Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov was born in Moscow on June 4 (May 23, old style), 1821. Apollon Maikov's father, Nikolai Apollonovich Maikov, was a talented artist who achieved the title of academician of painting, and his mother, Evgenia Petrovna, wrote books. The artistic atmosphere of the parental home contributed to the formation of the spiritual interests of the boy, who early began to draw and write poetry. His teacher of literature was the writer I.A. Goncharov. As a twelve-year-old teenager, Maikov was taken to St. Petersburg, where the whole family soon moved.

Almost all family members tried their hand at literature. The idea arose to publish a handwritten magazine, which was simply and beautifully called "Snowdrop".

The numbers of "Snowdrop" were sewn together and decorated with a massive red cover with gold embossing for a year.

In 1837 A. Maikov entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. Studies in Roman law awakened in him a deep interest in the ancient world, which later manifested itself in his work. Maikov perfectly knew several languages, including Latin and Ancient Greek.

A.N. Maikov's debut as a poet took place in 1841. He became a famous poet of his time. Maikov is a painter of words, the creator of beautiful poems about his native nature. He is a translator of the immortal monument of antiquity "The Lay of Igor's Host".

The poet's poems were included in all school anthologies of Russia.

In his declining years, Apollon Nikolaevich acquired a modest dacha in the vicinity of St. Petersburg at the Siverskaya station of the Warsaw railway. Here, as his contemporaries noted, "he found his honor and his place", engaging in charitable activities. Thanks to his efforts and efforts, a church, school and library-reading room were built in Siverskaya, which bore the name of the poet.

Apollo Maikov (1821-1897)

Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov was born on May 23, 1821 in Moscow. The poet's childhood years were spent in the village of Nikolskoye near Moscow, near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Father, Nikolai Apollonovich Maikov - artist, academician of painting, mother, Evgenia Petrovna - writer. Artists, writers, and musicians were frequent guests at the Maykovs' house. One of Maikov's home teachers was I.A.Goncharov. In 1837, Maikov entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, willingly and a lot was engaged in the history of Ancient Greece and Rome, studied the Latin language and Roman poets. He began to write poetry at the age of fifteen. Young Maikov dreamed of a career as a painter, but the flattering reviews of Pletnev and Nikitenko about his first poetic experiments and poor eyesight prompted him to devote himself to literature. In 1842, Maikov went on a trip abroad. He spent about a year in Italy, then lived in Paris, where, together with his brother Valerian, he attended lectures at Sor Bonn and the College de France. The result of this trip was the "Essays on Rome" published in 1847 and a Ph.D. thesis on Old Slavic law. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Maikov served in the Ministry of Finance, then as a librarian at the Rumyantsev Museum before moving it to Moscow, and later as chairman of the Foreign Censorship Committee. Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov died in 1897.

Maikov's poetry is distinguished by an even, contemplative mood, deliberate drawing, it is plastic and harmoniously finished. Lines, shapes and colors appear in it clearly and precisely, without half-lines and hints. Maikov's verse in his best works is distinguished by strength, expressiveness and relatively weak lyricism, the author's emotions are, as it were, hidden, the verses are devoid of psychological tension; the latter is explained primarily by the fact that the poet has finished his works too carefully, sometimes to the detriment of the original inspiration. Maikov began to publish in 1840. Inspired by antique images, works of Greek and Roman sculpture, the world of ideally beautiful gods and goddesses, his poems carried a light and optimistic beginning with a clearly predominant Epicurean character. Another theme of the poet's work is Russian-Byzantine historical legends. At the beginning of his literary career, the motives of Russian nature are clearly heard, often inspired by Maykov's favorite pastime - fishing. Unlike Tyutchev or Fet Maikov does not look for ambiguity of symbols in nature, he creates concrete images and pictures, while showing remarkable pictorial vigilance and depth of feelings.

