I’ll tell you what, folks. My poetic muse is on strike and has been for some time. I’ve been trying to tempt her back with treats and attention, but she’s kind of tired and mopey and depressed. I think she misses Russia. Maybe a few playful verses would cheer her up? This is a goofy … Read more
This poem began as a response to Mary Oliver’s “I Have Decided” (found in A Thousand Mornings) and quickly flew off in its own direction, until during my revisions I had to cut the response part of it entirely. The original remains scribbled in my notebook, which I’m glad I had with me at the … Read more
In 1828, the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin wrote a short, lighthearted love poem to Anna Olenina, a girl he was pursuing at the time. Almost two hundred years later, that small poem is one of Pushkin’s most well-known and beloved verses. It also has a reputation for causing a particular conundrum for English translations. … Read more
Ever had feelings for someone, and you just couldn’t work up the nerve to tell them? Or worse, you tried to hide that you liked them at all? Today’s poem, written by the 19th-century Russian poet Afanasy Fet, expresses that feeling with poignant simplicity and elegance. I tried to preserve as much of that tone as … Read more