World Literature Classics Authoritative New Translation Series -- Selected Poems of Pushkin

Author: Pushkin (Russia); Translated by Zeng Chongming, Zeng Fanhua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: A.S. Pushkin (1799—1837) was a world-famous Russian poet and one of the founders of the 19th-century Russian critical realism literature. He was born into a declining noble family in Moscow. In 1811, he attended the Noble School "Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum" in St. Petersburg, and after graduating in 1817, he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, he was dissatisfied with the upper class of Russia at the time and was influenced by the Decemberists. He loved his homeland and its people, and held beautiful dreams and ideals for the future. His poems were full of youthful vitality and inspiring romanticism. As early as 1814, when he was studying at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, the 15-year-old Pushkin wrote the famous poem "Reminiscences of Tsarskoye Selo." In 1817, while working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 18-year-old Pushkin wrote "Ode to Freedom," which was widely circulated among the Decemberists and angered the Russian Tsar. From 1820, he was exiled by the authorities and spent six years in exile. In 1826, he returned to Moscow and often traveled between Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Borkino, but he remained under surveillance by the authorities until his death in a duel in 1837. The genius poet unfortunately lived for only 38 years! At the age of 15, Pushkin already stood out, making a remarkable debut with a "epic" like "Reminiscences of Tsarskoye Selo," which was distinct in perspective, rich in content, sincere in emotion, elegant in language, well-structured, and full of profound poetic depth. Later, during his youth and middle age (25—32 years old), the poet created a world-rare novel in verse form, "Eugene Onegin," consisting of eight chapters and 389 stanzas (each stanza has 14 lines, with each line having eight syllables, strictly rhymed and metrical). These two achievements vividly demonstrated his poetic genius. "Selected Poems of Pushkin" is one of the recommended extracurricular reading books for middle school students by the Ministry of Education. The selected works in this book are representative, and there are two outstanding features: first, it includes the classic masterpiece "Eugene Onegin" by the poet, accompanied by a brief introduction to the novel; second, it carefully selects and translates some short poems that are popular among young readers, recited and chanted, and includes the original text for comparison, providing a reference for Russian language enthusiasts.