Nadson's father, a good musician, died of mental disorder when Nadson was 2 years old. A. S. Mamontova, after the death of her husband, remained in Kyiv, where she lived as a housekeeper and teacher and supported herself and her two children with her own labors (Nadson had a sister, Anna, a year and a half younger than him). When Nadson was about seven years old, she left for St. Petersburg, where she settled with her brother Diodor Stepanovich Mamontov. In St. Petersburg, Nadson entered the preparatory class of the 1st classical gymnasium.

Pushkin Prize

While in Yalta, Nadson received good news - his book was awarded the Pushkin Prize of the Academy of Sciences. Most of the reviewers drew attention to the fact that Nadson does not always master the form of verse, but redeems this lack with passionate and deep sincerity. “In a small collection of his poems, which touched on many burning thoughts, exciting contemporaries,” wrote A. I. Vvedensky, “many aspirations of the time were reflected in relief.”

Creation

Creativity Nadson refers to the so-called era of "timelessness" late XIX century. The poet's contemporaries, as well as later researchers of his work, noted that Nadson's lyrics were noticeably influenced by M. Yu. Lermontov and N. A. Nekrasov. Nadson himself greatly appreciated these poets. “Whatever you say, we don’t have a better poet in Russia than Lermontov. However, perhaps I think and say this because I myself sympathize with him with all my heart, that I myself experience what he experienced and conveyed in great poetry in his creations, ”Nadson wrote in his diary in 1878. With Lermontov, Nadson is related by the motif of the romantic suffering of a person who came at the wrong time and is alien to society. With Nekrasov - a civilian direction, devoid, however, of signs of any specific doctrine and too abstract. In his poems, Nadson rather justified the disappointment and despondent impotence of his contemporaries. According to V. V. Chuiko, “he simply “sang” himself and his generation.” This was clearly manifested in the poems “Do not blame me, my friend, I am the son of our days ...” (1883), “Since I received my sight, awakened by a thunderstorm ...” (1883), “Our generation of youth does not know ...” ( 1884), "In response" (1886). Nekrasov traditions, tangible already in early lyrics N., are especially felt in the poems "Funeral" (1879), " old fairy tale"(1881), "Prelate" (1882), "Like a convict drags shackles behind him ..." (1884), etc.

A characteristic feature of Nadson's poetry was the intonation of a personal, friendly, friendly appeal to a contemporary. The poet built his relationship with the reader on complete trust. Nadson's life was known from his own confessional and mostly autobiographical poems. The real-historical reader for Nadson was closely connected with the imaginary reader-friend. Already in the first poems, N. refers to the one "in whose heart the desires of better, brighter days are alive" ("In the Mist", 1878). It is no coincidence that frequent appeals to the reader: “Oh, dear brother”, “ Dear friends”, “Brothers”, “dear friend”, etc. At the end of his life, the poet writes lines (the poem remained unfinished), in which he very clearly expressed his attitude towards the reader: “He is not my brother - he is more than a brother: / All the strength all my love. / All that my soul is rich in. / To him I fervently give.” Critic K. K. Arseniev emphasized that in Nadson’s poetry “one senses the“ longing of desires ”, many acquaintances, one hears the cry of mental torture, experienced by many<…>. In some, he awakened half-forgotten feelings, others recognized themselves in him, he brought others face to face with questions, the existence of which they had only vaguely suspected until then.

Paramount in the work of Nadson is the theme of the appointment of the poet and poetry. In the poems “Do not despise the crowd: let it sometimes ...” (1881), “In the crowd” (1881), “Singer” (1881), “Dear friend, I know, I know deeply ...” (1882), “From the diary "(1882), "Dreams" (1883), "Singer, rise! .. we are waiting for you, rise ..." (1884), "I grew up as a stranger to you, outcast people ..." (1885) and a number of others expressed the idea of ​​civic duty poet before the fatherland and people. The motives of struggle and protest against the existing system are not uncommon in Nadson's works: "Not a sound in the gloomy silence of the casemate ..." (1882), "By vague signs accessible to the few ..." (1885), "He did not want to go, lost in the crowd ..." (1885), "At the grave of A. I. Herzen" (1886), etc. But one of keywords in Nadson's poetic lexicon, "struggle" is on a par with "doubt", "longing", "haze", it is invariably and eloquently accompanied by definitions: "heavy", "vain", "difficult", "fatal", " cruel”, “unequal”, “crazy”, “overwhelming”, “long”, “severe”. Struggle for Nadson is closely connected with suffering. “I devoted my verse to suffering and struggle,” the poet wrote (“Since I received my sight, awakened by a thunderstorm ...”). Hence the rebellious, holy, pure, beautiful suffering; it is both a "suffering image of a distant homeland" and a motif of compassion for one's neighbor.

A collection of poems that appeared in print in 1885, with a circulation of 600 copies, brought Nadson a huge success. During the life of the poet, the book went through 5 editions, and until 1917 it was reprinted 29 times, the last of which had a huge circulation for those times - 10,000 copies. After Nadson's death, his work became even more famous. Abundant critical literature appeared about Nadson (N. K. Mikhailovsky, A. M. Skabichevsky, L. E. Obolensky, M. A. Protopopov, and others), and various memoirs were published. Many poets dedicate poems to his memory (Ya. P. Polonsky, L. I. Palmin, K. M. Fofanov). And with the publication of Nadson's posthumous works, his fame reaches its climax. The youth learned his poems by heart. Nadson's works were constantly included in albums and handwritten journals of students, long years they were often recited from the stage, a place of honor was given to them in various anthologies and collections. Under the influence of N. began creative way D. S. Merezhkovsky and V. Ya. Bryusov, but later it was the symbolist poets in most contributed to the discrediting of Nadson as a lyricist.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the attitude towards Nadson's work became ambiguous. In Nadson they saw a typical "whiner". Critics increasingly paid attention to the motives of "disappointment", to the pessimistic moods of his poetry. “An undeveloped and colorful language, stereotyped epithets, a meager choice of images, lethargy and protracted speech - that’s character traits Nadson poetry, making it hopelessly obsolete,” Bryusov declared in 1908. Igor Severyanin in his "Poetry outside the subscription" wrote:

I'm afraid to admit to myself
That I live in such a country
Where a quarter of a century centers Nadson,
And Mirra and I are on the sidelines.

Editions

• Nadson S. Ya. Complete collection of poems / Entry. Art. G. Byalogo. - L.: Owls. writer, 1962. - 505 p. Circulation 30,000 copies. (Library of the poet. Large series. Second edition.)
• Nadson S. Ya. Poems / Comp., enter. Art. and note. E. V. Ivanova. - M., Sov. Russia, 1987. - 336 p., 1 sheet. portrait - (Poetic Russia). Circulation 100,000 copies.

perpetuation of memory

In honor of Nadson, Nadsonovskaya Street in the city of Pushkino is named (it is interesting that the name of this street is pronounced with an emphasis on the second syllable).

In honor of the poet near Kyiv (in the village of Boyarka in the forest valley a memorial granite stone) and this place is called the Nadson Valley.

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Notes

Links

• in
• . On the Chronos website.
• Altaev A.- Petrograd: Life and knowledge, 1915.

	in Wikisource

An excerpt characterizing Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich

Bon, je vous laisse dans votre petit coin. Je vois, que vous y etes tres bien, [Okay, I'll leave you in your corner. I see you feel good there,] - said the voice of Anna Pavlovna.
And Pierre, recalling with fear whether he had done something reprehensible, blushing, looked around him. It seemed to him that everyone knew, as well as he, about what had happened to him.
After a while, when he approached the large mug, Anna Pavlovna said to him:
- On dit que vous embellissez votre maison de Petersbourg. [They say you are finishing your St. Petersburg house.]
(It was true: the architect said that he needed it, and Pierre, not knowing why, was finishing his huge house in St. Petersburg.)
- C "est bien, mais ne demenagez pas de chez le prince Basile. Il est bon d" avoir un ami comme le prince, she said, smiling at Prince Vasily. - J "en sais quelque chose. N" est ce pas? [That's good, but don't move away from Prince Vasily. It's good to have such a friend. I know something about it. Isn't it?] And you're still so young. You need advice. You are not angry with me that I use the rights of old women. - She fell silent, as women are always silent, waiting for something after they say about their years. - If you marry, then another matter. And she put them together in one look. Pierre did not look at Helen, and she at him. But she was still terribly close to him. He mumbled something and blushed.
Returning home, Pierre could not sleep for a long time, thinking about what had happened to him. What happened to him? Nothing. He only realized that the woman he knew as a child, about whom he absentmindedly said: “Yes, good,” when he was told that Helen was beautiful, he realized that this woman could belong to him.
“But she is stupid, I myself said she was stupid,” he thought. - There is something nasty in the feeling that she aroused in me, something forbidden. I was told that her brother Anatole was in love with her, and she was in love with him, that there was a whole story, and that Anatole was expelled from this. Her brother is Ippolit... Her father is Prince Vasily... This is not good, he thought; and at the same time as he was reasoning like this (these reasonings were still unfinished), he found himself smiling and realizing that another series of reasonings had surfaced because of the first ones, that at the same time he was thinking about her insignificance and dreaming about how she would be his wife, how she could love him, how she could be completely different, and how everything he thought and heard about her could be untrue. And he again saw her not as some kind of daughter of Prince Vasily, but saw her whole body, only covered with a gray dress. “But no, why didn’t this thought occur to me before?” And again he told himself that it was impossible; that something nasty, unnatural, as it seemed to him, dishonest would be in this marriage. He remembered her former words, looks, and the words and looks of those who had seen them together. He remembered the words and looks of Anna Pavlovna when she told him about the house, remembered thousands of such hints from Prince Vasily and others, and he was horrified that he had not bound himself in any way in the performance of such a thing, which, obviously, was not good. and which he must not do. But at the same time as he was expressing this decision to himself, from the other side of his soul her image surfaced with all its feminine beauty.

