Part 37 (2/2)

35. Istomina: Avdotya Istomina (1799a1848), prima ballerina of Petersburg ballet with whom Pushkin was smitten, pupil of Didelot.

36. Aeolus: Ancient Greek G.o.d of wind.

37. even Didelot's boring stuff: Pushkin in his note 5 comments: 'A feature of chilled feeling, worthy of Childe-Harold. Didelot's ballets are filled with a liveliness of imagination and unusual charm. One of our romantic writers found in them far more poetry than in the whole of French literature.' This 'romantic writer' was Pushkin himself.

38. Tsargrad: Old Russian name for Constantinople.

39. Perfumes: A fas.h.i.+onable novelty at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

40. Rousseau: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712a78), French writer and philosopher. In his note 6 Pushkin quotes at length from the description in Rousseau's Confessions of Grimm's toiletry.

41. Grimm: Melchior Grimm (1723a1807), French encyclopedist of German extraction.

42. Chaadaev: Pyotr Chaadaev (1794a1856), dandy and libertarian thinker, later a mystic, influenced the young Pushkin, famous for his later Philosophical Letters, contrasting Russian history unfavourably with the West, with which Pushkin disagreed. The journal carrying the first Letter was suppressed, Chaadaev being declared insane and placed under house arrest.

43. pantalons, frac and gilet: These were relatively new items of clothing at the beginning of the nineteenth century as yet without Russian names.

44. Chevalier Gardes: A privileged regiment of heavy cavalry created under Paul I to counterbalance the already existing Horse Guards regiment. Chevaliers Gardes were distinguished by their tall height and embroidered uniforms. However, in a ma.n.u.script note Pushkin mentions that in fact they wore court dress and shoes, but he included the spurs to give the picture a poetic touch.

45. Diana: Virgin G.o.ddess of the moon in ancient Rome.

46. Flora: Ancient Roman G.o.ddess of spring and flowers.

47. Elvina: Conventional name in erotic poetry of the time.

48. Armida: Chief heroine of the epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata (Liberated Jerusalem, 1580) by Torquato Ta.s.so (1544a95), here meaning an enchantress.

49. Okhta: An outlying region of St Petersburg, populated by Finns supplying the capital's dairy needs. The 'Okhta girl' is a milkmaid.

50. vasisdas: A window-pane. 'Vasisdas' has been taken to be a corruption either of fortochka, a ventilation-pane used in Russian windows, or of the French word vasistas (a small spy-window), which in turn is a corruption of the German was ist das? Pushkin keeps the more German spelling no doubt because the baker is German.

51. khandra: Russian for 'chondria', asin 'hypochrondia'.

52. Childe Harold: The disillusioned and languid hero of Byron's first great narrative poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1813), which brought him fame.

53. boston: A member of the whist family. Russian boston differs only slightly from ordinary boston.

54. bon ton: The Russian has 'higher tone', meaning well-bred conversation and manners. A near English equivalent would be 'good form'.

55. Say and Bentham: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767a1832), French publicist and economist, follower of Ricardo and Adam Smith, author of Traite d'economie politique (A Treatise on Political Economy, 1803). Jeremy Bentham (1748a1832), liberal English publicist and jurist.

56. Capricious ladies... spleen: In note 7 Pushkin remarks: 'The whole of this ironic strophe is nothing other than a subtle form of praise for our fair compatriots. So Boileau, in the guise of reproach, praises Louis XIV. Our ladies combine enlightenment with amiability, and strict purity of morals with that Eastern charm that so captivated Mme de Stael (see Dix ans d'exil).' Posthumously published in 1818, the latter work describes de Stael's visit to Russia in 1812.

57. How often... bright: Pushkin's note 8 refers the reader to Nikolai Gnedich's (1784a1833) idyllic poem 'The Fishermen' (1822) for its 'charming description' of the Petersburg night, from which he quotes at length.

58. the Poet: An ironic reference, underlined by the capital 'P' and the archaic Russian spelling, to Mikhail Muravyov (1757a1807), an insignificant poet and founder of Russian Sentimentalism. In his note 9, Pushkin quotes the lines of Muravyov's poem 'To the G.o.ddess of the Neva', from which he lifts the phrase 'leaning on the granite'.

59. Millionaya: A street in Petersburg, alluding to Katenin's habit of returning from the theatre at this hour to his regimental barracks on Millionaya Street.

60. Brenta: River with Venice at its delta.

61. Albion's proud poetry: Byron's poetry.

62. Petrarch: Francesco Petrarca (1304a74), Italian poet.

63. Above the sea, forever roaming: Pushkin's note 10 has: 'Written in Odessa.' It was from here that Pushkin sought to escape from Russia.

64. my Africa: In his note 11 Pushkin refers the reader to the first edition of the chapter, where he provides an extended footnote on his African forebears.

65. Salgir: A river in the Crimea. The captive maids are the harem girls of Pushkin's narrative poem The Fountain of Bakhchisaray (1824). The 'maid of the mountain' is the Circa.s.sian heroine of his poem The Captive of the Caucasus (1822). In Chapter VIII of Onegin he reviews his literary heroines up to the point where they transmogrify into Tatiana.

CHAPTER II.

1. Endowed with Gottingenian soul: Gottingen university, where Lensky studied, was one of the most liberal universities, not just in Germany, but in Europe as a whole. Situated on Hanoverian territory, it was subject to English law. The future Decembrists N. I. Turgenev and Pyotr Kaverin (see Chapter I, stanza 16, and note 20) studied there.

2. Kant: Immanuel Kant (1724a1804), German philosopher, author of three Critiques a of Pure Reason, Practical Reason and Judgement. His emphasis on imagination and genius in the third Critique influenced the Romantic movement in Germany and beyond.

3. vessel: The Church Slavonic use of this term, which adds to the heightened language of this stanza, can mean 'weapon', which is what is meant here.

4. Schiller, Goethe: Friedrich Schiller (1759a1805), German poet, philosopher, historian and dramatist. His early plays Die Rauber (The Robbers, 1781) and Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love, 1784) and his idealist poetry fired the Romantics throughout Europe. He later joined Goethe in Weimar to promote a cla.s.sical aesthetic. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749a1832), German poet, dramatist, novelist and scientist. His masterpiece Faust and his novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister's Apprentices.h.i.+p, 1795a6) strongly influenced the Romantics in Germany, although he came to see himself (with Schiller) as a defender of cla.s.sical values. Pushkin's knowledge of German literature was largely drawn from Mme de Stael's De l' Allemagne (On Germany, 1813), which put a Romantic gloss on Kant, Schiller and Goethe. His ability to read German was very limited.

5. Richardson: Samuel Richardson (1689a1761), English novelist, author of Pamela or Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa Harlowe (1748) and Sir Charles Grandison (1754).

6. A Lovelace for a Grandison: Respectively villain of Clarissa Harlowe and hero of Sir Charles Grandison (see note 5 above).

7. She shaved the conscripts' foreheads: Shaving foreheads was the way of marking out recruits for the army, thereby getting rid of unwanted serfs, who were torn away from their families and often had to serve for life.

8. shed tears... b.u.t.tercups: A way of atoning for sins: the number of teardrops represents the number of sins.

9. kvas: Russian national soft drink (sometimes mildly fermented), usually made of leavened rye, dough or rye bread with malt. In other varieties honey or fruit is used.

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