annenskii and the "other" : a reading of "drugomu"

Canadian Slavonic Papers

Annenskii and the "Other" : A Reading of "Drugomu"Author(s): JEAN ALEXANDERSource: Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes, Vol. 24, No. 3 (September1982), pp. 221-228Published by: Canadian Association of SlavistsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40868014 .

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ARTICLES

JEAN ALEXANDER

Annenskii and the "Other": A Reading of "Drugomu" An obscure pedagogue, translator, critic, and poet in his lifetime, Annen- skii came into his own only after his death in 1909, with the publication of the fine collection Kiparisovyi larets and a rush of critical recognition in Apollon. The pathos of belated recognition has become so much a part of Annenskii's image that his life and work may seem to be merely a fore- shadowing of his death. For his admirers, above all the Acmeists, he is a teacher, a mentor, a precursor, a figure of pitiful suffering, a luminous memory . . . but always in the past. Posterity is powerless to compensate for the living response Annenskii never received in his lifetime. All the more reason, then, to be wary of letting the cult of Annenskii the man, even as an ideal, overshadow the impersonal idea which, for Annenskii the poet, was all that mattered in art.

The poem "Drugomu" is a case in point, for it contains many elements of the Annenskii legend: the frustration of the unloved poet; the vision of mute suffering and death; the hope for immortality through art, to be realized after death through another poet's recognition of Annenskii's un- prepossessing muse. The poem lends itself especially well to an Acmeist interpretation; Gumilev saw in it an argument against Symbolism, Annen- skii being a proto- Acmeist in his clarity and balance.1

I do not want so much to refute this interpretation as to lay it aside, so that the poem can be read not posthumously, but as it were contemporane- ously. Only in this way, I believe, will this seemingly obvious and schematic poem yield its subtler beauties of language, rhythm, and thought.

In reading "Drugomu," one is struck by the rigidity of its structure. The themes of poetic inspiration and immortality are treated by means of a sustained antithesis, in which Annenskii's lyric "I" defines itself through contrast with another, Dionysian poet. The central antithesis is driven home relentlessly through a variety of rhetorical figures and repetition of the personal pronouns ty and ia, toboi and mnoi, tvoi and moi. This duality is reinforced by regular alternations in intonation and rhythm. The poem consists of ten quatrains of identical rhyme scheme: alternating masculine and feminine rhymes; the voice rises at the masculine ending, then falls

1. Nikolai Gumilev, Apollon, 1910, No. 8, pp. 59-60.

An earlier version of this paper was delivered to the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies in Monterey, California, September 1981.



222 I Canadian Slavonic Papers September 1982

back at the anticlimactic feminine ending. This rhythmic pattern strongly reinforces the logical pattern of the poem, which is based on assertion followed by qualification or denial. Usually the positive image of the "other" is followed by the negative image of the self. Of course the rhetorical rise and fall does not always mesh perfectly with the alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes as it does in the lines

Tbi - β jienecTKax «zryuiHCToro BeHua, Ά npocTO TaK, 3aABHHyTbifi Ha ßporH.

More often there is asymmetry both within and between stanzas. The effect, to use a musical analogy, is that of melodic phrases of varying length against a constant ground. Annenskii is not a poet who seeks complete stylistic freedom, but a poet who uses the resistance of traditional forms as a counterweight to his originality. His better poems aim not at lyric flight, but at the portrayal of the tragic conflict between necessity and aspiration. In "Drugomu" this conflict is both formal and thematic.

Let us now turn to the poem itself:

jpyroMy

Ά nojiioÕHji 6e3yMHbiö tboíí nopbiB, Ho 6biTb TOÕOH η MHOH Hejib3fl ace cpa3y, H, BeilJHX CHOB HeponiH(|)bI paCKpbIB, Y3opHyK) nHiuy η πστκο (|)pa3y.

OnrypHO TaM OTo6pa3HJica CTpax, H KaK TOCKa õyMary cepAua Mfljia, Ho no cTpoKaM, KaK npH3paK Ha nHpax, TeHb ABHHceTCH xaK ßejiaHHo h bhjio.

Tboh MeHTbi - MeHaAbi no HonaM, Η jiyHHbiH BHxpb β CBepKaHHH pa3Maxa Hm BOJiHbi Koc B3MeTaeT no njienaM. Moh jiyHuiHH coH - 3a TKaHbK) AHApoMaxa.

