List of famous poets of the Silver Age. Silver Age of Russian Poetry - Silver Age of Russian Poetry

The Silver Age is the era of modernism, embodied in Russian literature. This is a period when innovative ideas captured all spheres of art, including the art of words. Although it lasted only a quarter of a century (starting in 1898 and ending around 1922), its legacy constitutes the golden Ford of Russian poetry. Until now, the poems of that time have not lost their charm and originality, even against the backdrop of modern creativity. As we know, the works of futurists, imagists and symbolists became the basis of many famous songs. Therefore, in order to understand current cultural realities, you need to know the primary sources that we have listed in this article.

The Silver Age is one of the main, key periods of Russian poetry, covering the period of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Disputes about who was the first to use this term are still going on. Some believe that the “Silver Age” belongs to Nikolai Avdeevich Otsup, a famous critic. Others are inclined to believe that the term was introduced thanks to the poet Sergei Makovsky. But there are also options regarding Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdyaev, a famous Russian philosopher, Razumnikov Vasilyevich Ivanov, a Russian literary scholar, and the poet Vladimir Alekseevich Piast. But one thing is certain: the definition was invented by analogy with another, no less important period - the Golden Age of Russian literature.

As for the time frame of the period, they are arbitrary, since it is difficult to establish the exact dates of the birth of the Silver Age of poetry. The beginning is usually associated with the work of Alexander Alexandrovich Blok and his symbolism. The end is attributed to the date of execution of Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov and the death of the previously mentioned Blok. Although echoes of this period can be found in the works of other famous Russian poets - Boris Pasternak, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam.

Symbolism, imagism, futurism and acmeism are the main trends of the Silver Age. All of them belong to such a movement in art as modernism.

The main philosophy of modernism was the idea of ​​positivism, that is, hope and faith in the new - in a new time, in a new life, in the emergence of the newest/modern. People believed that they were born for something high, they had their own destiny, which they must realize. Now culture is aimed at eternal development, constant progress. But this whole philosophy collapsed with the advent of wars. It was they who forever changed the worldview and attitude of people.

Futurism

Futurism is one of the directions of modernism, which is an integral part of the Russian avant-garde. This term first appeared in the manifesto “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste,” written by members of the St. Petersburg group “Gilea.” Its members included Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vasily Kamensky, Velimir Khlebnikov and other authors, who were most often called “Budetlyans”.

Paris is considered the founder of futurism, but its founder was from Italy. However, it was in France in 1909 that the manifesto of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was published, disguising the place of this movement in literature. Further, futurism “reached” other countries. Marinetti shaped views, ideas and thoughts. He was an eccentric millionaire, most interested in cars and women. However, after the accident, when the man lay for several hours next to the pulsating heart of the engine, he decided to glorify the beauty of the industrial city, the melody of a rumbling car, and the poetics of progress. Now the ideal for man was not the surrounding natural world, but rather the urban landscape, the noise and rumble of a bustling metropolis. The Italian also admired the exact sciences and came up with the idea of ​​composing poetry using formulas and graphs, created a new “ladder” size, etc. However, his poetry turned out to be something like another manifesto, a theoretical and lifeless rebellion against old ideologies. From an artistic point of view, the breakthrough in futurism was made not by its founder, but by a Russian admirer of his discovery, Vladimir Mayakovsky. In 1910, a new literary movement came to Russia. Here it is represented by the four most influential groups:

  • Moscow group “Centrifuge” (Nikolai Aseev, Boris Pasternak, etc.);
  • The previously mentioned St. Petersburg group “Gilea”;
  • St. Petersburg group “Moscow Egofuturists” under the control of the publishing house “Petersburg Herald” (Igor Severyanin, Konstantin Olimpov, etc.);
  • Moscow group “Moscow Ego-Futurists” under the control of the publishing house “Mezzanine of Art” (Boris Lavrenev, Vadim Shershenevich, etc.).

Since all these groups had a huge influence on futurism, it developed heterogeneously. Such branches as egofuturism and cubofuturism appeared.

Futurism influenced not only literature. He also had a huge influence on painting. A characteristic feature of such paintings is the cult of progress and protest against traditional artistic canons. This movement combines the features of Cubism and Expressionism. The first exhibition took place in 1912. Then in Paris they showed paintings that depicted various means of transportation (cars, airplanes, etc.). Futurist artists believed that technology would take a leading position in the future. The main innovative move was the attempt to depict movement in static conditions.

The main features of this movement in poetry are as follows:

  • denial of everything old: the old way of life, the old literature, the old culture;
  • orientation towards the new, the future, the cult of change;
  • a feeling of imminent change;
  • creation of new forms and images, countless and radical experiments:
  • invention of new words, figures of speech, sizes.
  • desemantization of speech.

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893 - 1930) is a famous Russian poet. One of the greatest representatives of futurism. He began literary experiments in 1912. Thanks to the poet, such neologisms as “nate”, “holoshtanny”, “serpasty” and many others were introduced into the Russian language. Vladimir Vladimirovich also made a huge contribution to versification. His “ladder” helps to correctly place accents when reading. And the lyrical lines in the work “Lilichka! (Instead of a letter)” became the most poignant love confessions in the poetry of the 20th century. We discussed it in detail in a separate article.

The most famous works of the poet include the following examples of futurism: the previously mentioned “”, “V.I. Lenin", "", poems "I take it out of my wide trousers", "Could you? (Listen!),” “Poems about the Soviet Passport,” “Left March,” “,” etc.

Mayakovsky's main themes include:

  • the poet’s place in society and his purpose;
  • patriotism;
  • glorification of the socialist system;
  • revolutionary theme;
  • love feelings and loneliness;
  • determination on the way to a dream.

After October 1917, the poet (with rare exceptions) was inspired only by revolutionary ideas. He praises the power of change, Bolshevik ideology and the greatness of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Igor Severyanin

Igor Severyanin (1887 - 1941) is a famous Russian poet. One of the representatives of egofuturism. First of all, he is known for his shocking poetry, which glorifies his own personality. The Creator was sure that he was the pure embodiment of genius, so he often behaved selfishly and arrogantly. But that was only in public. In ordinary everyday life, Northerner was no different from others, and after emigrating to Estonia, he completely “give up” with modernist experiments and began to develop in line with classical poetry. His most famous works are the poems “!”, “Nightingales of the Monastery Garden”, “Classical Roses”, “Nocturne”, “A Girl Cried in the Park” and the collections “The Thundering Cup”, “Victoria regia”, “Zlatolira”. We discussed it in detail in another article.

