Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich: a short biography. Nikolai Gumilyov: biography. Creativity, years of life, photo Creative biography of Gumilyov

The pedigree of Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich, the Russian acmeist poet, had strong noble roots. His mother Anna Ivanovna Gumilyova (nee Lvova) at the age of twenty-three married the widower Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilyov, who had the profession of a military doctor. Their son Nikolay was born on the third of April (old style) 1886 in the city of Kronstadt, where his father worked in a hospital. In the same 1886, the family moved to Tsarskoye Selo. Nikolai Gumilyov spent his entire childhood there. Due to frequent moves, he had to study at different gymnasiums: St. Petersburg, Tiflis and Tsarskoye Selo. He read a lot, was fond of Nietzsche and the poetry of the Symbolists, in his gymnasium years he came to realize himself as a poet.

In 1905, the first collection of his poems, The Path of the Conquistadors, was published. The well-known Symbolist poet Valery Bryusov drew attention to him. They have been in active correspondence for many years. After graduating from the gymnasium, Nikolai Gumilyov left for Paris (1906), where he lived for two years. There he studied French literature, visited museums, listened to lectures at the Sorbonne University. Extreme material need led to the fact that sometimes he had to eat only chestnuts. But, nevertheless, there, in Paris, he was engaged in literary activities: he published the Sirius magazine, wrote stories and poems. In the same place, in Paris, in 1908, the poet published his second collection - Romantic Flowers.

During 1909, already in Russia, Nikolai Gumilyov began to strengthen his literary position: he collaborated in the new Ostrov magazine, began working in the Apollo magazine, in which he continued to participate until 1917. In 1910, Nikolai Stepanovich proposed to the young poetess Anna Andreevna Gorenko (Akhmatova) and received consent. And since there was mourning in the Gumilyov family for the recently deceased father of Nikolai, the wedding was modest and quiet. The newlyweds made their honeymoon trip to Paris. In the same 1910, Gumilyov's third collection, "Pearls", was released. And in the autumn he went on another trip to Africa. That year was so busy.

I must say that Gumilyov was an avid traveler, and especially fell in love with Africa. The first time he went there was in 1908, but he only visited Cairo and Alexandria. The second time he went to Africa in the winter of 1909-1910. And here is the third trip - after the wedding with Akhmatova. This time he visited Djibouti, Dire Dawa, Harare, Addis Ababa, and was even introduced to the Abyssinian emperor. Gumilyov returned from there (1911) disappointed in his travels and sick with African fever. But, having recovered, he again went to travel, this time to Italy (1912).

In the autumn of the same year, Gumilyov entered St. Petersburg University, at the Romano-Germanic department, to study Old French poetry, and at the same time released the next collection of his poems - “Alien Sky”. In 1913, on the instructions of the Academy of Sciences, he again left for Abyssinia - to study culture and collect a collection of household items from wild tribes. This trip lasted for six months.

In 1914, when the First World War began, Gumilyov went to the front. And already at the end of this year he received the first St. George Cross for valuable intelligence, and the following year he was awarded the second George for saving a machine gun from artillery fire during the retreat. The events experienced by Gumilyov during the war were reflected in his book Notes of a Cavalryman. In 1915, a new collection of Gumilyov's poems, Quiver, was published. After treatment in the Crimea - again the front (1916-1917), then, on the instructions of the Commissioner of the Provisional Government, he lived in Paris, and only in 1918 he returned to Russia.

The marriage with Anna Akhmatova turned out to be unsuccessful, and in the summer of 1918 they divorced, although they had a small son, Leo, who later became an ethnographer and also a passionate travel lover. After the divorce, almost immediately, Gumilyov married Anna Nikolaevna Engelhardt, with whom he had a daughter, Elena. Since then, almost without a break, he lived in St. Petersburg (then Petrograd), earned money by translating for the World Literature publishing house, taught in several literary studios, but his whole family was still starving. Despite hunger and lack of money, Gumilyov at the end of his short life released several more poetry collections: “Mik”, “Porcelain Pavilion”, “Bonfire”, “Tent” and prepared for publication “Pillar of Fire”, which was published after the death of the poet in 1923 year.

Gumilyov's life was suddenly and terribly cut short. In 1921, he was arrested for participating in the Tagantsev conspiracy and was shot on August 25. And only many years later it turned out that his “guilt” was not in participation, but only in failure to report. Gumilyov's second wife and his daughter died of starvation in besieged Leningrad.

Nikolai Gumilyov, whose poems were withdrawn from literary circulation in the second half of the 1920s, was an image of a literary theorist who sincerely believed that the artistic word could not only influence people's minds, but also transform the surrounding reality.

The work of the legend of the Silver Age directly depended on his worldview, in which the idea of ​​the triumph of the spirit over the flesh occupied the leading role. Throughout his life, the prose writer deliberately drove himself into difficult, difficult to resolve situations for one simple reason: only at the moment of collapse of hopes and losses did true inspiration come to the poet.

Childhood and youth

On April 3, 1886, a son was born to the ship's doctor Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilyov and his wife Anna Ivanovna, who was named Nikolai. The family lived in the port city of Kronstadt, and after the resignation of the head of the family (1895), they moved to St. Petersburg. As a child, the writer was an extremely sickly child: everyday headaches drove Nikolai to a frenzy, and increased sensitivity to sounds, smells and tastes made his life almost unbearable.

During the exacerbation, the boy was completely disoriented in space and often lost his hearing. His literary genius manifested itself at the age of six. Then he wrote his first quatrain "Niagara lived." Nikolai entered the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium in the fall of 1894, but he studied there for only a couple of months. Because of his sickly appearance, Gumilyov was repeatedly ridiculed by his peers. In order not to injure the already unstable psyche of the child, the parents out of harm's way transferred their son to home schooling.

The Gumilyov family spent 1900-1903 in Tiflis. There the sons of Stepan and Anna improved their health. In the local educational institution where the poet was trained, his poem "I fled from the cities to the forest ..." was published. After some time, the family returned to Tsarskoye Selo. There Nikolai resumed his studies at the gymnasium. He was not fascinated by either the exact or the humanities. Then Gumilyov was obsessed with creativity and spent all his time reading his works.

Due to incorrectly set priorities, Nikolai began to significantly lag behind the program. Only through the efforts of the director of the gymnasium, the decadent poet I.F. Annensky, in the spring of 1906 did Gumilyov manage to obtain a matriculation certificate. A year before graduating from an educational institution, the first book of poems by Nikolai "The Way of the Conquistadors" was published at the expense of his parents.

Literature

After the exams, the poet went to Paris. In the capital of France, he attended lectures on literary criticism at the Sorbonne and was a regular at art exhibitions. In the homeland of the writer, Gumilyov published the literary magazine Sirius (3 issues were published). Thanks to Gumilyov, I was lucky to get acquainted with, and with, and with. At first, the masters were skeptical about the work of Nicholas. The poem "Androgyn" helped recognized artists to see the literary genius of Gumilyov and change their anger to mercy.

In September 1908, the prose writer went to Egypt. In the first days of his stay abroad, he behaved like a typical tourist: he went sightseeing, studied the culture of local tribes and bathed in the Nile. When the funds ran out, the writer began to starve and spent the night on the street. Paradoxically, these difficulties in no way broke the writer. The deprivation evoked extremely positive emotions in him. Upon returning to his homeland, he wrote several poems and stories ("Rat", "Jaguar", "Giraffe", "Rhino", "Hyena", "Leopard", "Ship").

Few people know, but a couple of years before the trip, he created a cycle of poems called "Captains". The cycle consisted of four works, which were united by the general idea of ​​travel. The thirst for new experiences prompted Gumilyov to study the Russian North. During his acquaintance with the city of Belomorsk (1904), in the hollow of the mouth of the Indel River, the poet saw hieroglyphs carved on a stone slope. He was sure that he had found the legendary Stone Book, which, according to legend, contained the initial knowledge of the world.

From the translated text, Gumilyov learned that the ruler Fab had buried his son and daughter on the island of the German body, and his wife on the island of the Russian body. With the assistance of the emperor, Gumilyov organized an expedition to the Kuzovskaya archipelago, where he opened an ancient tomb. There he discovered a unique "Hyperborean" crest.

According to legend, he gave the find into the possession of a ballerina. Scientists suggest that the comb still lies in the cache of the Kshesinskaya mansion in St. Petersburg. Shortly after the expedition, fate brought the writer together with a fanatical explorer of the Black Continent, Academician Vasily Radlov. The poet managed to persuade the ethnologist to enroll him as an assistant in the Abyssinian expedition.

In February 1910, after a dizzying trip to Africa, he returned to Tsarskoye Selo. Despite the fact that his return was caused by a dangerous illness, there was not a trace of his former low spirits and decadent poetry. Having finished work on the collection of poems "Pearls", the prose writer again left for Africa. He returned from the trip on March 25, 1911 in a sanitary wagon with an attack of tropical fever.

He used forced seclusion for the creative processing of the collected impressions, which later resulted in "Abyssinian Songs", included in the collection "Alien Sky". After a trip to Somalia, the African poem "Mick" saw the light.

