Poet Apollo Maykov: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

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 surname. The ancient family of the poet was rich in 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

Childhood Apollon Nikolaevich spent 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. Biography of this periodalso noted for studying 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.

A 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 written, "Two Fates", which tellsthe story of an "extra" person.

Contact with Petrashevites and the editors of 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".

Apollo 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 in 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 the ideological guidelines. He created works on a social theme (the idyll "The Fool", the cycle "Worldly Thoughts"), poems of an ideologized and political nature. Simultaneously Maikov wrote poems that continued the anthological and aesthetic principles of his early poetry. We are talking 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 shows 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. From a young age, the poet was fond of hunting, but often caught himself thinking that an ordinary walk in the forest without greyhounds and a gun gives him much more pleasure. 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…

Sea 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" ("The Swallow Rushed", "Lullaby", 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 Maikov 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 the 1880s, Apollon Nikolaevich also created a number of poems that are distinguished by deep religiosity and the idea that religious humility is a distinctive feature of the Russian person (“Eternal night is approaching ….”, “Leave it, leave it!..”, etc.).

In conclusion

Merezhkovsky in his book "Eternal Companions" wrote that Maikov Apollo is a poet whose life path 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 eternalquestions of life.