[In the following essay, Spitzer discusses Sumarokov's translation of three sonnets by the German lyric poet Paul Fleming, arguing that Sumarokov freely changed the content of the original verse, “beautifying” the poetry and imbuing it with a definite eighteenth-century Russian classicism.]

The purpose of this study is to discuss Alexander Sumarokov's translations of three sonnets written by Paul Fleming¹ in 1636, entitled in German: Er redet die Stadt Moskau an, als er ihre vergueldeten Tuerme von fernen sahe, An die grosse Stadt Moskau, als er schiede, and An den Fluss Moskau, als er schiede. In 1755, Sumarokov translated these titles into a simpler and shortened version as: “Moskve,” “Velikomu gradu Moskve,” and “Moskve-reke.” This short analysis provides a rare glimpse into Sumarokov's activity as a literary translator and poet in his own right. A well-known Russian poet, Nikolai Gumilev, states in his article “On Translations of Poetry”: “… the translator of a poet must be a poet himself and, besides that, a careful investigator and perceptive critic, who, selecting what is most characteristic for each author, allows himself to sacrifice the rest when necessary.”²

A pure classicist in theory and practice, Sumarokov was not in favor of preserving the style of the original. He was a consistent supporter of the so-called “beautified” translation, in other words, of an alteration of the original in the spirit of eighteenth-century Russian Classicism: “The creator bestows the thought but does not bestow the words; do not submit to the construction of his locutions, rather, adorn it with words natural to you.”³

Fleming belonged to the school of the German Renaissance poet Martin Opitz, who introduced a metrical reform into German poetry at the beginning of the seventeenth century. “This reform was similar in its basic features to the reform of Russian versification by Tred'iakovskii and Lomonosov, which established the syllabo-tonic system based on the foot for modern German poetry. Opitz, like the Russian theoreticians who came after him, started from classical quantitative metrics, adapting its terms to the tonic versification of the Germans.”⁴

Another poet of this school, Adam Olearius, found himself in 1634 in the services of the Duke of Holstein who was organizing a commercial mission to Moscow and Teheran. Olearius asked Fleming to accompany him, and though the mission was a failure as a business venture, Olearius and Fleming kept their eyes open and gave a brilliant description of what they had seen.

When Sumarokov undertook to translate Fleming's poetry a century later, he was approaching it from a different era and a different literary tradition. His translations bear the stamp of the Classicism of eighteenth-century Russian literature. The poetic means used by the two poets reflect not only the individual styles of Fleming and Sumarokov, but also the styles of their representative literary movements. A comparative analysis of Fleming's sonnets and Sumarokov's translations can contribute to the study of major European literary currents in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and to literary theory of stylistics.

Sumarokov, who belonged to an era which stressed patriotism, was understandably attracted to Fleming's sonnets which were dedicated to Moscow. Fleming speaks of the Russian capital with admiration; his sonnets express deep gratitude to the great empire which shows support and hospitality to the Holstein mission. His delight with Moscow's beauty leads him to wishing her inhabitants happiness and peace. Sumarokov translates these feelings and thoughts with conviction and emotion.

The sonnet was a popular form in Germany during the Renaissance and it is not surprising that Fleming chose it to express his impressions of his travels. The sonnet, the Italian term for “little song,” consists of fourteen lines. Specific rhyme schemes are strictly observed and only a single theme or emotion is expressed. Fleming, with little variation, derives his poetic form from the thirteenth-century Italian sonnet which was perfected by the poet Petrarch in the fourteenth century. The thematic scheme in the sonnet is also observed; the first quatrain presents the opening theme, the second quatrain elaborates upon it, the following tercet serves as an example or rumination of the theme and, finally, the last tercet concludes the theme of the sonnet.

The outer form of Fleming's sonnets follows the French Alexandrine rules for prosody. Its three main characteristics are: an obligatory equality of syllables (twelve in masculine lines, thirteen in feminine ones), obligatory rhyme and an obligatory caesura after the sixth syllable. All three Fleming's sonnets contain two four-line stanzas, two three-line stanzas and are written in iambic hexameter. “This meter did not enter Russian literature directly from the French but through the intermediary of German poetry, from which it was borrowed by Lomonosov.”⁵ This explains why Fleming's sonnets had to wait a century in order to be properly translated into Russian.

The following outlines of Fleming's and Sumarokov's rhyme schemes show that the Russian poet tried painstakingly to preserve the rhyme of the original. “Rhyme presents a special problem for the translator, since rhyming words must be found in the receiver language to convey the semantic sense of the original.”⁶ The rhyme schemes consist of lowercase letters designating masculine rhymes (last syllable stressed) and uppercase letters designating feminine rhymes (last syllable unstressed).

1/ An die grosse Stadt Moskau—aBBa; aBBa; CCd; EEd. “Velikomu gradu Moskve”—aBBa; cDDc; EEf; GGf.

2/ “An den Fluss Moskau”—aBBa; aBBa; CCd; EdE. “Moskve-reke”—aBBa; cDDc; EEf; GfG.

