Education a block. Brief biography of A.A.
Among the lyricists of the poetic Silver Age, Alexander Blok occupies a special place. The young man, born into an intelligent family in St. Petersburg at the very end of the 19th century, in 1889, received a legal and literary education at the best university in the city. The first poem was written by him in early childhood, and later Blok could only develop his own talent.
What was the fate of the poet?
Literature was the only vocation of Alexander Blok - he never tried his hand at other professions. Already at the age of ten, having fully confirmed his decision to write poetry, he began to independently publish trial magazines for family and friends - “Ship”, “Vestnik”. Thanks to his family, the poet from an early age moved in the highest circles of the Russian intelligentsia - for example, he maintained a close acquaintance with the family of the chemist Dmitry Mendeleev. Blok makes interesting acquaintances at the university as well.
In 1903, the poet married the daughter of Dmitry Mendeleev - Lyubov. Early marriage is for love, and moreover, many of the poet’s poems are dedicated to his wife, including the famous cycle of poems “About a Beautiful Lady.” Of course, the poet’s family life did not always remain smooth - but Lyubov Mendeleeva was his first and only wife throughout his life.
A difficult period in the poet’s life begins with the 20th century. In 1909, Blok lost his father and his own first-born, which undermined the poet’s health, and he went abroad for a long time for rest and treatment. Then the war begins - and he is called up for active service in the engineering troops.
The revolution played a fatal role in the poet's life. Unlike many other prominent figures of literature and art, Alexander Alexandrovich refused to leave the country after the coup. Having accepted the new government as a historical inevitability, he voluntarily cooperated with the Bolsheviks and actively worked for the good of the country in numerous commissions and committees, allowing him to freely use his famous name. Unfortunately, it was his hard work and harsh revolutionary conditions that caused his death. In 1921, having received permission to travel abroad too late, Blok died in St. Petersburg from a heart disease.
However, Blok’s lyrics find their admirers even today. The deep symbolism of his poems, his keen interest in the history and modern fate of his native country, his chivalrous admiration for a beautiful lady - all this invariably touches hearts.
The boy was sent to the St. Petersburg Vvedenskaya Gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1898.
In 1898, Alexander Blok entered the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, but in 1901 he transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology, from which he graduated in 1906 in the Slavic-Russian department.
From the beginning of the 1900s, Alexander Blok became close to the symbolists Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Zinaida Gippius in St. Petersburg, and with Valery Bryusov and Andrei Bely in Moscow.
In 1903, the first selection of Blok’s poems, “From Dedications,” appeared in the magazine “New Way”, headed by the Merezhkovskys. In the same year, a cycle of poems was published in the almanac “Northern Flowers” under the title “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” (the title was suggested by Bryusov).
The events of the revolution of 1905-1907 played a special role in shaping Blok’s worldview, revealing the spontaneous, catastrophic nature of existence. In the lyrics of this time, the theme of the “elements” became the leading one - images of a blizzard, blizzard, motifs of free people, vagrancy. The Beautiful Lady is replaced by the demonic Stranger, Snow Mask, and the schismatic gypsy Faina. Blok published in the symbolist magazines “Questions of Life”, “Scales”, “Pereval”, “Golden Fleece”, in the latter he led the critical department from 1907.
In 1907, Blok's collection "Unexpected Joy" was published in Moscow, in St. Petersburg - the cycle of poems "Snow Mask", in 1908 in Moscow - the third collection of poems "Earth in the Snow" and a translation of Grillparzer's tragedy "Foremother" with an introductory article and notes. In 1908, he turned to the theater and wrote “lyrical dramas” - “Balaganchik”, “King in the Square”, “Stranger”.
A trip to Italy in the spring and summer of 1909 became a period of “revaluation of values” for Blok. The impressions he gained from this journey were embodied in the cycle “Italian Poems”.
In 1909, having received an inheritance after the death of his father, he was freed for a long time from worries about literary earnings and focused on major artistic plans. In 1910, he began working on the great epic poem "Retribution" (which was not completed). In 1912-1913 he wrote the play "Rose and Cross". After the publication of the collection "Night Hours" in 1911, Blok revised his five books of poetry into a three-volume collection of poems (1911-1912). During the poet's lifetime, the three-volume set was republished in 1916 and in 1918-1921.
