Creative and life path of Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich. Gumilyov Nikolay Stepanovich: short biography Analysis of the poem “Captains”

Nikolay Gumilyov- a famous Russian poet of the Silver Age, prose writer, translator and literary critic. His biography is full of many sad events, which we will tell you about right now.

At 35, Gumilyov was shot on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy. However, in his short life he managed to write many works that have become classics of Russian literature.

We bring to your attention the key points of Nikolai Gumilyov. .

Biography of Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was born on April 3, 1886 in Kronstadt. He grew up in a noble family of military doctor Stepan Yakovlevich, whose wife was Anna Ivanovna.

Childhood and youth

As a child, Nikolai Gumilyov was constantly ill, and in general was a physically weak child. In addition, he could not stand the noise and suffered from frequent migraine attacks.

Despite this, already at an early age, Nikolai began to write poetry, showing remarkable abilities.

After graduating in 1906, he goes to. There, Nikolai begins to attend lectures and meets various writers.

Life after high school

Gumilev's first collection of poems is The Path of the Conquistadors. Interestingly, the book was published with the money of the parents. And although she did not have much success, in general, the collection was positively received by critics.

Subsequently, between Gumilyov and the famous symbolist poet, even friendly relations began.

While in Paris, Gumilyov begins to publish the Sirius magazine, which will soon be closed. An interesting fact is that it was in this journal that Anna Akhmatova published her first poems (see).

mature period

In 1908, the second collection of works by Nikolai Gumilyov, entitled "Romantic Poems", was published. Most of the works were dedicated to Akhmatova, with whom he began a close relationship.

After Bryusov read Gumilyov's new poems, he once again repeated that the poet had a great future (see).

In the same year, Gumilev decides to return to his homeland. There he met Russian poets and began working as a critic in the Rech newspaper, in which he would also publish his works.

In the autumn of 1908, Gumilyov set off on a journey. He manages to visit, and. Due to lack of money, Nikolai has to return home.

A trip to the "country of the pharaohs" made a great impression on him. Subsequently, he became one of the largest explorers, having made several scientific expeditions to this continent.

Nikolai Gumilyov in Paris, photograph by Maximilian Voloshin, 1906

In 1909, Nikolai Gumilyov entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. Together with his like-minded people, he creates the Apollo magazine, in which he continues to publish poetry and maintain one of the headings.

At the end of the same year, the poet goes to Abyssinia, where he spends several months. He will describe his impressions of the trip in the work "Pearls".

Biography after 1911

Nikolai Gumilyov is the founder of the school of acmeism. This literary movement opposed symbolism.

Representatives of acmeism promoted the materiality and accuracy of the word, avoiding abstract concepts.

The first acmeist poem in Gumilyov's biography is "The Prodigal Son". Every day his popularity is growing, and he begins to be considered one of the most talented poets.

In 1913, Gumilyov again went to Africa, where he spent half a year. In connection with the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918), he had to return home.

Being a patriot of his country, he goes to the front. However, the service did not prevent Nikolai Stepanovich from continuing to engage in writing.

In 1915, the Notes of a Cavalryman and the collection Quiver were published.

After the end of the war, Gumilyov began to work on the translation of the Gilgamesh epic. In parallel with this, he translates the poems of Western poets.

The last collection in Gumilyov's biography is Pillar of Fire. This book is considered by many to be the pinnacle of his work.

Creativity Gumilyov

In his works, Gumilyov paid great attention to. In his poetry, the themes of love, mythology and. Many of his poems were dedicated to Anna Akhmatova.

In a later period of biography, Gumilyov increasingly touched on. He not only talked to the reader, but also made him reflect on the main problems of mankind.

Personal life

Gumilyov's first wife was Anna Akhmatova, with whom they had a son, Leo. Together they lived for 8 years, after which they divorced.

Gumilyov and Akhmatova with their son

The second wife of the poet was Anna Engelhard, who gave birth to his girl Elena. An interesting fact is that Anna, along with her daughter, died in Leningrad during the blockade.

After that, Gumilyov had a stormy romance with Olga Vysotskaya. Subsequently, their son Orestes was born, but the poet never found out about this due to death.

Death

On August 3, 1921, Gumilyov was arrested by the NKVD and charged with an anti-Bolshevik conspiracy.

And although many writers tried to save the poet, the authorities did not make any concessions. personally met with, wanting to change the decision on Gumilyov, but this did not give any results.

Nikolai Gumilyov, photo from the investigation file, 1921

As a result, on August 24, a decree was announced on the execution of the poet, as well as 56 of his "accomplices".

Two days later, on August 26, 1921, Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was shot at the age of 35.

Thus, Russia lost one of the most talented poets and scientists of its time.

Before going to his death, Nikolai Gumilyov wrote the following lines on the cell wall: “Lord, forgive my sins, I am going on my last journey.”

If you liked Gumilyov's biography, share it in in social networks and subscribe to the site. It's always interesting with us!

Liked the post? Press any button.

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was born on April 3 (15), 1886 in Kronstadt, in the family of a ship's doctor. The childhood of the future writer passed first in Tsarskoye Selo, and then in the city of Tiflis. In 1902, Gumilyov's first poem "I fled from the cities to the forest ..." was published.

In 1903, Nikolai Stepanovich entered the 7th grade of the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium. In the same year, the writer met his future wife, Anna Gorenko (Akhmatova).

In 1905, in a brief biography of Gumilyov, major event- the first collection of the poet "The Way of the Conquistadors" was published.

mature creativity. Trips

After graduating from the gymnasium in 1906, Gumilyov left for Paris and entered the Sorbonne. While in France, Nikolai Stepanovich tried to publish the Sirius magazine (1907), which was exquisite for those times. In 1908, the writer's second collection "Romantic Flowers" was published, dedicated to Anna Akhmatova. This book laid the foundation for the mature work of Gumilyov.

Nikolai Stepanovich returns to Russia, but soon leaves again. The writer visits with expeditions Sinop, Istanbul, Greece, Egypt, African countries.

In 1909, Gumilyov entered St. Petersburg University, first at the Faculty of Law, but then transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology. The writer takes an active part in the creation of the Apollo magazine. In 1910, the collection "Pearls" was released, which received positive reviews from V. Ivanov, I. Annensky, V. Bryusov. The book includes the famous work of the writer "Captains".

In April 1910 Gumilev married Anna Akhmatova.

"Workshop of poets" and acmeism. World War I

In 1911, with the participation of Gumilyov, the poetic association "Workshop of Poets" was created, which included O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva. In 1912, Nikolai Stepanovich announced the emergence of a new artistic movement, acmeism, soon the journal Hyperborea was created, and Gumilyov's collection Alien Sky was published. In 1913, the writer again went to the East.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Gumilyov, whose biography was already full of extraordinary events, voluntarily goes to the front, for courage he is awarded two St. George's crosses. While serving in Paris in 1917, the poet falls in love with Helena du Boucher and dedicates a collection of poems To the Blue Star to her.

post-war years. Doom

In 1918 Gumilev returned to Russia. In August of the same year, the writer divorces Akhmatova.

In 1919-1920, the poet worked at the World Literature publishing house, taught, translated from English and French. In 1919 he marries Anna Engelhardt, daughter of N. Engelhard. Gumilyov's poems from the collection Pillar of Fire (1921) are dedicated to his second wife.

In August 1921, Nikolai Gumilyov was arrested on charges of participating in the anti-government "Tagantsev conspiracy." Three weeks later, he was sentenced to death, executed the next day. The exact date of the execution and the place of burial of Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich are unknown.

Chronological table

Other biography options

In 1909, Gumilyov took part in an absurd duel with M. Voloshin due to the fact that Nikolai Stepanovich spoke unflatteringly about the poetess Elizaveta Dmitrieva. Both poets did not want to shoot themselves, Gumilyov fired into the air, Voloshin's pistol misfired.
In 1916, Gumilyov was enrolled in a special Fifth Alexandria Hussar Regiment, whose soldiers took part in the most fierce battles near Dvinsk.
Anna Akhmatova has always criticized Gumilyov's poetry. This often led to the fact that the poet burned his works.
For a long time, Gumilyov's works were not published. The poet was rehabilitated only in 1992.
Two documentaries were shot about Gumilyov's life - "Testament" (2011) and "New Version. Gumilyov against dictatorship” (2009).

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

"Far Eastern Federal University" (Branch in Nakhodka)

Essay

By discipline: "Russian literature"

On the topic: "The life and work of Nikolai Gumilyov"

Completed by: student of group 15С-1321

Yashchuk Tatyana Alekseevna

Nakhodka, 2015

1. The life and work of Nikolai Gumilyov

2. Analysis of Gumilev's work

3. Analysis of the poem "Captains"

4. Analysis of the poem “Slave”

Conclusion

Literature

1. lifeb and the work of Nikolai Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was born on April 3 (15), 1886 in Kronstadt, where his father, Stepan Yakovlevich, who graduated from the gymnasium in Ryazan and Moscow University in the medical faculty, served as a ship's doctor. According to some reports, the father's family came from a clergy rank, which can be indirectly confirmed by the surname (from the Latin word humilis, "humble"), but the poet's grandfather, Yakov Stepanovich, was a landowner, the owner of a small Berezka estate in the Ryazan province, where the Gumilyov family sometimes spent the summer. B. P. Kozmin, without indicating the source, says that the young N. S. Gumilyov, who was then fond of socialism and read Marx (he was at that time a Tiflis gymnasium student - that means it was between 1901 and 1903), was engaged in agitation among the millers , and this caused complications with the governor. Berezki were later sold, and a small estate near St. Petersburg was bought in their place.

Gumilyov's mother, Anna Ivanovna, sister of Admiral L. I. Lvov, was the second wife of Stepan Yakovlevich and more than twenty years younger than her husband. The poet had an older brother, Dmitry, and a half-sister, Alexandra, in the marriage of Sverchkov. The mother outlived both sons, but the exact year of her death has not been established.

Gumilyov was still a child when his father retired and the family moved to Tsarskoe Selo. Gumilyov began his education at home, and then studied at the Gurevich gymnasium, but in 1900 the family moved to Tiflis, and he entered the 4th grade of the 2nd gymnasium, and then transferred to the 1st. But the stay in Tiflis was short-lived. In 1903, the family returned to Tsarskoe Selo, and the poet entered the 7th grade of the Nikolaev Tsarsko-Selo Gymnasium, the director of which at that time was and remained until 1906 famous poet Innokenty Fedorovich Annensky. The latter is usually credited with a great influence on the poetic development of Gumilyov, who, in any case, held Annensky very highly as a poet. Apparently, Gumilev began to write poetry (and stories) very early, when he was only eight years old. His first appearance in print dates back to the time when the family lived in Tiflis: on September 8, 1902, his poem "I fled from the cities to the forest ..." was published in the newspaper "Tiflis Listok".

Gumilyov studied poorly, especially in mathematics, and graduated from the gymnasium late, only in 1906. But even a year before graduating from the gymnasium, he published his first collection of poems called "The Way of the Conquistadors", with an epigraph from the then hardly known to many, and later so famous French writer Andre Gide, whom he obviously read in the original.

