Merezhkovsky on Byron

Abstract

In the essays of Dmitry Merezhkovsky, the name of Lord Byron is often mentioned on a par with world classics. For the Russian writer, the English poet became an “eternal companion” who had a profound influence on his work. The article examines the image of Byron, depicted in bright strokes in the books “Eternal Companions”, “L. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky”, “It was and will be: Diary: 1910–1914”. Merezhkovsky was interested in Byron as a type of artist, a great master of words, a poet of the future. Merezhkovsky managed to analyze in detail the life and work of Byron, paying attention to such problems as Byron and Napoleon, the “superhuman”, the poet’s religiosity, the emergence of a new hero in literature, the so-called “egoism” of a genius, his freedom-loving revolutionary spirit. The paper provides Merezhkovsky’s thoughts of Byron’s internal and external “demonism” as well as the poet’s “torments” associated with the calling of a writer and a politician in the broadest sense of the word. In addition, the article considers the creative way of Pushkin, who, according to Merezhkovsky, overcame the gloomy mood of the English poet in his works. It also highlights the impact of Byron’s poetry on the authors who were “infected” with his liberal ideas. In conclusion, it is maintained that Byron did not die in vain, and according to Merezhkovsky, the epitaph on his grave could be the words “there will be joy”.