3/ Er redet die Stadt Moskau an—AbbA; AbbA; ccD; eeD. “Moskve”—AbbA; CddC; eeF; ggF.

It is evident, that in all three sonnets, Sumarokov has decided to change Fleming's rhyme pattern in the second quatrain Fleming's sequence of masculine and feminine rhymes was faithfully observed by Sumarokov.

While Sumarokov preserved the rhyme scheme in his translations, he used this mainly as a point of departure for writing his own poetry, a method of approaching poetry in languages other than his own defended in the twentieth century by Roman Jakobson, who claims that “poetry by definition is untranslatable; only creative transposition is possible.”⁷

Discrepancies between the content of the original and the content of the translation are particularly evident in Sumarokov's translation of Fleming's first sonnet to Moscow: Er redet die Stadt Moskau an, als er ihre vergueldeten Tuerme von fernen sahe. Sumarokov was not only translating and “beautifying” Fleming's poem, but also quite consciously changing its content. In the German original of this sonnet, the poet turns his thoughts to his beloved, the beautiful Basilena, from whom he had to part.⁸ As the poet approaches the city of Moscow, the glistening, golden cupolas remind him of Basilena's golden locks, and his description of the city serves as a means of expressing his deep love for Basilena.

Sumarokov preserves in his translation the principal motif of praising a loved one, faithfully following the description of Moscow and her golden cupolas as an expression of love for a beautiful woman left behind. However, he changed other aspects of the content quite drastically. First, Sumarokov sees the Moscow towers not while he is approaching the city, but on the contrary, as he is leaving it. Secondly, the beloved Basilena, so missed by Fleming, becomes a Muscovite in Sumarokov's translation. Fleming, approaching the city, writes:

… seh' ich auf dich dorthin,
… so kommt mir in den Sinn
Was Gueldners noch als Gold, nach dem ich mich muss sehnen.
Es ist das hohe Haar der schoenen Basilenen,
Durch welcher Trefflichkeit ich eingenommen bin.
Sie, ganz ich, sie mein All, sie, meine Herrscherin,
Hat bei mir allen Preis der Schoensten unter Schoenen.(9)

But Sumarokov, leaving the city, writes:

Mnоj zrisssy ty isë v svоëm priкrasnij цviti;
V tibi оstavil y ctо mni milyj vsigо,
Ktо mni lybiznii i sirdцa mоigо,
V tibi оstalasy priкrasnijsay v sviti.(10)

It is difficult to say whether these transformations were a misunderstanding on the part of the translator, or whether they were deliberate. But even if Sumarokov had known the real identity of Basilena, it would have been consistent with the predominant nationalism of his time to make the woman Russian rather than German. In any case, Sumarokov emphasizes Fleming's expressions of admiration for Moscow and turns his attention specifically to the words which speak of the city's beauty and grandeur. Whereas in the original, the view of Moscow's golden cupolas evokes thoughts of Fleming's far away beloved, in the translation, the love for the beautiful woman merges with the love for the city.

Sumarokov translated the content of the other two sonnets by Fleming more accurately, but sacrificed most of the metaphors. The metaphor was a characteristic stylistic feature in seventeenth-century German poetry, and Fleming uses numerous metaphors in all three sonnets. In the true fashion of Russian Classicism, Sumarokov endeavors to simplify and clarify the Russian version. For example, in the first sonnet, Fleming compares gold to the hair of a woman. In Sumarokov's translation, the golden cupolas are mentioned, but the metaphor disappears; no comparison is drawn between the city with its golden towers and the beautiful woman with the golden locks. Likewise, in the sonnet An die grosse Stadt Moskau, als er schiede, Fleming compares the friendly reception extended to him in Moscow to a feeling of burning love:

… wir haben nun erkennt,
Wie sehr dein freundlichs Herz in unsrer Liebe brennt.(11)

Sumarokov does not preserve this metaphor. In the sonnet An den Fluss Moskau, als er schiede, Fleming compares his verse to flowers. As he returns back home, he sings praises about the Moscow river, and his humble sonnet becomes a bouquet of clover:

Nimm diese Hand voll Klee im Mangel der Violen
Zu treuen Guensten an.(12)

Here, as in the above mentioned cases, Sumarokov does not translate the metaphor; instead of comparing clover to violets, he compares a small poem to loud songs:

Primi sij malyj trud. Pо vrimini y miru
Pоtsujsy о tibi grоmcai vоeglasits(13)

Of all Fleming's metaphors, Sumarokov preserved only one; the personification of the city of Moscow. In Er redet die Stadt Moskau an, the city is compared to an empress, and in An die grosse Stadt Moskau, the city is compared to a princess. Fleming's first sonnet begins:

Du edle Kaiserin der Staedte der Ruthenen,(14)

Sumarokov translates:

Grad, russкik gоrоdоv vladyciцa prikvalsna(15)

In the second sonnet, Fleming turns to Moscow:

Prinzessin deines Reichs, die Holstein Muhme nennt,
Du wahre Freundin du, …(16)

Sumarokov renders the lines this way:

O ty, sоyzniцa Gоlstinsкiy strany,
V rоssijsкik gоrоdak pоd iminim цariцy(17)

This comparison of the city of Moscow to an empress or a princess is the chief vehicle of the German poet's glorification of Moscow. Used twice, this metaphor is so integral to Fleming's sonnets that to have omitted it would have seriously weakened the translations.

