';Invaluable. . . . [What] comes across in these translations is the verve and immediacy of the poems' occasions.'Seamus HeaneyA groundbreaking translation of the brilliant first book by one of the twentieth century's most important poetsStoneOsip Mandelstam's 1913 debutmarked the arrival of perhaps the greatest Russian poet of the twentieth century, one whose refusal to bow to Soviet political and artistic dictates led to his persecution and eventual death in one of Stalin's prison camps. Mandelstam spent his early years in St. Petersburg, and many of the poems in Stone depict the city's vast squares, classical buildings, and Dutch canals. Other poems reflect his hunger for Western European culture, his commitment to humanistic values, and his ambition to become a master of the Russian language. This bilingual edition is based on the final version of Stone, published in 1928, and features a biographical and critical introduction and detailed annotations.

CONTENTS Acknowledgments. A Note on the Text. List of Abbreviations. Introduction. Mandelstam: The Poet as Builder. STONE. Notes. Originally published in 1981. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.