The history of the creation of the poem "12" by Alexander Blok

The history of the creation of the poem "12" takes its cue from one February day, which has become a turning point for the fate of Russia. Or maybe even earlier - since the time of the revolutionary circle of Peter Verkhovensky from "Demons" or the famous Pushkin "on the ruins of autocracy ...". Be that as it may, Blok's creation can be compared with the chronicle of those times - with an eye to the fact that the symbolist "Twelve" is very far from any objective reflection of events.

"Intelligentsia and Revolution"

The bloc was destined to witness the revolutionary events of 1917-1918 that took place in the cold Petrograd, as well as all the hardships they carried. So, the poet was even once arrested by representatives of the new government - for one day, which deeply struck Alexander. At the same time, he did not emigrate and even tried to join his life in revolutionary life. This enabled the researchers of past years to regard the poet as an ardent supporter of the October Revolution.

However, such a statement seems somewhat incorrect, if you pay attention to Blok's article "The Intelligentsia and Revolution," written in 1918. Unlike the "Twelve", who left Blok's true attitude to what was happening, the journalism dispelled all doubts of the public. Yes, Blok accepts the revolution, but without negative or positive assessments, considering the events of those times as a pattern that needed to be experienced.

"A terrible noise, growing in me and around"

The entire history of the creation of the poem "12" Blok consists in a handful of unnumbered sheets, which filled with a future masterpiece within a month. The work was written in one breath, when it was only a year after the February Revolution. According to Blok himself, the history of the creation of the poem "12" began with the phrase "I'll cut the knife!" The researchers established that the second chapter was originally written, followed by the sixth, seventh, eighth, and the final chord was the scene with Jesus Christ.

Without its deciphering the history of the creation of the poem "12" Blok looks incomplete. If the name of the work, which evokes associations with the apostles, existed from the beginning, then the appearance of Jesus was a spontaneous decision. Records of the poet from February 1918 testify to this: the Gospel image seemed to Blok in a snow blizzard. The poet's remark to the first illustrator of the Twelve, Yu. Annenkov, looks very mysterious: "If from the left upper corner of the Katya's assassination there was a thick snow and through it Christ, it would be an exhaustive cover."

"Today I'm a genius"

... So Block marked the end of work on his work. But does it mean that the story of the creation of the poem "12" ends here? Not at all. In March 1918, the poet's offspring saw the light, being originally printed in the newspaper "The Banner of Labor", and then leaving in a separate edition.

Despite the fact that later for the future generations of Soviet schoolchildren "Twelve" (Blok's poem), the history of its creation, images and plot were mandatory for memorization, initially the Bolsheviks reacted with distrust to it. Apparently, something strange in the creation of the classic of the Silver Age was guessed by him, almost counterrevolutionary.

"Served the cause of Antichrist?"

However, even the most cautious and hostile attitude to the poem of the representatives of the Soviet government was in no way comparable to the responses of the "old" intelligentsia. Thus, Gumilev directly stated that the poet, after completing the ending in the Gospel manner, "served the cause of Antichrist." The poet was declared a traitor, and Kolchak, during a conversation with Vyacheslav Ivanov, whether in jest or seriously, suggested that Blok be hanged when the White troops regained their power (although the truth of the latter fact is controversial). It is also known that Akhmatova refused to take part in literary evenings, if they were going to read Blok's poem. By the way, the poet himself rarely spoke with reading the Twelve. This involved his wife - very unfortunate, it should be noted.

The ironic thing ...

Such sharply negative reviews of critics can be understood: "Twelve", the poem of Blok, the history of the creation of a new man and state in place of the former Russia, caused the intelligentsia very gloomy forebodings. Part of the masters of the artistic word still remained on the side of the poet and tried to give his interpretation of his offspring. So, Viktor Shklovsky was one of the first to notice the peculiarity of the style of Blok's creation, linking it with the influence of Savoyarov's chanson popular in Russia. This feature, by the way, pointed out and Bunin - though in a negative context, calling the poet's work vulgar.

The history of the creation of the poem "12" was accompanied by grandiose events, which soon came to naught. After the noise of the revolution, Blok had an ominous silence. He practically did not write poems, many of his ideas remained unplanted. The death of the creative led to the death of the physical: the poet did not survive in 1921. They say that before death in delirium, he wished that his main creation-the poem "12"-be delivered to the fire. The history of the creation, briefly analyzed in our article, and Blok's delight at the work on the work are somewhat contradictory to this fact. As well as eyewitness accounts of the poet's departure into the world is the best.