Batyushkin Konstantin Nikolaevich. Konstantin Nikolayevich Batyushkov: biography, interesting facts, poems
Russian empire
Konstantin Nikolaevich Batyushkov (May 18 (29) ( 17870529 ) , Vologda - June 7 (19), Vologda) - Russian poet, predecessor of Pushkin.
Biography
Born in the Batyushkov family, father - Nikolai Lvovich Batyushkov (1753-1817). He spent the years of his childhood in the family estate - the village of Danilovskoye. At the age of 7, he lost his mother, who suffered from mental illness, which was inherited by Batyushkov and his older sister Alexandra.
The poems of the first period of the poet's literary activity are imbued with epicureanism: the man in his lyrics passionately loves earthly life; the main themes in Batyushkov's poetry are friendship and love. Rejecting moralism and mannerisms of sentimentalism, he finds new ways of expressing feelings and emotions in verse, extremely bright and vital:
Slender camp, entwined around
Hops yellow crown,
And flaming cheeks
Roses bright purple
And the mouth in which melts
purple grapes -
Everything in frantic seduces!
Fire and poison pours in the heart!
In response to the events of the Patriotic War, Batyushkov created samples of civil poetry, the patriotic mood of which is combined with a description of the author's deeply individual experiences:
... while on the field of honor
For the ancient city of my fathers
I will not bear the victim of revenge
And life and love for the motherland;
While with a wounded hero,
Who knows the way to glory
Three times I will not put my chest
Before enemies in close formation -
My friend, until then I will
All are alien to muses and charities,
Wreaths, with the hand of love retinue,
And noisy joy in wine!
In the post-war period, Batyushkov's poetry gravitates toward romanticism. The theme of one of his most famous poems, "The Dying Tass" (), is the tragic fate of the Italian poet Torquato Tasso
Do you remember how many tears I shed as a baby!
Alas! since then the prey of evil fate,
I learned all the sorrows, all the poverty of life.
Fortune pitted abysses
Opened under me, and the thunder did not stop!
Driven from country to country, driven from country to country,
I searched in vain for shelter on earth:
Everywhere her finger is irresistible!
Notes
Compositions
- Batyushkov K. N. Works / Introduction. Art. L. A. Ozerova; Preparation text and notes by N. V. Fridman. - M.: State. Publishing House of Artists. literature, 1955. - 452 p. Circulation 75,000 copies.
- Batyushkov K. N. Complete collection of poems / Enter. Art., preparation of the text and notes by N. V. Fridman. - M., L.: Sov. writer, 1964. - 353 p. Circulation 25,000 copies. (Library of the poet. Large series. Second edition.)
- Batyushkov K. N. Works / Introduction. Art. and comp. V. V. Gura. - Arkhangelsk: North-West. book. publishing house, 1979. - 400 p. Circulation 100,000 copies.
- Batyushkov K. N. Selected works / Comp. A. L. Zorin and A. M. Peskov; Intro. Art. A. L. Zorina; Comm. A. L. Zorina and O. A. Proskurina. - M.: Pravda, 1986. - 528 p. Circulation 500,000 copies.
- Batyushkov K. N. Poems / Comp., entry. Art. and note. I. O. Shaitanova. - M.: Artist. lit., 1987. - 320 p. Circulation 1,000,000 copies. (Classics and contemporaries. Poetry library)
- Batyushkov K. N. Works in two volumes. T.1: Experiences in poetry and prose. Works not included in the "Experiments ..." / Comp., prepared. text. intro. article and comment. V. A. Koshelev. - M.: Artist. lit., 1989. - 511 p. Circulation 102,000 copies.
- Batyushkov K. N. Works in two volumes. T.2: From notebooks; Letters. / Comp., prepared. text, comments A. L. Zorina. - M.: Artist. lit., 1989. - 719 p. Circulation 102,000 copies.
Literature
- Afanasiev V. Achilles, or the Life of Batyushkov. - M.: Children's literature, 1987.
- edit] Links
Konstantin Batyushkov at Wikiquote in Wikisource Konstantin Batyushkov at Wikimedia Commons - K. N. Batiushkov. Batyushkov: Eternal Dreams Collected works, general works, memoirs of contemporaries, poet's life, genealogy, creativity, bibliography, album
- K. N. Batyushkov on feb-web. Complete works, monographic studies
- K. N. Batyushkov Biography, widely represented criticism, monographic works
- Batyushkov in the library of poetry Collected works, translations, criticism
- Konstantin Batyushkov. Poems in the Anthology of Russian Poetry
- Batyushkov K. N. Collection of poems on stroki.net
Literary Society "Arzamas" Members D. V. Dashkov D. N. Bludov A. I. Turgenev S. S. Uvarov K. N. Batyushkov P. A. Vyazemsky A. A. Pleshcheev V. L. Pushkin A. S. Pushkin A. F. Voeikov D. P. Severin F. F. Vigel D. V. Davydov Honorary Members N. M. Karamzin I. I. Dmitriev G. I. Gagarin Yu. A. Neledinsky-Meletsky A. N. Saltykov M. A. Saltykov Addresses At Uvarov Malaya Morskaya, 21 At Bludov's Nevsky, 80 At Turgenev Fontanka embankment, 20 At Pleshcheeva Galernaya, 12
BATYUSHKOV, KONSTANTIN NIKOLAEVICH, Russian poet (1787–1855).
