A. A. Blok and N. S. Gumilyov

A. A. Blok was born on 28 November 1880 in Petersburg. His father was a professor of state law at Warsaw University, his mother the daughter of the well-known botanist and rector of Petersburg University, A. N. Beketov. After his parents separated, his mother returned to her father’s house. Blok had a fine home education, finished a Petersburg gymnasium and as a child produced handwritten journals with poems and translations. In 1898 he entered the law faculty, in 1901 moved to history and philology; he loved theatre and dreamed of being an actor. In 1904 his collection «Стихи о Прекрасной Даме» appeared; the prototype of the “Beautiful Lady” was Lyubov Mendeleeva. Later he wrote the poems «Двенадцать» and «Скифы». Blok died on 7 August 1921. He was a symbolist: for symbolists poetry was a way to reveal mysteries, with symbols such as the “wind” (a heavenly breath) and the “sky” (the dwelling of God). In «Ветер принёс издалёка…» there are a hint of spring, a patch of opened sky and the parallelism «Плакали зимние бури» – «Плакали струны мои».