"To the earthly source of poetic values"

Lydia Ginzburg

In 1906, Valery Bryusov declared that "the circle of development of that literary school, which is known as the 'new poetry', can be considered complete."

From symbolism, a new literary trend emerged - acmeism - which opposed itself to the first, at the time of its crisis. He reflected the new aesthetic trends in art " silver age”, although he did not completely break with symbolism. At the beginning of their creative path, young poets, future acmeists, were close to symbolism, attended "Ivanovo environments" - literary meetings in the St. Petersburg apartment of Vyacheslav Ivanov, called the "tower". In the "tower" of Ivanov, classes were held with young poets, where they studied versification.

The emergence of a new trend dates back to the early 1910s. It received three non-identical names: “acmeism” (from the Greek “acme” - flowering, peak, highest degree of something, point), “adamism” (on behalf of the first man Adam, courageous, clear, direct view of the world) and "clarism" (beautiful clarity). Each of them reflected a special facet of the aspirations of the poets of this circle.

So, acmeism is a modernist trend that declared a concrete-sensory perception of the outside world, a return to the word of its original, non-symbolic meaning.

The formation of the platform of participants in the new movement takes place first in the Society of Zealots of the Artistic Word (Poetry Academy), and then in the Workshop of Poets, created in 1911, where the artistic opposition was headed by Nikolai Gumilyov and Sergey Gorodetsky.

The Poets' Workshop is a community of poets united by the feeling that symbolism has already passed its highest peak. This name referred to the time of medieval craft associations and showed the attitude of the participants of the "workshop" to poetry as a purely professional field of activity. "Workshop" was a school of professional excellence. The backbone of the "Workshop" was formed by young poets who had only recently begun to be published. Among them were those whose names in the following decades made the glory of Russian literature.

The most prominent representatives of the new trend included Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Sergei Gorodetsky, Nikolai Klyuev.

They gathered at the apartment of one of the members of the "Tseh". Sitting in a circle, one by one they read their new poems, which they then discussed in detail. The duty to conduct the meeting was charged to one of the syndics - the leaders of the "Workshop".

The syndic had the right, with the help of a special call, to interrupt the speech of the next speaker if it was too general.

Among the participants of the "Workshop" "home philology" was revered. They carefully studied world poetry. It is no coincidence that in their own works one often hears other people's lines, many hidden quotes.

Among their literary teachers, the acmeists singled out Francois Villon (with his vitality), Francois Rabelais (with his inherent “wise physiology”), William Shakespeare (with his gift of penetrating into inner world man), Theophile Gauthier (advocate of "impeccable forms"). We should add here the poets Baratynsky, Tyutchev and Russian classical prose. Among the immediate predecessors of acmeism are Innokenty Annensky, Mikhail Kuzmin, and Valery Bryusov.

In the second half of 1912, the six most active members of the "Workshop" - Gumilyov, Gorodetsky, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Narbut and Zenkevich - held a number of poetry evenings, where they announced their claims to lead Russian literature in a new direction.

Vladimir Narbut and Mikhail Zenkevich in their poems not only defended “everything concrete, real and vital” (as Narbut wrote in one of his notes), but also shocked the reader with an abundance of naturalistic, sometimes very unappetizing details:

And the slug is wise, bent into a spiral,
Eyelidless eyes of vipers are sharp,
And in a silver closed circle,
How many secrets the spider weaves!

M. Zenkevich. "Man" 1909–1911

Like the futurists, Zenkevich and Narbut loved to shock the reader. Therefore, they were often called "left acmeists". On the contrary, on the "right" in the list of acmeists were the names of Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam - two poets who were sometimes recorded as "neoclassicists", meaning their adherence to a strict and clear (like Russian classics) construction of poems. And, finally, the "center" in this group was occupied by two poets of the older generation - syndics of the "Workshop of Poets" Sergei Gorodetsky and Nikolai Gumilyov (the first was close to Narbut and Zenkevich, the second to Mandelstam and Akhmatova).