Born May 18 (29), 1787 in Vologda, spent his early childhood in his father's patrimony Danilovsky (not far from Bezhetsk, Tver province). The career of his father, Nikolai Lvovich, who belonged to an old noble family, did not work out: already at the age of 15 he was removed from the Izmailovsky regiment due to the exile of his uncle, who was involved in a conspiracy against Catherine II in favor of her son Pavel. Batyushkov's mother went mad shortly after the birth of her son and died when he was 8 years old...
At the age of ten, Batyushkov was sent to the St. Petersburg boarding house of the Frenchman Zhakino, then to the boarding house of the Italian Tripoli. Especially zealously he studied foreign languages - French, Italian, Latin, distinguished among his peers by a penchant for foreign languages and literature.
After graduating from the boarding school, he was forced to enter the service of a clerk in the Ministry of Public Education, which disgusted him. But in the service he met young people, friendship with whom he supported for many years. He especially became close to the poet and translator N. Gnedich, whose literary advice he was attentive to all his life. Here Batyushkov met members of the Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Sciences and Arts: I. Pnin, N. Radishchev (son), I. Born, thanks to whom he began to collaborate with some Moscow magazines.
Batyushkov's first great poem Dream apparently it was written in 1804, and published in 1806 in the journal Lover of Literature. Batyushkov especially loved this poem: he reworked it for many years, painstakingly and carefully replacing some lines with others, until he settled on the edition of 1817. Already in the first poetic opuses, he abandons the tradition of the high ode of the 18th century, elegies and friendly letters become his favorite genres. messages. Dream, like other early poems, is imbued with the spirit of poetic dreaminess, melancholy, pre-romantic immersion in the world of dreams and fantasies:
Oh sweet dream! O heavenly gift!
Among the wilds of stone, among the horrors of nature,
Where the waters of Bothnia splash against the rocks,
In the land of the exiles .. I was happy with you.
I was happy when in my solitude
Above the fisherman's tabernacle, silent at midnight,
The winds whistle and howl
And hail and autumn rain will knock on the roof.
In 1805, the journal News of Russian Literature published another poem by Batyushkov. Message to my poems, after which his small lyrical poems (as they were then called, plays) begin to appear on the pages of the press and the name of the author becomes known in literary circles.
In many ways, the formation of Batyushkov’s literary tastes was influenced by his cousin Mikhail Muravyov, mostly a prose writer, who, however, wrote poetry, and, of course, the idol of the then youth, historian and writer Nikolai Karamzin, whose works largely predetermined the future flowering of elegiac poetry.
Poet and critic of the 20th century. Vl.Khodasevich wrote about that transitional period of Russian literature: “The first mine, planted under Karamzin’s sentimentalism under classicism, has already exploded ... a vast field opened up before new forces. Zhukovsky and Batyushkov tried to find "new sounds ...".
Denial of "cold reason", intoxication with a poetic dream in the bosom of nature, animated and, as it were, echoing the poet's experiences, an attempt to catch the fleeting experiences of the soul, sincerity and lack of pathos - these are the poems of the young Batyushkov, "sweet-tongued and youthful."
It seemed that he was created only “for sweet sounds and prayers,” Batyushkov dramatically changes his life: in 1807 he enrolls in the militia and goes to war with Napoleon in East Prussia. Receives a serious wound near Heilsberg, remains for some time to be cured in the house of a Riga merchant. The experience of the war is not in vain - strict, melodious and solemn motives invade the thoughtful, dreamy poems - the themes of parting and death:
I left the shore of foggy Albion:
It seemed that he was drowning in the waves of lead.
Galcyone hovered behind the ship,
And the quiet voice of her swimmers amused.
<...>
And suddenly ... was it a dream? .. a comrade appeared to me,
Died in fatal fire
An enviable death, over the Pleys jets ...
Shadow of a friend
In 1807 he lived for some time in St. Petersburg, where he became close to the family of A.N. Olenin, a close friend of the late Muravyov by that time. Here he feels at home. In the society that gathered in Olenin's house (among the guests was Batyushkov's old friend N. Gnedich), antiquity was considered the ideal of beauty, which was in full accordance with Batyushkov's literary inclinations.
In 1808, having recovered completely, he again went to the army, this time to Finland, where he did not take part in hostilities, but spent a whole year on campaigns.
In 1809-1811, already in his village Khantonovo and again indulging in literary pursuits, he wrote a number of poems that put him in the eyes of an enlightened reading public among the best poets. It's elegiac Recollection of 1907, the best translations from the Roman poet Tibullus, a great friendly message to Zhukovsky and Vyazemsky My Penates and satire Vision on the banks of Lethe. Created under the influence of the literary disputes of those years, it became widespread and clearly defined Batyushkov's place in the "war of the old style with the new." Batyushkov is entirely on the side of Karamzin, following him, believing that it is necessary to “write as they say and speak as they write”, that Slavic words and obsolete phrases should be alien to modern poetry, and that language can draw strength only in living speech. So in Lete - the river of oblivion Batyushkov "drowned" the "archaists" - A.S. Shishkov and his associates, which they perceived on his part as an open challenge.