In November 1805, Prince Vasily had to go to four provinces for an audit. He arranged this appointment for himself in order to visit his ruined estates at the same time, and taking with him (at the location of his regiment) his son Anatole, together with him to call on Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky in order to marry his son to the daughter of this rich old man. But before leaving and these new cases, Prince Vasily had to resolve matters with Pierre, who, however, recent times spent whole days at home, that is, at Prince Vasily, with whom he lived, he was ridiculous, excited and stupid (as a lover should be) in the presence of Helen, but still did not make an offer.
“Tout ca est bel et bon, mais il faut que ca finisse”, [All this is good, but it must be ended] - Prince Vasily said to himself once in the morning with a sigh of sadness, realizing that Pierre, who owed so much to him (well, yes Christ be with him!), does not do very well in this matter. “Youth ... frivolity ... well, God bless him,” thought Prince Vasily, feeling his kindness with pleasure: “mais il faut, que ca finisse. After Lelyna's name day tomorrow, I will call someone, and if he does not understand what he must do, then this will be my business. Yes, my business. I am the father!”
Pierre, a month and a half after Anna Pavlovna's evening and the sleepless, agitated night that followed, in which he decided that marrying Helen would be a misfortune, and that he needed to avoid her and leave, Pierre after this decision did not move from Prince Vasily and with horror felt that every day he was more and more connected with her in the eyes of people, that he could not return to his former view of her, that he could not tear himself away from her, that it would be terrible, but that he would have to connect with her own destiny. Perhaps he could have abstained, but not a day passed that Prince Vasily (who rarely had a reception) would not have an evening at which Pierre was supposed to be, if he did not want to upset the general pleasure and deceive the expectations of everyone. Prince Vasily, in those rare moments when he was at home, passing Pierre, pulled his hand down, absently offered him a shaved, wrinkled cheek for a kiss and said either “see you tomorrow” or “for dinner, otherwise I won’t see you” , or “I stay for you,” etc. But despite the fact that when Prince Vasily remained for Pierre (as he said it), he did not say a few words to him, Pierre did not feel able to deceive his expectations . Every day he said to himself one and the same thing: “We must, finally, understand her and give ourselves an account: who is she? Was I wrong before or am I wrong now? No, she is not stupid; No, she's a beautiful girl! he said to himself sometimes. “She is never wrong about anything, she has never said anything stupid. She doesn't say much, but what she says is always simple and clear. So she's not stupid. She has never been embarrassed and never is embarrassed. So she's not a bad woman!" It often happened with her to begin to reason, to think aloud, and each time she answered him either with a short, but incidentally said remark, showing that she was not interested in this, or with a silent smile and look, which most palpably showed Pierre her superiority. She was right to dismiss all reasoning as nonsense compared to that smile.
She always turned to him with a joyful, trusting smile that applied to him alone, in which there was something more significant than what was in the general smile that always adorned her face. Pierre knew that everyone was only waiting for him to finally say one word, step over known trait and he knew that sooner or later he would step over it; but some kind of incomprehensible horror seized him at the mere thought of this terrible step. A thousand times during this month and a half, during which he felt himself drawn further and further into that abyss that terrified him, Pierre said to himself: “But what is this? It takes determination! Don't I have it?"
He wanted to make up his mind, but he felt with horror that in this case he did not have that determination that he knew in himself and which really was in him. Pierre was one of those people who are strong only when they feel completely pure. And from the day that he was possessed by that feeling of desire that he experienced over Anna Pavlovna's snuffbox, an unconscious sense of the guilt of this desire paralyzed his resolve.
On Helen's name day, Prince Vasily had dinner with a small community of people closest to him, as the princess said, relatives and friends. All these relatives and friends were given to feel that on this day the fate of the birthday girl should be decided.
The guests were at dinner. Princess Kuragina, a massive, once beautiful, imposing woman, was sitting in the master's seat. On both sides of it sat the most honored guests - the old general, his wife, Anna Pavlovna Sherer; at the end of the table sat the less elderly and guests of honor, and the family, Pierre and Helen, were sitting there, side by side. Prince Vasily did not have supper: he walked around the table, in a cheerful mood, sitting down first to one or another of the guests. To each he spoke carelessly and nice word, except for Pierre and Helen, whose presence he did not notice, it seemed. Prince Vasily revived everyone. Wax candles burned brightly, silver and crystal of dishes, ladies' dresses and gold and silver epaulets shone; servants in red caftans scurried around the table; there were the sounds of knives, glasses, plates, and the sounds of the lively conversation of several conversations around this table. At one end the old chamberlain could be heard assuring the old baroness of his fiery love for her and her laughter; on the other hand, a story about the failure of some kind of Marya Viktorovna. At the middle of the table, Prince Vasily gathered listeners around him. He told the ladies, with a playful smile on his lips, the last - on Wednesday - meeting of the State Council, at which Sergei Kuzmich Vyazmitinov, the new St. Sergei Kuzmich, he said that from all sides he receives statements about the devotion of the people, and that the statement of St. Petersburg is especially pleasant to him, that he is proud of the honor of being the head of such a nation and will try to be worthy of it. This rescript began with the words: Sergey Kuzmich! Rumors reach me from all sides, etc.
- So it didn’t go further than “Sergei Kuzmich”? one lady asked.
“Yes, yes, not a hair,” replied Prince Vasily, laughing. - Sergei Kuzmich ... from all sides. From all sides, Sergei Kuzmich... Poor Vyazmitinov could not go any further. Several times he began to write again, but Sergey would just say ... sobbing ... Ku ... zmi ... ch - tears ... and from all sides they were drowned out by sobs, and he could not go any further. And again a handkerchief, and again “Sergei Kuzmich, from all sides,” and tears ... so that they already asked to read another.
- Kuzmich ... from all sides ... and tears ... - repeated someone laughing.
- Don't be angry, - Anna Pavlovna said, shaking her finger from the other end of the table, - c "est un si brave et excellent homme notre bon Viasmitinoff ... [This is such wonderful person, our good Vyazmitinov ...]
Everyone laughed a lot. At the upper honorable end of the table, everyone seemed to be cheerful and under the influence of the most varied lively moods; only Pierre and Helene sat silently side by side almost at the lower end of the table; a radiant smile, independent of Sergei Kuzmich, was restrained on the faces of both - a smile of shame in front of their feelings. No matter what they said and no matter how others laughed and joked, no matter how appetizing they ate rhine wine, and sautéed, and ice cream, no matter how they avoided this couple with their eyes, no matter how indifferent, inattentive to her, it was felt for some reason, by occasionally thrown at them glances that the joke about Sergei Kuzmich, and laughter, and food - everything was feigned, and all the forces of the attention of this whole society were directed only to this couple - Pierre and Helen. Prince Vasily imagined the sobs of Sergei Kuzmich and at the same time looked around his daughter; and while he was laughing, his expression said: “Well, well, everything is going well; Everything will be decided today." Anna Pavlovna threatened him for notre bon Viasmitinoff, and in her eyes, which flashed briefly at Pierre at that moment, Prince Vasily read congratulations on the future son-in-law and the happiness of his daughter. The old princess, offering wine to her neighbor with a sad sigh and looking angrily at her daughter, with this sigh seemed to be saying: “Yes, now there is nothing left for us but to drink sweet wine, my dear; now is the time for this youth to be so defiantly defiantly happy.” “And what nonsense is all that I tell, as if it interests me,” the diplomat thought, looking at the happy faces of his lovers, “this is happiness!”
Among those insignificantly petty, artificial interests that bound this society, there was a simple feeling of striving of a beautiful and healthy young man and woman for each other. And this human feeling suppressed everything and hovered over all their artificial babble. The jokes were not funny, the news was uninteresting, the animation obviously fake. Not only they, but the lackeys who served at the table seemed to feel the same and forgot the order of the service, looking at the beautiful Helen with her beaming face and at the red, fat, happy and restless face of Pierre. It seemed that the lights of the candles were focused only on these two happy faces.
Pierre felt that he was the center of everything, and this position both pleased and embarrassed him. He was in the state of a man deep in some kind of occupation. He didn't see anything clearly, didn't understand, and didn't hear anything. Only occasionally, unexpectedly, fragmentary thoughts and impressions from reality flickered in his soul.
“It's all over! he thought. – And how did it all happen? So fast! Now I know that not for her alone, not for myself alone, but for all this must inevitably come to pass. They are all so looking forward to it, so sure it will be, that I can't, I can't deceive them. But how will it be? Don't know; but it will be, it will certainly be!” thought Pierre, looking at those shoulders that glittered right next to his eyes.
Then suddenly he felt ashamed of something. He was embarrassed that he alone occupied the attention of everyone, that he was a lucky man in the eyes of others, that he, with his ugly face, was some kind of Paris possessing Elena. “But, it’s true, it always happens like that and it’s necessary,” he consoled himself. “And, by the way, what did I do for this?” When did it start? From Moscow, I went with Prince Vasily. There was nothing here yet. Then why didn't I stop at his place? Then I played cards with her and picked up her purse and went skating with her. When did it start, when did it all happen? And here he sits beside her as a bridegroom; hears, sees, feels her closeness, her breath, her movements, her beauty. Then suddenly it seems to him that it is not she, but he himself is so extraordinarily beautiful that that is why they look at him like that, and he, happy with the general surprise, straightens his chest, raises his head and rejoices in his happiness. Suddenly a voice, someone's familiar voice, is heard and says something to him another time. But Pierre is so busy that he does not understand what they say to him. “I ask you when you received a letter from Bolkonsky,” Prince Vasily repeats for the third time. “How distracted you are, my dear.
Prince Vasily smiles, and Pierre sees that everyone, everyone is smiling at him and Helen. “Well, well, if you know everything,” Pierre said to himself. "Well? it’s true,” and he himself smiled his meek, childish smile, and Helen smiles.
– When did you receive it? From Olmutz? - repeats Prince Vasily, who supposedly needs to know this in order to resolve the dispute.
“And is it possible to talk and think about such trifles?” thinks Pierre.
“Yes, from Olmutz,” he replies with a sigh.
From dinner, Pierre led his lady after the others into the living room. The guests began to leave, and some left without saying goodbye to Helen. As if not wanting to interrupt her from her serious occupation, some of them came up for a minute and quickly left, forbidding her to see them off. The diplomat was sadly silent as he left the living room. He imagined all the futility of his diplomatic career in comparison with Pierre's happiness. The old general grumbled angrily at his wife when she asked him about the condition of his leg. Eka, you old fool, he thought. “Here is Elena Vasilievna, so she will be a beauty even at 50.”
“It seems that I can congratulate you,” Anna Pavlovna whispered to the princess and kissed her warmly. “If it weren’t for a migraine, I would have stayed.
The princess did not answer; she was tormented by envy of her daughter's happiness.
Pierre, during the farewell of the guests, remained for a long time alone with Helen in the small drawing room, where they sat down. He had often before, in the last month and a half, been left alone with Helen, but he had never spoken to her of love. Now he felt it was necessary, but he couldn't bring himself to take that last step. He was ashamed; it seemed to him that here, beside Helene, he was occupying someone else's place. This is not happiness for you, - some one told him inner voice. - This is happiness for those who do not have what you have. But he had to say something, and he spoke. He asked her if she was satisfied with this evening? She, as always, with her simplicity answered that the current name day was one of the most pleasant for her.
Some of the closest relatives still remained. They sat in a large living room. Prince Vasily walked up to Pierre with lazy steps. Pierre got up and said that it was already late. Prince Vasily looked at him sternly inquiringly, as if what he said was so strange that it was impossible to hear. But after that, the expression of severity changed, and Prince Vasily pulled Pierre down by the arm, sat him down and smiled affectionately.
- Well, Lelya? - he immediately turned to his daughter with that careless tone of habitual tenderness, which is acquired by parents who caress their children from childhood, but which Prince Vasily was only guessed by imitating other parents.
And he again turned to Pierre.
“Sergey Kuzmich, from all sides,” he said, unbuttoning the top button of his waistcoat.
Pierre smiled, but it was evident from his smile that he understood that it was not the anecdote of Sergei Kuzmich that interested Prince Vasily at that time; and Prince Vasily realized that Pierre understood this. Prince Vasily suddenly murmured something and left. It seemed to Pierre that even Prince Vasily was embarrassed. The sight of the embarrassment of this old man of the world touched Pierre; he looked back at Helen - and she seemed to be embarrassed and said with a look: "well, you yourself are to blame."
“I must inevitably step over, but I can’t, I can’t,” thought Pierre, and spoke again about an outsider, about Sergei Kuzmich, asking what this anecdote consisted of, since he did not catch it. Helen replied with a smile that she didn't know either.
When Prince Vasily entered the drawing room, the princess spoke quietly to the elderly lady about Pierre.
- Of course, c "est un parti tres brillant, mais le bonheur, ma chere ... - Les Marieiages se font dans les cieux, [Of course, this is a very brilliant party, but happiness, my dear ... - Marriages are made in heaven,] - answered elderly lady.
Prince Vasily, as if not listening to the ladies, went to a far corner and sat down on the sofa. He closed his eyes and seemed to be dozing. His head was about to fall, and he woke up.
- Aline, - he said to his wife, - allez voir ce qu "ils font. [Alina, look what they are doing.]
The princess went up to the door, walked past it with a significant, indifferent air, and peered into the drawing-room. Pierre and Helen also sat and talked.
“All the same,” she answered her husband.
Prince Vasily frowned, wrinkled his mouth to the side, his cheeks jumped up and down with his usual unpleasant, rude expression; he shook himself, got up, threw back his head and decisive steps, past the ladies, went into a small living room. With quick steps, he joyfully approached Pierre. The prince's face was so unusually solemn that Pierre stood up in fright when he saw him.
- Thank God! - he said. My wife told me everything! - He hugged Pierre with one arm, his daughter with the other. - My friend Lelya! I'm very, very happy. - His voice trembled. - I loved your father ... and she will be a good wife to you ... God bless you! ...
He hugged his daughter, then again Pierre and kissed him with a foul-smelling mouth. Tears really wet his cheeks.
“Princess, come here,” he shouted.
The princess came out and wept too. The old lady also wiped herself with a handkerchief. Pierre was kissed, and several times he kissed the hand of the beautiful Helen. After a while they were left alone again.
“All this should have been so and could not have been otherwise,” thought Pierre, “therefore, there is nothing to ask, is it good or bad? Good, because definitely, and there is no former painful doubt. Pierre silently held his bride's hand and looked at her beautiful breasts rising and falling.
- Helen! he said aloud and stopped.
"Something special is said in these cases," he thought, but he could not remember what exactly they say in these cases. He looked into her face. She moved closer to him. Her face reddened.
“Ah, take off these… like these…” she pointed to the glasses.
Pierre took off his glasses, and his eyes, in addition to the general strangeness of the eyes of people who took off their glasses, his eyes looked frightened and inquiring. He wanted to bend over her hand and kiss her; but with a quick and rough movement of her head she caught hold of his lips and brought them together with hers. Her face struck Pierre with its changed, unpleasantly bewildered expression.
“Now it’s too late, it’s all over; Yes, and I love her, thought Pierre.
- Je vous aim! [I love you!] – he said, remembering what had to be said in these cases; but these words sounded so poor that he felt ashamed of himself.
A month and a half later, he was married and settled, as they said, the happy owner of a beautiful wife and millions, in the large St. Petersburg newly decorated house of the Bezukhi Counts.

