'Blest who betimes has left life's revel,
Whose wine -filled glass he has not drained'
Tired of the glitter and glamour of St Petersburg society, aristocratic dandy Eugene Onegin retreats to the country estate he has recent ly inherited. With the arrival of the idealistic young poet Vladimir Lensky he begins an unlikely friendship, as the poet welcomes this urbane addition to his small social circle - and is happy to introduce Onegin to his fiancée, Olga, and her family. But when Olga's sister Tatiana becomes infatuated with Onegin, his cold rejection of her love brings about a tragedy that engulfs them all. Unfolding with dreamlike inevitability and dazzling energy, Pushkin's tragic poem is one of the great works of Russian literature.
In this new translation, Stanley Mitchell captures the cadences and lightness of the original poem, and discusses in his introduction Pushkin's life, writings and politics, as well as previous translations of the work. This edition also contains a chronology and suggested further reading.
Translated with an introduction by STANLEY MITCHELL