These six poets were not absolute like-minded people, but, as it were, embodied the idea of ​​balance between the two extreme poles of contemporary poetry - symbolism and naturalism.

The program of acmeism was proclaimed in such manifestos as Gumilyov's "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism" (1913), Gorodetsky's "Some Currents in Modern Russian Poetry", and Mandelstam's "Morning of Acmeism". In these articles, the goal of poetry was declared to be the achievement of balance. “Art is a state of equilibrium above all,” wrote Gorodetsky. However, between what and what did the acmeists try to maintain a “living balance” in the first place? Between "earthly" and "heavenly", between everyday life and being.

Worn rug under the icon
It's dark in a cool room,

wrote Anna Akhmatova in 1912.

This does not mean “a return to the material world, an object”, but the desire to balance” within one line the familiar, everyday (“Worn rug”) and high, Divine (“Worn rug under the icon”).

Acmeists are interested in the real, and not the other world, the beauty of life in its concrete-sensual manifestations. Nebula and hints of symbolism were opposed by a major perception of reality, the authenticity of the image, and the clarity of the composition. In some ways, the poetry of acmeism is the revival of the "golden age", the time of Pushkin and Baratynsky.

S. Gorodetsky, in his declaration “Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry”, opposed the “blurring” of symbolism, its installation on the unknowability of the world: “The struggle between acmeism and symbolism ... is, first of all, the struggle for this world, sounding, colorful, having forms, weight and time ... "," the world is irrevocably accepted by acmeism, in the totality of beauties and ugliness.

The acmeists opposed the image of the poet-prophet to the image of the poet-craftsman, diligently and without unnecessary pathos connecting the “earthly” with the “heavenly-spiritual”.

And I thought: I'm not going to flirt
We are not prophets, not even forerunners ...

O. Mandelstam. Lutheran, 1912

The organs of the new trend were the journals Apollon (1909–1917), created by the writer, poet and historian Sergei Makovsky, and Hyperborea, founded in 1912 and headed by Mikhail Lozinsky.

The philosophical basis of the new aesthetic phenomenon was pragmatism (philosophy of action) and the ideas of the phenomenological school (which defended the "experience of objectivity", "questioning things", "acceptance of the world").

Almost the main hallmark"Workshops" became a taste for the image of earthly, everyday life. Symbolists sometimes sacrificed the outer world for the sake of the inner, inner world. The "Tsekhoviki" resolutely opted for a careful and loving description of the real "steppes, rocks and waters".

The artistic principles of acmeism were entrenched in his poetic practice:

1. Active acceptance of the multicolored and vibrant earthly life;
2.​ Rehabilitation of a simple objective world that has "Forms, weight and time";
3. Denial of transcendence and mysticism;
4. Primitive-bestial, courageous-firm view of the world;
5. Installation on the picturesque image;
6. Transmission of the psychological states of a person with attention to the bodily principle;
7.​ The expression "longing for world culture";
8. Attention to the specific meaning of the word;
9. Perfection of forms.

The fate of literary acmeism is tragic. He had to assert himself in a tense and unequal struggle. He was subjected to persecution and defamation more than once. Its most prominent creators were destroyed (Narbut, Mandelstam). The First World War, the October events of 1917, the execution of Gumilyov in 1921 put an end to the further development of acmeism as a literary movement. However, the humanistic meaning of this trend was significant - to revive a person's thirst for life, to return a sense of its beauty.

Literature

Oleg Lekmanov. Acmeism // Encyclopedia for children "Avanta +". Volume 9. Russian literature. Part two. XX century. M., 1999

N.Yu. Gryakalova. Acmeism. Peace, creativity, culture. // Russian poets of the Silver Age. Volume two: Acmeists. Leningrad: Leningrad University Press, 1991

It often happens with pioneers that instead of the planned opening of a short route to India, the New World is unexpectedly discovered, and instead of El Dorado, the Inca Empire. Something similar happened at the beginning of the twentieth century with the Acmeists. The direction of acmeism arose in opposition to its predecessors, but, as it turned out later, it only continued them and became a kind of crown of symbolism. However, many researchers believe that the difference between the two poetic groups was much deeper than it seemed at the beginning of the last century. Speaking about what acmeism is, it is worth telling not only about the features of the literary work of its representatives, but also about their life path.

