Born on November 16 (28), 1880 in St. Petersburg in a highly cultured family (father is a professor, mother is a writer).
In 1889 he was sent to the second grade of the Vvedenskaya Gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1898. Then he received his education at St. Petersburg University, where he studied first at the Faculty of Law, and then at the Faculty of History and Philology. By the way, the rector of the university was his grandfather A.N. Beketov.
Creation
In Blok’s biography, the first poems were written at the age of five.
At the age of 16, Alexander Blok studied acting, trying to conquer the stage.
In 1903, Blok married the daughter of the famous scientist D.I. Mendeleev - L. D. Mendeleeva. Andrei Bely was also very much in love with her, and on this basis a conflict arose between him and Alexander Blok.
The following year, Blok’s poems were published for the first time, published in a collection entitled “Poems about a Beautiful Lady.”
In 1909, Blok and his wife went on vacation to Italy and Germany. For his work of that period, Alexander Alexandrovich Blok was accepted into the Academy society. Which already included Valery Bryusov, Mikhail Kuzmin, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Innokenty Annensky.
Briefly speaking, Blok’s work contains several directions. His early works are characterized by symbolism. Blok's further poems examine the social status of the people. He deeply experiences the tragic fate of humanity (“The Rose and the Cross”, 1912), then comes to the idea of mandatory retribution (the “Retribution” cycle 1907-1913, the “Iambic” cycle 1907-1914).
One of Blok’s most famous poems is “Night, Street, Lantern, Pharmacy.”
Blok also had an interest in children's literature, wrote many poems, some of them were included in the collections for children “All Year Round” and “Fairy Tales” (both 1913)
Last years of life and death
During the revolution, Blok did not emigrate; he began working in the publishing house of the city of Petrograd. Revolutionary events in St. Petersburg were reflected in the biography of Alexander Blok in poems, poems (“The Twelve,” 1918), and articles.
Before his death, the poet was often ill. On a request to leave the country for treatment and subsequent application
Russian poet, playwright, critic, translator. Alexander Alexandrovich Blok was born November 16 (28), 1880. Father, A.L. Blok, lawyer, professor of law at the University of Warsaw; mother, A.A. Kublitskaya-Piottukh (née Beketova), is the daughter of the rector of St. Petersburg University A.N. Beketova, translator. The parents separated immediately after the birth of the child. A. Blok spent his childhood in his grandfather’s house. Among the most vivid childhood and youth impressions are the summer months spent at the Beketovs’ estate, Shakhmatovo, near Moscow.
In 1897 During a trip to the resort of Bad Nauheim (Germany), Blok experienced his first youthful passion for K.M. Sadovskaya, to whom he dedicated a number of poems, which were later included in the cycle “Ante Lucem” (“Before the Dawn”), in the collection “Beyond Past Days” ( 1920 ), as well as in the cycle “In Twelve Years” ( 1909-1914 ). In 1906 Graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. In 1903 Alexander Blok married the daughter of D.I. Mendeleev - Lyubov Dmitrievna. I started writing poetry at the age of five, but consciously following my poetic calling begins from 1900-1901.
The most important literary and philosophical traditions that influenced the formation of Blok’s creative individuality are the lyrics and philosophy of Vl.S. Solovyov, the philosophy of Plato, the poetry of A. Fet. In 1902 Blok meets Z. Gippius and D. Merezhkovsky, who had a huge impact on him; During the same period, his rapprochement with the circle of symbolists began. Blok’s creative debut was the poetic cycle “From Dedications” (Journey “New Path”, 1903 , № 3). In 1904 The Grif publishing house published A. Blok’s first book, “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” (on the title page - 1905 ), where the traditional romantic theme of love-service received a new meaningful content, introduced into it by the ideas of Vl.S. Solovyov about merging with the Eternal Feminine and Divine All-Unity, about overcoming the alienation of the individual from the world whole through a feeling of love.
Revolutionary events made a great impression on Blok 1905-1907 gg. in the lyrics of this time, the theme of the fatal element becomes the leading one; The image of the central character changes dramatically: the Beautiful Lady is replaced by the demonic Stranger, Snow Mask, and the “gypsy schismatic” Faina. Blok is actively involved in literary life, published in periodicals ( since 1907 leads the critical department in the magazine “Golden Fleece”), unexpectedly for his fellow Symbolists, revealing interest and closeness to the traditions of democratic literature. Since 1905 regularly attends literary meetings of Vyach.I. Ivanova, 1906 - on “Saturdays” at the V.F. Theater Komissarzhevskaya, V.E. Meyerhold staged his first play "Balaganchik" ( 1906 ). The actress of this theater N.N. Volokhova becomes the subject of his intense passion; the book of poems “Snow Mask” is dedicated to her ( 1907 ), the cycle of poems “Faina”, her features determine the appearance of “spontaneous” heroines in the dramas of this period (“The Stranger”, “The King in the Square”, both 1906 ; "Song of Destiny" 1909) . Collections of poems “Unexpected Joy” are published ( 1907 ), "Earth in the Snow" ( 1908 ), plays "Lyrical Dramas" ( 1908 ). Blok makes presentations at the St. Petersburg Religious and Philosophical Society (“Russia and the Intelligentsia”, 1908 ; "Element and culture" 1909 ). The key themes of A. Blok’s work of this period are the people and the intelligentsia, the crisis of individualism, the place of the artist in the modern world. The controversy surrounding Blok's articles, the increasing awareness by Blok himself that a direct appeal to a wide democratic audience did not take place, leads him in 1909 to disappointment in journalistic activity.
