Personal matter
Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov (1821-1897) born in Moscow into a noble family. Father Nikolai Apollonovich Maikov was an artist, mother Evgenia Petrovna was a writer. Artists, writers, and musicians were frequent guests in the Maykovs' house. The family had five children, all boys. In the summer, Apollo was sent to his grandmother’s estate in the Moscow region - to the village of Chepchikha (near present-day Solnechnogorsk).
In 1834, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where he taught at home to his older brothers, Apollo and Valerian. Latin and Russian literature writer Ivan Goncharov. Apollo began writing poetry very early - the debut of the 13-year-old poet was the poem “Eagle”, published in the “Library for Reading” in 1835.
In 1837, Maikov entered the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, and willingly and extensively studied history. Ancient Greece and Rome, studied the Latin language and Roman poets. At first, he was very interested in painting and dreamed of a career as a painter, but the flattering reviews of Pletnev and Nikitenko about his first poetic experiments and poor eyesight prompted him to devote his life to poetry.
Two more poems - “Dream” and “Picture of the Evening” - appeared in the “Odessa Almanac for 1840”. And already in 1842 the first book “Poems of Apollon Maikov” was published in St. Petersburg.
Having received a thousand rubles for this book “by the highest command” of Nicholas I for a trip to Italy, the young man went abroad in the same year of 1842. Having visited Italy, France, Saxony and Austrian Empire, returned to St. Petersburg in 1844. The result of this trip was the “Essays on Rome” published in 1847 and a doctoral dissertation on ancient Slavic law. Upon returning to Russia, Maikov served in the Ministry of Finance, then as an assistant librarian of the Rumyantsev Museum before moving it to Moscow.
Poems, ballads, lyrical dramas and other poems by Apollo Maykov brought him considerable popularity. He began to constantly move in the “highest” literary society - his friends were Belinsky, Nekrasov, Turgenev and many other writers and poets. Maikov published mainly in Otechestvennye zapiski, even after Nekrasov took away many talented authors to the Sovremennik magazine he headed.
Maikov’s liberal sentiments of the 40s (poems “Two Fates”, 1845, “Mashenka”, 1846) eventually gave way to conservative views (poem “The Stroller”, 1854), Slavophile and Pan-Slavist ideas (poem “Clermont Cathedral”, 1853); in the 60s, Maikov’s work was sharply criticized by revolutionary democrats. Maykov’s aesthetic position also underwent changes: a short-term rapprochement with the natural school gave way to an active defense of “pure art.”
IN recent years life was an actual state councilor. After 1880, Maikov practically did not write poetry, concentrating on the civil service, where he achieved significant success - he rose to the rank of full state councilor, which corresponded to major general according to the table of ranks. Since 1882 - Chairman of the Foreign Censorship Committee. In creative terms, he was only engaged in editing his works to prepare his collected works.
On February 27, 1897, the poet went out into the street dressed too lightly and caught a cold. On March 20, 1897, Apollon Maikov died. He was buried in the cemetery of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg.
What is he famous for?
Apollo Maykov
The name of Apollo Maykov does not look too bright against the background of a galaxy of brilliant poets of the 19th century century, although Vladimir Solovyov called him “one of the main poets of the post-Pushkin period.”
Maikov was not the most outstanding among his contemporaries, and creative heritage it is not so extensive. However, Maikov’s poems about Russian nature, created in 1854-1858, became textbook: “Spring! The first frame is exhibited", " Summer rain", "Haymaking", "Swallow", "Niva" and others. Many of Maykov's poems were set to music, including by such major composers as N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and P. I. Tchaikovsky.
Maykov's lyrics often contain images of the Russian village, nature, and Russian history. But a considerable part of his work was devoted the ancient world which he studied most of of your life. In addition to the poem “Two Worlds,” among Maikov’s major works, “The Wanderer” (excellently reproducing the concepts and language of some Russian sectarian movements), “Princess” and “Bringilda” are also worthy of interest.
I wonder what literary name Maikov gained among his contemporaries precisely his poems “in the anthological kind”, and his poems about nature were then considered as “minor”, but it was they who ultimately entered the history of literature.