The emergence of the movement

The history of the movement began in 1911, when poets under the leadership of Gorodetsky and Nikolai Gumilyov gathered for the first time in St. Petersburg. In an effort to emphasize the importance of craft and training in poetic creativity, the organizers called the new society the "Poets' Workshop". Thus, answering the question of what acmeism is, we can start with the fact that this is a literary trend, the founders of which were two St. Petersburg poets, who were later joined by no less significant heroes of the literary scene.

The first acmeists manifested their fundamental difference from the symbolists, arguing that, unlike the first, they strive for maximum reality, reliability and plasticity of images, while the symbolists tried to penetrate into "superreal" spheres.

Members of the poetry club

The official opening of the poetry club took place in 1912 at a meeting of the so-called Academy of Verse. A year later, two articles were published in the almanac "Apollo", which became fundamental for a new literary trend. One article, written by Nikolai Gumilyov, was titled "The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism." Another was written by Gorodetsky, and it was called "Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry."

In his programmatic article on acmeism, Gumilyov points out the desire of himself and his associates to reach the heights of literary mastery. In turn, mastery was achievable only by working in a close-knit group. It was the ability to work in such a group and organizational cohesion that distinguished the representatives of acmeism.

According to the testimony of Andrei Bely, the name itself appeared quite by accident in the heat of a dispute between friends. On that decisive evening, Vyacheslav Ivanov jokingly began to talk about Adamism and Acmeism, but Gumilyov liked these terms, and since then he began to call himself and his comrades Acmeists. The term "Adamism" was less popular, as it evoked associations with brutality and soilism, with which the acmeists had nothing in common.

Basic principles of acmeism

Answering the question of what acmeism is, one should name the main features that distinguished it from other artistic movements of the Silver Age. These include:

• romanticization of the feelings of the first man;
• talk about earthly primeval beauty;
• clarity and transparency of images;
• understanding of art as a tool for improving human nature;
• influence on the imperfection of life by artistic images.

All these differences were reflected by the members of the informal community and reworked into specific instructions, which were followed by such poets as Nikolai Gumilyov, Osip Mandelstam, Mikhail Zinkevich, Georgy Ivanov, Elizaveta Kuzmina-Karavaeva and even Anna Akhmatova.

Nikolai Gumilyov in acmeism

Although many researchers insist that acmeism was one of the most cohesive movements of the early twentieth century, others, on the contrary, argue that it is more worth talking about the commonwealth of very different and talented poets in their own way. However, one thing remains indisputable: most of the meetings were held in Vyacheslav Ivanov's "Tower", and the literary journal "Hyperborea" was published for five years - from 1913 to 1918. In literature, acmeism occupies a very special place, being separated from both symbolism and futurism.

It will be convenient to consider all the internal diversity of this trend using the example of such key figures as Akhmatova and Gumilyov, who were married from 1910 to 1918. These two poets gravitated towards two fundamentally different types poetic expression.

From the very beginning of his work, Nikolai Gumilyov chose the path of a warrior, discoverer, conquistador and inquisitor, which was reflected not only in his work, but also in his life path.

In his texts, he used bright expressive images. distant countries and fictional worlds, idealized much in the world around him and beyond, and in the end he paid for it. In 1921 Gumilev was shot on charges of espionage.

Anna Akhmatova and acmeism

This direction played an important role in the life of Russian literature even after the "Workshop of Poets" ceased to exist. Most members of the poetic community have lived difficult and eventful lives. However, Anna Andreevna Akhmatova lived the longest life, becoming a real star of Russian poetry.

