A moongate in my wall: собрание стихотворений [заметки]

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Интервал

Letter from V. Pereleshin to M. Vezey, 11 June 1973. All translations from Russian in this introduction are mine. OB.

Letter from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 28 September 1990.

Poem numbers refer to the numbering of this collection.

A few issues of Russian News Letter (Translations from Russian Newspapers) — no 531, 2/15 March 1917; no 533, 4/17 March 1917; no. 534, 5/18 March 1917 — are preserved in the Archive James Colt Wood Papers, 1908–1923. Folder 4. Russia 1917.

Letter from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 28 March 1994.

Note by M. Vezey on the manuscript of the poem “V ogromnykh” (In the enormous) (poem 376).

M. Vizi “Vospominanija o Bloke” (Memories of Blok), Russkaja zhizn (Russian Life) San Francisco, August 1982.

The N.C.A., 1920–1922, p. 14–16, 43, 52, 56, 66.

N.P.A. (N.P. Avtonomov), "Spiski okonchivshikh (1910–1925 gg.)" (Listsof Graduates (1910–1925), Харбинское коммерческое училище Китайско-Восточная железная дорога. (Harbin Commercial Schools of the Chinese Eastern Railway, San Francisco, no. 5, 1958, p. 18.

Mary Vezey, "Chinese Poetry during the T'ang Dynasty," Manuscript, Pomona College, v. 2, no. 3, May 1925, p. 14–17; Mary Vezey, "Chinese Serenade." Ibid., v. 3, no. I, November 1925, p. 11 (poem 69 in this collection); Mary Vezey, "Fortune Teller," Ibid., v. 3, no. 3, March 1926, p. 19 (poem 72); Mary Vezey, "To R," Ibid, v. 3, no 3, March 1926, p. 27 (poem 60); "Editor Koempel Says Book Will Appear March 15," Student Life, no. 54, 17 February 1926, p. I.

"Molodaia Churaevka," No. 1 (7 July l932)-No. 6 (6 August 1932), a weekly supplement to Harbin Daily News.

Ju.V. Kruzenshtern-Peterets, "Churaevskii pitomnik (O dal'nevostochnykh poetakh)" (Cluiraevka Nursery (On the Far-Eastern Poets)), Vozrozhdenie (Resurrection), Paris, no. 204, December 1968, p. 54–55

Akhmatova's lines are from the poem "Skazal, chto u menia sopernits net" (He said that I have no competitors). Anno Domini, Petrograd, 1921, and Berlin, 1923, later translated by Mary Vezey into English (poem 578).

A. Nesmelov, "Interesnaia kniga. "Stikhotvoreniia." M. Vizi" (An Interesting Book. "Poem s.") M. Vezeyl, Rupor (Mouthpiece), Harbin, 15 August 1929.

A. Nesmelov, "Cherez okean" (Across the Ocean), Ponedel'nik (Monday), Shanghai, no. 2. 1931.

V. Loginov, "Knizhnye novinki. M. Vizi. "Stikhotvoreniia" (New Books. M. Vezey, "Poems"), Rubezh (Border), undated cutting, Harbin, 1930. 1.1. Levitan (1860–1900) was a Russian landscape painter, famous for his pensive, poetic paintings.

"College Graduate Writes Book of Poems in Russian," Claremont Courier, 20 March 1930.

Letter from L. Kel'berin to M. Vezey, 6 August 1930. For a translation of a poem by Kel'berin see poem 611.

Letter from V. Smolenskii to M. Vezey, 23 December 1930. For translations of Smolenskii's poetry see poems 636–648.

A. Raevskaia, "Fiesta" (Fiesta), Rubezh, no. 42, 14 October 1933; A. Raevskaia, "Parusa korablei" (Sails of Boats), Prozhektor (Searchlight), Shanghai, no. 48, 25 November 1933; A. Raevskaia, "Pari" (A Bet), Prozhektor, no. 3, 13 January 1934.

Letters from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 28 August 1989 and 7 March 1991.

N. Reznikova, "Knizhnye novinki. M. Vizi. Stikhotvoreniia" (New Books. M. Vezey. Poems), Rubezh, no. 27, 27 June 1937.

"Bibliografiia. M. Vizi. Stikhotvoreniia, t. II (Bibliography. M. Vezey. Poems, v. II), Emigrantskaia mysl' (Emigre Thought), Shanghai, No. 3, 1936; "M. Vizi, Stikhotvoreniia II" (M. Vezey. Poems II), Novyi put' (New Road), Shanghai, 24 May 1936.

I.F., "Emigrantskie pisateli na Dal'nem Vostoke" (emigre Writers in the Far Hast), Russkie zapiski (Russian Notes), Shanghai-Paris, no. 1, 1937, p. 324–323.

Letter from M. Vezey to Wesleyan University Press, undated, ca. end of 1960s.

Ju. Kruzenshtern-Peterets, "Tret'ia kniga Marii Vizi" (Third Book by Mary Vezey J, Novoe russkoe sloiw (New Russian Word), New York, 23 September 1973.