What you need to know
Maikov also did a lot of translations. For four years translated into poetic form“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (finished in 1870). This poetic adaptation of “The Lay...” remains one of its best literary translations to this day.
He translated works of such poets as Heine, Mickiewicz, Goethe. Translated chapters IV-X of “Apocalypse” (1868). He also translated folk poetry from Belarus, Greece, Serbia, Spain and other countries.
Direct speech
Can't be! can't be!
She's alive!.. she'll wake up now...
Look: he wants to talk,
He will open his eyes and smile.
He will see me and hug me
And, suddenly realizing that my crying meant,
Caressing, he gently whispers to me:
"How funny! What is he crying about!.."
But no!.. lies... quiet, mute,
Motionless...
“This poem, without the signature of a famous, or at least familiar name, struck us so much that we transferred it to the pages of our magazine with loud praise and then, with undiminished enthusiasm, recalled it fourteen months later;
When the shadow falls in transparent clouds
On the yellow fields, covered with stacks,
To the blue forests, to the wet grass of the meadows;
When a column of steam whitens over the lake,
And in the sparse reeds, slowly swaying,
The swan sleeps in a sensitive sleep, reflected in the moisture, -
I’m going under my native thatched roof,
Spread in the shade of acacias and oaks,
And there, with a smile on the lips of your greetings,
Crowned with bright stars and dark-colored poppies,
And with a white chest under black muslin,
The peaceful goddess appears before me,
It bathes my head in a fawn glow
And closes his eyes with a quiet hand,
And, picking up his curls, bending his head towards me,
Kisses my lips and eyes in silence (p. 9).
This is precisely one of those works of art whose meek, chaste, self-contained beauty is completely mute and unnoticed by the crowd, and is all the more eloquent and brilliantly brilliant for those initiated into the mysteries of graceful creativity. What a soft, delicate brush, what a virtuoso chisel, revealing a hand that is firm and experienced in art! Which poetic content and what plastic, fragrant, graceful images!”
V. G. Belinsky about the work of Apollo Maykov (1841)
“According to its main content, Maykov’s poetry is determined, on the one hand, by the ancient Hellenic aesthetic worldview, with a clearly predominant Epicurean character, and on the other, by the traditions of Russian-Byzantine politics. Themes of both kinds, although internally unrelated to each other, are equally dear to the poet. As a secondary motive, more noticeable in the first half literary activity Maykov, one can point to the peaceful impressions of Russian rural nature, to which the poet had particular convenience to indulge, due to his passion for fishing. As a secondary motive, more noticeable in the first half of Apollon Maikov’s literary activity, one can point to the peaceful impressions of Russian rural nature, to which the poet had particular convenience to indulge, due to his passion for fishing. Apollon Nikolaevich immediately acquired a literary name for himself with poems “in an anthological kind”, of which, in terms of clarity and completeness of images, stand out: “Dream”, “Memory”, “Echo and Silence”, “My child, there are no more blessed days”, “Poetry” ; “Bas-relief” is beyond praise in its kind.”
Vl. Soloviev about Maykov’s poetry
“Together with Polonsky and Fet, Maikov formed that famous triad of poets who spoke with the slogan “art for art’s sake.” This group was on the right flank of the literature of that time and constituted something like the headquarters of a poetic detachment of feudal owners who did not want to surrender their positions to developing capitalism without a fight, and were especially concerned about the growth of the revolutionary democratic movement.”
Literary encyclopedia. 1929—1939.
6 facts about Apollo Maykov
- The surname "Mikov" is pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable
- Maikov was married to Anna Ivanovna, née Stemmer. The wedding took place in 1852. They had four children: three sons - Nikolai, Vladimir and Apollo and a daughter, Vera, who died at the age of 10.
- In 1953, Maikov was elected corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
- Maykov's favorite pastime was fishing.
- Maikov was in love with history, especially ancient history. He has been abroad more than once - mainly to Italy and Greece. According to the critic V.G. Belinsky, Maikov “looks at life through the eyes of a Greek.”
- The brothers of Apollo Maykov - Leonid, Valerian and Vladimir - also became widely known in literary world people, although in different directions (criticism, bibliography, translations and prose).
