Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819-1898)

One of the main Russian poets of the post-Pushkin era, born on December 6, 1820 in Ryazan, the son of an official; studied at a local gymnasium, then at Moscow University, where his comrades were Fet and S.M. Soloviev. After completing the course, Polonsky, as a home teacher, spent several years in the Caucasus (1846-52), where he was an assistant editor of the Transcaucasian Bulletin and abroad. In 1857 he married, but soon became a widower; for the second time in 1866 he married Josephine Antonovna Rühlmann (an amateur sculptor, famous for her bust of Turgenev, erected in Odessa).

In 1844, Polonsky’s first collection of poems, “Gammas,” was published, attracting the attention of critics and readers.

After graduating from university he lived in Odessa. There he published his second collection, “Poems of 1845.”

In 1846, Polonsky moved to Tiflis, joined the office and at the same time worked as an assistant editor of the Transcaucasian Vestnik newspaper. While in Georgia, Polonsky turned to prose (articles and essays on ethnography), publishing them in the newspaper.

Georgia inspired him to create the book of poems “Sazandar” (Singer) in 1849, and the historical play “Darejana of Imereti” in 1852.

From 1851 Polonsky lived in St. Petersburg, traveling abroad from time to time. The poet's collections of poems (1855 and 1859) were well received by various critics.

In 1859 - 60 he was one of the editors of the magazine " Russian word".

In the social and literary struggle of the 1860s, Polonsky did not take part on the side of any of the camps. He defended the poetry of “love,” contrasting it with the poetry of “hate” (“For the Few,” 1860; “To the Citizen Poet,” 1864), although he recognized the impossibility of love “without pain” and life outside the problems of modernity (“To One of the Weary” , 1863). During these years, his poetry was sharply criticized by radical democrats. I. Turgenev and N. Strakhov defended Polonsky’s original talent from attacks, emphasizing his “worship of everything that is beautiful and lofty, service to truth, goodness and beauty, love of freedom and hatred of violence.”

In 1880 - 90 Polonsky was a very popular poet. During these years he returned to the themes of his early lyrics. A variety of writers, artists, and scientists unite around him. He is very attentive to the development of creativity of Nadson and Fofanov.

In 1881 the collection “At Sunset” was published, in 1890 - “Evening Bells”, imbued with motifs of sadness and death, reflections on the fleeting nature of human happiness.

From 1860 to 1896, Polonsky served on the Committee of Foreign Censorship and on the Council of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs, which gave him the means to support himself.

In the totality of Polonsky’s poems there is not that complete harmony between inspiration and reflection and that conviction in living reality and the superiority of poetic truth in comparison with deadening reflection, which is distinguished, for example, by Goethe, Pushkin, Tyutchev. Polonsky was also very impressionable to those movements of modern thought that were anti-poetic in nature: in many of his poems prosaicity and rationality predominate; but where he surrenders to pure inspiration we find in him examples of strong and original poetry.

Typical poems by Polonsky have the distinctive feature that the very process of inspiration - the transition or impulse from the ordinary material and everyday environment into the realm of poetic truth - remains palpable. Usually in poetic works the finished result of inspiration is given, and not its very rise, which remains hidden, while in Polonsky it is sometimes felt in the very sound of his poems, for example:

It’s not the wind - Aurora’s sigh

The sea fog stirred...

Polonsky's works are distinguished by "captivating disorder"; there is also “mourning” in them for worldly evil and grief, but the head of his muse shines with the reflection of heavenly light; in her voice the secret tears of experienced grief are mixed with the prophetic sweetness of the best hopes; sensitive - perhaps even too much - to the vanity and malice of everyday life, she strives to escape from them beyond the “prickly peaks of love” “into the golden clouds” and there she speaks freely and easily with the gullibility of a child.

TO the best works Polonsky refers to "Cassandra" (with the exception of two extra explanatory stanzas - IV and V, which weaken the impression). In Polonsky's great poems from modern life(human and canine), generally speaking, the internal meaning does not correspond to the volume. Certain passages here are excellent, for example: the description of the southern night (in the poem “Mimi”), especially the sound impression of the sea:

And the shallows are sandy

Like pearls

rolling; and it seems

Someone walks and is afraid

Breaking into tears only makes you sad

Tears, there's a knock on someone's door,

It rustles and drags back

There is a trail of its own across the sand, then again

Returns to the same place...

