Vladimir Mayakovsky
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Portrait of Vladimir Mayakovsky |
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (Π'Π»Π°Π΄ΠΈΜΠΌΠΈΡ Π'Π»Π°Π΄ΠΈΜΠΌΠΈΡΠΎΠ²ΠΈΡ ΠΠ°ΡΠΊΠΎΜΠ²ΡΠΊΠΈΠΉ) (July 7
(O.S.) July 19 (N.S.),
1893 β"
April 14,
1930) was a
Russian poet, among the foremost representatives of early-
20th century Futurism.
He was born the last of three children in
Bagdadi,
Georgia where his father worked as a
forest ranger. Both parents were descendants of
Cossacks. At the age of 14 Mayakovsky took part in
socialist demonstrations at the town of
Kutaisi, where he attended the local grammar school. After the sudden and premature death of his father in
1906, the family — Mayakovsky, his mother, and his two sisters — moved to
Moscow, where he attended School No. 5.
In Moscow Mayakovsky developed a passion for
Marxist literature and took part in numerous activities of the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party; he was to later become an RSDLP (
Bolshevik) member. In
1908, he was dismissed from the Grammar School because his mother was no longer able to afford the tuition fees.
Around this time, Mayakovsky was imprisoned on three occasions for subversive political activities, but being underage, he avoided transportation. During a period of solitary confinement in
Butyrka prison in
1909, he began to write poetry, but his poems were confiscated. On his release from prison, he continued working within the socialist movement, and in
1911 he joined the
Moscow Art School where he became acquainted with members of the Russian
Futurist movement. He became a leading spokesman for the group
Gileas (Π"ΠΈΠ»Π΅Ρ), and a close friend of
David Burlyuk, whom he saw as his mentor.
The 1912 Futurist publication,
A Slap in the Face of Public Taste (ΠΠΎΡΡΡΠΈΠ½Π° ΠΎΠ±ΡΠ΅ΡΡΠ²Π΅Π½Π½ΠΎΠΌΡ Π²ΠΊΡΡΡ) contained Mayakovsky's first published poems: "Night" (ΠΠΎΡΡ), and "Morning" (Π£ΡΡΠΎ). Because of their political activities, Burlyuk and Mayakovsky were expelled from the Moscow Art School in
1914.
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Image from Mayakovsky's ΠΠ°ΠΊ Π΄Π΅Π»Π°ΡΡ ΡΡΠΈΡ
ΠΈ ("How To Make Poetry"). |
His work continued in the Futurist vein until 1914. His artistic development then shifted increasingly in the direction of narrative and it was this work, published during the period immediately preceding the
Russian Revolution, which was to establish his reputation as a poet in Russia and abroad.
A Cloud in Trousers (1915) was Mayakovsky's first major poem of appreciable length and it depicted the heated subjects of love, revolution, religion, and art written from the vantage point of a spurned lover. The language of the work was the language of the streets, and Mayakovsky went to considerable lengths to debunk idealistic and romanticised notions of poetry and poets.
Your thoughts,
dreaming on a softened brain,
like an over-fed lackey on a greasy settee,
with my heart's bloody tatters I'll mock again;
impudent and caustic, I'll jeer to superfluity.
Of Grandfatherly gentleness I'm devoid,
there's not a single grey hair in my soul!
Thundering the world with the might of my voice,
I go by -- handsome,
twenty-two-year-old.
| Π'Π°ΡΡ ΠΌΡΡΠ»Ρ
ΠΌΠ΅ΡΡΠ°ΡΡΡΡ Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π·ΠΌΡΠ³ΡΠ΅Π½Π½ΠΎΠΌ ΠΌΠΎΠ·Π³Ρ,
ΠΊΠ°ΠΊ Π²ΡΠΆΠΈΡΠ΅Π²ΡΠΈΠΉ Π»Π°ΠΊΠ΅ΠΉ Π½Π° Π·Π°ΡΠ°Π»Π΅Π½Π½ΠΎΠΉ ΠΊΡΡΠ΅ΡΠΊΠ΅,
Π±ΡΠ΄Ρ Π΄ΡΠ°Π·Π½ΠΈΡΡ ΠΎΠ± ΠΎΠΊΡΠΎΠ²Π°Π²Π»Π΅Π½Π½ΡΠΉ ΡΠ΅ΡΠ΄ΡΠ° Π»ΠΎΡΠΊΡΡ:
Π΄ΠΎΡΡΡΠ° ΠΈΠ·ΡΠΈΠ·Π΄Π΅Π²Π°ΡΡΡ, Π½Π°Ρ
Π°Π»ΡΠ½ΡΠΉ ΠΈ Π΅Π΄ΠΊΠΈΠΉ.
Π£ ΠΌΠ΅Π½Ρ Π² Π΄ΡΡΠ΅ Π½ΠΈ ΠΎΠ΄Π½ΠΎΠ³ΠΎ ΡΠ΅Π΄ΠΎΠ³ΠΎ Π²ΠΎΠ»ΠΎΡΠ°,
ΠΈ ΡΡΠ°ΡΡΠ΅ΡΠΊΠΎΠΉ Π½Π΅ΠΆΠ½ΠΎΡΡΠΈ Π½Π΅Ρ Π² Π½Π΅ΠΉ!
