Nabokov is a name so revered in literary circles that
to write of him, edit an anthology, translate his works or review any of the
above, you had better be a relative. Such is the meteoric stature of the
“poet-king,” whose given name in Russian means, aptly, “ruler of the world.”
Considering that, editor Thomas Karshan is safe from at least one angle.
“Selected Poems” contains twenty-eight never-before-seen translations
by the late Dmitri Nabokov, the author’s son and closest literary executor, whom
the elder hailed a “marvelously congenial” translator in the preface of
“Invitation to a Beheading.” Never one to shy from a tussle, Vladimir found “no
devil of creative emendation to fight” in his son’s translations. Both held
that, in transposing letters, fidelity to the author came first—no matter how
twisted the result. Alas, even Dmitri is not immune to misstep. Depending on one’s opinion of 2009’s posthumously
published “The Original of Laura,” Dmitri is either a rebel of supreme literary
disobedience, a Max Brod of his time, or a flippant ruffian, tainting his
father’s legacy with a deeply unfinished and presumptuous swan song—and few
things in between. Nevertheless, it is a new collection, one meticulously
selected by Karshan and as with all things unseen, it can only be unseen once...
Nabokov was mentored by a Symbolist and in his twenties, his effusive poetic
prime, aligned himself with the camp of free-verse rejection. His is the school
of Gumilev, Bunin, Khodasevich before him and Pushkin before them. His stanzas
employ a traditional abab pattern, often in iambic pattern. Many
of the poems in the collection commemorate his heroes, “Shakespeare,” “Tolstoy,”
even a reverent apology to Pushkin, “On Translating Eugene Onegin.” ...There are
some omissions and Karshan owns up to them. For one, none of Nabokov’s chess
problems (from 1969’s “Poems and Problems”) are included. There are also no
poems or excerpts from the poets of his novels—John Shade in “Pale Fire,” Fyodor
in “The Gift,” Pnin, or Humbert Humbert in “Lolita.”...“Selected” is a
harsh word, proscribing a huge body of work into a rigid, albeit choice,
palisade. It doesn’t allude to the prospect that Karshan’s release may just be
the definitive collection of Nabokov’s poetry in print. (Taylor Cowan)
“Selected Poems”
By Vladimir Nabokov, with an
introduction by Thomas Karshan
Knopf, 240 pages,
$30