Some information about some partial translations (not containing any
chapter in its entirety) can be found atpartial.htm.
Bonver’s version omits Chapter 8, Stanzas 32–51 inclusive. Cahill
translates Chapter 1 only. Unlike all others, Clarke’s translation is in
prose. Corré translates Chapters 1 and 2. I have not been able to
locate the translation by Harding. Litoshick translates Chapters 1 to 3.
Liberson is a paraphrase rather than a translation. Lowenfeld is, strictly
speaking, a partial translation as no complete chapter is translated, but it
includes a substantial proportion of the whole. Phillipps-Wolley translates
Chapter 1 alone (but is of interest because of its early date). Stone is
another paraphrase. I have not been able to locate the translation by
Turner (the page on partial translations contains
some extracts translated elsewhere by Turner). Some
biographical information about the translators
is available.
Pushkin: A. S. Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, with an introduction
and bibliography by A.D.P. Briggs and a vocabulary compiled by Frances F.
Sobotka. London: Bristol Classical Press 1993. ISBN 1 85399 396 4. An
earlier version of this appeared as A. S. Pushkin, Eugene Onegin,
with Preface by Ronald Hingley & Vocabulary compiled by Frances F.
Sobotka, with Bibliography by A.D.P. Briggs. London: Bristol Classical Press
1991. ISBN 1 85399 247 X. The Russian text is on the web at
http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/04onegin/01onegin/0836.htm?start=0\&length=all
Arndt (1963): Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin: A novel
in verse. The Bollingen prize translation in the Onegin Stanza
by Walter Arndt [1916–2011]. Critical Essays by Roman Jakobson, D.J.
Richards, J. Thomas Shaw and Sona Stephan Hoisington. New York, NY:
Dutton 1963. SBN 0-525-47132-4, LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number):
63024729.
Arndt (1992): Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin: A novel
in verse (Second Edition, Revised). The Bollingen prize translation
in the Onegin Stanza extensively revised by Walter Arndt [1916–2011].
Critical Essays by Roman Jakobson, D.J. Richards, J. Thomas Shaw and Sona
Stephan Hoisington. Ann Arbor, MI: Ardis 1992. ISBN 0 87501 106 3.
Beck: Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin. Translated
with an introduction and notes by Tom Beck [1941-]. Sawtry, Cambs: Dedalus
2004. ISBN 1 903517 28 1.
Bonver:Evgeny Onegin (A Novel in Verses). 2001–2003;
last correction 2004. Translated by Yevgeny Bonver [Евгений Бонвер]. On the web at
http://www.poetryloverspage.com/yevgeny/pushkin/evgeny_onegin.html
Briggs:Yevgeny Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander Pushkin,
translated from the Russian with an introduction by Anthony Briggs. London:
Pushkin Press 2016. ISBN 978 1 782271 91 8.
Cahill:Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander
Pushkin. A Prose Version of Chapter One by Christopher Cahill based on
the Literal Translation of Vladimir Nabokov. New York: The Stinehour
Press, 1999. Published in an edition of only 31 copies.
Cahill (rev):Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander
Pushkin. A Prose Version of Chapter One by Christopher Cahill based on
the Literal Translation of Vladimir Nabokov. This is an intermediate version
which is being revised with a view to publication. 1999 on.
Clarke (2005):Eugene Onégin & Four Tales from
Russia’s southern frontier: A prisoner in the Caucusus, The fountain of
Bahchisaráy, Gypsies, Poltáva by Alexander Pushkin,
Translated into English prose with an Introduction and Commentary
by Roger Clarke [1939-]. Ware, Herts: Wordsworth 2005. ISBN 1 84022 136 4.
[Translation of Eugene Onegin originally in The Complete
Works of Alexander Pushkin, Volume 4, Downham Market, Norfolk:
Milner 1999. ISBN 0 90768102 6.]
Clarke (2011):Eugene Onegin: A novel in verse by Alexander
Pushkin. Translated and with a commentary by Roger Clarke [1939-]
(includes the Russian text on facing pages). Richmond: Oneworld Classics 2011.
ISBN 978-1-84749-160-2.
Clough: Pushkin’s ‘Eugene Onegin’. A new version
with the text by S.D.P. Clough. Malvern Wells or Oxford:
S.D.P. Clough [1988]. ISBN 0947998063.
Corré:Eugene Onegin by A. Pushkin.
Translation of Cantos 1 and 2 by Alan D[avid]. Corré. 1999. On
the web at https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/corre/www/pushkin/
Deutsch (1936):Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse
[translated by Babette Deutsch, 1895–1982] in The Poems, Prose and
Plays of Alexander Pushkin. Selected and Edited, with an Introduction
by Avraham Yarmolinsky. New York: Random House 1936 and 1943.
British Library Shelfmark 2338.e.6. LCCN (Library of Congress Control
Number): 37000079.
