Eugene Onegin. A Romance of Russian Life in Verse

To dreams I long have closed mine eyes,

Yet sometimes banished hopes will rise

And agitate my heart again;

And thus it is 'twould cause me pain

Without the faintest trace to leave

This world. I do not praise desire,

Yet still apparently aspire

My mournful fate in verse to weave,

That like a friendly voice its tone

Rescue me from oblivion.

XL

Perchance some heart 'twill agitate,

And then the stanzas of my theme

Will not, preserved by kindly Fate,

Perish absorbed by Lethe's stream.

Then it may be, O flattering tale,

Some future ignoramus shall

My famous portrait indicate

And cry: he was a poet great!

My gratitude do not disdain,

Admirer of the peaceful Muse,

Whose memory doth not refuse

My light productions to retain,

Whose hands indulgently caress

The bays of age and helplessness.

End of Canto the Second.

CANTO THE THIRD

The Country Damsel

'Elle etait fille, elle etait amoureuse'—Malfilatre

Canto The Third

[Note: Odessa and Mikhailovskoe, 1824.]

I

"Whither away? Deuce take the bard!"—

"Good-bye, Oneguine, I must go."—

"I won't detain you; but 'tis hard

To guess how you the eve pull through."—

"At Larina's."—"Hem, that is queer!

Pray is it not a tough affair

Thus to assassinate the eve?"—

"Not at all."—"That I can't conceive!

'Tis something of this sort I deem.

In the first place, say, am I right?

A Russian household simple quite,

Who welcome guests with zeal extreme,

Preserves and an eternal prattle

About the rain and flax and cattle."—

II

"No misery I see in that"—

"Boredom, my friend, behold the ill—"

"Your fashionable world I hate,

Domestic life attracts me still,

Where—"—"What! another eclogue spin?

For God's sake, Lenski, don't begin!

What! really going? 'Tis too bad!

But Lenski, I should be so glad

Would you to me this Phyllis show,

Fair source of every fine idea,

Verses and tears et cetera.

Present me."—"You are joking."—"No."—

"Delighted."—"When?"—"This very night.

They will receive us with delight."

III

Whilst homeward by the nearest route

Our heroes at full gallop sped,

Can we not stealthily make out

What they in conversation said?—

"How now, Oneguine, yawning still?"—

"'Tis habit, Lenski."—"Is your ill

More troublesome than usual?"—"No!

How dark the night is getting though!

Hallo, Andriushka, onward race!

The drive becomes monotonous—

Well! Larina appears to us

An ancient lady full of grace.—

That bilberry wine, I'm sore afraid,

The deuce with my inside has played."

IV

"Say, of the two which was Tattiana?"

"She who with melancholy face

And silent as the maid Svetlana(30)

Hard by the window took her place."—

"The younger, you're in love with her!"

"Well!"—"I the elder should prefer,

Were I like you a bard by trade—

In Olga's face no life's displayed.

'Tis a Madonna of Vandyk,

An oval countenance and pink,

Yon silly moon upon the brink

Of the horizon she is like!"—

Vladimir something curtly said

Nor further comment that night made.

[Note 30: "Svetlana," a short poem by Joukovski, upon which his fame mainly rests. Joukovski was an unblushing plagiarist. Many eminent English poets have been laid under contribution by him, often without going through the form of acknowledging the source of inspiration. Even the poem in question cannot be pronounced entirely original, though its intrinsic beauty is unquestionable. It undoubtedly owes its origin to Burger's poem "Leonora," which has found so many English translators. Not content with a single development of Burger's ghastly production the Russian poet has directly paraphrased "Leonora" under its own title, and also written a poem "Liudmila" in imitation of it. The principal outlines of these three poems are as follows: A maiden loses her lover in the wars; she murmurs at Providence and is vainly reproved for such blasphemy by her mother. Providence at length loses patience and sends her lover's spirit, to all appearances as if in the flesh, who induces the unfortunate maiden to elope. Instead of riding to a church or bridal chamber the unpleasant bridegroom resorts to the graveyard and repairs to his own grave, from which he has recently issued to execute his errand. It is a repulsive subject. "Svetlana," however, is more agreeable than its prototype "Leonora," inasmuch as the whole catastrophe turns out a dream brought on by "sorcery," during the "sviatki" or Holy Nights (see Canto V. st. x), and the dreamer awakes to hear the tinkling of her lover's sledge approaching. "Svetlana" has been translated by Sir John Bowring.]

V

Meantime Oneguine's apparition

At Larina's abode produced

Quite a sensation; the position

To all good neighbours' sport conduced.

Endless conjectures all propound

And secretly their views expound.

What jokes and guesses now abound,

A beau is for Tattiana found!

In fact, some people were assured

The wedding-day had been arranged,

But the date subsequently changed

Till proper rings could be procured.

On Lenski's matrimonial fate

They long ago had held debate.

VI

Of course Tattiana was annoyed

By such allusions scandalous,

Yet was her inmost soul o'erjoyed

With satisfaction marvellous,