Poetry of the Silver Age: poets, poems, main directions and features

The XIX century, which became a period of extraordinary rise of the Russian culture and grandiose achievements in all spheres of art, was replaced by a complex and dramatic events and turning points of the 20th century. The golden age of social and artistic life was replaced by the so-called silver, which gave rise to the rapid development of Russian literature, poetry and prose in new bright currents, and later became the starting point for its fall. In this article we will focus on the poetry of the Silver Age, we will examine its distinctive features, we will tell about the main directions, such as symbolism, acmeism and futurism, each of which was distinguished by the special music of the verse and the vivid expression of the experiences and feelings of the lyric hero.

Poetry of the Silver Age. A turning point in Russian culture and art

It is believed that the beginning of the silver age of Russian literature falls on the 80-90's. XIX century. At this time there are works of many remarkable poets: V. Bryusov, K. Ryleev, K. Balmont, I. Annensky - and writers: L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The country is going through hard times. During the reign of Alexander I, first a strong patriotic upsurge took place during the war of 1812, and afterwards, in connection with the abrupt change in the previously liberal policy of the tsar, society suffers a painful loss of illusions and heavy moral losses. His heyday poetry of the silver age reaches to 1915. Social life and political situation are characterized by a deep crisis, restless, boiling atmosphere. Mass demonstrations are taking place, the politicization of life is taking place and at the same time personal self-consciousness is being strengthened. The society carries out strenuous attempts to find a new ideal of power and social order. And poets and writers keep pace with the times, mastering new artistic forms and offering bold ideas. The human personality begins to be realized as the unity of many principles: natural and social, biological and moral. In the years of the February, October Revolutions and the Civil War, the poetry of the Silver Age is in crisis. The speech of A. Blok "On the appointment of the poet" (February 11, 1921), delivered by him in the House of Writers at a meeting on the occasion of the 84th anniversary of A. Pushkin's death, is the final chord of the Silver Age.

Characteristics of the literature of the XIX - early XX centuries.

Let's look at the features of the poetry of the Silver Age. First, one of the main features of the literature of that time was a huge interest in eternal topics: the search for the vanishing of the life of an individual person and of all mankind as a whole, the riddle of the national character, the history of the country, the mutual influence of the worldly and spiritual, the interaction of man and nature. Literature in the late XIX century. Is becoming more philosophical: the authors disclose the themes of war, revolution, the personal tragedy of a man who, by virtue of circumstances, has lost peace and inner harmony. In the writings of writers and poets a new, bold, unconventional, decisive and often unpredictable hero is born, who persistently overcomes all adversities and deprivations. In most works, close attention is paid precisely to how the subject perceives tragic social events through the prism of his consciousness. Secondly, the peculiarity of poetry and prose was the intensive search for original artistic forms, as well as means of expressing feelings and emotions. The poetic form and rhyme played a particularly important role. Many authors refused to classical text and invented new techniques, for example, V. Mayakovsky created his famous "ladder". Often the authors used speech and language anomalies, fragmentation, alogisms and even made spelling mistakes to achieve a special effect .

Thirdly, the poets of the silver age of Russian poetry freely experimented with the artistic possibilities of the word. In an effort to express complex, often contradictory, "volatile" spiritual impulses, the writers began to take a new approach to the word, trying in their poems to convey the subtlest shades of meanings. Standard, template definitions of clear objective objects: love, evil, family values, morality - have been replaced by abstract psychological descriptions. Precise concepts gave way to hints and understatements. Such fluctuation, fluidity of verbal meaning was achieved through the brightest metaphors, which often began to be built not on the obvious similarity of objects or phenomena, but on non-obvious signs.

Fourth, the poetry of the silver age is characterized by new ways of conveying the thoughts and feelings of the lyrical hero. Poems of many authors began to be created using images, motifs of different cultures, as well as hidden and explicit quotations. For example, many artists of the word included in their creations scenes from Greek, Roman and a little later Slavic myths and legends. In the works of I. Annensky, M. Tsvetaeva and V. Bryusov, mythology is used to construct universal psychological models that enable us to comprehend the human personality, in particular its spiritual component. Each poet of the silver age is vividly individual. You can easily understand which of them belong to those or other verses. But they all tried to make their works more tangible, lively, full of colors, so that any reader could feel every word and line.

The main directions of poetry of the Silver Age. Symbolism

Writers and poets who opposed themselves to realism, announced the creation of a new, modern art - modernism. There are three main literary trends in the poetry of the Silver Age: symbolism, acmeism, futurism. Each of them had its own brightest features. Symbolism first arose in France as a protest against the ordinary display of reality and discontent with bourgeois life. The ancestors of this trend, including J. Morsas, believed that only with the help of a special hint of a symbol, one can understand the secrets of the universe. In Russia, symbolism appeared in the early 1890s. The founder of this trend was D. S. Merezhkovsky, who proclaimed in his book three basic postulates of the new art: symbolization, mystical content and "expansion of artistic impressionability."