Ha rojioBe ee 3iua(j>OAa)K, Η tot npHKpbiT kokctjihbo njiaTOHKOM, 3aT0 HHrAe moh CTpornfi KapaHâin He ycTynaji cbohx co3ByHHH TOHKaM.

Tbi Becb - oroHb. M 3a κοστροΜ τη hhct. HcnenejiHiiib, ho He ocTaBHuib n«TeH, H 6or Tbi TaM, rê h jiHiiib MopajiHCT, HeHyjKHbifi rocTb, hctiobok h HeBHHTeH.

ripoíÍAyT roAa . . . BbiTb mojkct, Mecaija . . . Hub Aaace ΛΗη, η mu cofiêM c ßoporH:



Vol. xxiv, No. 3 Annenskii's "Drugomu" | 223

Tbi - β jienecTKax AyuiHCToro BeHua, Ά npocTO TaK, 3aABHHyTbifi Ha AporH.

Hanepeicop 3aBHCTjiHBOH cyAbõe H HHUjeTe yõoro-cjiaõoAyuJHOH, Tbi naM»THHK ocTaBHiiib no ce6e, He3bl6êMbIH, XOTb CJiaAOCTHO-BCnAyUIHblH. . .

Moefi MeHTbi õeccjieAHO mhhct jxpuh. . . KaK 3HaTb? A B^pyr c Ayuiofi, noABHHCHeH Mopa, flpyrofi ΠΟ3Τ ee πολκ>6ητ TeHb Β HeTpoHyTO-Top>KecTBeHHOM yõope. . .

riojiioÕHT, η y3HaeT, η ποΗΜστ, Η, yBHAaB, Ητο TeHb npocHyjiacb, αμιιιητ, ~

BjiarocjioBHT hcmoh ee nojieT

Cpe^H jiK>Aefi, KOTopwe He cjibimaT . . .

IlycTb TOjibKO 6bi β Kpy)KeHbH õwthh He Bbiuijio TaK, hto 3tot ßyx BjiK)6jieHHbiH, Moo 6paT η Mar He oKa3ajica η Β HHHToacecTBe cjierKa jiHiiib noAHOBjieHHbifi.2

The meter is iambic pentameter, which in Annenskii's hands achieves a kind of compromise between the suppleness of the tetrameter and the dignity of the hexameter. In diction and syntax, too, the poem combines informality -

IlpoHAyT roâ . . . BbiTb MoaceT, Mecaija . . . Hjib flaace ̂hh, h mu cofiêM c AoporH:

with an elevated style -

H, BeujHx CHOB HeponiH({)bi pacKpbiB, y3opHyio nHuiy η πετκο φpa3y.

Although "Drugomu" is in rhymed rather than blank verse, it does not seem too far-fetched to compare it to the dramatic monologues of Shakespeare and Pushkin; certainly there are thematic echoes of Mozart and Salieri. Ge- nerically, the poem is in the tradition of the pamiatnik odes of Derzhavin and Pushkin. The Italian critic Eridano Bazzarelli compares "Drugomu" to Baratynskii's "Nedonosok" ("la iz plemeni dukhov/No ne zhitel' Empireia"). Both poems deal with unrealized longing. But the self-de- precating irony of Annenskii's voice in "Drugomu" seems to me much closer in tone to Baratynskii's "Muza" ("Ne osleplen ia muzoiu moeiu") or "Moi ubog i golos moi negromok..." than to the extremely romantic, almost Lermontovian "Nedonosok."

2. I. F. Annenskii, Stikhotvoreniia i tragedii (Leningrad, 1959), pp. 256-57.



224 I Revue Canadienne des Slavistes Septembre 1982

The poem divides naturally in half, at the introduction of the theme of death in the sixth stanza. The second half of the poem, despite its many pauses, is really one extended train of thought. It has a forward dynamic lacking in the first half of the poem, since it deals with progress in time. After the seventh stanza, with its positive depiction of the "other," the reader has been conditioned to expect its opposite, which duly appears in the line "Moei mechty bessledno minet den'." At this point a new "other" appears, this time not an opposite but an alter ego; unlike the self, however, this "other" is associated with the positive, rising half of the rhythmic wave:

ITojik>6ht, h y3HaeT, h noiÍMeT, H, yBHAae, HTO TeHb npocHyjiacb, awuiht, -

BjiarocjiOBHT hcmoh ee nojieT

Cpe^H jiioAeH, KOTopbie He cjibiuiaT . . .

