Also in Translations:

The Watchmaker (1905)
Hermann von Kern ( Austria,1838-1912) "The Watchmaker" (detail)
Lev Loseff. At a Geneva's Watchmakers. Translated by Andrei Burago

 
                           For S. Markish
 
Genevaโ€™s pompous, no, Genevaโ€™s gentle.

The Swiss are stuffy, swaggering and fun.

In Switzerland, that every nationโ€™s neighbor,

a courteous place, a country stuffed with funds,

stuffed with its gold, its cows, its meadows, mountains,

with mounds of cheese moist under carving knife,

with schools of secret service agents, scores of scoundrels,

โ€œIโ€™lll buy myself a watch,โ€ decided I.
โ€Ž 

The city buzzed. Some spies had tried to make

a daring move and leave the GRU.

But did I give a hoot? To tell the truth,

I was concerned with how to spot a fake,

which watches ran on rubies, and which ones

were waterproof and came on leather bands.
 โ€Ž

A local Jโ€Žeโ€Žw, his bristly mustache arched,

commented in a melancholy tone:

โ€œThe only thing that matters in a watch,

good sir, is that it ticks and tells the timeโ€.

โ€œIt matters that it ticks and tells the timeโ€ฆ”
 โ€Ž

“Do you refer to poems?โ€ โ€œGod forbid,

I meant to speak of watches, wrist and pocketโ€ฆโ€

โ€œIt holds for works by novelists and poets,

for lyric verse and other trifling bitsโ€.
 

ะฃ ะถะตะฝะตะฒัะบะพะณะพ ั‡ะฐัะพะฒั‰ะธะบะฐ
 
ะ’ ะ–ะตะฝะตะฒะต ะฒะฐะถะฝะพะน, ะฝะตั‚, ะฒ ะ–ะตะฝะตะฒะต ะฝะตะถะฝะพะน,

ะฒ ะจะฒะตะนั†ะฐั€ะธะธ ะฒะฐะปัŒัะถะฝะพะน ะธ ัะผะตัˆะฝะพะน,

ะฒ ะจะฒะตะนั†ะฐั€ะธะธ, ัะพ ะฒัะตะน ะ•ะฒั€ะพะฟะพะน ัะผะตะถะฝะพะน,

ะฒ ะ–ะตะฝะตะฒะต ะฒะตะถะปะธะฒะพะน, ะฒ ะจะฒะตะนั†ะฐั€ะธะธ ั ะผะพัˆะฝะพะน,
 

ะฝะฐะฑะธั‚ะพะน ะทะพะปะพั‚ะพะผ, ะบะพั€ะพะฒะฐะผะธ, ะณะพั€ะฐะผะธ,

ะฟะปะฐัั‚ะฐะผะธ ัั‹ั€ะฐ ั ะบะฐะฟะปัะผะธ ั€ะพัั‹,

ะฐะณะตะฝั‚ะฐะผะธ ั€ะฐะทะฒะตะดะพะบ, ัˆัƒะปะตั€ะฐะผะธ,

ั ะฒะดั€ัƒะณ ั€ะตัˆะธะป โ€” ยซะšัƒะฟะปัŽ ัะตะฑะต ั‡ะฐัั‹ยป.
 

ะขะพะปะฟะฐ ะฑัƒั€ะปะธะปะฐ. ะจะปะฐ ะฟะตั€ะตะฒะตั€ะฑะพะฒะบะฐ

ัะพั‚ั€ัƒะดะฝะธะบะพะฒ ะšะฆะ“ะ ะ‘ะฃ

ะะพ ะฒัะต ั€ะฐะทะฒะตะดะบะธ ั ะฒะธะดะฐะป ะฒ ะณั€ะพะฑัƒ.

ะœะฝะต ะฑั‹ ัƒะทะฝะฐั‚ัŒ, ะบะฐะบะฐั ะทะดะตััŒ ัˆั‚ะฐะผะฟะพะฒะบะฐ,

ะบะฐะบะธะต ะฝะฐ ั€ัƒะฑะธะฝะพะฒั‹ั… ะบะฐะผะฝัั…,

ะฒะพะดะพัƒะฟะพั€ะฝั‹ะต ะธ ะฒ ะบะพะถะฐะฝั‹ั… ั€ะตะผะฝัั….

