![]() If the latter portrayed a tyrant that could have ruled in any year of Anno Domini, the former limits his hero to the twentieth century. By initiating the dialogue with Auden a third of a century later, Brodsky depicts a tyrant with a greater specificity than was done by his predecessor. Auden, who in 1939 wrote a six-line poem, titled Epitaph on a Tyrant. In this delineation of general characteristics, there is an implicit attempt to derive a common formula for all tyrants.Īs we shall demonstrate in the present essay, Brodsky adopts this approach from W.H. Hence, this is a tyrant for all seasons, with the generality of the article “a” being the ultimate proof for that interpretation. He leaves the reader in ambivalence, giving clues that are both illuminating and vague about the actual identity (or identities) of the tyrant in question. The poet is not bound by any particular example, though his century provides a wide array of choices. This autonomy allowed him to depict a tyrant that lacks a country of origin or a traceable history. In that respect, his consciousness strove to be autonomous from his existence, as several years later he would delineate in the Less than One essay. His attitude toward the authorities was a-Soviet, rather than anti-Soviet, as he yearned to be independent from the politically charged literary processes, whether in support or against the communist regime. The poet was far more subtle, not allowing his literary objectives to metamorphose into political ones. While living under a tyrannical government in the early 1970’s, Brodsky did not seek to confront it as directly and confrontationally, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn was doing in his prose writings. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to directly tie To a Tyrant to Brodsky’s milieu or even to a particular temporal space. Rather, the poem is an exercise on the existing tyranny, which in 1972 was still of an on-going relevance for Brodsky. By most accounts, the poem was written in January 1972 hence, the poet was not yet aware that it was just a matter of months before the authorities would usher him out of the native country, a fact which does not qualify this work as an epitaph for the tyrannical state he was leaving behind. To a Tyrant is one of the last poems that Joseph Brodsky composed in the Soviet Union. “Oh, yes!” if only they could rise and be there. He drinks his coffee – better, nowadays –Īnd bites a roll, while perching on his chair, Limp-wristed, with a languid sweep of palm, Some out of duty, the rest in unfeigned joy. When he comes in, the lot of them stand up. Straight from a theater, anonymous, no fuss. Sometimes before the place shuts down he’ll enter The pastries have an aftertaste of bromide. Plastic and chrome are everywhere – not right You seem to feel an urge to turn your head around. The place is now quite crowded bursts of laughter, The lousy coffee, boredom, and the battlesĪnd Time has had to stomach that revenge. Seemed sweet revenge (on Time, that is, not them)įor all the lack of cash, the sneers and insults, He started snuffing out world culture somewhat later – He used to come here till he donned gold braid,Ī good topcoat on, self-controlled, stoop-shouldered. A TYRANT UP CLOSE: JOSEPH BRODSKY'S "TO A TYRANT" POEMĪ TYRANT UP CLOSE: JOSEPH BRODSKY'S "TO A TYRANT" POEM ![]()
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