It was Akhmatova who was able to perceive the pain of the people around her as her own, because the terrible age also cast its shadow on her fate. However, despite all the hardships of life, Anna Andreevna throughout her entire work remained faithful to acmeist principles: careful attitude to the word, heredity of times, respect for culture and history. One of the main consequences of the influence of acmeism was that in Akhmatova's work, personal experiences always merged with social and historical ones.

It seems that everyday life itself did not leave room for mysticism and romantic reflections on the lyrical. For many years, Akhmatova was forced to stand in lines to deliver parcels to her son in prison, she suffered from deprivation and disorder. Thus, daily life forced the great poetess to follow the acmeist principle of clarity of speech and honesty of expression.

Osip Mandelstam appreciated Akhmatova's work so highly that he compared the richness and imagery of her literary language with all the richness of the Russian classical novel. Anna Andreevna also achieved international recognition, but the Nobel Prize, for which she was nominated twice, was never awarded.

Akhmatova's lyrical acmeism contrasted sharply with the temperament of another poet from her circle, Osip Mandelstam.

Mandelstam in the circle of acmeists

Osip Mandelstam stood apart among the young poets, differing from his compatriots in a special sense of the historical moment, for which he paid the price by dying in the Far Eastern camps.

The legacy of the great poet has survived to this day only thanks to the truly heroic efforts of his devoted wife, Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam, who kept her husband's manuscripts for several decades after his death.

It is worth noting that such behavior could cost Nadezhda Yakovlevna her freedom, because even for storing the manuscript of an enemy of the people, a serious punishment was due, and his wife not only saved, but also copied, and also distributed Mandelstam's poems.

Mandelstam's poetics is distinguished by a subject carefully inscribed in the context of European culture. His lyrical hero not only lives in the difficult time of Stalin's repressions, but also in the world of Greek heroes wandering the seas. It is possible that his studies at the historical and philological faculty of the university left their mark on the poet's work.

A conversation about what acmeism is for Russian culture cannot do without mentioning the tragic fates of its main representatives. As already mentioned, after the exile, Osip Mandelstam was sent to the Gulag, where he went missing, and his wife was forced to wander around different cities for a long time, without having a permanent home. The first husband and son of Akhmatova also spent many years in prison, which became important topic in the texts of the poetess.

The name of the literary modernist trend in Russian poetry of the early twentieth century, akmeizim, comes from the Greek word "akme", translated into Russian meaning the heyday, peak or pinnacle of something (according to other versions, the term comes from the Greek roots of Akhmatova's pseudonym "akmatus").

This literary school was created in opposition to symbolism, as a response to its extremes and excesses. Acmeists advocated the return of clarity and materiality to the poetic word and the refusal to let in the mysterious fog of mysticism when describing reality (as was customary in symbolism). The adherents of acmeism advocated the accuracy of the word, the objectivity of themes and images, the acceptance of the surrounding world in all its diversity, colorfulness, sonority and tangible concreteness.

The founders of acmeism are such Russian poets of the Silver Age of Russian poetry as Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova and Sergei Gorodetsky, later they were joined by O. Mandelstam, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich.

In 1912, they founded their own school of professional skill, the Workshop of Poets, in 1913, articles by Gumilyov “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism” and S. Gorodetsky “Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry” appear in the Apollon magazine, in which the term “ acmeism”, describes its main features. In these articles, which are a kind of program for the acmeist movement, its main humanistic plan was proclaimed - the revival of a new thirst for life in people, the return of a sense of its colorfulness and brightness. The first works of acmeist poets were published in the third issue of the Apollo magazine (1913) after the release of manifesto articles. During 1913-1919. the acmeists' own magazine "Hyperboreans" was published (therefore they were also often called "Hyperboreans").

Unlike symbolism, which, according to many literary researchers, has undeniable similarities with the art of music (like music, it is also mysterious, ambiguous, can have a large number of interpretations), acmeism is more close to such three-dimensional spatial trends in art as architecture, sculpture or painting.

