Apollon Nikolaevich Maykov was born in 1821 into an educated and talented family. His father was a painter, the brothers Valerian and Leonid were writers. Writers, artists often visited my father's house, literary conversations were held, and they argued about art. By the way, I. A. Goncharov, who gave lessons to older children, was a frequent visitor.
A. N. Maikov graduated from St. Petersburg University in the Faculty of Literature, did a lot of painting, to which he felt a vocation, but the weakness of his eyesight forced him to abandon work in this area.
Portrait of Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov. Artist V. Perov, 1872
He began to write poetry while still at the university, the first experiments, like Turgenev, attributed to Professor Pletnev, editor of the Sovremennik magazine. Pletnev approved of Maikov's experiments. In 1840, his poem "Dream" was published in the Odessa almanac, signed with the letter M. Belinsky welcomed this poem and guessed a major poet in the author.
In 1844 Maykov published the first collection of poems, which nominated the author as a poet. A major event in his life was a trip to Italy, where Maykov, as an artist and lover of beauty in art and nature, found rich material for study and observation. The poet visited museums and art galleries in Italy and enjoyed nature. Stay in Italy had a great influence on his creative development. After that, in Paris, he listened to lectures by professors on various areas knowledge.
Returning to Russia, Maykov was the librarian of the Rumyantsev Museum, and after the death of Tyutchev, he acted as chairman of the foreign censorship committee. A. N. Maykov personally edited the three-volume collection of his works.
He died in 1897.
- Literature or painting?
“My whole biography is not in external facts, but in the course and development of my inner life ...” - said the poet. The lyrics of Apollo Maykov were a reflection of his life - hobbies, political views and historical events which he witnessed.
Literature or painting?
Apollo Maykov was born into a noble family. He inherited his love for art from his parents, representatives of the creative intelligentsia. Father, Nikolai Maikov, was an academician of painting, mother, Evgenia Maikova, was a writer and poetess. “Maikov’s house was seething with life, people who brought here inexhaustible content from the sphere of thought, science, and art,” recalled the writer Ivan Goncharov, who gave literature and Russian language lessons to the family.
Growing up in such an environment, Apollon Maikov was sure that he would devote his life to art. He was equally gifted in both literature and painting, but he decided to opt for poetry for two reasons: his youthful poems were highly appreciated by the literary historian Alexander Nikitenko and the poet Pyotr Pletnev, and developing myopia prevented him from devoting enough time to painting.
"His poems are reminiscent of ancient poets"
Enrolling in 1837 at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, Apollon Maykov began to study ancient Greek and Roman history. This passion influenced his work. Contemporaries wrote: "He seems to look at life through the eyes of a Greek, his poems are reminiscent of ancient poets, they have a bright and optimistic beginning."
Maykov's first works were published in the late 1830s. In 1842, his first poetry collection was published. “A poetic, full of life and certainty language” - this is how Vissarion Belinsky commented on the book of the young poet. Admiring Maykov's work "Dream", the critic wrote: "Pushkin himself would have had this poem from his best anthological plays."
For this collection, Apollon Maykov received an allowance from Emperor Nicholas I. With the money he received, he went on a trip to Europe, which lasted almost two years. The poet visited Italy, France, Austria and other countries.
He shared his impressions of the trip with readers in a new collection - Essays on Rome, published in 1847 in St. Petersburg. Literary critics noted that his work has changed: from antiquity, he moved on to modern life, he began to be more interested in the poetry of "thoughts and feelings."
Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of Apollo Maykov fishing. 1883
Apollo Mike. River landscape. 1854
Vasily Perov. Portrait of Apollo Maykov. 1872
Petrashevsky circle and natural school
Returning to the capital in 1844, Apollon Maykov became a prominent figure in the literary circles of St. Petersburg. He actively collaborated with the magazines Sovremennik and Otechestvennye Zapiski, and was friends with Vissarion Belinsky, Nikolai Nekrasov and Ivan Turgenev.
With the help of his brother, Valerian, Apollo also got to the meeting of the first socialist circle in Russia, organized by Mikhail Petrashevsky. There, the poet began a close acquaintance with Fyodor Dostoevsky and Alexei Pleshcheev. Although Maikov did not share all the views of the natural school, his work is still affected by the influence of this literary direction. The poems of the 1840s are full of civic motifs. Maikov published his poems in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski by Andrey Kraevsky, and in 1845 he wrote the poem Two Fates, for which he received the Pushkin Prize of the Academy of Sciences. In 1846, the poem "Mashenka" was published in the "Petersburg Collection" by Nikolai Nekrasov.
