Puschkin's
poetische
Werke.
Pushkin - Eugene Oneigin
Some of the
poet's allusions remain enigmatical to the present day. The point of
each sarcasm naturally passed out of mind together with the society
against which it was levelled. If some of the versification is rough
and wanting in "go," I must plead in excuse the difficult form of the
stanza, and in many instances the inelastic nature of the subject
matter to be versified. Stanza XXXV Canto II forms a good example
of the latter difficulty, and is omitted in the German and French
versions to which I have had access. The translation of foreign
verse is comparatively easy so long as it is confined to conventional
poetic subjects, but when it embraces abrupt scraps of conversation
and the description of local customs it becomes a much more arduous
affair. I think I may say that I have adhered closely to the text
of the original.
The following foreign translations of this poem have appeared:
1. French prose. Oeuvres choisis de Pouchekine. H. Dupont. Paris,
1847.
2. German verse. A.
Puschkin's poetische Werke. F. Bodenstedt.
Berlin, 1854.
3. Polish verse. Eugeniusz Oniegin. Roman Aleksandra Puszkina.
A. Sikorski. Vilnius, 1847.
4. Italian prose. Racconti poetici di A. Puschkin, tradotti da
A. Delatre.
poet's allusions remain enigmatical to the present day. The point of
each sarcasm naturally passed out of mind together with the society
against which it was levelled. If some of the versification is rough
and wanting in "go," I must plead in excuse the difficult form of the
stanza, and in many instances the inelastic nature of the subject
matter to be versified. Stanza XXXV Canto II forms a good example
of the latter difficulty, and is omitted in the German and French
versions to which I have had access. The translation of foreign
verse is comparatively easy so long as it is confined to conventional
poetic subjects, but when it embraces abrupt scraps of conversation
and the description of local customs it becomes a much more arduous
affair. I think I may say that I have adhered closely to the text
of the original.
The following foreign translations of this poem have appeared:
1. French prose. Oeuvres choisis de Pouchekine. H. Dupont. Paris,
1847.
2. German verse. A.
Puschkin's poetische Werke. F. Bodenstedt.
Berlin, 1854.
3. Polish verse. Eugeniusz Oniegin. Roman Aleksandra Puszkina.
A. Sikorski. Vilnius, 1847.
4. Italian prose. Racconti poetici di A. Puschkin, tradotti da
A. Delatre.
