Svetlana (ballad)
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.jpg) Karl Bryullov, Svetlana at Fortune-telling | |
| Author | Vasily Zhukovsky |
|---|---|
| Original title | Светлана |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Ballad |
| Published | 1813 |
| Publisher | Vestnik Evropy |
Svetlana is a ballad by the Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky, published in 1813. It is one of Zhukovsky's three adaptations of Gottfried Bürger's ballad Lenore. It is often credited with popularizing the given name Svetlana, which is also the name of the protagonist.
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Zhukovsky began work on Svetlana in 1808 and completed it in 1812. The ballad was first published in the journal Vestnik Evropy in 1813. It was dedicated to Zhukovsky's niece and student Alexandra Andreevna Voeikova (who was the sister of the poet's muse Maria Protasova-Moyer), as a wedding gift to her.[1]
The plot is based on Gottfried Bürger's ballad Lenore. Zhukovsky wrote three works based on Lenore. His ballad Lyudmila, written in 1808, is a free adaptation of Lenore which gives the story a Russian setting. Svetlana also has a Russian setting and is the adaptation that varies the most in subject from the original.[2] Later, in 1831, Zhukovsky translated Lenore more accurately, maintaining its original setting.[1]