In so far as children’s poetry is concerned, he was better than Dr. Seuss and almost as much a classic as Mother Goose. And he also brought a whole world of English-language poetry, for children and adults alike, to the Russian homes, via his superb inspired translations and renderings, following the great tradition started by Vasili Zhukovsky at the dawn of the nineteenth century.
America has not heard much of Samuil Marshak the poet. His children’s verses, poetry, and translations of world classics, culminating in the amazing translation of Shakespeare’s complete Sonnets, for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize for Literature (all-in-all, he was awarded four Stalin Prizes and one Lenin Prize for his literary work, plus two Lenin Orders, as well as other orders and medals) are virtually unknown in the West. My personal feelings about Marshak will always be warm and grateful. He is a part of my childhood, and a part of my Russia, and just as I miss them both, I miss him too.
Marshak was born in the Russian city of Voronezh in a Jewish family where both Hebrew and Yiddish were known and taught. His father, although of a lowly social station, was a descendant of the famous Rabbi and Talmudic scholar of the seventeenth century Rav Aron Shmuel Ben Yisroel Kaydanover. The boy received an excellent education at home before attending schools, where he was pronounced a wunderkind, attracting the attention of the celebrated Russian critic Vladimir Stasov, who was very much impressed and became the boy’s sponsor. Marshak quickly made a name for himself as a promising poet, and his published works now included original poetry in Russian and translations from Yiddish and Hebrew.
In 1912-1914 Marshak traveled to England, where he studied at the University of London for two years and fell in love with English and Scottish literature. While still in London, he started making Russian translations of the songs and ballads of Robert Burns and the poems of William Blake and William Wordsworth, which were all successfully published. For his translations of Burns he would later receive the honorary citizenship of Scotland. After that he went on to translate John Keats, Rudyard Kipling, Edward Lear, Alexander Milne, and even the novels of Jane Austen! All his translations without exception have been recognized as classics, and, in the Russian language, both the original author and Marshak the translator seem to be fused together, with the credit going to both at the same time, and virtually in equal measure. As I said before, the full cycle of Shakespeare’s Sonnets in Marshak’s brilliant translation, is considered a classic work of Soviet Russian literature.
English poetry and prose were not the only source of Marshak’s translations. He was translating extensively from the works of the different nationalities of the USSR, and even made a translation of the poetry of Mao Ze-Dong (eighteen poems in all)! But despite his infatuation with, and an incredible gift for, translations from foreign languages, his original works are many. Besides children’s literature, he wrote patriotic poetry and prose with political and military themes and produced a number of satirical works. But children’s literature, of course, remained his favorite genre, and he was superb in it.
Cat’s House is a wonderful tale in verse, intended for reading to young children. It was read to me before I could read, and when I learned reading, I kept reading it to myself, and no wonder that I remember it (alas, with small gaps) by heart… I wonder if they still read Marshak to little children in Russia these days. If they do, then at least some of my wary prejudice against the changed coarsened life in post-Soviet Russia might be softened, although not completely ameliorated.
Reader, I know that we are products of different times and of different cultures. I do not expect the name of Marshak to evoke the same or even similar emotions in you, as it is evoking in me. All I want from you is to remember his name, and, believe me, his name is worthy of being remembered!
America has not heard much of Samuil Marshak the poet. His children’s verses, poetry, and translations of world classics, culminating in the amazing translation of Shakespeare’s complete Sonnets, for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize for Literature (all-in-all, he was awarded four Stalin Prizes and one Lenin Prize for his literary work, plus two Lenin Orders, as well as other orders and medals) are virtually unknown in the West. My personal feelings about Marshak will always be warm and grateful. He is a part of my childhood, and a part of my Russia, and just as I miss them both, I miss him too.
Marshak was born in the Russian city of Voronezh in a Jewish family where both Hebrew and Yiddish were known and taught. His father, although of a lowly social station, was a descendant of the famous Rabbi and Talmudic scholar of the seventeenth century Rav Aron Shmuel Ben Yisroel Kaydanover. The boy received an excellent education at home before attending schools, where he was pronounced a wunderkind, attracting the attention of the celebrated Russian critic Vladimir Stasov, who was very much impressed and became the boy’s sponsor. Marshak quickly made a name for himself as a promising poet, and his published works now included original poetry in Russian and translations from Yiddish and Hebrew.
In 1912-1914 Marshak traveled to England, where he studied at the University of London for two years and fell in love with English and Scottish literature. While still in London, he started making Russian translations of the songs and ballads of Robert Burns and the poems of William Blake and William Wordsworth, which were all successfully published. For his translations of Burns he would later receive the honorary citizenship of Scotland. After that he went on to translate John Keats, Rudyard Kipling, Edward Lear, Alexander Milne, and even the novels of Jane Austen! All his translations without exception have been recognized as classics, and, in the Russian language, both the original author and Marshak the translator seem to be fused together, with the credit going to both at the same time, and virtually in equal measure. As I said before, the full cycle of Shakespeare’s Sonnets in Marshak’s brilliant translation, is considered a classic work of Soviet Russian literature.
English poetry and prose were not the only source of Marshak’s translations. He was translating extensively from the works of the different nationalities of the USSR, and even made a translation of the poetry of Mao Ze-Dong (eighteen poems in all)! But despite his infatuation with, and an incredible gift for, translations from foreign languages, his original works are many. Besides children’s literature, he wrote patriotic poetry and prose with political and military themes and produced a number of satirical works. But children’s literature, of course, remained his favorite genre, and he was superb in it.
Cat’s House is a wonderful tale in verse, intended for reading to young children. It was read to me before I could read, and when I learned reading, I kept reading it to myself, and no wonder that I remember it (alas, with small gaps) by heart… I wonder if they still read Marshak to little children in Russia these days. If they do, then at least some of my wary prejudice against the changed coarsened life in post-Soviet Russia might be softened, although not completely ameliorated.
Reader, I know that we are products of different times and of different cultures. I do not expect the name of Marshak to evoke the same or even similar emotions in you, as it is evoking in me. All I want from you is to remember his name, and, believe me, his name is worthy of being remembered!
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