Semyon Bobrov

Semyon Sergeyevich Bobrov (c. 1763–1810) was a poet and official. His long poem Khersonida (1804), set in the Crimea, is the source of the three pieces given here; Bowring calls it “an oriental epic poem”. His writing is known for its obscure, ornate style.

The versions here are by John Bowring, from his Specimens of the Russian Poets (Part the First, 1821; Part the Second, 1823), one of the first English anthologies of Russian verse. They are free, rhymed versions, and should be read as period translations rather than as literal renderings.