A revision of values occurs during a trip to India spring and summer 1909: against the backdrop of political reaction in Russia and complacent European philistinism, the only saving value for Blok is high classical art, passion for which is reflected not only in the cycle “Italian Poems” ( 1909 ) and in the unfinished book of prose essays “Lightning of Art” ( 1909-1920 ), but also in the report “On the current state of Russian symbolism” ( 1910) . Receiving an inheritance after the death of the father at the end of 1909 freed Blok from worries about literary earnings and made it possible to concentrate on a few major artistic ideas. Since 1910 he begins to work on the large epic poem “Retribution” (not completed) - the story of the breakdown of family ties, the loss of home, the alienation of a son from his father, interpreted as retribution-retribution for spiritual decline and betrayal of ideals. In 1912-1913. Blok writes the play "Rose and Cross".
After the release of the collection “Night Hours” ( 1911 ) A. Blok revised his 5 books of poetry into a three-volume collection of poems (vol. 1-3, 1911-1912 ). Since that time, Blok’s poetry exists in the minds of readers as a single “lyrical trilogy”, a “novel in verse”, creating a “myth of the path”. During the poet's lifetime, the three-volume set was republished in 1916 and 1918-1921. IN 1921 year A. Blok began preparing a new edition, but only managed to complete the first volume. Each subsequent edition included everything significant that was created between editions: the Carmen cycle ( 1914 ), dedicated to the singer L.A. Andreeva-Delmas, poem “The Nightingale Garden” ( 1915 ), poems from the collections “Iambics” ( 1919 ), "Grey Morning" ( 1920 ).
Since autumn 1914 Blok worked on the publication of “Poems of Apollo Grigoriev” ( 1916 ) as compiler, introductory author and commentator. In 1916 was drafted into the army, served as a timekeeper of the 13th engineering and construction squad of the Zemstvo and city unions near Pinsk. After the February Revolution 1917 years returned to Petrograd, was a member of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission for the investigation of crimes of the tsarist government as an editor of verbatim reports. After the October Revolution 1917 unambiguously stated his position, answering the questionnaire “Can the intelligentsia work with the Bolsheviks” - “They can and must.” Blok’s position provoked a sharp rebuke from Z. Gippius, D. Merezhkovsky, Vyach. Ivanova, A. Akhmatova and many others. etc. In January 1918 Blok published a series of articles “Russia and the Intelligentsia” in the left-SR newspaper “Znamya Truda”, and in February – the poem “The Twelve” and the poem “Scythians”.
After 1918 Blok wrote comic poems “just in case”, prepared the last edition of the “lyrical trilogy”, but did not create new original poems until until 1921. WITH 1918 There was a new upsurge in Blok’s prose work. The series “Russia and the Intelligentsia” was published as a separate book ( 1918, 1919 ). He gave cultural and philosophical presentations at the Free Philosophical Association (“The Collapse of Humanism”, 1919 ; “Vladimir Solovyov and our days”, 1920 ), School of Journalism (“Catilina”, 1918 ), wrote lyrical fragments (“Neither dreams nor reality”, “Confession of a Pagan”), feuilletons (“Russian dandies”, “Fellow citizens”, “Answer to the question about the red seal”). After the revolution, A. Blok was forced to look not only for literary income, but also for public service. In September 1917 became a member of the Theater and Literary Commission, from March 1918 served in the Repertory Section of the Theater Department of the People's Commissariat for Education, in April 1919 moved to the management of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. At the same time, a member of the editorial board of the publishing house “World Literature” under the leadership of M. Gorky, since 1920 representative of the Petrograd branch of the Union of Poets. An image of culture appears in his articles and diary entries. Gone into the catacombs. A. Blok’s thoughts about the indestructibility of true culture and the “secret freedom” of the artist, opposing the attempts of the “new mob” to encroach on it, were expressed in the article “On the Purpose of the Poet” and the poem “To the Pushkin House” ( February 1921), which became his artistic and human testament.
