Russian Poetry

Welcome to a digital learning resource. The purpose of the project is to introduce learners of Russian to the treasures of Russian poetry in the original, starting with the poets of the Silver Age in the twentieth century and moving chronologically into the twenty-first century. If you agree that poetry is not a puzzle that needs to be solved as quickly as possible, and are willing to put in some effort, you’re in the right place! The project suggests a roadmap for readers’ attempts to unpack poems’ meaning and unlock poetic metaphors.

BIOGRAPHIES and  COMMENTARIES (ПРИМЕЧАНИЯ) on individual poems  help you to understand the biographical, social and historical context of the poems. Biographical entries are written and compiled based on meticulous research. Information for biographical sketches is obtained from credible sources and material is attributed. RESOURCES page lists all the sources we used and contains links to comprehensive anthologies of Russian poetry and references to major scholarship cited in COMMENTARIES. We even include texts that we have not referred to directly in biographical entries and commentaries, but which have had an influence on our ideas.

While reading a poem in POEMS, search GRAPHICA to find images that support the meaning of the figurative language in a line or a stanza and help to process and digest each intricate line.

In LEARNING TOOLS, you can find exercises to improve reading fluency and comprehension. POEMS‘ pages contain performances by leading Russian actors or musical renditions of the works. Try to experience the poem from the author’s point of view by listening to a powerful reading of the poem.

POETRY ORGANIZERS  help you identify and understand literary devices used in poetry, such as metaphors, similes, rhythm, rhyme; break apart a piece of poetry and understand it better, and discuss how well the images match the mood and meaning of the poems.

Check on the links in TEACHING RESOURCES to find curriculum connections, frequently asked questions, and ways to have Russian Poetry in language and literature classes. In CLASSROOM you can find ideas on how this digital resource can be used as a component of a language course, a literature course, or a course in Russian for Heritage Learners. 

There are, of course, many hundreds of poems available that can be included and discussed in similar ways. NAVIGATION TIPS page features ideas for lesson plans and tips to apply visual art in language classes and cultivate students’ capacity to analyze and synthesize various forms of cultural and linguistic knowledge.