Senior and younger Symbolists

The first Symbolists, later named Senior, became V.Ya. Bryusov, KD Balmont, F. K. Sologub, Z. N. Gippius, N. M. Minsky and other poets. Their work was often characterized by a sharp denial of the surrounding reality. They portrayed real life as boring, ugly and meaningless, trying to convey the subtlest shades of their sensations.

Period from 1901 to 1904 Marks the beginning of a new milestone of Russian poetry. Symbolist poems are imbued with a revolutionary spirit and a presentiment of future changes. The younger symbolists: A. Blok, V. Ivanov, A. Bely - do not deny the world, but are utopically waiting for its transformation, singing out divine beauty, love and femininity, which will necessarily change reality. It is with the advent of younger symbolists in the literary arena that the notion of a symbol enters literature. Poets understand it as a multidimensional word, reflecting the world of "heaven", spiritual essence and at the same time "earthly kingdom."

Symbolism during the Revolution

Poetry of the Russian Silver Age in 1905-1907. Undergoes changes. Most Symbolists, guided by the socio-political events taking place in the country, are reconsidering their views on peace and beauty. The latter is now understood as the chaos of struggle. Poets create images of a new world, which comes to replace the perishing. V. Ya. Bryusov creates a poem "The Coming Huns", A. Blok - "The Barca of Life", "Rose from the Darkness of the Cellars ...", etc.

Symbols also change. Now it does not refer to the ancient heritage, but to Russian folklore, as well as Slavic mythology. After the revolution, there is a demarcation of the Symbolists, who wish to protect art from the revolutionary element and, on the contrary, are actively interested in social struggle. After 1907 the disputes of the Symbolists expire themselves, the imitation of the art of the past comes to replace them. And since 1910 Russian symbolism is going through a crisis, clearly reflecting its internal contradictions.

Acmeism in Russian poetry

In 1911, NS Gumilev organized a literary group - "Poets' Workshop." It included poets S. Gorodetsky, O. Mandelstam, G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich. This new direction did not reject the surrounding reality, but took reality as it is, asserting its value. "Poets' shop" began to publish its magazine "Hyperborei", as well as print works in "Apollo". Acmeism, originated as a literary school for finding a way out of the crisis of symbolism, combined very different ideological and artistic installations of poets.

One of the most famous acmeists was Anna Akhmatova. Her works were full of love experiences and became like a confession tormented by the passions of the female soul.

Features of Russian Futurism

The Silver Age in Russian poetry gave birth to another interesting trend called "futurism" (from the Latin futurum, that is, the "future"). The search for new artistic forms in the works of the brothers N. and D. Burliukov, N. S. Goncharova, N. Kulbin, M. V. Matyushin became a prerequisite for the emergence of this trend in Russia. In 1910, the press published a futuristic collection, "Sadok Judges," in which works of such brightest poets as VV Kamensky, V. V. Khlebnikov, the Burliuk brothers, E. Guro were collected. These authors formed the core of the so-called kubofuturists. Later, Mayakovsky joined them. In December 1912, the almanac came out - "Slap in the face of public taste." Poetry kubofuturistov "Buch forest", "The dead moon", "Roaring Parnassus", "Gaggle" have been the subject of numerous debates. Initially, they were perceived as a way to irritate the reader's habits, but with a more careful reading revealed an acute desire to show a new vision of the world and a special social involvement. Anti-aesthetics turned into an aversion to soulless, fake beauty, rude expressions were transformed into a voice of the crowd.

Ego Futurists

In addition to cubo-futurism, several other currents arose, including ego-futurism, headed by I. Severyanin. It was joined by such poets as VI Gnezdov, IV Ignatyev, K. Olimpov and others. They created the publishing house Petersburgite Herald, published magazines and almanacs with original names: "Nebokopy", "Eagles over the abyss" , "Sasahara Kry", etc. Their poems were extravagant and often were composed of words they themselves created. In addition to ego-futurists, there were two more groups: "Centrifuge" (BL Pasternak, NN Aseev, SP Bobrov) and "Mezzanine poetry" (R. Ivnev, SM Tretyakov, V. G. Sherenevich).

Instead of concluding

The silver age of Russian poetry was not long, but united a galaxy of brightest, talented poets. Many of them have tragic biographies, because they had to live and create in fateful for the country, the turning-time of revolutions and chaos of the post-revolutionary years, the civil war, the collapse of hopes and rebirth. Many poets died after the tragic events (V. Khlebnikov, A. Blok), many emigrated (K. Balmont, Z. Gippius, I. Severyanin, M. Tsvetaeva), some took their lives, were shot or disappeared in Stalin's camps. But nevertheless, all of them managed to make a huge contribution to Russian culture and enrich it with expressive, colorful, original works.