Deutsch (1943): Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse, by
Alexander Puskin; a new translation by Babette Deutsch [1895–1982];
edited, with a special introduction, by Avrahm Yarmolinsky; illustrated with
lithographs by Fritz Eichenberg, New York: Heritage Press 1943.
LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number): 43012373.
Deutsch (1964): Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin:
A novel in verse. Translated by Babette Deutsch [1895–1982]. London,
etc.: Penguin 1964. ISBN 0 14044151 4.
Elton: Alexander Pushkin, Evgeny Onegin by
A.S. Pushkin; translated by Oliver Elton [1861–1945] and illustrated by
M.V. Dobujinsky; with a foreword by Desmond MacCarthy. London: The Pushkin
Press, 1937, reprinted 1943. LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number):
38011103.
Elton/Briggs: Alexander Pushkin, Yevgeny Onegin.
Edited with revised translation by A[nthony]. D[avid]. P[each]. Briggs based
on a translation by Oliver Elton [1861–1945]. Illustrated by M. V.
Dobujinsky. London: J. M. Dent and Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle 1995. ISBN
0 460 87595 7.
Emmet & Makourenkova: A.S. Pushkin, Eugene
Onegin. Translated by Olivia Emmet, Svetlana Makourenkova [Светлана
Александровна Макуренкова]. Москва: Прогресс-Традиция [Moscow:
Progress-Traditsiya] 1999. Reprinted Москва: Река Времен [Moscow: Reka
Vremen] 2009. ISBN 978-5-85319-124-2.
Falen: Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin: A Novel in
Verse. Translated and with an introduction by James E. Falen [1935-].
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press 1995. ISBN 0 19 282491 0.
Audio version read by Stephen Fry available on the web at
http://fryreadsonegin.com/
Harding:Eugene Onegin. Translated by R.C.E. Harding.
Wellington, 1967. Typewritten copy. Mentioned in the bibliography by
Leighton referred to below, but nothing is known about it apart from
this mention.
HobsonА.С. Пушкин Евгений Онегин: роман в стихах. В переводе
Мэри Хобсона / Evgenii Onegin: A novel in verse by Alexandr Pushkin.
Translated by Mary Hobson [1926– ]. Москва: Русская школа 2011
[Moscow: Russkaya shkola (Russian school) 2011]. ISBN 978-5-91696-012-9.
The same text is reprinted (with a small number of corrections made) London:
Anthem Press 2016. ISBN 978-1-78308-458-6, with the title changed to
Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse (although the hero is still referred
to as Evgenii in the text). Available as a Naxos Audiobook. Not in British
Library or Library of Congress. See
http://www.rusterra.com/2009/02/12/meri-hobson/ and
http://www.newmillennium.ru/
HofstadterEugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander
Sergeevich Pushkin. A Novel Versification by Douglas Hofstadter
[1945– ]. New York, NY: Basic Books 1999. ISBN 0 465 02093 3.
Hoyt: Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin: A novel in
verse. In the original Russian and in English Translation by
Henry M. Hoyt [1914-2012]. Indianapolis IN: Dog Ear Publishing 2008. ISBN
978 159858 340 3.
Johnston (1977): Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin.
Translated by [Sir] Charles [Hepburn-]Johnston [1912–1986]. London:
Scolar Press 1977. British Library Shelfmark X.989/52100. LCCN (Library of
Congress Control Number): 79309650. This version with minor revisions is
on the web at
http://lib.ru/LITRA/PUSHKIN/ENGLISH/onegin_j.txt
Johnston (2003): Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin.
Translated by [Sir] Charles [Hepburn-]Johnston [1912–1986] (revised
edition with a preface by John Bayley). London: Penguin 2003,
ISBN 978-0140448030.
Kayden: Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin: A Novel
in Verse. Translated from the Russian by Eugene M[ark]. Kayden
[1886–1977]. Yellow Springs, OH: The Antioch Press 1964. LCCN (Library
of Congress Control Number): 62021072
Kline: Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin.
Translated by A. S. Kline 2009. On the web at
http://www.poetryintranslation.com/klineaspushkin.htm
Kozlov (1994): Pushkin A.S. Eugene Onegin: Novel in verse.
Translated by Kozlov S[ergej]. N[ikolaevich]. [Сергей Николаевич Козлов]
[Профессор, Московский Государственный Социальный Университет; Professor,
Moscow State Social University]. Москва: из-во «Союз» [Moscow: «Soyuz»] 1994.
ISBN 5-7139-0031-2. Not in British Library or Library of Congress.
Kozlov (1998): Pushkin A.S. Eugenij Onegin: novel in verse.