Since the autumn of 1914, Blok worked on the publication of “Poems by Apollo Grigoriev” (1916) as a compiler, author of the introductory article and commentator.
In July 1916, during the First World War, he was drafted into the army and served as a timekeeper of the 13th engineering and construction squad of the Zemsky and City Unions near Pinsk (now a city in Belarus).
After the February Revolution of 1917, Blok returned to Petrograd, where, as an editor of verbatim reports, he became a member of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission to investigate the crimes of the tsarist government. The materials of the investigation were summarized by him in the book “The Last Days of Imperial Power” (1921).
The October Revolution causes a new spiritual rise of the poet and civic activity. In January 1918, the poems “The Twelve” and “Scythians” were created.
After “The Twelve” and “Scythians”, Alexander Blok wrote comic poems “for the occasion”, prepared the last edition of the “lyrical trilogy”, but did not create new original poems until 1921. During this period, the poet made cultural and philosophical reports at meetings of the Volfila - Free Philosophical Association, at the School of Journalism, wrote lyrical fragments “Neither Dreams nor Reality” and “Confession of a Pagan”, feuilletons “Russian Dandies”, “Fellow Citizens”, “Answer to the Question of red seal."
A huge amount of what he wrote was related to Blok’s official activities: after the October Revolution of 1917, for the first time in his life he was forced to seek not only literary income, but also public service. In September 1917, he became a member of the Theater and Literary Commission, from the beginning of 1918 he collaborated with the Theater Department of the People's Commissariat for Education, and in April 1919 he moved to the Bolshoi Drama Theater. At the same time, he worked as a member of the editorial board of the publishing house "World Literature" under the leadership of Maxim Gorky, and from 1920 he was chairman of the Petrograd branch of the Union of Poets.
Initially, Blok's participation in cultural and educational institutions was motivated by beliefs about the duty of the intelligentsia to the people. But the discrepancy between the poet’s ideas about the “cleansing revolutionary element” and the bloody everyday life of the advancing regime led him to disappointment in what was happening. In his articles and diary entries, the motif of the catacomb existence of culture appeared. Blok’s thoughts about the indestructibility of true culture and the “secret freedom” of the artist were expressed in his speech “On the Appointment of a Poet” at an evening in memory of Alexander Pushkin and in the poem “To the Pushkin House” (February 1921), which became his artistic and human testament.
In the spring of 1921, Alexander Blok asked to be given an exit visa to Finland for treatment in a sanatorium. The Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b), at whose meeting this issue was discussed, refused to allow Blok to leave.
In April 1921, the poet's growing depression turned into a mental disorder accompanied by heart disease. On August 7, 1921, Alexander Blok died in Petrograd. He was buried at the Smolensk cemetery; in 1944, the poet’s ashes were transferred to the Literary Bridge at the Volkovsky cemetery.
Since 1903, Alexander Blok was married to Lyubov Mendeleeva (1882-1939), the daughter of the famous chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, to whom the cycle “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” was dedicated. After the poet’s death, she became interested in classical ballet and taught the history of ballet at the Choreographic School at the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater (now the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet). She described her life with the poet in the book “Both true stories and fables about Blok and about herself.”
In 1980, in the house on Dekabristov Street, where the poet lived and died for the last nine years, the museum-apartment of Alexander Blok was opened.
In 1984, in the Shakhmatovo estate, where Blok spent his childhood and youth, as well as in the neighboring estates of Boblovo and Tarakanovo, Solnechnogorsk district, Moscow region, the State Museum-Reserve of D.I. Mendeleev and A.A. Blok.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
Blok was the idol of the young Russian intelligentsia in the second decade of the 20th century. He is the greatest poet of Russia of the era of symbolism. Within this artistic movement he represents the second generation. His early work shows the influence of romantic poetry, such as Zhukovsky and Lermontov, and pure poetry, such as Polonsky and Fet.