... On the shelf of a book - yes, about a person
You can probably conclude
According to his chosen library,
In his soul, in concepts to read, -
Goldoni's comedies lay there,
History of the Madonna and Saints,
Opera libretto, poems by Tassoni
Yes, the calendar of temple processions ...Apollo Mike. Excerpt from the poem "Two Fates" (1845)
When many members of the Petrashevsky circle were exiled, Maikov changed his attitude towards revolutionary movement in Russia. Later, in notes to the poet Yakov Polonsky, he spoke of his “liberal period”: “A lot of nonsense, a lot of selfishness and little love. It was my stupidity, but not meanness.
Slavophiles and "pure art"
Since the 1850s, Apollon Maikov has become close to the editors of Moskvityanin, and conservative sentiments are increasingly felt in his work. Maikov shared the Slavophile ideas of Mikhail Pogodin (magazine publisher), Mikhail Katkov, Fyodor Tyutchev. During this period, the poet opposed the influence of Western European culture. He wrote a lot about the beauty of Russian nature. These poems, according to the publicist Mikhail Borodkin, "were memorized almost with the first prayers." Many of Maikov's works were set to music
Oct 03 2011
Maikov Apollon Nikolaevich is a famous Russian poet and translator. Born May 23, 1821 in Moscow in the family of a famous artist, academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Maykov's childhood years passed near Moscow in family estate. In 1834, the Maikov family moved to St. Petersburg, where Maikov and his brother Valerian received an excellent education at home. They were taught literature by the writer I. Goncharov.
In 1837, Maikov entered the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University. The teachers drew attention to the student's poetic gift, which by that time had begun to be published in the almanacs "Library for Reading" and "Notes of the Fatherland". In 1842 Maykov published his first collection of poetry. The attention of the public was drawn to the main section of this book. VG Belinsky expressed admiration for the figurativeness and lightness of the poetic language. As in fact, in all of Maykov's work, landscape lyrics were vividly presented in this collection of poetry.
In 1841 Maikov graduated from the university as the first candidate and went to work in the Ministry of Finance. Soon, having received allowance from Nicholas I, Maikov makes a tour of Europe, he visits Italy, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Abroad Maikov is engaged in poetry and painting, listens to lectures on literature. The impressions received on this trip formed the basis of the poetry collection Essays on Rome (1847). In the works of this collection, along with the grandiose monuments of antiquity, modern everyday scenes coexisted.
In 1844 Maykov returned to Russia and got a place in the Rumyantsev Museum, and then in the Committee of Foreign Censorship in St. Petersburg. Maikov becomes a prominent figure in the literary environment of the capital, he actively collaborates in the progressive publications Sovremennik and Otechestvennye Zapiski, writes articles on art in the style of the Natural School, publishes several biographical essays and the poem Masha (1846), in which makes fun of romantic clichés.
Maykov maintained friendly relations with V. Belinsky, I. Turgenev, N. Nekrasov, A. Pleshcheev, F. Dostoevsky, participated in meetings of M. Petrashevsky's circle. In the course of the investigation into the case of the Petrashevites, Maikov was put under covert surveillance. After that, Maykov begins to share the ideas of Slavophilism and becomes a supporter of "patriarchal-monarchical" rule.
Maikov gained great popularity: he was published in the best literary and art magazines, and spoke at literary evenings. One of the important tasks of art Maikov considered the preservation of the historical memory of the people. Inspired by this task, Maikov makes free translations and stylizations of songs of the Belarusian and Serbian peoples. One of Maykov's most notable works is the poetic translation of The Tale of Igor's Campaign (1870).
At the center of all Maykov's poetry was the confrontation between Christianity and paganism. Maikov wrote the poem "Two Worlds" (1872, 1881) on this subject, for which Maikov was awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1882 by the Academy of Sciences. Maykov died in St. Petersburg on March 8, 1897.
Maikov Apollon Nikolaevich is a famous Russian poet. He lived in the 19th century (1821-1897). The creative heritage of this poet is of interest in our time, which speaks of his undoubted talent.
Origin of A. N. Maykov
It should be said that Apollon Maikov was not the only gifted representative of his family name. The ancient family of the poet was rich talented people. In the 15th century, the famous Russian theologian Nil Sorsky lived, and in the time of Catherine the poet Vasily Maikov worked.
The father of our hero was an academician of painting. The rest of his family also belonged to the creative intelligentsia. Mother is a translator and poetess, brother Valerian is a publicist and literary critic, and Leonid, another brother of Apollo, is a publisher and literary historian.