In Polonsky’s later works, a religious motif clearly sounds, if not as a positive confidence, then as a desire and readiness for faith: “Blessed is the one who has been given two ears - who hears both the church bell and the eternal voice of the Spirit.” The last collection of Polonsky's poems ends worthily with a true poetic story: "The Dreamer", the meaning of which is that the poetic dream of an early deceased hero turns out to be something very real. Regardless of the desire for a positive religion, Polonsky in his latest works looks into the most fundamental questions of existence. Thus, the secret of time becomes clear to his poetic consciousness - the truth that time is not the creation of an essentially new content, but only a rearrangement into different positions of the same essential meaning of life, which in itself is eternity (the poem "Allegory", more clearly - in the poem “Now into the dark abyss, then into the light abyss” and most clearly and vividly - in the poem “Tender, timid childhood”).

In addition to large and small poems, Polonsky wrote several extensive novels in prose: “Confessions of Sergei Chalygin” (St. Petersburg, 1888), “Steep Hills” (St. Petersburg, 1888), “Cheap City” (St. Petersburg, 1888), “Accidentally” (M., 1844). His humorous poem "Dogs" was published in 1892 (St. Petersburg). Collections of Polonsky's poems: "Gammas" (1844), "Poems of 1845." (1846), "Sazandar" (1849), "Several Poems" (1851), "Poems" (1855), "Reprints" (1860), "Grasshopper Musician" (1863), "Discord" (1866), " Sheaves" (1871), "Ozimi" (1876), "At Sunset" (1881), "Poems 1841-85." (1885), "Evening Bells" (1890).

Yakov Polonsky was born December 6 (18), 1819 in Ryazan in the family of an official-intendant. The poet's mother, Natalya Yakovlevna, was an educated woman - she read a lot, wrote down poems, songs, and romances in notebooks.

At first, Polonsky was educated at home, and then he was sent to the Ryazan gymnasium. At this time, Polonsky read the works of Pushkin and V. Benediktov and began to write poetry himself. The gymnasium authorities instructed Polonsky to write congratulatory poems on the occasion of the arrival of the heir to the throne Alexander with the poet Zhukovsky in Ryazan. The venerable poet liked the poems of the young high school student, and he gave him a gold watch. It was in 1837, and the next year Polonsky graduated from high school and entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law.

At the university, Polonsky, like many other students, was delighted by the lectures of Professor T.N. Granovsky. The young man met N.M. Orlov, son of the famous general, hero Patriotic War M.F. Orlova. I.S. gathered at the Orlovs’ house. Turgenev, P.Ya. Chaadaev, A.S. Khomyakov, F.N. Glinka and others. At these evenings, Polonsky read his poems.

In 1844 Polonsky graduated from the university and soon graduated first collection of his poems - “Gammas”, received favorably in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski.

In the autumn of 1844 Polonsky moved to Odessa to serve in the customs department. There he lives with the brother of the later famous anarchist Bakunin, and visits the house of Governor Vorontsov. The salary was not enough, and Polonsky gave private lessons. In the spring of 1846. the poet moved to the Caucasus, where he was transferred by the governor M.S. Vorontsov. Polonsky serves in his office. Soon he also became the editor of the Transcaucasian Vestnik newspaper.

In the newspaper he publishes works of various genres - from journalistic and scientific articles to essays and stories.

Caucasian impressions determined the content of many of his poetic works. In 1849 Polonsky published collection "Sazandar"(singer (Georgian)). Service in the Caucasus lasted 4 years.

In 1857 Polonsky went abroad as a teacher-tutor in the family of Governor N.M. Smirnova. However, the poet soon abandoned the role of a teacher, since the absurd character and religious fanaticism of A.O. Smirnova-Rosset was disgusted by Polonsky. He is trying to take up painting in Geneva ( 1858 ), however, he soon meets with the famous literary philanthropist Count Kushelev-Bezborodko, who offered him the post of editor in the magazine “Russian Word” organized by him. Polonsky accepted this offer. Before 1860 the poet edited the Russian Word, later became a secretary in the Committee of Foreign Censorship, and three years later - a junior censor in the same committee. He held this position until 1896, after which he was appointed a member of the Council of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs.

Polonsky was in good relations with Nekrasov, I. Turgenev, P. Tchaikovsky, for whom he wrote the libretto (“Blacksmith Vakula”, later “Cherevichki”), with A.P. Chekhov - he dedicated the poem “At the Door” to him.

In 1887 the 50th anniversary was solemnly celebrated creative activity Polonsky.