Translated by S[ergej]. N[ikolaevich]. Kozlov [Сергей Николаевич Козлов]
[Профессор, Московский Государственный Социальный Университет; Professor,
Moscow State Social University]. Москва: Риф “Рой” [Moscow: Rif
“Roj”] 1998. ISBN 5-89956-108-4. Rare in the West; British
Library Shelfmark YA.2003.a.40485.
Ledger: Pushkin’s Yevgeny Onegin. A dual
language version. English translation by G[erard]. R. Ledger.
Oxford: Oxquarry Books 2001. ISBN 0 9540272 0 5. On the web at
http://www.pushkins-poems.com/
Liberson (1975):Eugene Onegin revisited: Love poetry of
Alexander Pushkin and Charles Baudelaire translated by Wladimir
T. Liberson [1904–1994]. New York, NY: Sage 1975. ISBN 0-89360-004-0.
Liberson (1987): Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin
revisited by Wladimir T. Liberson [1904–1994], Abridged free
translation, Second edition. Norfolk, VA: W. T. Liberson 1987. No ISBN; not in
British Library or Library of Congress.
Litoshick: A.S.Pushkin. Eugeny Onegin (1–3 chapter).
English translation Dennis Litoshick. Last modified 2001. On the web at
http://lib.mediaring.ru/LITRA/PUSHKIN/ENGLISH/litoshik.txt
LowenfeldFrom Julian Henry Lowenfeld, My Talisman,
The poetry and life of Alexander Pushkin: Translated with Commentary, and a
Biography of Pushkin, New York, NY: Green Lamp Press 2010.
Chapter One, I-XI, XXIX, XXX-XXXIV, XLVI-L, LV-LVIII, Chapter Two, VII-XXI,
XXIII, XXV-XXXI, Chapter Three, XV-XXI, XXV-XXVI, XXXI, Tatiana’s
Letter, Chapter Four, VII-XXII, Chapter Five, XXV, XXVIII-XXXII, XXXIV,
XLI, XLIV-XLV, Chapter Six, XIX-XL, Chapter Seven, XXXIII-XXXVIII, LI-LV.2,
Chapter Eight, X-XIV, XVII-XIX, XXVII-XXXII, Onegin’s Letter, XXXIII-LI.
Mitchell: Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin: A Novel
in Verse Translated with an introduction and notes by Stanley
Mitchell [1932–2011]. London, etc.: Penguin Books 2008. ISBN 978 0 140
44810 8.
Nabokov (1964):Eugene Onegin. A novel in verse by
Aleksandr Pushkin. Translated from the Russian with a Commentary
by Vladimir [Vladimirovich] Nabokov [Владимир Владимирович Набоков]
[1899–1977]. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1964. British Library
Shelfmark X.908/4018. LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number): 63010708
Nabokov (1975):Eugene Onegin. A novel in verse by
Aleksandr Pushkin. Translated from the Russian with a Commentary
by Vladimir [Vladmirovich] Nabokov [Владимир Владимирович Набоков]
[1899–1977] (revised edition). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
1975. ISBN 0 691 01905 3.
Phillipps-Wolley:“A Russian Rake”.
Being a paraphrase of the first book of Pushkin’s “Eugene
Onegin,” in something like the metre of the original. 1883.
This rough translation [by Clive Phillipps-Wolley, 1853–1918] first
appeared in the Proceedings of the Anglo-Russian Literary Society
and was reprinted in Songs from a Young Man’s Land, Toronto:
Thomas Allen 1917. LCCN (Library of Congess Control Number): 39006985.
On the web at http://www.archive.org/stream/songsfromyoungma00philuoft/songsfromyoungma00philuoft_djvu.txt
PortnoiRussian Dual Language Book: Eugene Onegin in
Russian and English by Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Portnoi,
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2016. ISBN 978-1533206848.
Radin & Patrick:Eugene Onegin. Translated
from the Russian of Alexander Pushkin by Dorothea Prall Radin
[1889–1948] and George Z[inovei]. Patrick [1886–1946]. Berkeley,
CF: University of California Press 1937. LCCN (Library of Congress Control
Number): 37027746. British Library Shelfmark 20030.bb.36.
Sharer: Michael Sharer [Michael Shuwarger] [1913– ],
A Rendition of Alexander Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”:
A Novel in Verse. Los Angeles: Beamish Publishers 1996. LCCN
(Library of Congress Control Number): 96222888.
Simmons:Evgenie Onegin: A Romance in Verses.
Done into English verse by Bayard Simmons. Typewritten (134 pp.)
[London] 1950. British Library Shelfmark Cup.504.gg.5.