Yet the dynamic of rise and fall has not been broken, only retarded. The rise of the self through the magic of the "other self is followed by a fall:

IlycTb TOJibKO 6bi β KpyaceHbH owthh He Bbimjio TaK, hto 3tot nyx BjiioÕJieHHbiH, Moh 6paT η Mar He oKa3ajica » Β HHHToacecTBe cjienca jiHiiib noAHOBjieHHbifi.

Here the word ia has its most dramatic impact. In its position at the end of the line, strengthened by rhyme, it is both shocking, in that it transforms the supposed second "other" into the self, and inevitable, because of the pattern of a negative following every positive. The poet briefly foresees the possibility of vindication, but the rhythmic and rhetorical momentum of the poem forces a conclusion of its own. The last line provides the expected release and negation, the ultimate anticlimax.

It is typical of Annenskii thus to end a poem l?y undercutting his own vision, as if awakening after a dream to the disillusioning power of reason. In "Dal'nie ruki" the poet foresees that he will eventually insult his muse. In "Zimnii poezd" he awakens to the grimness of everyday life: "I stoiko dolzhen zub bol'noi/Peregryzat' kholodnyi kamen'." Further analogues to "Drugomu" can be found in Annenskii's poetry and literary criticism, both of which deal extensively with the artistic process, the problem of creation.

It is, however, two poems from the earlier collection Tikhie pesni, "Dvoinik" and "Kotoryi?"3 that seem to shed the most light on "Drugo- mu." For here too Annenskii exploits the potential of personal pronouns for ambiguity and abstraction, so as to question the identity of the ia in eternity.

Annenskii is disposed in general to see the self as divided. Here is how 3. Ibid., pp. 66, 67.




he describes this duality in the essay "Estetika Mertvykh dush i ee nasled'e":

The fact is that in each of us there are two people; one is tangible, one is the voice, posture, colouring, movement, height, laugh.

The other is mysterious, secret. The other is the crepuscular, indivisible, incommunicable essence of

each of us. But the other is precisely what gives uf life and without which the whole world, in truth, would sometimes seem to be only a devilish joke.

The first aims above all to be a type - he's done for without typicality. But only the second makes for individuality.

The first eats, sleeps, shaves, breathes and ceases to breathe, the first can be put in prison and nailed up in a coffin. But only the second can feel God within himself, only the second can be reproached, only the second can love, only of the second can one make moral demands, must in fact make moral demands.4

In "Dvoinik" the self is aware of being divided, but is unsure which ia is which:

H β MVTHOM KpyaceHbH γοαηη Bee name Bonpoc mchh MyHHT: Kor^a HaKOHeu; Hac pa3JiynaT, KaKHM ace a 6yiry oahh?

There is more than a hint of a double theme in "Drugomu" as well. The younger poet, moi brat i mag, is obviously a kind of double; as in "Dvoinik," the question is which aspect of the self he represents, the eternal spirit or the mortal man.

That the original "other" in "Drugomu," to whom the poem is ad- dressed, is also a kind of double is less obvious. The title, like so many of Annenskii's titles, is almost provocatively vague. The reader does not know whether the author has a specific addressee in mind or is speaking to a whole group of artists of a certain type. Neither is it clear, at least at first, whether the "other" is still alive. The opening lines -

Ά nojiioÕHJi 6e3VMHbifi TBOH nopbiB, Ho 6biTb T060H η ΜΗΟΗ Hejib3fl ace cpa3y,

suggest that even if the author has someone specific in mind, this "other" will be treated not as an individual, but as an archetype. The "other" is inspired, the darling of the muses, pure and godlike, immortal. He is associated with the cult of Dionysus, and therefore with music. Note how

4. I. F. Annenskii, Knigi otrazhenii (Moscow, 1979), p. 226. The translation is mine.



226 I Canadian Slavonic Papers September 1982

Annenskii introduces a euphonious mellifluousness into this passage de- voted to the "other":

Tboh MeHTbi - MeHaAw no HonaM, H jiyHHbiß BHXpb β cBepicaHHH pa3Maxa Hm BOjiHbi Koc B3MeTaeT no njienaM.

There is not a trace of hostility, or even irony, in the portrait. If the subject here is Symbolism (as Gumilev and Setchkarev have argued), then it is Symbolism in the most general sense, outside of time and place.5 Bazzarelli is the only critic, to my knowledge, to have suggested that the "other" may be an ideal poet.6 Where does this suggestion lead?