"Anthological" poems by Maikov immediately brought him fame. The clarity and completeness of the images stand out above all "Dream", "Remembrance", "Echo and Silence", "My child, there are no blessed days", "Po-esia", "Bas-relief". Maikov begins one of his "epicurean songs" with a lyrical impulse that is rare for him:

Give me myrtha Cypride!

What are the colored garlands to me?

However, in the second stanza, he gracefully transitions to his usual tone:

Myrtle green vine

The elder, having married, is gratifying

Drink under the gazebo thick,

Covered with grapevine.

Typical of Maikov's poetry is the poem “After visiting the Vatican Museum”. The impressions made on him by the sculptures of this museum remind the poet of similar impressions from early childhood, which significantly influenced the nature of his work:

Even in infancy my eyes loved to wander

On the dusty marbles of the Potemkin chambers.

The dusty antiques seemed alive to me;

And dominating my infant mind

They were related to him, like the tales of a clever nanny,

In the plastic beauty of mythical legends ...

Now, now I am here, in their bright homeland,

Where the gods among people, having accepted their image, lived

And they bared their immortal face to their gaze.

Like a distant pilgrim, among his shrines,

I stood among the statues ...

An instant impression can transfer a poet from a modern ballroom to the ancient world:

... Ah, you are to blame

About Paestum roses, classic roses! ..

(Roses. "Fayupazii")

In another poem - "Improvisation" - Maikov's plastic poetry successfully comes into contact with the field of musical sensations, which is alien to her:

But the fading sounds clear again ...

And passionate songs are invaded by a stream

One melancholy sound, pleading, full of torment ...

It grows, everything grows, and it flows like a river ...

Already a sweet hymn of love in one memory

Drives far away ... but with a stone foot

Unrelenting goes, misery goes

And his every step rumbles over me ...

One scream in the boundless desert

Sounds calling to her ... alas! no hope! ..

He whines ... and in the midst of thunder

Only a plaintive melody broke through the lullaby.

A characteristic expression of the poet's good-natured and innocent epicureanism was the poem "To Young Men":

And they didn't manage to get drunk!

A little over the table - and got drunk!

What and how - you don't care!

The wise drink with self-awareness,

And into the light, and the sense of smell

He evaluates the wine.

He, quietly losing sobriety,

Thoughts shine and playfulness,

Touched by the soul

And owning passion, anger,

Nice to the elders, pleasant to the virgins,

And - he is pleased with himself.

It is worth noting also two "Messages" by Maikov. The first - to Ya. P. Polonsky - very aptly characterizes this in this way, the second - to PA Pletnev - is distinguished by the beauty of thought and form. Historical poems by Maikov, permeated by a truly humanistic spirit, gained immense popularity among contemporaries ("Clermont Cathedral", "Sovanarolla", "At the Cathedral in Constance", "Confession of the Queen", "Eshman"). Maikov's main poetic work was the philosophical and lyricaldrama"Two Worlds" (1881). For the first time, her theme sounded at the end of the poem "Ancient Rome" (1848).

In 1852, on the same topic, was writtendramaticessay "Three Deaths", supplemented later by "Death of Lucius" (1863). Finally, six years after the first draft appeared in its final formdrama"Two worlds". The idea of ​​pagan Rome is clearly understood and expressed by the poet:

Rome united everything by itself,

As in man there is reason; the world

He gave laws and sealed the world,—

and elsewhere:

... They went from him

Beams to all ends of the earth,

And where they passed, there appeared

Trade, toga, circus and court,

And the everlasting ones run

Roman roads in the deserts.

The hero of the tragedy, Maikova, lives by faith in Rome and dies with it, defending and defending her from the impending Christianity. What he believes in will survive all historical catastrophes:

Oh, Rome heterosexual, jester and mime, -

He is disgusting, he will fall! .. But no,

Indeed, in that which bears the name of Rome,

There is something higher! .. Testament

Everything that has been lived for centuries!

In it is the thought that lifted me up

And over people and over gods!

It contains Promethean fire

An unquenchable flame!

Rome is like the sky, tightly vaulted

Who made the land and nations lighter,

To all these thousands of tribes

Or obsolete, or habitual

To robberies only, multilingual

He gave his language and the law!

