Well, I set out to re-read A Hero of our Time (in Russian, thanks to Maksim Moshkov’s online library) and for some reason, I just could not keep my eyes on the page. Not that it isn’t a beautiful piece of writing. I was thinking about the wonder of the description of Gud-Mountain, with its smoke forming a black blot on the sky, even as I looked at the clock for the umpteenth time and wondered if I could justify another tea break. But something wasn’t working.

Even after several years away from the text, I know Hero inside out. I read it in Nabokov’s translation as a first year undergrad, I read it for a paper in second year, I read it on my year abroad just for fun, I read it to get through exam stress during finals. (I’ll come back to the Nabokov translation one of these days, when Vulpes is in a hatchety mood again). This time round, though, I thought about everything that was waiting for me – the irony, the fatalism, the moody episodes, the failed romances, the deaths – and felt, well, blah. The thrill and the joy of rediscovering Lermontov’s familiar language still couldn’t overcome the feeling of blah. I went to play on Google instead, checking up some biographical details with every intention of coming back to Hero when the blah wore off.

That’s when the plan changed. I came across an online poetry anthology, and Death of a Poet. Suddenly, I was back in love with Lermontov. I got carried away and read the poem out loud to myself and the cats (and presumably the neighbours); I even discovered iMovie and made a recording of myself reading it, since all the recordings online were the typical ponderous declamatory things that happen when a classical Russian actor gets hold of a poem. Then I realised that quite apart from shamelessly copying Rosy and Lisa, and with much less pizazz, posting such a video on Vulpes would immediately bring on one of my fits of internet anonymity paranoia. Anyway, Tuesday’s post will be all about poetry. In the meantime, here is an excellent translation of Death of a Poet (with original facing) courtesy of From the Ends to the Beginning. Enjoy!