Ju. Kruzenshtern-Peterets, "Radioperedacha stantsii 'Golos Ameriki' о sbornike stikhov Marii Vizi "Golubaia trava" (Radiotransmisson of the "Voice of America" on the Collection of Poems "Golubaia trava" by Mary Vezey), Kharbinskie kommerchcskie uchilishcha Kit. Vost. zhel. Dor., no. 12, 1974, p. 5.

A. Pavlovich, "Knizhnaia polka. M. Vizi. Golubaia trava. Tret'ia kniga stikhov" (Bookshelf. M. Vezey. "Golubaia trava." The Third Book of Poetry.), Russkain zhizn' (Russian Life), 10 August 1973.

Ju. Terapiano, "Novye knigi" (New Books), Russknia mysl (Russian Thought), Paris, 20 December 1973.

Letter from V. Pereleshin to M. Vezey, 10 October 1972.

Letter from V. Pereleshin to M. Vezey, 9 June 1971.

V. Pereleshin, "M. Vizi. "Golubaia trava" (M. Vezey. "Blue grass"), Novyi zhumnl (The New Review), New York, no. 114, 1974, p. 248–249.

V. Pereleshin, "Nochnye proletaiut poezda," Russkaia zhizn', 12 March 1971.

Letter from V. Pereleshin to M. Vezey, 27 June 1987.

Letter from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 22 May 1989.

Letter from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 14 February 1991.

Letter from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 13 May 1993.

Letter from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 14 February 1994.

K. Chukovskii, Aleksandr Blok как chelovck i как poet (Aleksandr Blok as a Person and as a Poet), Petrograd, 1924, p. 135.

See note 33.

Powerful lines of this poem serve as an epigraph to an article on the Harbin literary scene of the 1930s: Ju. Kruzenshtern-Peterets, "Churaevskii pitomnik (O dal'nevostochnykh poetakh)," Vozrozhdenie, no. 204, December 1968, pp. 45–70, and to an article on Russian women poets of China: Olga Bakich and Carol Lid and, "The Eastern Path of Exile: Russian Women's Writing in China," A History of Women's Writing in Russia, ed. by Adele Marie Barker and Jehanne M. Gheith (Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 153–174.

Letter from M. Vezey to T. Jelihovsky, 30 October 1993.

Mary Vezey, "Chinese Poetry During the T'ang Dynasty’' Manuscript, May 1925, v. 2, no. 3, p 14, 15.

Letter from M. Vezey to O. Bakich, 19 July 1992.

"Predislovie," (Introduction) Koreiskie shestistishiia, p. 6–7.

Вольфрам: a reference to Richard Wagner's Tannhauser.

Des Grieux: hero of the novel Histoire du Chevalier Des Grieitx et de Minton Lescaut 1731, by abbot Antoine Francois Provost (1697–1763). The opera Maiton (1884) by Jules Massenet (1842–1912) is based on a part of this novel.

The manuscript, dated 11 December, bears no dedication. Eva: Eva Doyle, a friend from Pomona College, Claremont. Poems 39 and 225 are also dedicated to her.

Кали: Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction, consort of Shiva, who was one of the three main deities of the I lindu triad. Kali is also represented as the Great Mother and giver of life. Пешавар: Peshawar, a city in Pakistan.

W.F. is probably William Frauenfelder, one of the friends at Pomona College, Claremont Poems 91, 96, 11K, and 139 are also dedicated to W.F

Галя Иванова: Galina Ivanova, married name Gorokhova, a friend from the Girls' School of Harbin Commercial Schools and later at Pomona College, Claremont. Poems 86, 131, 296, 297, 302, and 453 are also dedicated to her.

Translation of "Water Lilies" from Sara Teasdale, Flunk’ and Shallow (1920)

Gladys Willman: a friend from Pomona College, Claremont.

Леля Мосолова: Elena Anatol'evna Mosolova, married name Helene Adant (1903–1985), a friend from the Girls’ School of Harbin Commercial Schools. In 1923 Mosolova left Harbin and settled in Paris, where she became a painter and photographer. Poems 47, 107, 116, 147, 218, and 305 are also dedicated to her.

In the text of this poem sent by Mary Vezey to Valerii Pereleshin the last line reads "уже ничто не приведет обратно."

Dated 17 May and dedicated in the manuscript to P., who probably was one of the friends in Pomona College, Claremont. Poems 25, 34, 36, 125, 281, 283, 289, 291, 294, 295, 316, 312, 315, 505, and 506 are also dedicated to him. Dedications are given as P., or P.J., or in Russian letters as П., or П.Д

Dated 10 August and dedicated to P. (see note on poem 24) in the manuscript. The third line of the second stanza in the manuscript was «и неподвижно наблюдала».

Dated 26 February in the manuscript. Claremont: a city in California, some 40 km east of Los Angeles, where Mary Vezey studied at Pomona College in 1925–1927.

Translation of «Ты не ушла. Но, может быть» (1902).

Translation of «Голос из хора» (1910–1914).

Dated 7 June and dedicated to P. (see note on poem 24).

The manuscript is dated 8 August and has the notation: «Sunday. Hermosa» and a dedication to P. (see note on poem 24). Hermosa was an ocean beach and a town southwest of Los Angeles.

For Eva Doyle see note on poem 9

Терриоки: Terijoki, a Finnish town on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. At the beginning of the 20th century it was one of the popular resorts. Lake Kaiavalampi, which Russians called Druzhinnoe, or Chortovo, was nearby.