Imperial Rome is doubly understandable and dear to the poet as adjoining both worlds of his poetry - to the world of beautiful classical antiquity, on the one hand, and to the world of the Byzantine statehood - on the other: both as an elegant Epicurean and as a Russian patriotic official Maikov finds here elements familiar to itself. However, the idea of ​​a new Rome - Byzantium - was not comprehended by the poet with such depth and clarity as the idea of ​​the first Rome. He loves the Byzantine-Russian order of life in its historical reality and takes on faith its ideal dignity, sometimes not noticing its internal contradictions. This belief is so strong that it brings Maikov to the apotheosis of Ivan the Terrible, whose greatness is supposedly not yet understood and whose "day is yet to come." It is impossible, of course, to suspect the humane poet of sympathizing with the atrocities of Ivan IV, but they do not at all interfere with his glorification, Maikov is even ready to consider them only for "the thorn of underground boyar slander and alien malice." In the finale of Sovanarolla, claiming that the Florentine prophet always had Christ on his lips, Maikov not without reason asks: "Christ! did not I understand You? " It can be argued with incomparably greater right that the pious founder of the oprichnina “did not understand Christ”; but this time the poet completely forgets what religion his hero was - otherwise he would agree that a representative of the Christian kingdom, who does not understand Christ, is alien and hostile to His spirit, is, in any case, an anomalous phenomenon, not deserving an apotheosis. Hence, in The Two Worlds, there is a weaker depiction of the Christian world than the pagan world. Even such an outstanding person as the Apostle Paul is not represented vividly and accurately enough. The sermon of Paul transmitted at the end of the tragedy consists entirely of apocalyptic images and "apologues", which hardly corresponds to the actual method and style of the biblical Paul. In addition to “Two Worlds”, of Maikov’s major works, “The Wanderer” (perfectly reproducing the concepts and language of some Russian sectarian movements), “Princess”, “Bringilda”, as well as the poetic arrangement “ Words about Igor's regiment"(Which remains to this day one of his best literary translations).

Biography

Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov (May 23 (June 4) 1821, Moscow - March 8 (20), 1897, St. Petersburg) - Russian poet, corresponding member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1853).

Was born in 1821. In Moscow. Son of the nobleman Nikolai Apollonovich Maikov, painter and academician, and writer Evgenia Petrovna Maikova; elder brother of literary critic and publicist Valerian Maikov, prose writer and translator Vladimir Maikov and literary historian, bibliographer and ethnographer Leonid Maikov. In the summer he lived in the estate of his grandmother in the Moscow region, near the present Solnechnogorsk, the village of Chepchikha.

In 1834 the family moved to St. Petersburg. The Maikov brothers' home teacher was I.A.Goncharov. In 1837-1841. studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University. At first he was fond of painting, but then he devoted to

Having received an allowance from Nicholas I for a trip to Italy for the first book, he went abroad in 1842. Having seen Italy, France, Saxony and the Austrian Empire, Maikov returned to St. Petersburg in 1844 and began working as an assistant librarian at the Rumyantsev Museum.

In the last years of his life he was a real state councilor. Since 1882 - Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Censorship.

February 27, 1897 Maikov went outside dressed too lightly and fell ill. He died on March 20, 1897. He was buried in the cemetery of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent.

Creation

The first publications were usually considered the poems "Dream" and "Picture of the Evening", which appeared in the "Odessa Almanac for 1840" (1839). However, the debut of 13-year-old Maikov was the poem "Eagle", published in the "Library for Reading" in 1835. The first book "Poems of Apollo Maikov" was published in 1842 in St. Petersburg. He wrote poems (Two Fates, 1845; Princess, 1878), dramatic poems or lyric dramas (Three Deaths, 1851; Wanderer, 1867; Two Worlds, 1872), ballads (Yemshan, 1875) ... Published in the journals: Notes of the Fatherland, Library for Reading. Maikov's liberal sentiments in the 1940s (poems Two Fates, 1845, Mashenka, 1846) were replaced by conservative views (poem "Carriage", 1854), Slavophil and Pan-Slavic ideas (poem "Claremont Cathedral", 1853); in the 60s, Maikov's work was sharply criticized by the revolutionary democrats. Maikov's aesthetic position also underwent changes: a short-term rapprochement with the natural school gave way to an active defense of "pure art".