ΠΠΈΡ ΠΎΠ³ΡΠΎΠΌΠΈΠ² ΠΌΠΎΡΡΡ Π³ΠΎΠ»ΠΎΡΠ°,
ΠΈΠ΄Ρ - ΠΊΡΠ°ΡΠΈΠ²ΡΠΉ,
Π΄Π²Π°Π΄ΡΠ°ΡΠΈΠ΄Π²ΡΡ
Π»Π΅ΡΠ½ΠΈΠΉ.
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(From the prologue of A Cloud in Trousers. source: [1]) |
Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik |
In the summer of 1915, Mayakovsky fell in love with a married woman,
Lilya Brik, and it is to her that the poem "The Backbone Flute" (1916) was dedicated; unfortunately for Mayakovsky, she was the wife of his publisher,
Osip Brik. The love affair, as well as his impressions of
war and revolution, strongly influenced his works of these years. The poem "War and the World" (1916) addressed the horrors of WWI and "Man" (1917) is a poem dealing with the anguish of love.
Mayakovsky was rejected as a volunteer at the beginning of WWI, and during
1915-
1917 worked at the Petrograd Military Automobile School as a draftsman. At the onset of the
Russian Revolution, Mayakovsky was in Smolny, Petrograd. There he witnessed the
October Revolution. He started reciting poems such as "Left March! For the Red Marines: 1918" (ΠΠ΅Π²ΡΠΉ ΠΌΠ°ΡΡ (ΠΠ°ΡΡΠΎΡΠ°ΠΌ), 1918) at naval theatres, with sailors as an audience.
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Agitprop poster by Mayakovsky |
After moving back to Moscow, Mayakovsky worked for the Russian State Telegraph Agency (
ROSTA) creating — both graphic and text — satirical
Agitprop posters. In 1919, he published his first collection of poems
Collected Works 1909-1919 (Π'ΡΠ΅ ΡΠΎΡΠΈΠ½Π΅Π½Π½ΠΎΠ΅ Π'Π»Π°Π΄ΠΈΠΌΠΈΡΠΎΠΌ ΠΠ°ΡΠΊΠΎΠ²ΡΠΊΠΈΠΌ). In the cultural climate of the early Soviet Union, his popularity grew rapidly. During 1922-1928, Mayakovsky was a prominent member of the Left Art Front and went on to define his work as 'Communist futurism' (ΠΊΠΎΠΌΡΡΡ).
As one of the few Soviet writers who were allowed to travel freely, his voyages to Latvia, Britain, Germany, the United States, Mexico and Cuba influenced works like
My Discovery of America (ΠΠΎΠ΅ ΠΎΡΠΊΡΡΡΠΈΠ΅ ΠΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΠΊΠΈ, 1925). He also travelled extensively throughout the Soviet Union.
On a lecture tour in the United States, Mayakovsky met Elli Jones, who later gave birth to his daughter, an event which Mayakovsky only came to know in 1929, when the couple met clandestinely in the south of France, as the relationship was kept secret. In the late 1920s, Mayakovsky fell in love with Tatiana Yakovleva and to her he dedicated the poem "A Letter to Tatiana Yakovleva" (ΠΠΈΡΡΠΌΠΎ Π’Π°ΡΡΡΠ½Π΅ Π―ΠΊΠΎΠ²Π»Π΅Π²ΠΎΠΉ, 1928).
The relevance of Mayakovsky cannot be limited to Soviet poetry. While over years, he was considered the Soviet poet par excellence, he also changed the perceptions of poetry in wider
20th Century culture. His
political activism as a
propagandistic agitator was rarely understood and often looked upon unfavourably by contemporaries, even close friends like
Boris Pasternak. Near the end of the 1920s, Mayakovsky became increasingly disillusioned with
Bolshevism and propaganda; his satirical play
The Bedbug (ΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠΏ, 1929), dealing with the Soviet
philistinism and bureaucracy, illustrates this development. His final months were marked by poor health and political as well as private disappointment.
On the evening of
April 14,
1930, Mayakovsky shot himself in the heart. An unfinished poem in his suicide note read, in part:
The love boat has crashed against the daily routine. You and I, we are quits, and there is no point in listing mutual pains, sorrows, and hurts.Mayakovsky was interred at the Moscow
Novodevichy Cemetery. In
1930, his birthplace of Bagdadi in Georgia was renamed Mayakovsky in his honour. Following Stalin's death, rumours arose that Mayakovsky did not commit suicide but was, in fact, murdered at the behest of Stalin. During the
1990s, while
KGB files were being declassified, there was hope that new evidence would come to light on this question, but none has been found and the hypothesis remains unproven.