The main difference between the original and the translation, though, is neither in content nor in the figures of speech, but in the tone. Fleming's original is written in the vivacious language of the German Renaissance. Sumarokov's translation is written in the relatively subdued language of Russian Classicism. For example, Fleming addresses the Russian capital with emotion:

Prinzessin denies Reichs, die Holstein Muhme nennt,(18)

Sumarokov changes this in Russian into a solemn declaration of admiration, beginning the line with “O ty …,” a characteristic opening used in Russian classical poetry. Fleming's lively, concrete expressions give way to Sumarokov's austere and elevated words, simplicity is replaced by loftiness. Sumarokov's wide usage of Old Slavic gives his translation an archaic sound, a solemn aura. Thus the following translation of two lines from An die grosse Stadt Moskau:

Und bei der Wiederkunft in unsern Landen sagen:
Das Buendnis ist gemacht, das keine Zeit zertrennt(19)

Sumarokov translates here more freely, speaking of Moscow's boundless generosity, using the archaic verb rechem:

Tvоy к tvоim druzsym sidrоtu privysокu
Pо vоzvrasinii na Zapadi ricim(20)

A number of archaic nouns and verbs is quite consciously included in Sumarokov's translations of Fleming's sonnets, some repeated more than twice: grad, zlato, breg, vladychitsa, zret'. Or, one line from the sonnet An den Fluss Moskau, simply stating Fleming's intentions to make the river Moscow as famous as his homeland's river Mulde:

Ich will dich bekannt als meine Mulde machen,(21)

Sumarokov translates in a high, festive tone: he expresses Fleming's thought in two lines and arrives at a highly exalted statement by using two verbs with the root slav (denoting glorification, fame):

Vоspits kvalu tvоim struym y ni оstavly.
Kaк Mulsda slavitsy, taк y tiby prоslavly,(22)

Other similar examples may be cited. While the Russian poet in most cases did not change the meaning of the German original, his sonnets are nevertheless as if transformed into a different tonality; the characteristic features of Fleming's poetry are lost.

The translations of Fleming's three sonnets represent only a small fraction of Sumarokov's literary translations, all of which were, with the exception of Fleming's sonnets, from French into Russian. Sumarokov's translations show the principal fundamentals of the Russian poet's work and his overall approach to poetic translation.

By choosing three sonnets written by a German poet, who was clearly impressed by the city of Moscow and the Russian empire, Sumarokov made a contribution to the existing Russian-German cultural and literary relations of his time.

Notes

1. Paul Fleming (1609-40), lyric poet, was at school in Leipzig and afterwards studied medicine there. In 1630 he met Martin Opitz, whose work he admired. Most of Fleming's poetry was published after his death.

2. N. Gumilev, On Russian Poetry (Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1977), p. 38.

3. Selected Aesthetic Works of Sumarokov and Karamzin, trans. H. Nebel, Jr. (Washington, D.C.: Univ. Press of America, 1981), p. 69.

4. V. Zhirmunsky, Introduction to Metrics (The Hague: Mouton, 1966), p. 185.

5. B. Scherr, Russian Poetry: Meter, Rhythm, and Rhyme (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), p. 61.

6. B. Bjorklund, “‘If This Be Error’: How Shall the Poem Be Translated? Five Modern Views of Shakespeare,” Language and Style, 16, (1983), 8.

7. R. Jakobson, “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation,” in Selected Writings, II (The Hague: Mouton, 1971), 266.

8. Fleming was engaged to Elsabe Niehus who was left behind waiting in Reval.

9. Gedichte von Paul Fleming (Leipzig: F. U. Brockhaus, 1870), p. 269. All citations of Fleming's sonnets come from this edition.

10. A. P. Sumarokov, Izbrannye proizvedenia (Leningrad: Sovetskii pisatel', 1957), p. 474. All citations of Sumarokov's translations come from this edition.

11. Fleming, An die grosse Stadt Moskau, p. 231.

12. Ibid., An den Fluss Moskau, p. 232.

13. Sumarokov, Moskve-reke, p. 474.

14. Fleming, Er redet die Stadt Moskau an, p. 269.

15. Sumarokov, Moskve, p. 474.

16. Fleming, An die grosse Stadt Moskau, p. 231.

17. Sumarokov, Velikomu gradu Moskve, p. 473.

18. Fleming, An die grosse Stadt Moskau, p. 231.

19. Ibid., p. 231.

20. Sumarokov, Velikomu gradu Moskve, p. 473.

21. Fleming, An den Fluss Moskau, p. 232.

22. Sumarokov, Moskve-reke, p. 474.