Spalding: Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onéguine:
A romance of Russian life. Translated from the Russian by
Lieut.-Col. [Henry] Spalding, London: Macmillan and Co. 1881. British
Library Shelfmark 11585.i.28. [Since this is now rare, it may
be worth knowing that there there are two modern reprints: one by Gloucester:
Dodo Press, 2009, ISBN 1409906701, and the other, entitled Eugene
Onegin: A Novel in Verse (and with no indication of the original date
of publication of the translation) by Seven Treasures Publications, 2008, ISBN
9781440496875.] On the web at
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/23997 or at
http://rt.com/Russia_Now/Russian_literature/Alexander_Pushkin_1799-1837.html
Stone:Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse, by
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (translated by Marilyn K. Stone)
(Unpublished manuscript, 2005). Referred to on the web at
http://www.cogsci.indiana.edu/EugeneOnegin.html
Thomas:Onegin, by Alexander Pushkin, translated by
D[onald] M[ichael] Thomas [1935-], London: Francis Boutle Publishers 2011
ISBN 978 1903427 64 4. Extract (Chapter 8, XXXIX-XLVII) in Modern Poetry
in Translation: Polyphony Series3 No. 14 (2011) and at
http://www.mptmagazine.com/poem/extract-from-yevgeni-onegin-160
Turner:Eugene Onyégin by A. S. Poushkin,
translated by C[harles]. E[dward]. Turner [1831–1903]. St. Petersburg:
K. L. Ricker. n.d. Not in the British Library or in the Library of
Congress. Mentioned in A List of Works by and about Pushkin. Compiled
by the Slavonic Division. Edited, with an Introduction by Avrahm Yarmolinsky,
New York: The New York Public Library 1937. The Yarmolinsky bibliography
quotes the authority of W. S. Sonnenschein, The best books, 3rd edn,
part 5, p. 2831. Also referred to in L Leighton, ‘A new Onegin’,
The Slavic and East European Journal41 (4) (1997), 661–666;
Leighton, however, says that “no one seems to have seen”
this translation. (The page on partial translations
contains some extracts translated elsewhere by Turner.)
Bibliography
A List of Works by and about
Pushkin. Compiled by the Slavonic Division. Edited, with an
Introduction by Avrahm Yarmolinsky, New York: The New York Public
Library 1937. On the web at
http://feb-web.ru/feb/pushkin/biblio/pie/pie-001-.htm; Microsoft
Word version available here.
The section on translations of Eugene Onegin in A Bibliography
of Alexander Pushkin in English: Studies and Translations, compiled by
Lauren G. Leighton. Lewiston, NY and Lampeter : Edwin Mellen Press c. 1999,
[ISBN 978-0773481701] pp. 258–264, can be seen here.
Microsoft Word Versions of the Original and Some Translations
Except in the cases of Cahill, Kozlov (1994) and Simmons these have been
adapted from web sites quoted above.
Eugene Onegin consists of eight chapters of roughly equal length
together with fragments of Onegin’s Journey and various authorial
notes. (There are also some fragments of a projected “Chapter
Ten”.) It consists of 5541 lines, 5523 of which are iambic (and
the other 18, in “The Song of the Girls” are in trochaic
trimeter with long terminals). Most of it is written in the Onegin
stanza.
The Onegin Stanza
The Onegin stanza consists of rhymed iambic tetrameters with the
following rhyme scheme, where capital letters indicate double (feminine)
rhymes:
A b
A b
C C
d d
E f
f E
g g
The lines with double rhymes have an extra unstressed syllable. Some of the
translations, namely those by Arndt, Beck, Deutsch, Elton, Falen, Hofstadter,
Johnston, Mitchell and Sharer, use the Onegin stanza. It is used in English by
Vikram Seth in his 1986 novel The Golden Gate and by Diana Lewis Burgin
in Richard Burgin: A Life in Verse. It is also used by Jon Stallworthy
in ‘The Nutcracker’, London Review of Books9 (16)
(1987), by John Fuller in The Illusionists, London: Secker and Warburg
1980 and by Matt Rubinstein in ‘Equinox’ (originally published in the
Sydney Morning Herald) and by Jim Blyth in Kim and Jim: The Length of
Love Street. H R F Keating in his detective story Jack the Lady Killer
writes in an approximation to the Onegin stanza. A shorter example is
‘On Translating Eugene Onegin’,
Vladimir Nabokov, The New Yorker (1955 January 8). Samples from all of
these and a few others by Ben Borek, Andy Croft and W N Herbert can be found
in the Word file samples.doc.
Early references to Pushkin in English
Two of the earliest references to Pushkin in English occur in reviews
as follows:
Westminster Review, 1/1 (January 1824) pp. 80-101
(attributed in some sources to John Bowring); see
pdf.
The Foreign Review and Contemporary Miscellany, 2/4 (1828),
pp. 279-309; see Word version or
pdf.
Original and Translations of Chapter One, Stanza I
Pushkin
«Мой дядя самых честных правил,
Когда не в шутку занемог,
Он уважать себя заставил
И лучше выдумать не мог.
Его пример другим наука;
Но, боже мой, какая скука
С больным сидеть и день и ночь,
Не отходя ни шагу прочь!