Old Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky in December 1805 received a letter from Prince Vasily, informing him of his arrival together with his son. (“I am going to an audit, and, of course, I’m not a detour 100 miles away to visit you, dear benefactor,” he wrote, “and my Anatole escorts me and goes to the army; and I hope that you will allow him to personally express to you the deep respect that he, imitating his father, has for you.")
“There’s no need for Marie to be taken out: the grooms themselves are coming to us,” the little princess said carelessly, hearing about this.
Prince Nikolai Andreevich frowned and said nothing.
Two weeks after receiving the letter, in the evening, the people of Prince Vasily arrived ahead, and the next day he himself arrived with his son.
The old man Bolkonsky always had a low opinion of the character of Prince Vasily, and even more so recently, when Prince Vasily, in the new reigns under Paul and Alexander, went far in ranks and honors. Now, from the hints of the letter and the little princess, he understood what was the matter, and the low opinion of Prince Vasily turned in the soul of Prince Nikolai Andreevich into a feeling of unfriendly contempt. He constantly snorted, talking about him. On the day Prince Vasily arrived, Prince Nikolai Andreevich was especially dissatisfied and out of sorts. Was it because he was out of sorts that Prince Vasily was coming, or because he was especially dissatisfied with the arrival of Prince Vasily, because he was out of sorts; but he was not in a good mood, and even in the morning Tikhon advised the architect not to come in with a report to the prince.
“Hear how he walks,” said Tikhon, drawing the architect’s attention to the sound of the prince’s steps. - Steps on the whole heel - we already know ...
However, as usual, at 9 o'clock the prince went out for a walk in his velvet coat with a sable collar and the same hat. It snowed the day before. The path along which Prince Nikolai Andreevich walked to the greenhouse had been cleared, broom marks could be seen in the swept snow, and the shovel had been stuck into the loose mound of snow that ran on both sides of the path. The prince walked through the greenhouses, through the household and buildings, frowning and silent.
- Is it possible to ride in a sleigh? he asked the venerable man, who was escorting him to the house, similar in face and manners to the owner, the manager.
“The snow is deep, Your Excellency. I already ordered to sweep it according to the preshpektu.
The prince bowed his head and went up to the porch. “Glory to you, Lord,” thought the steward, “a cloud has passed!”
“It was difficult to pass, Your Excellency,” added the steward. - How did you hear, your excellency, that the minister would wish to your excellency?
The prince turned to the steward and stared at him with frowning eyes.

Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich

— poet. Born December 14, 1862 and on his father's side was Jewish origin; his father, as they say, was not deprived of talents and, by the way, possessed musical ability; he died at a young age from a mental disorder, leaving two children - a son and a daughter. Initially future poet was placed in St. - Petersburg 1st classical gymnasium, and then in the 2nd military gymnasium (now the 2nd Cadet Corps). Nadson studied at the gymnasium not badly, but, it seems, more than the sciences, he was engaged in reading, music (he decently played the violin and other instruments); even more zealously he devoted himself to literary exercises within the walls of the gymnasium. Nadson began writing poetry at the age of nine; his first poem, which appeared in print: "At the Dawn" (in the journal "Light") refers to 1878, when the author was only 15 years old, and a year later the young poet read publicly at a gymnasium concert one of his great works - a poem "Judas".

At the end of the course at the gymnasium, Nadson, who dreamed of entering the university, entered, at the request of his guardian, the Pavlovsk School. Soon, having caught a cold during training, he fell ill and, having spent quite a long time in the infirmary, was sent to Tiflis to cure catarrh of the lungs, where he lived for about a year with his relatives. Having somehow recovered, he returned in the autumn of 1880 to St. Petersburg and again entered, only out of necessity, the Pavlovsk School, where he spent two years. During this time, he managed to write and print many poems that made his name more or less famous.

In the autumn of 1881, Nadson met through one of his comrades, the son of the poet Pleshcheev, A. N. Pleshcheev, who took a close and warm part in the fate young poet; on at least, Nadson in his autobiography says that he "is infinitely indebted to the warmth, taste and education of A. N. Pleshcheev, who raised his muse." With the assistance of Pleshcheev, Nadson's poems, which had been published up to that time in Mysl, Slova, Ustoyakh, Russkaya Rech, began to appear in Fatherland. Zap.".

In September 1882, Nadson was promoted to officer in the 148th Caspian Regiment stationed in Kronstadt. He apparently had no disposition for military service, although at first he did not fare badly in Kronstadt. “Kronstadt makes a favorable impression on me,” wrote Nadson. In the full sense of the word, my dreams come true ... Then he also wrote the poem "Everything that I dreamed of as a young man behind the school walls came true, looking into the future." In Kronstadt, he gathered around him a circle of novice poets, "lovers of the dramatic and all other arts", took an active part in the organization of performances and concerts, often acting in them as a performer. But the feeling of loneliness that oppressed Nadson during the years of an orphan childhood did not leave him even now, in a more or less favorable environment. “I continue to amuse myself,” he wrote, “I take care of young ladies, arrange performances and literary and musical evenings; but the skeleton of life is already beginning to show through the flowers with which I remove it. I don’t sleep at night, sometimes a terrible melancholy attacks.

In the summer of 1883, a tuberculosis fistula opened on Nadson's leg, and he spent the whole summer lying ill in St. Petersburg. He spent the winter in Kronstadt, arranging for release from military service. Deciding to become folk teacher, he prepared for the exam and passed it, but soon, at the suggestion of P. A. Gaideburov, he took the place of secretary of the editorial board of the Week. After resting half the summer of 1884 at the dacha, in the Pleshcheev family, Nadson began classes at the editorial office in July, but already in October of the same year, at the insistence of doctors, he was forced to go abroad for treatment with funds provided to him by the literary fund and private benefactors. The poet visited Wiesbaden, Menton, Nice, Bern; but neither the warm climate nor a series of operations brought relief. Lack of funds and homesickness forced him to return to St. Petersburg, where he arrived in the autumn of 1885. The doctors resolutely forbade him to stay in the capital for a long time, and after staying here for several weeks, he accepted the offer of a familiar family to spend the winter in Podolsk lips. However, the village, by the poet's own admission, he "soon got tired of": he dreamed of settling in Kyiv, Moscow, or even in St. Petersburg, just to have a "permanent literary job." In April 1886, he made a short trip to Kyiv, where he became convinced that his illness was progressing: “in a word,” he wrote, “I go uphill and die of consumption.” Since then, the idea of imminent death no longer left Nadson. In order to somehow do without the financial assistance of philanthropists, he undertook to write literary feuilletons in the Kyiv newspaper Zarya. Meanwhile, the doctors insisted on Nadson's departure abroad, and after refusing to follow their advice, they recommended that he settle in Yalta, where he moved in the autumn of 1886 completely exhausted. Three months later, January 19, 1887, he died. His body was transported from Yalta to St. Petersburg and on February 4, solemnly buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery.

Nadson went down to the grave, having just been crowned by the Academy of Sciences, which awarded him the Pushkin Prize (1886); the collection of his works, bequeathed to the late Literary Fund, was reprinted almost every year and is currently in its 22nd edition (St. Petersburg, 1906). However, the question of the significance of Nadson in Russian literature remains open, and in assessing the work of the poet, critics did not come and did not come, either before or after his death, to a solution that does not provoke controversy. Whether Nadson's talent was commensurate with purely external success, and what is the reason for this success, these are the main questions on which Nadson's critics dwell in particular. It is curious that at the very time when even the most ardent opponents of the poet did not deny in him an undoubted talent, the most ardent admirers of Nadson, not without reservations, decided to call him a great talent, who had a well-deserved success. Obviously, there was something that stopped some from positive condemnation, others from risky praise: the first were stopped by the undoubted harmony of the verse, the sincerity of the poet, the others were held back by the consciousness that no matter how great Nadson's talent, however, he was not destined to become such a significant literary size around which the followers would be grouped - Nadson did not create a school, despite the size of the outward success. Critics did not agree in explaining the reasons for the extraordinary success of Nadson's works: some, without denying the artistic beauties of his poetry, attribute a significant share of the success of his works to the participation of society in tragic fate an early deceased poet, as well as his charming personality, artistically reflected in his poems, these - in the words of one critic - "tender tears of his feminine lyricism." Others see the reason for the success of Nadson's poetry in his sincere idealism, humanity, depth of thought, and finally, in the high civic feelings inherent in the poet, and most importantly, in the fact that he was "a brilliant spokesman for the feelings and thoughts of his generation", the so-called "transitional mood", which also characterizes the activities of some of the best representatives of our literature of the late 1870s and early 1880s. There is no unanimity in the assessment of Nadson's works, both from the outside and from the outside. inside. Some found that Nadson harmoniously combined “a deeply developed taste for elegance, a subtle understanding of tact and measure, a tender and ebullient soul, a passionate love for nature, the ability to think in bright and beautiful images, to manage all the sounds and colors of the rich Russian language, and finally, a well-educated mind”, etc.; and finally, prof. Tsarevsky, assigning Nadson a place “among our newest poets, as a valiant member of the glorious Pushkin family”, brought him closer in “purity of style”, “beauty of verse”, “power”, etc., to Lermontov and placed him above Nekrasov ... However , there were critics who noted in the works of Nadson and many very significant shortcomings, in most cases explained by youth, insufficient education, as well as the incompleteness of the poet's talent. For example, the reviewer of the Academy of Sciences, through a detailed examination of Nadson's works, came to the following conclusion: "Nadson owns, as they say, verse, but is still very far from that perfection, from that completeness of external poetic form, samples of which were given to us by our poets of the 30s, 40s and 50s, with Pushkin at the head. Turning then to the content of Nadson's poetry, the reviewer finds it difficult to "determine the internal properties of his talent", finding that "Nadson's work is positively still in the period of initial development"; in general, he considers Nadson not yet out of the "nebulous realm of youthful disappointment and civic sorrow." Another researcher of Nadson's poetry (Mr. Menshikov) notes: "to suffer in Nadson's time was a kind of fashion", and the critic gives examples of Nadson's enthusiasm for this "fashion", in whose works he generally sees a lot of youthful ignorance of life and does not literally find not a single thought "which could not be refuted by his own words"; all Nadson's poetry, in his opinion, "is nothing more than a bewitching, but vague dream"... According to A. N. Veselovsky, "it is most correct to characterize Nadson as a poet of incessantly alternating enthusiastic hopes and disappointment."

More unanimity is seen in critical reviews of Nadson as a lyric par excellence; as well as some of the characteristic features of his muse, inadvertently pessimism, the sources of the latter, the ability to feel and convey the beauties of nature, etc.

In addition to poems, Nadson also wrote critical reviews, first in “Father. Zap. ", and in 1886 in the Kyiv newspaper Zarya, where he was (from May to September) a magazine columnist; after the death of the author, his critical experiments were published in a special book, in the building of the society for the benefit of needy writers and scientists (St. Petersburg. , 1888. These experiments of Nadson do not constitute anything outstanding and do not differ in any way from ordinary reviews and critical notes of his time; but they can serve good material for a closer acquaintance with the literary tastes and views of the poet.