Translation of "Еще не раз Вы вспомните меня" from N. Gumilev. К синей звезде (1923). In Stikhotvoreniia the first line of the second stanza had a misprint ("You could have made it yours, did you but to speak") which is corrected in the present edition.

М.А. Зырянова: Mariia Aleksandrovna Gersdorf, stage surname Zyrianova, mezzo-soprano, opera singer, prima donna of Harbin opera in the early 1920s. She was particularly popular singing Carmen in Georges Bizet's Carmen, Delilah in Camille Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah, and Amneris in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida. She died on 26 February 1924 in Harbin. Poems 83 and 154 are also dedicated to her.

For Леля Мосолова see note on poem 21.

Dated 26 June in the manuscript. Володя Визи: Vladimir Custis Vezey, older brother of Mary Vezey. Poems 68, 133, 180, 220, 328, 357, 391, 393, 394, 395, 401, and 538 are also dedicated to him.

Translation of «I shall go back again to the bleak shore” from Edna St. Vincent Millay Second April (1921).

The poem was first published in the journal Manuscript (Pomona College, Claremont), v. 3, no. 3, March 1926, with dedication «To R.» in Stikhotvoreniia the first line of the second stanza had a misprint («You are the words of onward runnings brooks») which is corrected in the present edition. The poem was also written in Russian, see poem 105.

The poem has an English version, poem 72.

For Володя Визи see note on poem 54.

The poem was first published in the journal Manuscript (Pomona College, Claremont), v. 3, no. 1, November 1925, and given honorary mention; it was reprinted in the journal Inter-Collegiate World. Chang-O: Chang Ye, the moon goddess in Chinese mythology.

Мутабор is the Latin «mutabor», I will change.

This is an English version of poem 63. It was first published in the journal Manuscript (Pomona College, Claremont), v. 3, no. 3, March 1925, where the first line of the second stanza was «I begged her speak of you— not knowing why», and the fourth line of the second stanza was «the restful colors of the sleeping land?»

Translation of «Pity me not because the light of the day» from Edna St. Vincent Millay The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems (1923).

For M.A.Z. see note on poem 46.

Translation of «Cod 's World» from Edna St. Vincent Millay Renascence and Oilier Poems (1917). The misprint in line 6 («на тот утес, поднявшийся другой!») is corrected here.

Translation of «I Shall Not Care» from Sara Teasdale Helen of Troy mid other Poems (1911).

For Галя Иванова see note on poem 17. Later the poem was included in the collection Golubaia tram, p. 15, under the title «Твои глаза» and with an epigraph «Нас общая судьба крылом задела /и вместе за собою понесла» from a poem by Jurii Mandel'shtam.

For W.F. see note on poem 15.

Helen Stanley: a friend from Pomona College, Claremont. Poem 313 is also dedicated to her.

Translation of the last 12 lines of "Renascence" from Edna St. Vincent Millay Renascence and Other Poems (1917).

The poem was also written in English, see poem 60.

For Леля Мосолова see note on poem 21.

For W.F. see note on poem 15.

Translation of "Я людям не пойду навстречу" (1903)

Translation of "Есть демон утра. Дымно-светел он (1914).

The poem is dated 10 August and dedicated to P. (see note on poem 24) in the manuscript.

In one of the copies of Stikhotvoreniia Mary Vezey corrected the second line of the first stanza to “полыхнула на небе звезда." The poem was later included in the collection Golubaia trava, with this correction.

Translation of "Ты божий день. Мои мечты" (1902).

For Г.И. see note on poem 17.

Fоr Володя Визи see note on poem 54.

Translation of "Ветер принес издалека" (1901).

For W.F. see note on poem 15.

Translation of "Есть в дикой роще, у оврага" (1898). A misprint ("lies deep below the roots end weeds") in Stikhotvoreniia has been corrected in the present edition.

Dated 5 June in the manuscript. For Леля Мосолова see note on poem 21.

Translation of "We needs must be divided in the tomb," Sonnet XXV from George Santayana Sonnets and Other Verses (1894).

Translation of "Oh if the heavy last unuttered groan," Sonnet XXVI from George Santayana Sonnets and Other Verses, 1894.

100

Translation of "Свирель запела на мосту" (1908).

101

For М.А. Зырянова see note on poem 46. The quote m the text «Как много в этом слове / для сердца юного слилось» is modified from the lines «Москва… как много в этом звуке/Для сердца русского слилось!/Как много в нем отозвалось!» in A.S. Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, Chapter 7, XXXVI.

102

Translation of "Канцона вторая" from N. Gumilev, Костер(1918), and later included in К синей заезде (1923). Vezey translates the modified text in К синей звезде, where the second stanza is "Переброшен к нам светлый мост./И тебе о нас говорят / Вереницы ангелов-звезд,/Что по-разному все горят." See N. Gumilev, Собрание сочинений, Washington, 1961, II, р. 288, note on poem 237.

103

Translation of «Усните блаженно, заморские гости, усните» (1908).

