Nikolai Gumilyov was born on April 15 in Kronstadt in the family of a ship doctor. He wrote his first quatrain at the age of six, and at the age of sixteen, his first poem, "I fled to the forest from the cities ...", was published in the "Tiflis leaf".
Philosophy of F. Nietzsche and the poems of the Symbolists had a serious influence on Gumilyov, who changed the young poet's view of the world and its driving forces. Impressed by his new knowledge, he writes his first collection, The Way of the Conquistadors, where he already shows his own recognizable style.
The second collection of Gumilyov's poems entitled "Romantic Poems", dedicated to his beloved Anna Gorenko, was published in Paris already. The book opens the period of Gumilyov's mature creativity and collects the first logs of the poet, including from his teacher Valery Bryusov.
The next turning point in Gumilyov's work was the creation of the "Workshop of Poets" and his own aesthetic program, acmeism. The poem "The Prodigal Son" consolidates the poet's reputation as a "master" and one of the most significant contemporary authors. This will be followed by many talented works and fearless actions that will forever inscribe the name of Gumilyov in the history of Russian literature.
Giraffe (1907)
Today, I see, your look is especially sad
And my arms are especially thin, hugging my knees.
Listen: far, far, on Lake Chad
An exquisite giraffe wanders.
He was given graceful harmony and bliss,
And his skin is adorned with a magic pattern,
With which only the moon will dare to equal
Crushing and swaying on the moisture of wide lakes.
In the distance he is like the colored sails of a ship
And his run is smooth, like a joyful bird flight.
I know that the earth sees many wonderful things,
When at sunset he hides in a marble grotto.
I know funny tales of mysterious countries
About the black maiden, about the passion of the young leader,
But you've been inhaling the heavy mist for too long
You don't want to believe in anything but rain.
And how can I tell you about the tropical garden,
About slender palm trees, about the smell of incredible herbs.
You cry? Listen ... far away on Lake Chad
An exquisite giraffe wanders.
More than once you will remember me
And my whole world is exciting and strange
A ridiculous world of songs and fire
But among others, one deceitful.
He could have become yours too and did not,
You had a little or a lot of it,
I must have written bad poetry
And he unrighteously asked you of God.
But every time you bow down without strength
And you say: “I dare not remember.
After all, the other world fascinated me
Simple and coarse with its charm. "
I dreamed: we both died ... (1907)
I dreamed: we both died
We lie with a calm gaze
Two white, white coffins
Placed side by side.
When did we say "Enough"?
How long has it been, and what does it mean?
That the heart does not cry.
Powerless feelings are so strange
Frozen thoughts are so clear
And your lips are not desired
Though forever beautiful.
It is finished: we both died,
We lie with a calm gaze
Two white, white coffins
Placed side by side.
Evening (1908)
Another unnecessary day
Magnificent and unnecessary!
Come caressing shadow
And dress your vague soul
With your pearl robe.
And you came ... You chase away
Ominous birds are my sorrows.
Oh lady of the night
No one can overcome
Victory step of your sandals!
Silence flies from the stars
The moon is shining - your wrist
And again in a dream I was given
The promised land
Long-mourned happiness.
Delicately unprecedented joy (1917)
I would only accept one thing without arguing -
Quiet, quiet golden rest
Yes twelve thousand feet of the sea
Over my broken head.
The Sixth Sense (1920)
Beautifully in love with us wine
And the good bread that sits in the oven for us,
And the woman who was given
At first, exhausted, we enjoy.
I dreamed (1907)
When did we say enough?
How long has it been, and what does it mean?
But it's strange that the heart doesn't hurt
That the heart does not cry.
There are many people who, having fallen in love ... (1917)
How do you love, girl, answer
What languor do you yearn for?
Can't you really not burn
A secret flame familiar to you?
The Magic Violin (1907)
We must forever sing and cry to these strings, sonorous strings,
Forever must beat, curl a mad bow,
And under the sun, and under the blizzard, under the whitening breaker,
And when the west burns, and when the east burns.