Ya. Polonsky died October 18 (30), 1898 in St. Petersburg, buried in the Lgov Monastery. In 1958, the poet’s ashes were transported to Ryazan (territory Ryazan Kremlin).

Polonsky wrote poems, poems, satirical newspaper feuilletons, published short stories, novellas and novels, and acted as a playwright and publicist. But of his vast creative heritage, only poetic works and lyrics are of value.

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Biography

Yakov Polonsky is a Russian poet and prose writer. Born on December 6 (18), 1819 in Ryazan into a poor noble family. In 1838 he graduated from the Ryazan gymnasium. The beginning of his literary activity Polonsky was counting 1837 when he presented one of his poems to the Tsarevich, the future Tsar Alexander II, who was traveling around Russia accompanied by his tutor V. A. Zhukovsky.

In 1838 Polonsky entered the law faculty of Moscow University (graduated in 1844). During his student years, he became close to A. Grigoriev and A. Fet, who highly appreciated the talent of the young poet. I also met P. Chaadaev, A. Khomyakov, T. Granovsky. In 1840, Polonsky’s poem “The Holy Gospel Sounds Solemnly” was first published in the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”... It was published in the magazine “Moskvityanin” and in the student almanac “Underground Keys”.

In 1844, the first collection of poetry by Polonsky Gamma was published, in which the influence of M. Lermontov is noticeable. The collection already contained poems written in the genre of everyday romance (Meeting, Winter Journey, etc.). Polonsky’s lyric masterpiece, Song of the Gypsy (“My fire shines in the fog…”, 1853), was subsequently written in this genre. Literary critic B. Eikhenbaum later called main feature Polonsky's romances "combination of lyrics with narration." It is typical for them a large number of portrait, household and other details reflecting psychological condition lyrical hero(“The shadows of the night came and became...”, etc.).

After graduating from university, Polonsky moved to Odessa, where he published his second collection of poetry, Poems of 1845 (1845). The book caused a negative assessment by V. G. Belinsky, who saw in the author “an unrelated, purely external talent.” In Odessa, Polonsky became a prominent figure among writers who continued the Pushkin poetic tradition. Impressions of Odessa life subsequently formed the basis for the novel Cheap City (1879).

In 1846 Polonsky was appointed to Tiflis, to the office of the governor M. Vorontsov. At the same time, he became an assistant editor of the Transcaucasian Vestnik newspaper, in which he published essays. Polonsky's poetry collection Sazandar (Singer) was published in Tiflis in 1849. It included ballads and poems, as well as poems in the spirit of the “natural school” - that is, replete with everyday scenes (Walk through Tiflis) or written in the spirit of national folklore (Georgian song).

In 1851 Polonsky moved to St. Petersburg. In his diary in 1856 he wrote: “I don’t know why I feel an involuntary disgust from any political poem; It seems to me that in the most sincere political poem there are as many lies and untruths as in politics itself.” Soon Polonsky definitely declared his creative credo: “God did not give me the scourge of satire... / And for the few I am a poet” (For the few, 1860). Contemporaries saw in him “a modest but honest figure of the Pushkin trend” (A. Druzhinin) and noted that “he never shows off or plays any role, but always appears as he is” (E. Stackenschneider).

In St. Petersburg, Polonsky published two collections of poetry (1856 and 1859), as well as the first collection of prose, Stories (1859), in which N. Dobrolyubov noticed “the poet’s sensitive sensitivity to the life of nature and the internal merging of the phenomena of reality with the images of his fantasy and with the impulses of his heart " D. Pisarev, on the contrary, considered such traits to be manifestations of a “narrow mental world” and classified Polonsky among the “microscopic poets.”

In 1857 Polonsky left for Italy, where he studied painting. He returned to St. Petersburg in 1860. He experienced a personal tragedy - the death of his son and wife, which was reflected in the poems The Seagull (1860), Madness of Grief (1860), etc. In the 1860s he wrote the novels Confessions of Sergei Chalygin (1867) and The Marriage of Atuev (1869) , in which the influence of I. Turgenev is noticeable. Polonsky was published in magazines of various directions, explaining this in one of his letters to A. Chekhov: “I have been a nobody’s whole life.”