Nadson's works, which were not included in the collection of "Poems" of his, including the beginning of the tragedy "Princess Sophia", were published, after the death of the poet, by the Society for assistance to needy writers and scientists in a special book entitled: "Unfinished Songs" (From posthumous papers ). SPb., 1902.

Many of Nadson's poems have been set to music.

The most detailed biographical information about Nadson is also found in an essay attached to the collection of poems of the poet in the publication of the Society for Assistance to Needy Writers and Scientists (the 21st edition was published in 1905); in addition, see "Collection of magazine and newspaper articles, dedicated to the memory Nadson”, St. Petersburg, 1887 (obituary essays, memoirs, characteristics and poems dedicated to the poet are collected here); D. D. Yazykov, “Review of the Life and Works of the Late Russian Writers”, centuries. 7 and 9; N. Gervais, "The Cadet, Junker and Officer Years of S. Ya. Nadson.", S²²b., 1907; Report on the 3rd award of the Pushkin Prizes, St. Petersburg, 1880 (reviews by Academician Ya. K. Grot and gr. A A. Golenishcheva-Kutuzova); Prof. A. A. Tsarevsky, “S. Ya. Nadsson and his poetry, thoughts and sorrows”, Kazan, 1895; V. V. Teplov, “Nadson is a critical experience”, Kyiv, 1887; V. Malinin, "Nadson as a poet" (in "Kiev. Collection to help victims of crop failure"); P. Irteniev, "Outdated stories, notes and impressions", Libava, 1903; "From unpublished poems. Nadson" , Orel, 1893; M. M., “Poetry of Nadson”, St. Petersburg, 1897; A. M. Skabichevsky, “The History of Modern Russian Literature”, St. Petersburg, 1897; N. Engelhardt, “History of Russian Literature of the 19th century.” , vol. II, St. Petersburg, 1902; "Kn. Weeks”, 1887, No 17; 1891, No 11; 1897, February; Grinevich, "Singer of the sick generation" (in "Russian Wealth", 1897, No. 5); Ars. Vvedensky, "The Poet of the Transitional Time" (in The Case, 1886, No. 5, see also his Critical Studies, vol. II); Or. Miller, "Nadson" (in Rus. Star., 1887, No. 11), M. O. Menshikov, Critical Essays, St. Petersburg, 1899, A. Altaev, "Young Poet", St. Petersburg, 1899: "Rus. Wealth", 1900, book 10; "North", 1903, No 1-3.

Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich

— famous poet; genus. in St. Petersburg. December 14, 1862; father of Jewish origin, mother - from Russian noble family Mammoth. Father is an official, a gifted and very musical person, mind. from a mental disorder when N. was 2 years old. Left without any means with two children, his widow first lived as a housekeeper and governess in Kyiv, then she remarried. This marriage was extremely unhappy. The poet's memory left an indelible impression of the difficult family scenes that ended in the suicide of his stepfather, after which N.'s mother, along with the children, settled in St. Petersburg. brother, but died soon after. Left in the care of his uncle, with whom he did not get along well, N. in 1872 was sent as a boarder to the 2nd military gymnasium (now the 2nd cadet corp.), where he completed the course in 1879. Enrolling in Pavlovsk military school, he caught a cold at school. Doctors ascertained the onset of consumption, and he was sent to Tiflis at public expense, where he spent a year. In 1882, Mr.. N. released as a second lieutenant in the Caspian regiment, located in Kronstadt. This was best period of his life, when he first felt some contentment and reflected his bright mood in one of the few poems not poisoned by heavy thought:

Everything about what was behind the school walls came true
I dreamed of a young man, looking into the future.

Rapidly growing literary fame, a lively disposition, witty conversation, and a kind heart—all this disposed N.'s comrades and acquaintances; he was spoiled and surrounded by all sorts of cares and cares. Military service However, N. was very burdensome and he retired at the first opportunity (1884). For several months he was the secretary of the editorial board of the Week, but soon the chest disease took such a sad turn that the poet's friends, with the help of the literary fund, sent him first to Wiesbaden, and then to Nice. Neither the warm climate, nor the two painful operations of a tubercular fistula in his leg, which he underwent in Bern, led to nothing, and in the summer of 1885 his friends decided to take him back to Russia. Slowly fading away, N. lived for about 1 1/2 years, first in Podolsk province, then near Kyiv and, finally, in Yalta, where he died on January 19, 1887. He saw a lot of good things during this time: his popularity kept growing, the collection of poems published in 1885 quickly sold out, it took a second and a third, Acad. Sciences awarded him the Pushkin Prize, illustrated publications placed his portraits, he received many sympathetic letters. When he arranged an evening in Kyiv in favor of the literary fund, he was greeted with a storm of applause, and after reading he was carried out in his arms. Living near Kyiv and looking for money, so as not to need the help of friends and the literary fund, N. began to write literary feuilletons in the Kyiv newspaper Zarya. This involved him in a controversy with the critic of Novoye Vremya, V.P. Burenin, who, in clear allusions, accused N. that his illness was feigned and served only as a pretext for him to beg for benefits. The dying poet, deeply struck by the grave, undeserved accusation, was about to go to St. Petersburg. and arrange a court of honor, but was not allowed to do so by friends. After a while, the attacks resumed with new force; the last feuilleton of "New Time" directed against N. came to Yalta after his death. His body was transported to St. Petersburg. and buried at the Volkovo cemetery. A few years later, with the money collected by subscription, a monument was erected over N.'s grave. N. began to write very early; already in 1878 one of his poems was published in N. P. Wagner's "Light"; then he placed the verses in the "Word"; "Sustainability", "Thoughts". In 1882 A. N. Pleshcheev wished to meet him. N. considered him his literary godfather - and indeed, Pleshcheev reacted extremely warmly to the debutant and opened the way for him to Fatherland. Zap. ". The three poems by N. placed here immediately drew general attention to him and aroused great hopes. Since then, the success of his poems in the public has increased, and interest in them has not weakened to this day. For 10 years, the collection of poems by N. withstood 14 editions and sold over 50 thousand copies.The ownership of them, according to N.'s will, belongs to the literary fund, to which he thus paid a hundredfold for support. is currently about 50,000 R. The unprecedented success of N., which has no equal in the history of Russian poetry (neither Pushkin, nor Lermontov, nor Koltsov, nor Nekrasov, did not disperse in such numbers before the expiration of the term of literary property), many attributed at first to sympathy for the unfortunate fate untimely dead poet and as if protesting against the slander that poisoned him last days life. However, a number of years have passed, the hardships are forgotten, and the success of N.'s poems remains the same. It is necessary, therefore, to look for his explanation in the very verses of N., especially since authoritative criticism has little attention to them, referring to N., for the most part, as a secondary poet. N. reflected the transitional mood that characterizes the work of the best representative of the literary generation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Garshin. N. - the personification of Ryabinin in famous story Garshina: "Artists". Like Ryabinin, he exclaims: “But to be silent when sobs sound around and when you are so greedily eager to appease them, under the threat of struggle and in the face of suffering ... Brother, I don’t want to, I can’t be silent.” There was a time when "poetry carried with it unknown feelings, the harmony of heaven and devotion to a dream, and its law was art for art's sake, and its covenant was service to beauty." But "from the very first steps, luxurious flowers were plucked from her brow and trampled into dust - and a dark cloud of doubt and sadness covered her virginally beautiful features." However, having abandoned the poetry of pleasure and serene contemplation, N., like the same Garshin Ryabinin, did not find his destination in the fight against evil. He himself is very well aware of this: “And among the fighters I am not a stern fighter, but only a groaning, tired invalid, looking with envy at their crown of thorns.” Far from corresponding, therefore, to the ensemble poetic activity N. the idea of ​​him as a "civilian" poet par excellence. N.’s “civilian” mood, like all his moods in general, was deeply sincere, but it is only a part of his creative impulses and is, as it were, a duty of conscience, the fulfillment of what he considered the moral duty of everyone loving motherland person and citizen. According to the purely literary qualities of his talent, he gravitated towards lyrical impulses, alien to the trend. This can be seen from many places in his critical notes, and from the predominant character of the poems that he left in his portfolio and which were published only after his death, and from what is especially good in artistically those poems in which he is more a poet than a citizen: “In the cemetery”, “In the wilderness”, the charming “Excerpt from a letter to M. W. Watson”, the graceful little piece “Climbed into my corner secretly”, “Everything came true”, “Again moonlit night”, “I took a closer look at her”, “No, muse, don’t call”, “Spring”, “My muse died” (the last poem is one of the most touching plays of Russian poetry, worthy of standing next to Nikitin’s poem: “ A deep hole was dug with a spade). Already in one of his early poems, "The Poet", N. simultaneously worships two ideals of poetry - civil and purely artistic. AT later poems, next to the call to fight, there is a “torturous argument” in his soul with a doubt about the need for a fight (“I’ll just be left alone”); next to the belief in the final triumph of good ("My friend, my brother", "Spring Tale"), a bitter conclusion is drawn, "that in the struggle and confusion of the universe there is only one goal - the peace of non-existence" ("The Coming"), "the haze of hopelessness reigns in the exhausted chest "(" The veil is thrown off ") and the consciousness of the insignificance of efforts "before the flowing age of suffering blood, the eternal human evil and eternal enmity" ("I did not spare myself") grows stronger. Finally, sometimes in the poet's soul there is a conflict with the desire for personal happiness. In one of his most popular poems, N. with surprising sincerity told how he “yesterday was still glad to renounce happiness” - but “today is spring, all in flowers, and a window has looked into it”, and “madly, painfully I want happiness, female caresses, and tears, and love without end. However, in this lack of straightness, N. has nothing to do with instability; his vibrations, like those of Garshin, are united by a common humane mood, not cold and far-fetched, but deeply organic. Ideal N. - Christ: "My God is the God of the suffering, God, stained with blood, God-man and brother with a heavenly soul, and before suffering and pure love I bow with my ardent prayer." N. himself gave the definition of his poetry in the poem "Dreams": "I cry with the crying, I suffer with the suffering, and I give a hand to the weary." In these words lies the definition of the place occupied by N. in the history of Russian poetry. The native daughter of Nekrasov's muse, N.'s muse has her own personality traits which are dear to the nervous, broken generation of recent years. She is more inclined to complain than to protest, but also less severe. Not belonging to a strong and brilliant artists, N. has, however, serious poetic merits. He has a very musical, sometimes figurative verse, a remarkably soulful tone, and most importantly, he has great conciseness. His favorite saying was the rule: "So that words are cramped, thoughts are spacious." He managed to create some very well-aimed poetic formulas that have stuck in my memory. Poems: “How little has been lived, how much has been experienced”, “Let the harp be broken - the chord is still crying”, “Flowers have flown around, fires have burnt out” - became winged and entered into everyday speech. The strengths of N. should also include the complete absence of artificial elation and rhetoric. N.'s poetry is clear and accessible to every average reader - and perhaps even in this main secret her success. Critical experiments N., collected in the book "Literary. Essays ”(St. Petersburg, 1888), do not represent anything outstanding.