Materials about Apollo Maykov
Apollo Nikolaevich Maikov was born in the city of Moscow, into a family of hereditary nobles in 1821. Several previous generations of this family were closely associated with art; this fact ultimately influenced its worldview and contributed to the development creative talents. In 1834, the parents of the future poet moved with their children to St. Petersburg. It is there that Apollo Maykov will receive legal education, which will help him succeed as a civil servant.
Maykov's development as a writer began in 1842. Then he publishes his first book, from which he goes on a trip around the world. Having visited several countries, he returned to St. Petersburg in 1844 and began writing PhD thesis. The chosen topic (ancient Slavic law) will later be clearly visible in some of the author’s works.
Track record
Throughout his life, Apollon Nikolaevich is actively building a career. Having proven himself well during his service in the Ministry of Finance, in 1867 he was appointed state councilor. Nine years later he was appointed to the honorary position of senior censor. In 1897, he was confirmed as the current chairman of the Central Committee of Foreign Censorship.
In parallel with his main job, he is a member of literary communities, actively writes for newspapers and magazines, and is a member of the commission involved in organizing folk readings in St. Petersburg.
Creation
The early debut of thirteen-year-old Apollon Nikolaevich was the poem “Eagle,” which was published in 1835 in the “Library for Reading.” However, the first serious publications are considered to be “Picture” and “Dream”, which appeared five years later in the “Odessa Almanac”.
Throughout creative path the change in the poet’s political sentiments is clearly visible. Liberal views in early work later they are replaced by conservative and pan-Slavist ones. For this reason, in the 1860s the author's work was subject to serious criticism. The revolutionary democrats did not like this change of views.
The main theme of creativity is rustic and natural motives, episodes from history native land. These poems are included in school books and anthologies. Some of them were later set to music like this famous composers, like P.I. Tchaikovsky and N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.
In addition to writing poems and poems, he was known for literary translations. Translated famous works Goethe, Heine, Mickiewicz. He knew several languages, so he could translate from Greek, Spanish, Serbian and so on. In 1870 he completed the translation of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”; this work took him four years.
Anna Ivanovna Stemmer became the wife of Apollon Nikolaevich, who gave birth to her husband three sons and one daughter. The poet died on March 20, 1897, after a severe cold that lasted a month. He was buried in the cemetery of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent.
Maikov Apollon Nikolaevich (1821-1897), poet.
Graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University. Maykov’s first book of poems was published in 1842. Then the poems “Two Fates” (1844) and “Mashenka” (1846), a collection of lyrics “Essays on Rome” (1847), were published, reflecting the impressions of a trip to Italy .
In 1848-1852. The poet's activity decreased noticeably.
Started in 1853 Crimean War awakened him again to intense creative activity(the result was the book “1854. Poems”).
In poems of the late 50-60s. Maikov tried to critically assess the surrounding reality (“Whirlwind”, 1856; “He and She”, 1857; poem “Dreams”, 1856-1858; collection “Neapolitan Album”, 1858-1860; poems “ Fields", 1861, "To my friend Ilya Ilyich", 1863, "On the white sandbank of the Caspian Sea...", 1863, etc.). During these same years, he translated a lot from modern Greek folk poetry, imbued with the spirit of the struggle for independence.
A number of translations from Serbian youth songs were also dictated by a sympathetic attitude towards the national liberation movement (for example, “The Saber of Tsar Vukashin”, “Serbian Church”, “Radojca”, “Horse”). Hence the poet’s attention to the period Tatar invasion to Rus' and the fight against nomads (“In Gorodets in 1263”, “Clermont Cathedral”).
In 1870, Maykov’s translation of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” was published - the result of an intense four-year work.
In 1875, Maikov wrote the poem “Emshan” - an adaptation of one of the legends of the Ipatiev Chronicle. The poet had an enduring interest in the era of the clash between paganism and Christianity (“Olynthos and Esther”, “Three Deaths”, the tragedy “Two Worlds”, etc.).
