An Anthology of Chuvash Poetry (Unesco Library of World Poetry) [Paperback]

Gennadii Aigi (Author), Peter France (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gratitude by Aleksey Afanasyev
Suddenly In The Stove A Spark Shoots Out In The Air by Aleksey Afanasyev
When It Has Happened by Aleksey Attil
Girls Going Visiting, 1945 by Yury Aydash
There Is A Time Like This by Yury Aydash
Let Me Be In Your Midst by Gennady Aygi
Snow by Gennady Aygi
Words Spoken At The Beginning Of The Sowing by Georgy Efimov
They Said Migikhver Had Hanged Himself by Sitar Ekhrime
Before The Coming Of The Fugitive Chuvash by Semyon Elker
The Hungry Year by Semyon Elker
Lark by Vasily Endip
The Star Looks by Peder Eyzin
Waterdrop by Peder Eyzin
The Life Of A Poor Man Is The Life Of A Hare In The Fields by Kerkuri (kerguri) Filippov
My Songs by Kaverle (gavril) Fyodorov
We Are The Chuvash People by Maksam (maksim) Fyodorov
Arzyuri The Wood Demon, Sels. by Mikhail Fyodorov
The Iron Brake by Kestenttin Ivanov
Narspi, Sels. by Kestenttin Ivanov
Song by Semyon Khumma-chekes
Salambi by Peter Khusankay
Songs Of Tilli: 1. Farewell To The Village .. To Be Soldier by Peter Khusankay
Songs Of Tilli: 2. What Does The Cock Say To You? by Peter Khusankay
Songs Of Tilli: 3. My Hair, My Eyes by Peter Khusankay
The Waters Have Not All Drained From The Melted Snows by Peter Khusankay
Bay, Bat, Bat Horse by Chavash Khveti
On The Fir Tree Sings The Cuckoo by Chavash Khveti
Child Crying by Taras Kirillov
Song Of The Peasant About His Work, Sels. by Taras Kirillov
Rye by Ivan Kurak
The Stealing Of The Earth by Vasily Magnitsky
Build A Bridge by Sespel Mishi
The Chuvash Word by Sespel Mishi
Chuvash! Chuvash! by Sespel Mishi
Henceforth (the Last Drops Of Blood) by Sespel Mishi
Hungry Psalm, Sels. by Sespel Mishi
Ploughing Of The New Day by Sespel Mishi
Scarlet, Scarlet, Scarlet Poppies, Life by Sespel Mishi
When Night Comes On From Afar, When The Shade Of Evening by Sespel Mishi
Above The Steep Stony Bank by Valsey Mitta
Elegy by Valsey Mitta
Epitaph (inscribed On Mitta's Grave In Asla Arabus) by Valsey Mitta
Message To Friends by Valsey Mitta
Song Of The Exiles by Valsey Mitta
Song Of The Land Surveyor by Valsey Mitta
Song Of The Lower Chuvash by Valsey Mitta
Feast Days And Sheep Thrills by Nikifor Okhotnikov
The Girl And The Violin by Kheveter (kheveder) Pavlov
I Shall Come Flowing by Viktar Rsay
My Country by Viktar Rsay
Our People Do Not Say by Nikolay Sandrov
Foal by Yury Semender
Snowdrifts In Spring by Yury Semender
Your Blessing! by Mikhail Seniel
Poppy Field by Stikhvan Shavly
Work, Work, By Work You Shall Eat by Stikhvan Shavly
Feast Days And Sheep Thrills by Nikolay Shelepi
The Day Of The Great Kalam by Nikolay Shupussynni
Melting Snow by Nikolay Shupussynni
Song Of Praise To The Chuvash Poets by Ille Takhti
Tkhryal, Sels. by Kerkuri (kerguri) Timofeyev
Flax by Ille Tuktash
In The Wide Field How White The Birch by Kheveter (kheveder) Turkhan
The Spring Flower Shines In The Field by Kheveter (kheveder) Turkhan
The Bazaar Of Ufim by Yakku (yakov) Ukhsay
Month Of The Sickle Moon by Yakku (yakov) Ukhsay
On A Clear Still Summer Night by Yakku (yakov) Ukhsay
Address To The Departed On The Evening Of The Great Candle by Anonymous
Ah, The Game, The Circling Game! by Anonymous
Albasta (exorcism Of Albasta, Spirit Of Evil) by Anonymous
Amidst The Plain Is A Spreading Oak by Anonymous
Barley I Sowed In The Barley Field by Anonymous
Bath Songs For Children by Anonymous
Bathing Prayer by Anonymous
Bee Prayer by Anonymous
Boatmen's Song: 1 by Anonymous
Boatmen's Song: 2 by Anonymous
Boatmen's Song: 3 by Anonymous
Boatmen's Song: 4 by Anonymous
