Selected Poems: Alexander Blok by Alexander Blok

Selected Poems: Alexander Blok
by Alexander Blok

Progress Publishers Moscow 4702010100 
1981 Edition

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, IPA: [ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok]; 28 November [O.S. 16 November] 1880 – 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publicist, playwright, translator and literary critic.

This anthology showcases a selection of poems by the renowned Russian symbolist poet Alexander Blok. Blok's evocative and deeply personal verse explores themes of love, loss, revolution, and the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world.

Through his mastery of language and imagery, Blok captures the essence of the human experience, transcending time and cultural boundaries.

DID YOU KNOW?? A FEW FUN FACTS:
> Dmitri Shostakovich wrote a late song cycle for soprano and piano trio, Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok, Op. 127.
>> Mieczysław Weinberg wrote a song cycle for soprano and piano, Beyond the Border of Past Days, Op. 50.
> Arthur Lourié wrote a choral cantata, In the Sanctuary of Golden Dreams.
>> Alexander Blok was a favorite poet of Georgy Sviridov; such works as "Petersburg" (a vocal poem), "Nightly Clouds" (cantata) and "Songs From Hard Times" (concerto) were written to Blok's poetry.
> Yevgania Yosifovna Yakhina set several of Blok's poems to music.

Searching for modern language and new images, Blok used unusual sources for the poetry of Symbolism: urban folklore, ballads (songs of a sentimental nature) and ditties ("chastushka"). He was inspired by the popular chansonnier Mikhail Savoyarov, whose concerts during the years 1915–1920 were visited often by Blok.

Academician Viktor Shklovsky noted that the poem is written in criminal language and in ironic style.
Not unlike Savoyarov's couplets which Blok imitated the slang of 1918 Petrograd.