A Commentary to Pushkin’s Lyric Poetry, 1826–1836

1833

 „Юноша! скромно пиру́й, и шумную Вакхову влагу“ – “Youth, celebrate modestly, and the noisy liquid of Bacchus” Burgi () contends that this brief poem is a free translation of a passage in The Deipnosophists that comes directly after the fragment “Вино,” which Pushkin had translated on the same day that he wrote this piece. The passage in question is a citation from the Athenian physician Mnesitheus, who states, in the edition that Pushkin owned (Banquet des savans, :): Les dieux ont fait connoître le vin aux hommes, comme un très-grand bien pour ceux qui en usent avec raison, mais comme très-pernicieux pour ceux qui en usent sans discrétion. Il nourrit, fortifie le corps et l’ame, et devient très-utile pour la médecine; car on en fait entrer le mélange dans les médicamens. On ne le trouve pas moins avantageux pour les plaies. Il met dans une assiette tranquille l’esprit de ceux qui en boivent modérément, et étendu, dans les repas ordinaires. Si l’on passe la juste mesure, il causera des querelles: si l’on en boit avec moitié eau, il rend fou;1 mais pris pur, il abat tout le corps. Voilà pourquoi Bacchus est invoqué par-tout comme médecin . La Pythie a même ordonné à quelques-uns d’invoquer Bacchus comme dieu de la santé. Note . C’est à-peu-près ce que l’on trouve dans les problèmes d’Aristote, sect. III, no. ; mais l’assertion n’en est pas plus vraie. (Note by Villebrune, the French editor of The Deipnosophists .) The gods made wine known to men as a great good for those who use it with reason, but as very ruinous for those who use it immoderately. It nourishes, fortifies the body and soul and is very useful for medicine; because one can mix it with medicines. One finds it no less advantageous for wounds. It puts in a tranquil pose the spirit of those who drink it moderately and diluted in ordinary meals. If one goes beyond the appropriate measure it causes quarrels ; if one mixes it by half with water, it makes one insane;1 but taken pure, it destroys the entire body. This is why Bacchus is invoked everywhere as a doctor. Pythius has even enjoined some people to invoke Bacchus as the god of health. Note . This is approximately what one finds in the problems of Aristotle, section III, no. ; but the assertion there is no more true. In short, one finds in this passage a good deal more than Pushkin uses; but one also finds numerous key points: mixing wine with water, moderation. It should be noted, 1833   however, that this is hardly the only possible source. Pushkin had presumably read a disquisition on the subject in his edition of Catullus. (See commentary to “Мальчику (Из Катулла),” in particular the French footnote to “Vini pernicies.”) Like many of Pushkin’s short works on themes of antiquity, the poem takes the form of an elegiac distich.  С трезвой струёю – with a sober stream  Вино́ (Ио́н Хио́сский) – Wine (Ion of Chios) A (free) translation of a passage cited in The Deipnosophists, which is found on the same page as the piece Pushkin translated as “Бог веселый винограда.” In the Villebrune translation that Pushkin owned the relevant passage reads: Mais Ion de Chio appelle Le vin un enfant indomptable, à l’œil de taureau, un jeune vieillard, l’aimable entremetteur des bruyantes amours, un maître qui donne de la fierté. (:) But Ion of Chios calls wine an indomitable child, glaring like a bull, a young old man, an amiable mediator of noisy loves, a master who gives pride. Тypical of his treatment of miniatures from antiquity, Pushkin uses an elegiac distich to render the French prose.  властели́н добронра́вный – a well-disposed ruler  „Царе́й пото́мок Мецена́т“ – “Maecenus, descendent of tsars” In this fragment, Pushkin translates the opening eight lines of the first poem of the first book of Horace’s poetry. It is tempting to view the poem’s theme (the relationship of the poet and the ruler) through the lens of Pushkin’s biography. Pushkin probably used the bilingual facing-page Horace edition in his library, which offered him the Latin original (with French glosses) as well as a French prose translation: Traduction des oeuvres d’Horace; par M. René Binet (Paris, ), :–. I. Ad Maecenatem Alios aliis rebus duci; se Lyrici carminis palmam Maecenatis judicio velle consequi. Maecenas,1 atavis edite regibus, O et praesidium et dulce decus meum,   Sunt quos curriculo pulverem...