Какое низкое коварство
Полуживого забавлять,
Ему подушки поправлять,
Печально подносить лекарство,
Вздыхать и думать про себя:
Когда же чёрт возьмёт тебя!»
Arndt (1963)
“Now that he is in grave condition,
My uncle, decorous old prune,
Has earned himself my recognition;
What could have been more opportune?
May his idea inspire others;
But what a bore, I ask you, brothers,
To tend a patient night and day
And venture not a step away:
Is there hypocrisy more glaring
Than to amuse one all but dead,
Shake up the pillow for his head,
Dose him with melancholy bearing,
And think behind a stifled cough:
‘When will the Devil haul you off?’”
Arndt (1992)
“Now that he is in grave condition,
My uncle, decorous old dunce,
Has won respectful recognition;
And done the perfect thing for once.
His action be a guide to others;
But what a bore, I ask you, brothers,
To tend a patient night and day
And venture not a step away:
Is there hypocrisy more glaring
Than to amuse one all but dead,
Shake up the pillow for his head,
Dose him with melancholy bearing,
And think behind a public sigh:
‘Deuce take you, step on it and die!’”
Beck
“My uncle’s acted very wisely,
to seek his bed when he’s so sick;
his family’s reacted nicely
and he’s most happy with his trick.
He’s set the world a good example,
which others really ought to sample,
but it’s a bore, when night and day
the sick man forces you to stay!
To keep him sweet, as if he’s dying,
give him his daily medicine
and make quite sure that it goes in,
adjust the pillows while one’s sighing:
‘Don’t even think of getting well,
the devil take you, go to hell!’”
Bonver
“My uncle, of the best traditions,
When being almost deceased,
Forced men to treat him with distinction,
Which was the best of his ideas.
Yes, his example – to us for learning,
But, Heavens, how it is boring
To sit with him all day and night,
Not having right to step aside!
What a deplorable deception
To entertain the man, half-dead,
To fix a pillow in his bed,
To give him drugs with sad attention,
To sigh and think in deeps of heart:
When will the deuce take you apart?”
Briggs
“Uncle, a man of purest probity,
Has fallen ill, beyond a joke.
Respected now, and scorned by nobody,
He has achieved his masterstroke
With this exemplary behaviour,
But it would try the Holy Saviour
To tend a sickbed night and day,
And never stir a step away,
Employing shameful histrionics
To bring a half-dead man some cheer,
Plump pillows and draw sadly near,
Indulging him with pills and tonics,
Heaving deep sighs, but thinking, ‘Ooh!
When will the devil come for you?’”
Cahill
“My uncle is a man of honest principles; when he became ill, he forced
us to respect him for the first time, as if we’d never been able to find a
reason to before. He’s an example to others; but, good God, what a bore to
sit by the sick day and night, not wandering a step away! How deceitful to
amuse a half-dead man, fluff his pillows for him, give him his medicine,
sigh – all the while thinking, ‘When will the devil take
you?’”
Cahill (rev)
“My uncle’s a man of honest principles: when he got ill, he forced
us to respect him for the first time — his best trick ever. He’s an
example to others; but, good God, what a bore to sit by a sick man day and
night, never wandering a step away! How deceitful to amuse a half-dead man,
fluff his pillows, give him his medicine, and sigh — all the while
thinking, ‘When will the devil take you?’”
Clarke (2005)
‘My uncle – man of the highest principles . . .
since he fell ill in earnest, he’s won everyone’s
respect – couldn’t have thought of a better way.
His example’s a lesson to us all . . .
‘But, God! – what a bore to sit by an invalid
day and night, never moving one step away!
What base hypocrisy to keep amused someone
half-dead, straighten his pillows, solemnly
bring him his medicine, sigh and sigh – and
be thinking to oneself “Will the Devil never
take you?”!’
Clarke (2011)
“Man of highest principles, my uncle...
When he fell ill in earnest,
he won respect — he couldn’t
have thought of a better way.
His example’s a lesson to others...
But, God! — what a bore
to sit with an invalid day and night,
never moving one step away!
What base hypocrisy
to try to amuse a man half-dead,
straighten his pillows,
solemnly administer medicine,
keep sighing — and think to oneself,
‘Will the Devil never take you?’!”
Clough
—“When Uncle took to his bed
it was clearly going to be no joking matter
(he’s a gentleman of the most punctilious principles).
O yes, he’s made me respect him —
couldn’t have thought of a better way —
sets an example to the rest of us. . .
but my God! What a bore it all is!
Sitting with a sick man day and night,
not being able to step outside his room
(the crafty bastard’s arranged it all),
trying to amuse a near corpse, shaking up its pillows every few minutes,
bringing it medicine with a suitably long face —
but inwardly sighing, privately thinking
‘When is the Devil coming to collect you?’—”
Corré
“My uncle, long a prince among
The upright, got so very ill.