Gumilyov entered St. Petersburg University in 1912, studied Old French literature at the Romano-Germanic department, but did not finish the course. He really went to Paris and spent 1907-1908 abroad, listening to lectures on French literature at the Sorbonne. In Paris, Gumilyov took it into his head to publish a small literary magazine called "Sirius", in which he published his own poems and stories under the pseudonyms "Anatoly Grant" and "Co", as well as the first poems of Anna Andreevna Gorenko, who soon became his wife and became famous under the name of Anna Akhmatova - they knew each other from Tsarskoe Selo. Here in 1908 Gumilyov published his second book of poems - "Romantic Flowers". From Paris he made his first trip to Africa in 1907. Apparently, this journey was undertaken against the will of his father, at least, this is how A. A. Gumilyova writes about this: About this dream of his [to go to Africa] ... the poet wrote to his father, but his father categorically stated that neither money, nor his blessing for such an "extravagant journey" he will not receive until the end of the university. Nevertheless, Nikolai, in spite of everything, set off in 1907, saving the necessary funds from his parents' monthly pay.

Subsequently, the poet enthusiastically told about everything he had seen: - how he spent the night in the hold of the ship with the pilgrims, how he shared their meager meal with them, how he was arrested in Trouville for trying to get on the ship and drive "hare". This journey was hidden from the parents, and they learned about it only after the fact. The poet wrote letters to his parents in advance, and his friends carefully sent them every ten days from Paris.

In 1908 Gumilev returned to Russia. Now he already had some literary name. Between 1908 and 1910. Gumilyov makes literary acquaintances and enters the literary life of the capital. Living in Tsarskoye Selo, he communicates a lot with I. F. Annensky. In 1909, he met S.K. Makovsky and introduced the latter to Annensky, who for a short time became one of the pillars of the Apollo magazine founded by Makovsky.

In the spring of 1910, Gumilyov's father died, having been seriously ill for a long time. A little later in the same year, on April 25, Gumilyov married Anna Andreevna Gorenko. After the wedding, the young people left for Paris. In the autumn of the same year, Gumilyov undertook a new trip to Africa, this time visiting the most inaccessible places in Abyssinia. In 1910, the third book of Gumilyov's poems was published, which brought him wide fame - "Pearls".

In 1911, the Gumilyovs had a son, Lev. The birth of the Guild of Poets dates back to the same year, Gumilyov sets off on a new trip to Africa in 1913, this time arranged as a scientific expedition, with an order from the Academy of Sciences (on this trip, Gumilyov was accompanied by his seventeen-year-old nephew, Nikolai Leonidovich Sverchkov). Gumilyov wrote about this trip to Africa (and perhaps partly about the previous ones) in his "Iambas Pentameters" published for the first time in "Apollo":

But the months went by

I swam and took away the tusks of elephants,

Paintings by Abyssinian masters,

Panther furs - I liked their spots -

And what was previously incomprehensible,

Contempt for the world and fatigue of dreams.

Gumilyov spoke about his hunting exploits in Africa in an essay that will be included in the last volume of our Collected Works, along with other Gumilyov's prose. “Iambic pentameters” is one of the most personal and autobiographical poems of Gumilyov, who had previously amazed with his “objectivity, his “impersonality” in verse. The bitter lines in these “Iambas” are clearly addressed to A. A. Akhmatova and reveal time in their relationship a deep and irreparable crack:

I know life has failed... and you,

You, for whom I sought in the Levant

The imperishable purple of royal robes,

I lost you like Damayanti

Once lost crazy Nal.

Bones flew up, ringing like steel,

Bones fell - and there was sadness.

You said thoughtfully, sternly:

"I believed, I loved too much,

And I'm leaving, not believing, not loving,

And before the face of the All-seeing God,

Perhaps destroying yourself

Forever I renounce you."

I did not dare to kiss your hair,

Not even to squeeze cold, thin hands.

I was ugly to myself, like a spider,

I was frightened and tormented by every sound.

And you left in a simple and dark dress,

Similar to the ancient Crucifix.

In July 1914, when the shot of Gabriel Princip rang out in distant Sarajevo, and then the fire of war engulfed all of Europe, a tragic era began. poet Gumilyov slave seal

A patriotic impulse then swept over the entire Russian society. But perhaps the only one among any prominent Russian writers, Gumilyov responded to the war that had befallen the country effectively, and almost immediately (August 24) signed up as a volunteer. He himself, in a later version of the Iambic Pentameter already mentioned, said it best:

And in the roar of the human crowd,

In the roar of passing guns,

In the silent call of the battle trumpet

I suddenly heard the song of my destiny

And ran where the people ran,

Dutifully repeating: wake up, wake up.

The soldiers sang loudly, and the words

They were indistinct, their heart caught:

- "Hurry forward! The grave is the grave!

Fresh grass will be our bed,

And the canopy is green foliage,

An ally is the Arkhangelsk force. "-

So sweetly this song flowed, beckoning,

That I went and accepted me

And they gave me a rifle and a horse,

And a field full of mighty enemies,

Buzzing menacingly bombs and melodious bullets,

And the sky in lightning and red clouds.

And the soul is burned with happiness

Since then; full of fun

And clarity, and wisdom, about God

She talks to the stars

The voice of God hears in military alarm

And God calls his roads.

In several of Gumilyov's poems about the war, included in the collection "Kolchan" (1916) - perhaps the best in all "military" poetry in Russian literature: not only romantic-patriotic, but also Gumilyov's deeply religious perception of the war was affected.

In January 1918 Gumilev left Paris and moved to London. Gumilyov left London in April 1918.

In the same year, he divorced A. A. Akhmatova, and the following year he married Anna Nikolaevna Engelhardt, the daughter of an Orientalist professor, whom S. K. Makovsky described as "a pretty, but mentally insignificant girl." In 1920, the Gumilevs, according to A. A. Gumileva, had a daughter, Elena.

In 1918, shortly after returning to Russia, he conceived the idea of republishing some of his pre-revolutionary poetry collections: new, revised editions of Romantic Flowers and Pearls appeared; were announced, but "Alien Sky" and "Quiver" did not come out. In the same year, Gumilev's sixth collection of poems, The Bonfire, was published, containing poems from 1916-1917, as well as the African poem Mick and the already mentioned Porcelain Pavilion.

There is no reason to think that Gumilyov returned to Russia in the spring of 1918 with the conscious intention of investing in the counter-revolutionary struggle, but there is every reason to believe that if he had been in Russia at the end of 1917, he would have found himself in the ranks of the White Movement.

Gumilyov was arrested on August 3, 1921 (he was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy in which he did not participate, he was simply acquainted with one of the leaders of the conspiracy - N.I. Lazarevsky), four days before the death of A.A. .block. Both V. F. Khodasevich and G. V. Ivanov in their memoirs say that some provocateur played a role in Gumilyov's death. Gumilyov was found guilty and shot.

In his memoirs about Gumilyov, a phrase from his letter to his wife from prison was quoted more than once: "Don't worry about me. I'm healthy, I write poetry and play chess." It was also mentioned that in prison before his death Gumilev read Homer and the Gospel. The poems written by Gumilyov in prison have not reached us. They were probably confiscated by the Cheka and maybe - who knows? - preserved in the archives of this sinister institution. And Gumilyov is the first great poet in the history of Russian literature, whose burial place is not even known. As Irina Odoevtseva said in her poem about him:

And not on his grave

No hill, no cross, nothing.

2. Analysis of Gumilev's work

Gumilyov's poetry in different periods of his creative life is very different. Sometimes he categorically denies the Symbolists, and sometimes he is so close to their work that it is difficult to guess that all these wonderful poems belong to one poet. Here we recall the words of the insightful A. Blok: “The writer is a perennial plant... the soul of the writer expands in periods, and his creation is only the external results of the underground growth of the soul. Therefore, the path of development can only appear straight in perspective, while following the writer along all stages of the path, you do not feel this straightness and steadiness, due to stops and distortions.

These words of Blok, a poet highly valued by Gumilyov, and at the same time his main opponent in critical articles, are most suitable for describing Gumilyov's creative path. Thus, the early Gumilyov gravitated toward the poetry of the senior symbolists Balmont and Bryusov, was fond of the romance of Kipling, and at the same time turned to foreign classics: W. Shakespeare, F. Rabelais, F. Villon, T. Gauthier and even Nekrasov's epic-monumental works . Later, he moved away from the romantic decorativeness of exotic lyrics and the lush brightness of images to a clearer and more rigorous form of versification, which became the basis of the acmeist movement. He was strict and inexorable towards young poets, the first to declare versification a science and a craft that needs to be learned in the same way as music and painting are taught. Talent, pure inspiration, in his understanding, had to have a perfect apparatus for versification, and he stubbornly and sternly taught the young mastery. The poems of the acmeist period, which made up the collection "The Seventh Heaven", confirm such a sober, analytical, scientific approach of Gumilyov to the phenomena of poetry. The main provisions of the new theory are outlined by him in the article “The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism”. The “new direction” was given two names: acmeism And adamism(from Greek - “a courageously firm and clear outlook on life”). Gumilyov considered their main achievement to be the recognition of the "intrinsic value of each phenomenon", the displacement of the cult of the "unknown" by "childishly wise, painfully sweet feeling of one's own ignorance." Also of this period is the writing of Gumilyov's serious critical work "Letters on Russian Poetry", published later in 1923.

This book of exclusively poetic criticism occupies a special place in the history of Russian critical thought. The articles and reviews included in it were written by a great poet and passionate theoretician of verse, a man of impeccable poetic ear and precise taste. Possessing an unconditional gift of foresight, Gumilyov the critic outlines in his works the paths for the development of Russian poetry, and today we can see how accurate and far-sighted he was in his assessments. He expressed his understanding of poetry at the very beginning of his program article Anatomy of a Poem, which opens the collection Letters on Russian Poetry. “Among the numerous formulas that determine the essence of poetry, two stand out,” wrote N. Gumilyov, “proposed by poets who ponder the secrets of their craft. They say: "Poetry is the best words in the best order" and "Poetry is what is created and therefore does not need to be remade." Both of these formulas are based on a particularly vivid sense of the laws by which words affect our consciousness. A poet is one who "takes into account all the laws that govern the complex of words he has taken." It is this position that underlies the enormous work that Gumilyov did with young poets after the revolution, persistently teaching them the technique of verse, the secrets of that craft, without which, in his opinion, real poetry is impossible. Gumilyov wanted to write a theory of poetry, this book was not destined to be born, and his attitude to the “holy craft” of poetry is concentrated in several articles and reviews that made up “Letters on Russian Poetry”.

But over the years, Gumilyov's poetry has changed somewhat, although the foundation remains solid. In the collections of the military era, distant echoes of Blok's Russia, surrounded by rivers, and even Andrei Bely's "Ashes" suddenly appear in it. This trend continues in post-revolutionary creativity. It is amazing, but in the poems of the "Pillar of Fire" Gumilyov, as it were, extended his hand to the rejected and theoretically denounced symbolism. The poet seems to be immersed in a mystical element, in his poems fiction is intricately intertwined with reality, the poetic image becomes multidimensional, ambiguous. This is already a new romanticism, the lyric-philosophical content of which differs significantly from the romanticism of the famous "Captains", acmeistic "beautiful clarity" and concreteness.

