Upon reading Blok’s poetic works, I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast Blok’s two pieces on Russia. I noticed that both poems personify Russia as a female for different effects. The two poems have very distinct tones, especially regarding how they view the personified Russia. The 1906 poem carries a sense of awe and mysticism with ever stanza until the narrator wakes from his dream. The Russian landscape is something ripped from a fairy tale and reminds me of “The Snow Queen.” After the 6th stanza, the poem, still carrying a mystic mood, turns somber. This contrast shows a different world that is far grimmer. The narrator reveals his “nakedness” compared to the gowned Russia. I feel like this tone shift shows the duality of the country as both a fairytale-like land, but also an unstable mess that carries sadness and many existential questions with it. The 1908 Russia poem shows a far more tattered Russia that seems to be a continuation of the second half of the 1906 poem. We see female Russia have the same fate as the girl with the faithless lover in the 1906 poem. The 1908 Russia is used and dilapidated and lacks much of the hope of the first one. This Russia endures, but not to the same standard as it used to have. Russia’s “pure” and “pristine” attributes are far less apparent. I hoped to gain greater insight from comparing these two works, but I’m a little stuck. It would be interesting to hear others’ thoughts on this.
12 thoughts on “A Comparison of “Russia” 1906 and “Russia” 1908”
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I really like your observation and reaction to the duality and tensions between the two images of Russia portrayed in the two poems. In particularly, your comments about how on one hand Russia is portrayed as a “fairy tale” while also being, in a sense, an “unstable mess” really underscores a lot of what we have been covering in this course. Russia’s history and culture is one that is extremely complex, and as we have explored and discussed, this results in a relationship between the nation and its citizens that is often confusing and multi-faceted in its nature. I think that your analysis of these poems furthers how many people are “stuck” in their perceptions of Russia.
I think that this duality is highlighted by the personification of Russia as a female. In the 1906 poem the emphasis on “I cannot touch her gown” illustrates the sense of feminine mysteriousness. The evocation of clothing also insinuates an element of purity and an untouched land, conveying a nostalgia for the Russia of the past. I think you also make an interesting comparison to 1908 Russia, which similarly evokes feminine personification. 1908 Russia is characterized by a corrupted femininity, which has been “seduced” and worn down by suffering. By comparing these two works, we can see similar symbolism used to convey very different times.
Liam and Colby, this duality of Russia as both “fairy tale” and “unstable mess” is SO PERFECT. Yes, yes, yes. And many Russian poets and writers have written about exactly this! I love the way you put it so simply and unabashedly. 🙂
Your comparison of the female personification of Russia in these two poems is very interesting. In looking at this personification, I thought that the fourth stanza of the 1908 poem and the seventh stanza of the 1906 poem were interesting to compare. The 1906 poem states, “Thus, in my dream, i have been shown/my country’s terrible distress/and in the tatters of her gown/my soul conceals its nakedness.” Here, Blok bemoans the “distressed” and vulnerable state that he sees Russia to be in at the time, and possibly in the future. However, in the 1908 poem, he seems to have a bit more faith. He states, “If they seduce you and deceive you,/you’ll not be broken or collapse;/though suffering may overshadow/the beauty of your face perhaps”. Even though Blok knows that Russia is going through serious hardships, he shows confidence in her endurance, something that he did not express in his 1906 poem. I am not quite sure what to make of this because it does seem to be contrary to the transition you pointed out from a “fairy-tale” to a “realistic” mindset. Perhaps once he is more aware of the suffering that has/is going to take place, he sees more of a need for an undertone for optimism?
I found your analysis of the 1906 Russia poem to be particularly insightful. I hadn’t noticed the duality of descriptions within that poem, describing Russia as a beautiful woman but also one that deserves some pity while still remaining awesome. I also agree in your observation that the 1908 Russia poem was markedly darker than the 1906 poem, leaning into Russia’s deservingness of pity more in the latter poem. Based on what we know about his work with the Bolsheviks, I would guess that his desire for a purified and pristine Russia was stronger in 1906 than in 1908, and he lost that view of Russia somehow, only seeing it as a poor woman. Now I’m not saying that these poems were directly related to his relationship to the bolsheviks, but based on what we heard in class, I would guess that the same process occurred in each instance: Grand impressions of Russia and its potential, then losing those impressions and becoming cynical towards Russia.