Boatmen's Song: 5 by Anonymous
Bride's Lament by Anonymous
Charm Against Stomach Ache by Anonymous
Charm For The Shedding Of Blood by Anonymous
Chi-chi, Tom Tit (children's Song) by Anonymous
Conscript Songs: 1 by Anonymous
Conscript Songs: 2 by Anonymous
Conscript Songs: 3 by Anonymous
Conscript Songs: 4 by Anonymous
Conversation Of The Departed With Esrel, Lord Of Graveyard by Anonymous
Conversation Of The Departed With Tura by Anonymous
Cradle Song (1) by Anonymous
Cradle Song (2) by Anonymous
Cradle Song (3) by Anonymous
The Dancing Beaker by Anonymous
Dead Man's Song by Anonymous
Emigrant's Songs: 1 by Anonymous
Emigrant's Songs: 2 by Anonymous
First Steps by Anonymous
The Forest Murmurs Kash-kash, The Forest Murmurs by Anonymous
Funeral Song by Anonymous
Guest Songs: 1 by Anonymous
Guest Songs: 2 by Anonymous
Guest Songs: 3 by Anonymous
Guest Songs: 4 by Anonymous
Guest Songs: 5 by Anonymous
Guest Songs: 6 by Anonymous
Guest Songs: 7 by Anonymous
I Went Out Into The Field. by Anonymous
In The Year Of Seventy Three by Anonymous
Incantation For Fermenting Beer by Anonymous
Inseparable From Us (drinking Song) by Anonymous
Iron Charm by Anonymous
Little Straw, Little Straw, Beauty Of The Earth by Anonymous
A Lonely Birch In The Steppe by Anonymous
Midwife's Address To The Child After Washing by Anonymous
Murder In The Forest by Anonymous
Offering A Ritual Doll To The Spirit Of The Lake by Anonymous
Our Father Is The Sazan Fish by Anonymous
Out Of The Cellar Flew The Bright Shining Bird by Anonymous
Parents' Valediction To The Bride And Bridegroom by Anonymous
Ploughman's Prayer by Anonymous
Prayer At The Festival Of Sacrificial Beer Offering by Anonymous
Prayer At The Festival Of The Name by Anonymous
Prayer Before Entering The Bath House by Anonymous
Prayer Of The Musician Who Plays The Shabar At A Feast by Anonymous
Prayer Of The Priest Or Prayer Leader At ... 'uidyuk' by Anonymous
Prayer Of The Sower by Anonymous
Prayer To Khertsurt, Goddess Of The Hearth by Anonymous
Prayer To The Spirit Of The Field Before Harvest by Anonymous
Prayer To Water by Anonymous
Proclamation By The Priest Of The Beginning Of 'sinze' by Anonymous
Snake Charm (spell Against Estrangement) by Anonymous
Soldiers' Song by Anonymous
Song Before The Conclusion Of The Autumn Sacrifice by Anonymous
Song Of The Bride's Friends by Anonymous
Song Of The Hare by Anonymous
Song Of The Khan Of Kazan Before Turning Into A Swan by Anonymous
Speech Of The Best Man At A Wedding, Sels. by Anonymous
Spell For Separating Lovers by Anonymous
Suddenly Stenka Razin by Anonymous
Sun, Come Here (children's Song) by Anonymous
Taking Leave From The Departed After 'yuba' Funeral Feast by Anonymous
They Slaughtered The Black And White Pig by Anonymous
We Have Come For The Wedding by Anonymous
Will The Bride Come Out To Us, Or Won't She? by Anonymous
In War Too I Have This Dream by Valentin Urtash
Wounded by Valentin Urtash
Mother, Sels. by Serafim Vasilyev
Autumn Shone Forth - Then Grew Darker by Aleksey Vorobyov
Cocks by Aleksey Vorobyov
In The September Light by Peder Yakkuzen
To The Chuvash Intelligentsia, Sels. by Ivan Yakovlev
Bride's Lament by Sepritun Yantush
Flower Of Heaven (from Painting White Flower By V. Yakolev) by Gennady Yumart
Rook Snowstorm by Gennady Yumart
Ourine, Sels. by Ivan Yurkin
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Forest Books (January 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856100030
• ISBN-13: 978-1856100038
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,079,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Useful, but unideal translations and the commentary is marred with errors, July 14, 2007

