Vladimir Mayakovsky — "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1924)

The great poem "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin", dedicated to the leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution, was written by the renowned Soviet poet and playwright Vladimir Mayakovsky.  

 

The first fragments of the poem appeared in October 1924 in several Soviet newspapers, and it came out as a separate edition in February 1925 by Leningrad's Gosizdat. Mayakovsky himself dedicated it to the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). 

 

Anna Louise Strong — LENIN

Poem by American journalist and activist Anna Louise Strong (1885-1970) dedicated to the leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. 

 

In the late 1920’s and into the early 30’s, Strong traveled in China and throughout the Soviet Union, interviewing ordinary workers and people in the street as well as senior Soviet leaders; she visited Spain in 1937 and accompanied the Red Army into Poland and Berlin in 1945, and visited China during the latter stages of the war of liberation. 

Vladimir Mayakovsky's 130th birth anniversary

Vladimir Mayakovsky, the "the best and most talented poet of the Soviet epoch" according to Stalin, was born 130 years ago, on 19 July 1893. 

Mayakovsky was born on 19 July 1893 in the village of Baghdadi (today Mayakovsky) near Kutais in Georgia. His father was a simple forester, and the family was nourished on progressive ideas. 

Vladimir was twelve years of age when the first Russian Revolution broke out in 1905. its echo was felt even in the mountains of the Caucasus. 

Hiroshima Child — Poem by Nazim Hikmet

The poem "Hiroshima Child" (The Little Girl), written by Turkish communist poet Nazim Hikmet in 1956, is a reference to the horror of the most barbaric crimes of the 20th century — the dropping of the atomic bomb by U.S imperialists in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945 respectively. 

The actual aim of the imperialist crime was to intimidate the peoples, to send a “message” to the Soviet Union and to the rising communist movement, as World War II had in fact already ended and the use of nuclear weapons didn’t play a role in its outcome. 

Nazim Hikmet: The most beautiful days we haven’t seen yet...

By Nikos Mottas.

Nazim Hikmet. The great Turkish poet of the world's working class whose poems praised and highlighted the people's struggles for a better future without exploitation.

The man whose poetry expressed the revolutionary desires and hopes of the proletariat, of the poor and despised people in every corner of the world.

It was 120 years ago, on January 15, 1902, when Nazim Hikmet Ran was born in the city of Thessaloniki, then part of the Ottoman Empire, from a Turkish father and a mother of German, Polish and Georgian descent. 

Pablo Neruda — Song of Love to Stalingrad (1942)

Pablo Neruda, the emblematic communist Chilean poet and diplomat — one of the 20th century's most influential Latin American cultural figures — was significantly inspired by the heroism of the Soviet people in the Second World War. He was particularly impressed by the brave struggle of the defenders of Stalingrad in a battle that played a decisive role in the outcome of the war. 

In 1942, Pablo Neruda wrote the "Song of Love to Stalingrad" (Canto de Amor a Stalingrado), praising the bravery of the Red Army and the Soviet people. What follows is a English translation of this extroardinary poem:

Nazim Hikmet Ran — “One religion, one law, one right: The labour of the worker”

By Nikos Mottas.

Nazim Hikmet. The great Turkish poet of the world's working class whose poems praised and highlighted the people's struggles for a better future without exploitation. 

The man whose poems expressed the revolutionary desires and hopes of the proletariat, of the poor and despised people in every corner of the world. 

It was 118 years ago, on January 15, 1902, when Nazim Hikmet Ran was born in Thessaloniki, then part of the Ottoman Empire, from a Turkish father and a mother of German, Polish and Georgian descent. 

Federico García Lorca: 82 years since his assassination by Franco's fascists

The 18th of August marked the 82nd anniversary of the assassination of the famous Spanish poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca, who was shot by dictator Franco's death squads in 1936. 

Back then, the fascists thought that they killed him; what they didn't know was that Lorca's legacy, through his extraordinary poetry, was immortal and would remain eternal as a universal symbol of democratic Spain. 

Through his poems, Lorca glorified the notions of love, as well as the one of death, he hated despotism and the exploitation of man by man. A conscious anti-fascist, he stood against any form of injustice. Although he never joined the organized revolutionary communist movement, he was a consistent and outspoken critic of the capitalist society. In his work he condemns Capitalism's results, including poverty, misery, alienation and racism. 

Nazim Hikmet: “One religion, one law, one right: the labour of the worker”

By Nikos Mottas.

