Customer Reviews

The Bridegroom: WITH "Count Nulin" AND "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel" (Angel Classics)

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I've asked this question because this small volume, which seeks to introduce English readers to Pushkin, probably will not be highly successful at its task. The idea makes sense. The collection includes a ballad - The Bridegroom, a parody of The Rape of Lucrece - Count Nulin, and a verse fairy tale - The Tale of the Golden Cockerel. The intent is to show the versatility of Pushkin's poetic gift.

As I've read elsewhere, part of the problem is the shift in English-language tastes in poetry since the modernist era. Although the ballad reads well, it feels very old-fashioned. Count Nulin is the most successful here, as it gives a sense of the urbanity of Pushkin's work. In this poem, there is no rape because the Russian noblewoman, at whose house Count Nulin stays due to a broken wheel, slaps the count's face when he tries. There is a sense of the sparkling wit of Pushkin, particularly in the dialogue. The fairy tale suffers from the same problem as the ballad. For a century, rhyming verse has been linked to doggerel in the English-language tradition. Even though the translation is good, the fairy tale just doesn't present itself as a serious poem. The afterward makes clear that the fairy tale is a revenge fantasy Pushkin had against Emperor Nicholas I, who forced Pushkin to stay at court while there were rumors that the tsar was dallying with Pushkin's wife.

In a way, this is a good introduction to Pushkin's poetic range. It may be that the task of translating Pushkin into English is simply a thankless one.