Notes

[Minor personalities are not noted here. The reader is referred to the more thorough glosses in the versions of V. Nabokov and James Falen. I wish to thank Charles Ward for his inspired teaching of the Russian language and Katherina Filips-Juswigg and Michael Mikos for helpful remarks. I also thank Eugene Khmelevsky and Kirill Mikhanovskiy; if I helped them half as much with their English as they helped me with my Russian, I shall be content.]

1. Ruslan and Ludmila (1820): a romantic poem by Pushkin which secured his reputation thirteen years before Onegin. It tells how Ruslan rescued his bride, daughter of the Grand Prince of Kiev, from a wicked magician who kidnapped her on her wedding night. The Russian composer Mikail Glinka wrote an influential opera on this theme (1842.)‹-
2. His governess.‹-
3. Halt: an archaic meaning of the Russian word, which I have translated by an archaic English word (=lame). The word may also mean "wretched."‹-
4. i.e. the summer park in St. Petersburg.‹-
5. Goodbye. (Latin.)‹-
6. Juvenal: Roman satirical poet, 60--140 C.E.‹-
7. Theocritus: Greek pastoral poet, third century, B.C.E.‹-
8. Adam Smith: Scottish political economist, 1723--1790, author of The Wealth of Nations.‹-
9. Publius Ovidius Naso, (43 B.C.E.--17 C.E.), known in English as Ovid, was the great Roman love poet, known for his Ars Amatoria and Metamorphoses. In the year 8 C.E., the Emperor Augustus relegated him to Tomis, near modern Constanta, Romania, for an unknown offense, although it is thought to be related to the adultery of the Emperor's granddaughter. His exile was very bitter, but he was never allowed to return to Rome, despite his pleas.‹-
10. A watch made by Abraham-Louis Bréguet (d. 1823) the greatest French horologist of his time. ‹-
11. living: because the more worms it had, the better. ‹-
12. A complex leap in ballet. ‹-
13. Phèdre, the great tragedy by Racine (1677.)The reference to Cleopatra is probably Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra."‹-
14. Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (1745--1792): wrote comedies ridiculing the inept aping of French manners and speech; author of Negorosl' "The Young Oaf."‹-
15. Pierre Corneille (1606--1684): great French dramatist, author of Le Cid.‹-
16. Didelot;He worked many years in St. Petersburg, and produced numerous notable ballets. ‹-
17. Aeol:In Greek mythology the god Aeolus is ruler of the winds.‹-
18. Grimm Friedrich Melchior, Freiherr von Grimm (1723-1807): Swedish-born French critic, who edited a cultural newsletter for foreign sovereigns. He was well known to Diderot and Rousseau.‹-
19. Pushkin rhymes prav, the genitive plural of pravo "rights" with prav, the short form of the adjective pravyj, "right."‹-
20. i.e. vest, tail-coat, pantaloons (French.) ‹-
21. The Russian language, devoid of French purism, borrowed many French, German, Dutch, and English words to cover all kinds of new-fangled inventions.‹-
22. Pushkin suffered both banishment and confinement. ‹-
23. Diana: the goddess of the moon and hunting; Flora: the goddess of flowers; Terpsichore: the goddess of the dance. It may be noted here that the Russian word for the lower limb beneath the knee covers both English "foot" and "leg". I prefer to use "leg" in most cases, as this avoids the fetishistic overtones of "foot" which are far from Pushkin's mentality in my view. ‹-
24. milkmaid: The Russian text tells us that she is from Okhta, one of the poorer quarters of St. Petersburg. ‹-
25. What is that? (German)‹-
26. Pushkin died as the result of a duel.‹-
27. Both the English and Russian terms quoted by Pushkin connote what nowadays we call clinical depression. ‹-
28. George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788--1824), wrote Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, (1812--18), which describes a young man disillusioned with a life of pleasure. Byron's influence on Pushkin is apparent, yet Pushkin excels his model, perhaps because Byron truly believed in the aristocratic mystique, while Pushkin did not. ‹-
29. Jeremy Bentham (1748--1832): English philosopher and economist, the expounder of the theory of Utilitarianism; Jean-Baptiste Say (1767--1832): French economist who theorized that the capitalist system is self-regulating. Recall that Onegin liked economics. ‹-
30. The city of St. Petersburg stands at the mouth of the River Neva.‹-
31. Pushkin explains that he is thinking of Murayov's poem To the goddess of the Neva: The enthusiastic poet saw/ the favorable goddess with his own eyes/ so that he spends the night sleepless/ supporting himself on granite.‹-
32. The River Brenta rises in the Alps, passes close to the city of Padua, and empties into the Adriatic Sea, which separates the east coast of Italy from the Balkan peninsulas.‹-
33. Apollo: son of Zeus, one of the chief Greek gods. He is usually shown holding a bow or a lyre.‹-
34. Albion: a name for Great Britain.‹-
35. Petrarch: (1304-1374): great Italian poet famous for love lyrics.‹-
36. In a lengthy biographical footnote, Pushkin stresses his pride in his African heritage.‹-
37. (Dolce) far niente (Italian): (Sweet) doing nothing‹-
38. i.e. girls from where he used to live and those who like him have been moved to the Crimea. The Salhyr is the longest river in the Crimea.‹-