Wed a biography of N. with poems (compiled by M. V. Watson); Arseniev, "Critical studies"; Art. N. K. Mikhailovsky in Severny Vestnik (1887), Op. Miller, in "Russian Antiquity" (1888); "Collection of articles dedicated to the memory of N." (St. Petersburg, 1887); brochure by N. A. Kotlyarevsky (M., 1890); book by prof. Tsarevsky (Kazan, 1890).

With.Vengerov.

Large encyclopedic Dictionary, ed. F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron (1890-1907, 82 + 4 vols. [more precisely, half volumes, but most often the half volume number is indicated as a volume, for example, v. 54; more correctly than volumes 43, of which 2 are additional.])

Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich

- famous Russian poet (1862-1887). His father, who was born Orthodox, came from a Jewish family, and this circumstance gave N.'s family a reason to insult the orphan. In his autobiographical notes, written in 1880, N. writes about his stay in the house of his uncle (by mother): “When an offended sense of justice suffered in me, a child, and I, alone, defenseless, in a strange family, bitterly crying helplessly, they told me - the Jewish comedy begins again, with inhuman cruelty, insulting the memory of my father in me. N. dedicated one of his poems to the Jewish people. It begins with the words: “I grew up as a stranger to you, an outcast people, and it was not for you that I sang in moments of inspiration”; if the Jewish people were happy, the poet, “warmed and carried away by a different desire,” would not come to him with greetings; but in the days 'when one name Jew in the mouth of the crowd it sounds like a symbol of rejection”, the poet comes to the suffering people and says: “Let me modestly become in the ranks of your fighters, people offended by fate!” The poem appeared for the first time in the collection “Help for Jews Affected by Harvest Failure” (St. Petersburg, 1901) with a note that, written out from N.’s original notebook, it apparently refers to 1886. In the collection “Unfinished Songs ”(from the posthumous papers of N.; St. Petersburg, 1902), the poem is placed under 1885. The mentioned autobiographical notes are also printed here.

Jewish Encyclopedia (ed. Brockhaus-Efron, 1907-1913, 16 vols.)

Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich

Russian Biographical Dictionary (1896-1918, ed. Russian historical society, 25 vols., unfinished; the publication was carried out at first under the supervision of A. A. Polovtsov [Polovtseva; 1832-1909], who has been chairman of the Society since 1978)

Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich

- a poet. Genus. in the family of an official. Having lost his father early, he became acquainted with poverty in childhood, studied at classical gymnasiums in St. Petersburg and Kyiv, then at a military gymnasium and the Pavlovsk Military School. In 1882 he was promoted to officer; after serving two years in Kronstadt, he retired and became secretary of the editorial board of the Nedelya magazine. The last years of N.'s life were a slow dying from tuberculosis, from which treatment in the Crimea and the Riviera did not save. N.'s first poem appeared in print in May 1878 in the magazine Svet. Shortly thereafter, he begins to collaborate on Otechestvennye Zapiski.

N.'s first poems are painted in populist tones and continue the traditions of the Nekrasov school. Nadson recalls the "little brother" and calls "to a formidable battle with deep darkness." "Civil" motifs are sometimes found in the further work of N. In the poem "Dreams" N. proclaims a break with the romantic fantasies of childhood and declares: "I joined the ranks of the fighters of desecrated freedom, / I became a singer of labor, knowledge and sorrows!". The pathetic of this The poem "At the Grave of A. I. Herzen" is also permeated with a kind. But already for the first populist poems N. is characterized by an insistent motif of doubts corroding revolutionary ideals. The poet is convinced of the futility of the struggle: "Why sacrifice and suffering / Why did I understand so late I, / What is in the struggle and turmoil of the universe / There is only one goal - the peace of non-existence? N. it seems that nature itself condemns the victims of the struggle and justifies the selfish contentment of the well-fed ("Forgotten by their noisy circle"). And socialism itself is drawn to Nadson as boring and flat, a kingdom of peace that does not satisfy the poet who has become accustomed to "pure sorrow" ("languishing and suffering in the darkness of bad weather"). Towards the end of his life, N. began to lean towards the principles of "art for art's sake." N.'s contradictory and zigzag path ran from the civil traditions of Nekrasov through various doubts and hesitations to individualism, impressionism, which prepared future symbolists. In the poem " Moment "N. comes close to the preaching of enjoying the moment, so characteristic of Bryusov and Balmont ("We have only one night left to live, / But it is a night of pleasure ... / And in the arms of love we will sleep carefree, / To wake up for mortal embraces" ).

N. is the mouthpiece of a turning point in the history of the raznochintsy intelligentsia, who lost faith in the revolutionary ideals of populism, stood before life in bewilderment, as before a sphinx, and began to adapt to the capitalist way of life. This inconsistency, duality, contributed to the extraordinary success of his poetry among the broad circles of the intelligentsia of the 80s, who were experiencing the same evolution. For 12 years, the book of poems N. withstood 14 editions.

Nadson's style is eclectic. On the one hand, this is an epigone civil poetry, stamped and automated its stylistic principles, On the other hand, it is the forerunner of the Impressionist style of the Symbolists. The poverty of picturesque images, the banality of epithets, the abundance of "superfluous" words - all these "shortcomings" of style II. are conditioned both by the epigone automation of Nekrasov's traditions, and in particular by the transition from the oratorical colloquial verse of the populists, with its accentuated semantics, to musical style symbolists. N.'s stylistic eclecticism, however, responded to the tastes of the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia, which stood at a social crossroads, who had come from fascination with populism to bourgeois liberalism.

Bibliography: I. Poems, 27th ed. Literary Fund, St. Petersburg, 1914; Prose. Diaries. Letters, ed. the same, 2nd, St. Petersburg, 1913 (here is the bibliography compiled by H. K. Piksanov); Complete collection. sochin. with biographical essay by M. Watson (appendix to the "Niva" for 1917).

II. Mikhailovsky N.K., Notes on poetry and poets, Sochin., vol. VI; Grinevich P. F. (P. F. Yakubovich), Singer of anxiety of young forces, "Essays on Russian Poetry", St. Petersburg, 1911; Voitolovsky L. N., S. Nadson, "Essays on the history of Russian literature of the 19th and 20th centuries", part 2, Guise, M. - L., 1928; Divilkovsky A., S. Ya. Nadson, "History of Russian literature 19th century, ed. D. N. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky, vol. IV, M., 1911; Unknown to cue M., Initiators and successors, P., 1919; Shulyatikov V., Restoration of destroyed aesthetics. Stages of the newest lyrics, Selected Literary Critical Articles, ZiF, Moscow, 1929.

III. Vladislavlev I.V., Russian writers, ed. 4th, Guise, L., 1924; Him, Literature of the Great Decade, vol. I, Guise, M. - L., 1928; Mandelstam, R. S., Fiction in the assessment of Russian Marxist criticism, ed. 4th, Guise, M. - L., 1928.

Ten most popular biographies:

Biography

Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson was born in St. Petersburg on December 26, 1862 in the family of a court adviser of Jewish origin Yakov Semyonovich Nadson and Antonina Stepanovna Mamontova (Mamantova), who came from the Russian noble family Mamontov. A year later, the family moved to Kyiv.

