A.M. GORKY INSTITUTE OF WORLD LITERATURE
Issues
Unkbown Poems by Nikolai Klyuev
- DOI:
- EDN:
- УДК / UDK: 821.161.1.0
- Publication Type: Research Article
- Received: 23.01.2026
- Approved after reviewing: 16.06.2026
- Date of publication: 25.09.2026
- Issue:
no. 3 (41), 2026
- Abstract:
The early period of Nikolai Klyuev’s work (1904–1905) has rarely attracted scholarly attention. The reason is quite obvious: few poems (only about fifteen) from this period are known. This publication introduces five newly discovered poems by Klyuev from 1904–1905 into scholarly circulation, which help to define and clarify his creative evolution. It is immediately obvious that the poetics, style and language of Klyuev’s early poems differ from the works written after 1906/1907, when he was introduced to Alexander Blok and discovered Russian modernist poetry. Responding to the interests and sentiments of Russian society between the two revolutions and its search for a “national spirit,” Klyuev consistently created and refined his poetic myth: he assumed the role of a “folk” poet whose work is rooted in Russian folklore and Old Belief, presented himself as a bearer of the “hidden” peasant truth, rejected urban culture, and debunked the intelligentsia. Coming from the people himself, he identified with the “people” and attempted to speak on their behalf. A deeply religious man, he cultivated themes of martyrdom and brotherly love in his work, describing his mystical insights and “prophetic” dreams. The mature Klyuev’s literary manner — composing pseudo-folk “songs” and Khlyst “chants” — is fundamentally different from his poems of the First Russian Revolution period, and allows us to see him not so much as a “peasant” author, but as a talented stylizer and refined modernist.
- Keywords: Nikolai Klyuev, “People’s Circle,” Petr Travin, collection “The Lights,” “New Peasant” poetry, Old Belief, national spirit, modernism, stylization
- For citation:
Azadovsky, K.M. “Unknown Poems by Nikolai Klyuev.” Literaturnyi fakt, no. 3 (41), 2026, pp. 8–24. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2026-41-8-24
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