On November 7th, 1917  Vladimir Lenin ignited the ultimate stage in a decades-long series Bolshevik of “revolutions” against Russia’s Tsarist government. This would result in the former Tsar Nicholas’ execution, and ignite a multi-year civil war that eventually placed Lenin at the head of the new and unprecedented Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1921, the year of the end of the civil war, the celebrated Russian poet Alexander Blok lay on his deathbed. His disillusionment with Lenin’s new state was evident to those surrounding him. Beyond his masterful verse, Blok seemingly had the gift of prophecy. Although the fraught nature of  early 1917 may have betrayed the utter transformation held by the year’s end, Blok drew further connections, writing of a single “great event” in his diary. Even before this, though, Blok’s poetry held many clues as to the writer’s feelings about Russian and her future.

In Russia, Blok writes “I cannot offer you my pity, / I carry my cross as I can… Squander your wild beauty / on every new magician!”. This stanza, written in 1908, reverberates over the next decade of Russian history with incredible accuracy and foresight. Additionally, it is instrumental in understanding the historical context of Blok’s own play, The Puppet Show, and Stravinsky’s celebrated ballet Petrouchka.

The “you” in the Stanza is quite obviously Russia, as is demonstrated clearly by the poem’s title (Russia). Blok speaks from a point of exhaustion and removal, unable to offer himself to guide Russian through the numerous trials ahead and the coming century. He is offering advice of a sort to the nation, but also speaks from a place of defeat. Blok has his own, personal struggles, and cannot serve as a cultural masthead to lead his countrymen in the decades to come. The second part of the stanza speaks of Russia “and squander your wild beauty”, which probably is a behest to not ,be charmed by fast-talking political showmen (“new magicians”). This relates to Petrouchka, as the puppet Petrouchka in the ballet is in love with the Ballerina, even though she loves the Moor. The Ballerina represents Russia, absorbed by wild charms yet never fulfilled in the Tsarist era. Petroucka is most probably an analog of Blok. This is strikingly similar to The Puppet Show, as Pierrot (Petrouchka’s parallel character) has another episode of unrequited love, saying “My girlfriend smiled into his face”. The Columbine (Pierrot’s love) is obsessed with the Harlequin, another mysterious, magician-like figure who she has no real idea of. The Harlequin and Moor are accurate foretelling of the Bolshevik fervor which would soon sweep the nation, intent on change. The public fell “victim” to the Bolsheviks in a similar way to the Ballerina and Columbine, as Blok could only stand by and watch reason be lost.