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Anthology of Chuvash Poetry (Unesco Library of World Poetry) (Paperback)

AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHUVASH POETRY, compiled and introduced by Gennady Aigi and translated by Peter France, was published by Forest Books in 1991 as part of the UNESCO Library of World Poetry When I found this book in, of all places, the Hong Kong public library, I was excited. As a graduate student of Finno-Ugrian linguistics focusing on Mari, I've recently begun to study its influential neighbour Chuvash. Furthermore, I've long been a fan of Gennady Aigi, the Chuvash poet who first wrote in his native language and then turned to Russian, producing some of the most original verse in that language until his sad passing in 2006. Well, this continues to be, as far as I know, the only anthology of Chuvash verse in English translation for the layman, but I found so much about it infuriating.

Gennady Aigi's introduction introduces not only Chuvash poetry, but the culture of the Chuvash themselves. On one hand, it's interesting to read Aigi's view of the culture in which he was born, which he feels to be ancient and sublimely exotic, with its pagan vestiges and unusual language. However, Aigi was not a trained linguist, archaeologist, or historian, and he makes many claims about the Chuvash language and people that are either dubious or simply false. One cannot state outright that one's people is descended from the Huns, for we know too little about the Huns. Chuvash does not belong to the "Uralo-Altaic" family of languages, for most reputable linguists place the Uralic language separate from the "Altaic" languages, which in itself is an increasingly untenable grouping.

One might argue that the introduction is but a little part of the book, and what should count are the poetry selections and their translations. It is true that there is much interesting stuff here, ranging from such anonymous material such as texts associated with Chuvash pagan mythology and songs and speeches to the early luminaries of Chuvash modern poetry. These poems have never elsewhere appeared in English translation and for that reason this publication is important. For example, as far as I know, only here can one find any translation into English of portions of "Narspi", Konstantin Ivanov's moving tragedy of love and death. And this translation is of the second edition of Aigi's anthology, when he included the later, Soviet, generations of poets.

However, as Peter France admits in his preface, he doesn't speak but a few words of Chuvash. His translations are made from translations which Aigi made in turn from the Russian, meaning that the poems here are quite distanced from how they were originally written. France claims that he sent the material to a Chuvash scholar to review, but that raises the question of why he didn't just commission said Chuvash scholar to translate the poems himself from the original Chuvash.

If you are interested in Chuvash affairs and have some training already in the history and culture of the Chuvash, consider seeking this book out--though if you're the type that is learning Chuvash, you might even wait to read the selections here in the original. However, though the Chuvash people are fascinating and their literature worth better knowing, I am reluctant to recommend this book to laymen if it would only serve to perpetuate falsehoods through Aigi's introduction. Plus, translations of translations just seem wrong.