In 1911, Gumilyov founded the "Workshop of Poets", which included many representatives of the literary beau monde of Russia (Vladimir Narbut, Sergei Gorodetsky). In 1912, Gumilyov announced the emergence of a new artistic movement - acmeism. The poetry of the acmeists overcame symbolism, returning the rigor and harmony of the poetic structure to fashion. In the same year, acmeists opened their own publishing house "Hyperborey" and a magazine of the same name.

Also, Gumilyov, as a student, was enrolled at St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of History and Philology, where he studied Old French poetry.

The First World War destroyed all the plans of the writer - Gumilyov went to the front. For the courage shown during the hostilities, he was elevated to the rank of officer and awarded two St. George's crosses. After the revolution, the writer completely devoted himself to literary activity. In January 1921, Nikolai Stepanovich became chairman of the Petrograd department of the All-Russian Union of Poets, and in August of the same year, the master was detained and taken into custody.

Personal life

The writer met his first wife in 1904 at a ball dedicated to the celebration of Easter. At that time, the ardent young man tried to imitate his idol in everything: he wore a top hat, curled his hair and even slightly tinted his lips. A year after they met, he made an offer to a pretentious person and, having received a refusal, plunged into a hopeless depression.

From the biography of the legend of the Silver Age, it is known that due to failures on the love front, the poet twice tried to commit suicide. The first attempt was furnished with the theatrical pomposity characteristic of Gumilyov. The unfortunate gentleman went to the resort town of Tourville, where he planned to drown himself. The plans of the critic were not destined to come true: vacationers mistook Nikolai for a tramp, called the police and, instead of going on his last journey, the writer went to the station.

Seeing a sign from above in his failure, the prose writer wrote a letter to Akhmatova, in which he again proposed to her. Anna once again refused. Heartbroken, Gumilyov decided to complete what he had begun at all costs: he took poison and went to await death in the Bois de Boulogne of Paris. The attempt again turned into a shameful curiosity: then vigilant foresters picked up his body.

At the end of 1908, Gumilyov returned to his homeland, where he continued to seek the favor of the young poetess. As a result, the persistent guy received consent to marriage. In 1910, the couple got married and went on their honeymoon to Paris. There, the writer had a stormy romance with the artist Amedeo Modigliani. Nikolai, in order to save his family, insisted on returning to Russia.

A year after the birth of their son Leo (1912-1992), a crisis occurred in the relationship of the spouses: indifference and coldness came to replace unconditional adoration and all-consuming love. While Anna showed signs of attention to young writers at social events, Nikolai also looked for inspiration on the side.

In those years, the actress of the Meyerhold theater Olga Vysotskaya became the muse of the writer. The young people met in the fall of 1912 at the celebration of the anniversary, and already in 1913, Gumilyov's son, Orest, was born, whose existence the poet never knew.

The polarity in views on life led to the fact that in 1918 Akhmatova and Gumilyov parted ways. Barely freed from the shackles of family life, the poet met his second wife, Anna Nikolaevna Engelhardt. The writer met the hereditary noblewoman at Bryusov's lecture.

Contemporaries of the prose writer noted the immeasurable stupidity of the girl. According to Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky, Nikolai was perplexed by her illogical judgments. The writer's student Irina Odoevtseva said that the chosen one of the master, not only in appearance, but also in development, seemed like a 14-year-old girl. The wife of the writer and his daughter Elena died of starvation during. Neighbors said that Anna could not move because of weakness, and the rats ate her for several days.

Death

On August 3, 1921, the poet was arrested as an accomplice in the anti-Bolshevik conspiracy of the Petrograd Combat Organization of V. N. Tagantsev. Colleagues and friends of the writer (Mikhail Lozinsky, Anatoly Lunacharsky, Nikolai Otsup) tried in vain to rehabilitate Nikolai Stepanovich in the eyes of the country's leadership and rescue him from imprisonment. A close friend of the leader of the world proletariat also did not stand aside: he twice turned to Gumilyov with a request for pardon, but Vladimir Ilyich remained true to his decision.

On August 24, the decision of the Petrograd GubChK was issued on the execution of the participants in the Tagantsevsky plot (a total of 56 people), and on September 1, 1921, the execution list was published in the Petrogradskaya Pravda newspaper, in which Nikolai Gumilyov was listed as the thirteenth.

The poet spent his last evening in a literary circle, surrounded by young people who idolize him. On the day of his arrest, the writer, as usual, sat up with his students after lectures and returned home long after midnight. An ambush was organized at the prose writer's apartment, about which the master could in no way know.

After being taken into custody, in a letter addressed to his wife, the writer assured her that there was nothing to worry about, and asked to send him a volume and tobacco. Before the execution, Gumilyov wrote on the cell wall:

"Lord, forgive my sins, I'm going on my last journey."

70 years after the death of the eminent poet, materials were declassified proving that the plot was completely fabricated by the NKVD officer Yakov Agranov. Due to the lack of corpus delicti in 1991, the writer's case was officially closed.

It is not known for certain where the writer is buried. According to the former wife of the prose writer Anna Akhmatova, his grave is located within the city of Vsevolozhsk near the Berngardovka microdistrict near the powder magazine at the Rzhev artillery range. It was there, on the banks of the Lubya River, that a memorial cross still stands to this day.

The literary heritage of the legend of the Silver Age has been preserved both in poetry and in prose. In 2007, the singer set the text of the poem by the eminent artist “Monotonous flicker ...” to the music of Anatoly Balchev and revealed to the world the composition “Romance”, for which a video was shot in the same year.

Bibliography

• "Don Juan in Egypt" (1912);
• "Game" (1913);
• Acteon (1913);
• "Notes of a Cavalryman" (1914-1915);
• "Black General" (1917);
• "Gondla" (1917);
• "Child of Allah" (1918);
• Soul and Body (1919);
• "Young Franciscan" (1902);
• “On the walls of an empty house ...” (1905);
• “For so long the heart fought…” (1917);
• "Horror" (1907);
• “I don’t have flowers…” (1910);
• "Glove" (1907);
• "Tenderly unprecedented joy" (1917);
• "Sorceress" (1918);
• “Sometimes I am sad…” (1905);
• "Thunderstorm night and dark" (1905);
• "In the Desert" (1908);
• African Night (1913);
• "Love" (1907)

Nikolay Gumilyov- a famous Russian poet of the Silver Age, prose writer, translator and literary critic. His biography is full of many sad events, which we will tell you about right now.

At 35, Gumilyov was shot on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy. However, in his short life he managed to write many works that have become classics of Russian literature.

We bring to your attention the key points of Nikolai Gumilyov. .

Biography of Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was born on April 3, 1886 in Kronstadt. He grew up in a noble family of military doctor Stepan Yakovlevich, whose wife was Anna Ivanovna.

Childhood and youth

As a child, Nikolai Gumilyov was constantly ill, and in general was a physically weak child. In addition, he could not stand the noise and suffered from frequent migraine attacks.

Despite this, already at an early age, Nikolai began to write poetry, showing remarkable abilities.

After graduating in 1906, he goes to. There, Nikolai begins to attend lectures and meets various writers.

Life after high school

Gumilev's first collection of poems is The Path of the Conquistadors. Interestingly, the book was published with the money of the parents. And although she did not have much success, in general, the collection was positively received by critics.

Subsequently, between Gumilyov and the famous symbolist poet, even friendly relations began.

While in Paris, Gumilyov begins to publish the Sirius magazine, which will soon be closed. An interesting fact is that it was in this journal that Anna Akhmatova published her first poems (see).

mature period

In 1908, the second collection of works by Nikolai Gumilyov, entitled "Romantic Poems", was published. Most of the works were dedicated to Akhmatova, with whom he began a close relationship.

After Bryusov read Gumilyov's new poems, he once again repeated that the poet had a great future (see).

In the same year, Gumilev decides to return to his homeland. There he met Russian poets and began working as a critic in the Rech newspaper, in which he would also publish his works.

In the autumn of 1908, Gumilyov set off on a journey. He manages to visit, and. Due to lack of money, Nikolai has to return home.

A trip to the "country of the pharaohs" made a great impression on him. Subsequently, he became one of the largest explorers, having made several scientific expeditions to this continent.

Nikolai Gumilyov in Paris, photograph by Maximilian Voloshin, 1906

In 1909, Nikolai Gumilyov entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. Together with his like-minded people, he creates the Apollo magazine, in which he continues to publish poetry and maintain one of the headings.

At the end of the same year, the poet goes to Abyssinia, where he spends several months. He will describe his impressions of the trip in the work "Pearls".

Biography after 1911

Nikolai Gumilyov is the founder of the school of acmeism. This literary movement opposed symbolism.

Representatives of acmeism promoted the materiality and accuracy of the word, avoiding abstract concepts.

The first acmeist poem in Gumilyov's biography is "The Prodigal Son". Every day his popularity is growing, and he begins to be considered one of the most talented poets.

In 1913, Gumilyov again went to Africa, where he spent half a year. In connection with the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918), he had to return home.

Being a patriot of his country, he goes to the front. However, the service did not prevent Nikolai Stepanovich from continuing to engage in writing.

In 1915, the Notes of a Cavalryman and the collection Quiver were published.

After the end of the war, Gumilyov began to work on the translation of the Gilgamesh epic. In parallel with this, he translates the poems of Western poets.

