Poetic experiments

Contents Poems Killed my heart... Complaint Advice to my soul To an earthly wanderer In the Bryanchaninov family, a passion for poetry was a tradition. Both grandfathers of St. Ignatius paid a certain tribute to poetry. On his mother’s side, Afanasy Matveevich Bryanchaninov was a poet; several of his poems have survived to this day, and his friendship with the famous poet of the 18th century. Mikhail Nikitich Muravyov still attracts the attention of literary scholars. The daughter of Afanasy Matveevich, the mother of St. Ignatius, Sofya Afanasyevna, was also interested in poetry. Her surviving album indicates that she knew both Russian and French poets excellently. The passion for poetic creations of the Saint’s grandfather on the part of his father, Semyon Andreevich Brianchaninov, was very strong: he not only tried to compose himself, but also squandered most of his fortune on staging comedies by Moliere, Sumarokov and others. It is also known that during his years of study at the Engineering School, while hanging out in a poetry circle in the house of A. N. Olenin, Dmitry Alexandrovich tried his hand at poetry. (By the way, his brother, Pyotr Alexandrovich, was also involved in “sprinkling” poetry.) However, Dmitry Alexandrovich’s youthful poems have not reached us. And in subsequent years, his literary activity moved into another area, although some of his “Ascetic Experiences” were written as prose poems. Currently, four poems by Saint Ignatius are known, about which the priest Gennady Belovolov wrote: “Two of them [poems] were published: “Killed the Heart” - in the book of S. Nilus “The Shrine Under a Hidden” (Sergiev Posad, 1911, pp. 11–12); “Advice to my soul” - published by Abbot Mark (Lozinsky) in the issue of “Theological Works” (Moscow Theological Academy, 1971. No. 6). Two other poems are being published for the first time. They are in a handwritten collection of Ignatius’s artistic works, compiled by him himself, stored in the Manuscript Department of the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg (now the Russian National Library). Saint Ignatius did not include his poems in his collected works and did not publish them anywhere during his lifetime. They were apparently intended only for a narrow circle of acquaintances. The poems of St. Ignatius are very different both in form and in mood, which suggests that they were not written systematically, “by chance.” They are associated with the romantic tradition of Russian poetry of the first half of the last century. However, behind the motif of disappointment characteristic of romantic poetry, the poems of St. Ignatius express the idea of ​​​​monastic renunciation of this world. In them we find the same ascetic thoughts and feelings as in “Ascetic Experiences”. One poem, “To the Earthly Wanderer,” is dated December 15, 1848. Judging by the fact that the chronological principle of arrangement can be traced in this handwritten notebook, it can be assumed that the poem “Complaint” placed next to it was also written at this time, and “Advice to My Soul” a little earlier. The author did not include the poem “Killed the Heart” in this notebook. The first two verses are characterized by a motif of disappointment, complaint, departure from the “values” of this world. “They killed the heart...” (the title, apparently, was given by S. Nilus) was written with an obvious allusion to the “sorrowful stanzas” of Ovid. The poem “Complaint” goes back to the tradition of Russian romantic poetry. To understand them, you need to know how mournful the abbot of Ignatius was at times in the Sergius Hermitage. The poems “Advice to My Soul” and “To the Earthly Pilgrim” are addressed to one’s inner man. They are a direct continuation of his “prose poems”. Their main theme is what Archimandrite Anthony (Bochkov) in one of his letters called “poetry of repentance.” For the adequacy and completeness of perception, it is necessary to take into account that many words and images in these verses (such as “heart”, “crying”, “desert”, “wanderer”), in addition to the poetic, also have a completely precise ascetic meaning: “heart” is the focus of a person’s spiritual, primarily prayerful life, “crying” is repentance for one’s sins, leading to a state of tenderness, etc. The verses for St. Ignatius were not something literary end in itself. They are few in number, and the author never published them during his lifetime. And yet it is impossible not to feel the absolute purity of meaning, the amazing clarity of thought, the prayerful mood of the poems of the ascetic poet" 1 . Everything here is hostile to me, everything is death’s putrid breath. A piercing wind, heavy waters, steam from the swamp, Changes in weather and an eternally gloomy and threatening sky. How pale is the ray of sunshine, Belta surrounded by fog and darkness! It doesn’t warm, it burns!.. I don’t like, I don’t like the radiance without life! I am struck down by illness, bound as if by a chain, chained to my bed, They are locked in their cell. An involuntary recluse, I drag out my days to the grave. And my heart?.. Ah! They killed it!.. It lived until now, He lived through suffering, but he lived. Now there is the silence of the grave. I opened it with love and faith, open to all my neighbors. They plunged daggers into my heart; and daggers were a reward For friendship, for a straight word, for a life sacrificed!.. I will leave, killed, I will leave people in the obscurity of the desert!.. I see what people like and need: they need flattery, meanness, Vanity, alien to true glory. They forgot that glory comes from God, From a clear conscience. But they don’t need God, and conscience is a burden to them; They do not need confidantes of truth as servants out of desire for public benefit: They need slaves - instruments of their depraved will... I will leave people and in the deep desert I will indulge in sobs: There, only moans will be my food, and tears will be my drink. I will pay for myself, my heart is killed, the world is immersed in evil, - And I will go down to my grave sad, in the hope of joy in heaven. (In the book: Nilus S. Shrines in hiding. - Sergiev Posad, 1911. P. 11–12.) My past happy days: And the odal stood up in days of sorrow. Search among self-forgetfulness: And there is no joy in entertainment! There is no barrier to his melancholy: And sadness, like night, fogs the mind. I have been tested by fate, by enemies, Wounded by many arrows: I was tormented by betrayal. And for a long, long time I languished... But finally, through the thickness of the clouds, Through the darkness of the world's judgments, a ray, A ray of joyful light broke through. I received my sight and came to life. Lively, Enlightened by holy faith, RNB. Q. 1. 1520. pp. 280–282. When Christ is from the Light Light Patience advises sorrows, To reach the village in the mountains! Carnal passion, earthly honor And flattery of perishable wealth, Will they abide with him forever? Power, strength, genius and beauty. The forgotten poor man - here he lies And the worm, in the darkness of the grave swarm, There is no salvation outside His paths! Decorate yourself with fasting, tears, Prayer, many sorrows! To the holy Divine palace, You will enter, rejoicing, playing! God is waiting for you there with a reward! RNB. Q, 1. 1520. pp. 87–88. You are immersed as if in a deep sleep, Otherwise it will come to you suddenly Publication by priest Gennady Belolovov. Roman-newspaper of the XXI century. 1999. No. 6. pp. 64–66.