Miroslav Nemirov. All about Poetry 6

All about Poetry 6
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Miroslav Nemirov

Publication date: December 6, 2000

Acrostic

Turaev 1988 :

"(From the Greek akros - extreme and stichos - verse). A poem in which the initial letters of each line, read from top to bottom, form a word, often a name.

A. was known back in the 6th century BC among the ancient Greeks. This kind of construction can also be found in prose. In ancient writing, when the name of the author was not indicated in the work, A. was often used at the end of the text, covertly designating the author of the work.

Here is the beginning of A. Valery Bryusov, written by a Russian poet of the 20th century. M.A.Kuzmin (1875-1936):

The waves rush their furious surf,
And the rocks all stand unshakable.
An eagle flies past pathetic sights,
Hardly anyone will order him: stop!
The striking sword is ready for mortal combat,
And the call of the trumpet sounds tirelessly.
Huddled in the shadows, hisses implacably
The powerless chorus of enemies is despised by you,

etc. The initial letters make up the words “To Valery Bryusov”.

In modern poetry, A. is rare and, as a rule, has no artistic significance."

- V. Nikonov .

* * *

In Soviet times, the poet F. Chuev became famous for the act of writing A.

He managed to publish a poem, innocent in content, but from the first letters of which it turned out something like “Glory to Stalin” or something like that. In the times of Khrushchev, when this was impossible.

There was a big scandal.

More precisely, there was a small scandal.

More precisely, I think there was no scandal at all, but on the contrary: not only F. Chuev did not suffer from this daring sabotage, but, one must think, something like “Well done” was said to his face by the terrible, but kind inside bosses ! But it’s too early. It’s not time yet!”

Aksakov, Konstantin

Critic, publicist, one of the founders of Slavophilism (1817-1860). Son of the famous writer S. Aksakov. And he loved daddy very much. He loved him so much that “full of strength and health, with a heroic physique, Konstantin Aksakov was literally struck down by the death of his father, which followed on April 30, 1859. There was no more “little bitch” - so affectionately, a diminutive of the word “father”, they called Sergei Timofeevich in their family The son’s attachment to his father was so great that he could not bear the loss. The unbearable melancholy that gripped him soon turned into consumption. He was taken abroad for treatment, where he died on the Greek island of Zante on the night of December 7, 1860" (Kurilov A. . Konstantin and Ivan Aksakov. - in the book: Aksakov K.S., Aksakov I.S., Literary criticism - M.: Sovremennik, 1981).

- Well, why are my laughs and all sorts of irony here? Not good!

- Not good. But still, he loved me a little too much. In the sense that the love for the “asshole” had completely blinded A.’s eyes, and he based his entire critical concept on this love. Which consisted of the following provisions - all Russian post-Karamzin literature is a complete nonsense, all these countless Pushkins and the like are only apes, imitation of the West and sycophancy before foreign countries, therefore only emptyness and nonsense; but still, not everything is so bad: in the middle of this desert there is still one mighty giant oak tree, which alone grows from truly popular roots and expresses the national spirit, and so on.

- Who is this Oak, full of folk roots?

- Like who? Yes, our asshole!

Here he is, of course, a little too much. S. Aksakov, of course, is a good writer, but...

Am I exaggerating, as always?

I'll exaggerate a little.

I'm sharpening it.

But I’m not making this up! But I just give A.’s soft and cautious statements, which are increasingly using hints and circumlocutions, a sharp form.

If anyone doesn’t believe it, but wants to turn to the primary sources, then I refer him to the article “Review of Modern Literature” (1857).

If someone does not want to refer to the article, but is ready to be satisfied only with quotes, then the quotes are as follows:

“Our literature is a collection of alien forms, various echoes and nothing more. That is why forms, not established on a solid thought, change so quickly, that is why reflections and reflections, devoid of light and brilliance, constantly shimmer.”

AND:

“The poets believed in the poetry they acquired from Western Europe, they wrote sincerely in someone else’s style, and the poems were written sonorously, cheerfully, and the public listened to and repeated them with pleasure.”

AND:

"The last Russian poet of the imitative period, Lermontov..."

Etc.

But:

"The works of S.T. Aksakov stand completely apart in our literature. We do not talk about them, for a very clear reason. Everything that we say in our article about literature has nothing to do with the works of S.T. Aksakov, which require special definition, special assessment and have their own special meaning among our literature."

Like this.

* * *

Or this.