3. Analysis of the poem "Captains"

This poem belongs to one of the first collections of Gumilyov, when "the muse of wanderings has not yet left him." In this poem, he glorifies the courage, strength and valor of the “discoverers of new lands”, this image combines the captain navy and a Spanish pirate. His captains are people who lived at the time when America was discovered, so the image of the captain resembles the heroes of the then novels.

Many features of his early work are very clearly manifested here: exoticism, a riot of colors: “gold from lace”, “... pinkish ... cuffs”; A set of feelings, love for lush interior and exterior decoration, rigor of form.

The courage of the lyrical hero who is trying to find his happiness beyond the line of being is emphasized.

Gumilyov in this poem acts as a romantic poet, much here is idealized and exaggerated.

We liked this poem very much for its exoticism, and we especially liked the lyrical hero, reminiscent of an adventurer.

4. Analysis of the poem "Slave"

The poem was written by Gumilyov under the impression he received while traveling in Africa through Abyssinia. Gumilyov was struck by the situation of the indigenous inhabitants of this country, slavery still existed in it, and it was the situation of the oppressed Negroes that served as the reason for writing this poem. Therefore, the theme here is: the oppressed and the oppressors.

A feature of the poem is that the narration is conducted from the faces of lyrical heroes - slaves. They speak of their oppressed misery:

We have to clean his things.

We must guard his mules,

And in the evening there is corned beef,

that got spoiled during the day.

As if in opposition to them, another lyrical hero becomes - a “European”, a slave owner:

He sits under the shade of a palm tree,

Wrapping your face in a veil of earth,

He puts a bottle of whiskey next to him,

And whips foaming slaves.

He is mockingly called brave, because his strength, courage lies only in a sharp saber and a “lashing whip” and “long-range weapon”. Through the words of the slaves, it is felt that Gumilyov condemns, despise this arrogant, soulless, evil coward who can feel stronger only by oppressing the powerless.

The almost complete absence of epithets can also be attributed to the features of the poem. And since the story is being told on behalf of the oppressed, in my opinion, the author wanted to emphasize by this that the slaves cannot feel anything except anger and strong hatred for the “European”, which at the end of the poem turns into a threat:

He [a European] has a delicate body

It will be sweet to pierce him with a knife.

This is the essence of the poem. Gumilyov says that the humiliations that the indigenous people were subjected to will not go unnoticed and, sooner or later, they will take revenge on the uninvited guests from Europe and regain their freedom.

Conclusion

Nikolai Gumilyov was a far from ordinary personality with an amazing and at the same time tragic fate. There is no doubt about his talent as a poet and literary critic. His life was full of severe trials, which he coped with valor: several suicide attempts in his youth, unhappy love, almost a duel, participation in the world war. But it ended at the age of 35, and who knows what brilliant works Gumilyov could still create. An excellent artist, he left an interesting and significant legacy, and had an undoubted influence on the development of Russian poetry. His students and followers, along with high romanticism, are characterized by the utmost accuracy of poetic form, so appreciated by Gumilyov himself, one of the best Russian poets of the early 20th century.

Lliterature

1) G. Mesnyaev "Renaissance" 1981-82 "In the iron shell."

2) “Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich. Poems and poems”, VK Luknitskaya.

3) “Russian literature of the XX century”. L.A. Smirnova, A.M. Turkov, A.M. Marchenko and others.

4) Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary.

5) "Tagantsev business". V. Khizhnyak. (“Evening Moscow”).

6) http://ref.repetiruem.ru/referat/nikolajj-stepanovich-gumilev2

Hosted on Allbest.ru

Nikolai Gumilyov. Biography

By the autumn of 1903, the family returned to Tsarskoye Selo. There, the future poet finishes his studies at the gymnasium, the director of which was Annensky. The turning point in Kolya's life was his acquaintance with the works of the Symbolists, and in the same 1903, the future poet met the schoolgirl Gorenko (later Akhmatova). After graduating from the gymnasium, in 1906, Nikolai, who would be very filled with events in subsequent years, leaves for Paris. In France, he attends lectures and gets acquainted with representatives of the literary and artistic environment.

Life after graduating from high school

The collection "The Way of the Conquistadors" became the first printed collection, which was released by Gumilev Nikolai. The poet's work in the early stages was in some way a "collection of early experiences", in which, nevertheless, its own intonation was already found, the image of a courageous, lyrical hero, a lonely conqueror, was traced. While subsequently in France, he makes an attempt to publish the Sirius magazine. In the issues (the first three), the poet is published under the pseudonym Anatoly Grant and under his own name - Nikolai Gumilyov. The biography of the poet in subsequent years is of particular interest. It should be said that, while in Paris, he sent correspondence to various publications: the newspapers Rus, Early Morning, and the magazine Libra.

mature period

In 1908, his second collection was published, the works in which were dedicated to Gorenko ("Romantic Poems"). With him began a mature period in the work of the poet. Bryusov, who praised the author, stated, not without pleasure, that he was not mistaken in the forecasts. "Romantic poems" became more interesting in their form, beautiful and elegant. By the spring of 1908, Gumilyov returned to his homeland. In Russia, he makes acquaintances with representatives of the literary world of St. Petersburg, begins to act as a constant critic in the newspaper Rech. Later, Gumilyov began to print his works in it.

After a trip to the East

The first trip to Egypt took place in the autumn of 1908. After that, Gumilyov entered the law faculty at the capital's university, and subsequently transferred to the historical and philological. Since 1909, he began active work as one of the organizers of the Apollo magazine. In this edition, until 1917, the poet will publish translations and poems, as well as keep one of the headings. Quite brightly Gumilev in his reviews covers the first decade of the 20th century. At the end of 1909, he leaves for a few months in Abyssinia, and on his return from there he publishes the book "Pearls".

Life since 1911

In the autumn of 1911, the "Poets' Workshop" was formed, which manifested its own autonomy from symbolism, creating its own aesthetic program. Gumilyov's "Prodigal Son" was considered the first acmeist poem. It was included in the 1912 collection Alien Sky. By that time, the reputation of a "sindic", "master", one of the most significant of them, had already firmly established itself behind the writer. In 1913, Gumilev went to Africa for six months. At the beginning of World War I, the poet volunteers for the front. In 1915, "Notes of a Cavalryman" and the collection "Quiver" were published. In the same period, his printed works "Gondla", "Child of Allah" were published. However, his patriotic impulses soon pass, and in one of his private letters he admits that for him art is higher than Africa and war. In 1918, Gumilyov sought to be sent as part of an expeditionary force, but was delayed in London and Paris until spring. Returning to Russia in the same year, the writer begins work as a translator, preparing the Gilgamesh epic, English verses and for World Literature. The Pillar of Fire was the last book published by Nikolai Gumilyov. The poet's biography ended with his arrest and execution in 1921.

Brief description of the works

Gumilyov entered Russian literature as a student of the symbolist poet Valery Bryusov. However, it should be noted that this poet was, among other things, the director of one of the gymnasiums (in Tsarskoye Selo), in which Gumilyov studied. The main theme of his works was the idea of courageous overcoming. Gumilyov's hero is a strong-willed, brave man. Over time, however, his poetry becomes less exotic. At the same time, the author's predilection for an unusual and strong personality remains. Gumilyov believes that this kind of people are not intended for everyday, everyday life. And he considers himself the same. Quite a lot and often reflecting on his own death, the author invariably presents it in an aura of heroism:

And I will not die in bed
With a notary and a doctor,
And in some wild crack,
Drowned in thick ivy.

Love and Philosophy in Late Poems

Gumilev devoted a lot of his works to feelings. His heroine in love lyrics takes on completely different guises. She can be a princess from a fairy tale, the legendary beloved of the famous Dante, a fantastic Egyptian queen. A separate line runs through his work poems to Akhmatova. Quite uneven, complex relationships were associated with her, worthy of a novel plot in themselves ("She", "From the Lair of the Serpent", "The Tamer of Beasts", etc.). Gumilyov's late poetry reflects the author's predilection for philosophical themes. At that time, living in terrible and hungry Petrograd, the poet was active in creating studios for young authors, being for them in some way an idol and teacher. At that time, some of his best works came out from Gumilyov's pen, permeated with arguments about the fate of Russia, human life, destiny ("Lost Tram", "Sixth Sense", "Memory", "My Readers" and others).

The name of Nikolai Gumilyov by the time he returned, in the second year of perestroika, to literature (1986) had been banned for more than sixty years. Among the so-called “returned names”, it appeared one of the last, much later, for example, M. Tsvetaeva or O. Mandelstam, and before them S. Yesenin and A. Blok, as well as some others.

The reason for such a long execution by silence was the accusation of participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy, for which he was shot on August 24, 1921. At present, not only the version of N. Gumilyov's participation in the aforementioned conspiracy is considered untenable, but the very existence of the conspiratorial organization is also called into question.

The exceptionally long and strictly strict, never mitigated ban that lay on the name of N. Gumilyov for several decades led to the fact that, of course, there could be no question of any study of his work. Even in those few works on the history of poetry, where, of necessity, it was necessary to talk about a group of acmeists, the creator and leader of which, as you know, was N. Gumilyov, his name was nonetheless carefully and not without invention - euphemisms like " the author of Quiver" or "in the statements of the author of Alien Sky", etc.

True, as in many other similar or similar cases, the writer, who, unfortunately, was too famous in his time, who left a noticeable mark on the history of literature or even created a trend (in this case, acmeism), which had an undeniable impact on subsequent poetic development - such a writer still could not, with all the prohibitions imposed on him, disappear from literary memory without a trace or a sound.

There were always a lot of people who were friends with him, studied (if we talk directly about Gumilyov) in his Studio, entered the Workshop of Poets, published in Apollo or Hyperborea, and often were witnesses of his entire short life that passed at before their eyes; such people carefully kept the memory of the executed master or friend, good acquaintance or just the addressee; they were people, as a rule, who knew the history of culture well, in which cases like Gumilev's, unfortunately, were repeated with noticeable regularity; in the depths of their grateful and remembering souls, these people continued to hope for the triumph of justice. True, justice in relation to Gumilyov was distinguished by extreme slowness; this time society, unlike the times of previous despotisms, monarchical or republican, who punished their poets, it seemed, only in order to immediately pardon them fervently, turned out to be completely extraordinary in its ferocity. And those who knew and loved Gumilyov, remembered his voice and figure, his manner of reading or little oddities, who remembered poems that were not published anywhere or stanzas thrown out by the poet, they gradually descended into the grave. But still there were long-livers. They not only, like M. Lozinsky, lovingly cherished his books and manuscripts, but not without risk, like P. Luknitsky, for example, they created a carefully documented biography (“Works and Days of Nikolai Gumilyov”). This love, which reached the point of passion and was even constantly spurred on by the ban itself, was also transmitted orally - to young listeners and poets. Such an occupation was even more dangerous than even the storage of manuscripts or secret work on the chronicle of Gumilev's life, since the shadow of a "conspiracy" at a time of general vigilance and the prevalence of denunciations could suddenly appear over a similar circle of people fascinated by poetry who gathered at the tea table to listen to poetry. from the senile lips of the former Gumilyov studios like Ida Nappelbaum, who did not escape exile, or others, happier, whom this cup safely passed. There were also collectors - people, as you know, fanatical, walking along the edge of the abyss, as if not noticing it; some of them (for example, M. V. Atmanizov) at the cost of deprivation collected a lot related to N. Gumilyov, so that when, finally, the time came to start publishing his works, the contribution of these disinterested people turned out to be absolutely invaluable.

