Pavel Kogan (poet)
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Pavel Davidovich Kogan (Russian: Па́вел Дави́дович Кога́н; 7 July 1918, Kiev – 23 September 1942, near Novorossiysk) was a Jewish Soviet poet who died fighting as a soldier in the Second World War.[1]
Life
Though born in Kiev, Pavel and his family moved to Moscow in 1922. He studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute and at the Moscow Institute of History, Philosophy and Literature.
Kogan twice hiked the trails of central Russia. He learned about World War II while on a geological expedition to Armenia. Returning immediately to Moscow, he tried to enlist in the army, but was turned down due to his poor health. Undeterred, he finished a series of courses and became a military interpreter. In 1942, Kogan was killed by the Germans while leading a reconnaissance mission, aged 24.
All of his poems were published posthumously. They became famous during the Khrushchev Thaw, mainly due to a popular song called "Brigantina" (Brigantine, 1937) which was written using his lyrics.
"CAGED TIGER" [1]
Angular sculpture of muscle
And bronze - Demon or Idol?
And an unmistakable hurt
In the sharp, narrow eye
More ancient than China and Greece
More ancient than Art and Erotica
Such manic grace
in every authentic turn
When, huffing and swearing
God let creatures into the bottomless world
He created himself from Chaos
Avoiding hands of God
But a Human, creation of God,
A blind reflection of God's image
Threw him on the ground and bound him,
Touched him with a sure, possessive hand
Ferocious desire for freedom
Throws him into the walls of the cage
How meek he becomes, how pitifully he ages
When he sees the caretaker with his food
How within him fused together
Thick rage and acceptance
He, who's been bad-mouthed and put-down,
But still a God, by his ancient right
We left
The evening was the color of straw
You walked with self-assurance
but something in your broken gesture
Reminded me of the caged tiger
11.19.1939
Translated by Margarita Uhanova
References
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External links
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