Childhood and youth, the first book of poems
Apollon Nikolaevich spent his childhood on the estate that belonged to his father. It was located near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The Maykov family moved to St. Petersburg in 1834. Apollo in childhood was fond of both literature and painting. However, myopia prevented him from following in his father's footsteps. Maikov's first prose experiments show the influence of Gogol. Then Apollon Maikov became interested in poetry. His biography of this period was also marked by his studies at St. Petersburg University, at the Faculty of Law. After graduating from the university, Apollon Nikolaevich published the first book of his poems. This important event took place in 1842.
Trip abroad, new poems
In the same year, Apollo Maykov went abroad. Here he stayed for about two years. Maikov listened to lectures by famous scientists in Paris. While in Rome, he took part in the revelry of Russian artists, wrote poetry, made sketches, went on horseback rides in the Roman valley. The result of the impressions received was Maykov's cycle of verse "Essays on Rome" (published in 1847). It was during his life in Italy that the first scrapping was indicated in the poet's work. Apollon Maikov broke with anthological poetry and began to strive for the so-called poetry of thought and feeling. Maikov ceased to be interested in the old man. He decided to turn to the present. As a result, portraits of the inhabitants of Rome appeared (Lorenzo, "Capuchin", "Beggar").
Homecoming
Returning to his homeland, the poet began working at the Rumyantsev Museum as an assistant librarian. In the second half of the 1840s, Nekrasov, Grigorovich, Turgenev, Belinsky entered his circle of contacts. At that time, Apollon Maikov experienced the influence of the natural school. The poet published a lot in the "Notes of the Fatherland". In the "Petersburg collection" of Nekrasov in 1846 his poem "Mashenka" appeared. A little earlier, another poem was created, "Two Fates", which tells the story of an "extra" person.
Communication with the Petrashevites and the editors of the "Moskvityanin"
Apollon Nikolaevich in those years was ideologically close to Westernism. He became involved in the Petrashevsky movement through his brother Valerian. However, he soon began to be oppressed by their constant criticism of the government. Maikov saw utopianism in the Petrashevist movement, "a lot of selfishness", "a lot of nonsense" and "little love".
Apollon Nikolaevich, who was going through a crisis, ended up in the editorial office of Moskvityanin. Here he unexpectedly found not only participation, but also support for his views. Maikov denied the principles of civilization Western Europe. This thought went through his entire collection "1854", which accurately reflected Maykov's worldview at that time. Another cross-cutting theme of the book was the historical mission of the Russian state, which blocked the way to the West for the hordes of Batu and thus prevented the death of European civilization ("Clermont Cathedral", etc.). Then Maikov became a staunch monarchist. He believed in the greatness of Nicholas I.
Creativity of the 1850s
As happens with every true poet, Maykov's work of the 1850s is much broader than his ideological guidelines. He created works on a social theme (the idyll "Fool", the cycle "Worldly Thoughts"), poems of an ideological and political nature. At the same time Maikov wrote poems that continued anthological and aesthetic principles his poetry early period. It's about about such cycles as "Cameos" and "Fantasy". At the end of 1850s. the cycles "At home", "In the wild", "In the rain", "Spring", "Haymaking" appeared. In these works, Maikov's former harmonic view of nature is still felt. However, now he manifests himself in sketches of rural landscapes in Russia.
"Autumn"
In 1856 Apollon Maikov created one of the most famous poems. "Autumn" - so he called it. Poet with young years he was fond of hunting, but often caught himself thinking that he was much more pleased with an ordinary walk in the forest without a gun. He really liked to rake in the leaves with his foot, to hear the crackling of branches ... However, in autumn the forest loses its mystery and mystery, because "the last flower has tied up", "the last nut has been plucked". And this world gives rise to hitherto unknown feelings in the poet...
Marine expedition
The Italian theme reappeared in the work of Apollon Nikolaevich in 1859. This was due to the fact that he, together with other researchers, made a sea expedition, visiting the islands of the Greek archipelago. The ship on which the voyage was carried out did not get to Greece. He had to stay in Naples. Therefore, instead of one cycle, as Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov had planned, it turned out to be two. The "Neapolitan Album" was created from Italian impressions. This is a kind of story in verse, the theme of which is the life of the people in Naples. As a result of studying the culture and history of Greece, "Modern Greek songs" appeared ("The swallow rushed", " Lullaby" and etc.).
One of his most famous poems is "Lullaby ...". Apollo Maykov created this work in 1860. More than 20 composers at one time wrote music for it. Among them are A. Chesnokov, A. Arensky, V. Rebikov, P. Tchaikovsky.
last years of life
In the last 25 years of his life, Maykov was interested in the eternal questions of being. He thought about the development of civilizations. An important place in Maikov's thoughts at that time was occupied by the fate of our country, its past and present, its role in history. In 1880, Apollon Nikolaevich also created a number of poems that are distinguished by deep religiosity and the idea that religious humility is distinguishing feature a Russian person ("The eternal night is approaching ....", "Leave it, leave it! .." etc.).
