2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Symbolism is a major trend in literature, the main principles of which are the use of an element of understatement, mystery, mystery. Authors working in this direction conveyed the meaning of their works with the help of signs and symbols (hence the name - symbolism).
This trend arose at the end of the 19th century in France. The term itself was first used by the poet Jean Moréas in the title of his manifesto. At the beginning of the next century, symbolism became widespread in other countries, including Russia.
Great literary figures, adherents of this trend, are Alexander Blok (Russia), Henri de Regnier (France), Henrik Ibsen (Norway), Edgar Allan Poe (USA) and others. Among them is Emil Verhaern. This Belgian poet can be considered one of the founders of Symbolism.
Biography of Emil Verhaarn
Future writerwas born on May 21, 1855 in Belgium, in the city of Sint-Amands, which is located in the province of Antwerp.
At age 11, Verhaarn entered a Jesuit boarding school in Ghent. After graduating, he entered the Faculty of Law at the Leuven Catholic University. During his studies, Emile Verhaern met young writers who founded the literary magazine Young Belgium. Inspired by this, he began to write himself: Verhaarn's first articles were published in student magazines.
After graduating from university, he tried to work as a lawyer for some time, but Verhaarn's professional practice was limited to two cases. He decided to devote himself entirely to creativity.
In 1883, the first collection of poems by Emile Verhaarn, The Flemish Women, was published. The inspiration was the work of the painters David Teniers Sr. and Jan Steen.
The next collection - "The Monks" (1886) was unsuccessful. Together with he alth problems, this caused an internal crisis in Emile Verhaern: the poet was gloomy and completely withdrawn into himself. It was then that the poet turned to the ideas of symbolism and created the cycles "Evenings", "Crash" and "Black Torches".
In August 1891, the wedding of Verhaarn and the artist Martha Massin took place. The poet dedicated several lyrical collections to his wife.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the work of Emile Verhaarn gained fame - his poems were translated into several dozen languages. When the First World War began, the poet moved to England, where he created the collection Scarlet Wings of War.
Verharn died on November 27, 1916, when he was hit by a train.
Creativity. Collection "Flemish"
This collection is an early stage in the work of Emile Verhaarn. In his poems, the poet draws pictures of the reality he is accustomed to and his native life. Like many Belgian writers of that time, Verhaarn depicts his homeland and people: farms scattered on the plains, villages, churches, monasteries.
The Flemings collection shows the reader in detail the ordinary peasant life and scenes of rural life, singing the beauty of nature and local women.
The cycle made a good impression on the avant-garde artists, but was not accepted in the poet's native Sint-Amandse. It got to the point that Verhaarn's parents tried to buy back all published copies of the book and destroy them.
Evenings, Crashes and Black Torches
After the bad reviews about the second collection in the life of the poet came not the best period. Virtually nothing remains of the romanticism that characterized Verhaarn's early work.
Compilations released at this time will later be called the "tragic trilogy". They also mention the nature of Flanders, but in a completely different way. If in the first collection the poet acted as a detached contemplator of local landscapes, then at this stage of his work he seems to be immersed in them, experiencing all their troubles and tragedies.
The Tragic Trilogy has a social meaning. Verhaarn depicts not only abstract pictures of nature, but also a very concrete phenomenon - poverty.
Violent Powers
Another collection that can be attributed to a laterthe work of the poet - "Violent Forces", published in 1902. In it, Verhaarn raises themes of social heroism, the fate of mankind and its hard struggle with nature.
In the poems included in this collection, the poet created images that personify certain historical stages. For example, in Emile Verhaarn's poem "The Banker", the protagonist appears as a kind of new master of this world, who "subdues fate with his will" and "decides the fate of kingdoms and the fate of kings."
You can also notice other images - historical and mythical. They represent progress, heroism, struggle and creative accomplishments.
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