Soon Batyushkov moved to Moscow, where new impressions and acquaintances awaited him. First of all, these are the same supporters of the new poetry, supporters of Karamzin, on whose side he stood so unconditionally. These are the future members of the literary society "Arzamas" - V. Zhukovsky, Vas. Pushkin, P. Vyazemsky and Karamzin himself, whom Batyushkov personally meets. At the same time, there was not enough money from the estate, and he is looking for services both for income and for "position in society", dreams of a diplomatic career, which seems to him the most suitable occupation. In early 1812 he arrived in St. Petersburg, where Olenin got him a job at the Public Library.
The war of 1812 was a shock to Batyushkov. He could not comprehend how the French, this “most enlightened” people, committed atrocities in the occupied lands: “There is no Moscow! Irrevocable losses! The death of friends, the shrine, the peaceful refuge of science, everything is defiled by a band of barbarians! These are the fruits of enlightenment, or rather, the debauchery of the most witty people... How much evil! When will it end? On what do you base your hopes?
Illness did not allow Batyushkov to immediately take part in hostilities. In Moscow, he ended up on the eve of the battle of Borodino, then he was forced to leave with his aunt Muravyova for Nizhny Novgorod and ended up in Moscow after the departure of the French. From here he wrote to Gnedich: “The terrible deeds of the vandals, or the French, in Moscow and its environs ... completely upset my little philosophy and quarreled me with humanity.” In a message to Dashkov My friend, I have seen the sea of evil, there is nothing left of sweet dreams, but there is only the truth of an eyewitness of terrible events:
I saw poor mothers
From the dear homeland of the expelled!
I saw them at the crossroads
How, like pressing the chest children to the Persians,
They wept in despair
And looked with new awe
The sky is rye all around.
To Dashkov- in fact, the rejection of the early Epicurean lyrics, and the new theme of national disaster imperiously invades his poetic world, which from now on is split into the ideal and the real.
The war also influenced the poetic form of Batyushkov's writings. The pure genre of elegy was not well suited to describe the war, and it begins to gravitate towards the ode. For example, in poetry Crossing the Rhine(1816) or Castle ruins in Sweden(1814), where the odic and elegiac beginnings are intricately intertwined, and, according to the literary critic B. Tomashevsky, “in this monumental elegy, the poet’s spiritual outpourings are clothed in the form of historical memories and reflections on the past.” "A meditative elegy with historical content" can be called most of Batyushkov's best elegies.
As an adjutant to General N. Raevsky, he was sent to Dresden, where he participated in battles, and after the general was wounded, Weimar followed him. He returned to the active army by the end of the campaign, was present at the surrender of Paris, then lived in the capital of France for two months, carried away by her motley, colorful, despite wartime, life. Returning to his homeland both pleased and frightened, his mood became more and more anxious, sometimes he was overcome by bouts of despair and despondency. In one of the letters, he said that he should soon return to a country where it was so "cold that the wings froze over time." And in the poem The fate of Odysseus(free translation from Schiller, 1814) one can clearly see the analogies of the hero-wanderer from the epos of Homer with the author himself, who does not recognize his homeland:
It seemed that heaven was tired of punishing him
And quietly sleepy rushed
To the dear homelands of the long-desired rocks,
He woke up: so what? did not know the fatherland.
From Paris, through London and then Sweden, he returns to St. Petersburg, where he stays with the Olenin family and where another shock awaits him - he is forced to refuse marriage to A. Furman, doubting the sincerity of the feelings of his chosen one. At the end of 1815, he resigned and began preparing his works for publication, the collection of which he decided to call Experiences: 1st volume - prose, 2nd - poetry. Actively participates in the literary life of Moscow. In 1816 he was elected a member of the Moscow Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, and at the entrance he delivers a keynote speech. On the influence of light poetry on the Russian language. In it, he formulated the ideal of light poetry based on clarity, harmony, and simplicity of language: “In a light kind of poetry, the reader requires possible perfection, purity of expression, harmony in style, flexibility, smoothness; he demands truth in feelings and the preservation of the strictest propriety in all respects. “Clarity, fluency, precision, poetry and... and... and... as few Slavonic words as possible,” he wrote back in 1809.
In St. Petersburg, he becomes a member of the Free Society of Lovers of Literature. And, finally, in October 1816 he was included in Arzamas, a society in which all his friends Karamzinists, opponents of the conservative Conversations of the Russian Word, headed by Shishkov, united.
1816–1817 is the period of Batyushkov's greatest fame. And although life around him seems to be in full swing, and he himself is at the zenith of both fame and creative powers, the theme of enjoying life, intoxication with poetry and nature fades into the background, and the motives of despondency, disappointment, doubt appear with a special, aching force. This is especially noticeable in, perhaps, Batyushkov's most famous elegy. Dying Tass (1817):
And with the name of love the divine went out;
Friends above him wept in silence,
The day was slowly burning down ... and the bells were ringing
Spread the news of sadness around the haystacks.
