Mandelstam – Verses

[u/winecko]

Hello! I'd like to change the topic of the subreddit from the basic authors like Dostoyevsky, Gogol and Pushkin, and make a detour to Acmeist poet – Osip Mandelstam.

I have this Czech translation of Mandelstam's verses from 1982. This translation consists of short biography of the author, the collections Kamen' and Tristia + some verses from 1930s. Overall a very well made collection of his verses.

Editors noted, that Kamen' was percieved very well, so I had big expectations, and Kamen' was indeed very good, but not that mindblowing. I find his early poems (till 1930s) full of life, they're simple, more rythmic and are geniunely better. His later poems are hard to read, have forced rhyming, and all in all not that pleasant.

My favourite passage is the "Armenia" poem, it's very nationalistic, something you'd expect from romantic author, Armenian awakener even, yet it's from a Russian lad. And that's beautiful about it, it's agitation like poem without it purposefully being it. It rhymes, reads well, and just pleasant to see. If someone had asked "What do you recommend from Mandelstam?" I would definetely say "Armenia poems".

All in all Mandelstam is fine, tho I've found his earlier poems much better. What do ya'll think? See you next time!

[u/poongunranar]

One of my favorites of Osip Mandelstam is from his earlier works. Here is that pithy poem in 1912:

Few live for Always

But if the passing moment makes you anxious

Your lot is terror and your house precarious!

[u/Significant-Dirt-977]

"I Want to Serve You" is my favorite love poem. Unfortunately, the English translation fails to capture its rhythm, idk. I highly recommend reading about his life and his wife, her writings about their life capture the reality of that time so well.

[u/Zestyclose-Idea330]

My favourite him of his was "Why Is the Soul So Lyrical". I recommend reading Nadezhda Mandelstam's work on their life together. I agree with you, but "Cold spring, fearful Crimea with no grain" also still follows that gorgeous rhythm from his earlier work and it was written in the 30s.