 
ะ’ะดั€ัƒะณ ัะปั‹ัˆัƒ ะธะท-ะฟะพะด ั‰ะตั‚ะพั‡ะบะธ ัƒัะพะฒ

ะฟะตั‡ะฐะปัŒะฝั‹ะน ะณะพะปะพั ะผะตัั‚ะฝะพะณะพ ะตโ€Žะฒั€โ€Žโ€Žโ€Žะตโ€Žัโ€Ž:

ยซะั…, ััƒะดะฐั€ัŒ, ะฒัะต, ั‡ั‚ะพ ะฝัƒะถะฝะพ ะพั‚ ั‡ะฐัะพะฒ,

ะงั‚ะพะฑ ั‚ะธะบะฐะปะธ ะธ ะณะพะฒะพั€ะธะปะธ ะฒั€ะตะผัยป.
 

ยซะงั‚ะพะฑ ั‚ะธะบะฐะปะธ ะธ ะณะพะฒะพั€ะธะปะธ ะฒั€ะตะผัโ€ฆ

ะŸะพัะปัƒัˆะฐะนั‚ะต, ะฒั‹ ัั‚ะพ ะพ ัั‚ะธั…ะฐั…?ยป

ยซะะตั‚, ะพ ั‡ะฐัะฐั…, ะฝะฐั€ัƒั‡ะฝั‹ั… ะธ ะบะฐั€ะผะฐะฝะฝั‹ั…โ€ฆยป

ยซะะตั‚, ัั‚ะพ ะพ ัั‚ะธั…ะฐั… ะธ ะพ ั€ะพะผะฐะฝะฐั…,

ะž ะปะธั€ะธะบะต ะธ ะฟั€ะพั‡ะธั… ะฟัƒัั‚ัะบะฐั…ยป.
 

About the Author:

loseff
Lev Loseff
Leningrad, USSR / Hanover, NH, USA

Lev Loseff (birth name Lev Lifshitz; June 15, 1937 โ€“ May 6, 2009) was a Russian poet, literary critic, essayist and educator. The son of poet Vladimir Lifshitz, Loseff was born in Leningrad. He attended Leningrad’s famous Saint Peter’s School and graduated from the journalism department of the Leningrad State University. Loseff immigrated to the U.S. in 1976. He earned a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan and became a professor of Russian literature at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, a position he held until his death thirty years later. In his later years Loseff was a Russian-language radio personality and a prolific author, writing both poetry and non-fiction works on Russian literature. Loseff died on May 6, 2009, in Hanover, NH.
(From Wikipedia)

About the Translator:

1. ะ‘ะฃะ ะะ“ะž
Andrei Burago
Seattle, USA

Andrei Burago was born and raised in St. Petersburg, where he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of the St. Peterburg State University. Andrei moved to the USA in 1991. Currently, he lives in Seattle and works as a software developer.

Lev Losev ะ›ะตะฒ ะ›ะพัะตะฒ
Bookshelf
by Boris Kokotov

This collection includes poems written in 2020-2023.ย  (Russian edition)

by Marina Eskin (Eskina)

“The Lingering Twilight” (“ะกัƒะผะตั€ะบะธ”) is Marina Eskin’s fifth book of poems. (Russian edition)

by Ilya Perelmuter (editor)

Launched in 2012, “Four Centuries” is an international electronic magazine of Russian poetry in translation.

by Nina Kossman

A collection of moving, often funny vignettes about a childhood spent in the Soviet Union.

“Vivid picture of life behind the Iron Curtain.” โ€”Booklist
“This unique book will serve to promote discussions of freedom.” โ€”School Library Journal

by Maria Galina

A book of poems by Maria Galina, put together and completed exactly one day before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is Galina’s seventh book of poems. With translations by Anna Halberstadt and Ainsley Morse.

by Ian Probstein

A new collection of poems by Ian Probstein. (In Russian)

Videos
Three Questions. A Documentary by Vita Shtivelman
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Poetry Reading in Honor of Brodsky’s 81st Birthday
Length: 1:35:40