The main themes of Igor Severyanin’s work:

  • technical progress;
  • own genius;
  • the poet's place in society;
  • love theme;
  • satire and flagellation of social vices;
  • policy.

He was the first poet in Russia who boldly called himself a futurist. But in 1912, Igor Severyanin founded a new, his own movement - egofuturism, which is characterized by the use of foreign words and the presence of a sense of “self-love.”

Alexey Kruchenykh

Alexey Eliseevich Kruchenykh (1886 - 1968) - Russian poet, journalist, artist. One of the representatives of Russian futurism. The creator became famous for bringing “zaum” to Russian poetry. “Zaumy” is an abstract speech, devoid of any meaning, which allows the author to use any words (strange combinations, neologisms, parts of words, etc.). Alexey Kruchenykh even releases his own “Declaration of an Abstruse Language.”

The poet’s most famous poem is “Dyr Bul Shchyl”, but there are other works: “Reinforced concrete weights - houses”, “Gone away”, “Tropical forest”, “In a gambling house”, “Winter”, “Death of an artist”, “Rus” and others.

The main themes of Khlebnikov’s work include:

  • theme of love;
  • theme of language;
  • creation;
  • satire;
  • food theme.

Velimir Khlebnikov

Velimir Khlebnikov (1885 - 1922) is a famous Russian poet, one of the main figures of the avant-garde in Russia. He became famous, first of all, for being the founder of futurism in our country. Also, we should not forget that it was thanks to Khlebnikov that radical experiments began in the field of “creativity of the word” and the previously mentioned “brain”. Sometimes the poet was called “chairman of the globe.” The main works are poems, poems, super stories, autobiographical materials and prose. Examples of futurism in poetry include:

  • "Bird in a Cage";
  • “Times are reeds”;
  • "Out of the bag";
  • "Grasshopper" and others.

To the poems:

  • "Menagerie";
  • "Forest melancholy";
  • “Love comes like a terrible tornado,” etc.

Super stories:

  • "Zangezi";
  • "War in a Mousetrap."
  • "Nikolai";
  • “Great is the day” (Imitation of Gogol);
  • "Cliff from the future."

Autobiographical materials:

  • "Autobiographical note";
  • “Answers to S. A. Wegnerov’s questionnaire.”

The main themes of V. Khlebnikov’s work:

  • the theme of revolution and its glorification;
  • theme of predestination, fate;
  • connection of times;
  • nature theme.

Imagism

Imagism is one of the movements of the Russian avant-garde, which also appeared and spread in the Silver Age. The concept comes from the English word “image”, which translates as “image”. This direction is an offshoot of futurism.

Imagism first appeared in England. The main representatives were Ezra Pound and Percy Wyndham Lewis. Only in 1915 did this trend reach our country. But Russian imagism was significantly different from English. In fact, all that remains of it is its name. For the first time, the Russian public heard the works of Imagism on January 29, 1919 in the building of the All-Russian Union of Poets in Moscow. It provides that the image of the word rises above the design, the idea.

The term “imaginism” first appears in Russian literature in 1916. It was then that Vadim Shershenevich’s book “Green Street...” was published, in which the author declares the emergence of a new movement. More extensive than futurism.

Just like futurism, imagism influenced painting. The most popular artists are: Georgy Bogdanovich Yakulov (avant-garde artist), Sergey Timofeevich Konenkov (sculptor) and Boris Robertovich Erdman.

The main features of imagism:

  • the primacy of the image;
  • extensive use of metaphors;
  • content of the work = development of the image + epithets;
  • epithet = comparisons + metaphors + antithesis;
  • poems perform, first of all, an aesthetic function;
  • one work = one imaginative catalogue.

Sergey Yesenin

Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin (1895 - 1925) is a famous Russian poet, one of the most popular representatives of imagism, an outstanding creator of peasant lyrics. we described in an essay about his contribution to the culture of the Silver Age.

During his short life, he managed to become famous for his extraordinary creativity. Everyone read his heartfelt poems about love, nature, and the Russian village. But the poet was also known for being one of the founders of imagism. In 1919, he, together with other poets - V.G. Shershenevich and A.B. Mariengof - for the first time told the public about the principles of this movement. The main feature was that the poems of the Imagists can be read from bottom to top. However, the essence of the work does not change. But in 1922, Sergei Alexandrovich realized that this innovative creative association was very limited, and in 1924 he wrote a letter in which he announced the closure of the imagist group.

The poet’s main works (it should be noted that not all of them are written in the style of imagism):

  • “Go you, Rus', my dear!”;
  • "Letter to a Woman";
  • "Hooligan";
  • “You don’t love me, you don’t feel sorry for me...”;
  • “I have one more fun left”;
  • Poem "";

The main themes of Yesenin’s creativity:

  • theme of the Motherland;
  • nature theme;
  • love lyrics;
  • melancholy and spiritual crisis;
  • nostalgia;
  • rethinking the historical transformations of the 20th century

Anatoly Mariengof

Anatoly Borisovich Mariengof (1897 - 1962) - Russian imagist poet, playwright, prose writer. Together with S. Yesenin and V. Shershenevich, he founded a new direction of avant-gardeism - imagism. First of all, he became famous for his revolutionary literature, since most of his works praise this political phenomenon.

The main works of the poet include such books as:

  • “A novel without lies”;
  • “” (a film adaptation of this book was released in 1991);
  • "The Shaved Man";
  • "Immortal Trilogy";
  • “Anatoly Mariengof about Sergei Yesenin”;
  • "Without a fig leaf";
  • "Showcase of the Heart."

To poems-examples of imagism:

  • "Meeting";
  • "Memory Jugs";
  • "March of Revolutions";
  • "Hands with a tie";
  • "September" and many others.

Themes of Mariengof's works:

  • revolution and its celebration;
  • the theme of “Russianness”;
  • bohemian life;
  • socialist ideas;
  • anti-clerical protest.

Together with Sergei Yesenin and other imagists, the poet participated in the creation of issues of the magazine “Hotel for Travelers in Beauty” and the book “Imagists”.

Symbolism

- a movement headed by an innovative image-symbol that replaced the artistic one. The term “symbolism” comes from the French “symbolisme” and the Greek “symbolon” ​​- symbol, sign.

France is considered to be the forefather of this trend. After all, it was there, in the 18th century, that the famous French poet Stéphane Mallarmé united with other poets to create a new literary movement. Then symbolism “migrated” to other European countries, and already at the end of the 18th century it came to Russia.

This concept first appears in the works of the French poet Jean Moreas.