Blok's work, like his biography, is unique. The poet's fate was intertwined with historical events that took place at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Historical trends are clearly reflected in his lyrics. In place of light symbolism filled with romance, through Blok, realism comes with its heavy tread into poetry.
Brief biography of Blok. Early years
Before we begin to analyze the poems of Alexander Blok and the features of his work, it is useful to pay attention to the biography of the poet. Blok was born on November 16, 1880. The mother of the poet Alexander Beketov left the family immediately after the birth of her son due to a difficult relationship with her husband, Alexander Lvovich Blok. In 1889, she married a guards officer and settled with the baby on the banks of the Bolshaya Nevka in the vicinity of what was then St. Petersburg.
Blok himself began writing poetry at the age of five. At the age of 9 he was sent to study at a gymnasium, where he remained until 1898. In 1897, the future poet experienced his first love. The object of young Bok’s passion turned out to be Ksenia Sadovskaya. His feelings did not fade for several years, which gave rise to several lyrical poems. At the age of 17, Blok became interested in theater. The poet seriously intended to become an actor. In 1989, he meets Lyubov Mendeleeva, the granddaughter of the great scientist, whom he then takes as his wife.
In 1901, the poet was transferred to the philological faculty of St. Petersburg University. At this time, he creates a large number of poems - about nature, love, and the Motherland. In the spring of 1903, his works were published for the first time in the magazine “New Way”.
The events of 1905 had a great influence on him. The poet recognizes himself as a citizen and takes part in demonstrations. Revolutionary sentiments are reflected in the creativity of this stage.
Mature age
Blok graduated from the university in 1906. After this, a new page opens in his life - success as a writer comes, his growth as a poet begins. Blok gains fame, fans of his work appear all over the country. In 1907, the poetry collection “Unexpected Joy” was published, in 1908 - “Earth in the Snow”. In 1909, a drama called “Song of Fate” was released. However, it was never staged in the theater.
In 1907-1908, Blok moved away from symbolism. Anxiety and difficulties lead the poet to his own path. In 1909, Blok traveled to the cities of Germany and Italy, which inspired him to write a series of works called “Italian Poems.”
During the First World War, the poet served in an engineering and construction squad engaged in the construction of fortifications in the Pinsk swamps. During this period, the poet received the news of the end of the era of autocracy in Russia.
In May 1917, the poet took an active part in the investigative commission, the purpose of which was to investigate the activities of tsarist officials. Based on interrogation materials, Alexander Alexandrovich writes the book “The Last Days of Imperial Power.” He perceives the 1917 revolution with enthusiasm and hope. But gradually the new government brings disappointment to the poet.
The poet made his last performances in 1921 in Petrograd and Moscow. However, a hungry existence full of difficulties leads Blok to depression and illness. In May 1921, he began to have heart problems. In August of the same year, Blok died. In 1944, the poet’s ashes were transferred from Smolensk to Volkovo cemetery.
Direction of creativity
Literary scholars attribute the poems of Alexander Blok, among other things, to the movement of modernism. After all, one of the poet’s main missions was to translate the culture of the bygone past into a more modern way. Despite the aesthetics and spirituality of his poetry, Blok focuses on the echoes of melancholy, despair, loss of life value, and a feeling of inevitable tragedy. Perhaps it was these trends that gave Anna Akhmatova the reason to call Blok “the tragic tenor of the era.” However, the poet still remained a romantic.
Main themes
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok wrote poems mainly on the following topics:
- The fate of an individual person and the Motherland in important historical eras.
- The revolutionary process and the role played in it by the stratum of the intelligentsia.
- Loyalty in love and friendship.
- Fate, fate, feelings of anxiety before impending hopelessness.
- The poet's place in society.
- The connection between nature and its offspring - man.
- Belief in a higher power, the universe.
The poet’s ability to convey the subtle nuances of inner experiences is embodied in the genre diversity of his work. He wrote poems and poems, songs, spells, romances, sketches.
Genuine universal human values are revealed in the poems of Alexander Blok only in relation to the indissoluble unity of the reality of the world. A bright future can only be realized as a result of the harsh daily routine, a person’s readiness for heroism in the name of the prosperity of the Motherland. This was Blok’s worldview, reflected in his work.
Image of the Motherland
One of the main lyrical themes in Alexander Blok's poems is Russia. In his homeland he finds inspiration and strength to continue his life. She appears before him at the same time in the form of a mother and a beloved woman.
Literary scholars emphasize: in the poems of Alexander Blok, the image of the Motherland undergoes a kind of evolution. At first, the reader sees Russia as mysterious, shrouded in a mysterious veil. The native country is perceived through the prism of a beautiful and elusive dream: extraordinary, dense, magical.
