Monday, June 23, 2008

Who Was Galaktion Tabidze?

Born in 1891, in the Republic of Georgia, Galaktion Tabidze was a major Georgian poet in the early 20th century. Because he chose to write in his native language and not Russian, French or English, he is largely unknown. However he is justly famous among Georgian speaking peoples. Much of his work was written during periods of strictly enforced censorship that demanded highly patriotic and communistic themes. Yet Tabidze, who watched many of his contemporaries (including his wife) disappear into the gulags to die, managed to weave a rich number of topics into his poems, including local folklore, loss and regret, bitterness, love and even insanity. Influenced by Baudelaire, Poe and the Symbolists, he stands alongside Rilke, Yeats and Apollinaire as one of the great poets of his age.

This site is intended as a static collection of translations of just a few of Tabidze's work. Unfortunately, they do not live up to the grace of the originals. Hopefully, however, they will give you a feel for some of what Tabidze was doing, both musically and thematically. Please feel free to browse, and leave comments. I have attached links to Georgian versions of the poems, in .pdf format, so that they will be readable even if you don't have the fonts installed on your computer. For more information on Galaktion Tabidze and Georgian literature, I highly recommend Donald Rayfield's history of Georgian Literature.

5 comments:

manana08 said...

Hi Christopher,

Up to this time I doubted that I would ever read tabidze in an English translation which would not be a wreck of his perfect poetry.

I am a professor of English (not 252 like you, probably mucvh older). I would like to use your translations in the translation seminar in oxford.
Do, come in touch:
My addresses: manana.gelashvili@chch.ox.ac.uk
manana_gelashvili@yahoo.co.uk

mariam said...

I wish United States had professors who would teach and spread Georgian culture and literature... Sad but true that rarely anyone knows anything about Georgian literature...

cheers,

Mariam Guramishvili

Irine Matchavariani said...

Hello Christopher,

Very impressive work!!! thank u very much!

I was wondering if we could use your translations on our web http://imbooks.weebly.com/editions_poetry.html or at least link poetry page your blog.

Thank you in advance,

irene

Anonymous said...

hi Christopher!

I liked your translations and i want to use it in the thesis for a doctor’s degree(i am working on it now). Please write me.

My address: tika_asa@yahoo.com

OR tika_asa@hotmail.com

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Great work Christopher! Thank you for sharing