Hi Gabe, just to clarify: the Bolshevik Revolution occurred in 1917, so even the 1908 poem was written almost a full decade before it, and it thus can’t be cited as an external reason for any variation between the two poems. I would suggest that these are just two different variations on Blok’s theme during this period of Russia as fallen woman… sometimes there is more hope and positivity in these portrayals, and sometimes less… These variations are not necessarily directly tied to historical events.
Colby, you did a great job analyzing the role of the feminine Russia in Blok’s poems. In the 1908 Russia, Blok writes, “suffering may overshadow the beauty of your face”. The phrase ‘overshadow the beauty’ demonstrates the strife that has aged Russia since the 1906 poem. This line hints at the ‘dilapidated’ nature you mentioned in your post. However, I’d like to say that the word dilapidated goes a little too far. By equating the suffering in Russia to a sort of aging process, he adds an unavoidable and natural element. This makes sense since we’ve since that hardship is riddled throughout Russia’s past.
To answer your question regarding the role of the feminie Russia as pure, I’d say that the purity imagery reminds me of a couple and Blok is a man that does not want to tarnish her virginity. Blok writes, “Even sleeping she amazes me./ I cannot touch her gown”. The word ‘amazes’ shows that simply viewing is enough to satiate his desire. At this point, Blok is still hopeful for Russia’s future and desires only to wait to see the wonderful things in her future as does a man gazing upon his lover.
Thando, you are onto something very important here! Yes, as you will recall, I mentioned in class that Russia as fallen woman is, simultaneously (and paradoxically!) the new incarnation of Blok’s “eternal femininity,” the “Beautiful Lady” of his early verse. This is exactly what you are sensing in this imagery and language. And in fact, the Symbolists engaged in something called “life-creation,” in which they tried to carry their poetry into their own, real lives and make their lives into works of poetic art. As a result of this belief, Blok actually did not consummate his own marriage (to a woman whose name Lyubov, fittingly, means “love” in Russian!) until about a year after they were married, because he did not want sex to sully the purity of their love! It’s also important to know that his wife Lyubov was supposedly the model for his “Beautiful Lady,” and he dedicated that volume of his poetry to her.
Your point about the 1908 poem continuing sentiments from the latter portion of the 1906 poem reminds me of how A Puppet Show took cues from Blok’s 1905 poem of the same name. With the latter pair, the focal image of the fool’s artificial mortal struggle via the cranberry juice blood flowing from a wooden-sword-inflicted wound from the first poem recurs in the play, this time intensified by a love triangle plot and a dramatic exit via a paper window. As for the pair at-hand, the feminine state is the common image. By analogy, it seems as if the 1906 poem serves to thoroughly establish the symbol of a feminine Russia (emphasized by the motif of chaste attire) to serve as a template for the broader drama of later works (such as the 1908 poem).
Yes, great parallel! And by the way, apropos of love triangles (to continue the comment I made on Thando’s comment above!), not only were love triangles a characteristic of Blok’s works such as “A Puppet Show” (Балаган), but he was also involved in a love triangle in his own marriage: between himself, his wife Lyubov Medeleeva, and the writer and poet Andrei Belyi (whose own surname, meaning “white,” was itself a carefully chosen pseudonym–this links to Xander’s comment on the color symbolism in the play!). The sublimation of sex in favor of poetry and spiritual ecstasy was an “obsession” of the Russian Symbolists… but love triangles were also a common feature of their lives (perhaps there is a logical explanation why both tendencies coexisted?!) 🙂
It is interesting- the idea of a dual Russian identity built from both a “fairy tale” and a sense of suffering and madness. I completely agree with your analysis in this context, and its interesting to me because it figures so strongly into some of the superstitious practices which define some of the quirkier aspects of Russian culture. I remember being intrigued by the Russian fascination with supposedly things like optimism bringing on bad luck. There seems to be a bizarre connection between idealized circumstance and the possibility of ruin. This seems very true in the poems we read for today.
Interesting connection, Ethan! Yes, the idea is that the Evil Eye notices when folks are being too optimistic or taking their blessings or good fortune for granted… and that is exactly when misfortune strikes. This is why, for example, Russians traditionally do not have baby showers! It would be endangering the baby to celebrate before it is born. It’s a very magical mindset. (We have remnants of similar beliefs in our culture; this is why, for example, we “knock wood” to try to avert catastrophe. Knocking on wood originates from the pagan belief that the spirit of a tree will protect us from misfortune… But we don’t take those beliefs nearly as seriously as Russians do, and usually we don’t even remember where our strange customs originate!)