Russian War Poetry

[Zoya]

I have enjoyed reading some of the Russian WWII war poetry, which differs a lot from the WWI poets, such as Owen, Sassoon etc. Whereas these and other WWI poets focused on the horror/injustice of war, the Russian war poets focused more on patriotic glory, the glorious Motherland, the honour of fighting and dying for Mother Russia etc. The style is very different.

Here are some examples:

It's not for us to calmly rot in graves.
We'll lie stretched out in our half-open coffins
And hear before the dawn the cannon coughing,
The regimental bugle calling gruffly
From highways which we trod, our land to save.

We know by heart all rules and regulations.
What's death to us? A thing that we despise.
Lined up in graves, our dead detachment lies
Awaiting orders. And let generations
To come, when talking of the dead, be wise;
Dead men have ears and eyes for truth and lies.

Nicolai Mayorov

Translated by Dorian Rottenberg
In February 1942 Nikolai Mayorov, political instructor of a machine-gun company, died in action in Smolensk Region.


ODESSA, CITY MINE!

We rose at dawn,
When night crept close to day.
The wind that blew was fresh and light
and fitful,

A little briny and a little bitter.
As on an open palm the sea before us lay,
With fishing boats its surface strewn,
the advent

Of morning marking....
Under foam-washed boulders
(Quite large they were and black and sleek
and shiny),

Beneath dark sea-weed, butter-soft and slimy,
The bullheads moved their bulky tops, and twisted
Their narrow tails.
The ship to the horizon
Was firmly glued.
The sparkle of the rising
Sun hurt the eyes.
The contours of the misty
Shores were a trifle vague and undefined.
We`ll not surrender you, Odessa, city mine!
Let death walk every street;
With hoarse and choking sound,
Let homes in flame go up and topple to the ground.

Let acrid smoke eat at our eyes, let bread
Give off the smell of powder and of lead -
Odessa, city mine,
My friend and comrade true,
Odessa, city mine,
We`ll not surrender you!

Vsevolod Bagritsky

1941 Translated by Irina Zheleznova
Vsevolod Bagritsky was fallen by an enemy bullet while jotting down some facts passed on to him by one of the men. This was on February 26, 1942, in the village of Dubovik, the Leningrad Region.

[brandon05]

I have honestly not read much poetry about the War. Thanks for sharing those with us. Do you have a book of war poetry you would recommend? Thanks

[writerip]

This is fascinating. I was unaware that such poetry had been published. Please let us know the name of a good book. This could prompt such an excellent study for my homeschooled teenagers.