Despite the genre and thematic richness, Maykovsky poetic heritage uniform in style. Maykov's poetry captivates with its harmonic fusion
thoughts and feelings, impeccable artistic taste, melodiousness and musicality. It is no coincidence that in terms of the number of poems set to music, Apollon Nikolaevich holds one of the first places among Russian poets of the 19th century.
Dear friends, today I invite you to plunge into the unique world of poetry of the remarkable Russian poet, translator and... historian. Yes, yes - a historian! In this capacity, he struck me most of all... I invite you to discover him in a new way.
Maikov Apollon Nikolaevich - Russian poet, translator, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1853).
The son of nobleman Nikolai Apollonovich Maykov, painter and academician, and mother-writer E. P. Maykova; older brother literary critic and publicist Valerian Maykov, prose writer and translator Vladimir Maykov and literary historian, bibliographer and ethnographer Leonid Maykov.
Born on May 23 (June 4), 1821, in Moscow, to the family of academician of painting N. A. Maikov, who came from ancient noble family. His father was a famous artist. His childhood years were spent in a Moscow house and an estate near Moscow, not far from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which was often visited by artists and writers. Apollo Maykov began writing poetry at the age of fifteen, but in choosing his vocation he hesitated for a long time between painting and poetry.
Since 1834 the family moved to St. Petersburg, and further fate Maykova is connected with the capital.
In 1837 - 41 he studies Faculty of Law Petersburg University, without leaving literary studies. After graduating from university, he served in the Ministry of Finance, but soon, having received an allowance from Nicholas I to travel abroad, he left for Italy, where he studied painting and poetry, then to Paris, where he attended lectures on art and literature. He visited both Dresden and Prague.
In 1844 Apollon Maikov returned to Russia. First he works as an assistant librarian at the Rumyantsev Museum, then moves to the St. Petersburg Committee for Foreign Censorship.
His first poetry collection came out in 1842 and was highly praised by V. Belinsky, who noted “genuine and remarkable talent.” The collection had great success.
Confession
So, I’m flighty, friends! I'm studying in vain
Restrain yourself: everything is in vain! Of heavy bonds
My spirit is alienated... When my languid gaze
I see a smile on the lips of a modest maiden -
I am not myself! Sorry Seneca, Locke and Kant,
And an old tome of dusty codes,
The brilliant lyceum and the majestic portico,
AND famous row names crowned with glory!
A playful dream will come to me again,
And pale faces, and a name on the lips,
And languid gazes, and awe of sweet bliss,
And the mysterious verse of thoughtful elegies.
Impressions from a trip to Italy are expressed in Maykov’s second collection of poetry, “Essays on Rome” (1847).
"Ah, wonderful sky..."
Ah, a wonderful sky, by God, above this classical Rome!
Under such a sky you will involuntarily become an artist.
Nature and people here seem different, like paintings
From the bright poems of the anthology of ancient Hellas.
Well, look: it has grown along the white stone fence
The wandering ivy is like a hanging cloak or a curtain;
In the middle, between two cypress trees, there is a deep dark niche,
Where does the head with the ugly face look from?
Triton. Cold moisture falls from the mouth, ringing.
I pass through a narrow field,
Overgrown with porridge and tenacious quinoa.
Everywhere I look, thick rye is everywhere!
I go - with difficulty taking it apart with my hands.
The ears of corn flash and buzz in front of me,
And they prick my face... I walk, bending down,
As if fighting off anxious bees,
When, having jumped over the willow fence,
You walk among the apple trees in the bee yard on a clear day.
ABOUT, God's grace!.. Oh, how gratifying it is to lie down
In the shade of tall rye, where it’s damp and cool!
Full of worries, ears of corn above me
They are having an important conversation among themselves.
Listening to them, I see - all over the open fields
And reapers and reapers, diving as if into the sea,
They are already knitting heavy sheaves merrily;
Over there at dawn the nimble flails are knocking;
In the barns the air is full of roses and honey;
Carts are creaking everywhere; among noisy people
Coolies are lying on the piers; along the river
Barge haulers pass in single file, like cranes,
Heads bent, shoulders leaning
And hitting the moisture with a long whip...
Oh my God! You give for my homeland
Warmth and harvest, the holy gifts of heaven,
But, gilding the expanse of her fields with bread,
Also, Lord, give her spiritual bread!