“Our Torquato is dead! Rome exclaimed with tears.
A singer worthy of a better life has died! .. "
The next morning, torches saw gloomy smoke
And the Capitol was covered with mourning.
Batyushkov not only highly appreciated the work of the Italian poet, but found or foresaw much in common in their destinies. So, in the author's note to the elegy, he wrote: “Tass, like a sufferer, wandered from region to region, did not find a place for himself, carried his sufferings everywhere, suspected everyone and hated his life as a burden. Tass, a cruel example of fortune and the wrath of fortune, retained his heart and imagination, but lost his mind.
It was not for nothing that Batyushkov said: "The alien is my treasure." Brought up in French literature, learning the elegiac direction from the French poet Parny, he was especially inspired by Italian poetry. V. Belinsky wrote: “The fatherland of Petrarch and Tassa was the fatherland of the muse of the Russian poet. Petrarch, Ariost and Tasso, especially the latter, were Batyushkov's favorite poets. Ancient poetry was also his home. Arrangements and translations of the Roman poet Tibullus, free translations of Greek poets ( From the Greek anthology), and the original poems of the poet, perhaps, are distinguished by their special musicality, richness of sound precisely because the author perceived other languages as native, because, in the words of O. Mandelstam, “poetry grape meat” “accidentally refreshed the language” Batyushkov.
His ideal was to achieve the ultimate musicality in the Russian language. Contemporaries perceived his language as smooth, sweet. Pletnev wrote in 1924: “Batyushkov ... created for us that elegy that Tibulla and Propertsia made interpreters of the language of graces. Every verse breathes with feeling; his genius at heart. It inspired him with its own language, which is tender and sweet, like pure love...”.
1816–1817 Batyushkov spends most of his time at his Khantonov estate, working on Experiences in poetry and prose. Experiences- the only collection of his works in which he was directly involved. consisted Experiences from two parts. The first includes articles on Russian poetry ( Speech about the influence of light poetry on the Russian language), essays on Kantemir, Lomonosov; travel essays ( An excerpt from the letters of a Russian officer about Finland, Journey to Sirey Castle); reasoning on philosophical and moral topics ( Something about morality based on philosophy and religion, About the best properties of the heart), articles about their favorite poets - Ariost and Tass, petrarch. In the second part - poems arranged by sections, or genres: "Elegies", "Messages", "Mixture" ... Experiences, a kind of summing up, was published in October 1817, and Batyushkov hoped to start a new life, continuing to fuss about a diplomatic career and striving for Italy. Finally, he receives the long-awaited news of his appointment to the Russian mission in Naples, and on November 19, 1818, he goes abroad through Warsaw, Vienna, Venice and Rome.
However, the journey did not bring the long-awaited peace and healing. On the contrary, his health was deteriorating, he suffered from "rheumatic" pains, various ailments, became irritable, quick-tempered. While in Dresden, he writes a letter of resignation. Zhukovsky met him there, who said that Batyushkov tore up what he had written earlier and said: “Something must happen to mine.”
Even before mental illness completely consumed him, Batyushkov wrote several poems, a kind of short lyrical sayings on philosophical topics. A line from the latter, written in 1824, reads as follows:
Man is born a slave
Will lie down as a slave in the grave,
And death will hardly tell him
Why did he walk through the valley of wondrous tears,
Suffered, sobbed, endured, disappeared.
Apparently, the madness that overtook him had hereditary causes and had been waiting for a long time. No wonder in 1810 he wrote to Gnedich: "If I live another ten years, I will go crazy ...".
Alas, that is what happened. In 1822 Batyushkov was already seriously ill, and after St. Petersburg, the Caucasus, the Crimea, Saxony and again Moscow, where all attempts at treatment were in vain, he was transferred to Vologda, where he lived for more than 20 years, not recognizing anyone, and died 7 (19) July 1855 for typhus.
The elegy as a genre of new romantic literature was picked up from the hands of Batyushkov, who was completing his career, by Pushkin and Baratynsky. As for Pushkin, at first he considered Batyushkov his teacher and read his poems. Later, he began to be more critical, "respecting" "the misfortunes and unripe hopes in him", while at the same time paying tribute to the skill and harmony with which many of his poems were written. A. Bestuzhev wrote: “A new school of our poetry begins with Zhukovsky and Batyushkov. Both of them comprehended the secret of our majestic harmonic language...”
Editions: Experiences in poetry and prose. M., Nauka, 1978.
Natalia Karamysheva
Konstantin Nikolayevich Batyushkov, born on May 29 (Old Style 18) May 1787 in Vologda, came from an old, but not noble and not particularly rich, noble family. Obviously, there was heredity in the family regarding mental illness; mother soon after the birth of the future poet went mad.
Batyushkov spent his childhood in the family village of Danilovsky, Bezhetsky district, Novgorod province. He received an excellent home education, and from the age of ten he studied in St. Petersburg boarding schools. Batyushkov was considered one of the educated people of that time, he spoke French, Italian, Latin and German.
