Russian Women Poets of the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

Edited and Translated by Amanda Ewington

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Overview
In the wake of Peter the Great's westernizing reforms, Russians raced to build the kind of modern literary culture that Europeans had achieved centuries earlier. Until recently, women's contribution to this fascinating period of rapid assimilation and creation has been ignored. This volume challenges us to reimagine the early Russian literary canon, by considering a broad range of pioneering women poets who remain largely unknown, even in their homeland. Readers of Russian and English alike will appreciate this unprecedented bilingual collection of fully annotated texts, with critical introductions for each poet. 

Amanda Ewington is Associate Professor and Chair of the Russian Studies Department at Davidson College. She is author of A Voltaire for Russia: A. P. Sumarokov's Journey from Poet-Critic to Russian Philosophe (Northwestern University Press, 2010). A past president and active member of the Eighteenth-Century Russian Studies Association (ECRSA), she has presented numerous papers on Russian women writers. She is currently pursuing a project on women and the stage in eighteenth-century Russia.

512 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-7727-2162-4
Published: 2014

Contents

“Introduction”

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Kniazhnina (1746-1797)
Introduction
Элегия
Elegy

Elizaveta Vasil'evna Kheraskova (1737-1809)
Introduction
Станс
Stanzas
Молитва
A Prayer
Сонет
Sonnet
Стансы
Stanzas

Ekaterina Sergeevna Urusova (1747-after 1817)
Introduction
Михаилу Матвеевичу Хераскову
To Mikhail Matveevich Kheraskov
Полион, или просветившийся Нелюдим, Поема
Polion, or The Misanthrope Enlightened; An Epic Poem
Ироиды
Heroides
Весна
Spring
Чувство дружбы
Friendship
Ручей
The Brook
От сочинительницы “Ручья” ответ на ответ 280
From the Authoress of "The Brook": A Response to a Response
Уединенные часы 284
Solitary Hours
Степная песнь
Song of the Steppe
К Анне Алекс. Турчаниновой 290
To Anna Aleks. Turchaninova
Мой семидесятый год 
My Seventieth Year

Maria Vasil'evna Sushkova (1752-1803)
Introduction
Гопсода издатели Собеседника!
To the Gentlemen Editors of the Sobesednik!
Письмо китайца к татарскому мурзе, живущему
по делам своим в Петербурге
A Chinaman's Letter to the Tatar Murza Residing in Petersburg on Business
Стансы на учреждение Российской Академии
Stanzas on the Founding of the Russian Academy

Maria Voinovna Zubova (1749?-1799)
Introduction
Я в пустыню удаляюсь
I am Leaving for the Wilds

Ekaterina Petrovna Svin'ina (dates unknown) and Anastasia Petrovna Svin'ina (1778 or 1779-1841)
Introduction
Решение судьбы к В. А. Б.
Fate's Decision. To V. A. B.
Чувства благодарности
Gratitude
Милонова печаль
Milon's Sorrow
Невинная пастушкa
The Innocent Shepherdess

Natalia Leont'evna Magnitskaia (dates unknown) and Aleksandra Leont'evna Magnitskaia (d. 1846)
Introduction
К бессмертному творцу “Россиады”
To the Immortal Creator of The Rossiada
К Бюсту М… М… Х…
To the Bust of M. M. Kh.

Maria Alekseevna Pospelova (1780-1805)
Introduction
Молитва
A Prayer
Уединение
Solitude
Майское утро
May Morning

Anna Aleksandrovna Turchaninova (dates unknown)
Introduction
Себе Эпитафия
Self-Epitaph
Ответ на неодобрение меланхолических чувствований в стихах
Response to a Rejection of Melancholy Feelings in Poetry

Princess Elizaveta Mikhailovna Dolgorukova (1766-18??)
Introduction
Стихи писанные в жестокой и опасной болезни
Verses Written in a Cruel and Dangerous Illness
Элегия на кончину любезной сестры Графини А. М. Ефимовской. 1798 года, окт. 29 дня
Elegy on the Death of My Beloved Sister, Countess A. M. Efimovskaia, the 29th day of October, 1798
Эпитафия
Epitaph

Anna Sergeevna Zhukova (b.? -1799)
Introduction
Чувства матери
Maternal Feelings
Супругу моему, с которым я в разлуке
To My Husband, From Whom I Am Separated

Elizaveta Sergeevna Neelova (dates unknown)
Introduction
Элегия на смерть супруга и болезни сестры
Elegy on the Death of My Husband and on My Sister's Illness

Aleksandra Petrovna Murzina (dates unknown)
Introduction
Предисловие
Preface
К читателям
To My Readers

Vavara Aleksandrovna Karaulova (1774-1842)
Introduction
Разговор матери с маленьким ее сыном
A Mother's Conversation with Her Little Son

Elizaveta Osipovna Moskvina (1759-1833) and Maria Osipovna Moskvina (1765-1824)
Introduction
Эпитафия. Надежиньке, жившей только пять часов
Epitaph. To Little Hope, Who Lived Only Five Hours
Смертный одр
The Deathbed
К Машиньке трехлетней дитяти
To Three-Year-Old Mashenka
Эпиграмма
Epigram
Галлерея
The Gallery

Maria Petrovna Bolotnikova (dates unknown)
Introduction
Предисловие
Preface
Упрек мущинам
A Reproach to Men
Ответ на послание к женщинам
A Response to "An Epistle to Women"

Anna Petrovna Bunina (1774-1829)
Introduction
Разговор между мною и женщинами
Conversation between Me and the Women

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Subjects

Index of Names

Praise

Russian Women Poets of the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries is a bold, pioneering achievement. Not only does it bring to light a poetic tradition that has been totally forgotten for over two centuries, even in its country of origin, but it does so in a broadly inclusive fashion. It offers both the Russian texts (verified against their original publications) as well as accurate English translations, accompanied by short illuminating biographical and critical introductions. It thus makes this intriguing material accessible to a braod spectrum of readers, from the curious generalist to the scholar. This corpus of texts sheds significant light on the genesis and formation of modern Russian verse and on the ways in which this new cohort of poets strove to find their voice during a complex era of shifting literary, cultural and gender values, navigating between the male-oriented high genres of Neoclassicism and the "feminized" modes of Sentimentalism. – Marcus C. Levitt, University of Southern California

Reviews

Early Modern Women 10.1 (2015): 256–258. Reviewed by Vera Proskurina.
The Russian Review 74.1 (2015): 145–146. Reviewed by Diana Greene.