Russian translations of Stefan Mallarmé's poem "Apparition"

Li Polina Viktorovna ORCID: 0009-0004-7878-1297 Assistant, Department of Intercultural Communication and Translation, Vladivostok State University 690014, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, Gogol str., 41, office 5517 shmatokpolina@gmail.com

In Russia, the first translations of Stefan Mallarm?'s works appeared more than a hundred years ago. In 1893, Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov saw in the work of the French symbolists a "guiding star", another step in the development of Russian literature ^[1]. Russian Russian Symbolists was one of the first to translate the poems of the leader of French symbolism and publish them together with his own works inspired by Mallarm?'s poetics in the collection "Russian Symbolists" in 1894. The problem of translating Mallarm?'s works into Russian has been of great interest since that time: this is evidenced by numerous attempts by translators to recreate his unique poetic style.

The process of formation of the creative individuality of the poet Stefan Mallarm? is usually divided into two stages: "Parnassian" (1860s) and "dark", symbolist (the second half of the 1880s - 90s) ^[2]. Mallarm? created his first works under the influence of the works of S. Baudelaire and T. Gautier, who also stood at the origins of symbolism. But soon Mallarm? departs from the ideas of the Parnassians, turning to the search for new poetic means designed to embody his renewed understanding of poetry. Already in 1862, in the essay "Artistic heresies. Art for all" ("H?r?sies artistiques: L'art pour tous") Mallarm? complains that anyone who has studied the alphabet can touch a masterpiece of poetry, whereas, looking at the text of a musical work by Mozart, Beethoven or Wagner, an uninitiated person is in awe of the mysterious system of unknown signs. In his opinion, the fact that the greatest of the arts was denied this extremely important property – the presence of its own language, which frees great works from the idle gaze of curious and ignorant eyes ^[3]. Later, in 1884, he formulated his new poetic concept in an interview with K. Mendes: "The contemplation of objects, the image arising from the dreams inspired by them, is the lyrics. The Parnassians, on the other hand, take the whole object, and by demonstrating it, deprive it of secrecy <...>. To name an object means to take away three quarters of the pleasure of the poem, the happiness of guessing gradually, dreaming. <...> Here is an ideal use of the mystery of a symbol: to recreate an object line by line to express a feeling, or, on the contrary, to take an object and release a state of mind from it with a series of decryptions" ^[4]. This technique of expressing an impression about an object is called "suggestion". Suggestion literally means a hint, suggestion, suggestion. According to A. N. Veselovsky, it is precisely those poetic images that are remembered and remain with the reader, which constantly cause "new suggestions and the work of thought on our part" ^[5].

S. Mallarme was not the first to use suggestion to embody his ideas about the poetic ideal, but he actively developed the theoretical foundations of this method and disseminated them through his work. For the first time, the term "suggestion" was used by S. Baudelaire in 1885, describing pure art as "the creation of suggestive magic containing both an object and a subject, a world outside the artist and the artist himself" ^[6]. The ideas of suggestion were also developed by S. Maurice, A. Mokel, E. Verharn, A. Rimbaud and others.

Poe also spoke about suggestion, whose concept of art had a huge influence on symbolists: in the 1860s and 1880s, the cult of Edgar Poe developed among French symbolists, and S. Mallarm? called the poet his great teacher ^[7]. In the essay "Philosophy of Creativity", Poe spoke of his conviction that a work should contain "a certain complexity or, rather, a certain subtlety", as well as "a certain undercurrent of meaning, albeit obscure" ^[8]. The second component is suggestion, and it is he who, according to E. Poe, brings "richness", completeness to the work, and a detailed explanation of hints turns poetry into prose ^[9]. As Y. V. Kovalev writes, "the general principle of Poe's poetics lies in the attitude to the emotional and psychological impact of any work. He called such an impact a "total effect", the most important feature of which was unity. It is precisely to the "total effect" that all aspects of poetic creation, all the particular principles of its organization, should be subordinated ^[10]. Suggestion in Poe's poetry was achieved with the help of metaphors, in which Y. V. Kovalev identified two characteristic features: "firstly, his metaphors are grouped around symbols, which are like beacons for the reader sailing on the "metaphorical sea"; secondly, the metaphors themselves have an internal attraction to symbolism and in many cases the cases function as symbols. The distinction between them is sometimes conditional" ^[11]. These ideas were perceived and developed by Mallarm? in his work.

In Mallarm?'s aesthetic concept, metaphorical images of light (sun, sky, heavenly blue, golden morning radiance, purple clouds) occupy a special place among the phenomena that allow "liberating the state of the soul". They are associated with the ideal, beauty, freedom, hope, love, and creativity. These images form symbols and become leitmotives, as they appear in works of different years: "Renouveau" (1862), "Apparition" (1863), "Les Fen?tres" (1863), "Tristesse d'?T?" (1864), "L'Azur" (1864), "Soupir" (1864), "Don du po?me" (1865), "Brise marine" (1865), "Quand l'ombre mena?a de la fatale loi" (1883), "Victorieusement fui le suicide beau" (1885), "Ses purs ongles tr?s haut d?diant leur onyx" (1886), "Le Pitre Ch?teau" (1887), "H?rodiade" (1864-1898).

