Nikolai Gumilyov was born on April 15 in Kronstadt in the family of a ship's doctor. He wrote his first quatrain at the age of six, and already at the age of sixteen his first poem “I fled to the forest from the cities...” was published in the Tiflis Leaflet.
The philosophy of F. Nietzsche and the poems of the Symbolists, which changed the idea of young poet to the world and its driving forces. Impressed by his new knowledge, he writes his first collection, “The Way of the Conquistadors,” where he already shows his own recognizable style.
Already in Paris, Gumilyov’s second collection of poems, entitled “Romantic Poems,” dedicated to his beloved Anna Gorenko, is being published. The book opens the period of Gumilyov’s mature creativity and collects the first praises for the poet, including from his teacher Valery Bryusov.
The next turning point in Gumilyov’s work was the creation of the “Workshop of Poets” and his own aesthetic program, Acmeism. The poem "Prodigal Son" cements the poet's reputation as a "master" and one of the most significant modern authors. This will be followed by many talented works and fearless deeds that will forever inscribe the name of Gumilyov in the history of Russian literature.
Giraffe (1907)
Today, I see, your look is especially sad
And the arms are especially thin, hugging the knees.
Listen: far, far away, on Lake Chad
An exquisite giraffe wanders.
He is given graceful harmony and bliss,
And his skin is decorated with a magical pattern,
Only the moon dares to equal him,
Crushing and swaying on the moisture of wide lakes.
In the distance it is like the colored sails of a ship,
And his run is smooth, like a joyful bird's flight.
I know that the earth sees many wonderful things,
When at sunset he hides in a marble grotto.
I know funny tales of mysterious countries
About the black maiden, about the passion of the young leader,
But you've been breathing in the heavy fog for too long,
You don't want to believe in anything other than rain.
And how can I tell you about the tropical garden,
About slender palm trees, about the smell of incredible herbs.
You are crying? Listen... far away, on Lake Chad
An exquisite giraffe wanders.
More than once you will remember me
And my whole world is exciting and strange,
An absurd world of songs and fire,
But among others there is one undeceiving one.
He could have become yours too, but he didn’t,
Was it too little or too much for you?
I must have written bad poetry
And he unjustly asked God for you.
But every time you bow down without strength
And you say: “I don’t dare remember.
After all, another world has enchanted me
Its simple and crude charm."
I dreamed: we both died... (1907)
I dreamed: we both died,
We lie with a calm look,
Two white, white coffins
Placed next to each other.
When did we say enough is enough?
How long has it been, and what does that mean?
That the heart doesn't cry.
Powerless feelings are so strange
Frozen thoughts are so clear
And your lips are not desired,
At least forever beautiful.
It's finished: we both died,
We lie with a calm look,
Two white, white coffins
Placed next to each other.
Evening (1908)
Another unnecessary day
Gorgeous and unnecessary!
Come, caressing shadow,
And clothe the troubled soul
With your pearl robe.
And you came... You drive away
Ominous birds are my sorrows.
Oh mistress of the night,
No one can overcome
Victorious step of your sandals!
Silence flies from the stars,
The moon shines - your wrist,
And again in a dream it was given to me
The Promised Country -
Long-mourned happiness.
Tender and unprecedented joy (1917)
I would accept only one thing without arguing -
Quiet, quiet golden peace
Yes twelve thousand feet of sea
Over my broken head.
The Sixth Sense (1920)
The wine we love is wonderful
And the good bread that goes into the oven for us,
And the woman to whom it was given,
Having first been exhausted, we can enjoy.
I Dreamed (1907)
When did we say enough is enough?
How long has it been, and what does that mean?
But it’s strange that my heart doesn’t hurt,
That the heart doesn't cry.
There are many people who, having fallen in love... (1917)
How do you love, girl, answer,
What languor do you yearn for?
Can you really not burn?
A secret flame familiar to you?
The Magic Violin (1907)
We must forever sing and cry to these strings, ringing strings,
The maddened bow must forever beat, curl,
And under the sun, and under the blizzard, under the whitening breakers,
And when the west burns, and when the east burns.
