Čukovskij's Whitmans

In 1966 and again in 1969 Chukovskii published volumes titled Moi Uitmen. An examination of the two editions reveals significant differences in the selection, the ordering, and even the texts of the poetry. These differences turn out to be only the final stage in creating many different “Whitmans”, beginning with Chukovskii's first volume dedicated to the American poet, Poėt anarkhist Uot Uitman, published in 1907, and continuing through many redactions over the next six decades. Early in these endeavors Chukovskii sharply attacked Konstantin Bal'mont, his one great rival in first bringing Whitman to the attention of Russian readers. Bal'mont, however, turns out to have been a more skilled translator than many have asserted, and for that matter his poetry reveals as strong a likely influence of Whitman as do the leading Futurists, whom Chukovskii and others felt were Whitman's chief disciples in Russia. In the final analysis, Chukovskii's varied Whitmans are perhaps most valuable for providing an open laboratory of the translator at work, wrestling with the difficulties of conveying a new and in its day alien verse form in a different language.