The main features of symbolism include:

  • dual world - division into reality and the illusory world;
  • musicality;
  • psychologism;
  • the presence of a symbol as the basis of meaning and idea;
  • mystical images and motifs;
  • reliance on philosophy;
  • cult of individuality.

Alexander Blok

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921) is a famous Russian poet, one of the most important representatives of symbolism in Russian poetry.

The block belongs to the second stage of development of this movement in our country. He is a “junior symbolist” who embodied in his works the philosophical ideas of the thinker Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov.

The main works of Alexander Blok include the following examples of Russian symbolism:

  • "On the railway";
  • "Factory";
  • “Night, street, lantern, pharmacy...”;
  • “I enter dark temples”;
  • “The girl sang in the church choir”;
  • “I’m scared to meet you”;
  • “Oh, I want to live crazy”;
  • poem "" and much more.

Themes of Blok's creativity:

  • the theme of the poet and his place in the life of society;
  • theme of sacrificial love, love-worship;
  • the theme of the Motherland and understanding of its historical fate;
  • beauty as the ideal and salvation of the world;
  • theme of revolution;
  • mystical and folklore motifs

Valery Bryusov

Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov (1873 - 1924) - Russian symbolist poet, translator. One of the most famous representatives of the Silver Age of Russian poetry. He stood at the origins of Russian symbolism along with A.A. Block. The creator’s success began with a scandal associated with the monostic poem “Oh, close your pale legs.” Then, after the publication of even more provocative works, Bryusov finds himself at the epicenter of fame. He is invited to various social and poetic evenings, and his name becomes a real brand in the art world.

Examples of symbolist poems:

  • "Everything is over";
  • "In past";
  • "Napoleon";
  • "Woman";
  • "Shadows of the Past";
  • "Mason";
  • "A painful gift";
  • "Clouds";
  • "Images of Time".

The main themes in the works of Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov:

  • mysticism and religion;
  • problems of the individual and society;
  • escape into a fictional world;
  • the history of homeland.

Andrey Bely

Andrei Bely (1880 - 1934) - Russian poet, writer, critic. Just like Blok, Bely is considered one of the most famous representatives of symbolism in our country. It is worth noting that the creator supported the ideas of individualism and subjectivism. He believed that symbolism represents a certain worldview of a person, and not just a movement in art. He considered sign language to be the highest manifestation of speech. The poet was also of the opinion that all art is a kind of spirit, the mystical energy of higher powers.

He called his works symphonies, including “Dramatic”, “Northern”, “Symphonic” and “Return”. Famous poems include: “And water? The moment is clear...", "Ace (Azure is pale"), "Balmont", "Madman" and others.

The themes in the poet’s work are:

  • theme of love or passion for a woman;
  • the fight against bourgeois vulgarity;
  • ethical and moral aspects of the revolution;
  • mystical and religious motives;

Konstantin Balmont

Konstantin Dmitrievich Balmont (1867 - 1942) - Russian symbolist poet, literary critic and writer. He became famous for his “optimistic narcissism.” According to the famous Russian poet Anninsky, he raised the most important philosophical questions in his works. The poet’s main works are the collections “Under the Northern Sky”, “We Will Be Like the Sun” and “Burning Buildings” and the well-known poems “Butterfly”, “In the Blue Temple”, “There is not a day that I don’t think about You...”. These are very revealing examples of symbolism.

The main themes in Balmont’s work:

  • the elevated place of the poet in society;
  • individualism;
  • infinity theme;
  • questions of being and non-being;
  • beauty and mystery of the surrounding world.

Vyacheslav Ivanov

Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949) - poet, critic, playwright, translator. Although he long survived the heyday of symbolism, he still remained true to his aesthetic and literary principles. The Creator is famous for his idea of ​​Dionysian symbolism (he was inspired by the ancient Greek god of fertility and wine, Dionysus). His poetry was dominated by ancient images and philosophical questions posed by ancient Greek philosophers like Epicurus.

Ivanov's main works:

  • "Alexander Blok"
  • "The ark";
  • "News";
  • "Scales";
  • "Contemporaries";
  • “Valley is a temple”;
  • "The sky lives"

Creative themes:

  • the secret of natural harmony;
  • theme of love;
  • theme of life and death;
  • mythological motifs;
  • the true nature of happiness.

Acmeism

Acmeism is the last movement that made up the poetry of the Silver Age. The term comes from the Greek word “acme”, which means the dawn of something, the peak.

As a literary manifestation, Acmeism was formed at the beginning of the 20th century. Beginning in 1900, young poets began to gather in the apartment of the poet Vyacheslav Ivanov in St. Petersburg. In 1906 - 1907, a small group separated from everyone else and formed a “circle of young people.” He was distinguished by his zeal to move away from symbolism and form something new. Also, the literary group “Workshop of Poets” made a great contribution to the development of Acmeism. It included such poets as Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Georgy Adamovich, Vladimir Narbut and others. “Workshop..” was headed by Nikolai Gumilyov and Sergei Gorodetsky. After 5-6 years, another part separated from this group, which began to call themselves Acmeists.

Acmeism was also reflected in painting. The views of artists such as Alexandra Benois (The Marquise's Bath and the Venetian Garden), Konstantin Somov (The Mocked Kiss), Sergei Sudeikin and Leon Bakst (all of whom were part of the late 19th century art group "World of Arts") were similar to the views of Acmeist writers. In all the paintings we can see how the modern world confronts the world of the past. Each canvas represents a kind of stylized decoration.

Main features of Acmeism:

  • rejection of the ideas of symbolism, opposition to them;
  • return to origins: connections with past poets and literary movements;
  • the symbol is no longer a way of influencing/influencing the reader;
  • the absence of everything mystical;
  • connecting physiological wisdom with the inner world of man.
  • Striving for simplicity and utmost clarity of image, theme, style.

Anna Akhmatova

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova (1889 - 1966) - Russian poetess, literary critic, translator. She is also a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The world recognized her as a talented poetess in 1914. It was this year that the collection “Rosary Beads” was published. Further, her influence in bohemian circles only intensified, and the poem “” provided her with scandalous fame. In the Soviet Union, criticism did not favor her talent; mainly her fame went underground, into samizdat, but works from her pen were copied by hand and learned by heart. It was she who patronized Joseph Brodsky in the early stages of his work.

Significant creations include:

  • “I learned to live simply and wisely”;
  • “She clasped her hands over a dark veil”;
  • “I asked the cuckoo...”;
  • "The Gray-Eyed King";
  • “I’m not asking for your love”;
  • “And now you are heavy and dull” and others.

