ON A STRANGE QUOTATION IN ALEXANDER BLOK’S ARTICLE “APOLLON GRIGORIEV’S LIFE”

Abstract

Until now, a German quote from Grigoriev’s article “Th e Last Phase of Love” (1846) in A. Blok’s “The Fate of Apollo Grigoriev”, has remained not only uncommented, but also untranslated. A dictionary analysis showed that a major misprint was made in the magazine “Repertuar i Pantheon” (Erwürdigster instead of Ehrwürdigster). In Blok’s article, another inaccuracy was added to this typo, as a result of which the quote turned into an “obscure passage in the text”. Correction of typos showed that Grigoriev quotes a remark from a Masonic ritual, which corresponds to his passion for Freemasonry and mysticism during the translation of the “Hymns”, with which Block correlated the quoted fragment.