Maikov's lyrics often contain images of the Russian countryside, nature, and Russian history; also reflected his love for the ancient world, which he studied most of his life. Maikov's poems about Russian nature, created in 1854-1858, became textbooks: “Spring! The first frame is exhibited "," Summer rain "(1856)," Haymaking "," Swallow "," Niva "and others. Many of Maikov's poems were set to music by N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov, P.I.Tchaikovsky, and others.

For four years he translated in poetic form "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" (the translation was completed in 1870). He was also engaged in translations of folk poetry of Belarus, Greece, Serbia, Spain and other countries. Translated works of such poets like Heine, Mickiewicz, Goethe. He translated chapters IV-X of the Apocalypse (1868).

In addition to poetry, essays and book reviews, he also wrote prose, which is not significant. After 1880, Maikov wrote practically nothing new, editing his works for the preparation of collected works.

Selected publications and works

"Poems of Apollo Maikov" (1842)
Poem "Two Fates" (1845)
Poem "Mashenka" (1846)
Poem "Savonarola" (1851)
Poem "Claremont Cathedral" (1853)
Cycle of poems "Anthological"
Cycle of poems "Ages and Nations" (1854-1888)
Cycle of poems "Eternal Questions"
Cycle of poems "Neapolitan Album"
Cycle of poems "New Greek songs" (1858-1872)
Cycle of poems "Reviews of history"
Cycle of poems "Sketches of Rome"
Drama "Two Worlds" (1872)
Drama Three Deaths (1851)
Drama Death of Lucius (1863)
Complete Works (1893)

AN Maikov - one of the noble poet of conservative romanticism of ethical and philosophical orientation.

Family education

Apollo Maikov was born in Moscow on 05/23/1821. It was an old noble family with rich cultural traditions. The Maikov family included talented people who did a lot in the development of Russian culture, in particular, his parents and brothers. His father, for example, was at one time a famous self-taught artist, who over the years was awarded the title of academician of painting. Mother gravitated towards literature, wrote very high quality poetry and prose.

The brothers also left their mark on the development of Russian culture. His younger brother Valerian, for example, being a prominent representative of the progressive intelligentsia, together with Belinsky, was an opponent of "pure art", a supporter of socio-historical principles in criticism. He wrote many works in which he spoke out against the Slavophils, calling them adherents of national stagnation, and in general played an important role in the development of critical thought in Russia.

The Moscow house and the Maykov estate near Moscow were always full of people. Writers, artists, musicians often visited here. The visits of I. A. Goncharov, I. I. Panaev, V. G. Benediktov, V. A. Solonitsyn, F. M. Dostoevsky were a real holiday in the Maikovs' house. The cult of art reigning in the family, the artistic atmosphere of the parental home - all contributed to the formation of the spiritual interests of the future poet. Therefore, it is not surprising that from early childhood Apollo was drawn to art, read a lot, drew well and wrote lyric poetry.

The house published the handwritten magazine "Snowdrop" and the almanac "Moonlit Nights", where the whole family, and sometimes guests, published their works. Apollo's children's poems first appeared in these family publications.

Education. First collection

In 1834 the family left Moscow and settled in St. Petersburg. Since then, the future fate of the poet Apollo Maikov is connected with the northern capital, except for those years, of course, when he was traveling. From 1837 to 1841 he studied at the St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Law. But he did not leave literary studies. After graduating from the university, Maikov entered the service of the State Treasury Department, and a year later published his first collection of poems, which the famous literary critic V.G.Belinsky commended. He wrote that Maykov's poetry is always a picture that shines with the true features and colors of nature. The collection was a success among readers as well.

