Lomonosov was an exceptionally hard-working poet and scientist, deservedly famous in both fields. Did he never relax occasionally, and
write something other than his lofty odes? The little piece below is often quoted as illustrating his lighter side, though even here there is
a serious undertone. Peterhof is the splendid palace built by Peter the Great, still a favourite with Russian sightseers and foreign
tourists, but it was also an administrative centre, where Lomonosov came to present his petitions.
The theme is one all busy officials have repeated down the ages, from Tang magistrates to English poets of the thirties, and it needs little explanation. The hexameter
is a little large for the content, but I have kept to the design throughout these pages of duplicating the stanza form.
The Russian text is:
Стихи, сочиненные на дороге в Петергоф,
когда я в 1761 году ехал просить
о подписании привилегии для академии,
быв много раз прежде за тем же
Кузнечик дорогой, коль много ты блажен,
Коль больше пред людьми ты счастьем одарен!
Препровождаешь жизнь меж мягкою травою
И наслаждаешься медвяною росою.
Хотя у многих ты в глазах презренна тварь,
Но в самой истине ты перед нами царь;
Ты ангел во плоти, иль, лучше, ты бесплотен!
Ты скачешь и поешь, свободен, беззаботен,
Что видишь, всё твое; везде в своем дому,
Не просишь ни о чем, не должен никому.
Лето 1761
The poem is written in rhymed hexameter couplets:
Кузне́чик дорого́й, коль мно́го ты блаже́н, 6a
Коль бо́льше пред людьми́ ты сча́стьем одарён! 6a
Препровожда́ешь жизнь меж мя́гкою траво́ю 6B
И наслажда́ешься медвя́ною росо́ю. 6B
Хотя́ у мно́гих ты в глаза́х презре́нна тварь, 6c
Но в само́й и́стине ты пе́ред на́ми царь; 6c
Ты а́нгел во пло́ти, иль, лу́чше, ты беспло́тен! 6D
Ты ска́чешь и пое́шь|поёшь, свобо́ден, беззабо́тен, 6D
Что ви́дишь, всё твоё; везде́ в своём до́му, 6e
Не про́сишь ни о чём, не до́лжен никому́. 6e
A TTS Audio Recording of the poem:
Sibelan Forrester's rendering is:
Dear little grasshopper, how deeply you are blessed,
How much, compared to people, you are granted happiness!
You while your life away amidst the softest grass
And take your pleasure in the honey of sweet dew.
Though in the eyes of many you’re a creature scorned,
Indeed in very truth you are a tsar before us;
An angel in the flesh, or, rather, bodiless!
You leap and sing, at liberty, you are light-hearted,
All that you see is yours; you’re everywhere at home,
You beg for nothing, and you owe nothing to anyone.
Summer 1761
(Written in 1761 when I went to ask for the signing of privilege for the Academy, as I had so many times before.)
Dear grasshopper, one blessed to live so happily,
that in men’s sight, moreover, are more proved to be.
You live your whole life through amid the softest grass
and, drunk on honeydew, may dream on hours that pass.
Of course you are a lowly creature, that many scorn,
but better off, I think, than is the best king born.
So winged and weightless, you've the very angel turned,
to hop about and sing, so free and unconcerned.
When all the world is yours, your home is everywhere:
and, since you beg for nothing, no debts are yours to bear.
1. Russian text.
2. Lomosov poems on disk. Etsy.
3. Museum of Peterhof. Website.
4. Bristol, E., A History of Russian Poetry (1991, O.U.P.) 56.
Russian poem translations on this site: listing.