In the future, the poet accepts and loves his tormented country unconditionally, with all its ulcers. After all, he knows that in front of him is the same dear Motherland. Only now she is dressed in different clothes - dark, repulsive. The poet sincerely believes that sooner or later his Motherland will appear before him in the bright robes of dignity, spirituality, and morality.
In Alexander Aleksandrovich Blok’s poem “To sin shamelessly, endlessly...” the line dividing love and hatred is very accurately outlined. The work presents the image of a soulless shopkeeper, who in his life has become accustomed to the undisturbed sleep of the mind. This image repels the reader. His repentance in the temple is just hypocrisy. At the end of the work, the poet’s “cry from the soul” is heard that even in this image he will not stop loving his dear and dear homeland.
Blok sees Russia in dynamic movement. For example, in the works of the cycle “On the Kulikovo Field” she appears before him in the proud, majestic image of a “steppe mare” who rushes forward. The path to a happy future for the country is not easy and filled with difficulties.
In the work “On the Railway,” the poet compares the difficult fate of the country with the tragic fate of women:
“How long should the mother push?
How long will the kite circle?”
The flame of revolution illuminates the poet's work and scorches his secret dreams. The passions in Blok’s soul never cease to boil: every now and then they unruly spill out from under his poetic pen, denouncing the enemies of the fatherland, the oppressors of the common people.
Alexander Blok. Poems about Russia
In the poet’s work, love for his native country was fully embodied in the cycle called “Motherland”. The very beginning of one of the most revealing poems in the cycle - “Motherland” - echoes the famous Gogol digression about the “Rus-troika” in “Dead Souls”. In this retreat, the horses race into the distance, but where exactly there is no answer. Literary scholars suggest that it is in connection with this analogy that Alexander Blok’s verse “Russia” opens with the word “again”:
Again, like in the golden years,
Three worn out flapping harnesses,
And the painted knitting needles knit
Into loose ruts...
The image of Gogol's troika furiously rushing forward appears in the reader's imagination. Following him, a piercing confession of feelings for his Motherland, “poor Russia”, its “gray huts” is heard. The reader rightly asks: why love this country, which cannot give anything?
Why does the poet love his homeland?
Blok has an answer to this question. This work once contained more stanzas. In the first publication there were twice as many of them as in subsequent ones. The poet decided to remove a number of stanzas from his work. Others were remade by him.
What was removed from Alexander Alexandrovich Blok’s poem “Russia” by the poet himself? Firstly, it is worth paying attention to two stanzas that talk about minerals:
“You promise mountains of gold,
You tease with the wondrous darkness of the depths.
Russia, poor Russia,
Your promised land is generous!”
At first glance, this is an irrefutable truth. After all, Nekrasov wrote about the Motherland: “You are both poor and abundant.” However, for Blok it turned out to be more important not to connect love for his native country with its riches. He decides to accept her in humiliation and poverty, demonstrating true love in his work:
“Yes, and so, my Russia,
You are dearer to me from all over the world.”
It is easy to love a country for its inexhaustible riches. But Blok’s lyrical hero is noble. His love was not born of mercantile motives. For him, feelings for the Motherland are like “the first tears of love.”
The motive of Christian asceticism
An analysis of Alexander Blok's verse shows the connection of his work with another tradition of Russian classics, which consists in association with Christ's feat. This is shown by the lines:
“I don’t know how to feel sorry for you
And I carefully carry my cross...
Which sorcerer do you want?
Give me back your robber beauty!”
To obediently bear your cross means to resign yourself to your fate. A person lives everything that is destined for him from above. And whoever was destined to appear in Russia, Blok believes, should connect his fate with this beautiful country.
The image of a woman in works
Traditionally, the image of the native country is associated in poetry with the image of the mother, which is why they say: “Motherland”. But Blok went further and created a new image: the Motherland-wife. And therefore, in his loving work there is a recognition of feelings for his native land from precisely this perspective: the poet loves his “Motherland-wife” as she is - obstinate and wayward.
Here the reader has the opportunity to come into contact with a purely Blok miracle: the image of a woman is transformed into the face of the Motherland and vice versa. Blok's Russia is a beauty, but here it is not sleeping, as it was in the work “Rus”. The poet characterizes her beauty with the word “robbery.” That is why, even being under the yoke of the “sorcerer”, she will not be lost.
At the end of the work, the motif of the road that rushes into the future sounds again. The poet believes in good things, in the fact that “the impossible is possible.”
Short poems by Alexander Blok
Harsh, as if chopped off lines tell sparingly about the life of an ordinary person. Some of Blok’s works, despite their brevity, are quite difficult to learn and difficult to understand. However, the short poems of Alexander Blok clearly express the worldview that the poet laid down in them, and they will certainly appeal to many readers. For example, the following work tells about the spiritual tossing of the lyrical hero.