In 1858-1860 Polonsky edited the magazine “Russian Word”, in 1860-1896 he served on the Committee for Foreign Censorship. In general, the 1860s and 1870s were marked for the poet by reader inattention and everyday disorder. Interest in Polonsky's poetry arose again in the 1880s, when, together with A. Fet and A. Maykov, he was part of the “poetic triumvirate”, which enjoyed the respect of the reading public. Polonsky again became an iconic figure in the literary life of St. Petersburg; outstanding contemporaries gathered at “Polonsky Fridays.” The poet was friends with Chekhov and closely followed the work of K. Fofanov and S. Nadson. In the poems The Madman (1859), The Double (1862), and others, he predicted some of the motifs of 20th century poetry.

In 1890, Polonsky wrote to A. Fet: “You can trace my whole life through my poems.” In accordance with this principle of reflecting internal biography, he built his final Complete Works in 5 volumes, published in 1896.

Polonsky Yakov Petrovich (1819 - 1898), poet. Born on December 6 (18 NS) in Ryazan into a poor noble family. He studied at the Ryazan gymnasium, after which he entered the law faculty of Moscow University. During his student years he began to write and publish his poems in

“Notes of the Fatherland” (1840), “Moscowite” and in the student almanac “Underground Keys” (1842). He is friends with A. Grigoriev, A. Fet, P. Chaadaev, T. Granovsky, I. Turgenev.

In 1844, Polonsky’s first collection of poems, “Gammas,” was published, attracting the attention of critics and readers.

After graduating from university he lived in Odessa. There he published his second collection, “Poems of 1845.”

In 1846, Polonsky moved to Tiflis, joined the office and at the same time worked as an assistant editor of the Transcaucasian Vestnik newspaper. While in Georgia, Polonsky turned to prose (articles and essays on ethnography), publishing them in the newspaper.

Georgia inspired him to create the book of poems “Sazandar” (Singer) in 1849, and the historical play “Darejana of Imereti” in 1852.

From 1851 Polonsky lived in St. Petersburg, traveling abroad from time to time. The poet's collections of poems (1855 and 1859) were well received by various critics.

In 1859 - 60 he was one of the editors of the magazine “Russian Word”.

In the social and literary struggle of the 1860s, Polonsky did not take part on the side of any of the camps. He defended the poetry of “love,” contrasting it with the poetry of “hate” (“For the Few,” 1860; “To the Citizen Poet,” 1864), although he recognized the impossibility of love “without pain” and life outside the problems of modernity (“To One of the Weary” , 1863). During these years, his poetry was sharply criticized by radical democrats. I. Turgenev and N. Strakhov defended Polonsky’s original talent from attacks, emphasizing his “worship of everything that is beautiful and lofty, service to truth, goodness and beauty, love of freedom and hatred of violence.”

In 1880 - 90 Polonsky was a very popular poet. During these years he returned to the themes of his early lyrics. A variety of writers, artists, and scientists unite around him. He is very attentive to the development of creativity of Nadson and Fofanov.

In 1881 the collection “At Sunset” was published, in 1890 - “Evening Bells”, imbued with motifs of sadness and death, reflections on the fleeting nature of human happiness.

From 1860 to 1896, Polonsky served on the Committee of Foreign Censorship and on the Council of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs, which gave him the means to support himself.

Coming from a poor noble family, Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819-1898) was a Russian poet from Ryazan. In Ryazan he graduated from high school. After this, he enters Moscow University and studies at the Faculty of Law. As a student, he wrote poetry and published it in Otechestvennye zapiski (Otechestvennye zapiski) (1840). Befriended famous writers, among whom were A. Grigoriev, A. Fet, P. Chaadaev, T. Granovsky, I. Turgenev.

Polonsky as a poet was noticed and adequately appreciated when his poetry collection "Gammas" was published.

After graduating from Polonsky University, he lived in Odessa. There he published his second collection of poems, Poems of 1845.

In 1846, the poet traveled to Tiflis (Georgia), where he served in the office and worked as an assistant editor of the Transcaucasian Bulletin publication and published ethnographic articles and essays. In 1849 he created a book of poems “The Singer”, then wrote the historical play “Darejana of Imereti” (1852).

Since 1851, the poet has lived in St. Petersburg, sometimes traveling abroad. He wrote poetry and compiled collections in 1855 and 1859.

In 1859-1860 – works as one of the editors of the Russian Word publication. His poems are criticized by radical democrats, and his friends and comrades actively come out in defense. Popularity came to the poet in the 1880-1890s. In 1881 the collection “At Sunset” was published, in 1890 “Evening Bells” was published. They are dominated by the motif of sadness and death, and the poet also reflects on the fragmented happiness of man.

