Listen! Early Poems (City Lights Pocket Poets Series) [Paperback]

Vladimir Mayakovsky (Author), Maria Enzensberger (Translator)

Book Description

Series: City Lights Pocket Poets Series | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

“Nathaniel Mackey's poem is a brilliant renewal of and experiment with the language of our spiritual condition and a measure of what poetry gives in trust-'heart's/meat' and the rush of language to bear it.” —Robin Blaser

“Mackey’s raspy rebus-like cultural resurfacings are both beautiful to read and worthy of repeated efforts at comprehension.” —Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

Review

1
And Yet...
Concern For Horses
Epilogue
Listen!
Mayakovsky
Mayakovsky
Prologue, From The Backbone-flute
Prologue, From Vladimir Mayakovsky. A Tragedy:
Take It!
To Shop Signs
What About You?
You!
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers; 1st City Lights Books ed edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872862550
• ISBN-13: 978-0872862555
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #770,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Russian
  • #33 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Single Authors > Continental European

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A voice both mystical and earthy, June 18, 2004

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Listen! Early Poems (City Lights Pocket Poets Series) (Paperback)

"Listen! Early Poems 1913-1918," by Vladimir Mayakovsky, features poems translated into English by Maria Enzensberger. Also included is a foreword by Elaine Feinstein. This 63-page book has been published as Pocket Poets Series No. 47.

This book was my introduction to the voice of Russian poet Mayakovsky (1893-1930). In her interesting introduction translator Enzensberger puts his work in context. She includes a humorous and charming story about the beginning of his poetic career, and also discusses his relationship to the futurist movement. The book reproduces a rich selection of visual materials: photos, lithographs, drawings, and even some of Mayakovsky's own handwritten notes.

Mayakovsky's poetry is fascinating. His voice is full of absurdism and playful humor. Yet the poetry is also touched by a tragic vision; his voice sounds genuinely compassionate towards beings (both human and non-human) that are suffering. The poems raise lofty theological issues, yet remain grounded in very concrete and specific worldly things: smoked sardines, manure, galoshes, etc. A number of pieces deal with poetry itself.

Mayakovsky's language, as rendered into English by Enzensberger, has a wonderfully muscular, meaty, yet musical quality--truly poetry that should be read aloud. At times Mayakovsky's vision and voice reminded me of those of Pablo Neruda and Walt Whitman, whom I see as his poetic soul brothers. At his best, Mayakovsky has a poetic voice that is graced with prophecy and magic.

3.0 out of 5 stars A good gift for a friend, April 29, 1999

By 

George Oliver (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Listen! Early Poems (City Lights Pocket Poets Series) (Paperback)

A classy, stylish little book, with Russian and transliterated English printed on facing pages. Some of Mayakovsky's art, too, in black and white. I don't think it has the scope or selection you would want for a collection, but it's a really fine volume for a gift, for something small, for a little dose of one of 'the' Russian poets of the 20th century.