The last collection in Gumilyov's biography is Pillar of Fire. This book is considered by many to be the pinnacle of his work.

Creativity Gumilyov

In his works, Gumilyov paid great attention to. In his poetry, the themes of love, mythology and. Many of his poems were dedicated to Anna Akhmatova.

In a later period of biography, Gumilyov increasingly touched on. He not only talked to the reader, but also made him reflect on the main problems of mankind.

Personal life

Gumilyov's first wife was Anna Akhmatova, with whom they had a son, Leo. Together they lived for 8 years, after which they divorced.

Gumilyov and Akhmatova with their son

The second wife of the poet was Anna Engelhard, who gave birth to his girl Elena. An interesting fact is that Anna, along with her daughter, died in Leningrad during the blockade.

After that, Gumilyov had a stormy romance with Olga Vysotskaya. Subsequently, their son Orestes was born, but the poet never found out about this due to death.

Death

On August 3, 1921, Gumilyov was arrested by the NKVD and charged with an anti-Bolshevik conspiracy.

And although many writers tried to save the poet, the authorities did not make any concessions. personally met with, wanting to change the decision on Gumilyov, but this did not give any results.

Nikolai Gumilyov, photo from the investigation file, 1921

As a result, on August 24, a decree was announced on the execution of the poet, as well as 56 of his "accomplices".

Two days later, on August 26, 1921, Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was shot at the age of 35.

Thus, Russia lost one of the most talented poets and scientists of its time.

Before going to his death, Nikolai Gumilyov wrote the following lines on the cell wall: “Lord, forgive my sins, I am going on my last journey.”

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Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov lived a very bright, but short, forcibly interrupted life. Indiscriminately accused of an anti-Soviet conspiracy, he was shot. He died on a creative take-off, full of bright ideas, a recognized poet, a theoretician of verse, an active figure in the literary front.

And for more than six decades, his works were not reprinted, a severe ban was imposed on everything he created. The very name of Gumilyov was passed over in silence. It was only in 1987 that it became possible to speak openly about his innocence.

Gumilyov's whole life, up to his tragic death, is unusual, fascinating, testifies to the rare courage and fortitude of an amazing personality. Moreover, her formation proceeded in a calm, unremarkable atmosphere. Gumilyov found tests for himself.

The future poet was born into the family of a ship's doctor in Kronstadt. He studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Gymnasium. In 1900-1903. lived in Georgia, where his father was appointed. Upon the return of his family, he continued his studies at the Nikolaev Tsarskoye Selo Gymnasium, which he graduated in 1906. However, already at that time he gave himself up to his passion for poetry.

He published his first poem in the Tiflis Leaflet (1902), and in 1905 he published a whole book of poems, The Path of the Conquistadors. Since then, as he himself later noted, he has been completely taken over by "the pleasure of creativity, so divinely complex and joyfully difficult."

Creative imagination awakened in Gumilyov a thirst for knowledge of the world. He goes to Paris to study French literature. But he leaves the Sorbonne and goes, despite the strict ban of his father, to Africa. The dream to see the mysterious lands changes all previous plans. The first trip (1907) was followed by three more in the period from 1908 to 1913, the last as part of an ethnographic expedition organized by Gumilyov himself.

In Africa, he experienced many hardships, illnesses, he went to dangerous, death-threatening trials of his own free will. As a result, he brought valuable materials from Abyssinia for the St. Petersburg Museum of Ethnography.

It is usually believed that Gumilyov strove only for the exotic. Wanderlust, most likely, was secondary. He explained it to V. Bryusov as follows: "... I'm thinking of leaving for six months in Abyssinia in order to find new words in a new environment." Gumilev constantly thought about the maturity of poetic vision.

During the First World War, he volunteered for the front. In correspondence from the place of hostilities, he reflected their tragic essence. He did not consider it necessary to protect himself and participated in the most important maneuvers. In May 1917, he left of his own accord for the Thessaloniki (Greece) operation of the Entente.

Gumilyov returned to his homeland only in April 1918. And he immediately got involved in intense work to create a new culture: he lectured at the Institute of Art History, worked on the editorial board of the World Literature publishing house, in a seminar of proletarian poets, and in many other areas of culture.

A life oversaturated with events did not prevent the rapid development and flowering of a rare talent. One after another, Gumilyov's poetry collections are published: 1905 - "The Way of the Conquistadors", 1908 - "Romantic Flowers", 1910 - "Pearls", 1912 - "Alien Sky", 1916 - "Quiver", 1918 - " Bonfire", "Porcelain Pavilion" and the poem "Mick", 1921 - "Tent" and "Pillar of Fire".

Gumilyov also wrote prose, dramas, kept a kind of chronicle of poetry, studied the theory of verse, responded to the phenomena of art in other countries. How he managed to fit all this into some fifteen years remains a secret. But he managed and immediately attracted the attention of famous literary figures.

The thirst for discovery of unknown beauty was still not satisfied. Bright, mature poems collected in the book "Pearls" are devoted to this cherished theme. From the glorification of romantic ideals, the poet came to the topic of quests, his own and universal. "The feeling of the way" (Blok's definition; here the artists called to each other, although they are looking for different things) is imbued with the collection "Pearls". Its very name comes from the image of beautiful countries: "Where no human foot has gone, / Where giants live in sunny groves / And pearls shine in clear water." The discovery of values ​​justifies and spiritualizes life. Pearls became a symbol of these values. And the symbol of the search is a journey. This is how Gumilyov reacted to the spiritual atmosphere of his time, when the definition of a new position was the main thing.

As before, the lyrical hero of the poet is inexhaustibly courageous. On the way: a bare cliff with a dragon - his "sigh" - a fiery tornado. But the conqueror of peaks does not know retreats: “Better is blind Nothing, / Than golden Yesterday...” Therefore, the flight of a proud eagle so attracts. The author's fantasy, as it were, completes the perspective of his movement - "not knowing decay, he flew forward":

He died, yes! But he couldn't fall

Entering the circles of planetary movement,

The bottomless mouth gaped below,

But the forces of attraction were weak.

The small cycle "Captains", about which so many unfair judgments were expressed, was born of the same striving forward, the same admiration for the feat:

“No one trembles before a thunderstorm,

Not one will turn the sails.

Gumilyov cherishes the deeds of unforgettable travelers: Gonzalvo and Cook, Laperouse and de Gama ... With their names, the poetry of great discoveries, the unbending fortitude of everyone, “who dares, who wants, who seeks” (isn’t it necessary to see here the reason for the severity, previously sociologically interpreted: “Or, having discovered a riot on board, / A pistol rips out from behind a belt”?).

In "Pearls" there are exact realities, say, in the picture of the coastal life of sailors ("Captains"). However, distracting from the boring present, the poet is looking for consonance with the rich world of accomplishments and freely moves his gaze in space and time. Images of different centuries and countries appear, in particular, those put in the titles of poems: “The Old Conquistador”, “Barbarians”, “Knight with a Chain”, “Journey to China”. It is the movement forward that gives the author confidence in the chosen idea of ​​the path. And also - the form of expression.

Feelable in "Pearls" and tragic motives - unknown enemies, "monstrous grief." Such is the power of the inglorious surrounding. His poisons penetrate the consciousness of the lyrical hero. The “always patterned garden of the soul” turns into a hanging garden, where the face of the moon, not the sun, leans so terribly, so low.

Tests of love are filled with deep bitterness. Now it is not betrayal that frightens, as in early poems, but the loss of “the ability to fly”: signs of “dead languishing boredom”; "kisses are stained with blood"; the desire to "bewitch gardens painful distance"; in death to find "islands of perfect happiness."

Truly Gumilyov's is boldly manifested - the search for a country of happiness even beyond the line of life. The darker the impressions, the stronger the attraction to the light. The lyrical hero strives for extremely strong trials: "I will once again burn with the intoxicating life of fire." Creativity is also a kind of self-immolation: "Here, own a magic violin, look into the eyes of monsters / And die a glorious death, the terrible death of a violinist."

In the article “The Life of the Poetry,” Gumilev wrote: “By gesture in a poem, I mean such an arrangement of words, the selection of vowels and consonants, accelerations and decelerations of rhythm, that the reader of the poem involuntarily becomes the pose of a hero, experiences the same as the poet himself ... » Gumilyov possessed such skill.

The tireless search determined Gumilev's active position in the literary environment. He soon became a prominent contributor to the Apollon magazine, organized the Poets Workshop, and in 1913, together with S. Gorodetsky, formed a group of acmeists.

The most acmeistic collection "Alien Sky" (1912) was also a logical continuation of the previous ones, but a continuation of a different aspiration, other plans.

In the "foreign sky" the restless spirit of search is again felt. The collection included small poems "The Prodigal Son" and "The Discovery of America". It would seem that they were written on a truly Gumilev theme, but how it has changed!

Next to Columbus in the "Discovery of America" ​​stood no less significant heroine - the Muse of Far Wanderings. The author is now fascinated not by the greatness of the deed, but by its meaning and the soul of the chosen one of fate. Perhaps for the first time there is no harmony in the inner appearance of the heroes-travelers. Let's compare the internal state of Columbus before and after his journey: He sees a miracle with a spiritual eye.