The great Turkish Communist poet, Nazım Hikmet, died on 3 June 1963 in Moscow. He was an extraordinary personality, not only for his country but for whole world. 

A consistent marxist-leninist who never betrayed his beliefs. A real internationalist and a true patriot. A man who, through his unique writing skills and inspiration, became a symbol: A poet of the world's proletariat. 

The flame of Hikmet's magnificent poetry which set hearts on fire can not be extinguished, as long as there are people who continue the struggle for a better world, without exploitation of man by man.

Born in 1902, Nazim Hikmet was always present, through his poems and writings, in the major issues of his times. His heart - "one red apple" - was beating in the rhythm of the class struggle, of the fight against injustice and oppression. 

Nikos Kazantzakis writes about the Soviet Union

Nikos Kazantzakis
(Heraklion, 1883 - 1957, Freiburg) 

Nikos Kazantzakis*.

1. This world, the post-war one, where we are living in, is so rotten, immoral and unworthy of even a moderate man, that every attempt to break it down seems- and is- sacred. 

That is why today all honest people, all those who set justice, freedom and light as goals of the social life, regard the demolition of the rotten, dishonored, old foolish world as their first duty.

2. The second duty, the positive one, of every honest man today is: the effort to create a better world, where what call light or God or rise will be dominate. 

This effort, the heroic one, the martyred one, has been taken and realized- this is her terrific historical mission- by Soviet Russia. This is today the creative turbine, the rotating sparkling nebula, which is constantly shaping and condensing and creating- this is now the only hope of the people- the new, better world. 

Bertolt Brecht / Hanns Eisler- United Front Song

"United Front Song"

Poetry: Bertolt Brecht / Music: Hanns Eisler.

Poetry for Lenin - By Vladimir Mayakovsky and Bertolt Brecht

Photo: In Defense of Communism.

On the occasion of the 93rd anniversary of Vladimir I. Lenin's death, we post three major poems by the giants of literature and poetry Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) and Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) dedicated to the great Bolshevik revolutionary and architect of the first socialist state in the world.  

The first one is Vladimir Mayakovsky's legendary poem "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" published in 1924. 

The other twoo are poems by Bertolt Brecht, titled "The Unconquerable Inscription" (1934) and the "Cantata on the Day of Lenin's Death" (1935). 

Nazim Hikmet Ran: The great communist poet who tried to turn darkness into light

Nazim Hikmet (Thessaloniki, 15 January 1902 - Moscow, 3 June 1963).

It was 115 years ago, on January 15, 1902, when the legendary Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet Ran was born. A consistent fighter for the ideals of Marxism-Leninism, a genuine internationalist, but also a real patriot, Hikmet remained an unbending communist until the end of his life. He was an honest friend of peace and an enemy of nationalism, war, racism and fascism.

Being just at the age of 17 he wrote in one of his early poems: "One religion, one law, one right: The labor of the worker". Hikmet deeply believed that Socialism was the only way out for humanity and he gave all his creativity and talent in order to pave the road for a socialist future. In his poetry, someone can see the expectation and optimism for a better world, without exploitation of man by man...

Pablo Neruda- Poem for Fidel Castro (Song of Protest)

Poem by Pablo Neruda- Song of Protest.

Shameful distortion of Nazim Hikmet's lyrics from car manufacturer company - Response from Turkey's Komünist Parti (KP)

Communist Party, Turkey (KP) came out strongly against an OPEL company ad using and distorting Nazım Hikmet's lyrics.

Source: International Communist Press, 3rd May 2016.

The CC of the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) released a statement protesting the OPEL company and the YKY publications for their abusement of communist poet Nazım Hikmet's legacy.

"...Our communist poet's legacy cannot be accounted in banks or kept in safe boxes. That legacy can only be saved forever with the reason and the labour of the communists..." wrote the statement.

An advertisement of OPEL distorting Nazım's lyrics was published on one of the best selling newspaper Hürriyet of Turkey today. Immediately after that, KP  claimed the legacy of the internationally recognised communist poet. Similarly, in the 2002 after the YKY publication company had declared material rights over Nazım Hikmet's works, the communists had objected strongly and had published Nazım's works as the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP).

Pablo Neruda- Ode to Lenin

I

Lenin, to sing to you

I must say farewell to words:

I must write with trees, with wheels,

with plows, with cereals.

You’re concrete

as facts and earth.

There never was

a more earthly man

than V. Ulyanov.