Pushkin: The Demon
Like almost anything Pushkin wrote, this poem can be regarded as a starting point for any discussion of the given theme in Russian literature and thought — in this case, the demonic. For example, everything Pushkin says here foreshadows depictions of the demonic type in Dostoevsky. Curiously, the poem was written in response to an actual encounter with a “demon” — when Pushkin was still a young man, he met a certain nobleman who initially struck him as darkly profound; but, after a few days’ worth of conversations with him, Pushkin realized that this dark cynicism was a kind of sham profundity, and that the man in question was, in fact, shallow, dreadfully boring, pathetic — indeed, ridiculous. It’s worth noting that the first observation Pushkin makes is that the demonic is sad (despondency is closely associated with the demonic); and that the closing observation — in the Russian — places special emphasis on the will to negate (the final words are не хотел — he “did not want” to bless…), thus emphasizing the demonic as willful, defiant negation and slander of God’s creation.
Such descriptions applies perfectly to the devil as he appears to Ivan Karamazov — not to mention a number of other demoniacs in Dostoevsky, from Stavrogin to Svidrigailov to Smerdyakov, not to mention Raskolnikov in his struggle to overcome despair — and captures the Orthodox theological position that, in turning away from God (the source of all being and personhood), the demonic enters into a kind of pseudo-existence, in which it seeks to affirm itself (absent its creator) within space and time, creating what Kierkegaard calls a “quantitative parody of the eternal.” This outward projection of power and content masks an inner hollowness — the void of non-being. The themes outlined by Pushkin here were famously taken up by Lermontov in his long narrative poem “The Demon” — though Lermontov, like a true Romantic, shows much more sympathy for the devil than Pushkin ever could have.
The Demon
In the days when I regarded as new
All the impressions of existence —
The eyes of girls, the rustling of the groves,
The singing of the nightingale at night —
When lofty sentiments,
Freedom, glory, and love,
And the inspired arts,
Stirred my blood so powerfully —
These hours of hope and delight
Obscuring with a sudden, empty longing,
It was then that some malignant spirit
Began to visit me in secret.
Sad were our encounters:
His smile, his uncanny gaze,
His caustic words
Poured cold poison into my soul.
With inexhaustible slander
He tested Providence;
He said the beautiful was but a dream;
He despised inspiration;
He did not believe in love, in freedom;
He looked upon life with mockery —
And nothing in all of nature
Did he deign to bless.
trans. M. Pettus
Демон
В те дни, когда мне были новы
Все впечатленья бытия —
И взоры дев, и шум дубровы,
И ночью пенье соловья —
Когда возвышенные чувства,
Свобода, слава и любовь
И вдохновенные искусства
Так сильно волновали кровь, —
Часы надежд и наслаждений
Тоской внезапной осеня,
Тогда какой-то злобный гений
Стал тайно навещать меня.
Печальны были наши встречи:
Его улыбка, чудный взгляд,
Его язвительные речи
Вливали в душу хладный яд.
Неистощимой клеветою
Он провиденье искушал;
Он звал прекрасное мечтою;
Он вдохновенье презирал;
Не верил он любви, свободе;
На жизнь насмешливо глядел —
И ничего во всей природе
Благословить он не хотел.
1823
Vocab notes
день, дня: day • новы: short form of новые • впечатление: impression • бытие: being, existence • взор: gaze • дева: maiden, girl • шум: noise • дуброва: grove • пение: singing • соловей, -вья: nightingale • возвышенный: elevated, sublime • чувство: feeling • свобода: day • слава: glory • любовь, любви: love • вдохновлять АЙ / вдохновить И: to inspire • искусство: art • волновать ОВА / взволновать: to agitate • кровь, и: blood • час: hour • надежда: hope • наслаждение: delight • тоска: longing • внезапный: sudden • осенить И: to shade • злобный: malicious • гений: genius, spirit • тайный: secret • навещать АЙ / навестить И: to visit • печальный: sad • встреча: meeting • улыбка: smile • чудный: strange • взгляд: gaze • язвительный: acidic, caustic • речь, и: speech • вливать АЙ / влить Ь: to pour in • хладный = холодный • яд: poison • неистощимый: inexhaustible • клевета: slander (the word “devil” derives from the Greek διάβολος (the slanderer) • провидение: providence • искушать АЙ / искусить И: to tempt, try прекрасное: the beautiful • мечта: (day)dream • вдохновение: inspiration • презирать АЙ: to despise • верить И чему (or во что): to believe • насмешливый: mocking • глядеть Е: to look • природа: nature • благословлять АЙ / благословить И: to bless