Already above the field, where thoughts are seeds
Planted by you, spring has begun to blow,
And grains not destroyed by bad weather
They quickly sprouted their fresh shoots.
Oh, give us sunshine! send us buckets
May their shoots ripen along the rich furrows!
So that we, at least leaning on our grandchildren, as old people
Come to their fat fields to breathe,
And, forgetting that we watered them with tears,
Say: “Lord! what grace!”
In the 1860s, he turned to history and created a number of works on historical topics(“In Gorodets in 1263”, “At the tomb of Grozny”, “Emshan”, “Who is he?”, etc.).
A bunch of dry steppe grass,
It even smells dry!
And at once the steppes above me
All the charm is resurrected...
When in the steppes, behind the camp,
Nomadic hordes roamed,
There was Khan Otrok and Khan Syrchan,
Two brothers, dashing warriors.
And since they had a huge feast -
Velik is full was taken from Rus'!
The singer sang their praises like a river
Kumis was flowing throughout the ulus.
Suddenly there was noise and screaming and the clashing of swords,
And blood, and death, and no mercy!
Everything runs apart like swans
The herd frightened by the hunters.
Then with the Russian power Monomakh
The All-Crusher has appeared;
Syrchan in the Don shoals,
The boy disappeared into the Caucasian mountains.
And the years went by... I walked in the steppes
Only a wild wind in the open space...
But then Monomakh died,
And in Rus' there is hardship and grief.
Calls the singer Syrchan
And he sends him to his brother with instructions:
"He is rich there, he is the king of those countries,
Ruler over the entire Caucasus, -
Tell him to give it all up
That the enemy died, that the chains fell off,
To go on to your inheritance,
To the fragrant steppes!
Sing our songs to him, -
When he doesn’t respond to the song,
Tie the emshan steppe into a bun
And give it to him and he will return."
The youth sits in a golden tent,
All around is a swarm of beautiful Abkhaz women;
On gold and silver
He honors princes and his subjects.
The singer is introduced. He says
So that the Youth would walk in the steppe without fear,
That the path to Rus' is open all around,
That Monomakh no longer exists!
The boy is silent, answering his brother’s call
He answers with one smile, -
And the feast goes on, and the choir of slaves
The sun calls him.
The singer gets up and sings
Sings about Polovtsian epics,
About the glory of grandfather's times
And their brave raids, -
The gloomy youth took on the appearance
And, without looking at the singer, I know
To take him away, he orders
To my obedient kunaks.
And he took a bunch of steppe grass
Then the singer gave it to the khan -
And the Khan looks - and, not himself,
As if sensing a wound in my heart,
He grabbed his chest... Everyone looked:
He is a formidable khan, what does that mean?
He, before whom everyone trembles, -
Kissing a bunch of grass, crying!
And suddenly, waving his fist:
“I’m no longer your king from now on!”
He exclaimed: “Death in the native land.”
Sweeter than fame in a foreign land!
The next morning, the fog settled a little
And the mountain tops turned golden,
There's already a caravan in the mountains -
A youth with a small squad.
Passing mountain after mountain,
He waits for everything - soon will the native steppe,
And he looks into the distance, the grass of the steppe
Without letting go of the bundle.
* This story is taken from the Volyn Chronicle. Emshan is the name of a fragrant herb growing in our steppes, probably wormwood.
Note by A.N. Maykov.
Based on history Ancient Rome he wrote the poem "Two Worlds", awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1882. If before the poet attracted by antiquity, now his interest shifted to Christianity as a new moral teaching, opposing the aestheticism of paganism. Fascinated by the era Ancient Rus' and Slavic folklore, Apollon Maikov in 1889 completed one of best translations"Tales of Igor's Campaign", which has not lost its scientific and artistic value still.
A WORD ABOUT IGOR'S REGIMENT
(excerpt, introduction)
Shall we begin our song, oh brothers,
From legends about ancient battles, -
Song about Igor's brave army
And about him, about his son Svyatoslav!
And sing them as they are sung today,
Without chasing Boyan with your thoughts!