The whole world, unknown to the prophets,

What lies in the abyss of blue,

Where the west meets the east.

And then Columbus about himself: I am a shell, but without pearls,

I am the stream that has been dammed.

Dropped, now no longer needed.

"Like a lover, for the game of another

He is abandoned by the Muse of Far Wanderings.

The analogy with the aspirations of the artist is unconditional and sad. There is no "pearl", the minx muse has left the bold one. The poet thinks about the purpose of the search.

The time of youthful illusions has passed. Yes, and the turn of the late 1900s - early 1910s. was a difficult, turning point for many. Gumilev also felt this. Back in the spring of 1909, he said in connection with a book of critical articles by I. Annensky: “The world has become larger than a person. An adult (how many of them?) Is glad to fight. He is flexible, he is strong, he believes in his right to find a land where he could live. In addition, he strove for creativity. In "Alien Sky" - a clear attempt to establish the true values ​​​​of existence, the desired harmony.

Gumilyov is attracted by the phenomenon of life. She is presented in an unusual and capacious way - "with an ironic grin, the king-child on the skin of a lion, forgetting toys between his white tired hands." Mysterious, complex, contradictory and alluring life. But her essence eludes. Rejecting the shaky light of unknown "pearls", the poet nevertheless finds himself in the grip of former ideas - about a saving movement to distant limits: We go through foggy years,

Vaguely feeling the wind of roses,

Ages, spaces, nature

Reclaim ancient Rhodes.

But what about the meaning of human existence? Gumilyov finds the answer to this question for himself in Theophile Gauthier. In the article dedicated to him, the Russian poet highlights principles close to both of them: to avoid “both accidental, concrete, and vague, abstract”; to know "the majestic ideal of life in art and for art." The unsolvable turns out to be the prerogative of artistic practice. In "Alien Sky" Gumilyov includes a selection of Gauthier's poems in his translation. Among them are inspired lines about imperishable beauty created by man. Here's an idea for the ages:

All dust.- One, rejoicing,

Art will not die.

The people will survive.

This is how the ideas of "Acmeism" matured. And in poetry, the "immortal features" of what he saw and experienced were cast. Including in Africa. The collection includes "Abyssinian Songs": "Military", "Five Bulls", "Slave", "Zanzibar Girls", etc. In them, unlike other poems, there are a lot of juicy realities: everyday, social. The exception is understandable. "Songs" creatively interpreted the folklore works of the Abyssinians. In general, the path from life observation to Gumilev's image is very difficult.

The artist's attention to the environment has always been heightened.

Once he said: “A poet must have a Plushkin economy. And the string will come in handy. Nothing should go to waste. All for poetry. The ability to keep even a "rope" is clearly felt in the "African Diary", stories, a direct response to the events of the First World War - "Notes of a Cavalryman". But, according to Gumilyov, "poetry is one thing, and life is another." There is a similar statement in Art (from Gauthier's translations):

"Creating the more beautiful,

Than taken material

Fearless."

So he was in Gumilev's lyrics. Concrete signs disappeared, the glance embraced the general, significant. But the author's feelings, born of living impressions, gained flexibility and strength, gave birth to bold associations, an attraction to other calls of the world, and the image acquired a visible "thingness".

The collection of poems Quiver (1916) did not forgive Gumilyov for many years, accusing him of chauvinism. Gumilyov had motives for the victorious struggle with Germany, asceticism on the battlefield, as, indeed, for other writers of that time. Patriotic sentiments were close to many. A number of facts of the poet's biography were also negatively perceived: voluntary entry into the army, heroism shown at the front, the desire to participate in the actions of the Entente against the Austro-German-Bulgarian troops in the Greek port of Thessaloniki, etc. yambov": "In the silent call of the war trumpet / I suddenly heard the song of my fate ..." Gumilyov regarded his participation in the war as the highest mission, fought, according to eyewitnesses, with enviable calm courage, was awarded two crosses. But after all, such behavior testified not only to an ideological position, but also to a moral, patriotic one. As for the desire to change the place of military activity, the power of the Muse of Far Wanderings again affected here.

In the Notes of a Cavalryman, Gumilyov revealed all the hardships of war, the horror of death, the torments of the home front. Nevertheless, it was not this knowledge that formed the basis of the collection. Seeing the people's troubles, Gumilyov came to a broad conclusion: "The spirit<...>as real as our body, only infinitely stronger than it.”

Similar inner insights of the lyrical hero are attracted by Quiver. B. Eikhenbaum vigilantly saw in him the "mystery of the spirit", although he attributed it only to the military era. The philosophical and aesthetic sound of the poems was, of course, richer.

Back in 1912, Gumilyov said heartfeltly about Blok: two sphinxes “make him“ sing and cry ”with their unsolvable riddles: Russia and his own soul.” "Mysterious Russia" in "Quiver" also raises painful questions. But the poet, considering himself "not a tragic hero" - "more ironic and drier", comprehends only his attitude towards her:

Oh, Russia, the sorceress is harsh,

You will take yours everywhere.

Run? But do you like new

Will you live without you?

Is there a connection between Gumilyov's spiritual quest, depicted in Quiver, and his subsequent behavior in life?

Apparently, there is, although complex, elusive. Thirst for new, unusual experiences draws Gumilyov to Thessaloniki, where he leaves in May 1917. He also dreams of a longer journey - to Africa. It seems impossible to explain all this only by the desire for exoticism. After all, it is no coincidence that Gumilyov travels in a roundabout way - through Finland, Sweden, and many countries. It is indicative and something else. After not getting to Thessaloniki, he lives comfortably in Paris, then in London, he returns to the revolutionary cold and hungry Petrograd in 1918. The homeland of a harsh, critical era was perceived, probably, as the deepest source of self-knowledge of a creative person. No wonder Gumilev said: "Everyone, all of us, despite decadence, symbolism, acmeism, and so on, are primarily Russian poets." It was in Russia that the best collection of poems Pillar of Fire (1921) was written.

Gumilev did not immediately come to the lyrics of the Pillar of Fire. A significant milestone after the "Quiver" were the works of his Paris and London albums, published in "Bonfire" (1918). Already here the author's thoughts about his own worldview predominate. He proceeds from the "smallest" observations - of the trees, the "orange-red sky", the "honey-smelling meadow", the "sick" river in the ice drift. The rare expressiveness of the "landscape" delights. But it is by no means nature itself that captivates the poet. Instantly, before our eyes, the secret of a bright sketch is revealed. It is this that clarifies the true purpose of the verses. Is it possible, for example, to doubt the courage of a person, having heard his call to the “meager” land: “And become, as you are, a star, / pierced through and through by Fire!”? Everywhere he looks for opportunities to "rush off in pursuit of the world." As if the former dreamy, romantic hero of Gumilyov returned to the pages of a new book. No, this is the impression of a minute. A mature, sad comprehension of existence and one's place in it is the epicenter of "Bonfire". Now, perhaps, it is possible to explain why the long journey called the poet. The poem "Great Memory" contains an antinomy: And here is the whole life!

Whirling, singing,

Seas, deserts, cities,

flickering reflection

Lost forever.

And here again delight and grief,

Again, as before, as always,

The sea waves its gray mane,

Deserts and cities rise.

The hero wants to return the “lost forever” to humanity, not to miss something real and unknown in the inner being of people. Therefore, he calls himself a "gloomy wanderer" who "must go again, must see." Under this sign are meetings with Switzerland, the Norwegian mountains, the North Sea, a garden in Cairo. And on a material basis, capacious, generalizing images of sad wandering are formed: wandering is “like along the channels of dried up rivers”, “blind transitions of spaces and times”. Even in the cycle of love lyrics (D. Gumilev experienced an unhappy love for Elena in Paris), the same motives are read. The beloved leads "the heart to heights", "scattering stars and flowers." Nowhere, as here, did not sound such a sweet delight in front of a woman. But happiness - only in a dream, delirious. But really - longing for the unattainable:

Here I stand at your door,

No other way was given to me.

Even though I know I won't dare

Never enter this door.

Immeasurably deeper, more multifaceted and fearless, already familiar spiritual collisions are embodied in the works of the Pillar of Fire. Each of them is a pearl. It is quite possible to say that with his word the poet created this treasure he had been looking for for a long time. Such a judgment does not contradict the general concept of the collection, where creativity is assigned the role of sacred rites. There is no gap between the desired and the accomplished for the artist.

Poems are born of eternal problems - the meaning of life and happiness, the contradiction of the soul and body, the ideal and reality. Appeal to them informs poetry of majestic rigor, preciseness of sound, wisdom of the parable, aphoristic accuracy. In a seemingly rich combination of these features, another one is organically woven. It comes from a warm, excited human voice. More often - the author himself in an uninhibited lyrical monologue. Sometimes - objectified, although very unusual, "heroes". The emotional coloring of a complex philosophical search makes it, the search, a part of the living world, causing excited empathy.

Reading the Pillar of Fire awakens the feeling of ascending to many heights. It is impossible to say which dynamic turns of the author's thought are more disturbing in "Memory", "Forest", "Soul and Body". Already the introductory stanza of "Memory" strikes our thought with a bitter generalization: Only snakes shed their skins.

So that the soul grows old and grows,

We, alas, are not like snakes,

We change souls, not bodies.