Modernity (1911)
I closed the Iliad and sat by the window.
The last word trembled on his lips.
Something was shining brightly - a lantern or the moon,
And the shadow of the sentry moved slowly.
Sonnet (1918)
Sometimes in the vague and starless sky
The fog is growing... but I laugh and wait
And I believe, as always, in my star,
I, a conquistador in an iron shell.
Don Juan (1910)
My dream is arrogant and simple:
Grab the oar, put your foot in the stirrup
And deceive slow time,
Always kissing new lips.
Stone (1908)
Look how evil the stone looks,
The cracks in it are strangely deep,
A hidden flame flickers under the moss;
Don't think, it's not fireflies!
Son of a naval doctor. As a child, he lived in Tsarskoe Selo, from 1895 - in St. Petersburg, in 1900-03 - in Tiflis, where Gumilyov’s poem was first published in a local newspaper (1902). He studied at St. Petersburg and Tiflis gymnasiums.
In the fall of 1903, the Gumilyov family returned to Tsarskoe Selo, where the young man completed (1906) his gymnasium education. The literary tastes of the aspiring poet were apparently influenced by the director of the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium, the poet I. F. Annensky; also influenced by the works of F. Nietzsche and the poems of the Symbolists.
"The Way of the Conquistadors"
The first collections of poems - “The Path of the Conquistadors” (1905), “Romantic Flowers” (1908; marked by an appeal to exotic themes) - reflected Gumilyov’s feeling for Anna Gorenko, the future A. A. Akhmatova, whom he met in 1903 in Tsarskoe Selo (their marriage, concluded in 1910, broke up three years later). The defining image of Gumilyov’s poetry was the image of a lonely conqueror contrasting his world with dull reality.
Wanderings
In 1906, Gumilyov went to Paris, where he attended lectures at the Sorbonne and studied French literature, painting, and theater. He published three issues of the literary and artistic magazine Sirius (1907). In 1908 he traveled to Egypt (later he traveled to Africa three more times - in 1909, 1910, 1913, collecting folk songs, samples visual arts, ethnographic materials).
"Letters about Russian poetry"
For some time (1908-09) Gumilyov studied at St. Petersburg University - at the Faculty of Law, then at the Faculty of History and Philology. At the same time he meets Vyach. I. Ivanov, published in the newspaper “Rech”, magazines “Scales”, “Russian Thought”, etc., publishes a collection of poems “Pearls” (1910).
Gumilyov took part in the organization of the magazine “Apollo” (1909), in which, until 1917, he maintained a permanent column “Letters on Russian Poetry” (separate publication - 1923), which earned him a reputation as an insightful critic: “his assessments are always to the point; they reveal in brief formulas the very essence of the poet" ( V. Ya. Bryusov).
Acmeism
The desire to be free from guardianship Vyacheslav Ivanov and organizational dissociation from “theurgic” symbolism led to the creation in 1911 of the “Workshop of Poets,” which, together with Gumilyov, who led it as a “syndic,” included Akhmatova, S. M. Gorodetsky, O. E. Mandelstam, M. A. Zenkevich and other acmeist poets. Having declared a new direction - Acmeism - the heir of symbolism, which had completed “its path of development,” Gumilyov called on poets to return to the “thingness” of the world around them (article “The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism,” 1913). Gumilyov’s first acmeistic work is considered to be the poem “The Prodigal Son,” included in his collection “Alien Sky” (1912). Criticism noted the masterly mastery of form: according to Bryusova, the meaning of Gumilyov’s poems “is much more in how he speaks than in what he says.” The next collection “Quiver” (1916), the dramatic fairy tale “Child of Allah” and the dramatic poem “Gondla” (both 1917) testify to the strengthening of the narrative principle in Gumilyov’s work.
