Collected Poems

Though we know Nabokov as a brilliant novelist, his first love was poetry. This landmark collection brings together the best of his verse, including many pieces that have never before appeared in English.

These masterly poems span the whole of Nabokov's career, from "Music," written in 1914, to the short, playful "To Vera," composed in 1974. The works are newly translated by Dmitri Nabokov, and include "The University Poem," an extraordinary autobiographical poem in which Nabokov recalls his life in Cambridge, with its crooked alleys and age-old gates, teas at the vicar's, and British girls. Included too are such poems as "To Russia" ("Will you leave me alone! I implore you!"), the enchanting "Eve," and verse about America, lepidoptery, sport, love, and poetry itself.

*From the Hardcover edition.*