The reader is then shocked by the poet's confession of his past. But at the same time a painful thought about the imperfection of human destinies. These first nine heartfelt quatrains suddenly move to a theme-transforming chord: I am a gloomy and stubborn architect

Temple that rises in darkness

I was jealous for the glory of the Father

As in heaven and on earth.

And from it - to the dream of the flourishing of the earth, the native country. And here, however, there is no end yet. The final lines, partially repeating the original ones, carry a new sad meaning - a sense of the temporal limitations of human life. The poem, like many others in the collection, has a symphonic development.

Gumilyov achieves rare expressiveness by combining incompatible elements. The forest in the lyrical work of the same name is uniquely bizarre. Giants, dwarfs, lions live in it, a "woman with a cat's head" appears. This is “a country that you can’t dream about even in a dream.” However, a cat-headed creature is given communion by an ordinary curee. Fishermen and... peers of France are mentioned next to the giants. What is this - a return to the phantasmagoria of early Gumilev romance? No, the fantastic is filmed by the author: “Perhaps that forest is my soul...” Such bold associations are undertaken to embody the complex intricate inner impulses. In The Baby Elephant, the title image is connected with something difficult to connect - the experience of love. She appears in two guises: imprisoned “in a tight cage” and strong, like that elephant “that once carried Hannibal to the quivering Rome.” "The Lost Tram" symbolizes the insane, fatal movement to "nowhere". And it is furnished with frightening details of the dead kingdom. Moreover, sensory-changing mental states are closely linked with it. This is how the tragedy of human existence as a whole and of a particular person is conveyed. Gumilev used the right of the artist with enviable freedom, and most importantly, achieving the magnetic force of influence.

The poet, as it were, was constantly pushing the narrow boundaries of the poem. Unexpected endings played a special role. The triptych "Soul and Body" seems to continue the familiar theme of "The Quiver" - only with new creative energy. And in the end - the unforeseen: all human impulses, including spiritual ones, turn out to be a "weak reflection" of higher consciousness. "The Sixth Sense" immediately captivates with the contrast between the meager comforts of people and genuine beauty, poetry. It seems that the effect has been achieved. Suddenly, in the last stanza, the thought breaks out to other frontiers:

So, century after century, is it soon, Lord? --

Under the scalpel of nature and art,

Our spirit screams, the flesh languishes,

Giving birth to an organ for the sixth sense.

Linear images by a wonderful combination of the simplest words-concepts also lead our thoughts to distant horizons. It is impossible to react differently to such finds as the "scalpel of nature and art", "the ticket to India of the Spirit", "the garden of dazzling planets", "Persian diseased turquoise"...

The secrets of poetic witchcraft in the Pillar of Fire are innumerable. But they arise on the same path, difficult in their main goal - to penetrate into the origins of human nature, the desired perspectives of life, into the essence of being. Gumilyov's attitude was far from optimistic. A personal loneliness had taken its toll, which he could never avoid or overcome. Public position not found. The turning points of the revolutionary time exacerbated past disappointments in private life and in the whole world. The author of the “Pillar of Fire” captured the painful experiences in the ingenious and simple image of the “lost tram”:

He raced like a dark, winged storm,

He got lost in the abyss of time...

Stop, wagon driver,

Stop the car now.

The Pillar of Fire, however, concealed in its depths admiration for the bright, beautiful feelings, the free flight of beauty, love, and poetry. Gloomy forces are everywhere perceived as an unacceptable barrier to spiritual ascent:

Where all the sparkle, all the movement,

Singing all - we live there with you;

Here everything is just our reflection

Filled with a rotting pond.

The poet expressed an unattainable dream, a thirst for happiness not yet born by man. Ideas about the limits of being are boldly moved apart.

Gumilyov taught and, I think, taught his readers to remember and love "All the cruel, sweet life,

All native, strange land ... ".

He saw both life and the earth as boundless, beckoning with their distances. Apparently, that's why he returned to his African impressions ("Tent", 1921). And, without getting to China, he made an arrangement of Chinese poets (The Porcelain Pavilion, 1918).

In "Bonfire" and "Pillar of Fire" they found "touches to the world of the mysterious", "bursts into the world of the unknowable". Probably, this meant Gumilyov's attraction to “his inexpressible nickname” hidden in spiritual recesses. But in this way, most likely, the opposite of limited human powers, a symbol of unprecedented ideals, was expressed. They are akin to images of divine stars, sky, planets. With some "cosmic" associations, the poems of the collections expressed the aspirations of a completely earthly nature. And yet, it is hardly possible to speak, as it is allowed now, even of Gumilyov's late work as "realistic poetry." Here, too, he retained the romantic exclusivity, the quirkiness of spiritual metamorphoses. But it is precisely in this way that the poet's word is infinitely dear to us.

Nikolay GUMILEV (1886-1921)

1. Gumilyov's childhood and youth.
2. Gumilyov's early work.
3. Travels in the works of Gumilyov.
4. Gumilyov and Akhmatova.
5. Love lyrics of Gumilyov.
6. Philosophical lyrics of Gumilyov.
7. Gumilyov and the First World War.
8. War in the works of Gumilyov.
9. The theme of Russia in the work of Gumilyov.
10. Dramaturgy Gumilev.
11. Gumilyov and the revolution.
12. Biblical motifs in Gumilyov's lyrics.
13. Arrest and execution of Gumilyov.

The legacy of N. S. Gumilyov, a poet of rare individuality, only recently, after many years of oblivion, has come to the reader. His poetry attracts with novelty and sharpness of feelings, excited thought, graphic clarity and strictness of poetic drawing.

1. Gumilyov's childhood and youth.

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was born on April 3 (15), 1886 in Kronstadt in the family of a naval doctor. Soon his father retired, and the family moved to Tsarskoye Selo. Here, in 1903, Gumilyov entered the 7th grade of the gymnasium, the director of which was the wonderful poet and teacher I.F. Annensky, who had a huge impact on his student. Gumilyov wrote about the role of I. Annensky in his fate in the 1906 poem “In Memory of Annensky”:

To such unexpected and melodious nonsense,

Calling with me the minds of people,

Innokenty Annensky was the last

From Tsarskoye Selo swans.

After graduating from the gymnasium, Gumilyov left for Paris, where he listened to lectures on French literature at the Sorbonne University and studied painting. Returning to Russia in May 1908, Gumilyov devoted himself entirely to creative work, showing himself as an outstanding poet and critic, theorist of verse, the author of the now widely known book of art criticism Letters on Russian Poetry.

2. Gumilyov's early work.

Gumilev began to write poetry at the gymnasium age. In 1905, the 19-year-old poet published his first collection, The Path of the Conquistadors. Soon, in 1908, the second one followed - "Romantic Flowers", and then the third one - "Pearls" (1910), which brought him wide popularity.

At the very beginning of his career, N. Gumilyov joined the Young Symbolists. However, he became disillusioned with this movement quite early and became the founder of acmeism. At the same time, he continued to treat the Symbolists with due respect, as worthy teachers and predecessors, virtuosos of the art form. In 1913, in one of his program articles “The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism,” Gumilyov, stating that “symbolism has completed its circle of development and is now falling,” added: “Symbolism was a worthy father.”

Gumilyov's early poems are dominated by an apology for a strong-willed principle, romanticized ideas about a strong personality who resolutely asserts himself in the fight against enemies ("Pompeii at the Pirates"), in tropical countries, in Africa and South America.

The heroes of these works are imperious, cruel, but also courageous, albeit soulless conquerors, conquistadors, discoverers of new lands, each of whom, in a moment of danger, hesitation and doubt

Or, discovering a rebellion on the Borg,

From behind the belt tears a gun,

So that gold pours from lace,

With pinkish Brabant cuffs.

The quoted lines are taken from the ballad "Captains", included in the collection "Pearls". They very clearly characterize Gumilyov's poetic sympathies for people of this type,

Whose is not the dust of lost charters -

The chest is soaked with the salt of the sea,

Who is the needle on the torn map

Marks his audacious path.

A fresh breeze of real art fills the "sails" of such poems, certainly connected with the romantic tradition of Kipling and Stevenson.

3. Travel in the work of Gumilyov.

Gumilyov traveled a lot. A voluntary wanderer and pilgrim, he traveled and walked thousands of miles, visited the impenetrable jungles of Central Africa, languished from thirst in the sands of the Sahara, bogged down in the swamps of Northern Abyssinia, touched the ruins of Mesopotamia with his hands ... And it is no coincidence that exoticism became not only the theme of Gumilev's poems: it impregnated with the very style of his works. He called his poetry the Muse of Far Wanderings, and he remained faithful to it until the end of his days. With everything a lotThe imagery of the themes and philosophical depth of the late Gumilyov, poems about his travels and wanderings cast a very special reflection on all of his work.

The leading place in Gumilyov's early poetry is occupied by the African theme. Poems about Africa, so distant and mysterious in the imagination of readers at the beginning of the century, gave a special originality to Gumilyov's work. The poet's African poems are a tribute to his deep love for this continent and its people. Africa in his poetry is fanned with romance and full of attractive power: “The heart of Africa is full of singing and burning” (“Niger”). This is a magical country full of charm and surprises ("Abyssinia", "Red Sea", "African Night", etc.).

