Apollon Maykov
Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov | |
---|---|
Imperial Russia | |
Died | 20 March [O.S. 8 March] 1897 (aged 76) Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia |
Occupation | Poet, critic, essayist, translator |
Nationality | Russian |
Notable awards | Pushkin Prize |
Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (
Maykov was born into an artistic family and educated at home, by the writer Ivan Goncharov, among others. At the age of 15, he began writing his first poetry. After finishing his gymnasium course in just three years, he enrolled in Saint Petersburg University in 1837.
He began publishing his poems in 1840, and came out with his first collection in 1842. The collection was reviewed favorably by the influential critic Vissarion Belinsky. After this, he traveled throughout Europe, returning to Saint Petersburg in 1844, where he continued to publish poetry and branched out into literary criticism and essay writing.
He continued writing throughout his life, wavering several times between the conservative and liberal camps, but maintaining a steady output of quality poetical works. In his liberal days he was close to Belinsky,
Biography
Apollon Maykov was born into an artistic family. His father, Nikolay Maykov, was a painter, and in his later years an academic of the Imperial Academy of Arts. His mother, Yevgeniya Petrovna Maykova (née Gusyatnikova, 1803–1880), loved literature and later in life had some of her own poetry published.[1] The boy's childhood was spent at the family estate just outside Moscow, in a house often visited by writers and artists.[2] Maykov's early memories and impressions formed the foundation for his much lauded landscape lyricism, marked by what biographer Igor Yampolsky calls "a touchingly naive love for the old patriarchal ways."[3]
In 1834 the family moved to Saint Petersburg. Apollon and his brother Valerian were educated at home, under the guidance of their father's friend Vladimir Solonitsyn, a writer, philologist and translator, known also for Nikolay Maykov's 1839 portrait of him. Ivan Goncharov, then an unknown young author, taught Russian literature to the Maykov brothers. As he later remembered, the house "was full of life, and had many visitors, providing a never ceasing flow of information from all kinds of intellectual spheres, including science and the arts."[4] At the age of 15 Apollon started to write poetry.[5] With a group of friends (Vladimir Benediktov, Ivan Goncharov and Pavel Svinyin among others) the Maykov brothers edited two hand-written magazines, Podsnezhnik (Snow-drop) and Moonlit Nights, where Apollon's early poetry appeared for the first time.[1]
Maykov finished his whole gymnasium course in just three years,[3] and in 1837 enrolled in Saint Petersburg University's law faculty. As a student he learned Latin which enabled him to read Ancient Roman authors in the original texts. He later learned Ancient Greek, but until then had to content himself with French translations of the Greek classics. It was at the university that Maykov developed his passionate love of Ancient Greece and Rome.[3]
Literary career
Apollon Maykov's first poems (signed "M.") were published in 1840 by the Odessa Almanac and in 1841 by
In 1842 his first collection Poems by A.N. Maykov was published, to much acclaim. "For me it sounds like
After graduating from the university, Maykov joined the Russian Ministry of Finance as a clerk. Having received a stipend for his first book from Tsar Nicholas I, he used the money to travel abroad, visiting Italy (where he spent most of his time writing poetry and painting), France, Saxony, and Austria. In Paris Apollon and Valerian attended lectures on literature and fine arts at the Sorbonne and the Collège de France.[5] On his way back Maykov visited Dresden and Prague where he met Václav Hanka and Pavel Jozef Šafárik, the two leaders of the national revival movement.[3] The direct outcome of this voyage for Apollon Maykov was a University dissertation on the history of law in Eastern Europe.[5]
In 1844 Maykov returned to Saint Petersburg to join the
In 1846 the Petersburg Anthology published his poem "Mashenka", which saw Maykov discarding elegy and leaning towards a more down-to-Earth style of writing. Again Belinsky was impressed, hailing the arrival of "a new talent, quite capable of presenting real life in its true light."