The poet earns money by serving in the Committee of Foreign Censorship from the 60s to 1896. The poet died in St. Petersburg, but was buried in Ryazan.

The message about Yakov Polonsky will briefly tell you a lot of useful information about the life and work of the Russian poet.

Yakov Polonsky short biography

Polonsky Yakov Petrovich was born on December 6 (18), 1819 in the city of Ryazan into a large family of impoverished nobles. His father was in the service of the city governor-general. The boy received his primary education at home. At the age of 13, he lost his mother, and his father was transferred to another city to a government position. The mother's relatives, remaining to look after the children, sent Yakov to the First Ryazan Men's Gymnasium. IN adolescence the young man read the poems of Pushkin and Benediktov. Influenced by what he read, he tries to write on his own. Polonsky’s meeting with Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, the founder of romanticism in Russian poetry, who had a decisive influence on his future literary path, turned out to be fateful.

In 1837, Alexander II visited Ryazan and Yakov was instructed to compose couplets of welcoming poems for the future emperor. The reception was successful. The director of the gymnasium presented Polonsky with a gold watch from the guests present (including Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky) as a gift for his poetic creation. So Polonsky decided to associate himself with literature.

In 1838, the poet entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. At the same time, the burden did not stop writing poetry and was published in the anthology “Underground Keys.” During his studies, he became friends with actor Mikhail Shchepkin, philosopher Pyotr Chaadaev, poets Afanasy Fet and Apollo Grigoriev, writers Alexei Pisemsky and Mikhail Pogodin, historians Sergei Solovyov and Konstantin Kavelin. With the help of his friends, he managed to publish his poems in the publication “Notes of the Fatherland” in 1840.

After graduating from the university, the financial situation “forced” Yakov Polonsky to leave Moscow in 1844. He got a job at the Odessa customs department. However, the salary he received was not enough to live on and in the spring of 1846 Yakov left for Tiflis. He was offered the position of chancellor to the governor Count Vorontsov. He was in service until 1851. Local customs and traditions formed the basis of the poems written, which brought him all-Russian recognition.

During his stay in Tiflis, he actively collaborated with the Transcaucasian Vestnik newspaper. He also published 2 collections of poetry: “Several Poems” and “Sazandar”, published essays, stories, journalistic and science articles. At the same time, Polonsky became interested in painting, sketching local landscapes and surrounding areas.

In 1851, the literary figure moved to the capital, St. Petersburg, continuing to work on his works. Four years later, the next collection was published, which was published on the pages of Sovremennik and Otechestvennye Zapiski, popular in Russia. The fees received were barely enough for a modest life, and the poet got a job as a teacher at home for the children of the St. Petersburg governor Smirnov.

In 1858 he met the literary philanthropist, Count Kushelev-Bezborodko. He invited Yakov Polonsky to take the position of editor of his new magazine “Russian Word”. After 2 years, he was hired as a secretary in the Foreign Censorship Committee. In 1863 he took the position of censor there, working in one place until 1896. In 1897, the poet was appointed a member of the Council of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs. In his work he began to increasingly turn to the theme of religious mysticism. Yakov Petrovich's last collection was published in 1890. The poet died on October 18 (30), 1898.

  • Yakov Polonsky, instead of 4 years of study at the university, studied for 5 years, since he could not pass the exam in Roman law to Nikita Ivanovich Krylov, dean of the Faculty of Law.
  • In 1857, he traveled around Europe with the family of the governor of St. Petersburg, where he worked as a home teacher. At this time I met the famous writer Alexandre Dumas.
  • Was married twice. The poet's first wife was Elena Ustyuzhskaya, the daughter of the headman of the Russian church in Paris and a French woman. Elena did not know Russian, just like Yakov did not speak French. In 1858, he brought his young wife to St. Petersburg. He was born into marriage and died at 6 months of age from typhus. Two months earlier, Elena also died from this disease. He married for the second time in 1866 to Rühlmann Josephine Antonovna. The marriage produced 3 children - Boris, Alexander and Natalya.
  • After an injury received as a result of a fall, the poet walked on crutches until the end of his days.

We hope that the report on the topic “Yakov Polonsky” helped to learn a lot of new things about the great Russian poet. A short story You can add information about Yakov Polonsky using the comment form below.

Yakov Petrovich Polonsky could claim to be considered the most kind person in Russian literature, along with V.A. Zhukovsky.