104

The manuscript is dated 9 November 1929. In the 1960s the poem was published in the newspaper Russkaia zhizn', San Francisco, where the first line of the second stanza read: «Даже в самый трудный час в пустыне», and the last line of the poem "и позволил песни петь людские?» The poem was later included in its original form in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 9.

105

Later included in Golubaia trava, p. 16, under the title «На берегу».

106

Later included in Golubaia Irava, p. 13.

107

Later published in the journal Delo, San Francisco, no. 3,1951, and then included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 18, under the title «Самарянин», for which see Luke 10:33.

108

Later included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 20.

109

Later included in (he collection Golubaia trava, p. 11, under the title «В Великий пост» where the third line of the second stanza was «и стану вся прозрачней воска».

110

It was later included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 21, with a dedication to «B.B.» i.e., Vladimir Vezey; see note on poem 54.

111

It was later published in the journal Delo, San Francisco, no. 3, 1951, and then included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 12.

112

Later included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 23. The epigraph is taken from the poem «To Helen» by Edgar Alan Poe.

113

It was later included in the collection Golulwia trava, p. 19

114

It was later published in the annual Den' russkogo rebenka, San Francisco, no. 18, 1951, p. 241, where the first two lines of the last stanza read: «и от упавшего луча, / от лунного меча». It was included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 10, under the title «Ноктюрн 1».

115

It was later published in the annual Den' russkogo rebenka (San Francisco), no. 18, 1951, p. 243.

116

Тамара is the heroine of M.Iu. Lermontov's poem Demon.

117

It was later published in the journal Vozrozhdenie. Paris, no. 215, 1969, p. 57, where the first line was "Когда погаснут на пути огни." It was then included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 6, in its original from. In Golubaia trava the poem is dedicated to "E.T." — Evgenii Fedorovich Tourkoff, Mary Vezey's husband. Poems 216, 219, 221, 374, 400, 462, and the whole of the collection Golubaia trava are dedicated to him.

118

This and the next six poems comprise a cycle. The first poem of the cycle was later published in the journal Khnrbinskie kommercheskie uchilishcha Kit. Vost. zhel. dor., San Francisco, no. 4,1957, p. 53, without the epigraph. Liter the first poem was included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 22, under the title «Мимоходом» and with an epigraph from a poem of Andrei Blokh, an emigre poet who lived in France. The dates of his birth and death are not known; he published two collections of poetry in Paris in 1927 and in 1929.

119

Dated 18 September and dedicated to K.M. in the manuscript. Poems 200 and 304 are also dedicated to him. In the manuscript the fourth line of the first stanza read «и мягче руки, и пушистей косы».

120

Dedicated to К.М. in the manuscript, where the third and fourth lines of the fourth stanza road «и больше будет нечего просить, / и лучшего ты счастья не захочешь!» Poems 198 and 304 are also dedicated to him.

121

It was later included in the collection Golubaia trava, p. 17 under the title «Плач.»

122

The manuscript has a notation «31 августа ночью, у В. на даче».

123

In one of the copies of the collection Mary Vezey added a handwritten dedication: «B.B.» See note on poem 54.

124

The whole collection is dedicated "Моему мужу," i.e., to E.F. Tourkoff. See note on poem 193.

125

For E.T. see note on poem 193.

126

Дочка: Ol'ga Evgen'evna Tourkoff. Poem 434 is also dedicated to her.

127

It was first published in the journal Kharbinskie kommercheskie uchilishcha Kit. Vost. zhel. dor., San Francisco, no. 10, 1971, p. 61, without dedication or epigraph; the first two lines of the last stanza read: "и будет хмурое небо / укутывать купола." For Андрей Блох see note on poem 195. For E. Мосолова see note on poem 21.

128

For E.T. see note on poem 193.

129

Golubaia trava, p. 27. First published in the journal Kliarbinskie kommerclieskie uchilislicha Kit.Vost. zliel. dor., San Francisco, no. 10,1971, p. 61, without title or dedication; the name Salfeve was given in Russian transcription in the first line. In the collection Golubaia trava there was a misprint in the second line of the first stanza ("где острогов Альп чернили склоны"), which was corrected by Mary Vezey in one of the copies. For B.B. see note on poem 54.

130

The manuscript is dated 7? February 1964, Wednesday. The poem was first published in the anthology of Russian emigre poetry Sodruzhestvo, Washington, 1966, p. 117, without title or dedication. For E.T. see note on poem 193.

131

The poem was first published in the anthology of Russian emigrie poetry Sodruzhestvo, Washington, 1966, p. 118, under the title «Ноктюрн».

132

E. и В. Сумбатовы: Prince Vasilii Aleksandrovich Sumbatov (1893–1997), an emigre poet, and his wife Elena Aleksandrovna. Sumbatov published three collections of poetry Stikhotvoreniia, Munchen, 1922, Stikhotvoreniia, Milan, 1957, and Prozrachnaia t'ma, Livorno, 1969.

133

For Eva Doyle see note on poem 9.

134

It was first published in the anthology of Russian Emigre poetry Sodruzhestvo, Washington, 1966, p. 121, where the poem ends with two more lines: "Упокой, Господи, душу усопшего /раба Твоего Иосифа."

135

First published in the journal Vozrozhdenie, Paris, no. 215, 1969, p. 57.