When composing a song, he used to be prophetic,
He rushed quickly through the forest,
Like a gray wolf he prowled in an open field,
How the eagle flew under the clouds!
How he will remember the battles of old,
Yes, he will let a flock of swans
Ten fast falcons to catch up;
And which one will overtake first,
For him, that swan sing a song, -
Sing a song about old Yaroslav,
About Mstislav, who killed him in battle,
Extortion, Kasozhsky Rededyu,
Al about the glorious Roman the Red...
But it wasn’t ten falcons;
He put ten fingers on the strings,
And to the princes, under prophetic fingers,
The strings themselves rumbled gloriously!..
Let us tell, brothers, a tale
From the times of the ancient Vladimirovs,
Let's bring it to Igor's battle,
How he conceived a strong thought,
Sharpened the brave heart with courage,
Inflamed with glorious military spirit
And for the Russian land the squad
He led him into the steppe against the Polovtsian khans.
Maykov's poetry is contemplative, idyllic and distinguished by a touch of rationality, but at the same time it reflects Pushkin's poetic principles: accuracy and specificity of descriptions, logical clarity in the development of the theme, simplicity of images and comparisons. Maikov's artistic method is characterized by the allegorical application of landscapes, anthological paintings, and subjects to the poet's thoughts and feelings. This feature makes him similar to the classic poets.
The themes of Maykov's poetry are correlated with the world of culture. The poet’s horizons include art (the cycle of poems “In an Anthological Kind”), European and Russian history (the cycles of poems “Centuries and Nations”, “Reviews of History”), the work of poets of the West and East, whose works Maikov translates and stylizes (the cycle “Imitations” ancient"). There is a lot in Maykov's poems mythological symbols, historical and cultural names and titles, but often the flavor of other centuries and peoples is decorative in nature. Particularly close to Maikov ancient culture, in which he saw a treasury ideal forms beautiful.
From the vast heritage of Apollo Maykov, the poems about Russian nature “Spring! The first frame is exhibited", "In the rain", "Haymaking", " Fishing", "Swallows" and others distinguished by their sincerity and melodiousness.
"Spring! The first frame is being exhibited..."
Spring! the first frame is exposed -
And noise burst into the room,
And the good news of the nearby temple,
And the talk of the people, and the sound of the wheel.
Life and will breathed into my soul:
There you can see the blue distance...
And I want to go to the field, to the wide field,
Where, walking, spring showers flowers!
Do you remember: we did not expect either rain or thunder,
Suddenly a downpour caught us far from home,
We were in a hurry to hide under the shaggy spruce
There was no end to the fear and fun here!
The rain poured through the sun, and under the mossy spruce
We stood as if in a golden cage,
It was as if pearls were jumping on the ground around us.
Raindrops rolling off the needles
They fell, shining, on your head,
Or they rolled off the shoulders right under the lacing.
Do you remember how our laughter became quieter and quieter?
Suddenly thunder rolled right over us -
You clung to me, squinting your eyes in fear.
Blessed rain! golden storm!
The smell of hay over the meadows...
The song cheers the soul,
Women with rakes in rows
They walk, stirring the hay.
There, the dry stuff is removed;
The guys are all around him
They throw pitchforks at the cart...
The cart is growing, growing like a house.
Waiting for the horse to be poor
Stands rooted to the spot...
Ears apart, legs arched
And it’s as if he’s sleeping standing up...
Only a daring bug
In loose hay, like in waves,
Now taking off, now diving,
Jumps around, barking in a hurry.
My garden is withering every day;
It is dented, broken and empty,
Although it is still blooming magnificently
The nasturtium in it is a fire bush...
I'm upset! I'm annoyed
And the autumn sunshine,
And the leaf that falls from the birch tree,
And the late grasshoppers crackle.
Out of habit, I’ll look under the roof -
Empty nest above the window;
I don’t hear swallows speaking in it;
The straw has become weathered in it...
And I remember how they fussed
Two swallows building it!
How twigs were held together with clay
And they carried the fluff into it!
How joyful and clever their work was!
How they loved it when
Five small, fast heads
They began to peek out from the nest!
And talking all day long,
We were talking like children...