Ascending to the first steps,
I looked at the lines of the earth.
Days faded - gusts of frenzy
They faded and faded into the pink distance.
But we are still tormented by the desire for grief,
The spirit cried, and in the depths of the stars
The fiery sea parted,
Someone's dream was whispering about me...
These lines reflect the poet’s desire to return the past, although it was filled with grief. And the next poem talks about the unbearable suffering that the grief of the “darling spirit” causes to the lyrical hero.
Every sound cuts my heart.
Oh, if only the suffering would end,
Oh, if only I could escape these torments
Gone to the land of memories!
Nothing gives mercy
When the dear spirit suffers,
And the passing sound will die away
There is an unbearable sadness in my soul...
Those looking for light poems by Alexander Blok for children will like the following work, which describes nature after a thunderstorm:
The thunderstorm has passed, and a branch of white roses
The aroma breathes through the window...
The grass is still full of transparent tears,
And thunder rumbles in the distance.
Schoolchildren who need to find a work for a literature lesson will also enjoy the poet’s poem about a raven:
Here is a crow on a sloping roof
So it has remained shaggy since winter...
And there are spring bells in the air,
Even the crow's spirit took over...
Suddenly she jumped to the side with a stupid leap,
She looks down at the ground sideways:
What is white under the tender grass?
Here they turn yellow under the gray bench
Last year's wet shavings...
These are all the crow's toys.
And the crow is so happy,
It’s spring, and it’s easy to breathe!..
The theme of love in the poet’s work
Alexander Blok's first poems about love are full of delight. They are dedicated to L. Mendeleeva, who inspired him for many years. These are works such as “Virgin”, “Dawn”, “Incomprehensible”.
In his youth, before his marriage to Mendeleeva, Blok dedicated works to Ksenia Sadovskaya, who was much older than him. These are poems such as “Amethyst”, “Your image is involuntarily imagined...” and others. In 1905, Alexander Blok’s collection “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” was published. It is believed that the works of this cycle are dedicated to L. Mendeleeva. But in the works of this collection there is no real image - only the idea that such a woman can exist in a romantic world filled with dreams and dreams.
Transformation of the female image in the poet’s work
The theme of love was developed in the collection “Snow Mask,” which was dedicated to the actress N. Volokhova. Now this is no longer deifying worship - the Beautiful Lady has changed, becoming the Snow Maiden. And consequently, the feeling of the lyrical hero was transformed. They have lost their light power, becoming like a snowstorm, carrying the hero of the works into dark, unknown distances.
Let's look at a few interesting facts from the biography of Alexander Alexandrovich:
- Blok died at 41.
- The poet's wife was the granddaughter of the chemist Mendeleev.
- The poet is credited with an affair with A. Akhmatova.
- Before his death, Blok was delirious.
- At the age of 11, the young poet dedicated a series of his works to his mother.
- Blok's works gained worldwide fame.
- Since 1920, the poet began to suffer from depression.
- After his death, the poet's body was cremated.
Blok's lyrics have not lost their meaning even now. After all, by becoming familiar with a high culture of feelings, learning examples of the emotional experiences of poets, a person learns inner subtlety and sensitivity, which is so necessary in the modern world.
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok- Russian poet, writer, publicist, playwright, translator, literary critic. A classic of Russian literature of the 20th century, one of the largest representatives of Russian symbolism.
Blok's life is a series of extraordinary events. In a sense, it echoes the creative biography of his great contemporary -.
Brief biography of Blok
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok was born on November 16, 1880 in St. Petersburg. The parents of the future poet were very educated people belonging to the intelligentsia.
His father, Alexander Lvovich Blok, taught at the University of Warsaw as a professor, and his mother, Alexandra Andreevna Beketova, worked as a translator.
However, their marriage did not last long and was officially dissolved by the Holy Synod. After this, little Sasha lived with his mother, who soon married guard officer Kublitsky-Piottukh.
Childhood and youth
Alexander Blok spent his entire childhood in his grandfather’s house and carried warm memories of the time spent there throughout his life.
Alexander Blok The relationship between Blok and his mother was very warm and open. It was thanks to Alexandra Andreevna that Sasha was able to familiarize himself with the works of Baudelaire, Fet, Verlaine and other famous poets.
Mom and her young son jointly mastered new trends in philosophy and poetry, and also had fascinating conversations about political and cultural innovations.
As a result of this, it was Blok’s mother who initially showed his poems and was interested in her opinion regarding his own creativity.
In 1889, as a teenager, Sasha studied at the Vvedenskaya gymnasium. When he turned 16, he and his mother went to the German resort of Bad Nauheim.
While still a teenager, Blok once saw Ksenia Sadovskaya and fell in love with her at first sight. But since this woman was 37 years old, there could be no question of their relationship.