Poems-poets of acmeists are distinguished not only by their amazing beauty, but also by their accuracy, consistency, extremely simple meaning, understandable to any reader. The words used in the works of acmeists are designed to convey exactly the meaning that was originally laid down in them, there are no various exaggerations or comparisons, metaphors and hyperbole are practically not used. Acmeist poets were alien to aggressiveness, they were not interested in political and social topics, great importance attached to the highest human values, the spiritual world of man comes to the fore. Their poems are very easy to understand, listen to and remember, because complex things in their talented description become simple and understandable for each of us.

Representatives of this literary movement were united not only by a single passion for the new school of poetry, in life they were also friends and like-minded people, their organization was distinguished by great cohesion and unity of views, although they lacked a certain literary platform and standards on which they could rely when writing their works. The verses of each of them, differing in structure, character, mood and other creative features, were extremely specific, accessible to the understanding of readers, as required by the school of acmeism, and did not cause additional questions after reading them.

Despite the friendship and solidarity between the acmeist poets, the limited scope of this literary movement for such brilliant poets as Gumilyov, Akhmatova or Mandelstam soon became tight. After Gumilyov's quarrel with Gorodetsky in February 1914, the Poets' Workshop school of professional skills, after two years of its existence, 10 issues of the Hyperborea magazine and several poetry collections, broke up. Although the poets of this organization did not cease to attribute themselves to this literary movement and were published in literary magazines and newspapers, in which the publishers called them acmeists. Young poets Georgy Ivanov, Georgy Adamovich, Nikolai Otsup, Irina Odoevtseva called themselves successors of Gumilyov's ideas.

A unique feature of such a literary movement as acmeism is that it was born and developed exclusively on the territory of Russia, having a huge impact on further development Russian poetry of the early twentieth century. The invaluable merit of the acmeist poets is called by literary researchers the invention of a special, subtle way of conveying spiritual world lyrical characters that can be betrayed with the help of a single movement, gesture, the way of listing any things or important little things that cause many associations to appear in the imagination of readers. This ingeniously simple peculiar "materialization" of feelings and experiences of the main lyrical hero has a huge impact and becomes understandable and accessible to every reader.

summary of other presentations

"Poets of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry" - The Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Russian "Silver Age". Fundamental question. Symbol. Poets are futurists. A slap in the face of public taste. Alone among the hostile rati. Conscious meaning of the word. representatives of symbolism. Acmeist poets.

"Poems of the Silver Age Poets" - Gippius Zinaida Nikolaevna. Gray-eyed king. Name the poets of the Silver Age. Sophistication of Russian slow speech. Gumilyov Nikolay Stepanovich. Analyze the poem "Giraffe". Strings. Annensky Innokenty Fedorovich. Balmont Konstantin Dmitrievich. Symbolism. Futurism. Pasternak Boris Leonidovich. Dictionary. Poem. Akhmatova. The Path of the Conquistadors. Poems Z. Gippius. Akhmatova and Gumilyov.

"Themes of the poetry of the Silver Age" - Symbolism in the world. Paul Gauguin. And to all the gods I dedicate a verse. Contemporaries about the era. Romantic flowers. Key categories of acmeism. Philosophical basis of symbolism. Tasks of the Futurists. A look at the world. Musical and compositional techniques. The rhythm of Bryusov's verse. The birth of modernism. Collections of poems by N.S. Gumilyov. The founder of Russian symbolism. Poetics of Gumilyov's late lyrics. Futurism in poetry.

"Directions of the poetry of the Silver Age" - Features of symbolism. Features of acmeism. The main directions of the Silver Age. V. V. Mayakovsky. Symbolism. Aesthetics of acmeism. The Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Symbolist poets. aesthetics of futurism. Aesthetics of symbolism. Way of thinking. Futurist groups. The emergence of symbolism. The emergence of acmeism. The concept of the Silver Age. Acneism. Futurism. Futurist performances. Futurist poets. Acmeism.

