News

Our new translation of the famous Russian poem, 'The Bronze Horseman', is now available here. Pushkin's brief tale of the St. Petersburg flood of 1824, centred on the bronze equestrian statue of Peter the Great which still adorns Senate Square (formerly Peter's Square) and the marble lions that guard the Admiralty steps, has been interpreted as an expression of the Russian people's preference for strong, though potentially oppressive, leadership, or alternatively as a subversive expression of the ultimate failure of such leadership, and of Pushkin's Decembrist leanings. Either way it articulates Pushkin's love of the city, 'Peter's creation', the building of which opened 'a window on Europe'. This translation mirrors Pushkin's varied rhyme-scheme.