However, Sadovskaya impressed the young Blok so much that in the future she became a real muse for him, thanks to which the poet managed to write many of his works.
By the way, in Blok’s biography the image of a woman is constantly intertwined, and, one way or another, appears in many of his works.
In 1898, Alexander Blok completed his studies at the gymnasium and entered the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University. After 3 years, he decided to transfer to the historical and philological department.
In 1906, Blok finished his studies at the university, and met Sergei Gorodetsky, Alexei Remizov and Sergei Solovyov, who was his second cousin.
The beginning of creativity
Blok wrote his first works at the age of five. This is not surprising, because from childhood he continuously read, visited theaters and was interested in. While still a teenager, he and his brothers began writing a handwritten journal.
In 1903, Alexander Blok married Lyubov Mendeleeva, who was the daughter of the famous scientist - (see). The ardent love disappeared almost immediately after the wedding.
The relationship between the spouses was quite tense, almost the same as that with his wife.
However, after the First World War, relations in the Block family improved.
The beginning of Blok’s active creativity is the period from 1900-1901. At this time, Alexander became a true admirer of the work of Vladimir Solovyov, who played a significant role in the biography of Blok in general, and the formation of his personality in particular.
In addition, Blok had the opportunity to meet Dmitry Merezhkovsky (see) and, in whose publishing house, under the name “New Path,” Alexander Alexandrovich first began publishing.
At the beginning of his creative career, Blok was interested in literary symbolism. This movement, which influenced all types of culture, was distinguished by innovation, a desire for experimentation and a love of mystery.
After Blok began to be published in the New Way, his works began to be published in the Moscow almanac Northern Flowers.
Blok constantly attended the circle of young admirers of Vladimir Solovyov, which took place in Moscow. In the role of a kind of leader of this circle was the young poet Andrei Bely (see).
All members of the literary circle admired the work of Blok, with whom Bely himself became very close friends. However, this is not surprising, because he was passionately in love with the wife of Alexander Blok.
In 1903, a whole series of works by Alexander Blok, “Poems about a Beautiful Lady,” was published. Three poems by the young poet were included in a collection of works by students of the Imperial St. Petersburg University.
In his writings, Blok considered a woman as a source of purity and light. He also discussed how a genuine feeling of love can bring an individual person closer to the world as a whole.
Revolution 1905-1907
Revolutionary events became for Alexander Blok the personification of the spontaneous and chaotic nature of existence, and quite strongly influenced his biography in general, and his creative views in particular. Love lyrics faded into the background.
Alexander Alexandrovich also proved himself as a playwright when he wrote his first play “Balaganchik”. It was staged on the theater stage in 1906.
Despite the fact that Blok loved his wife, he allowed himself to show feelings for other women. For example, he felt passion for actress N.N. Volokhova. The image of this girl formed the basis of many of his philosophical poems.
It was to her that Blok dedicated the “Faina” cycle and the book “Snow Mask,” and it was also from her that he copied the heroines of the plays “The King in the Square” and “Song of Fate.”
To be fair, it should be noted that Blok’s wife also indulged in hobbies. An interesting fact is that because of this, Blok had an acute conflict with Andrei Bely.
At the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the main theme of Alexander Alexandrovich’s works was the problem of the relationship between the common people and the intelligentsia in society.
In the poems written during this period, one can notice a clear crisis of individualism and attempts to determine the place of the creator in real life.
At the same time, Blok compared his homeland with the image of a loving wife, as a result of which his patriotic poems acquired a special and deep individuality.
Refusal of symbolism
In 1909, two tragedies occurred at once in the biography of Alexander Blok: his father and a newborn child from his wife Lyubov Dmitrievna died.
To recover from the shock, he and his wife leave for Italy. This trip made the poet rethink life values. The cycle “Italian Poems” tells about his internal struggle, as well as notes from the book “Lightning of Art”.
As a result of long reflection, Blok came to the conclusion that symbolism had lost interest for him and now he was more attracted to self-absorption and a “spiritual diet.”
Due to changes in his creative biography, he concentrates on serious literary works and engages less and less in journalistic work. Moreover, he practically never appears at social events.
In 1910, the poet began to compose the poem “Retribution” and finish it, which he never managed to complete.
In the summer of 1911, Blok again traveled abroad, this time to, and. Alexander Alexandrovich gives a negative assessment of French morals:
The inherent quality of the French (and the Bretons, it seems, predominantly) is inescapable dirt, first of all physical, and then mental. It is better not to describe the first dirt; to put it briefly, a person in any way squeamish will not agree to settle in France.
In the same year he published collected works in 3 volumes.
