Poems and Problems

Poems and Problems (ISBN 0-07-045724-7) is a book by Vladimir Nabokov published in 1969. It consists of:

39 poems originally written in Russian and translated by Nabokov
14 poems written in English
18 chess problems

One of the 39 poems originally written in Russian, "Lilith", in 1928, can be looked at as a foreshadowing of Lolita. However, in the author's notes, Nabokov states that, "Intelligent readers will abstain from examining this impersonal fantasy for any links with my later fiction," and that the poem was written "...to amuse a friend."

Table of content

THIRTY-NINE RUSSIAN POEMS

	English	Russian
1.	The Rain Has Flown	Дождь пролетел
2.	To Liberty	К Cвободе
3.	I Still keep Mute	Еще безмолвствую и крепну я в тиши
4.	Hotel Room	Номер в гостинице
5.	Provence	Солнце
6.	La Bonne Lorraine
7.	The Blazon	Герб
8.	The Mother	Мать
9.	I Like That Mountain	Люблю я гору
10.	The dream	Сновидение
11.	The Snapshot	Снимок
12.	In Paradise	В раю
13.	The Execution	Расстрел
14.	For Happiness the Lovers Cannot Sleep	От счастия влюбленному не спится
15.	Lilith	Лилит
16.	The Muse	К музе
17.	Soft Sound	Тихий шум
18.	Snow	Снег
19.	The Formula	Формула
20.	An Unfinished Draft	Неоконченный черновик
21.	Evening on Vacant Lot	Вечер на пустыре
22.	The Madman	Безумец
23.	How I Love You	Как я люблю тебя
24.	L'Inconnue de la Seine
25.	At Sunset	На закате
26.	We So Firmly Beheved	Мы с тобой так верили
27.	What Happened Overnight	Что за ночь с памятью случилось
28.	The Poets	Поэты
29.	To Russia	к Росии
30.	Oculus	Око
31.	Fame	Слава
32.	The Paris Poem	Парижская поэма
33.	No Matter How	Каким бы полотном батальным
34.	On Rulers	О правителях
35.	To Prince S.M. Kachurin	К князю С.М. Качурину
36.	A Day like Any Other	Был день как день
37.	Irregular Iambics	Неправильные ямбы
38.	What Is the Evil Deed	Какое сделал я дурное дело
39.	From the Gray North	С серого Севера

FOURTEEN ENGLISH POEMS

	English
1	A Literary Dinner
2	The Refrigeration Awakes
3	A Discovery
4	The Poem
5	An Evening of Russian Poetry
6	The Room
7	Voluptates tactionum
8	Restoration
9	The Poplar
10	Lines Written in Oregon
11	Ode to a Model
12	On translation Eugene Onegin
13	Rain
14	The Ballad of Longwood Glen

Quote

"Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity."

External links

"Nabokov Under Glass" (New York Public Library)
18 chess problems from "Poems and Problems"

Works by Vladimir Nabokov

Novels

Russian	Mary King, Queen, Knave The Defense The Eye Glory Laughter in the Dark Despair Invitation to a Beheading The Gift The Enchanter

English	The Real Life of Sebastian Knight Bend Sinister Lolita Pnin Pale Fire Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle Transparent Things Look at the Harlequins! The Original of Laura (unfinished fragment)

Short
stories

Russian	"The Wood-Sprite" "Russian Spoken Here" "Sounds" "Wingstroke" "Gods" "A Matter of Chance" "The Seaport" "Revenge" "Beneficence" "Details of a Sunset" "The Thunderstorm" "La Veneziana" "Bachmann" "The Dragon" "Christmas" "A Letter That Never Reached Russia" "The Fight" "The Return of Chorb" "A Guide to Berlin" "A Nursery Tale" "Terror" "Razor" "The Passenger" "The Doorbell" "An Affair of Honor" "The Christmas Story" "The Potato Elf" "The Aurelian" "A Dashing Fellow" "A Bad Day" "The Visit to the Museum" "A Busy Man" "Terra Incognita" "The Reunion" "Lips to Lips" "Orache" "Music" "Perfection" "The Admiralty Spire" "The Leonardo" "In Memory of L. I. Shigaev" "The Circle" "A Russian Beauty" "Breaking the News" "Torpid Smoke" "Recruiting" "A Slice of Life" "Spring in Fialta" "Cloud, Castle, Lake" "Tyrants Destroyed" "Lik" "Vasiliy Shishkov" "Ultima Thule" "Solus Rex" "The Word" "Natasha"

French	"Mademoiselle O"

English	"The Assistant Producer" "That in Aleppo Once..." "A Forgotten Poet" "Time and Ebb" "Conversation Piece, 1945" "Signs and Symbols" "First Love" "Scenes from the Life of a Double Monster" "The Vane Sisters" "Lance" "Easter Rain"

Plays

Russian	Death The Grandfather The North Pole The Tragedy of Mr. Morn The Man from the USSR The Event The Waltz Invention

Non-fiction

Memoirs and letters	Speak, Memory The Nabokov-Wilson letters Selected Letters, 1940-1977

Criticism	Strong Opinions Nikolai Gogol Lectures on Literature Lectures on Russian Literature Lectures on Don Quixote Notes on Prosody

Miscellanea

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Russian translation)
Poems and Problems
Lolita: A Screenplay
The Annotated Lolita
Carrousel
A Hero of Our Time (English translation)
Eugene Onegin (English translation)
Father's Butterflies