Overseas travel

Emperor Nicholas the First gave Maikov a manual that allowed the poet to make a long trip abroad. First, he went to Italy, where he visited many cities, visited museums and exhibitions, was engaged in painting and, as before, poetry. Then there was Paris, where Maikov attended a series of lectures on art and world literature. Traveling around Europe, the poet visited Dresden, Prague and other cities with the same purpose - to get better acquainted with world culture.

Back home

In 1844 Apollo Maikov returned to Russia. I got a job as an assistant librarian at the Rumyantsev Museum. He wrote a lot and prepared for publication his second poetry collection "Essays on Rome", dedicated to the impressions of a trip to Italy (1847). In the same years, Maikov became close to many famous writers: Belinsky, Turgenev, Nekrasov, Dostoevsky, Pleshcheev, regularly attended "Fridays" in M. Petrashevsky's circle. He did not fully share many of their ideas, but nevertheless they had a certain influence on his poetic work. This is evidenced by the appearance of the poems "Two Fates", "Mashenka", "Young Lady" (1845 - 1846), which, unlike his previous poems, contained civil motives.

Ideological orientation

In 1852, Maikov became a censor on the staff of the Foreign Censorship Committee and remained in this position of the department for more than forty years. During these years, the ideas of the Slavophiles became close to him. Disillusioned with liberals and radicals, he reconsidered his positions and, as a result, came to defend a strong monarchical power, the Orthodox faith. The fact that Maikov consistently held conservative positions is evidenced by his poem "Claremont Cathedral" (1853), as well as the cycles of poems "Neapolitan Album", "Modern Greek Songs" (1858), written under the impression of a trip to Greece.

Maikov met the peasant reform to abolish serfdom (1861) with enthusiastic, optimistic poems "Fields", "Niva". Gradually, the poet finally opposed his position in relation to art to the positions of revolutionary democrats and became an adherent of "pure art". This transformation was sharply criticized by Saltykov-Shchedrin and Dobrolyubov in their satirical parodies.

Slavic themes

For a long time, Maikov was fond of antiquity, its harmonious art and sought to express in his lyrics a certain imaginary world of beauty, far from the contradictions of the surrounding life. But over time, Slavophil views were added to this. The philosophical and lyrical drama "Two Worlds" was written based on antique motives, for which the Academy of Sciences awarded Maikov the Pushkin Prize (1882). The emerging interest in Christianity and Slavic folklore, the poet's feat to work on the translation of "The Lay of Igor's Host." His treatment of the great creation of the era of Ancient Rus is one of the best.

Landscape lyrics

But Maikov's talent in landscape subjects was especially vividly manifested. The nature of his native land has always worried the poet. Each landscape painting for him is full of beauty, natural harmony, a sense of kinship and special warmth. He saw incredible creative powers in nature. He was worried about quite ordinary phenomena familiar to everyone: the onset of spring, the withering of autumn, the flight of a swallow, summer rain. In his poems about Russian nature there is sincerity, watercolor subtlety of colors, melodiousness, keen observation.

Among the best poems of Maykov's landscape poetry are "Haymaking", "Swallows", "Spring", "Autumn", "Summer Rain". Many of Maikov's poems once inspired some great composers to create romances (Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and others). But unlike the landscape lyrics of A. Fet, Maikov's poems are not distinguished by the refined "psychologism" for which the outstanding lyricist, Fet, became famous.

In 1893, the sixth collection of Maykov's works in three volumes was published, the last lifetime edition for sixty years of his literary activity. Apollo Maikov died on March 8, 1897 in St. Petersburg.

Russian poetry of the 19th century is rich in the names of famous authors, whose works have become classics and have not lost their relevance, being carried through the centuries. One of such outstanding poets is Apollo Maikov, who left us a wonderful artistic legacy, interest in which continues to this day.

It is curious to know what facts of the biography influenced the work of the writer, contributed to the formation of A. Maikov as a poet, the direction of his works and poetic style.

