In Boundlessness
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''In Boundlessness'' () is a second major poetry collection by
Konstantin Balmont Konstantin Dmitriyevich Balmont ( rus, Константи́н Дми́триевич Ба́льмо́нт, p=, a=Konstantin Dmitriyevich Bal'mont.ru.vorb.oga; – 23 December 1942) was a Russian symbolist poet and translator who became one of ...
, first published in
1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...
in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. Following ''
Under the Northern Sky ''Under the Northern Sky'' is the first full-length album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Immortal Souls. This album was the last recording to be released by previous record label, '' Little Rose Productions'' in 2001. Recording ''Unde ...
'', it features 95 poems, some of which bear first signs of the author's experiments with the
Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
's musical and rhythmical structures he would later become famous for. The book came with an epigraph from
Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...
's ''
The Brothers Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' ( rus, Братья Карамазовы, Brat'ya Karamazovy, ˈbratʲjə kərɐˈmazəvɨ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly ...
'': "Kiss the earth and love tirelessly and insatiably; love everyone and everything, keep seeking delight and ecstasy." Balmont read ''
Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866.
'' at sixteen, and ''The Brothers Karamazov'' a year later. "It gave me more than any other book I've ever read," he later wrote of this novel. The initial reviews by mainstream critics were lukewarm, but the
Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
faction of the Russian artistic community embraced the book as an innovative work. In retrospect it is regarded as an important artistic statement that in many ways shaped the face of Russian
literary modernism Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...
.Makogonenko, Darya. The Life and Fate. Freface to The Selected Poems, Translations and Essays by K.D. Balmont. Pravda Publishers. 1990. // Д. Г. Макогоненко. — Жизнь и судьба. Бальмонт К. — Избранное: Стихотворения. Переводы. Статьи. — М. Правда, 1990. —


Notable poems

* "Okean" (Океан, Ocean). A poem dedicated to
Valery Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov ( rus, Вале́рий Я́ковлевич Брю́сов, p=vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbrʲusəf, a=Valyeriy Yakovlyevich Bryusov.ru.vorb.oga; – 9 October 1924) was a Russian poet, prose writer, drama ...
with whom Balmont (according to the former) was 'bound by a thread of both friendship and animosity'. The two, according to
Marina Tsvetayeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva ( rus, Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈta(j)ɪvə, links=yes; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is some of the most well-known in twentieth-century Russ ...
, "walked as pair... In those years once you've mentioned one, you couldn't help meaning the other one too. Balmont-Bryusov. Joint rulers." Tsvetayeva considered them the Russian Symbolism's '
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
-and-
Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarc ...
', each signifying an extreme end of artistry. "Balmont: utter and complete openness. Bryusov: toughness... Childish creator (Balmont) and labourer creator (Bryusov)... Joy of giving, Balmont. Joy of possessing, Bryusov." :
Maximilian Voloshin Maximilian Alexandrovich Kirienko-Voloshin (; May 28, O.S. May 16">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. May 161877 – August 11, 1932), commonly known as Max Voloshin, was a Russian poet. He w ...
described the same
antinomy In philosophy, an antinomy (Ancient Greek: 'against' + 'law') is a real or apparent contradiction between two conclusions, both of which seem justified. It is a term used in logic and epistemology, particularly in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. ...
as: "the poet-magician" (Balmont) and "the poet-conqueror, the poet empire-builder, bound to set laws and thrones" (Bryusov)." :Bryusov, the driving force behind the whole Russian Symbolist movement, has been hugely influenced by Balmont and was for a while admittedly under his spell. "It was through Balmont that the mystery of the poetry's musicality has been revealed to me," he wrote later. :Yet it was Bryusov who first noticed the early signs of crisis in Balmont's mid-1900s poetry and was quite open about it. In 1905 he wrote: "For a decade Balmont reigned supreme in our poetry. But now he dropped the scepter. We moved further afield. He stays where he was." Balmont was sure it was just 'jealousy' on behalf of Bryusov. "Tell Valery I do not send him my respects," he told his friends as he was departing from Russia in 1907. * "Ya mechtoyu lovil ukhodyashchiye teni..." (Я мечтою ловил уходящие тени..., I was dream-catching vanishing shadows...). A declaration of the poet's quest for artistic truth, through climbing up a symbolic stairway in pursuit of the unfathomable. "The symbolic method here is taken to the extreme of perfection," opined the critic
Ellis Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. It has also been noted to be a Jewish surname. People with the surname include ...
, who defined this method as "treating the real world as means to the end," the
spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...
of reflections," and "the temple of symbols propped by columns of life" which a poet enters in order to "seek eternity in fleeting things, and boundlessness in all things relative and limited." * "Voskres'shiy" (Воскресший, The Resurrected One). Re-evaluation of the early suicide attempt in the symbolist's terms. The poet feels the need to die (in reality, in history, et cetera) so as to recognize in him "the light of eternity."


References

{{Konstantin Balmont 1895 poetry books Russian poetry collections Poetry by Konstantin Balmont