And besides, all the time something remained and hovered in the air of the era, as if the poems of an executed poet, dispersed like charged particles, suddenly flashed in the form of either an unnamed quotation, or an unexpected remark in the mouth of a character, as, for example, in the poem E Bagritsky "February", where the fighter with tired bitterness says: "I would also sit in comfort, talk about Gumilyov ...". D. Zolotnitsky, who cited similar cases in his article on the dramaturgy of N. Gumilyov, also recalled a characteristic scene from the second act of the “Optimistic Tragedy” by Vs. Vishnevsky, where there was a dialogue between the Commissar and the Commander:

"Commissioner. You can answer me directly: how do you feel about us, the Soviet government?
COMMANDER (dryly and sadly). As long as it's calm. (Pause). Why, exactly, are you asking me? You are famous for the ability to learn the secrets of entire classes. However, it is so simple. It is enough to leaf through our Russian literature and you will see.
Commissioner. Those who “having discovered a riot on board, a pistol tears from their belt, so that gold pours from lace, from pinkish Brabant cuffs.” So?
Commander (offended). It is very curious that you know Gumilyov by heart ... ".

“Gumilyov the poet sounded,” D. Zolotnitsky wrote on this occasion, “the plenipotentiary representative of“ our Russian literature ”. And he was like that in all, presumably, numerous stage versions of Optimistic Tragedy. Unless paradoxically, the situation as a whole was seen: textbook verses of an unpublished poet were read from the stage ... ”.

Commissar in the play Sun. Vishnevsky quotes the famous "Captains" N. Gumilyov. This poem was generally very lucky: the stanza “Or discovering a riot on board ...” was cited more than once without the name of the author in a variety of articles. It must be assumed that Vs. Vishnevsky, who took the real image of Larisa Reisner as a prototype for his Commissar, of course, knew about the close friendship that existed between N. Gumilyov and the Red Commissar of the Baltic Fleet Reisner. Perhaps it was for this reason that the verses of N. Gumilyov, not entirely obligatory in the dramatic text, sounded in his tragedy.

Similar escapes from bans that happened to other banned poets (let us recall, for example, B. Kornilov’s song “The morning meets us with coolness ...”) were rare, but they testified: the hour of the resurrection of true artists is inevitable.

N. Tikhonov, probably not referring to N. Gumilyov, but referring to all the writers hidden in the archives and special depositories, wrote:

The time will come, the archives will open,
And what has been hidden so far
All secret stories twist,
Will reveal glory and shame to the world.
Other gods will then fade faces,
And every trouble will be exposed,
But what was truly great
It will remain great forever.

The appearance in the press of the next "returned name" in different years was arranged in different ways, but always with certain precautions. It was assumed that, despite the return and rehabilitation, nevertheless, a certain “blemish” in the returned name remained unremovable and the reader should have been protected from it with the help of introductory or concluding articles resembling a kind of control turnstile. M. Chudakova in her article “Look in the face” (see the collection “Vzglyad”, M., 1988) accurately and witty described such passes that had various modifications in Khrushchev, Brezhnev and other times. Of particular interest from this point of view is, of course, the time of the “first thaw” (after the 20th Congress), but even later such “treatment facilities” continued to exist, having survived in a more decent form to this day, which can be an example of literary critics in civilian clothes near the novel You. Grossman "Life and Fate" and his story "Everything flows". Sometimes a person dressed in a high position acted as a passer (for example, A. Surkov - the author of the preface to one of the first books after the Zhdanov pogrom of Akhmatova, or V. Karpov - the author of the second (!) Introductory article to the first collection of N. Gumilyov). In those cases when the author was considered to have already been firmly returned, and only some of his work, hitherto banned, was published, the case could do without official support (Akhmatova's Requiem).

The very fact that Gumilyov could not appear at the time of the “thaw” testified to the strictest secrecy of his figure and unconditional excommunication from literature.

And the fact that he appeared in print quite unexpectedly for readers, and even in the April issue of Ogonyok, dedicated to the traditional Lenin date and with a portrait of Lenin on the cover, spoke of a major shift in the socio-political life of the country.

Publications of N. Gumilyov's poems in Literary Russia (April 11, 1986, No. 15 (1211), p. 18) and in Ogonyok (1986, No. 17, p. 26-28), and also soon in " Literaturnaya Gazeta (1986, May 14, No. 20(5086), p. 7) were accompanied by introductory articles, but mostly of an informational nature. It is interesting, however, that in a brief note by the poet B. Primerov, preceded by the publication of Gumilyov's poems ("Magic Violin", "Andrei Rublev", "Captains", "Victory of Samothrace", "Olga", "Old Conquistador", "Love", “The poet is lazy, even swan-like…”, “Perseus”), the motif about Gumilyov’s latent fame and the attractiveness of his semi-mysterious personality immediately arose. “For the first time, the poems of Nikolai Gumilyov,” wrote B. Examples in his note, “I heard from the lips of the wonderful Russian prose writer Vitaly Aleksandrovich Zakrutkin. It was a long time ago, at the dawn of my youth. Author of "Caucasian Notes" and "Floating Village", participant of the Great Patriotic War, read passionately, enthusiastically, with some kind of special love. Lines, like nails, entered into a young strong memory from the first blow of a strong, precise word:

I do not offend them with neurasthenia,
I do not humiliate with warmth,
I don't bother with meaningful hints
On the contents of the eaten egg.
But when bullets whistle around
When the waves break the sides
I teach them how not to be afraid
Don't be afraid and do what needs to be done.

It was, - B. Examples explained further his feeling, - human self-affirmation. Then, several years later, from conversations with many poets of the military generation, I learned what influence Gumilyov had on them - from Tikhonov to Shubin, from Simonov to Nedogonov .. ".

The unpretentious note by B. Primerov, which did not contain any information about Gumilyov, except that "in Russian poetry there is such an original poet as Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov", is interesting because it was one of the first open confessions of Gumilyov. And although the author, of necessity, pretended that the publication of Gumilyov’s poems was almost a common thing (“Today, Literaturnaya Gazeta publishes a selection of his poems in connection with the 100th anniversary of the poet’s birth”), so a naive reader might think that such selections appeared for each successive anniversary of Gumilyov - nevertheless, it was an event out of the ordinary. But since Gumilyov was still unknown to the majority of the poet, and for some part he was quite reprehensible (after all, he was shot by the Soviet authorities), the newspaper was forced to protect both itself and Gumilyov with references to the veteran of the Great Patriotic War, the remarkable Russian prose writer Zakrutkin, in also mention the interest of poets in him - "from Tikhonov to Shubin ...".

This was another variation of the precautions already mentioned.

One way or another, but the road for publications was open. Not only collections of Gumilyov's poems appeared in the press, but also his prose and correspondence. Started in-depth Scientific research creativity of this rather complex, interesting and virtually unexplored poet. An important milestone was the publication of his poems and poems in the Large Series of the Poet's Library, where essentially the entire corpus of Gumilyov's poetry was presented, that is, almost all of his books: "Romantic Flowers", "Pearls", "Alien Sky", "Quiver", "Bonfire", "Porcelain Pavilion", "Tent" and "Pillar of Fire", as well as poems and part of the plays.

The publication of the Poet's Library also took into account the publications of N. Gumilyov's works abroad, in particular the Collected Works in four volumes (Washington, 1962-1968) and two one-volume books that significantly supplemented the Collected Works (N. S. Gumilyov. Unpublished poems and letters Paris, 1980; Gumilyov Nikolay. Unpublished and uncollected / Compiled, edited and commented by M. Basker and S. Gray, Paris, 1986).

And yet, despite the great work done not only by the Poet's Library, but also by other publishing houses, and despite a number of articles clarifying Gumilyov's creative path, illuminating him with new facts, there is still a lot to be done.

First of all, it is necessary to work out, at least in a preliminary form, but with the maximum approximation to the truth, a general concept of Gumilev's work; it is necessary to establish its place in the history of Russian poetry of the 20th century; it is necessary to determine the ways of Gumilyov's influence on Soviet poetry; find out the main interactions of the poet with his contemporaries; trace the originality of his poetic method; explore his aesthetic views; comprehend the nature of his drama and the originality of prose; to study the principles of his translation work, as well as much, much more, including such important points as, for example, the nature, evolution and meaning of Gumilyov's Orientalism. It can be said that, perhaps, none of these aspects has yet been truly elucidated and investigated.

Some of these problems are covered in one way or another in this collection. This is the first scientific collective study of Gumilyov's work, which includes both scientific developments related to individual problems and specific materials that can become the object of further research.

Of no small importance for comprehending Gumilyov's work is the development of a common view of evolution and the nature of his path.

It is known that for quite a long time its development was remarkably slow and unoriginal. Partly for this reason, the mentioned edition of his works in the "Poet's Library" begins with his second book ("Romantic Flowers"), since the author himself was ready to forget the first book. Of course, such cases, when the author seeks to forget (burn, buy up) his first books, are not so rare in the history of literature - one can recall Nekrasov, Polonsky and others, but the "Gumilyov case" still leaves this series, since his second the book - "Romantic Flowers" was strictly no better than the first, and the third - "Pearls", although it contained certain achievements, nevertheless surpassed the first two more in its volume. The first - real, Gumilyov's, acmeist - book was, as Gumilyov himself believed, "Alien Sky".

We can agree with the consideration expressed on this subject by Vyach. Sun. Ivanov, who writes about the slow development of N. Gumilyov and about the many very weak poems in his early books. “He reveals himself surprisingly late as a great poet. This must be borne in mind even now, when they begin to get acquainted with him again and acquaint him. It is not worthwhile to furnish this acquaintance academically, in chronological order of the first collections, which can only repel him, in any case, they are unlikely to attract people experienced in the achievements of the new Russian poetry ... ".

This is true, and the first publications of N. Gumilyov’s poems (both in Literary Russia and Ogonyok in 1986), which included clearly weak, imitative and, as it were, not even “Gumilyov” works, if we mean their high appearance, formed on the basis of mature compositions, probably disappointed many, many.

However, for serious scientific study, the so-called weak works are also of interest and deserve the closest attention, since in them one can always see, firstly, the makings of future achievements, and secondly, they make it possible to determine the initial effects and influences - after all, on In weak works that have not overcome direct imitation, it is always easier to notice traces of the previous or surrounding literary background than on things that are completely original and therefore completely dissolved in themselves both this background and everything connected with it.