Poems about a Beautiful Lady bear the stamp of the sophiology of Vladimir Solovyov and the mysticism of the St. Petersburg symbolists. In mystically sublime tones, Blok speaks of the Beautiful Lady as Sophia the Wisdom of God and the Virgin Mary. “Desired Friend”, “Queen of Purity”, “Mysterious Maiden” - images of the eternally feminine.
Block. Lyrics. Second volume. Video tutorial
Next book of poems Unexpected joy(1906), named after the icon of the Mother of God of the same name, highlights a layer of religious veneration of femininity, but still retains an ambivalent attitude towards the demonism of eros.
Poem Stranger(1906, see full text and analysis) from the series City, written in 1901-1908, when Blok, following Bryusov, turns to the phenomenon of human existence in big cities, gives a fusion of otherworldly and earthly features in the image of a city lady and a street prostitute. This is already the path to the cycle Snow mask, whose impact is determined by the dynamic deployment and crossing of bold metaphors.
Blok is a poet of momentary, real and visionary impressions that give rise to a multi-colored figurative fabric, flowing from a musically holistic perception of the world.
Play Showcase reduces all allegories of the eternally feminine to the comically banal, reflecting both internal contradictions and a game that destroys illusions. This little drama and two others - King in the square (1906), Stranger(1906) - Blok combined it into a trilogy.
Among Blok's later lyrics, the poems addressed to Russia, which at the beginning of the First World War were published in the collection Poems about Russia(1915). Romantic-symbolist drama arose from a passion for French medieval poetry. Rose and Cross(1913), another attempt at a debate with the realism of Blok’s contemporary theater, moreover, built on the constant intersection of historical and imaginary layers. During the war, Blok sought to stage this drama in the theater, but in vain.
Poem Twelve(see its full text and analysis), consisting of twelve rhythmically and plot-independent parts, unfolds to the march of twelve Red Army soldiers through Petrograd. Here the farewell to the old world, the chaos of the revolution and the spells of the future are brought together. At the end of the poem, Christ appears at the head of this revolutionary march, under a red banner and crowned with white roses.
The day after graduation Twelve Blok wrote a poem Scythians(cm.
(1880-1921)
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok was born in 1880 on November 16, old style. By origin, family and kinship ties, and friendships, the poet, who himself called himself in the third person “the triumph of freedom,” belonged to the circle of the old Russian intelligentsia, who from generation to generation sacredly served science and literature.
In 1889, Blok's mother remarried - to a guards officer. Nine-year-old Blok settled with his mother and stepfather in the Grenadar barracks, located on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, on the banks of the Bolshaya Nevka.
At the same time, Blok was sent to a gymnasium.
In 1897, finding himself abroad with his mother in the German resort town of Bad Nauheim, Blok experienced his first, but very strong, youthful love. She left a deep mark on his poetry.
In 1898, he graduated from the gymnasium, and Blok “rather unconsciously” entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. three years later, convinced that he was completely alien to legal science, he transferred to the Slavic-Russian department of the Faculty of History and Philology, which he graduated in 1906.
But in 1901, theatrical interests gave way to literary interests. By that time, Blok had already written many poems. This is the lyrics of love and nature, full of unclear forebodings, mysterious hints and allegories. Young Blok is immersed in the study of idealistic philosophy, in particular the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who taught that in addition to the real world, there is also a certain “superreal”, higher “world of ideas”.
Beginning in 1898, Blok experienced an unusually strong and deep feeling for a girl (Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva), who later became his wife.
In November 1902, a decisive explanation took place between the young people, and they got married in August 1903.
At this time, Blok had already entered literature, joining the Symbolists. His debut took place in the spring of 1903 - almost simultaneously in the St. Petersburg magazine “New Way” and in the Moscow almanac “Northern Flowers”. He establishes connections in the symbolist circle both in St. Petersburg (with D. Merezhkovsky and Z. Gippius) and in Moscow (with V. Bryusov). But what turned out to be especially close to Blok was the circle of young admirers and followers of Vl that had formed at that time in Moscow. Solovyov, among whom the main role was played by the aspiring poet, prose writer, and theorist Andrei Bely. In this circle, Blok's poems met with enthusiastic recognition.