The most important role in the education of the poet was played by his cousin, the writer M.N. Muravyov, at that time - the curator of Moscow University. He was a man of remarkable intelligence and talent, whose house Derzhavin, Lvov, Olenin, Kapnist, Karamzin and other famous writers visited. In this atmosphere, the views of the young man, his literary taste were formed, his horizons developed, the boundaries of knowledge expanded. From 1802 to 1806 Batyushkov lived in his uncle's house and served as a clerk in his office at the Ministry of Public Education.
In 1805, Batyushkov made his debut in print with the satire "Message to My Poems." He published in St. Petersburg magazines and became a member of the Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Sciences and Arts.
Meanwhile, the general patriotic movement that arose after the battle of Austerlitz, where Russia suffered a severe defeat, fascinated Batyushkov, in 1807 he enlisted in the militia, participated in the Russian campaign against Napoleon - in a campaign against Prussia, then in a war with Sweden. All this time, however, he did not stop writing.
In connection with a serious injury, Batyushkov receives leave. He went to his father's village, to Danilovskoe. But because of the second marriage of his father and the family split, he and his sisters had to move to the village of their late mother, Khantonovo, Cherepovets district. Here he is actively engaged in literary work. The satire "Vision on the banks of Lethe" was written, which determined the poet's attitude to the literary struggle of those years. The satire quickly became widespread and caused displeasure of the "Old Believers" ridiculed in it, the supporters of A. Shishkov. The fact that he had enemies, Batyushkov found out already in Moscow, where he moved from the village at the end of 1809. Here new acquaintances awaited him, which determined a lot in his later life and literary activity. He became friends with a group of young followers and admirers of Karamzin, who later became members of the Arzamas literary association. These were Vasily Lvovich Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Vyazemsky. Batyushkov also met Karamzin himself. He finally joins the ranks of the Karamzinists, whose struggle against the Shishkovists, who had already been ridiculed by him, then became especially acute.
Batyushkov retires and lives on the income from the estate, spending time either in Moscow or in Khantonovo. But these incomes are not too much, and the thought of the need for a service career does not leave the young man. He dreamed not of clerical, but of diplomatic activity, which would give him the opportunity to visit Europe.
At the beginning of 1812 Batyushkov arrived in St. Petersburg. Director of the Public Library A.N. Olenin, an acquaintance of the poet from previous years, arranged for him to be an assistant curator of manuscripts. (Batyushkov worked in the library for a short time, but a few years later, no longer working, he was elected an honorary librarian.)
Soon Batyushkov becomes the recognized head of the so-called "light poetry". The chanting of the joys of earthly life, friendship, love is combined in his friendly messages with the assertion of the poet's inner freedom, his independence. The message "My Penates" (1811-1812) becomes the program work of this kind.
Meanwhile, the Patriotic War of 1812 began. Batyushkov, despite his health, which was upset by the injury, did not want to stay away from the fight against Napoleon. In 1813, he returned to military service, took part in fierce battles, in particular in the famous "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig (at that time the poet was adjutant to General N.N. Raevsky Sr.), and as part of the Russian army, in 1814 ends up in Paris. Thus, Batyushkov became an eyewitness and participant in the greatest historical events.
The events of the war, the capture and destruction of Moscow, personal upheavals cause Batyushkov's spiritual crisis. He is disappointed in the ideas of enlightenment philosophy. His poetry is painted in increasingly sad tones (elegies "Separation", "Shadow of a Friend"). He also reflected his impressions of the war in the poems “Captured”, “On the ruins of a castle in Sweden”, “Crossing the Rhine”, in the essays “Recollection of places, battles and travels”, “Journey to Sirey Castle”.
Returning to St. Petersburg, the poet is fond of Anna Furman, who lived in the Olenin family. Having received the girl's consent to marriage, he, however, refuses it himself, realizing, obviously, that this consent is not determined by love. The novel left a bitter aftertaste in the poet's soul; to this failure was added failure in service, and Batyushkov, who had been haunted by hallucinations several years ago, finally plunged into a heavy and depressing apathy, intensified by his stay in a remote province, in Kamenetz-Podolsk, where he had to go with his regiment.
At this time (1815-1817) his talent flashed with particular brightness, for the last time before weakening and finally fading away, which he always foresaw. He refuses satires and epigrams, philosophical and religious reflections, motives of tragic love, the eternal discord of the artist-creator with reality appear in his work more and more often. Elegies were written: “My Genius”, “Tavrida”, “Hope”, “To a Friend”, “Awakening”, “Last Spring”, “Dying Tass”, “Arbor of the Muses”, part of the poems of the cycle “From the Greek Anthology”. In 1817, the collection "Experiments in Poetry and Prose" was published, which was a great success with the reader. The first prose volume contains essays, translations, moral-philosophical articles, literary-theoretical discussions, studies on the writers of the past, and the first art history essay in Russian literature. The second volume contains poems grouped by genre.
