Quaderni di Mosca

by Osip Mandelstam, Pina Napolitano (Editor), Raissa Raskina (Editor)

Con i Quaderni di Mosca, a partire dal 1930, si apre la cosiddetta seconda stagione della poesia di Mandel´štam, caratterizzata dall'abbandono del tono classico ed elevato a favore di una mescolanza di registri stilistici e forme metriche, un laboratorio in cui conta più di tutto lo «slancio» poetico, in grado di trasformare in cicli di poesie un flusso di materiali eterogenei, autobiografici, storici e letterari, con una dinamica ambigua, simile a quella dei sogni. Sia il ciclo del viaggio in Armenia che apre il libro, sia quelli successivi ambientati a Leningrado e a Mosca presentano una poesia diretta e colloquiale, eppure così sfuggente, in grado di mescolare immagini della vita quotidiana con dotte citazioni letterarie, di sovrapporre piani temporali e spaziali diversi, di rappresentare la realtà nella sua natura pluristratificata e intimamente contraddittoria. Questo libro cosí fondamentale per la storia della poesia del Novecento non era mai stato integralmente tradotto in italiano. Ci hanno pensato Pina Napolitano e Raissa Raskina, offrendoci anche un indispensabile apparato di note in fondo al volume che permette di recuperare i molti riferimenti alla vita sovietica e alla biografia personale che il poeta distribuisce o, per meglio dire, fa esplodere nei suoi versi.

Genres: Poetry, Russia, Literature

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (also spelled Osip Mandelshtam, Ossip Mandelstamm) (Russian: Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам) was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets. He was arrested by Joseph Stalin's government during the repression of the 1930s and sent into internal exile with his wife Nadezhda. Given a reprieve of sorts, they moved to Voronezh in southwestern Russia. In 1938 Mandelstam was arrested again and sentenced to a camp in Siberia. He died that year at a transit camp.

Reviews

[Gobro]

Frustrante perdersi il suono delle Parole dell'originale o l'uso delle "onde-segnali semantiche" oppure non accorgersi che il ritmo delle Parole di un componimento che parla di un Tram riproduce effettivamente Lo sferragliare lungo i binari

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the rattling valor of the ages to come,
For the high tribe of men.
I have lost my cup at the feast of my fathers,
I have lost the cup of my fathers, and my joy and my honour.
....
Take me away into the night where the Yenisei flows
And the pine tree reaches the star,
For I am not a wolf by my blood
And only an equal will kill me.

За гремучую доблесть грядущих веков,
‎За высокое племя людей, –
Я лишился и чаши на пире отцов,
‎‎И веселья, и чести своей.
....
Уведи меня в ночь, где течет Енисей
‎‎И сосна до звезды достаёт,
Потому что не волк я по крови своей
‎‎И меня только равный убьёт.


Octet XI
And I walk out of space.
Into a neglected garden of magnitudes,
And tear up the imaginary constancy
And the self-consciousness of reason.
And your, infinity, textbook.
I read alone, without men.
A leafless, wild healer,
The book of huge roots.

И я выхожу из пространства
В запущенный сад величин,
И мнимое рву постоянство
И самосознанье причин.
И твой, бесконечность, учебник
Читаю один, без людей –
Безлиственный, дикий лечебник,
Задачник огромных корней.



31
That's enough sulking . Shove the papers in the desk drawer .
I am seized by a glorious devil ,
...
I am conscious that the beautiful year
thirty - one is blooming in cherry blossom
....
Don't get excited , impatience is a luxury .
I will gradually increase my speed ,
Let's go out onto the track at a cool pace .
I have kept my distance .

Держу в уме, что нынче тридцать первый
Прекрасный год в черемухах цветет
...
Не волноваться. Нетерпенье – роскошь,
Я постепенно скорость разовью –
Холодным шагом выйдем на дорожку –
Я сохранил дистанцию мою.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book of poetry by Osip Mandelstam by accident when I was browsing through books in the local college library. I had never head of him before, but as I read through the introduction and scanned some of his poems, I was intrigued.

Sadly, like too many of his countrymen at the time, Mandesltam was a victim of the Great Terror, Joseph Stalin's ruthless purge of political dissidents between 1936-1938. I had never hear of him before and I felt obligated, in a strange way, to listen to the voice of this poet from beyond history. I am glad I did.

His imagery is powerful and imbued with a resignation and sadness that hits home more deeply given the context in which the poems were written. I recently read short stories by Isaac Babel, another Russian writer who fell victim to the Great Terror and while I enjoyed them, I found myself more moved by the brief, but very powerful and evocative words that Mandelstam wrote.

One of my favorite lines: "The firmest and most unshakable places are quaking, and I am shaken. As though mourning is embedded in the very granite in the nest of former happinesses."

Other poems that really struck me are "My days have raced past" and "The Wolf". It is sad that more Americans do not know of Mandelstam. Reading work by Mandesltam and Babel would perfectly complement high school lessons on the Soviet Union's role in the Great Terror and World War II.

I am glad that I stumbled upon this book. That is the beauty of libraries: you can be pleasantly surprised by an unexpected discovery. That is something that Google will never do. Long live libraries!!

[Samira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb! 🥰

[S]

Richard & Elizabeth McKane, trans
Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books, 1991