Perhaps, it is precisely for the study of N. Gumilyov that his weak poems can give more than for the study of any other poet from his talented (and immediately talented) contemporaries. And indeed, isn’t it of undoubted interest at least the fact that the future reformer of poetry, as N. Gumilyov considered himself, who set as his goal to change (or, according to V. Zhirmunsky, “overcome”) symbolism, wrote his first books under the strongest , before imitation, the impact of symbolism? The influence of symbolist poetics was so great that N. Gumilyov, even in his future acmeist manifestos, recognized symbolism as a “worthy father”. He dedicated the collection "Pearls" to V. Bryusov, under whose attentive mentorship, as you know, he began his career. The influence of A. Blok on him still needs to be studied, but the researcher cannot but be attracted by the seemingly paradoxical fact of the strengthening of Blok’s influence in the late lyrics - in the Pillar of Fire and in the poems surrounding it, not to mention Blok’s almost outward reminiscences in collection "To the Blue Star". If we take into account the constant and seemingly intensified confrontation that existed between Blok and Gumilyov, then such influences seem extremely fruitful for studying this very problem associated with symbolism and acmeism.

Early Gumilyov, especially if we keep in mind his "pre-literary" period, that is, the gymnasium manuscript collection "Mountains and Gorges", as well as the first book "The Way of the Conquistadors", was influenced not only by the older symbolists, who were then at their zenith, but and the experience of poetry of the 70s and 80s, for example, S. Nadson, K. Fofanov, N. Minsky, as well as a number of ten-degree and now firmly forgotten poets. An analysis of the collection "Mountains and Gorges" could show that N. Gumilyov, a high school student, was not alien to that note of citizenship, which was characteristic, in particular, of S. Nadson and N. Minsky, since it was during that period (in Tiflis) that he a very short period of enthusiasm for public interests and even ... Marxism passed. By the way, this period, when the future supporter of asocial art read K. Marx and even went to some kind of circle organized by Tiflis bakers, is almost completely unknown to us, and it should, as well as some other aspects of the biography of N. Gumilyov , examine carefully. Perhaps the outbreak of interest in sociality, which quickly died out, but, one must think, still left some trace in the soul, was also connected with the Boer War, which unfolded precisely at the time when the Tiflis gymnasium schoolboy was writing poems in his album entitled "Mountains and Gorges". The struggle of the freedom-loving Boers then aroused great sympathy in Russia, the song about a boy who helped his father fight the English colonialists remained popular decades after these legendary events. The high school students dreamed of running away to Africa to take part in the struggle of an exotic country for their independence. It is quite possible that the future African singer first felt love for the "dark continent" in those early years. He witnessed a colorful and pathetic send-off to the Boer War by one of the Georgian princes, who went there as a volunteer. It is not surprising that in that atmosphere some of the civic motives that sounded in the verses of individual poets, although they had nothing to do with the Boer War, nevertheless fell into the mind of the young poet.

However, as already mentioned, social motives did not germinate then in the lyrics of N. Gumilyov, responding many years later only in some African poems (“Abyssinian Songs”, etc.). He completely falls under the influence of the Symbolists and the latest poetry in general, especially its elegant and exotic wing. K. Balmont becomes his idol for some time. On the book of K. Balmont “We will be like the sun” (M., 1903, publishing house “Scorpion”), donated by N. Gumilyov to one of his acquaintances, a dedicatory inscription has been preserved: “... from a sincerely devoted friend, rival of Balmont, N. Gumilyov ", as well as (on title page of the same book) two poems filled with an enthusiastic attitude towards Balmont. As for V. Bryusov, it is unlikely that N. Gumilyov even at the time of enthusiastic admiration came up with the idea of becoming a “rival” - in his eyes V. Bryusov was inaccessible, and the young poet chose him as his teacher. The letters of N. Gumilyov to V. Bryusov, partially published, testify that he was very attentive to the advice and comments of his mentor and generally recognized master. This respectful attitude, in fact, did not change even when V. Bryusov was very skeptical about the prospects of acmeism. In "Letters on Russian Poetry" by N. Gumilyov, one can also see traces of careful study by V. Bryusov, and not so much, of course, in specific assessments and not even in the interpretation of the nature of the poetic process, its laws, etc. - in all this N. Gumilyov was independent and original, but in his sensitivity to art, in his ability and desire to discern in works that were not distinguished by maturity, tendencies and inclinations of future development. Apparently, all his life he gratefully remembered the unexpectedly approving assessment that V. Bryusov, strict and impartial, gave to his first book, The Way of the Conquistadors. The assessment was undoubtedly overestimated, but V. Bryusov was right at the same time, because he saw in the young, unknown to him poet something that no one saw then and that even the debutant himself did not guess. The review, in fact, was strict, it meticulously listed all the shortcomings of this very weak book, but it was encouraging and guiding.

The support of the senior symbolist, which inspired N. Gumilyov very much, testified not only to the far-sighted mercy of the venerable poet, but, of course, also to the fact that the poems of the young N. Gumilyov were, in his opinion, somewhat akin to symbolist creative experience, in that number and experience of V. Bryusov himself. The romantic pathos of N. Gumilyov, his desire to write historical scenes and sketches, and even grandiloquent eloquence - all this, in a weakened and even exaggerated form, resembled Bryusov's manner. In a word, N. Gumilyov began in line with symbolism and really owed a lot to him.

N. Gumilyov's acmeism and symbolism (in the broad sense of this concept) is a vast and unexplored topic. But preliminary it can still be said that at least three important points had great importance for the formation and further development of the author of future magnificent books - "Alien Sky", "Quiver", "Pillar of Fire". Being a pioneer and a reformer by his artistic nature, N. Gumilyov could not but appreciate and perceive the very spirit of creative courage inherent in the older symbolists, who liberated the verse and taught the poetic word to come close to music. With all the difference between acmeist and symbolist poetics, for example, the clarity of poetic speech and the firmness of the drawing inherent in N. Gumilyov, he always sought to reveal the internal airy-shimmering nature of the verse. His famous double pyrrhics, peonic swallowing, which gave mobility and lightness to rhythm and lively naturalness, almost colloquialism to a line and a word - all this, of course, came from the experience of the Symbolists, who cultivated musicality and hypno-rhythm in their work, helping their verse to glide and soar and even, as it were, to dissolve in the trembling aura of numerous harmonies.

In his early books, N. Gumilyov was still purely imitative in this respect, and therefore, in direct, concrete work with verse, he was almost rude and primitive. His poems of those years (especially in The Way of the Conquistador and Romantic Flowers, and to a lesser extent in Pearls) look like diligent and conscientious plaster casts from symbolist models and models. V. Bryusov could not but appreciate such a patient and selfless study - that is why he praised these experiments so much, perhaps hoping that in the person of N. Gumilyov there would appear a worthy replacement for symbolism, which already foresaw the emerging crisis at the time of the first Gumilyov books. The time allowed for the flowering of symbolism was already numbered - 1909 and 1910 were approaching, when a crushing crisis, from which symbolism did not recover, broke out almost along the entire front of this trend. A well-known paradox that threatened N. Gumilyov with an inevitable catastrophe was that as symbolism approached the abyss, towards the end, towards exhaustion, suddenly, it turned out, there was a diligent student who intended to raise the banner, which, however, was still quite high held by the older generation, perhaps while hoping for some miracle of salvation and restoration. Alas, as we approached the fatal line, symbolism in its individual manifestations began to look already ridiculous and tragicomic. Here it is enough to recall at least the figure of Ellis, who continued to fight even when the Symbolists left the battlefield. But in 1905 it was still relatively prosperous, it was less calm at the time of the appearance of the second book (“Romantic Flowers”). It is no coincidence that V. Bryusov's review of Romantic Flowers looks even more affirmative - in its positive assessment and in forecasts. One even gets the impression that the master was waiting for this book - he still hoped for a worthy replacement: the work of the older symbolists should not have died out. “Of course,” he wrote, “despite some successful plays, and “Romantic Flowers” is only a student's book. But I would like to believe that N. Gumilyov belongs to the number of writers who develop slowly and therefore rise high. Perhaps, continuing to work with the same persistence as now, he will be able to go much further than we have planned, he will open up possibilities in himself that we do not suspect.

However, already in the "Romantic Flowers" there were features that foreshadowed a different path of development - not a symbolist one. I must say that V. Bryusov, as well as other critics (for example, V. Hoffman) immediately noticed them. True, V. Bryusov, relying on his hopes and being sure that N. Gumilyov was his diligent and faithful student, tried to classify them not as features that were already organically and rigorously maturing in the manner of a young author, but as shortcomings that follow his advice to overcome. So, V. Bryusov believed that N. Gumilyov "often lacks the power of direct suggestion." This was an exceptionally important and correct observation, since even in this book his student already refused, and “often”, from such a serious tool as the hypnotically charged poetic word and the bewitching line, which had the power of “magic suggestion”, in the skillful hands of the Symbolists, taking the soul and consciousness of the reader (or listener) into musical captivity. And from the fundamental principle "Music first!" this obedient student refused.

Among the “shortcomings” from which young N. Gumilyov, if he really wanted to remain a faithful student, V. Bryusov again attributed the desire of the author of “Romantic Flowers” to “objectivity” that he correctly noted, when “the poet himself disappears behind the pictures he painted images." This flaw, according to V. Bryusov, leads to the fact that when it is necessary to “transmit inner experiences with the music of verse and the charm of words,” he immediately loses as an artist.

At first glance, such remarks by V. Bryusov, who is far from being alien to "objective" lyrics, for example, in those cases when he painted historical scenes and paintings, seem strange. After all, it is quite possible that the diligent student N. Gumilyov in such poems as “The Warrior of Agamemnon”, “Androgyne”, “Barbarians”, “Queen”, “Return of Odysseus”, followed exactly V. Bryusov:

Your forehead is in curls of bronze tint,
Like steel, your eyes are sharp.
You thoughtful bosses
Bonfires were lit in Tibet.
When Timur is in a dull rage
Peoples thrown to their meta,
You were carried in the deserts of the Gobi
On his battle shield.
And you entered the fortress of Agra.
Bright as the ancient Lilith,
Your funny onagers
They rang with golden hooves...
("Queen")

However, one can even say that the entire book "Romantic Flowers" is clearly "Bryusov's", in this respect it is much more imitative than "The Way of the Conquistadors", in it N. Gumilyov followed many poets, but mostly third-rate ones. Meanwhile, the teacher remained dissatisfied with his student exactly where he, it would seem, followed him to a greater extent. Oddly enough, but N. Gumilyov violated the principles of symbolism, approaching the minimum distance to its founder. The thing is that the student, as the author of “Romantic Flowers” continued to feel, began to develop organically, in his diligent plaster casts, lovingly reproducing Bryusov’s samples, features began to appear coming from his own personality that had moved into growth. V. Bryusov did not feel the essence of this movement at that time, he felt betrayal, but did not understand what exactly it was, and meanwhile his remarks about the “objective” manner that interfered with the art of “suggestion” directly concerned precisely the “points of growth”. Almost instinctively, he tried to remove these points in a timely manner, almost surgically - with the help of a sharp scalpel of his analysis and powerful authority.

In "Romantic Flowers" N. Gumilyov, it should be noted, was, as a poet and artist, in a state of very shaky, uncertain balance. Next to the poem "The Queen", which has just been partially quoted, was the poem "Comrade" in his collection - its poetics, intonational structure, imagery are subject to the magic of suggestion so desired by V. Bryusov:

Something's coming close, right
Cold languishing in the chest penetrated.
Every night in the immense darkness
I see a cute, strange face...