The themes of the poems can be called:

  • the theme of marital and maternal love;
  • the theme of true friendship;
  • the theme of Stalinist repressions and the suffering of the people;
  • theme of war;
  • the poet's place in the world;
  • reflection on the fate of Russia.

Basically, Anna Akhmatova’s lyrical works are written in the direction of Acmeism, but sometimes manifestations of symbolism are also observed, most often against the backdrop of some kind of action.

Nikolay Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev (1886 - 1921) - Russian poet, critic, prose writer and literary critic. At the beginning of the 20th century, he was part of the “Workshop of Poets” already known to you. It was thanks to this creator and his colleague Sergei Gorodetsky that Acmeism was founded. They led this innovative separation from the general group. Gumilyov's poems are clear and transparent, there is no pomposity or abstruseness in them, which is why they are still sung and played on stages and music tracks. He speaks simply, but beautifully and sublimely about complex feelings and thoughts. For his association with the White Guards, he was shot by the Bolsheviks.

The main works include:

  • "Giraffe";
  • "Lost Tram"
  • “Remember more than once”;
  • “From a bouquet of whole lilacs”;
  • "Comfort";
  • "The escape";
  • “I laughed at myself”;
  • "My Readers" and much more.

The main theme of Gumilyov's poetry is overcoming life's failures and obstacles. He also touched upon philosophical, love, and military themes. His view of art is interesting, because for him creativity is always a sacrifice, always a strain to which you surrender without reserve.

Osip Mandelstam

Osip Emilievich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938) - famous poet, literary critic, translator and prose writer. He is the author of original love lyrics and dedicated many poems to the city. His work is distinguished by a satirical and clearly oppositional orientation towards the government in force at that time. He was not afraid to touch on hot topics and ask uncomfortable questions. For his caustic and insulting “dedication” to Stalin, he was arrested and convicted. The mystery of his death in the labor camp remains unsolved to this day.

Examples of Acmeism can be found in his works:

  • "Notre Dame"
  • “We live without feeling the country beneath us”;
  • "Insomnia. Homer. Tight sails...";
  • "Silentium"
  • "Self-portrait";
  • “It’s a gentle evening. The twilight is important...";
  • “You smile” and much more.

Themes in Mandelstam's works:

  • the beauty of St. Petersburg;
  • theme of love;
  • the poet's place in public life;
  • the theme of culture and freedom of creativity;
  • political protest;
  • poet and power.

Sergey Gorodetsky

Sergei Mitrofanovich Gorodetsky (1884 - 1967) - Russian Acmeist poet, translator. His work is characterized by the presence of folklore motifs; he was fond of folk epic and ancient Russian culture. After 1915 he became a peasant poet, describing the customs and life of the village. While working as a war correspondent, he created a cycle of poems dedicated to the Armenian genocide. After the revolution, he was mainly engaged in translations.

Significant works of the poet, which can be considered examples of Acmeism:

  • "Armenia";
  • "Birch";
  • cycle "Spring";
  • "Town";
  • "Wolf";
  • “My face is a hiding place of births”;
  • “Do you remember, a blizzard came”;
  • "Lilac";
  • "Snow";
  • "Series."

The main themes in the poems of Sergei Gorodetsky:

  • the natural splendor of the Caucasus;
  • theme of the poet and poetry;
  • Armenian genocide;
  • theme of revolution;
  • theme of war;
  • love and philosophical lyrics.

The work of Marina Tsvetaeva

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941) - famous Russian poet, translator, prose writer. First of all, she is known for her love poems. She also tended to reflect on the ethical aspects of the revolution, and nostalgia for the old days was evident in her works. Perhaps this is why she was forced to leave the country of the Soviets, where her work was not valued. She knew other languages ​​brilliantly, and her popularity spread not only to our country. The poetess' talent is admired in Germany, France and the Czech Republic.

Tsvetaeva’s main works:

  • “You’re coming, you look like me”;
  • “I will conquer you from all lands, from all heavens..”;
  • "Homesickness! For a long time…";
  • “I like that you are not sick with me”;
  • “I would like to live with you”;

The main themes in the poetess’s work:

  • theme of the Motherland;
  • theme of love, jealousy, separation;
  • theme of home and childhood;
  • theme of the poet and his significance;
  • historical fate of the fatherland;
  • spiritual kinship.

One amazing feature of Marina Tsvetaeva is that her poems do not belong to any literary movement. All of them are beyond any directions.

Creativity of Sofia Parnok

Sofia Yakovlevna Parnok (1885 - 1933) - Russian poetess, translator. She gained fame thanks to her scandalous friendship with the famous poetess Marina Tsvetaeva. The fact is that the communication between them was attributed to something more than a friendly relationship. Parnok was also awarded the nickname “Russian Sappho” for her statements about the right of women to unconventional love and equal rights with men.

Main works:

  • "White Night";
  • “In a barren land no grain can grow”;
  • “Not yet spirit, almost not flesh”;
  • “I love you in your space”;
  • “How bright is the light today”;
  • "Divination";
  • “The lips were pursed too tightly.”

The main themes in the poetess’s work are love free from prejudice, spiritual connection between people, independence from public opinion.

Parnok does not belong to a specific direction. All her life she tried to find her special place in literature, not tied to a particular movement.

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VSEVOLOD SAKHAROV

The Silver Age of Russian Literature... This is what is commonly called the period in the history of Russian poetry, which occurs at the beginning of the twentieth century.

A specific chronological framework has not yet been established. Many historians and writers from all over the world argue over this. The Silver Age of Russian literature begins in the 1890s and ends in the first decade of the twentieth century. It is the end of this period that causes controversy. Some researchers believe that it should be dated to 1917, others insist on 1921. What is the reason for this? In 1917, the Civil War began, and the Silver Age of Russian literature as such ceased to exist. But at the same time, in the 20s, those writers who created this phenomenon continued their work. There is a third category of researchers, which argues that the end of the Silver Age occurs in the period from 1920 to 1930. It was then that Vladimir Mayakovsky committed suicide and the government did everything to strengthen ideological control over literature. Therefore, the time limits are quite extensive and amount to approximately 30 years.


As in any period of development of Russian literature, the Silver Age is characterized by the presence of different literary movements. They are often identified with artistic methods. Each movement is characterized by the presence of common fundamental spiritual and aesthetic principles. Writers unite in groups and schools, each of which has its own programmatic and aesthetic setting. The literary process develops following a clear pattern.

DECADENCE

At the end of the 19th century, people began to abandon civic ideals, finding them unacceptable for themselves and society as a whole. They refuse to believe in reason. The authors feel this and fill their works with the individualistic experiences of the characters. More and more literary images are appearing that express the socialist position. The artistic intelligentsia tried to disguise the difficulties of real life in a fictional world. Many works are filled with features of mysticism and unreality.