Finally
Merezhkovsky in his book " Eternal companions"Wrote that Maikov Apollo is a poet, life path which was bright and even. There was no persecution, no enemies, no passions, no struggle in him. There were poems, books, travel, family joys, fame. Indeed, his biography was not very poetic: he did not die on the scaffold or in a duel, he was not persecuted, he was not tormented by passions. With Apollon Maikov, everything external went inside. His true biography, true destiny was his path from the Romans and Greeks to Russian reality, the history of peoples, the poetry of the Bible and the eternal questions of being.
Apollo Maikov (1821-1897)
Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov was born on May 23, 1821 in Moscow. The childhood years of the poet were spent in the village of Nikolsky near Moscow, near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Father, Nikolai Apollonovich Maikov - artist, academician of painting, mother, Evgenia Petrovna - writer. Artists, writers, musicians were frequent guests in the Maykovs' house. One of Maikov's home teachers was I. A. Goncharov. In 1837, Maykov entered the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, willingly and did a lot of history. Ancient Greece and Rome, studied Latin language and Roman poets. He began writing poetry at the age of fifteen. Young Maykov dreamed of a career as a painter, but flattering reviews by Pletnev and Nikitenko about his first poetic experiments and poor eyesight prompted him to devote himself to literature. In 1842 Maykov went on a trip abroad. He spent about a year in Italy, then lived in Paris, where, together with his brother Valerian, he listened to lectures at Sorbonne and the College de France. The result of this trip was the "Essays on Rome" published in 1847 and a Ph.D. thesis on ancient Slavic law. Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Maykov served in the Ministry of Finance, then as a librarian at the Rumyantsev Museum before moving it to Moscow, and later as chairman of the Foreign Censorship Committee. Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov died in 1897.
Maykov's poetry is notable for its even, contemplative mood, deliberate drawing, it is plastic and harmoniously finished. It is clear and precise, without penumbra and hints, lines, shapes and colors appear. Maikov's verse in his best works is distinguished by its strength, expressiveness and relatively weak lyricism, the author's emotions are hidden, as it were, the poems are devoid of psychological tension; the latter is primarily due to the fact that the poet finished his works too carefully, sometimes to the detriment of the original inspiration. Maykov began to publish in 1840. Inspired by ancient images, works of Greek and Roman sculpture, the world of ideally beautiful gods and goddesses, his poems carried a bright and optimistic beginning with a clearly predominant epicurean character. Another theme of the poet's work is Russian-Byzantine historical legends. At the beginning of his literary activity, the motives of Russian nature are clearly heard, often inspired by Maikov's favorite pastime - fishing. Unlike Tyutchev or Fet Maikov does not look for the ambiguity of symbols in nature, he creates concrete images and pictures, while showing remarkable pictorial vigilance and depth of feelings.
Maikov's "anthological" poems immediately brought him fame. The clarity and completeness of the images are distinguished primarily by "Dream", "Remembrance", "Echo and Silence", "My child, there are no more blessed days", "Poetry", "Bas-relief". Maikov begins one of his "Epicurean songs" with a rare lyrical impulse:
Give me Myrta Cyprida!
What do I need colored garlands?
However, in the second stanza, he gracefully returns to his usual tone:
Myrtle green vine
The old man, having married, is gratifying
Drink under a thick gazebo
Covered with grape vine.
Characteristic of Maykov's poetry is the poem "After visiting the Vatican Museum". The impressions made on him by the sculptures of this museum remind the poet of similar impressions from early childhood, which significantly influenced the nature of his work:
Even in infancy loved to wander my mind
On the dusty marbles of the Potemkin chambers.
The dusty antiques seemed alive to me;
And dominating my infantile mind
They were related to him, like fairy tales of a clever nanny,
In the plastic beauty of mythical legends...
Now, now I am here, in their bright homeland,
Where the gods lived among people, taking their image
And their immortal face was revealed to their gaze.
Like a distant pilgrim, among his shrines,
I stood among the statues...
An instant impression can transport a poet from a modern ballroom to the ancient world:
... Oh, you're the one to blame
O roses of Paestum, classic roses!
(Roses. Fayupazii)
In another poem - "Improvisation" - Maykov's plastic poetry successfully comes into contact with an area of musical sensations alien to her in general:
But the fading sounds become clear again...
