Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peoples'Friendship University of Russia
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"A poet in Russia is more than just a poet. Poets are destined to be born here…"—we chose lines from Yevgeny Yevtushenko's poem for a reason. March 21st marks World Poetry Day. On the eve of the holiday, we decided to talk to RUDN University international students about their favorite poets—Russian or their own—and find out what it is about these authors' works that has touched their hearts.
"I met you—and everything bygone came alive in my moribund heart; I remembered a golden time—and my heart felt so warm." Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev is more than poetry. He possesses the ability to hear the soul of the world. Profound, passionate, philosophical—timeless! I admire his tragic yet profound view of life, where love is always a "fatal duel" and a dramatic combination of tenderness and passion, and nature is a living force. A brilliant thinker and a subtle lyricist, he remains one of the most piercing voices in Russian poetry," said Dinara Maksetova (Uzbekistan), a second-year master's student in the Faculty of Philology majoring in Literary Studies.
“Nadezhda Mandelstam said: the best Russian prose is only a distant echo of the psychological and lexical sophistication that Russian poetry showed in the first quarter of the century. Anna Akhmatova clarified: Dostoevsky’s heroes are “aged Pushkin characters, aged Onegin.” In this land, poetry has always been a source. And Brodsky is a direct heir to this source. He called himself “a poet not from a greenhouse.” He left school at the age of 15, wandered around geological parties and boiler rooms, was convicted of “parasitism” – these circumstances are not just the background of his poems, but the soil into which his words grew. He treated classical Chinese poetry with gratitude and curiosity, perhaps because ancient lines were also born from the earth and knew how to remain silent. Brodsky was in awe of the structure of the verse, but at the same time insisted: the stanzas should be connected not by logic, but by “the movement of the soul.” Reading it, you don’t follow the conclusions – you are picked up by an underground current, carrying you deeper or higher. Here is my favorite: “I entered a cage instead of a wild animal, burned out my sentence and cry with a nail in the barracks…” This is his self-portrait. Camp, exile, drowned three times, was cut to pieces twice – in 12 lines he lists the fragments of his shattered life. And at the end he writes: “But until my mouth is filled with clay, only gratitude will come out of it.” This is how Brodsky is remembered. He does not accuse, he does not moan. He chooses not curse, but gratitude. This is not an embellishment of suffering, but an affirmation of life itself: I’m alive, I can still speak—thank you for that already. From Auden he adopted stylistic restraint, from Akhmatova – moral strength. But his “morality” never turns into a sermon: it is in this ability not to break, not to turn away. He doesn’t care about politics – he cares about the broader concept of good and evil: how a person maintains dignity under the pressure of time. The Nobel Prize was not a wedding, but a belated recognition. Throughout his life he proved: poetry is not a hothouse flower, but words that have sprouted through the frozen ground. With scars. But with gratitude. Before his mouth is filled with clay, he chooses to give thanks. This gratitude is not reconciliation. This is his last freedom,” said Bai Jingjing (China), a second-year master’s student at the Faculty of Philology in the direction of “Literary Studies.”
"I want to tell you about Li Qingzhao, a Chinese poetess of the Song Dynasty, the author of lyrical songs in the ci genre. She is one of the few women whose name is inscribed in the golden fund of Chinese literature. I admire this poetess for several reasons. First, she was a rare female writer in ancient China, which in itself is admirable. Second, Li Qingzhao created a unique style of yianti, becoming the founder of its own school, which was imitated by her descendants. Third, her horizons were not limited to the domestic hearth. Her poems reflect the depth of a woman's soul: in her youth, they are light and graceful, but when the country faced tragedy, she revealed to the world these courageous lines: "Living among people, be a hero; having become death, be the leader of spirits." “Her breadth of views and greatness of spirit amaze me,” shared Zhou Zhiqian (China), a second-year Master’s student in the Faculty of Philology in Literary Studies.
Happy holiday to everyone involved in the world of poetry and literature! We wish you endless inspiration, vibrant images, precise rhymes, and grateful readers!
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.