MODERNISM

Under this movement lie a wide variety of literary trends. But Russian literature of the Silver Age is characterized by the manifestation of completely new artistic and aesthetic qualities. Writers are trying to expand the scope of a realistic vision of life. Many of them want to find a way to express themselves. As before, Russian literature of the Silver Age occupied an important place in the cultural life of the entire state. Many authors began to unite in modernist communities. They differed in their ideological and artistic appearance. But they are united by one thing - they all see literature as free. The authors want her not to be influenced by moral and social rules.


At the end of the 1870s, Russian literature of the Silver Age was characterized by such a direction as symbolism. The authors tried to focus on artistic expression and used intuitive symbols and ideas to achieve this. The most sophisticated feelings were used. They wanted to learn all the secrets of the subconscious and see what is hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. In their works they focus on candle beauty. The Symbolists of the Silver Age expressed their rejection of the bourgeoisie. Their works are imbued with a longing for spiritual freedom. This is exactly what the authors missed so much! Different writers perceived symbolism in their own way. Some – as an artistic direction. Others - as a theoretical basis for philosophy. Still others - as Christian teaching. The Silver Age of Russian literature is represented by many symbolist works.


At the beginning of 1910, the authors began to move away from the pursuit of the ideal. Their works were endowed with material features. They created a cult of reality; their heroes had a clear view of what was happening. But at the same time, writers avoided describing social problems. The authors fought to change lives. Acmeism in Russian literature of the Silver Age was expressed by a certain doom and sadness. It is characterized by such features as intimate themes, unemotional intonations and psychological emphasis on the main characters. Lyricism, emotionality, belief in spirituality... All this is characteristic of the Soviet period of development of literature. The main goal of the Acmeists was to return the image to its former concreteness and take on the shackles of fictitious encryptedness.

FUTURISM

Following Acmeism, a direction such as futurism began to develop in Russian literature of the Silver Age. It can be called avant-garde, the art of the future... The authors began to deny traditional culture and endow their works with the features of urbanism and machine industry. They tried to combine the incompatible: documentary materials and fiction, experimenting with the linguistic heritage. And we must admit that they succeeded. The main feature of this period of the Silver Age of Russian literature is contradiction. Poets, as before, united into various groups. A revolution of form was proclaimed. The authors tried to free it from content.

Imagism

In Russian literature of the Silver Age there was also such a movement as imagism. It manifested itself in the creation of a new image. The main emphasis was on metaphor. The authors tried to create real metaphorical chains. They compared the most diverse elements of opposing images, endowing words with direct and figurative meaning. The Silver Age of Russian literature in this period was characterized by shocking and anarchic features. The authors began to move away from rudeness.

The Silver Age is characterized by heterogeneity and diversity. The peasant theme is especially evident. It can be observed in the works of such writers as Koltsov, Surikov, Nikitin. But it was Nekrasov who aroused a special surge of interest. He created real sketches of village landscapes. The theme of the peasant people in Russian literature of the Silver Age was played out from all sides. The authors talk about the difficult fate of ordinary people, how hard they have to work and how bleak their life looks in the future. Nikolai Klyuev, Sergei Klychkov and other authors who themselves come from the village deserve special attention. They did not confine themselves to the theme of the village, but tried to poeticize rural life, crafts and the environment. Their works also reveal the theme of centuries-old national culture.

The revolution also had a significant influence on the development of Russian literature of the Silver Age. Peasant poets received it with great enthusiasm and completely devoted themselves to it within the framework of their creativity. But during this period creativity was not in the first place, it was perceived in second place. The first positions were occupied by proletarian poetry. She was declared the front line. After the completion of the revolution, power passed to the Bolshevik Party. They tried to control the development of literature. Driven by this idea, the poets of the Silver Age spiritualized the revolutionary struggle. They glorify the power of the country, criticize everything old and call for the party leaders to come forward. This period is characterized by the glorification of the cult of steel and iron. The turning point of traditional peasant foundations was experienced by such poets as Klyuev, Klychkov and Oreshin.


The Silver Age of Russian literature is always identified with such authors as K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, F. Sologub, D. Merezhkovsky, I. Bunin, N. Gumilev, A. Blok, A. Bely. To this list we can add M. Kuzmin, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam. No less significant for Russian literature are the names of I. Severyanin and V. Khlebnikov.

Conclusion

Russian literature of the Silver Age is endowed with the following features. This is love for the small Motherland, adherence to ancient folk customs and moral traditions, widespread use of religious symbols, etc. Christian motives and pagan beliefs can be traced in them. Many authors tried to turn to folk stories and images. The urban culture that everyone is tired of has acquired the features of denial. It was compared to the cult of instruments and iron. The Silver Age left Russian literature a rich heritage and replenished the stock of Russian literature with bright and memorable works.

© Vsevolod Sakharov. All rights reserved.

Where did the term “Silver Age poetry” come from? What masterpieces were born at this time? What experiments did some poets resort to? How did you try to attract attention? Why were so many of them forgotten? You will learn about all this by reading this article.

Intellectual explosion

Russian poetry of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is known as the poetry of the Silver Age. The term as such arose after the end of this period, in the second half of the last century. The name was formed by analogy with the term Golden Age, that is, the Pushkin era. And this is deeply symbolic, because the Silver Age of Russian poetry gave the world many bright names. The names of Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Nikolai Gumilev, Marina Tsvetaeva, Boris Pasternak and others are associated with the poetry of the Silver Age.

The numerous and varied literary movements of the turn of the century can generally be called in one word - modernism (from the French “newest, modern”). In fact, modernism was very diverse, there were various movements in it. The most iconic of them are symbolism, acmeism, futurism, and imagism. There are also peasant poetry, satirical poetry and other movements.

Modernism in both European and Russian poetry was distinguished by the search for new forms and means of expression. It was a time of creative search, which often led to bright discoveries. But not all poets have passed the test of time; the names of many of them are known today only to philologists. Many truly talented poets over time went beyond the narrow boundaries of one or another literary movement.

At the turn of the century, Russia was experiencing a strong intellectual upsurge, which was expressed primarily in poetry and philosophy. The famous philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev wrote about this time like this: “Much of the creative upsurge of that time entered into the further development of Russian culture and is now the property of all Russian cultural people. But then there was the intoxication of creative enthusiasm, novelty, tension, struggle, challenge...”