And passionate songs are invaded by a jet
One dreary sound, pleading, full of torment...
It grows, everything grows, and it flows like a river ...
Already a sweet hymn of love in one memory
Shoots far ... but with a stone foot
The inexorable is coming, the suffering is coming
And his every step rumbles over me...
Some kind of cry in the boundless desert
It sounds like it's calling... alas! there is no hope!
He whines... and in the midst of the thunders in response to him
Only a mournful melody broke through the lullaby.
A characteristic expression of the good-natured and innocent Epicureanism of the poet was the poem "To the Young Men":
And they couldn't get drunk!
A little at the table - and drunk!
What and how - you don't care!
The wise drink with self-awareness,
And to the light, and smell
He appreciates the wine.
He, quietly losing his sobriety,
Thoughts give brilliance and playfulness,
Touched by the soul
And owning passion, anger,
Sweet to the elders, pleasant to the virgins,
And happy with myself.
It is worth noting two "Messages" by Maikov. The first - to Ya. P. Polonsky - very aptly characterizes this poet, the second - to P. A. Pletnev - is distinguished by the beauty of thought and form. Maykov's historical poems, imbued with a truly humanistic spirit, gained immense popularity among his contemporaries ("Clermont Cathedral", "Sovanarola", "At the Cathedral in Constance", "Confession of the Queen", "Eshman"). Maykov's main poetic work was the philosophical and lyricaldrama"Two Worlds" (1881). For the first time, her theme was heard at the end of the poem " Ancient Rome» (1848).
In 1852, on the same subject, was writtendramaticessay "Three Deaths", supplemented later by "The Death of Lucius" (1863). Finally, six years after the first draft, appeared in its final formdrama"Two worlds". The idea of pagan Rome is clearly understood and expressed by the poet:
Rome united everything
As in man the mind; the world
He gave laws and sealed the world,—
and elsewhere:
... From him went
Rays to all ends of the earth,
And where they went, there appeared
Trade, toga, circus and court,
And the eternal ones flee
Roman roads in the deserts.
The hero of the tragedy Maykov lives by faith in Rome and dies with it, defending and defending it from impending Christianity. What he believes in will survive all historical catastrophes:
Oh, Rome geter, jester and mime, -
He is vile, he will fall! .. But no,
Indeed, in what bears the name of Rome,
There is something higher! .. Testament
All that has been lived for centuries!
In it is the thought that lifted me up
Both over people and over gods!
It has Promethean fire
Unquenchable flame!
Rome is like the sky, firmly vaulted
He lightened the earth and the nations,
To all these thousand tribes
Or obsolete, or familiar
To robberies only, multilingual
He gave his tongue and the law!
Imperial Rome is doubly understandable and dear to the poet as adjacent to both worlds of his poetry - to the world of beautiful classical antiquity, on the one hand, and to the world of Byzantine statehood, on the other: both as an elegant Epicurean, and as a Russian official-patriot Maikov finds native elements here. However, the idea of a new Rome - Byzantium - is not realized by the poet with such depth and clarity as the idea of the first Rome. He loves the Byzantine-Russian system of life in its historical reality and takes on faith its ideal dignity, sometimes not noticing its internal contradictions. This faith is so strong that it brings Maykov to the apotheosis of Ivan the Terrible, whose greatness is allegedly not yet understood and whose "day will still come." One cannot, of course, suspect a humane poet of sympathy for the atrocities of Ivan IV, but they do not at all prevent his glorification, Maikov is even ready to consider them only as “a thorn of underground boyar slander and alien malice.” At the end of Sovanarola, claiming that the Florentine prophet always had Christ on his lips, Maikov, not without reason, asks: "Christ! didn't you understand?" With incomparably greater right, it can be argued that the pious founder of the oprichnina “did not understand Christ”; but this time the poet completely forgets what religion his hero was - otherwise he would agree that the representative of the Christian kingdom, who does not understand Christ, is alien and hostile to His spirit, is in any case an anomalous phenomenon, not deserving of apotheosis. Hence, in The Two Worlds there is a weaker depiction of the Christian world than of the pagan world. Even such an outstanding personality as the apostle Paul is not presented clearly enough and accurately. The sermon of Paul transmitted at the end of the tragedy consists entirely of apocalyptic images and "apologists", which does not correspond much to the actual method and style of the biblical Paul. In addition to "Two Worlds", among the major works of Maykov, the "Wanderer" (excellently reproducing the concepts and language of some Russian sectarian movements), "Princess", "Bringhilda", as well as a poetic arrangement " Words about Igor's regiment”(remaining to this day one of the best literary translations of it).