Then they flew, flyers!
I haven't seen much of them since!
And now - their nest is lonely!
They're on the other side -
Far, far, far...
Oh, if only I had wings!
Alexey Adamov, "Before the Storm" (oil on canvas
There was life and joy all around,
And the wind carried the rye fields
Fragrance and sweetness
With its soft wave.
But now, as if in fright, the shadows
They run on the golden loaves:
A whirlwind rushed by - five or six moments,
And, to meet the sun's rays,
Stand up with a silver cornice
Cutting across half the sky gates,
And there, behind the gray curtain,
There is both shine and darkness.
Suddenly it’s like a brocade tablecloth
Someone hastily pulled it from the fields,
And the darkness follows her in an evil pursuit,
And everything gets fiercer and faster.
The columns have long since faded away,
The silver cornice has disappeared,
And the roar began to grow restless,
And fire and water poured...
Where is the kingdom of sun and azure!
Where is the sparkle of the fields, where is the peace of the valleys!
But there is beauty in the noise of the storm,
And in the dance of ice hailstones!
It takes courage to grab them!
And look how the children are in daring
She's being honored! like the whole gang
Squeals and jumps on the porch!
1887
Maikov owns translations from G. Heine, Goethe, Longfellow, Mickiewicz.
From Petrarch
When she entered the heavenly villages,
On all sides there is a cathedral of heavenly powers,
In awe and quiet amazement,
Having flown down from the depths of heaven, he surrounded.
"Who is this? - they asked each other in a whisper.
Long since gone from the land of vice and sorrow
It did not rise to us, in the radiance of purity,
Such strictly virgin and bright beauty.”
And, quietly rejoicing, she joins their host,
But, slowing down, your gaze from time to time
With tender care he turns to the earth
And waits to see if I follow in her footsteps...
I know, honey! I'm on guard day and night!
I pray to the Lord! I pray and wait - when?
From Goethe
Whom do you love - completely
And all, oh Lydia, he is yours,
Yours with all my soul and without division!
Now my life is in front of me
It makes noise, and rushes, and sparkles,
The curtain seems transparent gold,
Through which only your image shines
One - in all its rays,
In all its charm,
Like through the trembling aurora
A fixed star in the deep skies...
He is a young demigod, and he is at your feet!..
You - with a lyre at your knees - sing your verse to him,
He froze, listening, - only greedy eyes
Follows the light fingers
On golden strings...
And me?.. I'm right there! here! I look, I follow you -
The blood has rushed to the heart - there is no strength,
No breathing! I feel like I'm losing
Consciousness, voice... The darkness overshadowed my eyes -
It's dark!.. I'm falling... I'm dying...
His poems inspired composers to write romances.
Many of Maykov's poems were set to music (Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and others).
Lullaby song
Music by P.I. Tchaikovsky
Words by A.N. Maykov
Tamara Sinyavskaya sings
Sleep, my child, sleep!
Sweet dream to yourself:
I took you as a nanny
Wind, sun and eagle.
The eagle flew home;
The sun disappeared under the water;
The wind, after three nights,
He rushes to his mother.
Vetra asks her mother:
"Where did you disappear?
Did the stars fight?
Are you still making waves?"
"I did not drive the waves of the sea,
I didn’t touch the golden stars;
I protected the child
Rocked the cradle!"
"What about in the quiet of the night..."
Music by N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Words by A.N. Maykov
What I mysteriously dream about in the silence of the night..."
What I mysteriously dream about in the silence of the night,
What I think about all the time in the light of day,
It will be a secret to everyone, and even you, my verse,
You, my windy friend, are the delight of my days,
I will not convey to you the soul of my dreams,
Otherwise you will tell me whose voice is in the silence of the night
I hear whose face I find everywhere,
Whose eyes shine for me, whose name I repeat.
On February 27, 1897, Maikov went out into the street dressed too lightly and fell ill. He died on March 8 (20), 1897 in St. Petersburg. He was buried in the cemetery of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent.
Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov born in 1821 into a family famous artist Academician Nikolai Apollonovich Maykov. His house attracted creative, talented people who were passionate about art. Love for art, admiration for the beauty of the world and the creations of artists determined the atmosphere of the Maykovs’ house itself and were perceived by the future poet with early years. Fate sent another great gift to A.N. Maikov: in 1835 he was invited to the older children to prepare them for university new teacher literature - Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov. The teacher was seven years older than his students and shortly before joining the Maykov family, he graduated from the university. Exactly to his to a young teacher, just starting his path in literature, A. Maikov, according to him own confession, obliged " great love to literature." The first ones date back to 1835 poetic experiments A. Maykov, placed on the pages of the handwritten magazine “Snowdrop”. Here, next to the poems young poet prose experiments of I.A. were also presented. Goncharova.
Maykov's first collection of poetry was published in 1842 and was immediately noticed and noted, moreover, by such an uncompromising and strict critic as V.G. Belinsky. One can imagine the delight of the young poet, in whose poems the great critic saw “a remarkable talent that goes beyond the ordinary” and with whom he connected the “timid and trembling” hope for the revival of the “empty” after the death of the brilliant Russian poets A.S. Pushkin and M.Yu. Lermontov "temple of art". This high marks was mainly associated with the anthological poems of A.N. Maykov, - poems written in the spirit of ancient Greek poetry. Much less V.G. Belinsky was satisfied with poems about modern Russian reality, in which the great critic searched in vain for “ modern sensibilities, likes and dislikes, sorrows and joys, hopes and desires.” The success of the first book largely determined the fate of Maykov: hesitating between painting and literature, Maykov chose for himself poetic creativity. At the end of 1842 the poet left for Italy. Impressions from the trip were reflected in the poetic cycle “Essays on Rome,” published in 1847. Returning to Russia, Maikov took the position of assistant to the chief librarian at the Rumyantsev Museum.
The dramatic events of Russian history largely influenced the poet’s desire to paint only a harmonious and beautiful world. The poet could not stay away from social and political problems time, although he strived, according to him in my own words, “look at events from a bird’s eye view.” But politics fascinated both him and, at one time, A.N. Maikov, like his brother Valerian, was involved in the Petrashevsky movement. Confessing in a letter to N.M. Yazykov in the “confusion of his ideas,” the poet nevertheless noted the significance of his stay in this circle. Maikov was not an indifferent contemplator Russian life, and a number of his poems and epigrams testify to how ardently the poet hated the immorality of the “fathers of the fatherland” (“The war is over. A vile peace has been signed...”, 1856). But anti-government sentiments, expressed in Maykov’s epigrams, were organically combined with sincere faith in the good will of Nicholas the First. The poem “The Stroller,” dedicated to the “sovereign ruler,” “Russia’s provident and the first worker of his people,” Nicholas the First, “sharply undermined the poet’s reputation in the circles of the Russian intelligentsia” and caused “general indignation and bewilderment.” It is possible that the awareness of the mistake made influenced next confession poet to one of his acquaintances: “If only I could stop thinking about Russia and start thinking about people! Stop caring about the form common device- let it go by itself ( harmful influence Petersburg for talents) and go somewhere, see new people, new life, to leave in order to break all the mental threads that tie me to politics.”
In 1852, the poet began more than 40 years of service in the Foreign Censorship Committee, first as a censor, then as its chairman. In the 1850s A new collection of Maykov’s poems “1854” is being published. Evaluating it years later, Maykov will say that the collection was “true in feeling,” and he saw its lack in idealism: “dreams about Russia, drawing what should be, with closed eyes to what is." In 1858, Maikov traveled on the corvette "Bayan" to Greece and southern Italy. Impressions from this journey were expressed in “Modern Greek Songs” and “Neapolitan Album”.
In the 1850-1870s. Maikov not only writes original poems, but also translates a lot. Among the undoubted poetic merits Maykov also includes the translation of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (1870) - the fruit of careful and hard work over several years. Maikov creates not only the first poetic translation ancient Russian monument, but also gives a scientific commentary on it. In 1882 A.N. Maikov was awarded the Pushkin Prize for the poem “Two Worlds”. In 1888, the fiftieth anniversary of his literary activity was celebrated very solemnly.
Maikov died in 1897.
