Poet Apollon Maikov: biography, creativity

Maikov Apollon Nikolaevich is a famous Russian poet. He lived in the 19th century (1821-1897). The creative heritage of this poet is of interest in our time, which speaks of his undoubted talent.

The Origin of AN Maikov

It should be said that Apollo Maikov was not the only gifted representative of his name. The ancient genus of the poet was rich with talented people. In the 15th century, the famous Russian theologian Neil Sorsky lived, and in the time of Catherine the poet Vasily Maikov worked.

The father of our hero was an academician of painting. The rest of his family also belonged to the creative intelligentsia. His mother is an interpreter and poetess, brother Valerian is a publicist and literary critic, and Leonid, another brother of Apollo, is a publisher and historian of literature.

Childhood and the years of youth, the first book of poetry

Childhood Apollon Nikolaevich spent on the estate owned by his father. It was near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The Mikova family moved to St. Petersburg in 1834. Apollo in his childhood was fond of both literature and painting. However, shortsightedness prevented him from following in the footsteps of his father. In the first prosaic experiments of Maikov one can see the influence of Gogol. Then he became interested in poetry Apollo Maikov. His biography of this period was also marked by training at the St. Petersburg University, at the Faculty of Law. At the end of the university, Apollon Nikolaevich published the first book of his poems. This important event occurred in 1842.

A trip abroad, new poems

In the same year, Apollo Maikov went abroad. Here he stayed about two years. Maikov listened to lectures by famous scientists in Paris. While in Rome, he took part in the sprees of Russian artists, wrote poetry, sketched, went on horseback riding through the Roman valley. The result of these impressions was Maikova's verse cycle "Essays on Rome" (published in 1847). It was during his life in Italy in the work of the poet was marked the first scrap. Apollo Maikov broke with anthological poetry and began to strive for the so-called poetry of thought and feeling. Maykova stopped interested in the old man. He decided to turn to modernity. As a result, portraits of the inhabitants of Rome appeared (Lorenzo, "Capuchin", "Beggar").

Homecoming

Returning to his homeland, the poet began to work in the Rumyantsev Museum as an assistant librarian. In the second half of 1840, Nekrasov, Grigorovich, Turgenev, and Belinsky entered into the circle of his contacts. Apollo Maikov was at that time influenced by the natural school. The poet published a lot in Otechestvennye zapiski. In the "Petersburg collection" Nekrasov in 1846 appeared his poem "Mashenka." A little earlier was created another poem, "Two Fates", which tells the story of the "superfluous" person.

Connection with the Petrashevists and the editorial office of the "Moskvityanin"

Apollon Nikolayevich in those years was ideologically close to Westernism. He was involved in the movement of Petrashevists through his brother Valerian. However, he was soon oppressed by their constant criticism of the government. Maikov saw utopianism in the movement of Petrashevists, "a lot of selfishness," "a lot of nonsense," and "little love."

Apollon Nikolayevich, who survived the crisis, got to the editor of the Moskvityanin. Here he suddenly found not only participation, but also support for his views. Maikov denied the principles of the civilization of Western Europe. This thought passed through his entire collection "1854", which accurately reflected the worldview of Maikov at that time. Another cross-cutting theme of the book was the historic mission of the Russian state, which blocked the way to the west of the hordes of Batu and thereby prevented the death of the civilization of Europe (Clermont's Cathedral, etc.). Then Maikov became a convinced monarchist. He believed in the greatness of Nicholas I.

Creativity of the 1850s

As happens in every real poet, Mayakov's work of 1850 is much broader than the ideological guidelines. He created works on a social theme (idyll "The Fool", the cycle "Life Thoughts"), poems of an ideological and political nature. Simultaneously, Maikov wrote poetry, which continued the anthological and aesthetic principles of his poetry of the early period. We are talking about such cycles as "Cameos" and "Fantasies". In the late 1850's. There were cycles of "Home", "At Will", "Under the Rain", "Spring", "Haymaking". In these works, Maykov's former harmonic view of nature is still felt. However, now he manifests himself in sketches of the countryside of Russia.

"Autumn"

In 1856 he created one of the most famous poems of Apollo Maikov. "Autumn" - so he called it. The poet was fond of hunting since he was young, but often caught himself thinking that he enjoyed much more than a walk in the forest without dogs and guns. He really liked to rake the leaves with his foot, hear the crackling of twigs ... However, the forest in the autumn is deprived of mystery and mystery, because "the last flower was blessed", "the last nut" is ripped off. And this world gives rise to feelings unknown in the poet ...

Maritime Expedition

The Italian theme reappeared in the work of Apollon Nikolayevich in 1859. This was due to the fact that he, together with other researchers, carried out a sea expedition visiting the islands of the Greek archipelago. The ship, which carried out the voyage, did not get to Greece. He had to stay in Naples. Therefore, instead of one cycle, as Mikkov Apollo Nikolaevich planned, two turned out. "Neapolitan album" was created by Italian impressions. This is a kind of novel in verse, the theme of which is the life of the people in Naples. As a result of studying the culture and history of Greece, there were "New Greek songs" ("The Swallow came running", "The Lullaby", etc.).

One of the most famous of his poems is "Lullaby ...". Apollo Maikov created this work in 1860. More than 20 composers at one time wrote music to him. Among them A. Chesnokov, A. Arensky, V. Rebikov, P. Tchaikovsky.

last years of life

In the last 25 years of his life, Maykov was interested in the eternal questions of being. He thought about the development of civilizations. An important place in Maikov's reflections at this time was occupied by the destinies of our country, its past and present, its role in history. In 1880, Apollon Nikolaevich also created a series of poems that are distinguished by deep religiosity and the idea that religious humility is a distinctive feature of the Russian person ("The eternal night is coming ....", "Leave, leave, ..", etc.).

Finally

Merezhkovsky wrote in his book "Eternal Satellites" that Maikov Apollo is a poet whose life path was bright and smooth. No persecution, no enemies, no passions, no struggle was there. There were poems, books, travel, family joys, glory. Indeed, his biography was little poetic: he did not die on the scaffold or in a duel, he was not pursued, he was not tormented by passions. In Apollo Maikova everything external went inside. His real biography, his true destiny was his way from the Romans and Greeks to Russian reality, the history of peoples, the poetry of the Bible and the eternal questions of being.