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  • Birnam Wood
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Birnam Wood

Grigory Kruzhkov

When Birnam Wood shall come to Dunsinane
Only an utter simpleton will strain
Their mind and fail to see what’s going on.
Did not the trees consume the Drevlians,
The konung’s houses and the partisans?
Where have the cities of the Aztecs gone?

And you, young sapling, look so very brave
Before me, brandishing your leaf-trimmed glaive
And at arm’s length, a maple-leafed beret —
How cockily you strut, my green-curled page,
So swift to take revenge, to turn in rage.
Be calm! Each generation has its day.

After our old wood dies, your new wood grows
Though every now and then, a soft wind blows
Towards us, sighing sadly through the trees.
O scent of frankincense, O cloying must
Of immortality, of bones and dust —
Stench of corruption and anemones.

When all’s said, would it really be enough
To know the author of your end? MacDuff
Of whom the witches spoke? The bitter pill
Of Duncan’s regicide, written in blood?
Your spirit, caught between evil and good?
Or six acres of simple chlorophyll?


Grigory Kruzhkov

Translated by Stewart Sanderson.

Tags:

dramatic monologue fan fiction Russian satire Shakespeare trees

Translations of this Poem

Бирнамский лес

Когда Бирнамский лес пойдет на Дунсинан,
Лишь форменный барон застынет как баран
И будет пялиться, в упор не понимая.
Не лес ли поглотил становища древлян,
Палаты конунгов, землянки партизан,
Ацтеков города, дворцы и храмы майя?

А ты, подлесок мой, глядящий храбрецом,
С игрушечным в руке упругим копьецом,
С беретом на отлёт кленового фасона, —
Как петушишься ты, зеленокудрый паж,
Как рвешься отомстить, легко впадая в раж!
О, не волнуйся! Ты — один из легиона.

За вами верх всегда; за нами только низ;
И бальзамический порою только бриз
Доносится сюда, рукой травинку тронув.
О сладкий фимиам, трепещущий в ноздрях!
Он обнимает все — бессмертие и прах,
Гниенья аромат и запах анемонов.

И так ли важно знать, навеки взор сомкнув,
Кто отомстил тебе — отчаянный Макдуф,
О коем наплела шотландская сивилла,
Твой давний смертный грех, записанный в гроссбух,
Или сомнения неугомонный дух,
Или гектаров шесть простого хлорофилла?

Source: From Sonnets Exchange 2016 - 2017 (Edinburgh: British Council, 2017)

About this poem

In September 2016, Christine De Luca, Jen Hadfield and Stewart Sanderson visited Russia to work with Grigory Kruzhkov, Lev Oborin and Marina Boroditskaya. During a residential workshop, using Shakespeare’s sonnets as a stepping-off point and exploring the linguistic and cultural contexts of their poetry, the poets translated the work of their counterparts into Russian, English and Shetlandic. The fruits appeared in Sonnets Exchange 2016 – 2017, which was published in 2017 to mark the visit of Kruzhkov, Oborin, and Boroditskaya to Scotland to complete the cultural exchange.

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