Among Geniuses: Artistic and Aesthetic Originality of Ivan Klyushnikov’s Poetry

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the work of Ivan Klyushnikov, a representative of the reflective poetry of Russian romanticism of the 30s – 40s of the XIX century, to indicate the ideological and artistic originality of his poems.

In the article, the author traces the main thematic trends of Klyushnikov’s lyrics, characteristic of romantic poetry of the first half of the XIX century: philosophical, historical, the theme of love, nature, and the destiny of the poet and poetry.

According to the author, the main distinguishing feature of Klyushnikov’s poetry is that he, like no other romantic poet, revealed the psychology of the “superfluous man”. Besides, with his fate and his work, he captured the tragedy of young people of that time, striving for good, justice and happiness, but for subjective and objective reasons unable to advance their ideal.

The main genre of Klyushnikov's poetic is an elegy, which tonality fully corresponds to the definition of this genre given by Belinsky. Hopeless longing from unfulfilled dreams, failed love, and incomplete life is its dominant motive. His lyrics is a confession of a person who in his development has passed from romantic illusions to the consciousness of his insecurity and failure in all spheres of life. The image of a lyrical hero embodied the features characteristic of the spiritual image of the poet himself, as well as of the whole generation. This is precisely the pathos of the poet’s creativity.

Klyushnikov’s poetic legacy is remarkable in reproducing the era and the spiritual world of many thinking people of that time, as well as in presenting deeply personal moods. Thinking about his life, about life in general, about reality – all this, captured in the lyrics, becomes a true and fare reflection of contemporaneity.