The poets of the Silver Age were greatly influenced by the philosophical teachings of Berdyaev himself, as well as Solovyov, Fedorov, Florensky with their idea of ​​eternal divine beauty, the Soul of the World, in merging with which they saw salvation for all humanity, as well as Eternal Femininity. Let's look at each of the currents.

Symbolism. Hints and halftones

This was the first and very significant modernist movement. It originated in France and later spread to Russia. This is typical not only for literature, but also for music and painting.

There are two stages in this literary direction. The first is the “senior symbolists” (Valery Bryusov, Zinaida Gippius, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Konstantin Balmont and others). Their debut took place in the 1890s. A few years later, symbolism was replenished with new forces and new aesthetic views. Alexander Blok, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Andrei Bely became “Younger Symbolists”.

According to Vyacheslav Ivanov, poetry is “the secret writing of the ineffable.” The value of creativity was seen in understatement and hints, and the symbol was supposed to convey the secret meaning.

Do you remember Blok’s famous lines from the series “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”, filled with symbols?

I enter dark temples,

I perform a poor ritual.

There I am waiting for the Beautiful Lady

In the flickering of red lamps.

In the shadow of a tall column

I'm shaking from the creaking of the doors.

And he looks into my face, illuminated,

Only an image, only a dream about Her...

In addition to the symbol that conveys the fleeting nature of existence, the symbolists attached great importance to music, which is why verbal and musical harmonies can be traced in their poems. Symbolism is characterized by broad associations with the culture of previous eras.

Symbolism enriched Russian poetry with real discoveries: the poetic word became polysemantic, new facets and additional shades were discovered in it. Symbolists used combinations of certain sounds to create an image (the so-called alliteration), as well as a variety of rhythms. An example of alliteration in Balmont is the deliberate repetition of the sound “l”:

The oar slipped from the boat,

The coolness melts gently.

But all of the above refers to the external form of the verse. And the main thing, of course, is the internal content. The symbolists posed the question of the role of the artist (in the broad sense of the word) in the life of society in a new way and made art more personal.

Acmeism. Reached the top

The term comes from the Greek akme, which means “the top, the highest degree of something.” If the Symbolists gravitated towards the super-real, the polysemy of images, then the Acmeists gravitated towards poetic precision, a minted artistic word. The Acmeists were apolitical; topical issues did not penetrate their work.

The main value for this literary movement was culture, which they identified with universal human memory. Therefore, Acmeists often turn to mythological images and plots (for example, Gumilyov - “From a bouquet of whole lilacs...” and many other poems).

In addition, they focused not on music, like the Symbolists, but on architecture, painting, sculpture - that is, what implies three-dimensionality, spatiality. Acmeists loved colorful, picturesque, even exotic details.

This literary movement included many talented poet-friends. They called their association “The Workshop of Poets.” And this was preceded by a scandal. In 1911, in the salon of Vyacheslav Ivanov, where, as usual, writers gathered to present their poems and discuss others, a conflict occurred. Several poets, offended by the criticism addressed to them, simply left. Among them was Nikolai Gumilyov, who did not like the criticism of his “Prodigal Son”. Thus, in contrast to the “Academy of Verse”, the “Workshop of Poets” was born.

The main rule of the Acmeists is the clarity of the poetic word, devoid of anything vague. Acmeism as a literary movement united very talented and original poets - Gumilyov, Akhmatova, Mandelstam. Others from the “Workshop of Poets” did not reach such a high level.

Let us remember Akhmatova’s soulful female lyrics. Take, for example, these lines:

She clasped her hands under a dark veil...

"Why are you pale today?" —

Because I am tartly sad

Got him drunk.

How can I forget? He came out staggering

The mouth twisted painfully...

I ran away without touching the railing,

I ran after him to the gate.

Gasping for breath, I shouted: “It’s a joke.

All that has gone before. If you leave, I'll die."

Smiled calmly and creepily

And he told me: “Don’t stand in the wind.”

The fates of many Silver Age poets, including Anna Akhmatova, were not easy. The first husband, Nikolai Gumilyov, was shot in 1921; the second, Nikolai Panin, died in 1953 in a camp; son, Lev Gumilyov, was also imprisoned for many years.

Futurism. At the dawn of PR companies

The name of this literary movement comes from the Latin word futurum, which means “future.”

If Acmeism originated in Russia, then Italy is considered the birthplace of futurism. The ideologist of futurism, Marinetti, saw the task of futurism as follows: “daily spitting on the altar of art.” Wow statement, right? However, isn’t that what many so-called writers and artists are doing today, who pass off outright disgusting stuff as a work of art?

The futurists set an ambitious goal - to create the art of the future, and they denied all previous artistic experience. Poets wrote manifestos, read them from the stage, and then published them. Often meetings with poetry lovers ended in disputes that turned into fights. Thus, this literary movement gained fame. A familiar, as they say now, PR stunt, isn’t it? Take, for example, politicians or show business representatives who know what exactly will attract the attention of the public...

The words of the futurists were arranged completely freely, any logical connections were often broken, there was generally It’s not clear what we’re talking about, what the poet wanted to say.

To be fair, we note that shocking behavior was used by representatives of all modernist movements. At the same time, among the futurists it was in first place and manifested itself in everything - from appearance (remember Mayakovsky’s performances in his famous yellow blouse) to creativity itself.

Representatives of this literary movement in Russia are Vladimir Mayakovsky, Velimir Khlebnikov, David Burliuk, Alexey Kruchenykh and others. By the way, most of them were also artists, creating posters and illustrations for books.

The main features of futurism: rebellion, bold experiments in versification, the appearance of the author's neologisms - that is, words that no one had used before, various verbal experiments.

Here is one of Khlebnikov’s poems:

Bobeobi's lips sang,

Veeomi's eyes sang,

The eyebrows sang,

Lieeey - the image was sung,

Gzi-gzi-gzeo the chain was sung.

So on the canvas there are some correspondences

Outside the extension lived a Face.

It is clear that such lines remained an experiment. But Mayakovsky became a phenomenon in poetry, including versification.

His famous “ladder”, that is, a special arrangement of short lines, is still popular today.

Imagism. The hobby of young Yesenin

This literary movement, born in the West, arose in Russia after 1917. The name comes from the word image, which is in both English and French and means “image”.

The first creative evening of the Imagists took place on January 29, 1919. A declaration with the basic principles of the new direction was read there, and it was signed by Sergei Yesenin, Anatoly Mariengof, Rurik Ivnev and Vadim Shershenevich, as well as two artists. The declaration emphasized that the tool of the master of art is the image and only the image. They say that he, like mothballs, saves a work from the moths of time.