Famous representatives of the Maikov family

Maikov Apollon Nikolaevich was born in 1821 in Moscow into a family of an old noble family, whose history is closely connected with Russian art and education. Among the famous relatives of the poet (they all bore the surname Maikov) there are many extremely gifted representatives of the creative intelligentsia who contributed to the development of Russian culture:

• Nil Sorsky (in the world Nikolai Fedorovich) - a famous Russian church figure of the 15th century, an Orthodox saint;
• Vasily Ivanovich - a poet who worked in Catherine's times;
• Apollon Alexandrovich - director of the Imperial Theaters, the poet's grandfather;
• Nikolai Apollonovich - a talented historical painter - the father of A. Maikov;
• Evgenia Petrovna - translator and writer - the poet's mother.

The brothers of Apollo Maikov also shone with talents:

• Valerian Nikolaevich - publicist and literary critic;
• Vladimir Nikolaevich - writer, publisher of magazines for children and youth "Snowdrop" and "Family Evenings";
• Leonid Nikolaevich is a member of the Academy of Sciences, known for his works on the history of Russian literature.

Family education of Apollo Maikov

The poet's childhood years were spent in the center of Moscow in his parents' house, where a special atmosphere reigned; artists, writers and musicians were often visiting. Children grew up in an atmosphere of love for creativity, extraordinary reverence for art and science as the main meaning of existence. All this contributed to the fact that Apollo Maikov read a lot, drew well and began to write lyric poetry early.

The poet's parents and their friends served as role models for children, their example helped to form spiritual interests, respect for moral values ​​and high life principles. The house issued handwritten editions for publishing the works of family members and guests - the almanac "Moonlit Nights" and the magazine "Snowdrop", in which the first poems of the young Apollo were published.

The future poet spent the summer months in the grandmother's estate near Moscow in the village of Chepchikha. Here A. Maikov got acquainted with the nature of his native land, with its silence and expanse, with the life of the Russian village and folk way of life.

In the period of childhood and adolescence, when the impressions are especially strong and deep, the foundations of the poet's personality were laid by education in the spirit of the creative intelligentsia, as well as by living in the bosom of free mother nature and the way of life of the Russian village with its truth and simplicity.

Getting an education

When A. Maikov was 13 years old, his family moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg, which connected the future fate of the poet with the Northern capital. Here, Apollo and his brothers began to give lessons in Russian literature and the Latin language I. A. Goncharov.

A. Maikov studied at the University of St. Petersburg at the Faculty of Law, but at the same time did not leave his studies in literature and painting. With particular interest he listened to lectures related to his passion for philosophy and the study of the Latin language - his favorite subjects were the encyclopedia of jurisprudence and Roman law. He also attended courses in general and Russian history and Russian literature.

After graduating from the university, Apollo Maikov entered the government service in the Department of the Treasury.

The first collection of poems by A. Maikov

The name of the aspiring talented poet Maikov became known after his works were published in a number of magazines such as Otechestvennye zapiski and Library for Reading. Soon the first collection of Poems by Apollo Maikov (1842) was published, which was a success with readers and was warmly received by experts in Russian literature. The young author was warmly praised by V.G.Belinsky.

This event contributed to the fact that the final choice of A. Maikov, who was still hesitating between painting and literary creation, was made in favor of poetry. Another reason why he had to leave art was the deterioration of his eyesight.

Travel abroad

The first collection of poems by A. Maikov was presented by the Minister of Public Education to the Emperor. For the book, the poet was awarded a grant from Nicholas I - funds for a long trip to Europe, where he stayed for almost two years. Initially, Maikov went to Italy, where he was engaged in creative work, visited many cities, visited museums and exhibitions. Then in France, in Paris, he attended lectures on world literature and art. In order to study European culture, he also visited Dresden and Prague.

The trip served as an excellent timely addition to the university education of Apollo Maikov, which provided the richest material for further creativity and became an inexhaustible source of inspiration for writing many wonderful works throughout the poet's life.

