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Joseph Brodsky: Rising Above Adversity

© Thadine Franciszkiewicz

Joseph Brodsky, who was America’s first foreign-born and fifth American Poet Laureate is known for his poetry and his essays. Often he is referred to as one of the greatest poets of his generation.

He wrote his poetry in Russian; therefore, he translated most of his poems into English. His poetry reveals feelings of sorrow and grief that humans experience as they face the struggles of survival. His themes included issues about morality, religion and history. Brodsky’s style resembles classical tradition. He utilizes exquisite imagery, powerful metaphors, and strong rhythmic internal/external rhyming schemes.

Once asked in an interview after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987, “if he had won as an American poet of Russian origin or a Russian poet living in America, and he firmly replied: "A Russian poet, an English essayist, and, of course, an American citizen." http://www.thenewrepublic.com/100900/kir... Indeed, he joins the company of other powerful Poet Laureates of America.

Joseph Brodsky was born in what was once Leningrad, (now St. Petersburg) Russia. In his early twenties, he roamed the square as a dissenter until he was finally caught and sent away to live in the far north regions of Russia. Russia forced Brodsky into exile in 1972 and initially he sought refuge with W.H. Auden who lived in Vienna.

Eventually he emigrated to the United States. In 1977 he became an American citizen. He worked as a visiting professor at various universities including “the University of Michigan, Queen College, City University of New York, Columbia University, New York University, Smith College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College” (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/brodsky.htm)

Brodsky’s poetry reaches beyond the self; the paradox is that he incorporates a universal thread that creates a connection to any person, regardless of sex, culture, or age. At times, one is reminded of Frost, who often wrote for the common folk and focused many poems upon the simplicities of life. Brodsky utilizes the almost anywhere, everyday occurrences along with powerful metaphoric issues. Frost wrote for the common folk and Brodsky wrote for all globally.

Robert Haas notes about Brodsky that “He's a--he's a poet of immense verbal brilliance, lots of pyrotechnics, and when people try to bring that into English, what you often get is almost pyrotechnics, and almost brilliance, so partly you read his poetry in English as an act of faith, but I think the poems in the book A Part of Speech conveys the--his passion and his irony and a kind of a ferocious intelligence that will give people a sense of what he's like.”

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