Here are the lines from Mariengof:

Language

Doesn't fit into the verse

Silver bast,

A pen breaks—the poet’s faithful staff.

Come and take away the pain. I'll leave barefoot.

Come to take me away.

Imagists declared that content in a work of art is a completely unnecessary thing, if only the image could be found. But again, such statements were more shocking. After all, any poet, no matter what direction he considers himself to be, had, has and will have a desire for the imagery of the artistic word.

As we have already said, many talented poets only at first entered one or another literary movement and association, and then found their own path and style in art. So, for example, Sergei Yesenin noted in 1921 that imagism is antics for the sake of antics, and broke with this trend.

The basis of Yesenin’s unsurpassed poetry was Rus', his small homeland, folklore, and the peasant worldview.

Many literary scholars single out peasant poetry among the literary trends, whose representatives are, in addition to Yesenin, Demyan Bedny, Nikolai Klyuev and others.

One of the trends in poetry at the turn of the century is satirical poetry (Sasha Cherny, Arkady Averchenko and others).

As you can see, the poetry of the Silver Age was very diverse and included numerous literary trends. Something is irretrievably a thing of the past - just like a failed experiment. But the work of Akhmatova, Gumilyov, Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, Pasternak (the last two, by the way, were outside specific literary movements) and some other poets really became a bright event in Russian literature, and also had a significant influence on many modern poets.

Many poems by poets of the Silver Age are still heard by everyone today. Take, for example, Tsvetaeva’s unsolved masterpiece , which is difficult to explain logically,“I like that you are not sick with me...” - a romance known to everyone from the film “Enjoy Your Bath...”.

The fates of a number of Silver Age poets were tragic. The reasons are both personal and social. These poets went through revolutions, wars, repressions, emigration, preserving the high spirit of true poetry. The works of many of them became known to a wide circle of readers only in the 90s of the last century, since for a long time they were considered prohibited.

If the Pushkin period is called the Golden Age, then the Silver Age cannot be associated with any one name. He left us irrevocably almost a century ago, but his music can still be heard. This period is the border between the 19th and 20th centuries. The poets of the Silver Age fiercely defended their vision of the world in the struggle of different directions. Their poems were unusually lyrical and musical in their experiences and hopes for the future.

The emergence of symbolism

The history of the appearance of the name "Silver Age" is unknown. It more symbolizes the spiritual and artistic growth of the early 20th century. An extraordinary upsurge occurred in all areas relating to the spiritual life of Russia, as well as in science and technology. Poetry very subtly captured the contradictions of spiritual growth and the premonition of an approaching catastrophe.

The basis of all literary movements was modernism, the goal of which was the transformation of the world and the spiritual rebirth of man. The most significant was symbolism, which became a social phenomenon. The poets of the Silver Age tried to penetrate the secrets of the universe through symbols that they themselves created and which had multiple meanings. They recognized the existing world as secondary, which was a distorted reflection of the divine principle. They looked for ways to unite these worlds through symbols.

Poets of Symbolism

Alexander Blok made a significant contribution to the development of symbolism. In his youth, he considered the feminine principle to be the basis of the world, raising it to the upper limit of perfection. Subsequently, he expanded the direction of symbolism, stepping beyond its boundaries. Blok's work is not only pre-revolutionary poetry, but also the beginning of new Soviet poetry. Feeling the contact between dreams and reality, the poet felt a sharp contradiction between them. On the one hand, he invaded the world of illusions and mysticism, but this did not lead him to the truth for which he so strove.

Having experienced love disappointments, Blok did not move away from romanticism, accepting the revolution as an outbreak of a popular element. Moving away from symbolism to realism, Blok returned again, realizing that only through art can one get closer to the truth:

Know where the light is, and you will understand where the darkness is.
Let everything pass slowly,
What is sacred in the world, what is sinful in it,
Through the heat of the soul, through the coolness of the mind.

Dmitry Merezhkovsky constantly searched for the spiritual foundations of life, trying to give his own new assessment to the classics. As a pioneer of symbolism, he developed themes of hopelessness, loneliness and dual personality:

You yourself are your own God, you are your own neighbor,
Oh, be your own Creator,
Be bottomless above, bottomless below,
Its beginning and end.

Zinaida Gippius sought ways to develop Russian artistic culture through philosophical ideas and symbolism, opposing realism.

The work of Vladimir Solovyov was oriented towards symbolism, representing the existing world as a hopeless reflection of the world of ideas:

Wingless spirit, lying on the ground,
The self-forgotten and forgotten god...
Just one dream - and again, surrounded by
You are rushing upward from vain anxieties.

All the poets of the Silver Age who supported symbolism raved about idealism and utopia. Vyacheslav Ivanov was looking for ways to overcome the disunity of people through ideas to save the world with beauty and art:

Thoughts without speech and feelings without names
Ra-dos-t-powerful surf-fight.
A ripple of hopes and desires ripples
The blue wave washed away.

Innokenty Annensky was not a symbolist, but his poetry was at odds with reality. No one else could so highly artistically describe the suffering of a lonely and painful soul.

Fyodor Sologub was one of the most active participants in the Symbolist movement. His poems sound desperation. Sologub's poetry is very simple, but refined and expressive:

I am the god of the ta-ins-tven-no-go world,
The whole world is in my dreams alone.
Don’t give yourself ku-peace
Neither on earth nor in heaven.

Acmeism

Russian poets of the Silver Age were divided among themselves by different directions, the number of which gradually increased. Valery Bryusov tried to unite all movements into one artistic system through historicism and rationalism. Over time, symbolism began to lose ground. The excessive musicality of the verse deprived it of logical meaning. The pathos of religion and mysticism could not last long and became stereotyped.

By 1910, many poets of the Silver Age had abandoned symbolism. Their list significantly thinned out with the advent of Acmeism, which arose as a counterweight, based on extremely clear and realistic poetry. Nikolai Gumilyov was the founder of this literary movement, but he himself contradicted it, taking listeners with his poems into the world of romance, chivalry and exoticism. In line with this trend was Anna Akhmatova, a master of love poetry.

Futurism

Representatives of a new movement - futurism - sought to destroy all foundations, laying claim to the art of the future. Vladimir Mayakovsky tried to convey the truth to the people and awaken them. Igor Severyanin, using neologisms in his poetry, created extraordinary poems in which music was heard.

Sergei Yesenin did not belong to any movements, creating symbolic images with the help of metaphors. His poems captured the unity of nature and the soul of Russian people. Yesenin’s lyrical images were truly artistic: “The scarlet light of dawn is woven on the lake. On the forest, wood grouse are crying with ringing sounds...”

