Konevsky I. Poetry and prose. Posthumous collected works.

Konevsky I. Poetry and prose. Posthumous collected works.

M. Skorpion. 1904 XVIII, 250 p. Soft cover, size 15 x 22.5 cm. Excellent condition, uncut copy.

Ivan konevskoy (real name and surname Ivan Ivanovich Oreus; 1877-1901) - poet, one of the founders and inspirers of Russian symbolism, literary critic. The first poem was published in a magazine under his real name, and then he chose a pseudonym after the Konevetsky monastery on lake Ladoga. Bryusov considered his poetry `one of the most remarkable at the turn of two centuries'. This edition contains all the original poems of I. Konevsky and selected pages of his prose.

The real surname of the poet and translator — Oreus, he came from a noble Swedish family. He was the son of Lieutenant General Ivan Ivanovich Oreus, who was engaged in writing. The elder Oreus was a member of the Military scientific Cabinet of the General Staff, and was also an employee of the Military historical Commission at the headquarters. He graduated from the faculty of history and Philology of St. Petersburg University in 1901. Already in childhood, the first poetic experiments of Konevsky were recorded, and the first published poems of the beginning modernist belong to the period of student life. While other authors, his contemporaries, relatively soon gained a great poetic fame, the name of Konevsky remained unknown to the General readership, but he was very revered in a narrow circle of colleagues in the shop, who recognized his poetic merits on merit. While a student, he began to professionally engage in translation activities, in particular, he translated many works of the famous English poet Algernon Charles Swinburne into Russian. In addition, konevskoy translated such venerable foreign writers as Goethe, Ibsen, and read the works of Hegel and Spinoza. He translated the works of his Belgian contemporaries-the poet Emil verhaarn, who sang of rural Flanders and the playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, author of the drama "the Blue bird", which became a program for the development of Western European symbolism. As a translator being in constant contact with the works of the above authors, Konevsky came under the influence of their expressed philosophical ideas and literary concepts. His professional passion for translation could not but affect the formation of his independent literary ideas. At the same time, Konevsky was fascinated by new worldview ideas expressed in the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose translations he also actively engaged in.

One of the first konevskoi addressed the theme of the symbolist search for the ideal world (the concept of the symbolist two-world), finding which, it was possible to find inner chastity. In order for the poetic personality to establish itself, it was necessary for it to possess (Nietzschean philosophical design) a powerful and invincible will. This inner personal will knows no barriers, has unlimited potency, is able to control itself and transcends the boundaries of the space-time continuum. The concept of consciousness as a component of a powerful inner will in Konevsky's lyrics is endowed with a"sensitive fervor". Konevsky's special attitude to nature, as with most early symbolists. The author professes the concept of "comprehensive" pantheism-in this he adheres to the tradition of natural-philosophical lyrics. He understands nature as the totality of absolute fundamental principles — "the hot incorruptibility of creative forces". At the same time, his poetry is distinguished by the tyutchevo-fetovsky tonality: chamber intimacy, the absence of a sense of strain, tension. As for the formal component of the verse, here, too, he could not be denied the art of handling phonetic consonances. His poems are literally permeated with alliteration and assonance repetitions, which gives the poems an impeccable sound harmony, emphasizes its striving for perfection in terms of meaning. Konevsky's language is often defined as archaic and complicated, which was typical for most of the early poets who stood at the origins of symbolism. Despite his young age, konevskoy was distinguished by a refined poetic skill, and it was he who managed to anticipate the ideas that will perform a pivotal function in the formation of the symbolist movement in Russia. In fact, konevskoy defined the fundamental direction of Russian symbolism, which was followed a little later by its main figures. We can say that the poetry of Konevsky was an integral natural link between the generation of poets of the second half of the XIX century (of which, in addition to the above-mentioned Tyutchev and FET, we can note A. K. Tolstoy, as well as the poet of the first half of the XIX century E. A. Baratynsky) and poets who belonged to the direction of symbolism. Researchers say of his work: it "predicted with almost textbook clarity the further development of Russian symbolism", they also note that he was actually the first to seriously address the problem of in-depth philosophical and religious searches in the context of the era, the first to look at the history and folklore of his people in a new perspective. These new aspirations were inherent in the entire symbolist workshop. Echoes of Konevsky's poetic experiences, his archaizing poetics and rich, rich sound recording can be found in the acmeist poets N. S. Gumilev, in the early Pasternak, in Zabolotsky, in the futurist Khlebnikov. His colleagues in the literary workshop, such as A. A. Blok, V. ya. Bryusov, O. E. Mandelstam always spoke in praise of his work, expressing high appreciation of his poetic maturity and the formality of his talent. Konevsky's ideas developed due to the crisis and decline of bourgeois consumer culture, and his life-affirming aspirations in the world pantheistic harmony were aimed at overcoming cultural stagnation.

In mid-summer 1901, a graduate of St. Petersburg University Ivan Konevsky went on the Riga coast, however, before reaching Riga, he chose to stay Segevold (Sigulda now), the resort town near the capital of Livonia. There he took a walk, moving further and further "from civilization" in the forest thickets and stopped on the Bank of the river AA (now Gauja), in which he decided to swim. However, the river, known for its treacherous pools and rapids, did its fatal work. Konevsky drowned in its waters. The body of a young poet, it was discovered later segevolde peasants. He was buried in Sigulda. His grave became a place of pilgrimage for symbolist poets, a kind of poetic tract for those seeking an ideal world.