Deafened by the roar and stomp,

Clothed in flames and smokes,

About you, my Africa, in a whisper

Seraphim speak in heaven.

One can only admire the love of the Russian poet-traveler for this continent. He visited Africa as a true friend and ethnographer. It is no coincidence that in distant Ethiopia they still keep a good memory of N. Gumilyov.

Glorifying the discoverers and conquerors of distant lands, the poet did not leave the image of the fate of the peoples they conquered. Such, for example, is the poem "Slave" (1911), in which slave slaves dream of piercing the body of a European oppressor with a knife. In the poem "Egypt", the author's sympathy is not caused by the rulers of the country - the British, but by its true owners, those

Who, with a plow or a harrow, leads Black buffaloes into the field.

Gumilyov's works about Africa are characterized by vivid imagery and poetry. Often even a simple geographical name (“Sudan”, “Zambezi”, “Abyssinia”, “Niger”, etc.) entails in them a whole chain of various pictures and associations. Full of secrets and exoticism, sultry air and unknown plants, amazing birds and animals, the African world in Gumilyov's poems captivates with the generosity of sounds and colors, a multi-color palette:

All day long above the water, like a flock of dragonflies,

Golden flying fish are visible,

At the sandy, sickle-curved braids,

Shallow, like flowers, green and red.

("Red sea").

Evidence of the poet's deep and devoted love for the distant African continent was Gumilyov's first poem "Mik", a colorful story about a little Abyssinian prisoner named Mick, his friendship with an old baboon and a white boy Louis, their joint escape to the city of monkeys.

As the leader of acmeism, Gumilyov demanded great formal skill from poets. In his treatise "The Life of the Verse", he argued that in order to live through the ages, a poem, in addition to thought and feeling, must have "the softness of the outlines of a young body ... and the clarity of a statue illuminated by the sun; simplicity - for her alone the future is open, and - refinement, as a living recognition of continuity from all the joys and sorrows of past centuries ... ". His own poetry is characterized by the sharpness of the verse, the harmony of the composition, the emphasized rigor in the selection and combination of words.

In the poem "To the Poet" (1908), Gumilyov expressed his creative credo as follows:

Let your verse be flexible and resilient,

Like the poplar of a verdant valley,

Like the chest of the earth, where the plow has stuck,

Like a girl who didn't know a man.

Take care of confident rigor,

Your verse should neither flutter nor beat.

Although the muse has light steps

She is a goddess, not a dancer.

Here you can clearly feel the echo with Pushkin, who also considered art the highest sphere of spiritual existence, a shrine, a temple, which should be entered with deep reverence:

The service of the Muses does not tolerate fuss, The beautiful must be majestic.

Already the first poems of the poet are replete with vivid comparisons, original epithets and metaphors, emphasizing the diversity of the world, its beauty and variability:

And the sun is lush in the distance

Dreamed of abundance dreams

And kissed the face of the earth

In the languor of sweet impotence.

And in the evenings in the sky

Scarlet clothes burned

And reddened, in tears,

Weeping Doves of Hope

("Autumn Song")

Gumilyov is predominantly an epic poet, his favorite genre is the ballad with its energetic rhythm. At the same time, the exotic, pathetically elevated poetry of early Gumilyov is sometimes somewhat cold.

4. Gumilyov and Akhmatova.

Changes in his work occur in the 1910s. And they are connected in many respects with personal circumstances: with an acquaintance, and then marriage with A. Akhmatova (then Anna Gorenko). Gumilyov met her back in 1903, at the skating rink, fell in love, made proposals several times, but received consent to marriage only in the spring of 1910. Gumilyov writes about it this way: From the lair of the serpent, From the city of Kyiv, I took not a wife, but a sorceress. And I thought - a funny woman, Guessed - a wayward, A cheerful songbird.

If you call, it frowns, If you hug it, it bristles, When the moon comes out, it becomes languishing, And it looks and groans, As if it is burying Someone, and wants to drown itself. ("From the Lair of the Serpent"")

After the publication of the collection "Pearls" for Gumilyov, the title of a recognized master of poetry was firmly entrenched. As before, many of his works breathe exotic, unusual and unfamiliar images of Africa dear to his heart. But now the dreams and feelings of the lyrical hero are becoming more tangible and earthly. (In the 1910s, love lyrics, the poetry of spiritual movements began to appear in the poet’s work, there was a desire to penetrate into the inner world of his characters, previously battened up with a hard shell of inaccessibility and dominance, and especially into the soul of a lyrical hero. This did not always work out successfully, because Gumilyov resorted to some poems on this subject to a false romantic entourage, such as:

I approached, and here's an instant,

Like a beast, fear gripped me:

I met a hyena head

On slender girlish shoulders.

But in Gumilyov's poetry there are many poems that can rightly be called masterpieces, the theme of love sounds so deep and piercing in them. Such, for example, is the poem “About You” (1916), imbued with a deep feeling, it sounds like an apotheosis of a beloved:

About you, about you, about you

Nothing, nothing about me!

In human dark fate

You are a winged call to the heights.

Your noble heart

Like the emblem of bygone times.

It illuminates life

All earthly, all wingless tribes.

If the stars are clear and proud

Turn away from our land

She has two top stars:

These are your bold eyes.

Or here is the poem "Girl" (1911), dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Masha Kuzmina-Karavaeva, the poet's maternal cousin-niece:

I don't like languor

your crossed arms,

And calm modesty

And shamefaced fear.

The heroine of Turgenev's novels,

You are haughty, gentle and pure,

There are so many restless autumn in you

From the alley where the sheets are circling.

Many of Gumilyov's poems reflected his deep feeling for Anna Akhmatova: "Ballad", "Poisoned", "Tamer of Beasts", "By the Fireplace", "One Evening", "She" and others. Such, for example, is beautifully created by the master poet the image of the wife and the poet from the poem "She":

I know a woman: silence,

Fatigue bitter from words

Lives in a mysterious shimmer

Her dilated pupils.

Her soul is open greedily

Only the copper music of the verse,

Before a distant and gratifying life

Arrogant and deaf.

She is bright in the hours of languor

And holds lightning bolts in his hand,

And her dreams are clear, like shadows

On heavenly fiery sand.

5. Gumilyov's love lyrics.

The best works of Gumilyov's love lyrics should also include the poems "When I was in love", "You could not or did not want", "You regretted, you forgave", "Everything is pure for a clear look" and others. Love in Gumilyov appears in a variety of manifestations: either as a “gentle friend” and at the same time a “merciless enemy” (“Scattering the Stars”), or as a “winged call to the heights” (“About You”). “Only love is left for me ...,” the poet makes a confession in the poems “Canzone One” and “Canzona Second”, where he comes to the conclusion that the most gratifying thing in the world is “the trembling of our lovely eyelashes / / And the smile of our beloved lips.”

Gumilyov's lyrics present a rich gallery of female characters and types: fallen, chaste, royally inaccessible and calling to oneself, humble and proud. Among them: a passionate oriental queen (“Barbarians”), a mysterious sorceress (“The Sorceress”), the beautiful Beatrice, who left paradise for the sake of her beloved (“Beatrice”) and others.

The poet lovingly draws a noble facea woman who knows how to forgive insults and generously give joy, understand the storms and doubts crowding in the soul of her chosen one, filled with deep gratitude "for the dazzling happiness / At least sometimes to be with you." The chivalrous beginning of Gumilyov's personality also manifested itself in the poeticization of a woman.

6. Philosophical lyrics of Gumilyov.

In the best poems of the Zhemchuga collection, the pattern of Gumilev's verse is clear and deliberately simple. The poet creates visible pictures:

I look at the melting block,

At the glow of pink lightning,

And my smart cat catches fish

And lures birds into the net.

The poetic picture of the world in Gumilyov's poems attracts with its specificity and tangibility of images. The poet materializes even music. He sees, for example,

Sounds rushed and screamed Like a vision, like giants, And rushed about in the echoing hall, And dropped diamonds.

The "diamonds" of words and sounds of Gumilyov's best poems are exceptionally colorful and dynamic. His poetic world is extremely picturesque, full of expression and love of life. A clear and elastic rhythm, bright, sometimes excessive imagery are combined in his poetry with classical harmony, accuracy, thoughtfulness of form, adequately embodying the richness of content.

In his poetic depiction of life and man, N. Gumilyov was able to rise to the depths of philosophical reflections and generalizations, revealing an almost Pushkin or Tyutchev force. He thought a lot about the world, about God, about the purpose of man. And these reflections found a diverse reflection in his work. The poet was convinced that in everything and always "the word of the Lord feeds us better than bread." It is no coincidence that a significant part of his poetic heritage consists of poems and poems inspired by gospel stories and images, imbued with love for Jesus Christ.

Christ was Gumilyov's moral and ethical ideal, and the New Testament was a reference book. The gospel stories, parables, instructions are inspired by Gumilyov's poem "The Prodigal Son", the poems "Christ", "Gate of Paradise", "Paradise", "Christmas in Abyssinia", "Your Temple. Lord, in heaven…” and others. Reading these works, one cannot fail to notice what a tense struggle takes place in the soul of his lyrical hero, how he rushes between opposite feelings: pride and humility.

