While Us Four Plus Four is an expansive collection of poetry from eight of Russia’s most well-known and influential poets, its arrangement as a conversation is what distinguishes it from those that precede it. The literary value of each poem is evident in its own right, but by reading these poems as a conversation, we are better able to appreciate the significance of these poets in both a social and historical context. Don Mager’s translations maintain the distinctive nature of each poet’s voice, injecting the poems with the appropriate energy, chaos, remorse or respect. His attention to detail and passion for accuracy are apparent in both his scholastic research and in the creativity of his translations; he weaves a chronological tale of the love, pain, and loss felt by the poets and effectively depicts the arduous era in which they lived. From the insight of Akhmatova to the boyishness of Mandel’shtam and the despair of Blok, Mager’s efforts have resulted in a comprehensive yet unintimidating anthology of early- to mid-twentiethcentury Russian poetry. Accessible to an audience unfamiliar with these poets, Us Four Plus Four is informative without being pretentious. It entertains without compromising its contribution to the academic and literary worlds. Mager’s collection takes one conversation and begins hundreds more. Poets included: Alexander Block Sergei Esenin Vladimir Maiakovskii Osip Mandel’shtam Marina Tsvetaeva Igor’ Severianin Boris Pasternak Ana Akhmatova

Us Four Plus Four: Eight Russian Poets Conversing

Literature & Fiction

T͡S︡vetaeva, Marina

Blok, Aleksandr

Esenin, Sergei

Mandelʹshtam, Osip

Maiakovskiï, Vladimir

Poetry

Uno Pr

The poetry of Alexandr Blok (1880-1921) marks the highest achievement of that fertile period in Russian literary history chiefly identified with the Symbolist movement. The aim of this book is to convey some idea of Blok's scope and development as a poet in a selection of fifty poems and it provides an editorial apparatus to facilitate understanding and appreciation. 
The visionary, mystical element is present in most of Blok's poetry, but this does not preclude a considerable evolution - from highly personal lyrics of the early cycles through the 'transitional phase' of volume II, in which new themes reflecting the poet's broadening experience of life are combined with extensive formal experimentation. The result is some of the finest poetry in the Russian language since the death of Tyutchev (1873), and a unique record of the doubts, fears and hopes which accompanied an unusually sensitive intellectual's experience of the collapse of the world he knew and of the chaos and tensions of Russia's 'terrible years'.

Blok: Selected Poems (Russian Texts)

History & Criticism

Bristol Classical Press

Aleksandr Blok (1880-1921) lived thought his country's savage wars and radical traumas, trying to welcome the new order. But there was no space in it for his kind of imagination. His poem The Twelve has claims to being the first great poem of the Russian Revolution. It remains enigmatic, the language elevated, the tone celebratory, even mystical. Mayakovsky, bringing Revolution into the very language and form of his poetry, wrote against Blok and the old forms, answering The Twelve with 150,000,000. Trotsky wrote Certainly Blok is not one of us, but he came towards us. And that is what broke him. But for Pasternak and others among his successors, he was a great and unofficial master.

Aleksandr Blok: Selected Poems (Poetry Pleiade)

Carcanet Press Ltd.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blok, Aleksandr. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Blok, Aleksandr