Pushkin's 非人工的紀念碑 is in our memory

I have erected a monument to myself
Not built by hands; the track of it, though trodden
By the people, shall not become overgrown,
And it stands higher than Alexander’s column.

I shall not wholly die. In my sacred lyre
My soul shall outlive my dust and escape corruption–
And I shall be famed so long as underneath
The moon a single poet remains alive.

I shall be noised abroad through all great Russia,
Her innumerable tongues shall speak my name:
The tongue of the Slavs’ proud grandson, the Finn, and now
The wild Tungus and Kalmyk, the steppes’ friend.

In centuries to come I shall be loved by the people
For having awakened noble thoughts with my lyre,
For having glorified freedom in my harsh age
And called for mercy towards the fallen.

Be attentive, Muse, to the commandments of God;
Fearing no insult, asking for no crown,
Receive with indifference both flattery and slander,
And do not argue with a fool.

—

The title of this poem comes from Horace’s ode “Exegi monumentum aere perennius” which translates to “I have raised a monument more durable than bronze.” Using that line by Horace, Pushkin both references the same thing that Horace was (the life of his poetry after his death) but also is making a joke since one of Pushkin’s most famous poems was The Bronze Horseman. Pushkin was not without a sense of humor and was incredibly arrogant, so I can say with a fair degree of certainty that it was intentional. This is one of my favorite poems by him, and while he is writing about how great he is and that his work is the best, there’s a vulnerability in this poem as well. He is looking toward his death and there’s a certain fear and insecurity present in this poem. But, frankly, the monument he built still stands as Pushkin is one of the most important poets in all literature.

我為自己建立了一座非人工的紀念碑,
在人們走向那兒的路徑上,青草不再生長,
它抬起那顆不肯屈眼的頭顱,
高聳在亞曆山大的紀念石柱之上.
不,我不會完全死亡
——我的靈魂在遺留下的詩歌當中,
將比我的骨灰活得更久長,和逃避了腐朽滅亡——
我將永遠光榮不朽,直到還隻有一個詩人
活在這月光下的世界上.
我的名聲將傳遍整個偉大的俄羅斯,
它現存的一切語言,都會講著我的名字.
無論是驕傲的斯拉夫人的子孫,是芬蘭人,
甚至現在還是野蠻的通古斯人,和草原上的朋友卡爾梅克人.
我所以永遠能和人民親近,
是因為我曾用詩歌,喚起人們善良的感情,
在我這殘酷的時代,我歌頌過自由,
並且還為那些倒下去的人門,祈求過寬恕同情.
哦,詩神繆斯,聽從上帝的旨意吧,
既不要畏懼侮辱,也不要希求桂冠,
讚美和誹謗,都心平靜氣地容忍,
更無須去和愚妄的人空作爭論
Pushkin