Mallarm?'s poem "Apparition" (1863) is imbued with metaphorical images of light. It was first published in 1884, when it was published in P. Verlaine's collection "The Cursed Poets", and in the same year it was set to music by K. Debussy.

Already at an early stage of his work, the poet aspired to a reliable representation of the impression. In an 1862 letter addressed to A. Casalis, Mallarme writes: "I do not want to write these poems relying on inspiration alone: lyrical confusion would be unworthy of the pure vision that you love. It takes a long time to think: only art, transparent and impeccable, is chaste enough to sculpt her bright image" ^[12]. From the same letter it becomes known that the poem was written by order of a friend for his beloved. Commenting on the verse, R. M. Dubrovkin, the compiler of the anthology of Mallarme's works, notes that Maria Gerhard, the poet's future wife, is named as a possible addressee ^[13].

La lune s'attristait. Des s?raphins en pleurs

R?vant, l'archet aux doigts, dans le calme des fleurs

Vaporeuses, tiraient de mourantes violes

De blancs sanglots glissant sur l'azur des corolles.

- C'?tait le jour b?ni de ton premier baiser.

Ma songerie aimant ? me martyriser

S'enivrait savamment du parfum de tristesse

Que m?me sans regret et sans d?boire laisse

La cueillaison d'un R?ve au c?ur qui l'a cueilli.

J'errais donc, l'?il riv? sur le pav? vieilli

Quand avec du soleil aux cheveux, dans la rue

Et dans le soir, tu m'es en riant apparue

Et j'ai cru voir la f?e au chapeau de clart?

Qui jadis sur mes beaux sommeils d'enfant g?t?

Passait, laissant toujours de ses mains mal ferm?es

Neiger de blancs bouquets d’?toiles parfum?es.

Subscript translation

The moon was sad. Seraphim in tears

Dreaming, with a bow in their fingers, in the silence of flowers

Shrouded in a haze, they were extracted from dying violas

White sobs slipping onto the azure of the flowers.

– It was a blessed day of your first kiss.

My dream, loving to torment me

Artfully reveled in the scent of sadness

Which leaves even without regret and without chagrin

It's time to collect the fruits of a Dream to the heart that collected it.

And I wandered around with my eyes glued to the old pavement

When with the sun in your hair, outside

And in the evening, laughing, you appeared to me,

And I thought I saw a fairy in a hat made of light

Who was once in my beautiful dreams of a spoiled child

She appeared, always dropping from half-closed palms,

Like snow, white bouquets of fragrant stars.

The plot of the poem consists of two parts: the lover's memory of the first kiss and the longing for a meeting, which at the sight of a girl is replaced by joy, comparable only to the absolute happiness of a child gifted with the caresses of a mother. Thus, two plans arise – ideal and real. In addition, duality also arises in female images: one is a girl who came to a meeting, the other is a fairy from childhood dreams. The second, as it is commonly believed, embodies a nostalgic memory of the poet's mother, who died early, who was also called Maria ^[14].

Metaphors of light arise in the poem, symbolizing love, the beloved of the lyrical hero, his ideal dreams: sur l'azur des corolles (on the azure of flowers); avec du soleil aux cheveux (with the sun in her hair); au chapeau de clart? (in a hat of light); blancs bouquets d'?toiles parfum?es (white bouquets of fragrant stars). Three of the four metaphors of light are concentrated in the second part of the poem, characterizing the hero's impression of the appearance of his beloved. The girl appears to the hero like a light shed in the dark: dans la rue et dans le soir (on the street and in the evening); and her appearance changes not only the visible reality, but also the inner world of the hero.

The poem was translated into Russian by P. Krasnov, V. Bryusov (1894), R. Rabinerson, M. Talov, S. Petrov, R. Dubrovkin, Yu. Korneev. Let's consider the perception of metaphors of light in two translations. The author of the first one is V. Bryusov, the master of Russian symbolism, who considered Mallarme one of his teachers ^[15]. This translation, created in 1894, was published almost forty years later – in 1935. The second translation, presumably made before 1934, belongs to M. Talov, who became an outstanding representative of the "Russian Montparnasse". His main translation work was the complete collection of poems by Stefan Mallarm?, published posthumously in 1990.