136

The manuscript has the dedication "B.B. (картинка с натуры)," and the epigraph is dated 1967. For B. Bизи see note on poem 54.

137

First published in the journal Kharbinskie kommercheskie uchilishcha Kit.Vost, zhel. dor., San Francisco, no. 11), 1971, p. 62, without the title or epigraph. Marco Aguilar (1944-) is a Costa Rican poet, who has published the collections Raigambres, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 1961, Cantos para la semana, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 1962, and Emboscnda del Tiempo, San Jose, Costa Rica, 1988.

138

First published in the journal Kharbinskie kommercheskie uchilishcha Kit. Vost. zhel. dor. (San Francisco), no. 10, 1971, p. 62, without the title.

139

The poem was first published in the journal Vozrozhdwnie (Paris), no. 118, 1961, p. 62, without title or dedication. The third line in the second stanza read: "пролетали в кильватер, четыре, бесшумно, легко," and the fifth line of the same stanza "как кочующий парус, исчезли за мыс, далеко." It appeared in the anthology of Russian emigre poetry Sodruzhestvo, Washington, 1966, p. 115, also without title or dedication, where the fifth line of the second stanza read "как кочующий парус, умчались на мыс далеко." Крузенштерн: Iustina Vladimirovna Kruzenshtern-Peterets (1903–1983), emigre journalist and poet, who lived in Harbin, Shanghai, and the USA, a friend of Mary Vezey.

140

It was first published in the journal Vozrozhdenie, Paris, no. 118, 1961, p. 62, without title or dedication. The second line of the second stanza read: "ты таких не видел и во сне," and the last line of the poem "что тебя бы привела ко мне?" М. Маринич: М.P. Marinich, who lived in Canada, a friend of Mary Vezey.

141

The manuscript is dated 15 March 1962. The poem was first published in the journal Sovremennik, Toronto, no. 19, 1969, p. 47, where the first line read: «Как моя душа черна сегодня.»

142

А. Васильковская: Elena Vasil'evna Glushkova (died in the early 1970s), an emigre poet, writing under the pseudonym Aleksandra Vasil'kovskaia, who lived in California and published two collections of poetry Uzelok, San Francisco, 1957, and Zapushchennyi sad, Palo Alto, 1971.

143

It was first published in the anthology of Russian emigre poetry Sodruzhestvo, Washington, 1966, p. 119, without the title. The fifth line in the third stanza read: "отойдя от домов, что, друг к другу придвинувшись, хмурятся."

144

No such line was found in John Dos Passos's collection of poetry A Pushcart at the Curb (1922). Perhaps it comes from one of his novels, or is incorrectly cited from his poem «La Rut' du Temps Passe», where the poet speaks of "shuttered windows of forgotten houses.

145

A misprint in the collection («глядеть в окошко узкое острожье.») is corrected in the present edition.

146

With a notation in the manuscript: «Мое, не записанное и альбом.»

147

Павловск: a city of palaces and parks built at the end of the 18th century near St. Petersburg, a countryside residence of Russian Tsars.

148

With a notation in the manuscript: «Во время болезни.»

149

Клана Морозова: a classmate at the Harbin Commercial Schools.

150

The epigraph is taken from Alexander Pope's poem "Oce to Solitude."

151

Tungchow (Tongzhou in contemporary transcription): a small town on the river Baihe not far from Beijing. The North China American School was located bevond the city wall of Tongzhou.

152

Р.Х.: Christinas. М.К.: Liudmila Nikolaevna Kocheneva, married name Bokova, a classmate at the Harbin Commercial Schools.

153

M.M.: Mania Mutovina, a classmate at the Harbin Commercial Schools.

154

With a notation in the manuscript: «Written in class.» Julius Caesar's De bello Gallico was studied in Latin class at the North China American School.

155

Tang Che Ssu (Tanzhesi in contemporary transcription) was one of largest temples in the vicinity of Beijing, built in the 3rd century A.D. and later restored several times.

156

With a notation in the manuscript: " I." Варим: Barim (Baling in contemporary transcription), a station on the west line of the Chinese Eastern Railway, located among Xing'ang Mountain Range, a settlement and a popular resort for Harbin Russians.

157

With a notation in the manuscript: "3."

158

With a notation in the manuscript: «СМУ. Голубой цветок — цветок счастья».

159

For П.Д. see note on poem 24.

160

For П. see note on poem 24.

161

For Hermosa see note on poem 36.

162

For Галя see note on poem 17.

163

With a notation in the manuscript: «Из Claremont'a — в письме в Париж о Харбине. Это во СМУ.» The poem was probably addressed to Elena Mosolova; see note on poem 21.

164

With a notation in the manuscript: «Когда-то очень давно: Харбин. СМУ. Vespers.»

165

For Галька see note on poem 17.

166

For К.Н.М. see note on poem 198.

167

For Helen Stanley see note on poem 99.

168

For Р.J. see note on poem 24.

169

Сунгари: Sungari, or Sunghuajiang, is a large tributary of the Amur river; Harbin is located on the right bank of the Sungari.

170

With a notation in (he manuscript: "2. Стихотворение А. Раевской.” А. Раевская was a pseudonym of Mary Vezey, under which she published several short stories in Harbin and Shanghai. The second line of the last stanza has a variant in the manuscript: «твоя душа металась.»

