Poetry
Будем как солнце
Not translated into English
Konstantin Balmont · 1903
Opening lines
Я в этот мир пришёл, чтоб видеть Солнце
И синий кругозор.
Я в этот мир пришёл, чтоб видеть Солнце,
И выси гор.
I came into this world to see the Sun
And the blue horizon.
I came into this world to see the Sun
And the heights of the mountains.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from ru.wikisource.org
Synopsis
A “book of symbols” in seven cycles, placed under an epigraph drawn from Anaxagoras: I came into this world to see the sun. The sun is the source of all life and fire its earthly figure; the poems also invoke the ocean, the wind and the moon, desire and dream, and exalt the moment. The first cycle sings the elements; others are titled the serpent's eye, the milky way, the enchanted grotto, danses macabres, conscience, the artist-devil.
Context
Composed in 1901 and 1902, the collection appeared in Moscow from the Skorpion publishing house, in a volume of 290 pages dated 1903, under a cover illustrated by the German artist Fidus. The censorship opposed it: the censor Sokolov judged it harmful, too erotic, cynical and even sacrilegious, and about ten poems were removed, notably from the cycle of the enchanted grotto. Critics see in it the summit of the author's work.
Who it is for
A large collection whose verbal music is its interest; no French translation, a few isolated poems in English.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as its author's best book; it earned him the reputation of being the most famous poet in Russia, and Blok hailed it for its unfathomable richness.
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