At the end of 1904, Blok’s first book, “Poems about a Beautiful Lady,” was published by the Symbolist publishing house “Grif.”
There was more than one woman in the poet’s life. Lyubov Delmas and N.N. had a great influence on his work. Volokhova.
The poem "Factory", written at the end of 1903, can be considered as an important turning point in Blok's creative path.
The revolution of 1905 made a huge impression on him and greatly clarified his ideological and artistic vision. He saw the activity of the people, their will to fight for freedom and happiness, discovered a “citizen” in himself, and for the first time felt the feeling of blood connection with the people inherent in every true and honest artist and the consciousness of public responsibility for his writing.
Blok's previous indifference to socio-political events was replaced in 1905 by a greedy interest in what was happening. He took part in revolutionary demonstrations and once carried a red banner at the head of one of them. The events of that time were reflected in a number of Blok’s works.
The years 1906-1908 were a time of Blok's literary growth and success. He becomes a professional writer, his name is already becoming quite widely known.
Blok's books were published one after another - collections of poems "Unexpected Joy" (1907), "Snow Mask" (1907), "Earth in the Snow" (1908), a collection of "lyrical dramas" (1908).
In 1907 - 1908, his deep discord with almost all his symbolist literature was determined. The further, the more persistently Blok goes his own way. From his thoughts, doubts and worries, he drew decisive and final conclusions.
In 1909, he made an interesting trip to Italy and Germany, the result of which was the cycle “Italian Poems” - the best that there is in Russian poetry about Italy.
In 1911, he again traveled around Europe (Paris, Brittany, Belgium, Holland, Berlin).
In 1913 - for the third time (Paris and the Biscay coast of the Atlantic Ocean).
In the summer of 1916, he was drafted into the active army and served in an engineering and construction squad that built field fortifications in the front line, in the Pinsk swamps. Here he was met with news of the overthrow of the so-modem.
In May 1917, Blok was recruited to work on the Extraordinary Investigative Commission, which was established to investigate the activities of the tsarist ministers and dignitaries. This work captivated Blok and revealed to him the “giant trash heap” of autocracy. Based on the materials of interrogations and testimony, he wrote the documentary book “The Last Days of Imperial Power.”
In the winter, spring and summer of 1921, Blok's last triumphant performances took place - with an inspired speech about Pushkin and reading his poems (in Petrograd and Moscow).
In May, Blok felt unwell, which soon turned into a serious illness.
Alexander Blok lived and worked at the border of two worlds - during the era of preparation and implementation of the October Revolution. He was the last great poet of old, pre-October Russia, who completed the poetic quest of the entire 19th century in his work. And at the same time, his name opens the first, title page of the history of Russian Soviet poetry.
He amazed everyone with his irrepressible faith in the future of Russia and its people. Loving and suffering to embrace the immensity, a man with a wide soul and a tragic life. Blok's life and work deserve attention for their completeness and touchingness.
Biography of the poet
Blok Alexander Alexandrovich, born 1880, November 28. Place of birth - St. Petersburg. His parents: father - A.L. Blok, worked as a lawyer at the university in Warsaw, mother - A.A. Beketova, daughter of the famous botanist.
The boy's parents divorced before he was born, so he did not grow up in a complete family. However, maternal grandfather A.N. Beketov, in whose family Alexander grew up, surrounded the child with due care and attention. Gave him a good education and a start in life. A.N. himself Beketov was the rector of the university in St. Petersburg. The highly moral and cultural atmosphere of the environment left its mark on the formation of Blok’s worldviews and upbringing.
Since childhood, he has had a love for the classics of Russian literature. Pushkin, Apukhtin, Zhukovsky, Fet, Grigoriev - these are the names on whose works little Blok grew up and became familiar with the world of literature and poetry.
Poet's training
The first stage of education for Blok was a gymnasium in St. Petersburg. After graduating in 1898, he entered St. Petersburg University to study law. He completed his legal studies in 1901 and changed his direction to historical and philological.
It was at the university that he finally decided to delve into the world of literature. This desire is also reinforced by the beautiful and picturesque nature, among which his grandfather’s estate is located. Having grown up in such an environment, Alexander forever absorbed the sensitivity and subtlety of his worldview, and reflected this in his poems. From then on, Blok’s creativity began.
