Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov. Biography
Poetry is everything to me! All my life is subordinated only to serving her; I live? – because she lives in me, and when she goes out in me, I die. In the name of her? – I without hesitation, I will sacrifice everything: my happiness,
my love, myself.
Valery Bryusov
“I want to live so that in the history of universal literature there are two lines about me and they will be,” Bryusov said on the day of his 30th birthday. These words turned out to be prophetic. Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov? – known poet, prose writer, playwright, translator, literary critic, researcher, leader of Russian Symbolists.
Born V. Ya.? Bryusov December 1, 1873 in a merchant family. The father of the future poet was an educated person, loved to read and tried to study literature, his son was brought up in rigor. The boy grew up sullen and silent, did not like to play, avoided society. Valery lived in a special fictional world, where his leadership was not
In the senior classes the young man is keen on mathematics, he studies philosophy. His literary interests are also expanding. Bryusov re-reads Pushkin, reveals the poetry of the French Symbolists Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Stefan Mallarme, who will later determine his literary tastes. He begins to translate the verses of his idols and imitate them.
Studying at the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, Bryusov publishes three collections of “Russian Symbolists”, which included translations from French Symbolists
The first author’s book of poems by V. Ya. Bryusov? – “Chefs d’oeuvre”? – was published in 1895, the second? – “Me eum esse” in 1896. They reveal the strong influence of French symbolism, the themes of the poet and poetry, the modern city, personality and history, motifs of love and death, landscape sketches in the spirit of romantics and Paul Verlaine.
The third poetry collection of Bryusov “Tertia Vigilia”, published in 1900, brought his author recognition. Poetic maturity has come.
In the next two collections of “Urbi et orbi” and “Stephanos” Brusov introduces poetry into everyday and civil motives. The poet perfectly mastered the technique of Russian verse, discovered new areas of rhythm, enriched the poetic vocabulary, themes and composition. Thanks to these books, which become a guide for poets, Briusov becomes famous master. Andrei Bely and Alexander Blok study on it “poetic craft”. By this time, Bryusov? Is a recognized leader of Russian Symbolists, head of the publishing house Scorpion, editor of the journal Libra.
At the end of 1898 Bryusov’s brochure “On Art” was published, in which the author reflects on the meaning and task of creativity. “The artist’s goal,” the poet notes, “is to deeply understand and fully retell your soul, therefore the only sign of true art is an individuality.” The life of the soul is manifested in the change of moments, in the stream of flashing moods. “The artist must embody the past, save it for the time; is preparing for the feat of life as a wise man and a prophet. In the change of art schools there is a common sense? – Release of the person. The new school? – Symbolism? – continues this struggle… “.
In the symbolistic lyrics of Bryusov, two main themes can be singled out:
- Historical and cultural – appeal to bright pages and legendary images of world history, mythology as an analogy of modernity; civil-urban – a reflection of a large city with a highly developed technology and industry, urban life, social life, the characteristics of the psyche, generated by the urban order.
During the First World War, Briusov worked at the front as a correspondent, after the revolution of 1917 he actively cooperates with the new authorities and conducts active public and educational activities. So, in 1921 he organized the Higher Literary and Art Institute, where he brought up young poets. Engaged in Bryusov and historical and literary studies. In his works he calls for the creation of a special “science of poetry.” The poetic collections that appeared during this period are in many respects inferior to the early ones.
Bryusov died in Moscow on October 9, 1924.
The literary critic Mikhail Gasparov, analyzing the work of Bryusov, noted: “It stands at the beginning of the literary epoch, it goes through a long period of solitary experiments, experiences a time of loud glory… <…> It can not be re-read, it can be condemned for coldness and dryness you can prefer Blok, Mayakovsky, Yesenin, Pasternak to anyone who likes it, but one can not but admit that without Bryusov Russian poetry would not have Blok, Pasternak, or even Yesenin and Mayakovsky-or would have them unrecognizably different. “
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