171

With a notation dated 5 February 1985 in the manuscript: «Написано много лет тому назад…»

172

Variant in the last line in the manuscript: «я не коснулась на земле.»

173

With a notation in the manuscript: «Тема с вариациями».

174

Variant in the last line in the manuscript: «голых и мерных и торчащих в небо.»

175

Variant in the last two lines in the manuscript: «давнишний, тот, что ты забыл,/но тот, который был?»

176

Published in the journal Kharbinskie kommercheskie uchilishcha Kit. Vost, zhel. dor., San Francisco, no. 4, 1952, p. 52. The last line first stanza read: «о от славных подвигов людских»; the second line of second stanza: «давно погибли без следа»; and the last line of the third stanza: «во что-то верить на земле».

177

Variant in the third line of the first stanza in the manuscript: «тянулись в него тополя».

178

Variant in the last line of the third stanza in the manuscript: «и легкой славы не просил».

179

With a notation in the manuscript: «Это Женьке, конечно.» Женька: see note on poem 193.

180

Published in the newspaper Russkaia zhizn' (San Francisco), where the last three lines of the first stanza and the first three of the second stanza are as follows: «исхоженные много тысяч лет, / и в то же время — скрыты от взора /мильоны неразведанных планет. // Так много раз с востока солнце встало /и снова встанет мириады раз;/а мы с тобой заботимся о малом».

181

With a notation in the manuscript: «Посвящается Александре Ивановне Долговой, учительнице русского языка и классной наставнице приготовительного класса гимназии Таганцевой в Ст. Петербурге в году 1912. Она как-то задала классу написать стихотворение; я принесла свое: «Буря зашумела, ветер поднялся…» Она спросила: «Ты сама это написала?» — «Да», — и попросила принести альбом. Прочтя, написала «Будущему поэту». Помню и благодарна всю жизнь».

182

For an English variant of the Russian poem «Жена Лота», see poem 533.

183

The first four stanzas were published in the anthology of Russian émigré poetry Sodruzhestvo, Washington, 1966, p. 114, where the second line of the first stanza read: «потерявшие в радость веру».

184

Variant in the first stanza in the manuscript: «Спустилась мочь легко и глухо,/Луны сверкнуло острие, / сосна, как черная старуха, / глядится в прошлое свое». The manuscript also has two lines which were left out: «Шли облака толпой веселой, / глотали солнце на пути».

185

Шаньнун: shanshui (Chinese), literally mountains and rivers, i.e., landscape, nature.

186

With a notation dated 19 May 1994 in the manuscript: «Его последняя весна. For Max Angell, a patient at UC Hospital.» The UC Hospital was a Medical Center at the University of California where Mary Vezey worked for some time.

187

In one of the manuscripts this poem is en titled «Брату.» For B.B. see note on poem 54.

188

Published in the anthology of Russian emigre poetry Sodruzhestvo, Washington, 1966, p. 116. Variant in the last line in the manuscript: «Ночь, апрель, залив Шимоносэки».

189

Корратри: Corraterrie, a street in Geneva. For В.В. see note on poem 54.

190

Dr. Boldrey: Dr. Edwin Barkley Boldrey, professor, at the time Chairman in Neurogical Surgery at University of California, San Francisco, one of the first neurosurgeons involved in brain tumour research. Mary Vezey worked at his assistant secretary.

191

For Женька see note on poem 193.

192

For Володя see note on poem 54.

193

Bai-d'Along: a bay in Vietnam. Баб-Эль-Мандеба: Bab al Mandab, the strait between the Red Sea and the Ciulf of Aden.

194

Variant in the last line in the manuscript: «летних дней золотой убор!»

195

Discarded titles: «Пустыня" and «Lost Tribe.»

196

Originally entitled: «Случай в джунглях.» Variant of the third line of last stanza in the manuscript: «мерещилось, что отныне.» Ибо: Ibo or Igbo tribe in Riafra, an eastern region of Nigeria. In May 1967, Biafra, led by Oxford-educated Lieutenant-Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared its independence from Nigeria. The Civil War of 1967–1970 ended in Biafra's surrender; a million people, mostly children, died of starvation, during an economic blockade.

197

With a notation in the manuscript: «Когда-то давно… в 60-х гг., что ли? или раньше…» and a further notation dated 19 May 1994: «Серенада?»

198

With a notation in the manuscript: «Когда-то, кажется, и 1960-x гг.»

199

Variants in the third line оf the second stanza in the manuscript: «погрустишь, что серебряный свет», and in the first line of the third stanza: «И уйдешь бесцельно шагать».

200

Published in the new spaper Russkaia zhizn’ (San Francisco), 16 February 1973.

201

Variant in the second line of the last stanza in the manuscript: «его не уловят ни в слове, ни взоре.»

202

Published in the new spaper Russkaia zhizn’ (San Francisco), 29 January 1976.

203

Дочь: see note on poem 217.

204

For Куоккала see note on poem 228.

205

Published in the new spaper Russkaia zhizn’ (San Francisco), 29 January 1976.

206

Низам: Nizam, the Giderabad kingdom, the largest vassal state of British India.