In the late 1840s Maykov entered Belinsky's circle and became friends with
In 1847 Maykov's second collection of poems, Sketches of Rome, the artistic outcome of his earlier European trip, was published. Informed with Belinsky's criticism, some poems were built on the juxtaposition of the majestic ruins and lush landscapes of 'classic' Rome with the everyday squalor of contemporary Italy. This homage to the "natural school" movement, though, did not make Maykov's style less flamboyant; on the contrary, it was in Sketches of Rome that he started to make full use of exotic epithets and colorful imagery.[1]
In 1848–1852 Maykov wrote little, but became active during the
After Russia's defeat in the war the tone of Maykov's poetry changed. Poems like "The war is over. Vile peace is signed...", "Whirlwind" (both 1856), "He and Her" (1867) criticized corrupt high society and weak, inadequate officials who were indifferent to the woes of the country and its people.[13] Now openly critical of Nikolai I, Maykov admitted to having been wrong when professing a belief in the monarch.[14]
In 1858 Maykov took part in the expedition to Greece on board the corvette Bayan. Prior to that he read numerous books about the country and learned the modern Greek language. Two books came out as a result of this trip: The Naples Album (which included "Tarantella", one of his best known poems) and Songs of Modern Greece. The former, focusing on contemporary Italian life, was coldly received by Russian critics who found it too eclectic. In retrospect it is regarded as a curious experiment in breaking genre barriers, with images and conversations from foreign life used to express things which in Russia could not be commented on publicly at the time.[13] In the latter, the author's sympathy for the Greek liberation movement is evident.[3]
The early 1860s saw Maykov's popularity on the rise: he often performed in public and had his works published by the leading Russian magazines.
In the 1860s and 1870s Maykov contributed mainly to
Maykov and revolutionary democrats
Unlike his artistic ally
According to Yampolsky, Nekrasov's poem "Grandfather" (1870, telling the story of a nobleman supporting the revolutionary cause) might have been an indirect answer to Maykov's poem "Grandmother" (1861) which praised the high moral standards of the nobility and condemned the generation of
The Tale of Igor's Campaign
Seeking inspiration and moral virtue in Russian folklore, which he called "the treasury of the Russian soul", Maykov tried to revive the archaic Russian language tradition.[19] In his later years he made numerous freestyle translations and stylized renditions of Belarusian and Serbian folk songs. He developed a strong interest in non-Slavic folklore too, exemplified by the epic poems Baldur (1870) and Bringilda (1888) based on the Scandinavian epos.[3]
In the late 1860s Maykov became intrigued by The Tale of Igor's Campaign, which his son was studying in gymnasium at the time. Baffled by the vagueness and occasional incongruity of all the available translations, he shared his doubts with professor Izmail Sreznevsky, who replied: "It is for you to sort these things out." Maykov later described the four years of work on the new translation that followed as his "second university".[3] His major objective was to come up with undeniable proof of the authenticity of the old text, something that many authors, Ivan Goncharov among them, expressed doubts about. Ignoring Dostoyevsky's advice to use rhymes so as to make the text sound more modern, Maykov provided the first ever scientifically substantiated translation of the document, supplied with comprehensive commentaries. First published in the January 1870 issue of Zarya magazine, it is still regarded as one of the finest achievements of his career.[13]
For Maykov, who took his historical poems and plays seriously, authenticity was the main objective. In his Old Believers drama The Wanderer (1867), he used the hand-written literature of raskolniks and, "having discovered those poetic gems, tried to re-mold them into... modern poetic forms," as he explained in the preface.[20][13] In his historical works Maykov often had contemporary Russian issues in mind. "While writing of ancient history I was looking for parallels to the things that I had to live through. Our times provide so many examples of the rise and fall of the human spirit that an attentive eye looking for analogies can spot a lot," he wrote.[21]
Christianity and paganism