But honors of the highest rung
He asked for, and he got his fill.
His model men came to adore.
But, oh my goodness! what a bore
To sit with uncle night and day,
And never from his bedside stray!
What an awful, low-down scene
His half-dead person to amuse,
Arrange his pillows, and to choose
Lugubriously his medicine,
While sighing in sad undertones:
‘When will old Nick consume your bones?’”
Deutsch (1936)
“My uncle’s shown his good intentions
By falling desperately ill;
His worth is proved; of all intentions
Where will you find one better still?
He’s an example, I’m averring;
But, God, what boredom—there, unstirring,
By day, by night, thus to be bid
To sit beside an invalid!
Low cunning must assist devotion
To one who is but half-alive:
You puff his pillow and contrive
Amusement while you mix his potion;
You sigh, and think with furrowed brow—
‘Why can’t the devil take you now?’”
Deutsch (1943)
“My uncle always was respected;
But his grave illness, I confess,
Is more than I could have expected:
A stroke of genius, nothing less.
He offers all a grand example;
But, God, such boredom who would sample?—
Daylong, nightlong, thus to be bid
To sit beside an invalid!
Low cunning must assist devotion
To one who is but half-alive:
You smooth his pillow and contrive
Amusement while you mix his potion;
You sigh, and think with furrowed brow—
‘Why can’t the devil take you now?’”
Deutsch (1964)
‘My uncle always was respected,
But his grave illness, I confess,
Is more than could have been expected:
A stroke of genius, nothing less!
He offers all a fine example.
But, God, such boredom who would sample
As day and night to have to sit
Beside a sick-bed — think of it!
Low cunning must assist devotion
To one who is but half-alive;
You puff his pillow and contrive
Amusement while you mix his potion;
You sigh and think with furrowed brow:
“Why can’t the devil take you now?”’
Elton
‘When Uncle, in good earnest, sickened
(His principles were always high),
My own respect for him was quickened;
This was his happiest thought,’ said I.
He was a pattern edifying:
– Yet, heavens! how boring, and how trying.
To tend a patient night and day
And never move a step away!
And then – how low the craft and gross is! –
I must amuse a man half-dead,
Arrange the pillows for his head,
And bring, with a long face, the doses
And sigh, and wonder inwardly,
‘When will the Devil come for thee?’
Elton/Briggs is unchanged
Emmet & Makourenkova
“My Uncle based life’s regulation
“On high ideals; when he fell ill,
“His bearing forced our admiration,
“One could not dream of better still,
“A model posed to tutor others;
“But God Almighty, what a bother,
“A bedside watch by night and day,
“Without a chance to step away!
“How filled with shame and gross deception
“To entertain the living dead,
“To smooth the pillows at his head,
“While sadly bringing pill and potion,
“To sigh, and think with hidden woe:
“When will the devil come for you!”
Falen
‘My uncle, man of firm convictions . . .
By falling gravely ill, he’s won
A due respect for his afflictions—
The only clever thing he’s done.
May his example profit others;
But God, what deadly boredom, brothers,
To tend a sick man night and day,
Not daring once to steal away!
And, oh, how base to pamper grossly
And entertain the nearly dead,
To fluff the pillows for his head,
And pass him medicines morosely—
While thinking under every sigh:
The devil take you, Uncle. Die!’
Harding
I have not been able to locate the translation by Harding.
Hobson
My uncle, honest fellow, seeing
That he was now a dying man,
Required my last respects, this being
His best, indeed, his only, plan.
The plan may be worth imitating;
The boredom is excruciating.
Sit by a sick-bed night and day
And never move a step away.
With what low cunning one tries madly
To amuse a man who’s half alive,
Adjust his pillows, and contrive
To bring his medicine to him sadly,
Then sigh while proffering the spoon,
‘Let’s hope the devil takes you soon.’
Hofstadter
“My uncle, matchless moral model,
When deathly ill, learned how to make
His friends respect him, bow and coddle —
Of all his ploys, that takes the cake.
To others, this might teach a lesson;
But Lord above, I’d feel such stress in
Having to sit there night and day,
Daring not once to step away.
Plus, I’d say, it’s hypocritical
To keep the half-dead’s spirit bright,
To plump his pillows till they’re right,
Fetch his pills with tears veridical —
Yet in secret to wish and sigh,
‘Hurry, dear Uncle, up and die!’”
Hoyt
“My uncle’s ruled by utmost honor:
When taken seriously ill,
He got himself to be respected,
And nothing better could devise.
His case for others is a lesson,
But God, how boring to be sitting
With a sick person day and night,
Not moving even one step off.
What despicable calculation
To keep a half-dead man amused,
Glumly his medicine to serve him,
To set his pillows straight for him,
To heave a sigh and to reflect,
When will the Devil take you off?”