Decline of the Silver Age

The poets of the Silver Age mostly died in the civil war and during the period of repression. Some emigrated, but the spirit of freedom supported by their homeland was irretrievably lost. These amazing lyrics of the past made many people think about the meaning of life and took deep roots into modern life. The poetry of the Silver Age still resonates today.

At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Russian poetry, like Western poetry, is also experiencing rapid development. It is dominated by avant-garde and modernist trends. The modernist period of development of Russian poetry of the late XIX - early XX centuries. called " silver age", Russian poetic renaissance.

The ideological basis for the development of new Russian poetry was the flowering of religious and philosophical thought, which occurred in Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The new philosophy appears as a critical reaction to the positivism of the second half of the 19th century. with his rational attitude to life as a fact of exclusively material existence. New Russian philosophy, on the contrary, was idealistic, turned to the irrational aspects of human existence and tried to synthesize the experience of science, philosophy and religion. Its main representatives include M. Fedorov, N. Berdyaev, P. Florensky, N. Lossky, S. Frank and others, among whom the outstanding Russian thinker and poet Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov had a less direct influence on the formation of the ideological basis of Russian poetic modernism. His philosophical ideas and artistic images stand at the origins of Russian poetic symbolism.

During the “Silver Age”, four generations of poets clearly showed themselves in Russian poetry: Balmontivske (who was born in the 60s and early 70s of the 19th century), Blokovskoe (around 1880), Gumilevskaya (around 1886) and generation of the 90s, represented by the names of G. Ivanov, G. Adamovich, M. Tsvetaeva, R. Ivnev, S. Yesenin, V. Mayakovsky, M. Otsup, V. Shershenevich and many others. A significant number of Russian writers were forced to emigrate abroad (K. Balmont, I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, Sasha Cherny and many others). The destruction of Russian culture and poetry of the “Silver Age” was finally completed in the fall of 1922 by the forced deportation from Soviet Russia abroad of 160 famous scientists, writers, philosophers, journalists, and public figures, which marked the beginning of the formation of a powerful emigration branch of Russian literature and culture.

Russian poetry of the “Silver Age” became a kind of summing up of the two hundred years of development of new Russian poetry. She picked up and continued the best traditions of previous historical stages in the development of Russian poetry and at the same time turned to a significant revaluation of the values ​​of artistic and cultural priorities that directed its development.

In the history of the development of Russian poetry of the “Silver Age,” three directions most clearly manifested themselves: symbolism, acmeism, and futurism. A special place in Russian poetic modernism of the early 20th centuries. This space is occupied by the so-called “new peasant” poets, as well as poets whose work does not clearly correspond to a specific artistic movement.

Symbolism. The first of the new trends to appear was symbolism, which marked the beginning of the “Silver Age” of Russian poetry. Symbolism (Greek symbolism - conventional sign, sign) is a literary movement of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, the main feature of which is that a specific artistic image turns into a multi-valued symbol. Symbolism is born in France and how the literary movement was formed begins its history in 1880, when Stéphane Mallarmé begins a literary salon (the so-called “Tuesdays” of Mallarmé), in which young poets take part. Symbolist program actions took place in 1886, when “Sonnets to Wagner” were published in

seven poets (Verlaine, Mallarmé, Ple, Dujardin, etc.), “Treatise on the Word” by R. Gil and the article by J. Moreas “Literary Manifesto. Symbolism."

Outstanding writers outside France also associate their work with symbolism. In the 1880s, Belgian symbolists began their activities - poet Emile Verhaeren and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. At the turn of the century, outstanding Austrian artists associated with symbolism appeared - Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Rainer Maria Rilke. The Polish poet Boleslaw Lesmian also belonged to the symbolists; individual works of the German playwright Gergart Hauptmann, the English writer Oscar Wilde, and the late Henrik Ibsen correlate with the artistic principles of symbolism. Symbolism entered Ukrainian poetry with the works of M. Voronoi, O. Oles, P. Kar-Mansky, V. Pachevsky, M. Yatskiv and others. Such outstanding Ukrainian poets as M. Rylsky and Tychyna, whose “Solar Clarinets” constitute the pinnacle of Ukrainian symbolism, studied the school of symbolism.

Symbolism contrasted its aesthetic principles and poetics with realism and naturalism, trends that it resolutely rejected. Symbolists are not interested in recreating real reality, the concrete and objective world, in simply depicting the facts of everyday life, as naturalists did. It was in their isolation from reality that symbolist artists saw their superiority over representatives of other movements. The symbol is the foundation of the entire direction. The symbol helps the artist to find “correspondences” between phenomena, between the real and mysterious worlds.

The starting point of Russian symbolism was the activity of two literary circles that arose almost simultaneously in Moscow and St. Petersburg on the basis of a common interest in the philosophy of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, as well as the work of European symbolists. At the end of the 90s of the XIX century. both groups of symbolists united, thus creating a single literary direction of symbolism. At the same time, the Scorpion publishing house (1899-1916) appeared in Moscow, around which Russian symbolists grouped. Russian symbolists are usually divided into senior and junior (according to the time of their entry into literature and some differences in theoretical positions). The senior symbolists who came to literature in the 1890s include Dmitry Merezhkovsky (their main ideologist), Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont, Fyodor Sologub and others. The older symbolists derived the ideological basis of their views primarily from the principles of French symbolism, which they were mainly guided by, although they did not completely reject the achievements of Russian idealistic thought. Younger symbolists entered literature already at the beginning of the 20th century. (Andrei Bely, Alexander Blok, Vyacheslav Ivanov and others), were more focused on the philosophical search for Russian idealistic thought and the tradition of national poetry, calling the poetry of V. Zhukovsky, F. Tyutchev and A. Fet their forerunners.

Symbolist poets compared their activities to theurgy (priesthood), and often tried to give their poems the characteristics of a ritual-magical text, similar to spells. The content of symbolic images is primarily designed to excite in the listener’s imagination a complex game of associations associated with a corresponding emotional mood and devoid of a clearly defined subject basis. Symbolists attached particular importance to the sound of verse, its melody and sound writing, as well as rare poetic vocabulary. They compared the sound recording of verse with music, and the latter was associated for them with the pinnacle of art and the optimal means for expressing a certain symbolic content. Symbolism played an extremely important role in the development of Russian poetry of the “Silver Age”. He, firstly, returned to poetry the significance and authority that it had lost in the literature of realism, oriented towards prose, and, secondly, laid down the traditions on which other directions in the development of Russian poetry grew (perceiving or starting from them) at the beginning XX century and before that Acmeism and Futurism.

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