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For poets throughout the world Rome was the world. This is particularly true for Russian poets, owing to the anagrammatical relation of the words Rome and mir (Rome and world). The legacy of ancient Rome has always constituted an important component of the Russian cultural consciousness. The revitalization of classical scholarship in nineteenth-century Russia and new approaches to antiquity prompted many of the Russian Symbolists to seek their inspiration in ancient Rome. Vladimir Solovyov, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Valery Bryusov, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Maksimilian Voloshin, Vasily Komarovsky, and Mikhail Kuzmin all made significant contributions to what is often referred to as the ''Roman text.'' The Legacy of Ancient Rome in the Russian Silver Age analyzes the forms involved in creating the Roman image and explores its functionality within the given poetic system. In addition to the formal analysis, the background and the stimulus leading up to the composition of a particular poem are explored, as well as allusions to legends, myths and Rome's geography and architecture. Moreover, this study considers the function of the Roman text in Russian Symbolist poetics and the works of the individual poets. Finally, the relation between the Roman and Petersburg texts of Russian literature is explored, since many of the Russian Symbolist poets found in Rome a perfect metaphor for their studies of the city and ''urban'' poetry.
E-Book Content
The Legacy of Ancient Rome in the Russian Silver Age
Studies in Slavic Literature and Poetics Volume XLVIII
Edited by
J.J. van Baak R. Grübel A.G.F. van Holk W.G. Weststeijn
The Legacy of Ancient Rome in the Russian Silver Age
Anna Frajlich
Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007
Cover design: Aart Jan Bergshoeff The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “ISO 9706:1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents Requirements for permanence”. ISBN-13: 978-90-420-2251-5 ©Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007 Printed in the Netherlands
To Władysław and Paul Zajac
Contents Acknowledgments
7
Note on Transliteration
13
Introduction Off to Rome…
15
I. Departing from Stylization Apollon Maikov
27
II. The Forum of Forgotten Thoughts Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov
31
III. And a Fourth Shall Never Be… Vladimir Solovyov
37
IV. The Contradictions of the Northern Pilgrim Dmitry Merezhkovsky
49
V. Julius Caesar, Antony and Sulla Valery Bryusov
61
VI. The God-Loving Roman Vyacheslav Ivanov
97
VII. From Prophecy to Transubstantiation Maksimilian Voloshin
125
VIII. The Quest for Pax Romana as a Quest for Peace of Mind Vasily Komarovsky
145
IX. The Distant Eternal City Mikhail Kuzmin
165
X. Conclusion «Как сделан Рим»? (How Is Rome Made?)
188
Bibliography
195
Index
207
Acknowledgments
T
o my professor, mentor and friend, the late Zoya Yurieff, I owe what I have become in this country. She urged me to resume my graduate studies at the Department of Slavic Languages at New York University, where she made me measure up to her highest standards. Knowing that I had spent the first several months of my exile in Rome, she suggested that I conduct my research on the image of the Eternal City in the poetry of the Russian Symbolists. Researching the topic, which had scarcely been explored at the time, launched me on an arduous journey in time, as well as cultural, mythical and geographical space. Professor Yurieff’s expertise in and passion for the Silver Age guided me at every step of my work. I am enormously in