Great, now I have that song in my head.
This week's post poet has been plucked from my pool of general ignorance once again. And to make matters worse, I have found out there are two Tolstoys; the writer of Anna Karenina is Leo Tolstoy, and the one I am to study (who is actually related to the other!) is A.K. Tolstoy. Next week I shall see whether Leo wrote poetry and hopefully enjoy his works.
Today's Tolstoy has written some sweet little poems, like 'My Little Almond Tree' but I want to look at a patriotic poem. So here is Russia, O My Russia, Hail!
Russia, O my Russia, hail!
Steeds as tempests flying,
Howling of the distant wolves,
Eagles high, shrill crying!
Hail, my Russia, hail! Hail high!
Hail thy green forests proud,
Hail thy silvery nightingales,
Hail Steppes and wind and cloud!
The initial personification in the first line epitomises the sense of ownership and belonging that is patriotism. Tolstoy lived in a time of turmoil in the political world, with the opposing views of the Capitalist West and Communist East, Russia being a part of the latter. Therefore, one can either read this poem as a real and natural reflection of what is good in Russia, purposely avoiding the bias of politics, or it could be a political message to the West about the natural goodness of the East being better than the West as Communism is made to seem more akin with the natural world. Either way, I'm glad I can focus on the wild and an ecocriticism.
It is important to know that 'Steppes' refers to an area in Serbia which is unforested and therefore Tolstoy hails the nature of Russia most significantly, because it is what ends the poem. Each line includes semantics on the physical and biological geography of the country. Animals are present in 'steeds', 'wolves', 'eagles' and 'nightingales'. It might be worth mentioning that two of these a repredators, perhaps conveying the strength and aggression of Russia to the reader, although this is subtle as the horse and bird are less violent and wild images.
Tolstoy recognises that nature is not a human possession (I'm sure Atwood would approve!) by using the third person possessive determiner 'thy'. However, if Russia belongs to him, then surely the possessions of Russia are in reality the narrator's? Sneaky...almost had me nodding along with that!
It is nice to see weather that would typically be depicted as bad or miserable being praised here. 'Wind and cloud' and 'tempests' are again the more violent parts of the discourse of weather, portraying further natural vigour. 'Silvery' as an adjective brings value to the description (Russia was proud of its mining). even though it is ascribed to a bird; I see it as a transferred epithet, where the country owns the wealth and riches of nature - showing the West that Communism did not equate with poverty.
You can read this poem with the political slant if you like, or you could merely see an appreciation for nature. Either way, the human stamp on nature still remains, what with 'steeds' and 'eagles' being animals which humans commonly tame and train.
Looking forward to Tolstoy number two next week to see how the two relations compare (today's one had read the next one's works).
This week's post poet has been plucked from my pool of general ignorance once again. And to make matters worse, I have found out there are two Tolstoys; the writer of Anna Karenina is Leo Tolstoy, and the one I am to study (who is actually related to the other!) is A.K. Tolstoy. Next week I shall see whether Leo wrote poetry and hopefully enjoy his works.
Today's Tolstoy has written some sweet little poems, like 'My Little Almond Tree' but I want to look at a patriotic poem. So here is Russia, O My Russia, Hail!
Russia, O my Russia, hail!
Steeds as tempests flying,
Howling of the distant wolves,
Eagles high, shrill crying!
Hail, my Russia, hail! Hail high!
Hail thy green forests proud,
Hail thy silvery nightingales,
Hail Steppes and wind and cloud!
The initial personification in the first line epitomises the sense of ownership and belonging that is patriotism. Tolstoy lived in a time of turmoil in the political world, with the opposing views of the Capitalist West and Communist East, Russia being a part of the latter. Therefore, one can either read this poem as a real and natural reflection of what is good in Russia, purposely avoiding the bias of politics, or it could be a political message to the West about the natural goodness of the East being better than the West as Communism is made to seem more akin with the natural world. Either way, I'm glad I can focus on the wild and an ecocriticism.
It is important to know that 'Steppes' refers to an area in Serbia which is unforested and therefore Tolstoy hails the nature of Russia most significantly, because it is what ends the poem. Each line includes semantics on the physical and biological geography of the country. Animals are present in 'steeds', 'wolves', 'eagles' and 'nightingales'. It might be worth mentioning that two of these a repredators, perhaps conveying the strength and aggression of Russia to the reader, although this is subtle as the horse and bird are less violent and wild images.
Tolstoy recognises that nature is not a human possession (I'm sure Atwood would approve!) by using the third person possessive determiner 'thy'. However, if Russia belongs to him, then surely the possessions of Russia are in reality the narrator's? Sneaky...almost had me nodding along with that!
It is nice to see weather that would typically be depicted as bad or miserable being praised here. 'Wind and cloud' and 'tempests' are again the more violent parts of the discourse of weather, portraying further natural vigour. 'Silvery' as an adjective brings value to the description (Russia was proud of its mining). even though it is ascribed to a bird; I see it as a transferred epithet, where the country owns the wealth and riches of nature - showing the West that Communism did not equate with poverty.
You can read this poem with the political slant if you like, or you could merely see an appreciation for nature. Either way, the human stamp on nature still remains, what with 'steeds' and 'eagles' being animals which humans commonly tame and train.
Looking forward to Tolstoy number two next week to see how the two relations compare (today's one had read the next one's works).
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