Full Description
Larissa Miller is one of Russia's most highly-regarded writers - novelist, essayist and poet - and this selection from her collection "Between the Cloud and the Pit" (1999) spans her poetic output from the 1960s to the millennium. "Guests of Eternity" is a presentation, in chronological order, of poems written (but not published) in the three decades preceding glasnost' as well as the final decade of the twentieth century. Here are political poems from the '70s and '80s which speak openly about the horrors of the Soviet system, others which comment directly on purges and torture, and yet more which convey the struggle to grow and mature with one's soul intact in a world of suffering.Yet throughout this book, as Sasha Dugdale points out in her introduction, there are moments of hope, of a spiritual - even religious - dimension that afford glimpses of a transcendent world and bring peace of mind to the beleaguered soul. Larissa Miller is a consummate technician, combining simple words with complicated and intricate rhythms to produce apparently effortless poetry which succeeds in elevating the ordinary and commonplace to a higher plane.
Described by her translator Richard McKane as 'a poet of all seasons, not only of the natural world, but of the soul', Larissa Miller writes with an intensity and a lyricism that is compelling, mesmerising and unforgettable.
Contents
Series Editor's note. Translator's preface by Richard McKane.Introduction by Sasha Dugdale.Part I: Poems of the 60s & 70sI have only one picture, Don't scare offA... , The wind bends the trees , The day is so fragile, In the clear midday , Everything happened, Teach me simplicity, O mixed grasses, There whereA..., Do these days, It seemed all was marked, Anonymous days, I writeA... , Our life is sewnA..., And instead of graceA..., Look my darling, Not us, but the airA..., Pan is led by passionA..., Come here, Tormented by a concept, The autumn windA..., Where to run?, Get up, YashaA..., That tempo againA...Part II: Poems of the 80sBetween the cloud and the pit, RitenutoA..., I have good news, An unprecedented event, Love to the grave, To go out once from fate, There is a surprising breach, Another flight, more steps, We talk and talk, Someone's handsA..., We are guests of eternity, You are thrown into the abyss, 'Where are you going?', Not to make sense in words, First they rounded them up, So, the action takes placeA..., What do you payA...?, Do you not feel painA..., Forgive meA..., According to some secret plan, A word is a tear, Height is gained immediately, A singing clockface, Is it possible to scare mortals?, Eight linesA..., The snow sparkledA..., From the splendid acacia and lilac bushes, The autumn rains rustlePart III: Poems of the 90sThe clouds fly across the sky, MemoirsA..., A million orange streaks. Moss and fir cones, Again loss and abandonment, It's easy to go away, I write poemsA..., Again the fateful minutes, In this province of mourningA..., We live our lifeA..., You got hooked, The whip and the honeycake, The roar of the machineA..., They waited for lightA..., Let's fill in the form, Where are you from?, My life is curiouser and curiouser, It was on the very last day, Heavy daysA..., It's not worth livingA..., What is there overhead, English Lesson, They were singingA... , I'm on about my own stuffA..., The heavens are playingA..., Almighty, do not have mercy. Biographical notes.
