Why We're Already Reading Pushkin's Poetry in RUS 101

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837): Pushkin is considered to be one of the greatest literary figures in all of Russia, and the founder of modern Russian literature.

The very first Russian author I ever read was Alexander Pushkin. I had never heard of him until I lived abroad, and I read his narrative-poem Eugene Onegin. (Which I pronounced- at the time not knowing any Russian- “YOU-JEAN ONE-GIN” – which prompted a lot of laughter from my Russian-speaking friends. It should be something more like.. “yev-gey-nee o-ney-gen”) Anyways, I absolutely LOVED it. I’m not exaggerating even a little bit. It was whimsical and serious, funny and ironic, but also sad and kind of gloomy. I especially latched onto Pushkin’s insights into human relationships and the nature of love, but there are a multitude of themes in the poem besides that. I’m not the only one who loves Pushkin either, he is considered the father of modern Russian literature, and the best Russian poet PERIOD FULL STOP. Anyways, I say all that because I was pleased (but not surprised) that Pushkin came up already in my RUS 101 class.

Scene from Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" made into a ballet

In RUS 101, we are reading his (MUCH shorter) poem called Ты и Вы. The title translates into English as “You and You”- definitely one of those cases of something lost in translation. In Russian, “вы” means "you", but denotes respect for someone who is older or in a higher position than you, or for someone you don’t know well. “Ты” means "you" as well, but denotes someone who is similar to you in age or status, or someone you are familiar with, a friend, family, etc. It indicates a sort of "closeness" between you and another person.

"Ты и вы" by Pushkin- The poem we're reading for class

In the poem, Puskin is talking to a woman, and they are using the formal “Вы” when she accidentally lets slip the informal or familiar “Ты.” This casual slip stirs all sorts of feelings in Pushkin’s heart and soul. Even though he has this inner commotion going on he stands still before her and tells her how sweet she is, but, really, all he can think about is how much he loves her. (:heart melts:) Apparently, this actually happened in real life for Pushkin, and he wrote this poem immediately following the interaction. (He later on proposed to this woman several times, but she said no.)

Here is the best translation of the poem I could find:

She substituted, by a chance,
For empty "you" -- the gentle "thou";
And all my happy dreams, at once,
In loving heart again resound.
In bliss and silence do I stay,
Unable to maintain my role:
"Oh, how sweet you are!" I say --
"How I love thee!" says my soul.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, September, 1999
Edited by Dmitry Karshtedt, December, 1999

So, like I've might of said, we have to memorize the poem for class. (Thankful that it’s one of his short poems!) I think "memorizing" is a word that doesn't inspire the best of feelings in students, but there are several good reasons to learn this poem in class. First, it helps with the language itself- improving our reading, writing, and pronunciation. And it highlights some grammar points from class. Furthermore, it gives us some insight into Russian culture. Absolutely every employer I've talked with has stressed that it's not enough to just know the language, but to know the culture as well. (And knowing culture only deepens your knowledge of the language.) But even if you're not going to be employed using your Russian skills, it is a bridge to Russian culture that you can use to connect to locals if you ever visit the country. Our professor assures us that everyone has to memorize Pushkin in school, so we can stop anyone on the street and start reciting Pushkin. Something I intend to try as soon as I get to the chance to visit =)