In the summer of 1913, Blok again went to France (on the advice of doctors) and again wrote about negative impressions:
Biarritz is overrun by the French petty bourgeoisie, so that even my eyes are tired of looking at ugly men and women... And in general, I must say that I am very tired of France and want to return to a cultural country - Russia, where there are fewer fleas, almost no French women, there is food (bread and beef), drink (tea and water); beds (not 15 arshins wide), washbasins (there are basins from which you can never empty all the water, all the dirt remains at the bottom)…
In 1912-1913 from his pen comes the famous play “Rose and Cross”.
October Revolution
During this period, many famous poets and writers of the time, such as Dmitry Merezhkovsky and others, reacted very negatively to the arrival of the Bolsheviks.
However, Blok did not see anything wrong with the Soviet government and even agreed to cooperate with it. Thanks to this, the name of the famous poet was continuously used by new government leaders for selfish purposes.
At this time, Blok wrote the poem “Scythians” and the famous poem “The Twelve”.
Personal life
The only wife in Blok’s biography was Lyubov Mendeleev, whom he sincerely loved. His wife was his support and source of inspiration.
Alexander Blok and his wife - Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva However, the writer’s idea of marriage was quite unique. For example, he was categorically against intimacy, praising spiritual love and feelings.
It was also quite natural for Blok to fall in love with other women, although his only love continued to be his wife. However, Blok’s wife also allowed herself to have affairs with other men.
Unfortunately, no offspring appeared in the Blok family. And although Lyubov gave birth to Alexander one child, he turned out to be weak and died very soon.
Death of poet
After the October Revolution, the poet’s life began to decline, both spiritually and physically. Overloaded with various jobs and not belonging to himself, he began to get sick often.
He developed asthma, cardiovascular disease, and also began to have mental disorders. In 1920, Blok fell ill with scurvy.
On August 7, 1921, due to endless illnesses and financial difficulties, Alexander Alexandrovich Blok died in his St. Petersburg apartment. The cause of the poet's death was inflammation of the heart valves. The block was buried at the Smolensk Orthodox cemetery.
Shortly before his death, he tried to obtain permission to travel abroad for treatment. However, it was not possible to obtain the permission that he himself sought.
Alexander Blok is considered one of the most significant figures in Russian poetry, who made a significant contribution to the cultural heritage of his people.
If you liked Blok’s short biography, share it on social networks.
If you generally like biographies of great people, subscribe to the site IinterestingFakty.org. It's always interesting with us!
Did you like the post? Press any button.
Blok's creativity is unique. It coincided with important historical events at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The fate of the country and the personal fate of the author merged into one whole. The rhythm of the story is clearly reflected in the lyrics. An evolution of poetry is taking place: in place of light symbolism, realism comes with a heavy tread.
Blok can also be called a modernist, since one of the poet’s missions was to translate the culture of the past into a modern way. Despite the beauty and spirituality of the poems, the author emphasized the echoes of melancholy, despair, loss and a sense of impending tragedy. Perhaps this gave Akhmatova a reason to call him “the tragic tenor of the era.” But despite all this, the poet always remained a romantic.
The main themes of Blok’s work:
- the fate of the homeland and the fate of man in critical historical eras;
- revolution and the role of the intelligentsia in it;
- true love and friendship;
- fate and fate, fear and impending hopelessness;
- the role of the poet and poetry in the life of society;
- inextricable connection between man and nature;
- religion and the universe.
The ability to convey the subtle nuances of the soul is embodied in a variety of genres: poems and poems, dedications and songs, spells, romances, sketches and sketches, thoughts.
True human values are revealed only in an indissoluble relationship with the “unity of the world.” The wonderful future of humanity is achievable as a result of harsh and everyday work, readiness for heroism in the name of the prosperity of the Fatherland. This is the poet’s worldview, which he expressed in his work.
Image of the Motherland
Russia is Blok’s main lyrical theme, in which he found inspiration and strength for life. The homeland appears in the form of mother, lover, bride and wife.
The image of the Motherland has undergone a peculiar evolution. At first he is mysterious, shrouded as if in a veil. The country is perceived through the prism of a beautiful dream: “extraordinary”, “mysterious”, “dense” and “witchcraft”. In the poem “Russia” the motherland appears as “poor”, with gray huts. The author loves her with tender and heartfelt love, which has nothing to do with pity.
The poet accepted tormented Russia with all its ulcers and tried to love. He knew that this was still the same dear Motherland, only dressed in different clothes: dark and repulsive. Blok sincerely believed that Russia would sooner or later appear in the bright clothes of morality and dignity.
In the poem “To sin shamelessly, unremittingly...” the line between love and hatred is very clearly outlined. The image of a soulless shopkeeper, accustomed to the sleep of reason, is repulsive, and repentance in the church is hypocritical. At the end, the author’s clear “cry” is heard that even such a Russia he will never stop loving, it will always be dear to his heart.
