Acmeism, or the Guild of Poets, was a

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

transient poetic school, which emerged or in 1912 in Russia under the leadership of

Nikolay Gumilev Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev (also Gumilyov; , ; – August 26, 1921) was a Russian poet, literary critic, traveler, and military officer. He was a co-founder of the Acmeist movement. He was the husband of Anna Akhmatova and the father of Lev ...

and

Sergei Gorodetsky Sergey Mitrofanovich Gorodetsky (; – June 8, 1967) was a Russian poet. He was one of the founders (together with Nikolay Gumilev) of "Guild of Poets" (). He was born in Saint Petersburg, and died in Obninsk. Gorodetsky entered the literary ...

. Their ideals were compactness of form and clarity of expression. The term was coined after the Greek word ἀκμή (''akmē''), i.e., "the best age of man". The acmeist mood was first announced by

Mikhail Kuzmin Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin () ( – March 1, 1936) was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, as well as a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Biography Born into a noble family in Yaroslavl, Kuzmin grew up in St. Petersb ...

in his 1910 essay "Concerning Beautiful Clarity". The acmeists contrasted the ideal of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

nian clarity (hence the name of their journal, ''

Apollon Apollon may refer to: * Apollo, ancient Greek god of light, healing and poetry * Apollon (Formula One), Formula One constructor * Apollon Kalamarias, Greek football club * Apollon Smyrnis F.C., a Greek football club from Athens * Apollon Pontou F ...

'') to "

Dionysian The Apollonian and the Dionysian are philosophical and literary concepts represented by a duality between the figures of Apollo and Dionysus from Greek mythology. Its popularization is widely attributed to the work ''The Birth of Tragedy'' by Fri ...

frenzy" propagated by the Russian symbolist poets like Bely and Vyacheslav Ivanov. To the Symbolists' preoccupation with "intimations through symbols" they preferred "direct expression through images". In his later manifesto "The Morning of Acmeism" (1913),

Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (, ; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school. Osip Mandelstam was arrested during the repressions of the 1930s and sent into internal exile wi ...

defined the movement as "a yearning for world culture". As a " neo-classical form of

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

", which essentialized "poetic craft and cultural continuity", the Guild of Poets placed

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

, Innokentiy Annensky, and the

Parnassian poets Parnassianism (or Parnassism) was a group of French poets that began during the positivist period of the 19th century (1860s–1890s), occurring after romanticism and prior to symbolism. The style was influenced by the author Théophile Gautie ...

among their predecessors. Major poets in this school include

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

, and Georgiy Ivanov. The group originally met in The Stray Dog Cafe, St. Petersburg, then a celebrated meeting place for artists and writers. Mandelstam's collection of poems ''Stone'' (1912) is considered the movement's finest accomplishment. Amongst the major acmeist poets, each interpreted acmeism in a different stylistic light, from Akhmatova's intimate poems on topics of love and relationships to Gumilev's narrative verse.

References

Russian poetry Literary movements Poets' guilds Russian literary movements 1910 introductions 20th-century literature 20th-century Russian literature {{lit-mov-stub

See also

References