Sweet hope I believe
Dreams do not know how to lie,
Soon I will go with you, as before,
In the fields of an unknown country.
("Comrade", 123, 124)

It seemed that the poet could develop in both directions - everything depended on where and how the Teacher would indicate. So it seemed to V. Bryusov. Perhaps N. Gumilyov himself tried to follow the path offered to him by an experienced and benevolent hand.

But it was too late: the talent, which had grown with such difficulty in the soul of the young poet, began to grow on its own. Now he himself led Gumilyov behind him, leaving in his soul gratitude to the Teacher and ... symbolism. Not without reason, soon, already being the head of acmeism, he will say that symbolism was and remains a "worthy father." In the facial features of Gumilyov's lyrics, including later ones, one can discern a family resemblance. However, neither Gumilyov, nor Akhmatova, nor Mandelstam ever disowned him: they all perfectly understood the fruitfulness of the preliminary school they had gone through.

The problem of "Gumilyov and symbolism" or "symbolism and acmeism" is a large and complex one, it contains many different aspects that require reflection and research. Some of them are obvious, others are semi-hidden or indirect. Among the obvious, but insufficiently studied, is, for example, a well-known kinship with symbolism in relation to the previous culture. The versatility of cultural traditions, which was highly characteristic of both the older and younger Symbolists, their orientation towards the Western pan-European (originally predominantly French) experience, the ability to creatively rework it, making it an organic property of Russian poetic culture - all this was no less inherent in and acmeists. When asked what acmeism is, O. Mandelstam once answered that it is a thirst for culture. The manifesto articles of the acmeists contain a number of Western European names relating to different milestones - from Dante and Rabelais, from Petrarch and Villon to the recent "damned" poets - Rimbaud and Verlaine. In relation to the previous culture, they were so aggressive and so greedy that they were sometimes reproached for illegibility. But intuition, industriousness, the development of a refined taste, constant looking back at the high philological culture of the leaders of Symbolism - all this contributed to the fact that in this area they were worthy sons of the Symbolists.

Their main disagreement with the Symbolists concerned mainly two points: they strove to see and show the world in a material and clear way, without constant references to the world beyond and beyond, as was the case with the Symbolists. They recognized the otherness of the spirit no less than their predecessors, but they preferred to deal with earthly reality in its bodily, flowering or decaying flesh. According to their plan, the word from the ether of allegory was obliged to acquire a solid and concrete meaning, to descend to the earth, and in the case when it dealt with clouds, then these should have been earthly clouds - with rain moisture that sings the earth, or dusk shadow that shelters her from the heat.

However, with all the outward opposition regarding the word, when in some it was permeated and held by the ambiguity of meanings, melting in the fog of abstractions and symbols, while in others it held on to earth, flesh, concreteness and therefore preferred a hard shell, both of them significantly and often innovatively expanded the verbal tools. Acmeists, of course, were incomparably great and principled realists in their art, and, in addition, the very spirit of their work was distinguished by a peculiar masculinity - and not only with Gumilyov or Mandelstam, but also with Akhmatova. Since they accepted the world as it is in reality, they could not help but be courageous, their very aesthetic position presupposed just such a quality. Another thing is that they preferred to see reality rather one-sidedly, refusing to see and depict "sociality" - here the acmeists again converged with certain aspects of symbolist art, which, however, went, especially after the crisis (with Blok and some others), even somewhat ahead principled apoliticality of the acmeists.

Without going into details of this issue, which requires careful and comprehensive study, it should be immediately noted that the "apoliticism" and "asociality" of the acmeists are far from unambiguous. Here there are clichés and those ossified traditional opinions and judgments that require, if not revision, then at least serious clarifications. The fact is that between declarations, manifestation statements and artistic practice, as you know, there is always a certain gap. It also existed among the Acmeists. This small group was generally very heterogeneous, which is especially striking just because of its small number. Those six people who formed the group, it would seem, could relatively easily establish a certain unity among themselves, so that with the inevitable dissimilarity of individual handwriting, the group would be distinguished by the solidity conceived by them themselves. And they, indeed, were very eager for this, having established rather strict rules in the “Poets' Workshop”: no one was supposed to go beyond the limits prescribed by the aesthetic program, everyone was obliged to read and discuss their works among like-minded comrades, no one was to publish works without the permission of the group, etc., even to the smallest regulation. Such rigor, perhaps, was not in any of the previous or modern groups and trends, including the Futurists, who were organized virtually simultaneously with the “Poets’ Workshop”, but who kindly accepted artists who were very far from the letter of their programs, for example B. Livshits. The strict, deliberately medieval charter introduced in the "Workshop" did not save him, however, from powerful centrifugal forces, with which none of the three so-called syndics could cope. It turned out that S. Gorodetsky alone was the most orthodox (and, perhaps, precisely for this reason, creatively uninteresting). He observed the charter strictly and strictly, but his efforts only led to the fact that disagreements that could not have been so noticeable appeared in relief. True, except for S. Gorodetsky, no one was especially sad about this, since everyone understood that the artistic nature is always stronger and wider than programmatic dogmas and schemes. The first victim of S. Gorodetsky fell, as you know, the head and founder of the school - N. Gumilyov, who published a poem about the medieval Italian artist Fra Beato Angelico, in which, according to S. Gorodetsky, the most important principle of Adamism was violated - the courageous major acceptance of life . N. Gumilyov's poem, shrouded in a haze of unacceptable melancholy and sadness, as well as an equally unacceptable thought about the transience of life in the face of eternity, seemed to the second syndic almost a betrayal of guild interests. True, if S. Gorodetsky looked around him more carefully, he could notice similar motives in Akhmatova, in whose lyrics the tragedy of life already made itself felt, with all the outward acmeistic pictorialism of her poems; he might have noticed similar features in Mandelstam, who prepared "Tristia", but already obvious in "Stone"; moreover, they are also visible in M. Zenkevich, N. Otsup, M. Lozinsky ... Only S. Gorodetsky, who for many years stopped at one point, did not have them. It is interesting that, being at the time of the first "Shop of Poets" the most orthodox, ready to punish and excommunicate, the second syndic in the 20s renounced the "Shop" and its program.

The pre-war era, on the eve of the imperialist war and two revolutions, could not but make itself felt, in spite of all soundproof programs. The poetry of real artists could not but convey the deaf blows of the era.

In addition, it is impossible not to take into account that in the "Shop of Poets" with its "severe" monastic charter and checks for "orthodoxy", with its "syndics", "apprentices" and other elements of the ritual, there was a lot from the game, from acting and hidden under the seriousness of buffoonery. The "Poets' Workshop" coincided in time with the creation of the famous artistic cabaret "The Stray Dog" with its open and principled theatricality, the hierarchy of visitors, eccentricity, etc. There were also actors from Alexandrinka and Mikhailovsky, as well as other theaters and theater people, often in theatrical costumes and make-up; from one theatrical environment they fell into another. But a similar thing happened with the acmeists, who from their theatrical meetings came to the basement on Mikhailovskaya.

But theater is theater, and life dictated to poetry, conscience and soul its music and unexpected motives, marked by unexpected tragic voicing.

The gap between the "program" and life was especially painful when it threatened to become a gap between life and art. This was tragically felt not only by the acmeists Gumilyov and Akhmatova, Mandelstam and Zenkevich, but also by the Futurists, especially Mayakovsky, and the Symbolists, mainly Blok, who was already beginning to listen to the first bars of revolutionary music that arose from. undivided chaos of events. It would be extremely interesting to follow this undoubtedly general regularity. To some extent, it seems to be especially significant and bright precisely in the work and evolution of the acmeists, who declared in their programs about fundamental asociality.

From this point of view, Gumilyov's work can be considered and comprehended in many ways in a new way, more deeply, truthfully and, in a certain sense, more, so to speak, "typologically".

The foregoing does not mean that Gumilyov's creative path needs to be "straightened out" or even more so to pull it towards the left wing of art, towards revolution, etc., but it certainly needs serious adjustment.

His inner, spiritual world developed according to its intimate laws, going towards life, towards its reality and even towards its sociality, but not in a direct way, but in a complex, contradictory and, mainly, indirect way, most often at great depth, in a deeply personal and even the hidden sphere of the creative subconscious, the work of which was not always visible even to the poet himself.

One of critical issues, by which the researcher of N. Gumilyov's creativity cannot pass, is his orientalism. The study of it is all the more important because the conviction of the complete asociality of his poetry, as well as, of course, of his worldview, is largely based on his development of oriental motifs. N. Gumilyov, as you know, was repeatedly compared with R. Kipling, giving him the title of Russian Kiplingian, singer of Russian colonialism, etc. This point of view was so stable in the 1920s and subsequent years that it became, as it were, axiomatic, and since about N. Gumilyov from about the middle, but especially from the end of the 20s, they were mentioned less and less, she, this point of view, remained the only one. No one could not only challenge it, since this represented a serious danger, but even develop it, since the mere mention of this name was made undesirable. It was believed, moreover, that the participation of the poet, the singer of imperialism in the counter-revolutionary conspiracy, was the final and all-explaining argument, about which there was really nothing to argue about.

Today, this aspect of N. Gumilyov's work, his Oriental studies, is being revised, but still it has not yet been studied either widely enough, much less deeply enough.

A. Davidson, the author of a number of works on the history, culture and literature of the countries of South and Tropical Africa, as well as on the history of Russian-African relations, was one of the first to consider this problem in most detail. In the extensive article "The Muse of Distant Wanderings" (1988) and in the monograph of the same name (1993), the author dwelled not only on the poems of N. Gumilyov, but also on his prose - the preserved pages from the diary, the essay "African Hunt", published by the poet in 1916 . in "Monthly literary and popular-scientific supplements" to the magazine "Niva", stories from the cycle "Shadow from a Palm Tree" and some others. He also gave the necessary facts about the expeditions to Africa, in which N. Gumilyov participated. A. Davidson also dwells on the accusations that were repeatedly brought against N. Gumilyov, who was considered in the eyes of some as a “romantic colonizer”, and convincingly refutes them.

But what nevertheless served as the root cause of such an interpretation of orientalist motives in the work of N. Gumilyov, on what are they based?

