[Russian-Su] Appreciation of Love Poems in "Epitaph" by Buning
[Russian-Su] Buning
I was still a young girl when I died .
He once told me that I was beautiful.
I have had infatuated fantasies about love,
I have had passionate expectations in my short life.
I passed away on an April day,
I passed away obediently and silently——
However, my life was not in vain Spend it,
In his love I live, not die.
Here, there is silence on the tree-lined tomb path,
Only the breeze blows in the hazy sleep,
Whispering to me about spring and happiness.
Playing the music of love in the ancient cemetery,
Confessing your unforgettable longing for me.
Above the boulevard is a quiet blue sky.
(Translated by Zhang Caoyen)
"Epitaph" is a love poem written by Buning in 1902. Although the poet suffered many heavy blows in his family life, he was a love idealist and yearned for pure, flawless and loyal love throughout his life. This can be said to be the motivation for him to write this poem. Among Bunin's few love poems, this poem has its own uniqueness. First of all, an epitaph is an inscription engraved on a person's tombstone after death. It seems difficult to connect it with love poetry, but poets use the form of epitaphs to praise loyal and happy love. Secondly, the content of this poem does not seem to be autobiographical. The poet chose a unique perspective: instead of writing about the living people's love and nostalgia for the deceased, the deceased person narrated the lover's deep love for him. The poet's unique conception makes this short poem unconventional. In addition, this poem also fully demonstrates that even the happiest subject (the love of a pair of loyal lovers) written by Buning is full of sad sentiment.
The whole poem has 14 lines. The first two paragraphs praise loyal love. The first paragraph is about a beautiful girl who died young. A devoted man had fallen passionately in love with her. In her short life, the girl also had "infatuated fantasies" about love and had "warm expectations." The second paragraph describes that the girl quietly left the world on an April day - spring, but her short life was not spent in vain, because she will live forever in the hearts of her beloved. The last two paragraphs of the poem turn to the poet's lyrical description of the natural scenery on the cemetery to further highlight the happiness and beauty of pure love. The poet used only a few strokes to describe a fresh, elegant and poetic picture of spring for us. There was silence on the avenue of the cemetery where the girl was buried. The breeze seemed to be blowing in the hazy sleep, whispering to the girl about spring and happiness. Playing the music of love in the ancient cemetery, pouring out his unforgettable longing for the girl. The last sentence of the poem is: "There is a quiet blue sky above the avenue." This sentence seems to add the final touch to this spring beauty and draw the last rest to the music praising pure and loyal love.