The foundations of the Orthodox faith were laid in the mind of the future poet as early as childhood. He was brought up in a religious family. His mother was a true believer. Anna Gumilyova, the wife of the poet's older brother, recalls: “Children were brought up in the strict rules of the Orthodox religion. Mother often went with them to the chapel to light a candle, which Kolya liked. Kolya liked to go to church, light a candle, and sometimes prayed for a long time in front of the icon of the Savior. From childhood he was religious and remained the same until the end of his days - a deeply believing Christian.

About Gumilyov's visits to church services and his convinced religiosity, his student Irina Odoevtseva, who knew the poet well, writes in her book On the Banks of the Neva. The religiosity of Nikolai Gumilyov helps to understand a lot in his character and work.

Gumilyov's thoughts about God are inseparable from thoughts about man, his place in the world. The worldview concept of the poet was extremely clearly expressed in the final stanza of the poetic novel "Fra Beato Angelico":

There is a God, there is a world, they live forever,

And the life of people is instantly and miserable.

But a person contains everything.

Who loves the world and believes in God.

All the work of the poet is the glorification of man, the possibilities of his spirit and willpower. Gumilev was passionately in love with life, in its diverse manifestations. And he tried to convey this love to the reader, to make him a “knight of happiness”, because happiness depends, he is convinced, first of all on the person himself.

In the poem "Knight of Fortune" he writes:

How easy it is to breathe in this world!

Tell me who is dissatisfied with life.

Tell me who takes a deep breath

I am free to make everyone happy.

Let him come, I will tell him

About a girl with green eyes.

About the blue morning darkness.

Pierced by rays and verses.

Let him come. I have to tell

I have to tell again and again.

How sweet it is to live, how sweet it is to win

Seas and girls, enemies and the word.

What if he doesn't understand?

My beautiful will not accept faith

And will complain in his turn

To world sorrow, to pain - to the barrier!

It was a symbol of faith. Pessimism, despondency, dissatisfaction with life, "world sorrow" he categorically did not accept.Gumilyov was called a poet-warrior for a reason. Traveling, testing oneself with danger were his passion. About himself he prophetically wrote:

I I won't die in bed

With a notary and a doctor,

And in some wild crack.

Drowned in thick ivy ( "Me and you).

7. Gumilyov and the First World War.

When the First World War began, Gumilyov volunteered to go to the front. His bravery and contempt for death are legendary. Two soldier Georges - the highest awards for a warrior, serve as the best confirmation of his courage. Gumilyov told about the episodes of his combat life in the “Notes of a Cavalryman” of 1915 and in a number of poems in the collection “Quiver”. As if summing up his military fate, he wrote in the poem "Memory":

He knew the pain of cold and thirst.

A disturbing dream, an endless path.

But Saint George touched twice

Bullet untouched chest.

One cannot agree with those who consider Gumilyov's military poems chauvinistic, glorifying the "sacred cause of war." The poet saw and realized the tragedy of war. In one of his poems, he wrote;

And the second year is drawing to a close. But banners also fly. And the war also violently scoffs at our wisdom.

8. War in the work of Gumilyov.

Gumilyov was attracted by the vivid romanticization of the feat, for he was a man of a knightly soul. The war in his image appears as a phenomenon akin to a rebellious, destructive, disastrous element. Therefore, we so often meet in his poems likening a battle to a thunderstorm. The lyrical hero of these works plunges into the fire element of battle without fear and despondency, although he understands that death lies in wait for him at every step:

She is everywhere - and in the glow of the fire,

And in the dark, unexpected and close.

Then on the horse of the Hungarian hussar,

And then with the gun of the Tyrolean shooter.

The courageous overcoming of physical difficulties and suffering, the fear of death, the triumph of the spirit over the body became one of the main themes of N. Gumilyov's works about the war. He considered the victory of the spirit over the body the main condition for the creative perception of being. In the Notes of a Cavalryman, Gumilyov wrote: “I find it hard to believe that a person who dines every day and sleeps every night can contribute something to the treasury of the culture of the spirit. Only fasting and vigil, even if they are involuntary, awaken in a person special powers that were dormant before. The same thoughts permeate the poems of the poet:

The spirit blossoms like a May rose.

Like fire, it breaks the darkness.

Body without understanding

Boldly obey him.

The fear of death, the poet claims, is overcome in the soul of Russian soldiers by the realization of the need to protect the independence of the Motherland.

9. The theme of Russia in the work of Gumilyov.

The theme of Russia runs like a red thread through almost all of Gumilyov's work. He had every right to say:

Golden heart of Russia

Beats rhythmically in my chest.

But this theme manifested itself especially intensively in a cycle of poems about the war, participation in which for the heroes of his works is a righteous and holy deed. So

Seraphim, clear and winged.

Behind the shoulders of the soldiers are visible.

For their exploits in the name of the Motherland, Russian soldiers are blessed by higher powers. That is why the presence of such Christian images is so organic in Gumilyov's works. In the poem "Iambic Pentameters" he states:

And the soul is burned with happiness

Since then; fun soldered

And clarity, and wisdom; about God

She talks to the stars

The voice of God hears in military alarm

And God calls his roads.

Gumilyov's heroes fight "for the sake of life on earth."This idea is affirmed with particular insistence in thecreation of the "Newborn", imbued with Christiansmotives of sacrifice in the name of the happiness of futuregenerations. The author is convinced that he was born. under the roarguns baby -

... will be the favorite of God,

He will understand his triumph.

He must. We fought a lot

And we suffered for it.

Gumilyov's poems about the war are evidence of the further growth of his creative talent. The poet still loves the “magnificence of magnificent words”, but at the same time he has become more legible in the choice of vocabulary and combines the former desire for emotional intensity and brightness with the graphic clarity of the artistic image and the depth of thought. Remembering the famous picture of the battle from the poem "War", striking with an unusual and surprisingly accurate metaphorical series, simplicity and clarity of the figurative word:

Like a dog on a heavy chain

A machine gun yapping behind the forest,

And buzzing shrapnel like bees

Collecting bright red honey.

We will find in the poet's poems many accurately noticed details that make the world of his military poems both tangibly earthly and uniquely lyrical:

Here is a priest in a cassock full of holes

He sings a psalm rapturously.

Here they play a majestic chant

Over a barely visible hill.

And a field full of mighty enemies. Buzzing menacingly bombs and melodious bullets, And the sky in lightning and menacing clouds.

The collection “Quiver”, published during the First World War, includes not only poems that convey the state of a person in war. Equally important in this book is the depiction of the inner world of the lyrical hero, as well as the desire to capture a variety of life situations and events. Many poems reflect important stages in the life of the poet himself: farewell to the gymnasium youth (“In Memory of Annensky”), a trip to Italy (“Venice”, “Pisa”), memories of past travels (“African Night”), about home and family ( "Old Estates"), etc.

10. Dramaturgy Gumilev.

Gumilyov also tried himself in dramaturgy. In 1912-1913, three of his one-act plays in verse appeared one after another: Don Juan in Egypt, The Game, Acteon. In the first of them, recreating the classic image of Don Juan, the author transfers the action to the conditions of modern times. Don Juan appears in the image of Gumilyov as a spiritually rich personality, head and shoulders above his antipode, the learned pragmatist Leporello.

In the play "The Game" we also have a situation of acute confrontation: the young impoverished romantic Count, who is trying to regain the possession of his ancestors, is contrasted with the cold and cynical old royalist. The work ends tragically: the collapse of dreams and hopes leads the Count to suicide. The author's sympathies are entirely given here to people like the dreamer Graf.

In Acteon, Gumilyov rethought the ancient Greek and Roman myths about the goddess of hunting Diana, the hunter Actaeon and the legendary king Cadme - a warrior, architect, worker and creator, the founder of the city of Thebes. Skillful contamination of ancient myths allowed the author to highlight positive characters - Actaeon and Cadmus, to recreate life situations full of drama and poetry of feelings.

During the war years, Gumilyov wrote a dramatic poem in four acts "Gondla", in which the physically weak but powerful in spirit medieval Irish skald Gondla is depicted with sympathy.

Gumilyov's Peru also owns the historical play The Poisoned Tunic (1918), which tells about the life of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. As in previous works, the main pathos of this play is the idea of ​​confrontation between nobility and meanness, good and evil.

Gumilyov's last dramatic experience was the prose drama Hunt for Rhinos (1920) about the life of a primitive tribe. In bright colors, the author recreates exotic images of savage hunters, their existence full of dangers, the first steps in understanding oneself and the world around.

11. Gumilyov and the revolution.

The October Revolution found Gumilyov abroad, where he was sent in May 1917 by the military department. He lived in Paris and London, translating oriental poets. In May 1918, he returned to revolutionary Petrograd and, despite family troubles (divorce from A. Akhmatova), need and hunger, works together with Gorky, Blok, K. Chukovsky at the World Literature publishing house, lectures in literary studios.

During these years (1918-1921), the last three collections of the poet's lifetime were published: "Bonfire" (1918), "Tent" (1920) and "Pillar of Fire" (1921). They testified to the further evolution of Gumilyov's work, his desire to comprehend life in its various manifestations. He is concerned about the theme of love (“About you”, “Sleep”, “Ezbekiye”), national culture and history (“Andrei Rublev”), native nature (“Ice drift”, “Forest”, “Autumn”), life (“Russian estate").

