Vasily Andreyevic Zhukovsky (1783-1852) was the leading pioneer of
Russian poetry’s golden age.
Zhukovsky’s poems often deal with otherworld situations, where the speaker acknowledges some divine or semi-divine presence,
with a strong dose of Karamzin’s ‘sentimentalism’. In this poem, entitled the 'Boatman', it is difficult to know
if Zhukovsky's angels are real or simply a personification of divine providence. {1-3}
The poem was first published in the journal "Bulletin of Europe", in 1813 (Nos. 7 and 8) under the authorship of V. Zh. and appears
in the collection 'V. A. Zhukovsky, Poems. The poet's library. The Big Series' (1956, p. 104.) It has also been set to music (E.g. 'The newest collection of romances and songs
collected from the best authors, M., 1830 to 1855. Music by A. Pleshcheyev, Verstovsky, Glinka') {4}
Пловец
Вихрем бедствия гонимый,
Без кормила и весла,
В океан неисходимый
Буря челн мой занесла.
В тучах звездочка светилась;
«Не скрывайся!» — я взывал;
Непреклонная сокрылась;
Якорь был — и тот пропал.
Все оделось черной мглою:
Всколыхалися валы;
Бездны в мраке предо мною;
Вкруг ужасные скалы.
«Нет надежды на спасенье!» —
Я роптал, уныв душой...
О безумец! Провиденье
Было тайный кормщик твой.
Невидимою рукою,
Сквозь ревущие валы,
Сквозь одеты бездны мглою
И грозящие скалы,
Мощный вел меня хранитель.
Вдруг — все тихо! мрак исчез;
Вижу райскую обитель...
В ней трех ангелов небес.
О спаситель-провиденье!
Скорбный ропот мой утих;
На коленах, в восхищенье,
Я смотрю на образ их.
О! кто прелесть их опишет?
Кто их силу над душой?
Всё окрест их небом дышит
И невинностью святой.
Неиспытанная радость —
Ими жить, для них дышать;
Их речей, их взоров сладость
В душу, в сердце принимать.
О судьба! одно желанье:
Дай все блага им вкусить;
Пусть им радость — мне страданье;
Но... не дай их пережить.
1812
The poem is in iambic tetrameters, rhymed AbAb CdCd, etc.:
Ви́хрем бе́дствия гони́мый, 4A
Без корми́ла и весла́, 4b
В океа́н неисходимый 4A
Бу́ря чёлн мой занесла́. 4b
В ту́чах звёздочка свети́лась; 4C
«Не скрыва́йся!» — я взыва́л; 4d
Непрекло́нная сокры́лась; 4C
Я́корь был — и тот пропа́л. 4d
A TTS (text to speech) recording is:
Ruverses have an unrhymed version by M. Denner, I. Kutik
and A. Wachtel. I give their first two stanzas:
Driven by misfortune's whirlwind,
Having neither oar nor rudder,
By a storm my bark was driven
Out upon the boundless sea.
'midst black clouds a small star sparkled;
«Don't conceal yourself!» I cried;
But it disappeared, unheeding;
And my anchor was lost, too
The lack of ready rhyme words makes for difficulties, and it's probably wise to do the translation in two phases. First to convey the sense and establish a rhyme scheme:
Disaster with the whirlwind’s force
with both the oar and rudder gone,
across an ocean’s boundless course
misfortune drove my vessel on.
Between the clouds a small star shone.
’Don’t hide yourself,’ I cried aloft.
Unheeding me, it hid anon,
at which the anchor too was lost
All things in gloomy darkness dressed,
while waves like ramparts heaved around;
dark abysses then yawned, and pressed
the rocks around their threatening sound.
No hope of being rescued here,
I thought, in grave despondency,
and yet mad providence was near
and as a helmsman guided me.
An unseen hand was reaching out
above the wave’s tumultuous roar,
and through the unplumbed depths of doubt
it led me past that rocky shore.
A powerful guardian guided me,
and gone the dark and roar I feared:
Instead the realm was heavenly,
and with three angels had appeared.
So Providence was my salvation;
at once my murmured cries had ceased.
And on my knees in admiration
my gazing on them much increased.
Oh, who’ll describe the charm they had?
Their power on the soul’s defence,
when all things of the sky were clad
in this same holy innocence?
It was delight not known before,
when I their breathy lives would meet,
and take them to my inmost core:
how all their looks and words were sweet!
Of fate I have but one desire:
to have them taste of all I knew:
with them delighting, I on fire
to leave this world before they do.
Clearly, the verse is somewhat contrived, and the sense rather free. So:
Disaster came with whirlwind force;
the oar and rudder, both, were gone.
Across the ocean’s trackless course
misfortune drove my vessel on.
Above, in clouds, a star to see.
'Reveal yourself,' my cried aloft.
But, adamant, it hid from me.
The anchor here . . . and then was lost
All things were drenched in gloomy mist,
the waves in ramparts heaved around;
the great deeps yawned, and round me hissed
the neighbouring rocks, a hideous sound.
There is no hope of rescue here:
so said my soul's despondency.
Yet, madman! Providence was near.
A secret helmsman guided me.
An unseen hand was reaching out
above the wave’s tumultuous roar,
and through the riotous water-spout
it drew me past that rocky shore.
A powerful guardian guided me,
and gone were roar and dark I feared:
There was a realm most heavenly
in which three angels had appeared.
In Providence was my salvation;
at once my murmured cries had ceased.
And on my knees, in admiration,
my gazing on them much increased.
Oh, who’ll describe the charm they had?
Their power over soul’s defence,
when all things of the sky were clad
in their most holy innocence?
Untested joy, untried before,
to live for them, their breath effect,
with, taken to my inmost core,
sweet looks and words I must accept.
Here is the fate I'm asking for —
those benefits on earth I knew
be known to them; I, suffering more,
would leave this world before they do.
1. Wachtel, M. The Cambridge Introduction to Russian Poetry (CUP 2004) 83-5.
2. Mirsky, D.S. A History of Russian Literature (Knopf 1926/Vintage 1958) 75-84.
3. Bristol, E.B. A History of Russian Poetry (O.U.P. 1991) 94-97.
4. Василий Жуковский и русская песня (Vasily Zhukovsky and the Russian song) Text and brief notes in Russian.
Russian poem translations on this site: listing.