I must say that N. Gumilyov gave certain reasons for this. People who did not know N. Gumilyov well, were not familiar with his worldview, did not understand his true attitude to the "Eastern theme", were inclined to judge all this, based on two or three features and features, really convex, categorically and even pathetically looming in his "African" poetry. N. Gumilyov, as you know, was a romantic, and what fell into the field of his greedy and tenacious vision was greatly enhanced both in color and in sound. He wrote about Africa so passionately, so "excitedly", with such frantic love and absorption in everything he saw, with such, in a word, incredible aggressiveness of feeling that all this flurry that he brought down on the reader made him think of him as a peculiar, albeit literary and poetic, the conqueror of African spaces. He really “captured” these spaces both in his pathetic word, and in passionate intonation, and in the desire to “appropriate” this country for himself - its beauty, its unthinkable riches, its wind, heat, sounds, its birds and animals - all these " exquisite giraffes”, crocodiles, lions, peacocks, rhinoceroses and everything that lived, sang, trembled, ran and flew, swam and crawled in this amazing, incredible beauty, the only fairy tale country in the whole world! .. From this point of view (but only from this point of view) in literature (not only in Russian) did not exist before Gumilev so aggressive towards the "black continent" of the poet. Africa was for him, without any exaggeration, a "reflection of paradise", and perhaps even paradise itself, which, oddly enough, existed not in heaven, but on earth:

Gardener of Almighty God
In a silvery mantle of wings
Created a reflection of paradise:
He spread shady groves
whimsical mimosas and acacias,
He planted baobabs on the hills,
In the galleries of the forests where it's cool
And light, as in a Doric temple,
He led deep rivers
And in a mighty burst of delight
Created a quiet Lake Chad.
And then, smiling like a boy,
That came up with a funny joke
He gathered here quite unprecedented,
Amazing birds and animals.
Taking colors from desert sunsets,
He painted the feathers of parrots,
He gave the elephant fangs, which is whiter
African sky clouds
Lion dressed in golden clothes
And the spotted dress of the leopard,
He made a horn, like amber, for a rhinoceros,
Gave the gazelles girlish eyes.
("Sudan", 291, 292)

N. Gumilyov has many such enthusiastic poems, and if we talk about the intonation, what dominates in them, then this is the intonation of delight and admiration.

And yet it is strange why this love, this violent impulse, this passion and admiration, the interpreters comprehended as colonialism, aggressiveness, etc.?

Of course, romanticism is always based on a kind of aggressiveness, which implies two equally insatiable desires, expressed in childish words: “mine!” and "give!". They are highly characteristic of N. Gumilyov. And yet this circumstance does not provide any explanation for the accusations that suddenly fell on the enamored knight of Africa, discrediting him in the eyes of subsequent generations. Some understanding of this strange circumstance is given, apparently, by the peculiarities of the poet's artistic manner, noticed by V. Bryusov, who wrote that N. Gumilyov is characterized by "objective lyrics", where the poet himself disappears behind the images he painted.

But the matter was aggravated by the fact that the poet not only liked to disappear behind the images he painted, but went even further - he created a mask, which, however, he changed depending on the scene and his tasks, but behind which he really hid his face. "Mask" also came from romanticism, from romantic and theatrical props. In The Way of the Conquistadors, and in other early books, it is the mask that dominates - the mask of the fearless conquistador, conqueror and conqueror, powerful and cruel:

Like a conquistador in an iron shell,
I went on my way...
("Sonnet", 81)

The mask became a kind of artistic discovery by N. Gumilyov, which helped him "enter unrecognized" wherever his romantic dream led him.

When the dream turned into reality, that is, it led him to that fabulous country about which he so passionately and literary dreamed, he did not drop this mask. So, in the mask of a conquistador, he appeared to the readers of his African poems. They, these poems, were imbued with masculinity, their rhythm was resilient, the intonation was adamant, and the voice from under the mask, sounding with a victorious intonation, made one assume that its owner was a haughty and arrogant person in relation to the environment. Courage, a sense of duty, risk - all these were the features of a militant man who came to the country with a specific goal, namely with the same one that moved Kipling's brave heroes who followed the duty and burden of the whites:
Tomorrow we will meet and find out
Who should be the ruler of these places;
They are helped by a black stone,
We have a golden pectoral cross.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

... It's fun to think: if we win -
We have already overcome many, -
Again the road is a yellow kite
Will lead from hills to hills.
If tomorrow waves Webi
They will take my dying breath into their roar,
Dead, see how in the pale sky
God fights with fiery black.
("African Night", 233, 234)

It should be borne in mind that Gumilyov's attitude towards Africa has evolved, and the poems associated, for example, with his first trip, differ markedly in their inner meaning from the works written when he worked on an archaeological expedition, became closely acquainted with black workers, porters, drovers, guides. In the first period, when he only initially got acquainted with his cherished and rather literary country, called the tempting word "Africa", he really looked at his surroundings as a tourist, a visiting and curious traveler in a white pith helmet on his head and with an English glass in his hands. Having put on a “conquistadorism”, innocent enough, because artificial and literary, he tried not to change either this pose or a look a little from top to bottom, as he saw among the arrogant and knowledgeable of Africa, the British. But, it must be said that the mask of the conquistador did not rest firmly on his poems - he could not help but remember the send-offs to the Anglo-Boer War, which he saw in Tiflis, when the jubilant crowds saw off Prince Nikolai Bagration-Mukhransky, who decided to go to the battlefield. What passionate and inescapable envy all the students of the Tiflis gymnasiums suffered at that time, and he, too, among them! .. Such things and experiences are not forgotten. And if Prince Nikolai was later called “The Burr” all his life, then Gumilyov remembered for the rest of his life both the scene of seeing off and his ardent desire to be next to Bagration-Mukhransky. That is why the “arrogance” of Gumilyov, who finally arrived in Africa, was nothing more than a short-term literary pose. In his soul, there simply could not be anything resembling "Kiplingism", and even more so the desire to enter, relatively speaking, into the ranks of the British colonialists, thus betraying the brave and noble "Boers". How strong was the influence of the Anglo-Boer War on Russian society and on the youth of that time when Gumilyov studied at the gymnasium, A. Davidson speaks well in the work mentioned. He writes: “The impression that that war made on children and youth can be judged by many memories ...”. And then he cites several such colorful testimonies: “We children were shocked by this war. We pitied the phlegmatic Boers who fought for independence and hated the English. We knew in every detail every battle that took place on the other side of the earth. So Paustovsky recalled. Marshak as a child played with the boys in the war of the Boers and the British. Ehrenburg “first wrote a letter to the bearded President Kruger, and then, stealing ten rubles from his mother, went to the theater of operations,” but he was caught and returned. Akhmatova commemorated the Boers even in later poetry.

Very soon, Gumilyov, after rather superficial sketches of African reality (faces, figures, clothes, landscape, etc.), moves on to poetry, where a completely different, not indifferent, but full of sympathy attitude towards the forced slaves of the black continent shows through. In the "Abyssinian Songs", which constituted the most important part of "Alien Sky", he describes the impoverished, hard, hopeless life of the African natives. Moreover, he justifies a possible rebellion of black slaves against Europeans who came to the flowering land with "long-range guns", "sharp sabers" and "lashing whips":

Birds wake up in the morning
Gazelle run out into the field,
And a European comes out of the tent,
Waving a long whip.
He sits under the shade of a palm tree,
Wrapping her face in a green veil,
Puts a bottle of whiskey next to him
And whips lazy slaves.
We have to clean his things
We must guard his mules,
And in the evening there is corned beef,
Which got spoiled during the day.

He's got such long range guns
He has such a sharp sword
And so painfully whipping scourge!
Glory to our European master!
He is brave, but he is slow-witted:
He has such a soft body
It will be sweet to pierce him with a knife!
("Slave", 182-183)

The "Abyssinian Songs" and some other African poems, if read with an open mind, convincingly in themselves destroy the stable and harmful legend about Gumilyov's "Kiplingism" and "colonialism". It was in the "African" verses that the social theme appeared in his work for the first time and with great expressive power. It is known that Gumilyov was opposed to the penetration of social, especially political motives into art. Moreover, it should be noted the important role that Africa played in his work.

So, the “mask” turned out to be shifted, the face opened up, the voice sounded more clearly, courageous and sympathetic, without any “conquistador” intonations. But is it possible to say that together with the partially opened “mask”, “objectivity” also disappeared, that is, that property of Gumilyov the poet, which seems to be completely inseparable from his “mask”? As we remember, the so-called objectivity, most often confused with social indifference and asociality, was noted by almost everyone, including the most observant interpreter and "curator" of the poet V. V. Bryusov, who said that "objectivity" interfered with him as lyrics, but admitting, however, that it was in such things that he was most powerful.

The so-called objectivity of Gumilyov is the same stumbling block for many who have written and write about him, as well as the famous "Kiplingism", usually considered in conjunction with his "colonialism" and "chauvinism".

In the collection "Alien Sky", where Gumilyov published "Abyssinian Songs" with their sharp social motive, he placed translations from T. Gauthier, which are considered, and not without some reason, programmatic and even manifestation for acmeists. In particular, this is the famous poem of the French romantic "Art", where there is a stanza repeatedly quoted by all those who wrote about Gumilyov:

Making the more beautiful
Than taken material
more dispassionate -
Verse, marble or metal...
(184)

Without going into an analysis of this poem, it must nevertheless be noted that even in the work of T. Gauthier himself, it is far from being identical to the formula of “pure art”. As for Gumilyov, he appreciated this poem not so much because of the problem of sociality and the engagement of art, but for the idea of the priority of the material for the work of the artist, that is, he does not so much defend the idea close to him of the poet’s disinterest in the confusion of camps and parties, as he thinks about what Akhmatova later called "the secrets of the craft."

By "objectivity" Gumilyov meant the method of artistic work that most corresponds to the "material". It is impossible to process a stone with a brush for Chinese ink. And, as we saw in the example of the Abyssinian Songs, "objectivity" did not prevent him from being acutely social in these works, especially in the Slave Song. In The Slave Song, it is not the author who speaks, the slave dreams of revenge and retribution, but is it possible to forget that the whole picture created by the poet Gumilyov, and not by anyone, with its “objectivity” is infinitely far from “indifference” and social passivity , its "objectivity" only enhances the artistic effect prepared and conceived by the author.

However, the "African" theme, in which many problems related to Gumilyov's work began, requires serious and multifaceted research. It is necessary to clarify the routes associated with his travels, more accurately determine the circle of people with whom he then came into contact, use the archives of the Academy of Sciences, reflecting the work of the archaeological expedition organized by Academician Radlov, study cultural and household items taken out by the poet and now located at the Institute of Ethnography, clarify Gumilyov's attitude to political history Ethiopia and more. But it is especially important to organically and convincingly include "African motifs" in the cultural context of that era, in which Orientalist motifs and inclinations were exceptionally strong and affected many, many Russian artists.

Gumilyov found on the African continent much that corresponded to the inner nature of his talent, for example, bright, decorative spectacle, exotic nature, that is, everything that he did not find in his homeland and partly saw only in childhood, when he was in the Caucasus. One can regret that Russian nature, with its slow smoothness of outlines and calm beauty, did not inspire his muse, remaining in his soul a kind of pledge of blood relationship, but this was exactly the case: his eye needed a sharp, contrasting, intense color, and hearing - the sounds of the tropical jungle, he felt completely happy only when, standing on the deck of the ship, he saw the outlines of the approaching African coast. This love, exceptional in its strength, helped him create magnificent works in which the feeling that we usually call the word “internationalism” manifested itself with great artistic and contagious power. This is a great merit of Gumilyov.

It was this side of his work that had a particularly visible and beneficial effect on Soviet poetry, which continues to this day.

When studying the influences exerted by Gumilyov on Soviet poetry, it should, of course, be borne in mind that the theme of Africa was for him only a part (albeit the most significant) of the overall most important theme of internationalism and humanism. Africa only in the greatest, so to speak, concentration embodied the internationalist and humanistic ideas and beliefs of the poet.