V. Bryusov in his translation omits the title of the poem, which can be interpreted in several ways: appearance, phenomenon, vision, emergence. The translator managed to preserve the poetic form, rhythmic organization and elegiac atmosphere of the original. In the first part of the poem, in its fourth line, one image of light appears, describing the sublime impression of the first kiss; Bryusov transfers it to the last line of the poem. Other transformations are also taking place: the metaphorical image of "white sobs" in translation becomes more "understandable" as an elusive moan, and "dying violas" are depicted as trembling violins. Nevertheless, the poet manages to convey the painfully sweet impression created in the original:

The moon was sad. The seraphim languished,

Leaning towards the bows, and an elusive moan

From trembling violins – along the corollas of flowers – 

He glided paling and died without words.

The means of describing the sacredness of the moment of the first kiss for the lyrical hero is the religious "blessed day", which Bryusov calls blessed, and "the day of your first kiss" is called more chaste – "the day of the first confession". The torments of a lover's heart, dreams and reflections are accurately conveyed in translation:

It was a blissful day, the day of the first confession,

My dream, loving to reflect on suffering,

I inhaled the scent of sadness and longing,

Those dreams are thin, sick petals,

Which are always dropped by reflection.

In the second part of the poem, where the greatest number of metaphors of light are concentrated, in the twelfth line Bryusov deepens the impression of the association of life with darkness for the hero in the absence of her lover – the girl is not "on the street and in the evening", but in "the darkness and in life". However, an important image of the light of a girl "with the sun in her hair" has been lost.

I was wandering far away from the noise and movement,

And my eyes rested on the old pavement –

In the darkness and in life, you appeared before me.

The fairy from childhood dreams, with whom the lyrical hero compares the appearance of his beloved, in Bryusov's translation appears as a fairy of "childish harmonies" - a more difficult image to understand. In addition, Bryusov's hat of light becomes a shining crown: the metaphor of light is preserved and acquires a regal shade:

And you were a fairy of childish harmonies,

Who glides in a shining crown,

Dropping like snow from a young hand

Fragrant stars with azure wreaths.

The image of light that appears in the first quatrain – "azure of flowers" - has been transferred to the last line, and the original image has been preserved – "bouquets of fragrant stars" become fragrant azure wreaths.

M. Talov retains the title of the text and translates it as "phenomenon", adding sacredness to the moment of the hero's meeting with his beloved. M. Talov's translation is more expressive and straightforward. The translator uses colloquialisms – sobbed, pampered, adds an exclamation in the fifth line. The choice of a special vocabulary helps to enhance the dynamics of action – the adverb "suddenly" is used twice in the third and eleventh lines; the verbs "hit", "sob", "tear" and "splash" describe a sharp, rapid movement or action. These transformations change the elegiac, dreamy, languishing atmosphere of amorous expectation, creating an impetuous, ardent, passionate atmosphere.

M. Talov accurately reproduces the image of light in the fourth line of the poem:

The moon was sad, and Seraphim was in tears,

In the silence of dewy flowers and in dreams

He suddenly struck with the bow, and Viola sobbed,

Gliding along the azure halo corollas.

In the fifth line, an additional metaphor of light is introduced, which enhances the joyful feeling of the lyrical hero's memories. The translator uses the outdated word "kissing" when talking about a kiss, creating an identical, expressive image. The following four lines are rendered close to the original, however, the word "smell" is more neutral than "fragrance" and may also have a negative connotation:

— The first kiss in the bliss of a bright day!

My dreaminess that tormented me,

She expertly savored the sad fragrance,

The smell that gives without pity, without sting,

Breaking dreams to someone who has broken them in the past.

The translator retains all the metaphorical images of the light of the second part of the poem, but not without changes. So, the original "with the sun in her hair", where light seems to become an attribute of the girl's appearance (the "solar goddess", as S. N. Zenkin calls her ^[16]), in translation is replaced by an expressive image of splashes of sunlight falling on her hair. The expression is added by replacing the hat of light with a fiery hat in the thirteenth line, where the light is replaced by an image of warmth, passion:

So, I chained my gaze to the dilapidated pavement,

Suddenly, with the sun splashing on her hair, turning white,

Laughing, at the evening hour you appeared like a fairy,

Who wore a fiery hat in a charming childhood to me,

A pet, a pampered one, dreamed in a vague dream

Dropped by a weak, slightly unclenched hand

A bouquet of fragrant stars in the darkness above me.

The metaphor of light in the last line is preserved and enhanced by contrast with the emerging image of darkness – "in the darkness above me."

Both translators are attentive to recreating metaphorical images of light – as in the original, these images act as leitmotives in their texts, but it was Bryusov who managed to recreate the original images and impressions in a harmonious and accurate way. He strives to preserve the atmosphere of the original through elegant turns and images, which makes his style expressive and emotionally saturated. Even at the beginning of his acquaintance with the aesthetic concept of symbolism, Bryusov was able to accurately capture its very essence: "The purpose of symbolism is to hypnotize the reader with a number of juxtaposed images, as it were, to evoke a certain mood in him" ^[17]. This approach made it possible to preserve not only the poetic plot, original images, but also the aesthetic features of the original, to convey the impression that it makes on the reader.