The poet sees Russia in motion. In the cycle “On the Kulikovo Field” she appears in the majestic image of a “steppe mare” rushing “at a gallop”. The country's path to the future is difficult and painful.
A note of foresight is heard in the poem “On the Railway,” where Blok draws a parallel between the difficult fate of his homeland and the difficult and tragic fate of women.
“How long should the mother push? // How long will the kite circle?” — anger and pain sound in these lines. The kite and the mother symbolize the people's fate, over which hangs the predatory wings of a bird.
The revolutionary flame illuminated Blok's face and gradually scorched his deepest dreams. However, the passions in the poet’s heart did not stop boiling. They splashed out from his pen and, like slaps in the face, fell on the enemies of the fatherland.
Blok's symbolism
Each poem of the poet contains a hidden symbol that helps to feel its taste. This is what connects the poet with the Symbolists - a modernist movement dating back to the Silver Age of Russian poetry. At the very beginning of his creative career, Blok perceived the phenomena of the surrounding world as something otherworldly, unreal. Therefore, in his work there are many symbols that reveal new facets of the lyrical image. They were chosen rather intuitively. The lyrics are filled with nebula, mysticism, dreams and even magic.
Symbolism is personal. Multicolored ranges of feelings “danced in a round dance” in it. My heart trembled like a tense string with admiration and worries for the lyrical hero. Being a symbolist, Blok felt certain “underground tremors”. It was a sign of fate. A mystical and intuitive view of the world followed the poet everywhere. Alexander Alexandrovich felt that the country was on the eve of something terrible, global, something that would turn over and cripple millions of lives. The revolution was coming.
Blok creates symbolism of colors in his poetry. Red is an attractive and alluring color, the color of passion, love and life. White and light is something pure, harmonious and perfect. The blue color symbolizes the starry sky, distant space, something high and unattainable. Black and purple are the colors of tragedy and death. Yellow color speaks of withering and decay.
Each symbol corresponds to a certain concept or phenomenon: the sea is life, people, historical movements and upheavals. Red worm - fire. In the poem “Factory” a “black someone” appears. For a poet, this is a disastrous force. The factory and He are an ominous image of the destroyer-oppressor.
Blok sought to express his feelings and emotions, and not just describe the world around him. He passed each poem through himself, through his soul, so the stanzas are imbued with his worldview, joys and anxieties, triumph and pain.
Love theme
Love, like a light breeze, penetrates Blok’s creations.
In the poem “About exploits, about valor, about glory...” the master addresses his wife. She was Alexander Alexandrovich's muse. In her the poet saw the embodiment of his ideals. Blok uses techniques to emphasize the sharp contrast between the illusions of the lyrical hero and the true appearance of his beloved: this is achieved by contrasting gray and blue colors and replacing the address “You” with “you”. The poet was forced to abandon this contrast and in the final version of the text change the intonation of his address to his heroine to a more restrained one. This desire to rise above the purely everyday perception of personal drama to its philosophical understanding is characteristic of Blok’s talent.
Another woman occupied an important place in Blok’s life—his mother. The poet trusted her with everything secret. In the poem “Friend, look how in the plain of heaven...” Alexander Alexandrovich describes the feeling of sadness and loss. He is upset that Lyubov Mendeleeva rejected his advances. But the poet does not need empathy. Blok is determined to survive the mental anguish. He forces himself to stop “striving for the cold moon” and taste real life. After all, she is wonderful!
Image of a Beautiful Lady
Blok believed that humanity, mired in vulgarity and sins, could still be saved by “Eternal Femininity.” The poet found her embodiment in the image of a Beautiful Lady. It is imbued with sublimity, personifies goodness and beauty. It exudes light that illuminates the dark souls of people. You can achieve the highest harmony with the world around you through love for an earthly woman. A sincere feeling changes us for the better: new horizons open up, the world becomes beautiful. We begin to feel the beauty of every moment, to hear the pulse of life.
Many poets have depicted the image of the Beautiful Lady, but Blok has his own: the fusion of the Blessed Virgin and an earthly woman. The image resembles the shining reflection of a lit candle and the image of an icon in a golden robe.
Each time the Beautiful Lady appears in a new guise - the Queen of Heaven, the Soul of the World and a sensual girl - which delights the lyrical hero, who agrees to be her slave in the service.
In the poem “I Anticipate You,” the lyrical hero is tormented by doubts about the fact that the Beautiful Lady can turn into a vicious creature and not a trace will remain of her spirituality. But he wants to see her so much! Only she has the power to save humanity from impending grief and show the way to a new sinless life.
The poem “I enter dark temples” merges into a single sound with the previous one. The quiet and solemn atmosphere of the church conveys the state of love and bliss, the expectation of the Beautiful Lady. An unearthly image gives rise to a feeling of beauty that is characteristic of an ordinary person.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!