207

Published in the almanac Perekrestki (Philadelphia), no. 6, 1982, p. 19.

208

Variant in the last line of the fourth stanza in the manuscript: «все плоды тяжелого труда». Хана: «Chinese vodka» in local Sino-Russian jargon.

209

Налой: a colloquial obsolete form of «аналой».

210

With a notation in the manuscript: «NB. This is the title of a book published in 1977, either in Canada or USA, надо было бы это как-то «отметить», «n'est pas?» The title is taken from the novel of a contemporary Canadian writer Margaret Craven I Heard the Owl Cal My Name, Toronto, 1967. According to an ancient Indian belief, an owl calls the name of a person about to die.

211

For Галя (Иванова) Горохова see note on poem 17.

212

Published in the almanac Pcrekrestki (Philadelphia), no. 5, 1981, p. 37. Козельск: the city of Kozel'sk, Kaluga Region; many of its ancient churches built in the 17th-19th centuries were destroyed after the Russian revolution. Оптина Пустыня: Optina-Vvedenskaia-Makarieva Hermitage with Optina-Troitskii Monastery nearby, founded in the 15th century.

213

Published in the almanac Perekrestki (Philadelphia), no. 5, 1981, p. 38.

214

With a notation in the manuscript: «Первый набросок — to work on».

215

With a notation in the manuscript: «Отрывки и начала».

216

Variant in the last line in the manuscript: «об исчезнувших вдаль неделях…».

217

Западные горы: the Western Hills, mountains in the vicinity of Beijing. Тан-чжэ-сы: see note on poem 276.

218

With a notation in the manuscript: «Отрывки и начала».

219

Variant in last stanza in the manuscript: «Небесные не дремлют также силы./Пусть люди говорят: «Не дремлет порог». / Я осенила знаменьем креста / И тех, что милы нам и что не милы.»

220

With a notation in the manuscript: «Это о мексиканцах».

221

Published in the almanac Vstrechi (Philadelphia), 1985, p. 79.

222

Published in the almanac Vstrechi (Philadelphia), 1985, p. 79. Саранки was a local Russian name for the wild tiger lilies that grow in the hills of North-F.ast China.

223

Two other manuscripts of this poem are dated 11 September 1985 and 19 November 1986. One has the notation: «Для Тани Здоренко.» Г. Здоренко: Tat'iana Zdorenko, nee Chernosvitova, wife of Pavel Zdorenko, a graduate of the Harbin Commercial Schools.

224

Гаолян: gaoliang (Chinese), sorghum. Желтая река: the Muanghe River

225

Published in the almanac Vstrechi (Philadelphia), 1988, p. 101

226

Published in the almanac Vstrechi (Philadelphia), 1988, p. 102.

227

Published in the almanac Vstrechi (Philadelphia), 1988, p. 103.

228

Variant in (he last lines in the manuscript: «Зато всегда / пока еще живу, / я помню и люблю Неву.»

229

Variant in the third line of the last stanza in the manuscript: «Нередко солнце мимоходом.»

230

Св. Николаевский собор: St. Nicholas cathedral in Harbin, built in the center of the administrative part of the city in 1899–1901, during the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway. It was completely destroyed in August 1966 during the Cultural Revolution in China.

231

Frances Johnson was a classmate at the North China American School in Tongzhou. Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), an English poet, died during the First World War; The Collected Works of Rupert Brooke was published posthumously in 1915.

232

Published in NCA 1922 the student annual of the Noilh China American School in Tongzhou. The stink-bug is a grayish-brown beetle in Сhina, which emits a very unpleasant smell when squashed.

233

Variant in the fourth line of the first stanza in the manuscript: «and hill and meadows from my solitudes.» The manuscript indicates that Mary Vezey planned to include another stanza between the first and the second stanzas; only one line was written in brackets: «In our tall forests we had stately firs.»

234

The Norma Jean to whom this poem is dedicated has not been identified; perhaps it was Marilyn Monroe, whose real name was Norma Jeane Morrison.

235

Variant in the last stanza in the manuscript: «But in her tower / high-walled, / the knight's young daughter /enthralled /forgetful of the hour/ silently watches/ the silver splotches / upon the water.»

236

Po Chii-i: Bo Juyi in contemporary transcription (772–846), a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty

237

Variant in the third line of the fourth stanza in the manuscript: «cry loudly.»

238

English variant of the Russian poem «Жена Лота»; see poem 377.

239

Kwan-Yin: Guanyin in contemporary transcription, the Chinese goddess of mercy, literally «the one who listens to sounds», i.e., to requests and supplications.

240

Moika Street is in St. Petersburg. Variants in the manuscript: in the second line «an oldster — he had loads of books», in the third line «and knew so many people. Yet», and in the eighth line «We'd grasp each other just like that».

241

Por V.V. see nole on poem 54. Variants in (he manuscript: in the first line of (he first stanza «You turned from the road and w ent away. I said goodbye to you, but that was for now"; in the first line of the third stanza «Or on some bridge as I cross a golden strait"; in the fourth and fifth lines of the third stanza «I will suddenly see / a glimpse of your face rushing toward me». Temple of Horrors: a temple in Shanghai. Corraterie: see note on poem 393.

