The term sonnet refers to a fixed verse poetic form, traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set rhyming scheme. It derives from the Italian word sonetto. Originating in 13th-century Sicily, the sonnet was in time taken up in many European-language areas, mainly to express romantic love at first, although eventually any subject was considered acceptable. Many formal variations were also introduced, including abandonment of the quatorzain limit – and even of rhyme altogether in modern times.
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, as well as the founder of modern Russian literature.
Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. Onegin is considered a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes. It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832. The first complete edition was published in 1833, and the currently accepted version is based on the 1837 publication.
Vikram Seth is an Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crossword Book Award. Seth's collections of poetry such as Mappings and Beastly Tales are notable contributions to the Indian English language poetry canon.
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto, organised by the composer himself, very closely follows certain passages in Alexander Pushkin's 1825–1832 novel in verse, retaining much of his poetry. Tchaikovsky's friend Konstantin Shilovsky contributed M. Triquet's verses in Act 2, Scene 1, while Tchaikovsky himself arranged the text for Lensky's arioso in Act 1, Scene 1, and almost all of Prince Gremin's aria in Act 3, Scene 1.
Three Chinese Poets is a book of poetry by the titular poets Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu translated into English by Vikram Seth. The Three Poets were contemporaries and are considered to be amongst the greatest Chinese poets by many later scholars. The three have been described as a Buddhist recluse, a Taoist immortal and a Confucian sage respectively. Though this trichotomy has been criticised as simplistic and artificial, it can act as a guiding approximation. They lived in the Tang dynasty and the political strife at that time affected all of their lives very much and this impact is evident in the poetry of all three.
Onegin is a 1999 British-American romantic drama film based on Alexander Pushkin's 1833 novel in verse Eugene Onegin. It was co-produced by British and American companies and shot mostly in the United Kingdom. Onegin is Martha Fiennes' directorial debut and stars her brother Ralph Fiennes in the role of Yevgeny (Eugene) Onegin, Liv Tyler as Tatiana and Toby Stephens as Lensky. Two other Fiennes siblings were involved in the project: Magnus Fiennes wrote the music and Sophie Fiennes appeared in a minor role.
Onegin stanza, sometimes "Pushkin sonnet", refers to the verse form popularized by the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin through his 1825–1832 novel in verse Eugene Onegin. The work was mostly written in verses of iambic tetrameter with the rhyme scheme aBaBccDDeFFeGG, where the lowercase letters represent feminine rhymes and the uppercase representing masculine rhymes. For example, here is the first stanza of Onegin as rendered into English by Charles Johnston:
Baron Anton Antonovich Delvig was a Russian poet and journalist of Baltic German ethnicity.
Printers Inc. Bookstore (1978–2001) was an independent bookstore in Palo Alto and Mountain View, California, that closed in 2001. Printers Inc is referenced in sonnets 8.13-8.16 of Vikram Seth's 1986 novel, The Golden Gate.
A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there is usually a large cast, multiple voices, dialogue, narration, description, and action in a novelistic manner.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to poetry:
Sir Charles Hepburn Johnston, was a senior British diplomat and translator of Russian poetry.
James E. Falen is a professor emeritus of Russian at the University of Tennessee. He published a translation of Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin in 1990 which was also influenced by Nabokov's translation, but preserved the Onegin stanzas (ISBN 0809316307). This translation is considered to be the most faithful one to Pushkin's spirit according to Russian critics and translators.
Stanley Mitchell was a British translator, academic, and author, noted for his English verse translation of Alexander Pushkin's Russian verse novel Eugene Onegin.
Chichrerin House was a historical landmark building located at Nevsky Prospekt 15 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is also known as Kosikovsky House, Elisseeff House and Barrikada cinema theater.
The Devil's Gate or Golden Gate is an arch-like cliff near the Kara Dag Mountain in the Crimea. The cliff was supposed to have marked a gateway to hell. It is popular with tourists and carnelian hunters. Alexander Pushkin is thought to have been the first to depict the cliff, on the margins of his verse novel Eugene Onegin.
Svetlana is a Russian ballad written by Vasily Zhukovsky and published in 1813. It is often credited with popularizing the given name Svetlana, which is also the name of the protagonist.
Ofra Offer Oren is an Israeli writer, poet, blogger, translator and editor.