Nadson's childhood, in his own words, is "a sad and dark story." Nadson's father, who, according to the stories of those who knew him, was a very talented person and a good musician, died of a mental disorder when Nadson was 2 years old. A. S. Mamontova, after the death of her husband, remained in Kyiv, where she lived as a housekeeper and teacher of the daughter of a certain Fursov and supported herself and her two children by her own labors (Nadson had a sister, Anna, a year and a half younger than him). When Nadson was about seven years old, his mother quarreled with Fursov and left for St. Petersburg, where she settled with her brother Diodor Stepanovich Mamontov. In St. Petersburg, Nadson entered the preparatory class of the 1st classical gymnasium.

Pushkin Prize

Death

On January 31, 1887, Nadson died. His body was transported from Yalta to Petersburg. The coffin arrived in Odessa on the steamer "Pushkin" and was met by a crowd of young people; there were also employees of the newspapers. In St. Petersburg, at the station, the crowd also consisted mainly of young people, but there were also many writers. The next day, the youth carried Nadson's coffin in their arms to the Volkov cemetery. Nadson's grave is a few steps from the graves of Dobrolyubov and Belinsky.

Creation

Creativity Nadson refers to the so-called era of "timelessness" of the late 19th century. The poet's contemporaries, as well as later researchers of his work, noted that Nadson's lyrics were noticeably influenced by M. Yu. Lermontov and N. A. Nekrasov. Nadson himself greatly appreciated these poets. “Whatever you say, we don’t have a better poet in Russia than Lermontov. However, perhaps I think and say this because I myself sympathize with him with all my heart, that I myself experience what he experienced and conveyed in great poetry in his creations, ”Nadson wrote in his diary in 1878. With Lermontov, Nadson is related by the motif of the romantic suffering of a person who came at the wrong time and is alien to society. With Nekrasov - a civilian direction, devoid, however, of signs of any specific doctrine and too abstract. In his poems, Nadson rather justified the disappointment and despondent impotence of his contemporaries. According to V. V. Chuiko, "he simply 'sang' of himself and his generation." This was clearly manifested in the poems “Do not blame me, my friend, I am the son of our days ...” (1883), “Since I received my sight, awakened by a thunderstorm ...” (1883), “Our generation of youth does not know ...” ( 1884), "In response" (1886). Nekrasov's traditions, already tangible in N.'s early lyrics, are especially felt in the poems "Funeral" (1879), "An Old Tale" (1881), "Prelate" (1882), "Like a convict drags shackles behind him ..." (1884) and others

A characteristic feature of Nadson's poetry was the intonation of a personal, friendly, friendly appeal to a contemporary. The poet built his relationship with the reader on complete trust. Nadson's life was known from his own confessional and mostly autobiographical poems. The real-historical reader for Nadson was closely connected with the imaginary reader-friend. Already in the first poems, N. refers to the one "in whose heart the desires of better, brighter days are alive" ("In the Mist", 1878). Frequent appeals to the reader are not accidental: “Oh, dear brother”, “dear friends”, “brothers”, “dear friend”, etc. At the end of his life, the poet writes lines (the poem remained unfinished), in which he very clearly expressed his attitude to the reader: “He is not my brother - he is more than a brother: / All my strength, all my love. / All that my soul is rich in. / To him I fervently give.” Critic K. K. Arseniev emphasized that in Nadson’s poetry “one senses the“ longing of desires ”, many acquaintances, one hears the cry of mental torture, experienced by many<…>. In some, he awakened half-forgotten feelings, others recognized themselves in him, he brought others face to face with questions, the existence of which they had only vaguely suspected until then.

Paramount in the work of Nadson is the theme of the appointment of the poet and poetry. In the poems “Do not despise the crowd: let it sometimes ...” (1881), “In the crowd” (1881), “Singer” (1881), “Dear friend, I know, I know deeply ...” (1882), “From the diary "(1882), "Dreams" (1883), "Singer, rise up! .. we are waiting for you, rise up ..." (1884), "I grew up as a stranger to you, outcast people ..." (1885) and a number of others expressed the idea of ​​civic duty poet before the fatherland and people. The motives of struggle and protest against the existing system are not uncommon in Nadson's works: "Not a sound in the gloomy silence of the casemate ..." (1882), "By vague signs accessible to the few ..." (1885), "He did not want to go, lost in the crowd ..." (1885), “At the grave of A. I. Herzen” (1886), etc. But one of the key words in Nadson’s poetic lexicon, “struggle”, is on a par with “doubt”, “longing”, “darkness”, it is invariably and eloquently accompanied by definitions: “hard”, “vain”, “difficult”, “fatal”, “cruel”, “unequal”, “insane”, “overwhelming”, “long”, “severe”. Struggle for Nadson is closely connected with suffering. “I devoted my verse to suffering and struggle,” the poet wrote (“Since I received my sight, awakened by a thunderstorm ...”). Hence the rebellious, holy, pure, beautiful suffering; it is both a "suffering image of a distant homeland" and a motif of compassion for one's neighbor.

A collection of poems that appeared in print in 1885 brought Nadson a huge success. During the life of the poet, the book went through 5 editions, and until 1917 it was reprinted 29 times. After Nadson's death, his work became even more famous. Abundant critical literature appeared about Nadson (N. K. Mikhailovsky, A. M. Skabichevsky, L. E. Obolensky, M. A. Protopopov, and others), and various memoirs were published. Many poets dedicate poems to his memory (Ya. P. Polonsky, L. I. Palmin, K. M. Fofanov). And with the publication of Nadson's posthumous works, his fame reaches its climax. The youth learned his poems by heart. Nadson's works were constantly included in students' albums and handwritten journals, for many years they were often recited from the stage, and a place of honor was given to them in various anthologies and collections. Under the influence of N., the creative path of D. S. Merezhkovsky and V. Ya. Bryusov began, but later it was the Symbolist poets who most contributed to the discrediting of Nadson as a lyricist.

At the beginning of the 20th century, attitudes towards Nadson's work became ambiguous. In Nadson they saw a typical "whiner". Critics increasingly paid attention to the motives of "disappointment", to the pessimistic moods of his poetry. “An undeveloped and motley language, stereotyped epithets, a meager choice of images, lethargy and protracted speech - these are the characteristic features of Nadson's poetry, making it hopelessly obsolete,” Bryusov declared in 1908. Igor Severyanin in his "Poetry outside the subscription" wrote:

I'm afraid to admit to myself
That I live in such a country
Where a quarter of a century centers Nadson,
And Mirra and I are on the sidelines.

Editions

• Nadson S.Ya. Complete collection of poems / Entry. Art. G. Byalogo. - L.: Owls. writer, 1962. - 505 p. Circulation 30,000 copies. (Library of the poet. Large series. Second edition.)
• Nadson S.Ya.

"Don't rush, child, go ahead - it's not better ahead!"

The poems of Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson are not known to everyone today. They are read and reread, but in a narrow circle of connoisseurs of the true classical poetry. But in the mid-80s. the century before last, his name literally thundered. All enlightened youth, moreover, - recognized masters of literature - all knew the lines of his poems by heart.

Biography

Semyon Yakovlevich could not boast happy childhood. He was born in not too prosperous family. Suffice it to say that his father was of Jewish origin. And the attitude towards representatives of this nationality was in tsarist Russia ambiguous: there were many people with anti-Semitic views, and the government indirectly supported such ill-wishers - in any case, it did not create obstacles.

When Semyon was 2 years old, his father ended up in a psychiatric clinic. Mother and children settled in St. Petersburg. But she soon died. The seeds were taken in by relatives on the mother's side, who were extremely dissatisfied with her marriage to a Jew (albeit a baptized one). When the boy cried from some childish insult, they contemptuously spoke to him about "Jewish tears."

Resentment was a sharp splinter stuck in the heart of a teenager. In general, it will poison him for his entire short life ...

The boy developed quickly, studied willingly, at the age of 4 he already read well. He wanted to connect his life with literature, but the guardians insisted on military career. The young man entered the Pavlovsk military school. However, he did not study there for long: he developed consumption. In order to improve his health, he left for the Caspian regiment (as ordered by the school authorities).

The disease progressed. Friends persuaded Semyon to leave for Wiesbaden and then to Nice, but there were no significant improvements. Then he returned to Russia.

The last years of the poet were spent in Yalta, where he died in 1871 - in less than 25 years.

Creation

Nadson began to write poetry early. He was quickly noticed, began to be invited to cooperate in well-known magazines. He wrote for the journal Thoughts, then for Otechestvennye Zapiski and other publications.

The first collection of "Poems" was just a crazy success. Since its first release, it has been reprinted several times.

The popularity of the young poet grew by leaps and bounds. This was partly due to the clear, precise style inherent in Nadson's works, and partly due to the high citizenship of his poetry.

At that time - difficult for Russians, felt by many as dark, hopeless, when the pressure on political and personal freedoms was felt especially strongly - Nadson's poems, as they say, "fell into the stream." His work is in many ways consonant with Nekrasov's.

sad tunes

The main motive of Nadson's poetry is sadness about the imperfections of this world. Everything came together here: ardent sympathy for suffering people and sincere pain for them, longing for unfulfillment in love, long-standing childhood resentments and bitterness for their Jewish people, who have been innocently suffering insults and humiliation for many centuries.

“Evil is eternal,” we read between the lines of almost every poem. - How to defeat him? Is it possible? Or will you have to deal with it?"