Gumilyov the poet is not fond of the new “screaming Russia”, but the former, pre-revolutionary one, where “human life is real”, and in the bazaar “the word of God is preached” (“Gorodok”), The lyrical hero of these poems is dear to the quiet, measured life of people, in which there are no wars and revolutions, where

Cross raised over the church

A symbol of clear, paternal power.

And the crimson ringing is buzzing

Speech wise, human.

("Cities").

There is in these lines with their inexpressible longing for the lost Russia something from Bunin, Shmelev, Rachmaninov and Levitan.In "Bonfire" for the first time Gumilyov appears the image of a simple man, a Russian peasant with his

With a look, a smile of a child,

Such a mischievous speech, -

And on the chest of the young

The cross shone golden.

("Mules").

12. Biblical motifs in Gumilyov's lyrics.

The name of the collection "Pillar of Fire" is taken from the Old Testament. Turning to the foundations of being, the poet saturated many of his works with biblical motifs. He writes especially much about the meaning of human existence. Thinking about the earthly path of man, about eternal values, about the soul, about death and immortality, Gumilyov pays a lot of attention to the problems of artistic creativity. Creativity for him is a sacrifice, self-purification, ascent to Golgotha, a divine act of the highest manifestation of the human "I":

True creativity, according to Gumilyov, following the traditions of patristic literature, is always from God, the result of the interaction of divine grace and the free will of man, even if the author himself is not aware of this. Granted from above "as a kind of benevolent covenant" poetic talent is the duty of honest and sacrificial service to people:

And a symbol of greatness.

Like a beneficent covenant

High tongue-tied

You are granted, poet.

The same idea is heard in the creation of "The Sixth Sense":

So, century after century - soon. Lord?

Under the scalpel of nature and art

Our spirit screams, exhausted flesh.

Giving birth to an organ for the sixth sense.

In recent collections, Gumilyov has grown into a great and demanding artist. Gumilev considered the work on the content and form of works to be the first task of every poet. It is not for nothing that one of his articles devoted to the problems of artistic creativity is called "The Anatomy of a Poem".

In the poem "Memory" Gumilyov defines the meaning of his life and creative activity as follows:

I am a gloomy and stubborn architect

Temple rising in the darkness

I was jealous of the glory of my father,

As in heaven and on earth.

The heart will be a flame

Until the day when they rise, clear,

Walls of New Jerusalem

In the fields of my native country.

Never tired of reminding his readers of the biblical truth that “in the beginning was the Word,” Gumilyov sings a majestic hymn to the Word with his poems. There were times, says the poet, when "the sun was stopped by a word//Cities were destroyed by the word." He elevates the Word - Logos above the "low life", kneels before it as a Master, always ready for creative study from the classics, for obedience and achievement.

Gumilev's aesthetic and spiritual landmark is Pushkin's creativity with its clarity, accuracy, depth and harmony of the artistic image. This is especially noticeable in his latest collections, which reflect the motley and complex dynamics of being with truly philosophical depth. In the testamentary poem “To My Readers” (1921), which was included in the Pillar of Fire collection, Gumilyov is full of desire calmly and wisely:

...Immediately recall

All the cruel, sweet life -

All native, strange land

And standing before the face of God

With simple and wise words.

Wait quietly for His judgment.

At the same time, in a number of poems in the Pillar of Fire collection, the joy of accepting life, falling in love with the beauty of God's world is interspersed with anxious forebodings associated with the social situation in the country and with one's own destiny.

Like many other outstanding Russian poets, Gumilyov was endowed with the gift of foresight of his fate. His poem “Worker” is deeply shocking, the hero of which casts a bullet that will bring death to the poet:

The bullet cast by him will whistle

Over the gray-haired, foamed Dvina.

The bullet cast by him will find

My chest, she came for me.

And the Lord will reward me in full

For my short and bitter age.

I did it in a light gray blouse,

A short old man.

In the last months of Gumilyov's life, the feeling of imminent death did not leave. I. Odoevtseva writes about this in her memoirs, reproducing episodes of their visit to the Church of the Sign in Petrograd in the fall of 1920 and the subsequent conversation at the poet’s apartment over a cup of tea: “Sometimes it seems to me,” he says slowly, “that I will not escape the common fate, that my end will be terrible. Quite recently, a week ago, I had a dream. No, I don't remember him. But when I woke up, I clearly felt that I had very little time left to live, a few months, no more. And that I will die very terribly.”

This conversation took place on October 15, 1920. And in January of the following year, in the first issue of the magazine “House of Art”, N. Gumilyov’s poem “The Lost Tram” was published, in which he allegorically depicts revolutionary Russia in the form of a tram rushing into obscurity and sweeping everything in its path.

"The Lost Tram" is one of the most mysterious poems that has not yet received a convincing interpretation. In his own way, deeply and originally from the position of Christian eschatology, the poet develops here the eternal theme of world art - the theme of death and immortality.

The poem recreates the state when a person, according to Christian doctrine, is between physical death and the resurrection of the soul. Death for Gumilyov is the end of the earthly path and at the same time the beginning of a new, afterlife. In the poem, she is personified by a carriage driver who takes the lyrical hero away from earthly life on a strange, fantastic hearse - a tram that has the ability to move on land and in air, in space and time. The image of the tram is romanticized, acquiring the features of a cosmic body, rushing into infinite space with colossal speed. This is a symbol of the poet's fate in its earthly and transcendental dimensions.

To depict the journey to the afterlife, the author uses the traditional motif of travel in religious literature. Time in the poem is open into eternity, unites the past, present and future.

The work captures many biographical details of the life of the lyrical hero, gives a retrospective review of the most important events of his life, shows the transphysical wanderings of his spirit. All of them are presented in allegorical and surreal lighting. Thus, the bridges over the Neva, Nile, Seine, through which the tram is carried, evoke associations with a bridge leading, according to popular beliefs, to the other world, and the rivers themselves can be considered as an analogue of the river of oblivion, which the soul of the deceased must overcome in the afterlife journey.

The path to the Kingdom of the Spirit, where the soul of the lyrical hero aspires, is complicated by wandering and throwing in time dimensions. The posthumous fate of the lyrical hero is, as it were, programmed by earthly life, and the tram, lost "in the abyss of time", on a new, metaphysical turn, seems to repeat the lifetime wanderings of the poet. Performing intense spiritual work to reassess the earthly life lived, the lyrical hero hopes for eternal and endless life, for gaining the kingdom of God, the "India of the Spirit". An Orthodox memorial service in St. Isaac's Cathedral is an important step towards that.

Faithful stronghold of Orthodoxy

Isaac is embedded in the sky.

There I will serve a prayer for health

Mashenki and memorial service for me.

13. Arrest and execution of Gumilyov.

The memorial service was drawing near. In the same year, 1921, on the initiative of Zinoviev, the Petrograd Cheka inspired the so-called "Tagantsev case", named after its organizer, Professor V. N. Tagantsev, who, together with his like-minded people, allegedly plotted a counter-revolutionary coup. The investigator of the Cheka, Y. Agranov, who headed the case, prosecuted more than 200 people, including well-known scientists, writers, artists and public figures.

On August 3, N. Gumilyov was also arrested, shortly before that he had been elected chairman of the Petrograd Union of Poets. Gumilyov was charged with the fact that when one of his old acquaintances offered him to join this organization, he refused, but did not report this offer to the authorities.

The code of honor did not allow him to do this, as well as his civic position: according to the testimony of the writer A. Amfiteatrov, who knew him well, N. Gumilyov “was a monarchist - strong. Not loud, but not hiding at all. In the last book of his poems, which were already published under Soviet fear, he did not hesitate to print a small poem about how he, traveling in Africa, visited the demigod prophet "Mahdi" and -

I gave him a gun

And a portrait of my Sovereign.

On this, he must have stumbled, already being under arrest. On August 24, the Petrograd Cheka sentenced 61 people to death, including N. Gumilyov. The poet was shot on August 25, 1921 at one of the stations of the Irinovsky railway near Leningrad.

As V. Soloukhin writes in his “Pebbles on the Palms”: “The artist Yuri Pavlovich Annenkov testifies that Gumilyov, an officer, twice Knight of St. George, a brilliant poet, smiled at the execution.

From other sources it is known that Zinoviev crawled on the floor during the execution and licked the boots of the Chekists with a drooling mouth. And this creature and scum killed the Russian knight Gumilyov!

The life of Nikolai Gumilyov ended at the age of 35, in the prime of his outstanding talent. How many beautiful works could still come out from under his talented pen!

N. S. Gumilyov can rightfully be called one of the poets of the Russian spiritual and national revival. As an optimistic prophecy, the lines of his poem “The Sun of the Spirit” sound:

I have a feeling that autumn is coming soon.

Solar works will end,

And people will remove from the drain of the spirit

Golden, ripe fruits.

This confidence breathes all the work of a wonderful poet, who is gaining more and more fame. According to the fair statement of G. Adamovich, “Gumilyov's name has become glorious. His poems are read not only by literary specialists or poets; the "ordinary reader" reads them and learns to love these poems - courageous, smart, slender, noble - in the best sense of the word.

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