Maykov's first foray into the history of early Christianity, "Olynthus and Esther" (1841) was criticized by Belinsky. He returned to this theme ten years later in the lyrical drama Three Deaths (1857), was dissatisfied with the result, and went on to produce part two, "The Death of Lucius" (1863). Three Deaths became the starting point of his next big poem, Two Worlds, written in 1872, then re-worked and finished in 1881. Following Belinsky's early advice, Maykov abandoned Lucius, a weak Epicurean, and made the new hero Decius, a patrician who, while hating Nero, still hopes for the state to rise up from its ashes.[13] Like Sketches of Rome decades earlier, Two Worlds was a eulogy to Rome's eternal glory, its hero fighting Christianity, driven by the belief that Rome is another Heaven, "its dome embracing Earth."[5]
While in his earlier years Maykov was greatly intrigued by antiquity, later in life he became more interested in Christianity and its dramatic stand against oppressors. While some contemporaries praised Maykov for his objectivity and scholarly attitude, the Orthodox Christian critics considered him to be "too much of a heathen" who failed to show Christianity in its true historical perspective.[22] Later literary historians viewed Maykov's historical dramas favourably, crediting the author for neutrality and insight. Maykov's antiquity "lives and breathes, it is anything but dull," wrote critic F. Zelinsky in 1908.[23] For the Two Worlds Maykov received The Russian Academy of Sciences' Pushkin Prize in 1882.[1]
Last years
In 1858 Grigory Kushelev-Bezborodko published the first Maykov anthology Poems by Ap. Maykov. In 1879 it was expanded and re-issued by Vladimir Meshchersky. The Complete Maykov came out in 1884 (its second edition following in 1893).[5] In the 1880s Maykov's poetry was dominated by religious and nationalistic themes and ideas. According to I. Yampolsky, only a few of his later poems ("Emshan", "The Spring", 1881) had 'indisputable artistic quality'.[3] In his later years the poet wrote almost nothing new, engaging mostly in editing his earlier work and preparing them for compilations and anthologies. "Maykov lived the quiet, radiant life of an artist, evidently not belonging to our times... his path was smooth and full of light. No strife, no passions, no persecution," wrote Dmitry Merezhkovsky in 1908.[24] Although this generalization was far from the truth, according to biographer F. Priyma, it certainly expressed the general public's perception of him.[13]
Apollon Maykov died in Saint Petersburg On 8 March 1897. "His legacy will always sound as the mighty, harmonious and very complicated final chord to the Pushkin period of Russian poetry," wrote Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov in the Ministry of Education's obituary.[25]
Legacy
Maykov's initial rise to fame, according to the Soviet scholar Fyodor Pryima, had a lot to do with
Hailing the emergence of a new powerful talent, Belinsky unreservedly supported the young author's 'anthological' stylizations based upon the poetry of Ancient Greece, praising "the plasticity and gracefulness of the imagery," the virtuosity in the art of the decorative, the "poetic, lively language" but also the simplicity and lack of pretentiousness.
Maykov's debut collection made him one of the leading Russian poets. In the 1840s "his lexical and rhythmic patterns became more diverse but the style remained the same, still relying upon the basics of classical elegy," according to the biographer Mayorova, who noted a strange dichotomy between the flamboyant wording and static imagery, and pointed to the "insurmountable distance between the poet and the world he pictured."[1]
After Belinsky's death, Maykov started to waver between the two camps of the
In his 1895 article for the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, the philosopher and critic Vladimir Solovyov argued that Maykov's dominant characteristics were "a serene, contemplating tone, elaborate patterns, a distinct and individual style (in form, although not in colors) with a relatively lackluster lyric side, the latter suffering obviously from too much attention to details, often at the expense of the original inspiration." Maykov's best works were, the critic opined, "powerful and expressive, even if not exceptionally sonorous."[5] Speaking of Maykov's subject matter, Solovyov was almost dismissive:
Two major themes form the foundation of Maykov's poetry, the Ancient Greek aesthetic and historical myths of the Byzantine-Russian politics; bonded only by the poet's unreserved love for both, never merge... The concept of Byzantium, as the second Rome, though, has not crystallized as clear and distinct in the poet's mind as that of the original Roman Empire. He loves Byzantine/Russia in its historical reality, refusing to admit its faults and contradictions, tending to glorify even such monsters as Ivan the Terrible, whose "greatness", he believes, will be "recognised" in due time. [...] There was also a kind of background theme in his earlier work, the pastoral pictures of beautiful Russian nature, which the poet had all the better reason to enjoy for being a devout fisherman.[5]
The
All Maykov's strong points, according to the critic, relate to the fact that he learned painting, and, in a way, extended the art into his poetry. Aykhenvald gives him unreserved credit for the "plasticity of language, the unequalled turn at working on a phrase as if it was a tangible material." Occasionally "his lines are so interweaved, the verse looks like a poetic calligraphy; a scripturam continuam... Rarely passionate and showing only distant echoes of original inspiration, Maykov's verse strikes you with divine shapeliness... Maykov's best poems resemble statues, driven to perfection with great precision and so flawless as to make a reader feel slightly guilty for their own imperfection, making them inadequate to even behold what's infinitely finer than themselves," the critic argued.[32]
Another
Annensky praised Maykov's gift for creating unusual combinations of colors, which was "totally absent in Pushkin's verse, to some extent known to Lermontov, 'a poet of mountains and clouds' ...and best represented by the French poets
D. S. Mirsky called Maykov "the most representative poet of the age," but added: "Maykov was mildly 'poetical' and mildly realistic; mildly tendentious, and never emotional. Images are always the principal thing in his poems. Some of them (always subject to the restriction that he had no style and no diction) are happy discoveries, like the short and very well known poems on spring and rain. But his more realistic poems are spoiled by sentimentality, and his more 'poetic' poems hopelessly inadequate — their beauty is mere mid-Victorian tinsel. Few of his more ambitious attempts are successful."[34]
By the mid-1850s Maykov had acquired the reputation of a typical proponent of the "pure poetry" doctrine, although his position was special. Yet, according to Pryima, "Maykov was devoid of snobbishness and never saw himself occupying some loftier position even when mentioning 'crowds'. His need in communicating with people is always obvious ("Summer Rain", "Haymaking", "Nights of Mowing", The Naples Album). It's just that he failed to realize his potential as a 'people's poet' to the full." "Maykov couldn't be seen as equal to giants like Pushkin, Lermontov, Koltsov, or Nekrasov," but still "occupies a highly important place in the history of Russian poetry" which he greatly enriched, the critic insisted.[13]
In the years of Maykov's debut, according to Pryima, "Russian poetry was still in its infancy... so even as an enlightener, Maykov with his encyclopedic knowledge of history and the way of approaching every new theme as a field for scientific research played an unparalleled role in the Russian literature of the time." "His spectacular forays into the 'anthological' genre, as well as his translations of classics formed a kind of "antique Gulf Stream" which warmed up the whole of Russian literature, speeding its development," another researcher, F. F. Zelinsky, agreed.[13] Maykov's best poems ("To a Young Lady", "Haymaking", "Fishing", "The Wanderer"), as well his as translations of the Slavic and Western poets and his poetic rendition of Slovo o Polku Igoreve, belong to the Russian poetry classics, according to Pryima.[13]
Selected bibliography
Poetry collections
- Poems by A.N.Maykov (1842)
- Sketches of Rome (Otcherki Rima, 1847)
- 1854. Poems (Stikhotvoreniya, 1854)
- The Naples Album (Neapolsky albom, 1858)
- Songs of Modern Greece (Pesni novoy Gretsii, 1860)
Dramas
- Three Deaths (Tri smerti, 1857)
- Two Worlds (Dva mira, 1882)
Major poems
- Two Fates (Dve sudby, 1845)
- Mashenka (1946)
- Dreams (Sny, 1858)
- The Wanderer (Strannik, 1867)
- Princess***(Knyazhna, 1878)
- Bringilda (1888)
Notes
- ^ There was a "cult of Belinsky" in the Maykov family, partly imposed upon them by Ivan Goncharov, for whom Belinsky was a genius.