Modernity (1911)
I closed the Iliad and sat by the window.
The last word fluttered on his lips.
Something was shining brightly - a lantern or the moon,
And the shadow of the sentry moved slowly.
Sonnet (1918)
Sometimes in the sky vague and starless
The fog is growing ... but I laugh and wait
And I believe, as always, in my star,
I, a conquistador in an iron shell.
Don Juan (1910)
My dream is haughty and simple:
Grab the paddle, put your foot in the stirrup
And cheat the slow time
Always kissing new lips.
Stone (1908)
See how the stone looks viciously
The cracks in it are strangely deep
A hidden flame flickers under the moss;
Don't think it's not fireflies!
Nikolai Gumilyov's love for travel and antiquity is reflected in the poet's poems, although the influence of Russian classicism is also noticeable. Gumilyov's poems are easy to read and have hidden implications, and in some works there is a place for the gift of divination, for example, "In the Desert" ends with the lines:
Before death all, Tersit and Hector,
Equally insignificant and glorious
I'll also drink sweet nectar
In the fields of the azure country.
Only Nikolai had to drink the nectar of death not in the azure country, but in the dungeons of the NKVD.
In his poems, Gumilev often refers to mythical heroes, often he mentions Hercules, Odysseus and Achilles, more than once returns the reader to Mary and Manlius in the era of Rome (the poem "Manlius"). His love of travel allows Gumilev to competently describe in his poems distant countries and the mystery of foreign nature ("Lake Chad", "Suez Canal", "Egypt" and others). Faust and Margarita, Rigoletto and Rublev, Caracalla and Pausanius come to life in the lines of the poet.
Such a selection of themes and characters speaks of the poet's versatility, the breadth of the spectrum of his interests and the ability to transfer feelings and dreams to a sheet of paper.
Here you will find the best, in the opinion of the readers, and selected poems by Gumilev. Penetration into the lines and spacing will help to understand the difficult fate of the poet and open the world of deep poetry of a talented author. Let's start with The Lost Tram.
Gumilyov's poem performed by Yulia Skirina.
Games
Whom does Gumilev bring to the arena of the amphitheater in the person of a sorcerer who is worshiped by wild animals? Who is the consul, pleasing the audience with kindness and pouring blood on the sand for the third day? Are not the seeds of revolution hiding behind the mask of a sorcerer, and is it not the tsarist regime that portrays the consul in the poem "Games"?
Who, then, are we, the audience? Those who see that something needs to be changed, but are afraid of the cold of death on the way to victory? Or those who have enough games - circuses and bread. We do not know the other or do not want to know.
The consul is kind: in the bloody arena
The third day the games do not end
And the tigers went completely mad
The boas breathe ancient malice.
And elephants, and bears! Such
Blood drunk fighters
Round, beating horns everywhere,
They hardly admired in Rome either.
And then only the captive was given to them,
All wounded, the leader of the Alamans,
Conjurer of Winds and Mists
And a killer with hyena eyes.
How we wanted this hour!
We were waiting for the battle, we knew that he was brave.
Hit, animals, hot body,
Rip, animals, bloody meat!
The son of a marine doctor. As a child he lived in Tsarskoe Selo, from 1895 - in St. Petersburg, in 1900-03 - in Tiflis, where Gumilyov's poem (1902) was first published in a local newspaper. He studied at the St. Petersburg and Tiflis gymnasiums.
In the fall of 1903, the Gumilev family returned to Tsarskoe Selo, where the young man completed (1906) his gymnasium education. The literary tastes of the aspiring poet were apparently influenced by the director of the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium, the poet I. F. Annensky ; influenced also the works of F. Nietzsche and the poems of the Symbolists.