War
Gumilyov's everyday behavior correlated with his poetry: he transposed the romantic pathos of conquistadorism from poetry into life, overcoming his own weaknesses, professing a personal cult of victory. At the beginning of the First World War, Gumilev volunteered for the Uhlan regiment; was awarded two St. George's crosses. According to the recollections of his colleagues, he was drawn to danger. In 1916, Gumilyov sought to be sent to the Russian expeditionary force on the Thessaloniki front, but was delayed in Paris, where he communicated with M. F. Larionov and N. S. Goncharova, as well as with French poets (including G. Apollinaire).
Return to Russia. Death
In 1918 Gumilyov returned to Russia. He was attracted by M. Gorky to work at the publishing house “World Literature”, gave lectures at institutes, and taught in literary studios. He was engaged in translations (the epic of Gilgamesh, English and French poetry). He published several collections of poetry, including his best book, “The Pillar of Fire” (1921; dedicated to his second wife, A. N. Engelhardt).
In the fall of 1920, Gumilyov vaguely promised participants in the so-called “Tagantsev conspiracy” his assistance in the event of an anti-government uprising and was nominally involved in conspiratorial activities. On August 3, 1921, he was arrested by the Petrograd Extraordinary Commission, and on August 24 he was sentenced to death.
"Masculine Romanticism"
Gumilyov introduced “an element of courageous romanticism” into Russian poetry (D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky), created his own tradition based on the principle of ascetic strict selection poetic means, a combination of intense lyricism and pathos with a touch of irony. “The epigrammatic nature of a strict verbal formula” (V. M. Zhirmunsky), the verified composition in his latest collections became a container for the concentrated spiritual experience of the entire post-symbolist generation.
R. D. Timenchik
Nikolai Gumilyov’s love for travel and antiquity is reflected in the poet’s poems, although the influence of Russian classicism is also noticeable. Gumilyov’s poems are easy to read and have hidden subtext, and in some works there is a place for the gift of prophecy, for example, “In the Desert” ends with the lines:
Before death all, Thersites and Hector,
Equally insignificant and glorious,
I will also drink the sweet nectar
In the fields of the azure country.
Only Nicholas had to drink the nectar of death not in the azure land, but in the dungeons of the NKVD.
In his poems, Gumilyov often refers to mythical heroes; he often mentions Hercules, Odysseus and Achilles, and more than once returns the reader to the Roman era to Mari and Manlius (the poem “Manlius”). The love of travel allows Gumilyov to competently describe distant countries and the mystery of foreign nature in poems (“Lake Chad”, “Suez Canal”, “Egypt” and others). Faust and Margarita, Rigoletto and Rublev, Caracalla and Pausanias come to life in the poet’s lines.
This selection of themes and characters speaks of the poet’s versatility, the breadth of his range of interests and the ability to transfer feelings and dreams onto a sheet of paper.
Here you will find the best, according to readers, and selected poems by Gumilyov. Penetration into the lines and between the lines will help to understand the complex fate of the poet and open the world of deep poetry of the talented author. Let's start with " Lost tram ".
Gumilyov's poem performed by Yulia Skirina.
Games
Whom does Gumilyov bring to the arena of the amphitheater in the person of the sorcerer, whom wild animals worship? Who is the consul, pleasing the public with kindness and pouring blood into the sand for the third day? Are not the sprouts of revolution hidden behind the mask of a sorcerer, and is it not the tsarist regime that the consul portrays in the poem “Games”?
Who then are we, the audience? Those who see that something needs to be changed, but are afraid of the cold of death on the way to victory? Or those who have enough games - circuses and bread. We don’t know anything else or don’t want to know.
Consul is kind: in the bloody arena
The third day the games don't end,
And the tigers went completely mad,
Boa constrictors breathe ancient malice.
And elephants, and bears! Such
Blood-drunk fighters
Tur, beating its horns everywhere,
There was hardly any love in Rome.
And then only the prisoner was given to them,
All wounded, the leader of the Alamans,
Spellcaster of winds and fogs
And a killer with the eyes of a hyena.
How we longed for this hour!
We were waiting for the battle, we knew he was brave.
Beat the hot body, beasts,
Tear, beasts, bloody meat!
