LAMARCK  
“Lamarck” is at once a homage to a great scientist and thinker and a prophecy for the future of mankind. In it, Mandelstam contemplates the ramifications of Lamarck’s conception of evolution as an ever-changing “ladder,” with man at the top. Ultimately, Mandelstam uses this poignant and beautiful poem to posit questions about man’s role in history that resonate with the ideas prevalent during the Russian Revolutionary period. In this world, shaped by cataclysms and adaptation, will man someday stop being human? Several translations of this poem into English do exist, but I have yet to find one that even attempts to conserve the meter or rhyme. That is precisely my goal here.
[1] If you look carefully at the Russian version, you can see that “Ламарк”=”Lamarck” is at the ends of the fourth and seventh lines. Staying true to this original rhyming scheme, I have done the same in the English. [2] Notice the proliferation of “s” and “sh” sounds. I’m trying to imitate the “zh” and “sh” sounds in the Russian. [3] Take a good look at this line as well as the third line of the preceding stanza. In the Russian, the two lines are incredibly similar-sounding (the meanings are about the same as in my translations): I Prodolniy Mozg Ona Vlozhila=And a longitudal brain she slipped in I Podyemniy Most Ona Zabuila=And a drawbridge she forgot Especially similar-sounding are “Prodolniy Mozg” = “longitudal brain” and “Podyemniy Most” = “drawbridge.” I couldn’t let this major poetic detail get completely lost in translation, so when I put together my lines I decided to make them as similar as possible, and to preserve the same, rhyming endings. A longitudal brain she slipped inside, An elevated bridge she didn’t provide, The nice surprise was that “brain” and “bridge” do help preserve the similarity somewhat. |