"Anthology of Poetry of the Silver Age" - Peasant Poetry. Alexander Blok. Imagists. Vladimir Mayakovsky. Basic principles of acmeism. Acmeists. Vladislav Khodasevich. Prisoner. Innokenty Annensky. Symbolist poets. Daniel Kharms. Harbingers. Shershenevich Vadim. Igor Severyanin. Centrifuge. Sergey Yesenin. Oberiu. Konstantin Konstantinovich Sluchevsky. Futurists. Symbolists. Nikolai Gumilyov. Osip Mandelstam. Foliage.

"Poetry of the Silver Age" - Attitude to the word. Relation to previous cultures. Futurism. Symbolism. Decades have passed. Existentialism. The Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Silver Age. Electronic educational resources. Features of literary trends. Acmeism. Modernism. The purpose of the work of poets-modernists. Figurative expression. Alexander Blok.

Acmeism(from the Greek akme the highest degree of something, flourishing, maturity, peak, tip) one of the modernist trends in Russian poetry of the 1910s, formed as a reaction to extremes.

Overcoming the predilection of the symbolists for the "superreal", the ambiguity and fluidity of images, the complicated metaphor, the acmeists strove for the sensual plastic-material clarity of the image and accuracy, the chasing of the poetic word. Their "earthly" poetry is prone to intimacy, aestheticism and poeticization of the feelings of primitive man. Acmeism was characterized by extreme apoliticality, complete indifference to the topical problems of our time.

The Acmeists, who replaced the Symbolists, did not have a detailed philosophical and aesthetic program. But if in the poetry of symbolism the determining factor was the transience, the momentaryness of being, a kind of mystery covered with a halo of mysticism, then a realistic view of things was put as the cornerstone in the poetry of acmeism. The hazy unsteadiness and fuzziness of symbols were replaced by precise verbal images. The word, according to the acmeists, should have acquired its original meaning.

The highest point in the hierarchy of values ​​for them was culture, identical to universal human memory. Therefore, acmeists often turn to mythological plots and images. If the Symbolists in their work focused on music, then the Acmeists on the spatial arts: architecture, sculpture, painting. The attraction to the three-dimensional world was expressed in the acmeists' passion for objectivity: a colorful, sometimes exotic detail could be used for a purely pictorial purpose. That is, the “overcoming” of symbolism took place not so much in the sphere of general ideas, but in the field of poetic style. In this sense, acmeism was just as conceptual as symbolism, and in this respect they are undoubtedly in a succession.

A distinctive feature of the acmeist circle of poets was their "organizational cohesion". In essence, the acmeists were not so much an organized movement with a common theoretical platform, but a group of talented and very different poets who were united by personal friendship. The Symbolists had nothing of the kind: Bryusov's attempts to reunite his brethren were in vain. The same was observed among the futurists despite the abundance of collective manifestos that they issued. Acmeists, or as they were also called "Hyperboreans" (after the name of the printed mouthpiece of acmeism, the journal and publishing house "Hyperborey"), immediately acted as a single group. They gave their union the significant name of the “Workshop of Poets”. And the beginning of a new trend (which later became almost “ prerequisite"the emergence of new poetic groups in Russia) caused a scandal.

In the autumn of 1911, in the poetic salon of Vyacheslav Ivanov, the famous "Tower", where the poetic society gathered and poetry was read and discussed, a "revolt" broke out. Several talented young poets defiantly left the next meeting of the "Academy of Verse", outraged by the derogatory criticism of the "masters" of Symbolism. Nadezhda Mandelstam describes this case in the following way: “Gumilyov's 'Prodigal Son' was read at the 'Academy of Verse', where Vyacheslav Ivanov reigned, surrounded by respectful students. He subjected the "Prodigal Son" to a real debacle. The speech was so rude and harsh that Gumilyov's friends left the Academy and organized the Poets' Workshop in opposition to it.