I. Aksakov, the younger brother and also a Slavophile, but an active personality, in contrast to his older brother Konstantin, who sat in Moscow and only reasoned, - “in the fall of 1854, the heroic defense of Sevastopol by Russian troops began in the Crimean War, and on February 18, 1855, Ivan Aksakov , who, as he wrote to his parents, was “ashamed” to be at home when “people are fighting and sacrificing,” enlists in the Serpukhov militia squad. Together with the squad, he makes a campaign to Odessa and further to Bessarabia. Then he worked in the commission for some time. to investigate quartermaster abuses during the war."

And he writes from Crimea to his older brother, horrified by what he saw: the atrocities committed by the Russian army against the Russian population after the war - on the territory “liberated” from the Anglo-French occupiers:

“You cannot imagine what a bad memory the Russian army left behind. It was pure robbery, robbery, carried out not by soldiers, but by officers and generals. The military and civil authorities, the tribe of serving military and civil officials, clearly formed a common conspiracy to plunder the region , treasuries, residents and unfortunate soldiers. - The French and the British (except for Kerch, where the Anglo-Turkish legion operated) almost did not loot anywhere. After the defeat of our troops near Alma, they (our troops. - M.N. ) retreated in disarray. Indulging in the most frantic robbery. I was, by the way, at Count Bibikov’s dacha on Belbek, I saw all these sad traces of destruction. Allied (Anglo-French - M.N. ) troops also passed here when they marched to the southern side of Sevastopol, but They didn’t do any harm. One Englishman even forgot his books , Kipseki, at this dacha. But what was the Uhlan reserve division of Korf (Russian - M.N. ) It even became a proverb when you remember! what cynicism reached the passion for acquisition, for lining one's pocket, when people died in the thousands. There, on the walls of Sevastopol, they act as heroes; on the north side, in Bakhchisaray, Simferopol - orgies of debauchery with stolen money! It is clear that one could not expect any other result of the war other than disgrace; It is clear that they could not defend the fortress, surrounded only on three sides and constantly maintaining connections and relations with all of Russia, with an army that was not locked within walls, as in Karas, for example, but standing outside the city, on the enemy’s flank. It turns out that all of Russia could not defend Sevastopol. It’s just shameful to brag about the defense of Sevastopol.”

- in the book: Aksakov I.S. Letters from the provinces. Present day in the Judicial Chamber. - M.: Pravda, 1991, p. 408 . - Then there are many more facts and observations.

The Slavophiles, however, were not horrified by this. Because this is nonsense, trifles, and the main thing is this: “On April 10, 1855, Konstantin and Ivan’s sister Vera Aksakova wrote in her diary: “There are also rumors that the sovereign ... wants to give chamberlains and chamber cadets instead of uniforms. .. people's caftans and they even say that they will be renamed stolniks and key keepers... In St. Petersburg society they are already talking about sundresses... It would be good if it were true! " (Quoted from Kozhinov V. Tyutchev. - M. : Young Guard (ZhZL), 1988).

In short, aesthetics, and of the worst kind, that’s what it is. Aestheticism, that was the main driving force of both the Westerners and the Slavophiles - both of them did not like the life around them, primarily for aesthetic reasons: those around them did not meet their ideas about the beautiful, only one - Peter I and the Westerners - thought that the beautiful - this is when everyone around is in beards and camisoles, as in a foreign picture, others - that no, everything is bullshit and nonsense, the most important thing is that everyone should be in beards and kokoshniks, as in the illustrations to the epics about the times of Vladimir the Red Sun (which they themselves illustrated invented and drawn). The apotheosis of the nationality will be achieved if the chamberlains are renamed keykeepers.

Exclusive aesthetics was then the main driving force of all social movements in Russia, right up to the current transformations, the main idea of ​​which was to make everything around look like an advertisement from a foreign magazine.

I suppose so.

* * *

In fact, I'm cringing again.

You never know what the stupid woman wrote in her diary! Of course, the stupid aunt is primarily interested in sundresses and kokoshniks - but what do Slavophiles have to do with it, even if she is their relative?

It is true, yes. This is a fact: I’m distorting. But I want to distort it! For the sake of words...

And what about aesthetic views as the main (deep) driving force of all Russian socio-political movements and trends - I’m not joking, but I’m absolutely sure that this is the case.

The leaders themselves, in general, did not hide this:

How I hated the structure of this whole life,
Shamefully petty, wrong, ugly!

The main word is "ugly".

• Preface to the project. Avant-garde
• Avedon, Richard. Automation of receptions. "Automatic writing" Autonomy of the poem
• Propaganda poetry
• Agnosticism. Adamovich, Georgy. Aziza
• Aigi, Gennady. Acmeism