Johnston (1977)
‘My uncle – high ideals inspire him;
but when past joking he fell sick,
he really forced one to admire him –
and never played a shrewder trick.
Let others learn from his example!
But God, how deadly dull to sample
sickroom attendance night and day
and never stir a foot away!
And the sly baseness, fit to throttle,
of entertaining the half-dead:
one smoothes the pillows down in bed,
and glumly serves the medicine bottle,
and sighs, and asks oneself all through:
“When will the devil come for you?”’
Johnston (2003) is unchanged
Kayden
“My uncle was the soul of honor
And, when at last he took to bed,
He had the sense to make his kin
Respect his smallest wish, in dread
Before his disapproving gaze.
But Lord above! what fearful boredom
To tend the sick all day and night,
And never move for days and days!
What pitiful dissimulation
A dying man to entertain,—
Arrange the pillows for his head,
Prepare his medicine, then feign
A sigh of grief and wonder why
The devil takes his time to die.”
Kline
‘My uncle, what a worthy man,
Falling ill like that, and dying;
It summons up respect, one can
Admire it, as if he were trying.
Let us all follow his example!
But, God, what tedium to sample
That sitting by the bed all day,
All night, barely a foot away!
And the hypocrisy, demeaning,
Of cosseting one who’s half alive;
Puffing the pillows, you contrive
To bring his medicine unsmiling,
Thinking with a mournful sigh,
“Why the devil can’t you die?”’
Kozlov (1994)
‘My uncle keeps to honest systems:
By falling ill, yet not in jest,
He made me love him with insistence
And couldn’t find some better test.
Well, his example gives a lesson;
But goodness me, it’s quite distressing
To sit with him all day and night,
Not stepping out of his sight.
And what insidiousness you show
When you amuse a man half dead
Arrange the pillows in bed
Then sadly give him drugs in sadness, though
You sigh, not speaking of your will,
When will the devil come for him!’
Kozlov (1998)
“My uncle keeps to honest systems:
By falling ill, if not in jest,
He made me love him with insistence
And couldn’t find some better test.
Well, his example gives a lesson;
But goodness me, it’s quite distressing
To sit with him all day and night,
But staying always in his sight.
What perfidy you are displaying
When you amuse a man half-dead
Arranging pillows in his bed
Then sadly give him drugs, delaying
You sigh, not speaking of your dream,
When will the devil come for him!”
Ledger
“My uncle, a most worthy gentleman,
When he fell seriously ill,
Constrained everyone to respect him,
Couldn’t have done better if he tried.
His behaviour was a lesson to us all.
But, God above, what crashing boredom
To sit with the malingerer all day
Not moving even one footstep away.
What demeaning hypocrisy
To amuse the half-dead codger,
To fluff up his pillows, and then,
Mournfully to bring him his medicine;
To think to oneself, and to sigh:
When the devil will the old rascal die?”
Liberson (1975)
“My uncle is a clever man—
“By getting seriously ill,
“He knew I’d be his faithful fan,
“Worthy heir of a worthy will.
“But what a chore to please a patient,
“To fix his pillow, smile and sigh,
“To amuse him, so frail and ancient
“And yet to think: when will you die?”
Liberson (1987)
“My uncle was a clever man—
“By getting seriously ill,
“He knew I’d be his faithful fan,
“Worthy heir of a worthy will.
“But what a chore to please a patient,
“To fix his pillow, smile and sigh,
“To amuse him, so frail and ancient
“And yet to think: when will you die?”
Litoshick
My uncle was a man of virtue,
When he became quite old and sick,
He sought respect and tried to teach me,
His only heir, verte and weak.
He had the fun, I had the sore,
But gracious goodness! what a bore!
To sit by bedplace day and night,
Not doing even step aside,
And what a cheep and cunning thing
To entertain the sad,
To serve around, make his bed,
To fetch the pills, to mourn and grim,
To sigh outloud, think along:
‘God damn old man, why ain’t you gone?’
Lowenfeld
“ My uncle, man of rules, most honest,
When he fell ill beyond all joke,
Respect for himself forced upon us
(Better than that could not be hoped)
Let others learn from his example,
But Lord, how deathly dull to sample
The patient’s sickbed night and day,
And never take a step away!
What execrebly base dissembling
To keep someone half-dead amused,
Prop up his pillows, sadly brood,
With melancholy bring him medicine,
Sigh — as you ask yourself —
all though —
When will the Devil come for you!”
Mitchell
My uncle is a man of honour,
When in good earnest he fell ill,
He won respect by his demeanour
And found the role he best could fill.
Let others profit by his lesson,
But, oh my God, what desolation
To tend a sick man day and night
And not to venture from his sight!
What shameful cunning to be cheerful
With someone who is halfway dead,
To prop up pillows by his head,
To bring him medicine, looking tearful,
To sigh – while inwardly you think:
When will the devil let him sink?