The "other" is presented as a contemporary of the "I." More than that, actually; he is a kind of companion. The very rigidity of the antithesis demands that they be in tandem. Their respective dreams, for instance, are maenads and Andromache, both from Greek mythology and both, as it happens, subjects of tragedies by Euripides. It is interesting to note how the deaths of the "other" and the "I" are described:

IIpoHAyT ro#a . . . BbiTb MoaceT Mecaija . . . Hjib Aaace ̂ hh, h mu cohacm c Aopora:

Logically, of course, these lines do not necessarily mean that the two die at the same time, but the use of the pronoun my for the first and only time in the poem is striking. The ty and ia are merged, at least grammatically, before the antithesis resumes in the portrayal of their fate after death. Compare these lines from "Dvoinik":

KoiTja HaKOHeij Hac pa3JiyHaT KaKHM ace » 6y/jy oahh?

All this suggests that the "other" can be considered a possible or potential self that haunts the ia.

5. Vsevolod Setchkarev, Studies in the Life and Work of Innokentij Annenskij (The Hague, 1963), pp. 70-71. The image is actually closer to that of a Romantic poet, or at least the Romantic myth of the poet. In any case, there is no evidence in the poem itself or in Annenskii's criticism to suggest that this was his idea of Russian Symbolism. Annenskii always treated the "new" art as a broad international current reflecting modern sensibility and culture. Although he found much to dis- like in the poetry of his contemporaries (see, especially, "O sovremennom lirizme"), it is an anachronism to attribute to him the partisan approach that later came to dominate the literary scene in Russia.

6. Eridano Bazzarelli, La Poesia di Innokentij Annenskij (Milan, 1965), pp. 46-9.




The second poem from Tikhie pesni, "Kotoryi?", comes directly after "Dvoinik" in that collection. The final stanzas of all three poems are strangely similar, even to the wording of some lines:

/Ι,ΒΟΗΗΗΚ: Η Β MyTHOM Kpy>KeHbH ΓΟ/JHH

KoTopbifi?: Oreu Moero owthh XipyroMy: IlycTb TOJibKO 6bi β KpyweHbH owthh

The title "Kotoryi?" is another of those ambiguous pronoun-adjectives whose significance does not become clear until the end of the poem, when it turns out to refer to different aspects of the self:

Ο uapb HeAOCTynHoro CeeTa, OTeu Moero owthh, ΟτκροΗ ace xoTb cepAuy no3Ta, KoTopoe co3Aaji tw n.

The substantivized ia is really only an extension of Annenskii's habit of dividing himself into subject and object. In "Kotoryi?" the bold dreams that the speaker dreams at night, when the ia imagines itself to be free, give way to disillusionment and defeat in the morning. As in "Drugomu," the speaker characterizes himself as mute, ineffectual, unable to take possession of his vision. The poem ends, like "Dvoinik," with a question about the real nature of the self.

The self in "Drugomu" is described in predominantly negative terms: nenuzhnyi, nelovok, nevniaten, nichtozhestvo. In contrast to the sensuous "other," the ia is defined mainly through inanimate visual metaphors. There is a metaphor of literature, as opposed to music: uzornuiu pishu ia chetko frazu, ieroglify, flgurno tarn otobrazilsia strakh, toska bumagu serdtsa miala, po strokam, moi strogii karandash - which culminates in the final line - "V nichtozhestve slegka lish' podnovlennyi" - renovation as opposed to resurrection. How could the brat i mag of such a ia be anything but its duplicate? The speaker's aloneness precedes his lack of audience. Here Annenskii, in typical fashion, uses poetry both to lament and to explain the failure of poetry. The ironic, qualifying mind felt throughout the poem embodies the very resistance to irrational impulse that the poet regrets. It is important to remember, however, that Annenskii is measuring achievement against an ideal; in a broad sense, he expresses frustration at the limits of human nature, an eminently Symbolist theme.

"Drugomu," then, is not so much a polemic as an analysis of a psychological dilemma, Annenskii's own, to be sure, but by extension that of the contemporary artist. It is not a question of choosing between Dio- nysus and Apollo. In The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche defines a late phase of Greek culture, the age of Socrates and Euripides. With their reason,



228 I Revue Canadienne des Slavistes Septembre 1982

morality, and skepticism they had destroyed not only the purity of Dio- nysus and Apollo, but also their joint creation, tragedy. Does not Annen- skii, the translator of Euripides, identify with this loss of wholeness?

H 6or Tbi TaM, r^e « JiHiiib MopajiHCT.

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annenskii and the "other" : a reading of "drugomu"

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