Public service

Returning to Russia, Apollo Maikov wrote a dissertation on the topic of law among the ancient Slavs, served in the Ministry of Finance, then worked as an assistant librarian at the Rumyantsev Museum. Then there were the posts of first junior censor, then senior censor and, finally, chairman of the foreign censorship committee, where he worked for over forty years. As a member of the academic committee at the Ministry of Public Education, he considered books published for public reading. He was a member of the Council of the Russian Literary Society and the commission for organizing public readings, worked in the publishing house of the Novoye Slovo magazine and the Teatralnaya Gazeta.

The state service partly contributed to the writing activity of A. Maikov, bringing him closer to Odoevsky and Tyutchev. Being the chiefs of the poet at work, they became his friends, critics and connoisseurs of his works. F.I.Tyutchev had a particularly strong influence on the formation of the final views and views on Russian statehood, to which the poet remained faithful until the end of his life.

The poet died in 1897 and was buried in St. Petersburg at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Apollo Maikov, biography: major milestones

The most significant events in the life and work of A. Maikov were:

• 1834 - the Maikov family moved to St. Petersburg;
• 1837-1841 - University studies;
• 1842-1844 - travel abroad;
• 1852 - began working on the Foreign Censorship Committee;
• 1853 - became a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences;
• 1853-1866 - the birth of four children in the family of Apollo Maikov and his wife Anna;
• 1857 - received the rank of actual state councilor;
• 1882 - awarded the Pushkin Prize;
• 1888 - received the rank of privy councilor;
• 1897 - approved as chairman of the foreign censorship committee.

The biography of Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov differs in that there was no struggle and passions, persecution and persecution in it. His life is a bright and even path on which the poet had work, creativity and fame, travel and the joys of family life, there was a liveliness of movements and emotions that gave birth to beautiful poems.

Creativity of Apollo Maikov

In the work of A. Maikov, a number of periods can be distinguished, each of which is characterized by its own characteristics.

In the poems "Two Fates" (1845), "Mashenka" and "Young Lady" (1846), civic motives that arose under the influence of the ideas of the Petrashevists are traced. Then there is a transition to a conservative position, as evidenced by the poem "Claremont Cathedral" (1853), as well as cycles of poetry dedicated to the impressions of travels in Italy and Greece - "Essays on Rome" (1847), "Neapolitan Album" and "Modern Greek Songs" (1858). Cycles of poems "In anthological genus", "Ages and peoples", "Reviews of history" correspond to the cultural and historical theme.

In the poet's work, his constant interest in world history with its dramatic episodes is noticeable: the poems "Savonarola" (1851) and "The Sentence" (1860), as well as the dramas "Three Deaths" (1851), "Death of Lucius" (1863) and " Two Worlds "(1881), in which Christianity is opposed to paganism.

In addition to poetry, A. Maikov was quite successfully engaged in translations, his poetic adaptation of "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" - the great creation of the Old Russian era, is considered one of the best. He translated works of such authors as Goethe and Heine, folk poetry of different countries - Greece, Spain, Serbia. Lyrics by A. Maikov inspired such great composers as Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov to create romances.

Apollo Maikov: poems about Russian nature

In the landscape lyrics, the poet's talent manifested itself most vividly. The subtlety of colors, natural beauty and harmony, seen in the most common and familiar phenomena, such as the arrival of spring, summer rain, withering autumn - all this is Apollo Maikov. "Swallows" is a wonderful touching work, in which the poet expressed his thoughts about the transience of life through the description of the actions of birds that managed to build a nest in a few summer months, raise offspring and fly away to warm lands.

Contemplation, sincerity, observation and melodiousness - these are the differences in the landscape theme of Apollo Maikov. "Spring", "In the Rain", "Haymaking", "Autumn", "Summer Rain" are considered the best works of the poet about the nature of his native land.

Russian literature is proud of the rich contribution made by the poet A. N. Maikov. His poems will forever remain one of the most interesting phenomena in Russian poetry.