Question by Grace: Help finding a poetry book?
I’m looking for a book by a specific poet: Sergei Yesenin.
Are there any bilingual books out there of his poems?
I’ve seen Russian ones, but I do not speak Russian so that would be pointless to get.
Does anyone know? I’d really really really reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally appreciate it.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Chris H
You do realize that reading a translation of a poem is senseless? The rhyme will disappear, the meter will never match, and what the poet is trying to capture will never be revealed.
Answer by Ski – Idaho
There is an online translation site…if only I remembered it! As for a bilingual book, what’s the problem? I know Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, but is (kinda) easy to learn. Лучший из удачи к Вам! (Best of luck to you!)
If it doesn’t translate (or transliterate, whichever) directly, explain that. I know my German doesn’t translate directly! Here, we ‘go to paint the town red’; there, they ‘go to steal horses’. Verrücht, ja?
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classmate says
Not sure where you can find an ink-and-paper book of his poems in English, but you’ll find lots of English translations of his work at this site:
http://zhurnal.lib.ru/a/alec_v/yes-chron-eng.shtml