Polonsky Yakov Petrovich: biography and creativity

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

Among the Russian writers of the 19th century there are poets and prose writers whose work is not as important as the contribution of titans like Pushkin, Gogol or Nekrasov to Russian literature. But without them, our literature would have lost its multicoloredness and versatility, the breadth and depth of reflection of the Russian world, the thoroughness and completeness of the study of the complex soul of our people.

A special place among these masters of the word is occupied by the poet and novelist Polonsky. Yakov Petrovich became a symbol of the relationship of the great Russian writers who lived at the beginning and at the end of the nineteenth century.

A native of Ryazan

My fire in the fog shines, Sparks go out on the fly…

The author of these lines from a song that has long been considered a folk song was born in the very center of Russia, in the provincial Ryazan. The mother of the future poet, Natalya Yakovlevna, came from the old Kaftyrev family, and her father was an impoverished nobleman who served in the office of the Ryazan Governor-General Pyotr GrigoryevichPolonsky. Yakov Petrovich, born in early December 1819, was the eldest of their seven children.

When Yakov was 13 years old, his mother died, and his father, having been appointed to a public position, left for Yerivan, leaving the children in the care of his wife's relatives. By that time, Yakov Petrovich Polonsky had already been admitted to the First Men's Gymnasium of Ryazan, which was one of the centers of cultural life in a provincial city.

Meeting with Zhukovsky

Rhyming in the years when the genius of Pushkin was at the zenith of fame was commonplace. Among those who were distinguished by a clear penchant for poetic creativity, while showing extraordinary abilities, was the young high school student Polonsky. Yakov Petrovich, whose biography is full of significant meetings and acquaintances with the best writers of Russia in the 19th century, often recalled the meeting, which had a great influence on his choice of writing.

In 1837 the future Emperor Alexander II visited Ryazan. By the meeting of the Tsarevich within the walls of the gymnasium, Polonsky, on behalf of the director, wrote a poetic greeting in two verses, one of which was to be performed by the choir to the melody “God Save the Tsar!”, Which became the official anthem of the Russian Empire just 4 years before. In the evening, after a successful event with the participation of the heir to the throne, the director of the gymnasium arranged a reception at which the young poet met the author of the text of the new anthem, Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky.

Famous poet, mentor and close friend of the greatPushkin highly appreciated Polonsky's poems. Yakov Petrovich, the day after Alexander's departure, was even awarded a gold watch on behalf of the future tsar. Zhukovsky's praise strengthened Polonsky's desire to devote his life to literature.

Moscow University

In 1838 he became a student at the law faculty of Moscow University. Contemporaries have always noted the amazing sociability, internal and external attractiveness that distinguished Polonsky. Yakov Petrovich quickly made acquaintances among the most advanced figures in science, culture and art. Many Moscow acquaintances of the university time became real friends for him for life. Among them are poets Afanasy Fet and Apollon Grigoriev, historians Sergei Solovyov and Konstantin Kavelin, writers Alexei Pisemsky and Mikhail Pogodin, Decembrist Nikolai Orlov, philosopher and publicist Pyotr Chaadaev, great actor Mikhail Shchepkin.

In those years, a close friendship between Polonsky and Ivan Turgenev was born, who highly valued each other's talent for many years. With the help of friends, Polonsky's first publications took place - in the journal Domestic Notes (1840) and in the form of the poetry collection Gamma (1844).

Despite the fact that the first experiments of the young poet were positively received by critics, in particular Belinsky, his hopes to live by literary work turned out to be naive dreams. Polonsky's student years passed in poverty and need, he was forced to constantly earn extra money with private lessons and tutoring. That's why whenthere was an opportunity to get a place in the office of the Caucasian governor Count Vorontsov, Polonsky leaves Moscow, barely finishing his university course.

On the way

Since 1844, he lives first in Odessa, then moves to Tiflis. At this time, he met Pushkin's brother Lev Sergeevich, collaborated in the newspaper "Transcaucasian Bulletin". His poetry collections are published - "Sazandar" (1849) and "Several Poems" (1851). There is a special flavor in the poems of that time, inspired by the poet's acquaintance with the customs of the highlanders, with the history of Russia's struggle for assertion on the southern borders.

Polonsky's real extraordinary abilities for fine arts were noticed during his studies at the Ryazan gymnasium, therefore, inspired by the unique landscapes of the Caucasus and its environs, he does a lot of drawing and painting. This passion accompanies the poet throughout his life.

In 1851, Yakov Petrovich went to the capital, St. Petersburg, where he expanded the circle of his literary acquaintances and worked hard on new poems. In 1855, another collection was published, his poems are willingly published by the best literary magazines - Sovremennik and Domestic Notes, but the fees cannot provide even a modest existence. He becomes the home teacher of the son of the St. Petersburg governor Smirnov. In 1857, the family of a high-ranking official traveled to Baden-Baden, and Polonsky went abroad with them. Yakov Petrovich travels a lot in Europe, takes drawing lessons from French artists,meets many Russian and foreign writers and artists, in particular, the famous Alexandre Dumas.

Private life

In 1858, Polonsky returned to St. Petersburg with his young wife, Elena Vasilievna Ustyugskaya, whom he met in Paris. The next two years turned out to be one of the most tragic in life for Yakov Petrovich. First, he receives a serious injury, from the consequences of which he will not be able to get rid of for the rest of his life, moving only with the help of crutches. Then Polonsky's wife falls ill with typhus and dies, and a few months later their newborn son also dies.

Despite personal dramas, the writer works surprisingly hard and fruitfully, in all genres - from small lyrical poems, opera librettos to large prose books of artistic content - his most interesting experiments in memoirs and journalism remain.

The second marriage in 1866 Polonsky combined with Josephine Antonovna Rulman, who became the mother of their three children. She discovered in herself the abilities of a sculptor and actively participated in the artistic life of the Russian capital. Literary and creative evenings began to be held in the Polonsky house, in which the most famous writers and artists of that time took part. These evenings continued for some time after the death of the poet, which followed on October 30, 1898.

Legacy

The legacy of Yakov Petrovich is great and is assessed as unequal. The main property of Polonsky's poetry is its subtle lyricism,originating in romanticism, enriched by the genius of Pushkin. It is no coincidence that he was considered a faithful successor to the traditions of the great poet; it was not for nothing that the most famous composers - Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov and many others - often used the poems of Yakov Petrovich in their romances. At the same time, even true connoisseurs of Polonsky's poetic gift believed that there were not so many top achievements in his work.

In the last third of the 19th century, Russian thinkers were divided into two camps - "Westerners" and "Slavophiles". One of those who did not seek to express a clear commitment to one of the parties was Polonsky. Yakov Petrovich (interesting facts about his theoretical disputes with Tolstoy can be found in the memoirs of his contemporaries) expressed more conservative ideas about Russia's growing into European culture, while largely agreeing with his friend, the obvious "Westernizer" Ivan Turgenev.

He lived the life of a Russian writer, full of work and ideas, having received a blessing from Pushkin's contemporaries and remaining an active poet when the star of Blok was already rising. Indicative in this sense are the metamorphoses of appearance that Polonsky underwent. Yakov Petrovich, whose photo at the end of the century was already technically perfect, appears in recent portraits as a real patriarch, aware of the significance of the path traveled.