Biography Block Alexander Alexandrovich
(1880-1921)
A poet, a playwright.
Blok’s parents dispersed immediately after the birth of the future poet, and he was brought up in the family of a mother belonging to the circle of St. Petersburg professorial families. After graduating from St. Petersburg Gymnasium from 1898 to 1901 he studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University.
As a poet, Blok was formed under the influence of the traditions of Russian classical literature. He started writing poetry early.
At the beginning of the poetic path, the closest to him was the mystical romanticism of VA Zhukovsky. The singer of nature, as they called Zhukovsky, taught the poet purity and sublimity of feelings, comprehension of the beauty of the surrounding world, contact with the mystery of God, belief in the possibility of penetrating beyond the limits of the living.
Blok’s early poems were the first book published in 1904 – “Poems about the Beautiful Lady.”
Blok’s poetic debut came on the eve of the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907. The mood of the literature of this period changed. He responded to the revolution and Blok, showing the inherent important quality of the artist – social sensitivity.
His second book, “Unexpected Joy,” made the name of the poet popular in broad literary circles. This collection includes poems of 1904-1906 and among them “The Stranger”, “The Girl Sang in the Church Choir”, “The Autumn Wave”. The sound magic of the verses fascinated listeners. By the power of influencing the reader
The hero of Blok becomes the inhabitant of noisy city streets, eagerly peering into life. And the poem “Autumn Wave” was the first embodiment of the theme of the homeland, Russia in Blok’s work, which he will devote his whole life to. In the poems appear Nekrasov intonations – love of the motherland – love-salvation, the understanding that one’s destiny can not be imagined in isolation from it.
1906-1907 years were crucial for Blok, these are years of revaluation of values. The poet turns to drama, because the theater is an old and lifelong affection. When Blok felt the desire and the need to say a new word, the genre of the theatrical performance became a natural form. In 1906 Blok wrote three lyrical dramas – “Stranger”, “The King in the Square”, “The Puppet Show”.
The defeat of the first Russian revolution affected not only the fate of the poetic school of symbolism, but also the personal destiny of each of its adherents. The strengthening of the civil indignation and protest in the Bloc led him to weakening ties with former like-minded people. In his diary, Blok wrote: “There are no more symbolisms: I’m not a boy, I myself am responsible for everything.” Unable to organize the publication of his own journal, Blok actively joins the literary struggle; the second half of the 900s is characterized by the appearance of a large number of his literary, critical and journalistic works.
After a trip to Italy in 1909, Blok wrote a series of “Italian poems”, in the spring of 1914 – the cycle “Carmen”. In these poems, Blok remains the thinnest lyricist, glorifying beauty and love.
The main topic of his work Blok considers the theme of the Motherland. From the first poem about Russia (“Autumn Wave”, “Autumn Love”, “Russia”) there is a two-faced image of the country – a beggar, a praying and at the same time free, wild, robbery. The cycle “On the Field of Kulikov” (1908) is a landmark work of the poet. Significantly, the author’s note to this cycle: “The battle of Kulikovo belongs to the symbolic events of Russian history.” Such events are destined to return, and their solution lies ahead. ”
For Blok, one of the most important problems in these years was the unity of the intelligentsia and the people, and the fact that the hero of his works finds its place among the Russian soldiers in the battle for the salvation of the fatherland, speaks of the author’s belief in the possibility of such unity.
About this same poem “Retribution.” It is filled with a reflection of the fate of Russia in the fateful years of the era of “timelessness” at the end of the XIX century.
The October Revolution causes a new spiritual rise of the poet and civic activity. In January 1918, the poems “Twelve” and “Scythians” were created, as well as a journalistic article “The Intelligentsia and the Revolution.” Blok believes that the revolution leads to unknown, but beautiful goals. The “Twelve” poem is revolutionary not only in spirit, but also in its artistic structure. The “vortex”, “musical” beginning of the revolution appears in it as melodic-song, then as prosaic, spoken, then in leitmotical repetitions. In the “Twelve”
Encouraging cultural figures to participate in the construction of a new world, Blok himself works in the State Commission for the Publishing of Classics of Russian Literature, serves in the repertory section of the theater department of the People’s Commissariat for Education, and collaborates in the World Literature Publishing House, which is headed by Gorky.
Life in hungry Petersburg, the abundance of meetings interfering with creativity, tensions in the family and the perception of the end of the Civil War and the beginning of NEP as a decline in the “revolutionary wave” lead to a creative crisis: after January 1918, he almost does not create lyric poems. 1920-1921 years are permeated with moods of deep depression, insoluble tragedy of attitude, experience of sharp discord and reality.
In April 1921, Blok fell ill, in May his condition deteriorated sharply,
Creativity Blok is distinguished by a deep unity, organic and dynamic development dynamism.
For Blok’s lyrics, there is invariably the breath of passion (his lyrics are always about love, although it’s never just intimate). Poems are filled with faith in the poet’s high mission, the consciousness of the complex contradictions of life, etc.
Blok’s name was perceived by the reader as a symbol of modernity. His poetic sincerity, reflected in both personality and creativity, embodied the ideas of a whole generation about the pre-revolutionary decade and about themselves.
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