Viipuri: also known as Vyborg, a city and port in the Gulf of Finland, the «eastern capital» of Finland, seized by the Soviet Union in 1940.

242

Variant in the last, line of the second stanza in the manuscript: «that we reach out to grasp».

243

With notation on the manuscript of the cycle «My China»: «Some time years ago, probably in the 60s.»

244

Yalu: a river.

245

With a notation in the manuscript: «kai-meng-de' is Chinese for 'gatekeeper.»

246

Variant in the second line of the last stanza in the manuscript: «swiftly dividing the rushes with the sharp prow of your boat.» Sun-Hwa-kiang: Songhuajiang in the contemporary transcription, the Sungari River; see note on poem 327.

247

For the Western Hills see note on poem 471. «Have you had your rice?» i.e., «Have you eaten?» is a traditional polite enquiry in China.

248

For Po Chu — yi see note on poem 527. The epigraph is taken from Bo Juyi's poem «Night Stop at Rongyang».

249

Om mani pad me kum: a meditation mantra.

250

Lake Hanka is a lake in the maritime Far East, on the border of Russia and China.

251

Mai Mai Cheng: the Chinese city of Maimaicheng and the adjacent Russian city of Kiаikhtа were centres of Sino-Russian trade in the 18th and 19th centuries.

252

Maxwell Bodenheim, Мита and Myself (1918).

253

Abbie Huston Evans, Fuel of Crystal (1961); Vezey gave the poem the draft title «Ниша (Убежище) от взрыва, — Концерт».

254

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles (1921).

255

Edna St. Vincent Millay, Renascense and Other Poems (1917)

256

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Fatal Interview (1931). Variants in the manuscript: in the eleventh line «или в нужде и мраке, что гнетет», and «в нужде без проблеска, в бессильи от забот»; in the twelfth line «твою любовь продам за облегченье»; in the thirteenth line «иль память о тебе — за хлеб и свет».

257

Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems (1916).

258

R.L. Stevenson, Songs of Travel.

259

William Wordsworth, «Ode. Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood» (1897), part V and part of part IX.

260

Published in the journal Kharbinskie kommercheskie uchilishcha Kit. Vost. zhel. dor., no. 9, 1969, p. 31, with a misprint in the poet's surname.

261

With the notation «из сборника Время разлук (Нью-Йорк. 1971)».

262

No dates are available for Andreeva's life. This poem is from Rubezh, Harbin, no. 26, 1930; it received second prize in (he poetry competition organized by the Harbin literary circle of young poets «Churaevka» in the early 1930s

263

Translation of the second stanza. Variant in the last line: «the very longest way!»

264

Variant in the eighth line in the manuscript: "with a tawny brown hand, and does not dare."

265

Mary Vezey's "(??)" in the eighth line presumably indicates a search for a better word.

266

Blok supplemented the published poem with a note: «Эпитафия сочинена Полицианом и вырезана на могильной плите в Сполотском соборе по повелению Лаврентия Великолепного». Fra Filippo Lippi (са. 1406–1469) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance.

267

Variant in the fifth line of the second stanza in the manuscript: «could have you come to visit me».

268

Андрей Блох (ок. 1896 — после 1930) Данные о поэте и переводчике крайне скудны: известно, что в начале 20-х годов он служил во французском Иностранном легионе; печатался во множестве периодических изданий (преимущественно выходивших в Латвии на русском языке между 1922 и 1930 годами). Автор двух поэтических сборников — «Стихотворения» (1927) и «Поэмы и стихи» (1929); оба изданы в Париже.

269

From the collection Жемчуга (1910; 1918).

270

From the collection Жемчуга (1910; 1918).

271

Unfinished translation from the collection Огненный столп (1921). Variant in the last line second stanza of part three in the manuscript: «that bays the moon when it is bright on high». Igdrazil: a gigantic ash-tree, which in ancient Spain symbolized the universe

272

From the collection Прикосновенье, Munich, 1959.

273

From the collection Навстречу небу, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1952.

274

From the collection След жизни, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1950.

275

From the collection Разрозненная тайна, Munich, 1965. Variant in the first line of the first stanza in the manuscript: «Oh, yes, it's good! Not in the present.»

276

From the collection Навстречу небу, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1952.

277

From the collection След жизни, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1950.

278

From the collection След жизни, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1950.

279

First part of a poem from the collection ,Неуловимый спутник, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1956

280

From the collection Прикосновенье, Munich, 1959 Variant in the first line of the last stanza: «Our world is sick. It whispers invocations».

281

From the collection Прикосновенье, Munich, 1959.

282

From the collection Навстречу небу, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1952.

283

From the collection Прикосновенье, Munich, 1959.

284

From the collection Разрозненная тайна, Munich, 1965.

285

From the collection Навстречу небу, Frankfurt-on-Maine, 1952

286

Unfinished translation from the collection Вторая книга стихов, Paris, 1928.

287

Unfinished translation from the collection Вторая книга стихов, Paris, 1928.

288

Poem not found in a collection of this poet; presumably translated from a publication in a Russian emigre newspaper.

289

From the collection Южный дом, Munich, 1968.

290

A.N. Pleshcheev's poem was published with notation «С английского».

291