One of the writers of the late 19th century, when asked why he went to visit Polonsky, answered: “For moral disinfection.” Polonsky's personality attracted a variety of people.

Like many true poets, Polonsky expressed his path, his biography, his inner world in poetry. Distinctive feature- his books are collected not by topic or by cycle, as, for example, by Fet, but by year, by period.

Biography of Yakov Polonsky

Polonsky was born in 1819 in Ryazan, into a poor noble family. He studied at the gymnasium. In 1837, the year of Pushkin’s death, the future Emperor Alexander II (then Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, heir) came to Ryazan Russian throne). He was accompanied by the poet V.A. Zhukovsky. Polonsky, as a recognized gymnasium poet, was instructed to write a welcome poem. From this episode Polonsky himself began the countdown of his literary activity.

In 1838, as a 19-year-old boy, Yakov came to Moscow and entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. He himself admitted that he would like to study at the Faculty of Philology, but did not have the ability for languages ​​and therefore chose the Faculty of Law. Among his university friends were Apollon Grigoriev and Afanasy Fet. At that time, Polonsky was very shy and reluctant to read his poems in public. He had to beg. It was a time of great doubts, painful thoughts, and fascination with German classical philosophy.

Polonsky was simple-minded, he never wore a mask, did not imagine himself to be different, different from what he really was. Among Polonsky's Moscow acquaintances of this period are P.Ya. Chaadaev, I.S. Turgenev. Friendship with the latter will last until Turgenev's death. Polonsky will write touching memoirs about him.

Poetry of Yakov Polonsky

Polonsky writes poetry and publishes them in the student almanac “Underground Keys”, as well as in the magazine “Moskvityanin”. In 1844, Polonsky’s first collection, “Gammas,” was published. The title itself clearly indicates the student nature of this book. The author included only two dozen poems in it - an enviable demand for himself even then. Polonsky felt himself in line with the classical tradition. He never tried to refute or update it. That is why, compared to Tyutchev or Nekrasov, Polonsky is somewhat old-fashioned.

The motive of the road is one of the key ones in Polonsky’s poetry. Polonsky is extremely varied rhythmically. Already in his early work, the genre of everyday petty-bourgeois romance took shape (as defined by B.M. Eikhenbaum). A romance that was influenced by gypsy romance, in which there is attention to inner world hero and heroine, to artistic details, to everyday life.

At the end of 1844, the poet left for Odessa, because... in Moscow he has almost no chance of getting a job. In Odessa, he meets Pushkin’s brother Lev Sergeevich and the writer V. Sologub. In 1845, Polonsky's second collection was published, severely criticized by Belinsky. Then he leaves for Transcaucasia, collaborates with the newspaper Transcaucasian Vestnik. In 1849, the collection “Sazandar” (“Singer”) was published in Tiflis. The poem “The Recluse” from this collection became a cautionary song. Like the poem “Gypsy” (“My fire shines in the fog…”), it broke away from the name of the author and went into folklore.

In 1851, Yakov Petrovich returned from the Caucasus to St. Petersburg. In the struggle between the Pushkin and Gogol trends in literature, Polonsky decisively takes the side of the representatives of “pure art”, along with Fet, A. Maykov, Shcherbina, A.K. Tolstoy. Polonsky was not a fighter, which he most fully expressed in the poem “For the Few.” In 1855, one of his most significant collections was published. An image of a poet—a prophet, a chosen one—is emerging. Polonsky is published in Sovremennik by Nekrasov, despite the complexity of their personal relationship.

Polonsky desperately needs to live literary work he is unable to. For some time he even served as tutor to A.O. Smirnova-Rosset, Pushkin’s correspondent and friend. In 1858 he went abroad and painted in Italy. He gets married the same year. In 1860, the poet returned to Russia. His little son dies, and then his wife.

Polonsky's poetry received serious attention from Russian psychological prose of the mid-19th century. He himself tried his hand at prose. Radical criticism did not favor Polonsky. In the 80-90s. A kind of poetic triumvirate is emerging: Polonsky - Maikov - Fet. There is a renewed interest in poetry. Yakov Petrovich is extremely attentive to young writers. “Fridays at Polonsky’s” are organized. He remains nobody's, independent, standing “above the fray.”

  • It is known that one of the first writers whose voice was recorded on a phonograph was Polonsky. Whether this recording is still alive - there is no clear information to this day...
  • Rare sample civil lyrics Polonsky - poem “A Writer, If Only He...”