In the literature about N. Gumilyov, as well as in those works where one way or another the problems associated with his work are touched upon, there are judgments that are as erroneous as they are “axiomatic”, that is, hardened over time due to the lack of verified and scientifically objective studies about the poet. As a rule, these erroneous judgments arose and became stronger after a considerable time after the death of the poet.

Among them (along with "Kiplingianism" and "colonialism") is the interpretation of the place and role of Gumilyov in the poetry of the period of the First World War. O. Tsekhnovitser in a book devoted to the literature of that time, unconditionally enrolls the poet in the camp of convinced apologists for the war, in the ranks of official literature.

In fact, everything was much more complicated, if only because Gumilyov underwent a certain evolution during the war years, which is usually not taken into account either when analyzing his position or when analyzing his works, especially the military section of the book Quiver.

Of course, in the verses of the war years, Gumilyov was far from understanding the social background of the imperialist massacre unleashed by the capitalist states in order to divide the world. It can be said that, at least until 1916, he was ready to justify the war, although he saw the incalculable suffering that it brought to the people. He knew the soldier's life well, he saw both dirt and blood, as he was constantly at the forefront, distinguished at the same time by great personal courage. In one of Akhmatova's letters from the front, he wrote that he did not consider himself a chauvinist. Apparently, however, the frenzy that seized many loyal subjects in the first period nevertheless touched him.

But the motifs of sadness that are seen in Quiver testify to changes in his worldview, which make themselves felt in the next book, in Bonfire. Yu. Zobnin writes about the lyrics of the war years and Gumilyov's attitude to the war in the proposed collection. In this problem, it is necessary to take into account at least three points important for understanding Gumilyov. Firstly, he was a man whose patriotic feeling from the beginning of the war with Germany was sharpened and even inflamed, like many Russian people of that time, who volunteered for the front, performed heroic deeds, suffered and died in the name of saving their homeland. Official propaganda - in this respect - fell on fertile ground and found, especially in the first two years of the war, a lively response. The anti-war and anti-militarist tendencies, which were the main ones in Bolshevik propaganda and in the advanced democratic literature, grouped around Gorky and Mayakovsky, turned out to be rather weak and in the first period of the war an ineffective counterbalance. Gumilyov joined the army as a volunteer and for a long time was not even an officer. His heroic behavior at the front is well known, and he could rightfully be proud that he did not shame his weapons in the fight against the enemy. In addition, it is necessary, secondly, to take into account the important circumstance that, by his nature, he was inclined to take risks and even to search for those desperate situations when life is on the verge of death. This trait was noted by his African expedition comrades, who witnessed his hunting of wild animals, courageous behavior in the jungle, reckless courage, etc. War - in this sense - satisfied his constant desire for risk and dramatic situations. We can say that, having got to the front, he finally felt himself in an atmosphere, the air of which he could breathe freely and easily. Judging by the Notes of a Cavalryman, even those inevitable hardships of war, which are usually far from any kind of romance, were perceived by him relatively easily, as a necessary attribute, integral to risk and heroism. Approximately the same thing happened to him in Africa, where, under the conditions of an archaeological expedition, which always suffered from a shortage of workers, food and water, and any exhausting rough work, he did not seem to notice this side of life.

At the same time, the life of the war, its blood and filth, the suffering of the soldier masses, embezzlement, the rumors of corruption at the top, about the betrayal of the generals - all this did not pass by Gumilyov, especially in 1916 and 1917. He quite quickly begins to understand the inhuman horror of the world massacre, which has drawn into itself people who are not guilty of anything to each other, but are forced to kill and torture their own kind. In the poem "Worker" he created a tragic image of the war, which has become commonplace. The German worker, having conscientiously prepared a bullet that will kill a Russian soldier he does not know, calmly goes to rest, in order to then again, conscientiously and without remorse, set about his deadly work. Neither hatred for the German worker, nor patriotic enthusiasm - there is nothing of this in Gumilyov's poem, full of sadness and sorrow:

The bullet cast by him will whistle
Over the gray-haired, foamed Dvina,
The bullet cast by him will find
My chest, she came for me.
I will fall, mortally anguished,
I see the past
The blood will overflow with a key to dry,
Dusty and crumpled grass.
And the Lord will reward me in full
For my short and bitter age.
I did it in a light gray blouse
A short old man.
(260)
No less characteristic and significant was another poem of that time - "The Man": about Rasputin and Rasputinism, but at the same time about the mighty popular forces lurking in the depths of the nation, dark and blind only for a time. M. Tsvetaeva, who highly appreciated Gumilyov's poem, wrote that it says “everything about Rasputin, the queen, all that cloud. What is in this poem? Love? No. Hatred? No. Court? No. Justification? No. Fate. step of fate.

Gumilyov really began to hear and strove to convey the “steps of fate” of his people, tried to find and determine some twists of history that were still incomprehensible to him. That was his own step towards understanding the war in a completely different perspective than the one we see in the works of the first period of the war. Gumilyov's position was also far from the "chauvinistic frenzy" traditionally attributed to him, and from the pseudo-patriotic hatred of official literature.

In the poem “War”, he writes about “workers” walking on “fields soaked in blood”, and about those who “bend over the plow” - all these are words unusual for Gumilev's poetry. In "Quiver" and especially in "Bonfire", he, as if in opposition to official soulless patriotism, contains poems full of filial love for the motherland. Traveler, navigator, romantic vagabond, always striving to go beyond the horizon and as far as possible from familiar places, he seemed to feel guilty for his "indifference" to her non-exotic beauty and everyday appearance. True, this motive did not develop with him - the poet ended up in Paris, in London, he was again seized by a passion for "changing places", and the opportunity to get to the Thessaloniki front, where it was already "within a stone's throw" to Africa, completely muffled the Russian theme. And yet there are grounds and a need to identify, trace and comprehend the theme of Russia in Gumilyov, which, as it seems to us, was not at all alien to him, since it splashed out with great expressive power during the years of military trials. In addition, of course, it should be considered much broader than, say, a landscape or any other direct manifestation in an image, picture or feeling, but also as a definite and lasting continuity of culture that nourished both consciousness and Gumilyov's verse. In determining the roots of his poetry, they usually go from comparisons with Western European poetry, to which the manifestos of the acmeists, and Gumilyov's sympathy for certain names, and the poet's translation activity, revealing his interests in this area, are pushing, but we must not forget that Gumilyov's poetry is a phenomenon of Russian culture that arose in a wide range of domestic literature. Unfortunately, almost nothing has been done in the study of this side of Gumilyov's poetic work. The myth that Gumilyov's poetry is an exotic flower that has no roots in Russian soil does not stand up to scrutiny upon close scrutiny. To some extent, this point of view, which turned out to be extremely stable and tightly connected with the no less stable version of his “colonialism”, owes its longevity to Blok’s well-known remark that something foreign is heard in Gumilyov’s poetry. Additional studies of the problem of "Gumilyov and Blok" can, apparently, make some adjustments and explanations in this area, where far from everything is obvious and difficult, if only because Blok did not know Gumilev's "late" poems that made up "Fiery pillar”, not to mention those that were later included in his posthumous collection. Blok's famous article "Without a Godhead, Without Inspiration", written, as you know, in April 1921. , when both of them had about three months to live, looks very late and does not correspond to the poetic world of Gumilev 1918-1921.

In general, this period, the last two or three years of his work, have been studied extremely insufficiently, which seems especially strange and sad, given that they are the time of an unconditional and very high take-off of his talent, marked by serious and fundamental, deeply innovative searches in philosophical and artistic knowledge. reality.

During these years, the circle of people, young Soviet poets, on whom he has a serious impact, is expanding: N. Tikhonov, Vs. Rozhdestvensky and many others, who then followed different paths, but retained a lot of what Gumilyov gave them. Gumilyov's work in the Studio, where he studied with young poets, his participation in the life of the House of Arts and in the Union of Poets, in the publishing house "World Literature" is to be highlighted.

Gumilyov's influence on Soviet poetry (especially in the 1920s, but also in subsequent years) was, apparently, deeper and stronger than is commonly thought, when based only on certain external signs of kinship and closeness.

Gumilyov was close to the spirit of the new society with his passionate internationalist pathos. His "poetic geography", contagious and colorful, bringing together continents and peoples, imbued with the ideas of humanism and equality, is guessed by major and various Soviet poets - Tikhonov, Lugovsky, Selvinsky, Bagritsky, Kornilov, Pavel Vasiliev, and through them - indirectly - reached the poets of the war years and today.

And finally, it is necessary to investigate one more, extremely important, and for the "late" Gumilyov even the determining side of his steadily, until the last days, revealed talent, namely the philosophical one. Being, undoubtedly, the most important, it, however, has never been specially considered by anyone. Meanwhile, his lyrics of 1918-1921, and also (and, perhaps, first of all) "Dragon" testify to the poet's original and persistent search in the sphere of ontological, existential problems. He, as you know, had a plan to write a kind of history of the world, starting with its creation. According to this plan, which was to be realized in twelve books, he intended to trace the gradual formation of matter, the emergence of consciousness, in order to then move on to proper human history. The first reconnaissance in this direction was initiated by him in lyrics, reaching a kind of culmination in The Lost Tram, where the alternation of times and free handling of space for the first time forced to say that Gumilyov touched on serious philosophical problems. But The Lost Tram was, in fact, only the first path into the world that was opened in the Poem of the Beginning - this monumental Prologue to The Dragon and to all twelve conceived books. A careful reading of the "Dragon" and all the "late" lyrics shows that Gumilyov, in essence, stood at the origins of Soviet philosophical poetry, that he is the direct forerunner of all those searches that are associated in our imagination, for example, with Zabolotsky. What Gumilyov anticipated and foresaw in this respect can only be shown by a special analysis. In this collection, as the reader sees, an attempt is made to consider some aspects of the philosophical world of the poet.

I would like to hope that, in their totality, the works contained in the collection stimulate further research into Gumilyov's work.

Notes:

Zolotnitsky D. Gumilyov's Theatre: short term // Theater Leningrad. 1988. No. 28. S. 63.
Tikhonov N. Poems and poems. L., 1981. S. 452.
Ivanov Vyach. Sun. Star Flash: The Poetic World of N. S. Gumilyov // Vzglyad: Critique. Controversy. Publications. M., 1988. S. 337.
Scales. 1908. No. 3. S. 78.
There. pp. 78, 77.
Gumilyov N. S. Poems and Poems. L .: Soviet writer (B-ka of the poet. Large series), 1988. P. 122. (Further references to the works of N. Gumilyov, except as otherwise indicated, are given in the text of this edition).
Scales. 1908. No. 3. S. 78. 20
Africa. Literary almanac. M., 1988. Issue. 9. S. 710.
Tsvetaeva M. The history of one dedication // Oxford Slavonic Papers. 1964 Vol. 11. P. 122.

Biography of Gumilyov

Childhood and youth

Life after high school

mature period

Biography after 1911

Creativity Gumilyov

Personal life

Death

mature creativity. Trips

"Workshop of poets" and acmeism. World War I

post-war years. Doom

Chronological table

Other biography options

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Similar Documents

Nikolai Gumilyov. Biography

Life after graduating from high school

mature period

After a trip to the East

Life since 1911

Brief description of the works

Love and Philosophy in Late Poems