Blok maintains a very warm relationship with his mother; his love and respect for her is limitless. Until his mother’s death, he constantly sent her his works.
Appearance
Their marriage took place in 1903. Family life was ambiguous and difficult. Mendeleev was waiting for great love, as in novels. The block offered moderation and tranquility of life. The result was his wife’s passion for his friend and like-minded person, Andrei Bely, a symbolist poet who played an important role in the work of Blok himself.
Lifetime work
Blok’s life and work developed in such a way that, in addition to literature, he took part in completely everyday affairs. For example:
"Poems about a Beautiful Lady";
"Unexpected joy";
"Snowy Night"
"On the Kulikovo field."
“Retribution”, which he wrote like that.
was an active participant in dramatic productions in the theater and even saw himself as an actor, but the literary field attracted him more;
for two years in a row (1905-1906) the poet was a direct witness and participant in revolutionary rallies and demonstrations;
writes his own literature review column in the newspaper "Golden Fleece";
from 1916-1917 repays his debt to the Motherland, serving near Pinsk (engineering and construction squad);
is part of the leadership of the Bolshoi;
upon returning from the army, he gets a job in the Extraordinary Investigative Commission for the Affairs of Tsarist Ministers. He worked there as a shorthand report editor until 1921.
Blok's early work
Little Sasha wrote his first poem at the age of five. Even then, he had the makings of a talent that needed to be developed. This is what Blok did.
Love and Russia are two favorite themes of creativity. Blok wrote a lot about both. However, at the initial stage of development and realization of his talent, what attracted him most was love. The image of the beautiful lady, which he had been looking for everywhere, captured his entire being. And he found the earthly embodiment of his ideas in Lyubov Mendeleeva.
The theme of love in Blok’s work is revealed so fully, clearly and beautifully that it is difficult to dispute it. Therefore, it is not surprising that his first brainchild - a collection of poems - is called "Poems about a Beautiful Lady", and it is dedicated to his wife. When writing this collection of poems, Blok was greatly influenced by the poetry of Solovyov, whose student and follower he is considered to be.
In all poems there is a feeling of Eternal femininity, beauty, and naturalness. However, all expressions and phrases used in writing are allegorical and unrealistic. Blok is carried away in a creative impulse to “other worlds.”
Gradually, the theme of love in Blok’s work gives way to more real and pressing problems surrounding the poet.
The beginning of disappointment
Revolutionary events, discord in family relationships, and miserably failing dreams of a clean and bright future for Russia force Blok’s work to undergo obvious changes. His next collection is called “Unexpected Joy” (1906).
More and more he ridicules the Symbolists, to whom he no longer considers himself, and he becomes more and more cynical about hopes for the best ahead. He is a participant in revolutionary events, who is completely on the side of the Bolsheviks, considering their cause to be right.
During this period (1906) his trilogy of dramas was published. First, “Balaganchik”, after some time “King in the Square”, and this trio ends with bitter disappointment from the imperfection of the world, from their disappointed hopes. During the same period, he became interested in actress N.N. Volokhova. However, he does not receive reciprocity, which adds bitterness, irony and skepticism to his poems.
Andrei Bely and other previously like-minded people in poetry do not accept the changes in Blok and criticize his current work. Alexander Blok remains adamant. He is disappointed and deeply saddened.
"The Incarnation Trilogy"
In 1909, Blok’s father dies, to whom he does not have time to say goodbye. This leaves an even greater imprint on his state of mind, and he decides to combine his most striking works, in his opinion, into one poetic trilogy, which he gives the name “Trilogy of Incarnation.”
Thus, Blok’s work in 1911-1912 was marked by the appearance of three collections of poems, which bear poetic titles:
A year later, he released a cycle of love poems “Carmen”, wrote the poem “The Nightingale Garden”, dedicated to his new hobby - singer L.A. Delmas.
Homeland in Blok's works
Since 1908, the poet has positioned himself no longer as a lyricist, but as a glorifier of his Motherland. During this period he writes poems such as:
"Autumn Wave";
"Autumn Love";
All these works are imbued with love for the Motherland, for one’s country. The poet simultaneously shows two sides of life in Russia: poverty and hunger, piety, but at the same time wildness, unbridledness and freedom.