And a year later, in the autumn of 1912, the six main members of the "Tsekh" decided not only formally, but also ideologically to separate from the Symbolists. They organized a new community, calling themselves "Acmeists", that is, the top. At the same time, the "Workshop of Poets" as an organizational structure was preserved acmeists remained in it as an internal poetic association.

The main ideas of acmeism were outlined in the program articles by N. Gumilyov “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism” and S. Gorodetsky “Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry”, published in the journal Apollo (1913, No. 1), published under the editorship of S. Makovsky. The first of them said: “Symbolism is being replaced by a new direction, no matter how it is called, whether acmeism (from the word akme the highest degree of something, a flowering time) or adamism (a courageously firm and clear view of life), in any case, requiring a greater balance of power and a more precise knowledge of the relationship between subject and object than was the case in symbolism. However, in order for this trend to assert itself in its entirety and be a worthy successor to the previous one, it must accept its legacy and answer all the questions it posed. The glory of the ancestors obliges, and symbolism was a worthy father.

S. Gorodetsky believed that “symbolism, having filled the world with correspondences”, turned it into a phantom, important only insofar as it shines through other worlds, and belittled its high intrinsic value. Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smell and color, and not with its conceivable similarities with mystical love or anything else.

In 1913, Mandelstam's article "Morning of Acmeism" was also written, which was published only six years later. The delay in publication was not accidental: Mandelstam's acmeist views differed significantly from the declarations of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky and did not make it to the pages of Apollo.

However, as T. Scriabina notes, “for the first time, the idea of ​​a new direction was expressed on the pages of Apollo” much earlier: in 1910, M. Kuzmin published an article On beautiful clarity in the journal, which anticipated the appearance of declarations of acmeism. By the time the article was written, Kuzmin was already a mature person, he had experience of cooperation in symbolist periodicals. Otherworldly and foggy revelations of the symbolists, incomprehensible and dark in art Kuzmin opposed beautiful clarity, clarism (from the Greek. clarus clarity). The artist, according to Kuzmin, must bring clarity to the world, not obscure, but clarify the meaning of things, seek harmony with those around him. The philosophical and religious searches of the Symbolists did not fascinate Kuzmin: the artist's business is to focus on the aesthetic side of creativity, artistic skill. Dark in the last depth of the symbol gives way to clear structures and admiration of pretty little things. Kuzmin's ideas could not help but influence the acmeists: "beautiful clarity" turned out to be in demand by the majority of participants in the "Workshop of Poets".

Another "harbinger" of acmeism can be considered John. Annensky, who, formally being a symbolist, actually paid tribute to him only in the early period of his work. Later, Annensky took a different path: the ideas of late symbolism had practically no effect on his poetry. On the other hand, the simplicity and clarity of his poems were well received by the acmeists.

Three years after the publication of Kuzmin's article in Apollo, the manifestos of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky appeared from that moment it is customary to count the existence of acmeism as a well-formed literary movement.

Acmeism has six of the most active participants in the current: N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut. G. Ivanov claimed the role of the "seventh acmeist", but this point of view was protested by A. Akhmatova, who stated that "there were six acmeists, and there never was a seventh." O. Mandelstam was in solidarity with her, who, however, considered that six were too many: “There are only six Acmeists, and among them there was one extra” Mandelstam explained that Gorodetsky was “attracted” by Gumilyov, not daring to oppose the then powerful Symbolists with some “ yellow-mouthed." “Gorodetsky was [by that time] famous poet". At various times, G. Adamovich, N. Bruni, Nas. Gippius, Vl. Gippius, G. Ivanov, N. Klyuev, M. Kuzmin, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva, M. Lozinsky, V. Khlebnikov and others. school of mastering poetic skills, professional association.