These years are also the period of the greatest literary fame of Batyushkov. He is considered the first poet of Russia, he is elected a member of the Moscow Society of Lovers of Russian Literature; at the introduction at the meeting of the Society, his speech “On the influence of light poetry on the language” was read. After the publication of "Experiments in verse and prose" he becomes an honorary member of the Free Society of Lovers of Literature in St. Petersburg. But the association closest to Batyushkov was Arzamas.
In 1816, Batyushkov retired and settled in Moscow, occasionally visiting St. Petersburg or the countryside. But gradually heredity began to make its own adjustments to the life of the poet. The first signs of mental disorder appeared. In 1818, friends secured a place for him at the Russian mission in Naples, where he went with the hope of recovery. Batyushkov patronizes the colony of Russian artists, continues to write and translates from Byron. However, it quickly became clear that the service was not going well, the first enthusiastic impressions were experienced, the poet began to yearn. In 1821, he decided to give up both service and literature, received an indefinite leave, and soon moved to Germany. Here Batyushkov sketches out his last poetic lines, full of bitter meaning - "The Testament of Melchesidek" - and burns everything that he wrote in Italy.
In 1822 he returned to Russia already sick. It was persecution mania. Attempts at treatment have not been successful, the mental disorder is intensifying. In 1823 Batyushkov burned down his library and attempted suicide three times. In 1824, his sister takes him to a psychiatric hospital in Saxony; however, treatment for three years is ineffective.
From 1828 to 1832 Batyushkov lives with relatives in Moscow, then he is transported to relatives in Vologda. Here, on July 19 (old style 7), 1855, the poet dies of typhus. He was buried in the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery near Vologda.
K. N. Batyushkov (1787 - 1855)
"Poet of joy" according to Pushkin's will
The future founder of the Anacreontic trend in Russian lyrics was born into a well-born noble family in 1787 in Vologda. He spent his childhood near Bezhetsk in the Danilovskoye estate in the Tver province. A descendant of an old family at an early age lost his mother, who went crazy and died in 1795, when the boy was only 8. Having received a brilliant home education, and then studying in private foreign boarding schools in St. Petersburg, he freely mastered French. In the original, he reads Voltaire, whose cynical mind for a long time became for Batyushkov the most fascinating reflection of the Age of Enlightenment.
The poet spoke many foreign languages and gained fame as a polyglot. Since 1802, he lives under the same roof with his uncle M. Muravyov, a famous educator and writer who played a decisive role in the formation of the poet's personality. The debut in print took place with satirical verses called "Message to my verses."
Self-portrait of Batyushkov: “sometimes healthy, then ill at death”
The poet succeeded in the genre of satire as well as possible - from his pen came numerous accusatory epigrams, “Message to Chloe”, “To Filisa”. Carefully and with interest studying the literature and philosophy of the French Enlightenment, the Italian Renaissance and ancient poetry, he became the author of "Bacchae", "Merry Hour" and the message "My Penates" to Vyazemsky and Zhukovsky.
Subsequently, finding himself with the Russian army in Europe, when the defeat of Napoleon became obvious, Batyushkov created the essay “Journey to the Sirey Castle”. According to legend, the owner of the castle, Marquis Emilia du Chatelet, hospitably received Voltaire here, where the Ferney sage spent the years of exile. However, Batyushkov is extremely incomprehensible to the thirst for honors and glory of Voltaire, and the 27-year-old poet renounced the greedy curiosity and vanity of the French Enlightenment.
However, summing up the line of conscious life, Batyushkov writes:
Man was born a slave
Will lie down as a slave in the grave.
Poet of Pushkin's time
The author of My Penates spent the last 30 years of his life in madness, crushed by either persecution mania or megalomania, and only before his death, having settled in quiet Vologda, Batyushkov calmed down a bit and read newspapers about the Crimean War with curiosity. Over the years, the poet’s reading circle expanded significantly: Rousseau’s heart-searcher, the inquisitive Montaigne, the singer of the sorrows of love Guys, whom Batyushkov willingly translated into a great and powerful language, slightly softening the mischievous erotica of the Frenchman.
Based on one of Parny's works, Batyushkov wrote The Bacchante in 1815, which especially delighted Pushkin, who considered Batyushkov's work "better and more alive than the original." French culture, in which the notorious boarding house Zhakino became a strong impetus for immersion, became the cradle of Batyushkov, but later he dramatically changed his attitude towards it, preferring the Italian Renaissance and antiquity.
So, by 1801, Batyushkov had already moved to the Tripoli boarding school for an in-depth study of the melodic language, the elegance of which prompts Batyushkov to look for lyrical softness in Russian poetry. Batyushkov tries to find sonority and purity, sunny clarity, excited passion after the harsh odes of Lomonosov, the ingenuous style of Derzhavin and the gentle verses of Zhukovsky.
For Batyushkov, this turned out to be a difficult task, from which he even came to despair, calling himself ridiculous in his conscience in an attempt to sing praises on the balalaika, having heard the virtuoso on the harp. Batyushkov called the Russian language balalaika, considering it harsh. Batyushkov did not lack friendly attention: he had warm relations with Olenin, Turgenev, Zhukovsky, Vyazemsky. However, none of them could influence the course of his life. With all his gracious courtesy and modesty, Batyushkov was so original that the true content of his life was a mystery to everyone.