However, along with the realization of one's own powerlessness, hope sometimes breaks through. The hope that the future is not so hopeless, the hope for a self-confident leader who will appear to the world and do the impossible, unite people to fight evil.

“Look around,” Semyon Nadson addresses his contemporaries, “the evil around is too oppressive.” But an overfilled barrel can explode. The poet both yearns for and fears this, which is why he does not see a better life for his contemporaries.

A difficult childhood, a dizzyingly rapid rise, great fame and a serious illness ... Such was the life of Semyon Nadson, one of the outstanding representatives of Russian poetry of the second half of the 19th century.

1862 - 1887

The country: Russia

Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich - famous poet. Born in St. Petersburg on December 14, 1862. His mother came from the Russian noble Mamontov family; father, of Jewish origin, was an official; a gifted man and very musical, he died when N. was 2 years old. Left without any means with two children, his widow first lived as a governess in Kyiv, then she remarried. This marriage was extremely unhappy. The poet's memory left an indelible impression of the difficult family scenes that ended in the suicide of his stepfather, after which N.'s mother, together with her children, settled in St. Petersburg with her brother, but soon died. Left in the care of his uncle, with whom he did not get along well, N. in 1872 was sent as a boarder to the 2nd military gymnasium (now the 2nd Cadet Corps), where he completed the course. Having entered the Pavlovsk military school, he caught a cold for training. Doctors ascertained the onset of consumption, and he was sent to Tiflis at public expense, where he spent a year. In 1882, N. released as a second lieutenant in the Caspian regiment, located in Kronstadt. It was the best period of his life; his bright mood was reflected in one of the few poems not poisoned by heavy meditation:
Rapidly growing literary fame, lively disposition, wit, kind heart - all this disposed comrades and acquaintances to N.; he was surrounded by cares and cares. Military service nevertheless weighed heavily on N., and he retired at the first opportunity (1884). For several months he was secretary of the editorial board of the Week, but soon the chest disease took such a turn that the poet's friends, with the help of the Literary Fund, sent him first to Wiesbaden, then to Nice. done to him in Bern, did not lead to anything, and in the summer of 1885 his friends decided to take him back to Russia. Podolsk province , then near Kyiv and, finally, in Yalta, where he died on January 19, 1887. During this time, his popularity grew, the collection of poems published in 1885 quickly sold out, it took the second and third, the Academy of Sciences awarded him the Pushkin Prize, illustrated publications placed his portrait, he received many sympathetic letters. When he arranged an evening in Kyiv in favor of the literary fund, he was greeted with a storm of applause, and after reading he was carried out in his arms. Living near Kyiv and looking for a job so as not to need the help of friends and the Literary Fund, N. began to write literary feuilletons in the Kyiv newspaper Zarya. This involved him in a debate with the critic of New Time, V.P. Burenin, who, in transparent hints, accused N. that his illness was feigned and served as a pretext for begging for benefits. The dying poet, deeply struck by this accusation, was going to go to Petersburg and arrange a court of honor, but was not allowed to do so by his friends. After some time, the attacks resumed with renewed vigor; the last feuilleton of "New Time" directed against N. came to Yalta after his death. The body of the poet was transported to St. Petersburg and buried at the Volkov cemetery. A few years later, with the money collected by subscription, a monument was erected over N.'s grave. - N. began to write very early; already in 1878, one of his poems was published in N.P. Wagner; then he placed poems in the "Word", "Foundations", "Thoughts". In 1882, A.N. Pleshcheev met him, who treated the debutant extremely warmly and opened the way for him to "Domestic Notes". The poems placed here by N. drew everyone's attention to him. Interest in N.'s poetry has not weakened so far. Ownership of N.'s works, according to his will, belongs to the Literary Fund, to which he thus paid a hundredfold for support. The “Nadsonovsky capital” of the fund, formed by selling N.'s poems, currently amounts to about 200,000 rubles. During the 28 years since his death, his poems have gone through 28 editions (6,000 copies each, and in recent years 12,000 copies each). Many attributed this unprecedented success at first to sympathy for the unfortunate fate of the untimely deceased poet and, as it were, to protest against the slander that had poisoned his last days of life. However, many years have passed, the hardships are forgotten, and the success of N.'s poems remains the same. It means that it is necessary to look for its explanation in the very verses of N. N. reflected that transitional mood that characterizes the activities of the best representative of the literary generation of the late 1870s and early 80s - Garshin. N. is the personification of Ryabinin in Garshin’s famous story: “Artists.” Like Ryabinin, he exclaims: “But be silent when sobs sound around and when you are so greedily eager to appease them, under the storm of struggle and in the face of suffering ... Brother, I don’t I want, I can't be silent." There was a time when “poetry carried with it unknown feelings, the harmony of heaven and devotion to a dream, and its law was art for art’s sake, and its covenant was service to beauty.” But “from the very first steps, luxurious flowers - and a dark cloud of doubt and sadness covered the virginally beautiful features. Having abandoned the poetry of pleasure and serene contemplation, N., like Garshi's Ryabinin, did not find his destination in the fight against evil. He himself is very well aware of this: “and among the fighters I am not a stern fighter, but only a groaning, tired invalid, looking with envy at their crown of thorns.” Therefore, the idea of ​​​​him as a poet is far from corresponding to the general nature of N.’s poetic activity. civil "for the most part. N.'s "civilian" mood, like all his moods in general, was deeply sincere, but it is only part of his creative impulses and is, as it were, the fulfillment of what he considered the moral duty of every person and citizen who loves his homeland. In the purely literary qualities of his talent, he gravitated toward lyrical impulses, alien to the trend, as can be seen both from many places in his critical notes, and from the prevailing tone of the poems that he left in his portfolio and which were published only after his death. in regard to precisely those poems in which he is more a poet than a citizen: "In the cemetery", "In the wilderness", the charming "Excerpt from a letter to M.V. Watson", graceful little play "Crawled into my corner secretly", "Everything came true", "Again a moonlit night", "I took a closer look at her", "No, muse, do not call", "In the spring", "My muse died" (the last poem - one of the most touching pieces of Russian poetry, which can stand next to Nikitin's poem: "A deep hole is dug with a spade"). Already in one of his early poems, "The Poet", N. simultaneously worships two ideals of poetry - civil and purely artistic. In later poems, next to the call to fight, there is a “torturous argument” in his soul with a doubt about the need for a fight (“I’ll just be left alone”); next to the belief in the final triumph of good ("My friend, my brother", "Spring Tale"), a bitter conclusion is drawn, "that in the struggle and confusion of the universe there is only one goal - the peace of non-existence" ("The Future"), "the haze of hopelessness reigns in the exhausted chest "(" The Veil is thrown off ") and the consciousness of the insignificance of the efforts "before the pouring century of suffering blood, before eternal human evil and eternal enmity" ("I did not spare myself") grows stronger. Sometimes in the poet's soul there is a conflict with the desire for personal happiness. In one of his most popular poems, N. says that he “yesterday was still glad to renounce happiness” - but “today is spring, all in flowers, and a window has looked into it”, and “madly, painfully I want happiness, female affection and tears and love without end. In N.'s lack of straightforwardness, however, there is nothing to do with instability; his hesitations, like those of Garshin, are united by a common humane mood, not far-fetched, but deep. Ideal N. - Christ: “my God is the God of the suffering, God, stained with blood, God is a man and a brother with a heavenly soul, and before suffering and pure love I bow with my fervent prayer. "N. himself gave the definition of his poetry in the poem "Dreams": "I cry with the crying, with the suffering suffer and I give a hand to the weary." These words also contain the definition of the place occupied by N. in history Russian poetry. The native daughter of Nekrasov's muse, N.'s muse has its own individual traits. She is more prone to complaints than to protest, but also less severe. Not belonging to strong and bright artists, N. nevertheless has great poetic merits. He has a very musical, sometimes figurative verse, a sincere tone, and most importantly - he owns great conciseness. His favorite saying was the rule: "so that words are cramped, thoughts are spacious." He managed to create some very well-aimed poetic formulas that cut into memory. Poems: “how little has been lived, how much has been experienced”, “let the harp be broken - the chord is still crying”, “flowers have flown around, fires have burnt out” - became winged and entered into everyday speech. The strength of N. is also the complete absence of artificial elation and rhetoric. N.'s critical experiments, collected in the book Literary Essays (St. Petersburg, 1888), do not represent anything outstanding. In 1912, the Literary Fund published a collection: “Prose, diaries, letters” by N. (with biographical instructions, N.K. Piksanova). - Wed. biography of N., with poems (compiled by M.V. Watson); Arseniev "Critical studies"; N.K. Mikhailovsky "Works". vol. VI; Or. Miller, in "Russian Antiquities" (1888); "Collection of articles dedicated to the memory of N." (St. Petersburg, 1887); ON THE. Kotlyarevsky "Poetry of anger and sorrow" (M., 1890); A. Tsarevsky “N. and his poetry of thought and sadness” (Kazan, 1890); P. Grinevich (P.F. Yakubovich) "Essays on Russian Poetry" (St. Petersburg, 1904); M. Protopopov " Critical articles"(M., 1902); M. Menshikov "Critical Essays" (St. Petersburg, 1899). S. Vengerov.