After his death, Mayakovsky was attacked in the Soviet press as a "formalist" and a "fellow-traveller" (ΠΏΠΎΠΏΡΡΡΠΈΠΊ) (as opposed to officially recognised "proletarian poets", such as Demyan Bedny). When, in 1935, Lilya Brik wrote to Stalin about this, Stalin wrote a comment on Brik's letter:
"Comrade Yezhov, please take charge of Brik's letter. Mayakovsky is still the best and the most talented poet of our Soviet epoch. Indifference to his cultural heritage is a crime. Brik's complaints are, in my opinion, justified..." (Source: Memoirs by Vasily Katanyan (L.Yu.Brik's stepson) p.112)
These words became a
clichΓ© and officially
canonized Mayakovsky but, as
Boris Pasternak noted [
2], it "dealt him the second death" in some circles.
Poetically, Mayakovsky had no followers among Russian poets, his style was never properly analysed or further developed. Mayakovsky, however, was the most influential futurist in Lithuania and his poetry helped to form
The Four Winds movement [
3].
*
mayakovsky.com Lots of material; texts in English and Russian, photos. (NB. Updating internal links. Click on middle of the opening graphic however, and all Mayakovsky links seem to be working.)
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Biography*
State Museum of Mayakovsky in Moscow (Russian/English)
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Excellent audio introduction, in English, to Mayakovsky's poems. Includes links.*
Between Agitation and Animation: Activism and Participation in Twentieth Century Art by Stella Rollig*
Unusual music project to 75 Anniversary of Mayakovsky Death: more than 100 new songs with Mayakovsky Lyrics (russian language)*
Vladimir Mayakovsky's Gravesite*
"Banya" ("The Bath"): Mayakovsky and Meyerhold)*
Meyerhold & Mayakovsky - Biomechanics & the Communist Utopia*
Mayakovsky, Vladimir (Patricia Blake ed., trans. Max Hayward and George Reavey). The bedbug and selected poetry. (Meridian Books, Cleveland, 1960).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir (trans. Guy Daniels, introd. by Robert Payne). The complete plays of Vladimir Mayakovsky. (Simon & Schuster, NY, 1968).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir. For the voice (The British Library, London, 2000).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir (ed. Bengt Jangfeldt, trans. Julian Graffy). Love is the heart of everything : correspondence between Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lili Brik 1915-1930 (Polygon Books, Edinburgh, 1986).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir (comp. and trans. Herbert Marshall). Mayakovsky and his poetry (Current Book House, Bombay, 1955).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Selected works in three volumes (Raduga, Moscow, 1985).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Selected poetry. (Foreign Languages, Moscow, 1975).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir (ed. Bengt Jangfeldt and Nils Ake Nilsson). Vladimir Majakovsky: Memoirs and essays (Almqvist & Wiksell Int., Stockholm 1975).
* Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Satira ('Khudozh. lit.,' Moscow, 1969).
* Brown, E. J. Mayakovsky: a poet in the revolution (Princeton Univ. Press, 1973).
* Jangfeldt, Bengt. Majakovsky and futurism 1917-1921 (Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1976).
* Stapanian, Juliette. Mayakovsky's cubo-futurist vision (Rice University Press, 1986).
* Charters, Ann & Samuel. I love : the story of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lili Brik (Farrar Straus Giroux, NY, 1979).
* Lavrin, Janko. From Pushkin to Mayakovsky, a study in the evolution of a literature. (Sylvan Press, London, 1948).
* Mikhailov, Aleksandr Alekseevich. Maiakovskii (Mol. gvardiia, Moscow, 1988).
* Terras, Victor. Vladimir Mayakovsky (Twayne, Boston, 1983).
* Vallejo, CΓ©sar (trans. Richard Schaaf) The Mayakovsky case (Curbstone Press, Willimantic, CT, 1982).
* Wachtel, Michael. The development of Russian verse : meter and its meanings (Cambridge University Press, 1998).
* Humesky, Assya. Majakovskiy and his neologisms (Rausen Publishers, NY, 1964).
* Shklovskii, Viktor Borisovich. (ed. and trans. Lily Feiler). Mayakovsky and his circle (Dodd, Mead, NY, 1972).
* Novatorskoe iskusstvo Vladimira Maiakovskogo (trans. Alex Miller). Vladimir Mayakovsky: Innovator (Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1976).
* Rougle, Charles. Three Russians consider America : America in the works of Maksim Gorkij, Aleksandr Blok, and Vladimir Majakovsky (Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1976).
* Aizlewood, Robin. Verse form and meaning in the poetry of Vladimir Maiakovsky: Tragediia, Oblako v shtanakh, Fleita-pozvonochnik, Chelovek, Liubliu, Pro eto (Modern Humanities Research Association, London, 1989).
* Noyes, George R. Masterpieces of the Russian drama (Dover Pub., NY, 1960).
* Nyka-NiliΕ«nas, Alfonsas. Keturi vΔjai ir keturvΔjinikai (The Four Winds literary movement and its members), Aidai, 1949, No. 24.