A poet with a "kind face like a heart"
In 1814, he wrote the elegy "The Shadow of a Friend", which was born upon the return of Batyushkov from England. Readers are presented with the woeful complaints of a subtle sentimentalist, in whom the memory of the heart is still alive. We also see the flights of a romantic who denies the boundaries of life and death. According to the testament of critics, Batyushkov cannot be placed in any of the well-known literary traditions. His elegies contain tender sensibility, Shakespearean force of passion, and gloomy bitterness. However, everything is based on a deep fidelity to feeling, characteristic of Italian poetry and Russian consciousness.
N.V. Friedman wrote Batyushkov's Poetry, in which he studied in detail the artistic method and style of the author, gave him the highest rating and put him on a par with the greatest poets of the century. He was also friendly with Pushkin, but he was afraid of his windiness, love of life, but most of all his reckless generosity in the constant waste of himself.
Batyushkov survived a spiritual crisis, which resulted in the works “To a Friend”, “Hope”, and in the elegy genre, the motives of unrequited love (“My Genius”, “Separation”) are noted, and in the poems “The Saying of Melchizedek” and “Dying Tass” high tragedy . Remaining in his dreams as a "poet of joy", Batyushkov confessed in the message "To Friends":
He lived exactly as he wrote ...
Neither good nor bad!
Batyushkov Konstantin Nikolayevich (1787-1855) - one of the finest Russian poets of his time. For a long time he headed the movement of Anacreonist poets, was a very famous figure in literary circles. Today, his name is almost forgotten, few people know that such a wonderful writer once lived. Let's correct this injustice.
Batyushkov: biography
The future writer was born on May 18 in the city of Vologda, in an old but impoverished noble family. He was the first son, before him four daughters were born to the Batyushkovs. Konstantin turned out to be a long-awaited boy.
The poet's father, Nikolai Lvovich, was an educated man, but his character was greatly spoiled by resentment against the government because of the disgrace that befell the Batyushkovs due to the participation of a relative in a conspiracy against Catherine II. Konstantin did not have time to recognize his mother, Alexandra Grigoryevna (nee Berdyaev), she fell seriously ill when the boy was only six years old, and soon died. Her ailment was mental and passed on to the writer himself and his older sister.
The childhood of little Kostya passed in the family estate, which was located in the village of Danilovsky. But after the death of his mother, he was sent to the St. Petersburg boarding house O. Zhakino. Only at the age of 16 Batyushkov was able to leave this educational institution. At this time, he actively begins to engage in literature, reads a lot in French, masters Latin perfectly in order to study classical texts in the original.
Independent life in the capital
Batyushkov Konstantin Nikolaevich decides to stay in the capital. At first, his uncle, M. N. Muravyov, helps him. He arranges a young man in 1802 in the Ministry of Public Education. Then, in 1804, the writer moved to serve in Muravyov's office at Moscow University, where he held the position of clerk.
During these years, Batyushkov became close to some of his colleagues, many of whom began to adjoin the Karamzin government and eventually founded the "Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Sciences and Arts." N. Gnedich and I. Pnin became his closest friends. Thanks to their influence, the future poet begins to try his hand at writing.
In 1805, Batyushkov's first poem, "Message to My Poems", was published in the journal "News of Russian Literature".
Civil uprising
In 1807, despite his father's protests, he enlisted in the Batyushkov militia. Poems in these years fade into the background for a young man. On February 22 of the same year, he was appointed hundredth in a police battalion and sent to Prussia. Since May, Batyushkov begins to take an active part in hostilities. Soon he gets seriously injured and goes to Riga for treatment. For his heroism he receives the Order of St. Anne, 3rd class.
While the treatment lasted, the writer fell in love with Emilia, the daughter of a local merchant. However, the love interest did not continue, as only two poems remained of his memory: “Memoirs of 1807” and “Recovery”.
By 1808, the writer was physically strong and was returned to the service. This time he ended up in the Guards Jaeger Regiment, which was sent to the war with Sweden. After returning from the campaign, he took a vacation and went to visit unmarried sisters who lived in the Novgorod province. At this time, the maternal "inheritance" began to appear - Batyushkov became more and more impressionable, sometimes it came to hallucinations. The writer himself believed that in ten years he would finally go crazy.
Return to the light
In December 1809, Muravyov invited his nephew to Moscow. Batyushkov returns to the world with great joy. The biography of the writer tells us that he had many friends among the people of art, whom he met in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Especially close at this time the writer got along with P. Vyazemsky and V. Pushkin.
But his acquaintance with V. Zhukovsky and N. Karamzin became fateful for him, the latter very soon realized how talented the young man was, and highly appreciated his work. In 1810, having received a resignation from the regiment, at the invitation of Karamzin, he went to rest in the fate of the Vyazemsky Batyushki. The poet's poems in these years are becoming more and more popular, this explains the desire of noble nobles to see him as a guest.