The theme of Russia in Blok’s work, the theme of the homeland, is one of the most fundamental in his entire poetic life. For him, the Motherland is something living, breathing and feeling. Therefore, the ongoing events of the October Revolution are too difficult, disproportionately difficult for him.
The theme of Russia in Blok’s works
After revolutionary trends capture his entire spirit, the poet almost completely loses lyricism and love in his works. Now the whole meaning of his works is directed towards Russia, his homeland.
Blok personifies his country in poetry with a woman; he makes it almost tangible, real, as if he humanizes it. The homeland in Blok’s work takes on such a large-scale significance that he never writes about love again.
Believing in the Bolsheviks and their truth, he experiences severe, almost fatal disappointment for him when he sees the results of the revolution. Hunger, poverty, defeat, mass extermination of the intelligentsia - all this forms in Blok’s mind an acute hostility towards the symbolists, towards lyricism and forces him from now on to create works only with a satiristic, poisonous mockery of faith in the future.
However, his love for Russia is so great that he continues to believe in the strength of his country. That she will rise up, dust herself off and be able to show her power and glory. The works of Blok, Mayakovsky, Yesenin are similar in this regard.
In 1918, Blok wrote the poem “The Twelve,” the most scandalous and loud of all his works, which caused a lot of rumors and conversations about it. But criticism leaves the poet indifferent; the emerging depression begins to consume his entire being.
Poem "Twelve"
The author began writing his work "The Twelve" in early January. On the first day of work, he didn't even take a break. His notes say: “Trembling inside.” Then the writing of the poem stopped, and the poet managed to finish it only on January 28.
After the publication of this work, Blok’s work changed dramatically. This can be briefly described as follows: the poet lost himself, stagnation set in.
The main idea of the poem was recognized differently by everyone. Some saw in it support for the revolution, a mockery of symbolist views. Some, on the contrary, have a satirical slant and mockery of the revolutionary order. However, Blok himself had both in mind when creating the poem. She is contradictory, just like his mood at that moment.
After the publication of “The Twelve,” all already weak ties with the Symbolists were severed. Almost all of Blok’s close friends turned away from him: Merezhkovsky, Vyach, Prishvin, Sologub, Piast, Akhmatova and others.
By that time, he himself was becoming disillusioned with Balmont. Thus, Blok is left practically alone.
Post-revolutionary creativity
The revolution passed, and the bitterness from the disappointment of the Bolshevik policies grew and intensified. Such a gap between what was promised and what was done as a result of the revolution became unbearable for Blok. We can briefly characterize Blok’s work during this period: nothing was written.
As they would later write about the poet’s death, “the Bolsheviks killed him.” And indeed it is. Blok was unable to overcome and accept such a discrepancy between the word and deed of the new government. He failed to forgive himself for supporting the Bolsheviks, for his blindness and short-sightedness.
Blok is experiencing severe discord within himself and is completely lost in his inner experiences and torment. The consequence of this is illness. From April 1921 to the beginning of August, the illness did not let go of the poet, tormenting him more and more. Only occasionally emerging from semi-oblivion, he tries to console his wife, Lyubov Mendeleeva (Blok). On August 7, Blok died.
Where did the poet live and work?
Today, Blok’s biography and work captivate and inspire many. And the place where he lived and wrote his poems and poems turned into a museum. From the photographs we can judge the environment in which the poet worked.
You can see the appearance of the estate where the poet spent time in the photo on the left.
The room in which the poet spent the last bitter and difficult moments of his life (photo below).
Today, the poet’s work is loved and studied, admired, his depth and integrity, unusualness and brightness are recognized. Russia in Blok’s works is studied in school classes, and essays are written on this topic. This gives every right to call the author a great poet. In the past, he was a symbolist, then a revolutionary, and at the end of the day he was simply a deeply disillusioned person with life and power, an unhappy person with a bitter, difficult fate.
A monument has been erected in St. Petersburg to perpetuate the author’s name in history and pay due respect to his undeniable talent.