Acmeism as literary direction united exceptionally gifted poets Gumilyov, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, the formation of creative individuals of which took place in the atmosphere of the "Workshop of Poets". The history of acmeism can be viewed as a kind of dialogue between these three prominent representatives of it. At the same time, the Adamism of Gorodetsky, Zenkevich and Narbut, who made up the naturalistic wing of the current, differed significantly from the “pure” acmeism of the above-mentioned poets. The difference between the Adamists and the triad Gumilyov Akhmatova Mandelstam has been repeatedly noted in criticism.

As a literary trend, acmeism did not last long - about two years. In February 1914, it split. The "shop of poets" was closed. Acmeists managed to publish ten issues of their journal "Hyperborea" (editor M. Lozinsky), as well as several almanacs.

“Symbolism was fading away” Gumilyov was not mistaken in this, but he failed to form a current as powerful as Russian symbolism. Acmeism failed to gain a foothold in the role of the leading poetic trend. The reason for its rapid extinction is called, among other things, "the ideological unsuitability of the direction to the conditions of a drastically changed reality." V. Bryusov noted that "acmeists are characterized by a gap between practice and theory", and "their practice was purely symbolist." It was in this that he saw the crisis of acmeism. However, Bryusov's statements about acmeism were always harsh; at first he declared that “acmeism is an invention, a whim, a metropolitan whim” and predicted: “most likely, in a year or two there will be no acmeism left. His very name will disappear,” and in 1922, in one of his articles, he generally denies him the right to be called a direction, a school, believing that there is nothing serious and original in acmeism and that it is “outside the mainstream of literature.”

However, attempts to resume the activities of the association were subsequently made more than once. The second "Workshop of poets, founded in the summer of 1916, was headed by G. Ivanov together with G. Adamovich. But he didn't last long either. In 1920, the third "Shop of Poets" appeared, which was Gumilyov's last attempt to preserve the acmeist line organizationally. Under his wing, poets united who consider themselves to be members of the school of acmeism: S. Neldihen, N. Otsup, N. Chukovsky, I. Odoevtseva, N. Berberova, Vs. Rozhdestvensky, N. Oleinikov, L. Lipavsky, K. Vatinov, V. Pozner and others. The third "Workshop of Poets" existed in Petrograd for about three years (in parallel with the "Sounding Shell" studio) until the tragic death of N. Gumilyov.

The creative fates of poets, one way or another connected with acmeism, developed in different ways: N. Klyuev subsequently declared his non-participation in the activities of the community; G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich continued and developed many principles of acmeism in exile; Acmeism did not have any noticeable influence on V. Khlebnikov. IN Soviet time the poetic manner of the acmeists (mainly N. Gumilyov) was imitated by N. Tikhonov, E. Bagritsky, I. Selvinsky, M. Svetlov.

In comparison with other poetic trends of the Russian Silver Age, acmeism in many ways is seen as a marginal phenomenon. It has no analogues in other European literatures (which cannot be said, for example, about symbolism and futurism); the more surprising are the words of Blok, Gumilyov's literary opponent, who declared that acmeism was just an "imported foreign thing." After all, it was acmeism that turned out to be extremely fruitful for Russian literature. Akhmatova and Mandelstam managed to leave behind "eternal words." Gumilyov appears in his poems as one of the brightest personalities of the cruel time of revolutions and world wars. And today, almost a century later, interest in acmeism has survived mainly because the work of these outstanding poets, who had a significant impact on the fate of Russian poetry of the 20th century, is associated with it.

Basic principles of acmeism:

the liberation of poetry from symbolist appeals to the ideal, the return of clarity to it;

rejection of mystical nebula, acceptance of the earthly world in its diversity, visible concreteness, sonority, colorfulness;

the desire to give the word a specific, precise meaning;

objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;

appeal to a person, to the "authenticity" of his feelings;

poetization of the world of primordial emotions, primitive biological nature;

echoes of past literary epochs, the broadest aesthetic associations, “longing for world culture”.

Acmeist poets

A. G. Z. I. K. L. M. N. Sh.