Destruction of the Spirit: War in Voloshin's "Drugu" and Pushkin's "Arion"

Abstract

According to one of Maksimilian Aleksandrovich Voloshin's unfinished autobiographies, Pushkin's Poltava (interestingly, a narrative poem named for a battle) was among the works Voloshin could recite from memory even before he could read (Kupchenko 777). Voloshin's generation of poets was raised on Pushkin's verse, and Voloshin consistently lists Pushkin as among his earliest influences (Avtobiografiia 29). Indeed, Voloshin's first public performance in 1893 was a reading of Pushkin's Klevetnikam Rossii 'To the Slanderers of Russia.' Although Voloshin never devoted an article to Pushkin's verse, his writings on contemporary authors and artists are peppered with references to Russia's greatest poet.' The work of Pushkin can be seen as forming part of a national myth, which Voloshin believed was needed as a basis for the development of Russian tragedy.2 Therefore it is not surprising that when responding to the participation of a friend in war, Voloshin should recall Pushkin's verse on this subject. Drugu 'To my Friend' (August 1915), one of Voloshin's early poems on the theme of war, is Voloshin's poetic response to Pushkin's (1827). Voloshin uses a well known Russian rendition of a classic myth to launch his own ideas, challenging his reader to compare and contrast the two poems, as well as the two historical events to which they refer. There is a political context for each poem: World War I provides the background in the case of Voloshin's poem, and the Decembrist uprising in Pushkin's. Both poems thus concern the poet's reaction to armed conflict. As well as juxtaposing his own ideas to those found in the earlier work, Voloshin offers a new reading of Arion, focusing on the horror of violence implicit in the work. More importantly, however, Voloshin gives the story a new twist, praying not only for the physical, but also for the spiritual survival of his friend. This focus on the spiritual ravages of war becomes the single most important theme in Voloshin's poetry on war and revolution, forming the basis for views expressed in Voloshin's later works.3 As the story of Arion is an important subtext for both of the poems, it is useful to briefly summarize the contents of the tale. Arion seems to have been a real person, a poet who lived about 700