In 1813, the writer moved to St. Petersburg, where he got a job at the Public Library. He continues to meet new people and lead an active social life.
Unhappy love
In 1815 Batyushkov fell in love a second time. The biography says that this time his chosen one was a secular lady - Anna Furman. However, the writer quickly realized that the girl did not reciprocate, and was ready to marry only at the will of her guardians. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Konstantin Nikolaevich could not get a transfer to the guard. All this led to a severe nervous breakdown, which lasted several months.
A new blow for the writer was the death of his father in 1817, with whom he had always been on bad terms. Feelings of guilt and unsuccessful love prompted him to turn to religion, in which he saw the only way for a person to maintain his high moral and spiritual position.
During these difficult years, Batyushkov was greatly helped by Zhukovsky, who constantly supported the poet and urged him to continue writing. This helped, and Batyushkov again took up the pen. A year later, he returned to Moscow, where close friends and acquaintances were waiting for him.
Italy
In 1818, the Russian poet Batyushkov went to Odessa for treatment. Here he received a letter from A. Turgenev, who managed to secure a place for a friend in Naples on a diplomatic mission. Konstantin Nikolayevich dreamed of visiting Italy for many years, but the news did not please him. At this time, he experienced a strong disappointment in life, and the news only worsened the situation.
Despite these sentiments, in 1819 Batyushkov arrived in Italy. This country made a strong impression on him. He met many interesting people, including Russian artists who lived in Rome. But happiness did not last long, and soon the poet began to miss his homeland.
The writer's health did not improve, so in 1821 he went to Germany on the waters. His mental illness manifested itself more and more, Batyushkov began to suspect that some enemies were following him. The poet spent the winter of 1821 and all of 1822 in Dresden. At this time, he wrote the best, according to critics, poem - "The Testament of Melchizedek."
Final years and death
In 1822, Batyushkov began to lose his mind (the biography confirms this). He returns to his homeland. For some time he lives in St. Petersburg, and then goes on a trip to the Caucasus and Crimea. During the trip, he tried to commit suicide several times.
In 1824, thanks to the financial assistance of Alexander I, the poet was placed in a private psychiatric hospital in Saxony. Here he spent 4 years, but the treatment did not bring any benefit. Therefore, his relatives decided to transport him to Moscow. At home, Batyushkov Konstantin Nikolayevich felt better, acute attacks practically disappeared, and the disease receded for a short time.
In 1833, the writer was transferred to the house of his nephew, who lived in Vologda. Here Batyushkov spent the rest of his days. The poet died on July 7, 1855.
Konstantin Batyushkov: interesting facts
Here are some interesting moments from the writer's life:
- Pushkin called the poet his teacher and bowed before his work, especially highlighting the early period.
- The main principle of Batyushkov when writing a work was: "Live as you write, and write as you live."
- In 1822, the poet wrote his last work, he was only 35 years old.
- Batyushkov lived the last 22 years of his life, completely losing his mind.
Features of creativity
Konstantin Batyushkov did a lot for Russian literature and poetic language. Poems about love, usually sad and sad, that is why they were so popular among contemporaries. The poet succeeded in transforming his native language, making it more flexible and harmonious. Belinsky believed that it was only thanks to the works of Batyushkov and Zhukovsky that Pushkin managed to achieve such lightness and grace in his poetry.
The main advantage of Konstantin Nikolaevich's poems lies in the perfection of their form, the purity and correctness of the language, and the always sustained artistic style. Batyushkov worked long and hard on every word, often correcting what was written. At the same time, he tried to maintain sincerity, avoiding any artificiality and tension.
Crucial moment
Batyushkov Konstantin Nikolayevich often turned to the past in his works. Nature poems were usually interspersed with ancient mythological traditions. His early work is usually called Epicurean (or Anacreontic). The poet tried to reproduce the light and elegant style of the ancient writers, but believed that the Russian language was still too rough for this. Although critics acknowledged that in this area he achieved significant success.
But the cheerful Epicurean poetry did not attract Batyushkov for long. After the war of 1812, in which the poet participated, his worldview changed a lot. He considered the French Enlightenment to be the cause of Napoleonic deeds. And he considered the trials that befell Russia to be the accomplishment of her historical mission. At this time, his poems change greatly. There is no more lightness and carelessness in them, they talk about reality - the war, the soul of the Russian soldier, the strength of the people's character. The best poem of this period is considered "Crossing the Rhine".
Let's answer the question of in which direction of poetry Konstantin Batyushkov became famous, as it is asked most often. As already mentioned, this is an Anacreontic (or Epicurean) lyric. Its distinctive features are lightness, carelessness, joy, chanting of life and enjoying it.
Prose
Batyushkov was known not only as a poet, his prose was also highly appreciated by his contemporaries. According to them, the main advantage of his works was a pure, figurative and vivid language. However, the writer turned to prose much later than his literary career began. This happened after a creative break, so religious and philosophical issues are often raised in these works. Batyushkov paid great attention to the theoretical problems of literature (“Something about a poet and poetry”, “Speech about the influence of light poetry on language”).
Now we see that the significance of the writer's works for the development of Russian literature cannot be overestimated.