Nabokov (1964)
“My uncle has most honest principles:
when he was taken gravely ill,
he forced one to respect him
and nothing better could invent.
To others his example is a lesson;
but, good God, what a bore to sit
by a sick person day and night, not stirring
a step away!
What base perfidiousness
To entertain one half-alive,
adjust for him his pillows,
sadly serve him his medicine,
sigh—and think inwardly
when will the devil take you?”
Nabokov (1975)
“My uncle has most honest principles:
when taken ill in earnest,
he has made one respect him
and nothing better could invent.
To others his example is a lesson;
but, good God, what a bore
to sit by a sick man day and night,
without moving a step away!
What base perfidiousness
The half-alive one to amuse,
adjust for him the pillows,
sadly present him the medicine,
sigh—and think inwardly
when will the devil take you?”
Phillipps-Wolley
A perfect life without a flaw,
Till sickness laid him on his bed,
My grandsire lived: himself a law
By which our lesser lives were led.
Respect from all (or high or low),
The best he knew, or cared to know!
Yet, oh, my God! how slow to spread
The pillows for the sick man’s head:
What prostitution of one’s wit
To raise a smile on lips half cold,
With downcast eyes his medicine hold.
All day, all night, beside him sit,
And sighing to oneself still muse
“When will the Devil take his dues?”
Portnoi
“My uncle was a man of most honorable principles,
When he was taken seriously ill,
He made everyone respect him,
And couldn’t have had a better plan.
His example is a lesson for others;
But, oh my God, what a bore it is
To sit at the sick man’s bedside day and night,
Not moving a step away!
What a low dishonesty it is
To entertain a half-dead man,
To adjust his pillows,
To solemnly serve him his medicine,
To sigh and to say to oneself,
‘When will the devil take you?’”
Radin & Patrick
“My uncle’s verse was always upright
And now that he has fallen ill
In earnest he makes one respect him:
He is a pattern for us still.
One really could not ask for more—
But heavens, what a fearful bore
To play the sick-nurse day and night
And never stir beyond his sight!
What petty, mean dissimulation
To entertain a man half-dead,
To poke his pillows up in bed,
And carry in some vile potation,
While all the time one’s thinking, ‘Why
The devil take so long to die?’”
Sharer
“My uncle ought to be respected:
As soon as he was gravely ill,
He told his kin they were expected
To be attentive to his will.
One must obey when fate is calling.
But, Lord, what can be more appalling
Than through the day and through the night
To be the ailing man’s delight?
How wearisome and unaesthetic
To have a helpless patient fed,
To tiptoe softly round his bed,
Be sensitive and sympathetic,
And think, while trying to console:
‘When will the devil take your soul?’”
Simmons
“Heigh ho, what a fatigue, and what a bore,
To sit all day beside a dying man,
And only steal away when he doth snore,
And for the half-dead some amusements plan;
To give him medicine; his brow to fan;
To think when you his crumpled pillow shake,
‘When will the devil this old devil take?’
My uncle lives a life of rectitude,
An honest man, if ever there were such,
But given much, I fear, to platitude —
It seems to me he utters them too much;
But when this fever his old bones did touch
Upon his relatives he forced respect;
On his example others made reflect.”
Spalding
“My uncle’s goodness is extreme,
If seriously he hath disease;
He hath acquired the world’s esteem
And nothing more important sees;
A paragon of virtue he!
But what a nuisance it will be,
Chained to his bedside night and day
Without a chance to slip away.
Ye need dissimulation base
A dying man with art to soothe,
Beneath his head the pillow smooth,
And physic bring with mournful face,
To sigh and meditate alone:
When will the devil take his own!”
Stone
“My uncle makes a big production
of being ill, and truth be told,
I’d offer him just one instruction:
‘Give up the ghost — you’re weak and old!’”
Thomas
‘Now that my uncle’s truly dying
He seems more decent than before.
You have to praise the way he’s trying
To keep a grip, if nothing more.
A fine example to us all, but
The thought of what I face – appalling!
Sitting with him by day and night,
Not venturing as step outside!
What boredom, what a base betrayal,
To entertain a man half-dead,
Plump up the pillows by his bed,
Sigh, with a spoon held to his frail
Old lips, while thinking to yourself,
When will the devil take you off!’
Turner
I have not been able to locate the translation by Turner.
while on 17 December 2009 http://translate.google.com/ offered
“My uncle is the most honest rules
When not in the joke was sick,
He was forced to respect themselves
I could not invent better.
His example to other science;
But, my God, what a bore
From patients to sit day and night,
Not leaving a single step away!
What kind of low cunning
Half alive amuse,
He cushion correct,
Sadly hold medicine
Sigh and think to myself:
When the devil take you! ”
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