"The Way of the Conquistadors"
The first collections of poems - "The Way of the Conquistadors" (1905), "Romantic Flowers" (1908; marked by an appeal to exotic themes) - reflected Gumilyov's feeling for Anna Gorenko, the future A. A. Akhmatova , whom he met in 1903 in Tsarskoye Selo (their marriage, concluded in 1910, broke up three years later). The defining image of Gumilyov's poetry was the image of a lonely conqueror, opposing his world to a dull reality.
Wanderings
In 1906 Gumilyov went to Paris, where he attended lectures at the Sorbonne, studied French literature, painting, theater. Published three issues of the literary and art magazine "Sirius" (1907). In 1908 he traveled to Egypt (later he traveled to Africa three more times - in 1909, 1910, 1913, collecting folk songs, examples of fine art, ethnographic materials).
"Letters on Russian Poetry"
For some time (1908-09) Gumilyov studied at St. Petersburg University - at the law, then at the Faculty of History and Philology. At the same time, he meets Viach. I. Ivanov , published in the newspaper Rech, magazines Vesy, Russkaya Mysl, and others, publishes a collection of poems "Pearls" (1910).
Gumilyov takes part in organizing the journal Apollo (1909), in which until 1917 he maintains a permanent column “Letters on Russian Poetry” (separate edition - 1923), which earned him a reputation as an astute critic: “his assessments are always to the point; they reveal in short formulas the very essence of the poet "( V. Ya.Bryusov ).
Acmeism
Desire to be free from custody Vyacheslav Ivanov and organizationally to dissociate itself from "theurgic" symbolism led to the creation in 1911 of the "Workshop of Poets", which, together with Gumilev, who led him as a "syndic", included Akhmatova , S. M. Gorodetsky , O. E. Mandelstam , M. A. Zenkevich and other acmeist poets. Having declared a new trend - acmeism - the heir of symbolism, which had completed "its own path of development", Gumilev urged poets to return to the "thingness" of the surrounding world (article "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism", 1913). The first acmeistic work of Gumilev is considered the poem "The Prodigal Son", included in his collection "Alien Sky" (1912). Critics noted the virtuoso mastery of form: according to Bryusov , the meaning of Gumilyov's poems "is much more in the way he speaks than in what he says." The next collection "Quiver" (1916), the dramatic tale "Child of Allah" and the dramatic poem "Gondla" (both 1917) testify to the strengthening of the narrative principle in Gumilev's work.
War
Gumilev's everyday behavior correlated with his poetry: he transposed the romantic pathos of the conquistador from poetry into life, overcoming his own weaknesses, professing a personal cult of victory. At the beginning of the First World War, Gumilyov volunteered for the Uhlan regiment; was awarded two St. George crosses. According to the recollections of colleagues, he was attracted to danger. In 1916, Gumilyov sought to be sent to the Russian expeditionary corps to the Thessaloniki front, but stayed in Paris, where he communicated with M.F. Larionov and N. S. Goncharova, as well as with French poets (including G. Apollinaire).
Return to Russia. Doom
In 1918 Gumilyov returned to Russia. Was attracted by M. Gorky to work in the publishing house "World Literature", gave lectures at institutes, taught at literary studios. He was engaged in translations (the epic about Gilgamesh, English and French poetry). He published several collections of poems, including his best book, The Pillar of Fire (1921; dedicated to his second wife, AN Engelhardt).
In the fall of 1920, Gumilev vaguely promises to the participants in the so-called "Tagantsev conspiracy" his assistance in the event of an anti-government speech and is nominally involved in conspiratorial activities. On August 3, 1921, he was arrested by the Petrograd Extraordinary Commission, on August 24, he was sentenced to be shot.
"Courageous romanticism"
Gumilyov introduced into Russian poetry "an element of courageous romanticism" (D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky), created his own tradition based on the principle of an ascetically strict selection of poetic means, a combination of intense lyricism and pathetics with light irony. "The epigrammatical nature of a strict verbal formula" (VM Zhirmunsky), a verified composition in his latest collections have become a repository of concentrated spiritual experience of the entire post-symbolic generation.
R.D. Tymenchik