2021/07/...

[Jógvan Helge]

Jeg vet det, jeg krenker den gode smak.

[Rodrigo Fernández]

No.

[Paul]

Out of print for 30 years, this lovely new edition of Mayakovsky's 3000 line poem, with an introduction by Rosy Carrick, is a fascinating read. Written shortly after the death of Lenin, it is a cri de cœur from Mayakovsky to remember Lenin as an ordinary man who achieved inspirational things. In retrospect it is interesting that he cautions against turning Lenin into an over-inflated icon, a cult of personality one might say.

The introduction of the book flags up the difficulties of translating the rhyme and rhythm of the Russian original, and this being a bi-lingual edition you can see the shape Mayakovsky wanted his poem to take, even if I can only read his original words phonetically.

Lovely to finally get my hands on this poem.

[Thomas]

remember when communism was an incredible source of hope for the world's downtrodden proletariat? mayakovsky does

[Matt Morris]

Read my review of this & other books at https://miscmss.blogspot.com/2021/07/...