- ^ The same idea was central to Pushkin's famous letter to Pyotr Chaadayev (October 19, 1836), but the letter had not been published yet, so Maykov was almost certainly unaware of its existence.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mayorova, O. E. (1990). "A. N. Maykov". Russian Writers. Bibliographical dictionary. (Ed. P.A.Nikolayev). Vol. 2. Moscow, Prosveshchenye Publishers. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ a b c "A. N. Maykov". www.kostyor.ru. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Yampolsky, I. (1968). "Apollon Maykov. Russian Poets". Moscow. Detskaya Literatura Publishers. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ Goncharov, A. I. N. A. Maykov. Obituary. Golos (The Voice). 1873. No 238. August 29.
- ^ a b c d e f g Solovyov, Vl (1895). "Maykov, Apollon Nikolayevich". Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ Y.K.Grot and P.A.Pletnyov's correspondence. Saint Petersburg, 1896. Vol. 1. P.483.
- ^ Belivsky, V., Russian Literature in 1842. The Works of... In 9 Volumes, Vol. 6, p. 207)
- ^ Lansky, L. The Belinsky Library. Literaturnoye Nasledstvo (The Literary Heritage). Vol. 55, Moscow., 1948, pp. 474—476.
- ^ The Works of Belinsky. Moscow, 1982. Vol. 8. P. 148
- ^ The Complete Hertzen. In 30 volumes, Moscow, 1954. Vol. 2. P. 411
- ^ Yampolsky, I.G. Extracts From A.N.Maykov's Archives. The Pushkin House's Yearly almanac, 1974. P.37
- ^ A letter to A.V.Nikitenko. Yampolsky I.G., Poets and Prosaics, Leningrad, 1986, p. 136
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Pryima, Fyodor (1984). "A.N.Maykov's Poetry". Pravda Publishers. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
- ^ The Voice of The Past, 1919. No 1/4. p. 107
- ^ Stackenshneider, E.A. Diary and Notes. Moscow, Leningrad, 1934.p. 48
- ^ The Complete М. Е. Saltykov-Schedrin, Vol.5, Moscow, 1966, p. 434
- ^ Dostoyevsky, F.M. Articles and other materials. Moscow-Leningrad. 1924, Book 2, p. 341
- ^ Russky Bibliofil. 1916, No 7, p. 74.
- ^ Letter to M.P. Pogodin, October 18, 1869. The Central Russian Literary Archives
- ^ Preface to Strannik. Maykov, A.N. The Selected Works of... 1977. Leningrad, p. 847.
- ^ Sukhomlinov. The Poetry of A.N.Maykov and its peculiarities. Russkaya starina. 1899, No 3, p. 486-487.
- ^ Umansky, A. Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov. Russkoye Bogatstvo. 1897, No 4, p. 41
- ^ Zelinsky, F. The Ancient World in A.N.Maykov’s Poetry. The Lives of Ideas. Saint Petersburg, 1908, p. 235.
- ^ Merezhkovsky, Dmitry. Eternal Companions. Dostoyevsky, Goncharov, Maykov. 3rd ed. Saint Petersburg, 1908, p. 66.
- ^ The Journal of the Ministry of Education. 1897. No.4, section IV.P. 53
- ^ The Complete V.G. Belinsky. Vol. 6, Moscow, 1955, p. 7.
- ^ The Works of V.G. Belinsky in 9 Volumes. Moscow, 1979 Vol. 4, pp. 344–346.
- ^ The Complete V. G. Belinsky, Vol. VI, pp. 10–11.
- ^ The Complete V.G. Belinsky, Vol. I, p. 27.
- ^ "Mashenka. Commentaries". az.lib.ru. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
- ^ "The Wanderer (Strannik). Commentaries". az.lib.ru. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
- ^ a b c Aikhenvald, Yuli. "Apollon Maykov. Silhouettes of Russian Writers, in 3 volumes". Moscow, 1906 – 1910; 2nd ed. 1908 – 1913. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
- ^ a b c Annensky, Innokenty (1979). "A.N.Maykov and the pedagogical significance for his poetry". Literary Monument series. Moscow, Nauka Publishers. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
- ^ D.S. Mirsky, A History of Russian Literature: From Its Beginnings to 1900, Northwestern University Press: 1999, pp. 230–31
External links
- Apollon Maykov Poem (in Russian)
- All works by Apollon Maykov Archived 2019-07-13 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)