Journal archive

Abstract: The article deals with the second edition of Alexander Blok’s “Verses on a Beautiful Lady” as part of the first volume of the poet’s “Collected Poems” published by the Moscow publishing house “Musaget” (1911). But what appeared before the readers was a completely different book, we could say, the new book in its poetics. No other volume in the collected poems was subjected to such a decisive revision as the first. First of all, this concerned the number of poems included in it. Blok meticulously dealt with the counting. A new thing was the designation of the chronological framework of the lyrical works included in the volume (1898–1904). Another difference was in the composition of the book. Instead of a three-part structure in the first edition, where each part had its own name, this one had seven parts. This approach reflected the formation and evolution of the main character of this “novel in verse”. Perhaps, among many other reasons for the radical changes in the volume was the fact that in 1909–1910 Blok recalled his first love – K. M. Sadovskaya. The name Sadovskaya arose not without connection with L. D. Mendeleeva. Blok re-creates the origins of his central symbol – the Beautiful Lady. Sadovskaya was one of the first “prototypes” of the Beautiful Lady. This (among other reasons) led Blok to the realization of the need to expand the range of the poems included in the first volume of the “novel in verse.” Of course, a more powerful creative impulse for Blok was his acquaintance with L. D. Mendeleeva in the summer of 1898. It was her that the idea of the prototype of the famous Beautiful Lady was connected with. But for the first time, Blok “tried” his image, yet vaguely outlined, out on Sadovskaya. The story with Sadovskaya allows better understanding the essence of Blok’s work, the unique structure of his symbols, in this case one of the most important for the poet – the Beautiful Lady. The transformation of this image was reflected in the revision of the first volume of the “Collected Poems” of 1911–1912, as well as in subsequent editions.

About the author(s) :

Oleg A. Kling

Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1543-5253

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 20.12.2024; date of publication: 30.06.2025

References:

Aleksandr Blok. Pis'ma k zhene [A. Blok. Letters to His Wife]. Vol. 85. (1978). Moscow, Nauka. 414 p.

Blok, A. (1960). Sobranie sochinenii: v 8-mi tomakh. [Collected Works, in 8 vols.]. Vol. 1: Stikhotvoreniya. 1897–1904. Moscow, Leningrad, Khudozhestvennaya literatura. 693 p.

Blok, A. (1960). Sobranie sochinenii: v 8-mi tomakh. [Collected Works, in 8 vols.]. Vol. 2: Stikhotvoreniya i poemy. 1904–1908. Moscow, Leningrad, Khudozhestvennaya literatura. 466 p.

Blok, A. (1960). Sobranie sochinenii: v 8-mi tomakh. [Collected Works, in 8 vols.]. Vol. 3: Stikhotvoreniya i poemy. 1907–1921. Moscow, Leningrad, Khudozhestvennaya literatura. 651 p.

Blok, A. (1960). Sobranie sochinenii: v 8-mi tomakh. [Collected Works, in 8 vols.]. Vol. 7: Avtobiografiya. 1915. Dnevniki. 1901–1921. Moscow, Leningrad, Khudozhestvennaya literatura. 544 p.

Blok, A. (1963). Sobranie sochinenii: v 8-mi tomakh. [Collected Works, in 8 vols.]. Vol. 8: Pis'ma. 1898–1921. Moscow, Leningrad, Khudozhestvennaya literatura. 771 p.

Blok, A. (1965). Zapisnye knizhki. 1901–1920 [Notebooks. 1901–1920]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura. 663 p.

Bystrov, V. N. (1997). Aleksandr Blok. Stikhotvoreniya. Kniga pervaya (1898–1904) [Alexander Blok. Poems. Book One (1898–1904)]. In A. Blok. Sobranie sochinenii: v 12 t. Vol. 1. Moscow, Litera, pp. 436–523.

Kumpan, K. A. (2000). Primechaniya [Notes]. In D. S. Merezhkovskii. Stikhotvoreniya i poemy. Novaya biblio-teka poeta. Saint Petersburg, Gumanitarnoe agentstvo «Akademicheskii proekt», pp. 755–902.

Kuznetsova, O. A. (1977). Istoriya formirovaniya liricheskoi trilogii Bloka [The History of the Formation of the Lyrical Trilogy of Blok]. In A. A. Blok. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem: v 20-ti tomakh. Vol. 1. Moscow, Nauka, pp. 385–393.

Kuznetsova, O. A. (1997). O knige A. Bloka «Zemlya v snegu» [About A. Blok’s Book “The Earth in the Snow”]. In Aleksandr Blok. Sobranie sochinenii: v 12-ti tomakh. Vol. 2. Moscow, Progress-Pleyada, pp. 272–285.

Kuznetsova, O. A. (2005). «Stikhi o Prekrasnoi Dame» v sostave trilogii (1911–1912) (k istorii izdaniya) [Poems about a “Beautiful Lady” as Part of a Trilogy (1911–1912) (to the History of the Publication)]. In Blok, A. A. Sobranie sochinenii: v 12 t. Vol. 3. Book 1. Stikhi o Prekrasnoi Dame (1898–1904). Moscow, Progress-Pleyada, pp. 249–263.

Lavrov, A. V. (2000). Etyudy o Bloke [Studies on Blok]. Saint Petersburg, Izdatel'stvo Ivana Limbakha. 319 p.

Magomedova, D. M. (1997). Avtobiograficheskii mif v tvorchestve A. Bloka [Autobiographical Myth in the Works of A. Blok]. Moscow, IChP «Martin». 221 p.

Maksimov, D. E. (1981). Poeziya i proza Al. Bloka [Poetry and Prose Al. Blok]. Leningrad, Sovetskii pisatel'. 552 p.

Mintz, Z. G. (1977). O pervom tome liriki Bloka [On the First Volume of Blok’s Lyrics]. In A. A. Blok. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem: v 20-ti tomakh. Vol. 1: Stikhotvoreniya. Kniga pervaya. (1898–1904). Moscow, Nauka, pp. 394–629.

Mintz, Z. G. (1999). Aleksandr Blok i russkie pisateli [Alexander Blok and Russian Writers]. Saint Petersburg, Iskusstvo-SPB. 784 p.

Mintz, Z. G. (2000). Poetika Aleksandra Bloka [Poetics of Alexander Blok]. Saint Petersburg, Iskusstvo-SPB. 727 p.

Orlov, V. N. (1965). Primechaniya [Notes]. In Aleksandr Blok. Zapisnye knizhki. 1901–1920. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura, pp. 515–602.

Sapogov, V. A. (1995). Pervaya kniga A. Bloka «Stikhi o Prekrasnoi Dame» (1904) [A. Blok’s First Book “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”]. In A. Blok. Sobranie sochinenii: v 12 t. Vol. 1. Moscow, Litera, pp. 420–435.

Tomashevsky, B. V. (1956). Pushkin. Kniga pervaya (1813–1924) [Pushkin. Book One (1813–1924)]. Moscow, Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo Akademii nauk. 745 p.

Tynyanov, Yu. N. (1977). Poetika. Istoriya literatury. Kino [Poetics. History of Literature. Cinema]. Moscow, Nauka. 575 p.