V.S. Solovyov's articles on Ya.P. Polonsky in the context of the history of reception of the poet's work in the 1840s–1880s

Author: korolevaNV / Date: 30-09-2025 /
Publication Title: 
V.S. Solovyov's articles on Ya.P. Polonsky in the context of the history of reception of the poet's work in the 1840s–1880s
Publication author(s): 
A.V. Tarzaeva
Abstract: 

V.S. Solovyov's works on Ya.P. Polonsky (the article “On lyrical poetry”, the critical essay “The poetry of Ya.P. Polonsky”, the encyclopedic article “Polonsky” and the obituary “Yakov Petrovich Polonsky”) are considered for the first time in a broad literary and critical context. The content of the philosopher's articles is examined through the prism of the history of reception of the poet's lyrics that had developed by 1890. The reviews of V.G. Belinsky, N.A. Nekrasov, A.V. Druzhinin, N.A. Dobrolyubov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I.S. Turgenev, N.N. Strakhov are compared, and the main characteristics given by criticism to Polonsky in the 1840s and 1880s are revealed (a poet of form, a poet of dreams, a pure lyricist, a literary eclectic, a poet without an ideological direction). Solovyov's articles are analyzed in terms of an implicit dialogue with previous criticism, which allows to specify the philosopher's position in the most important discussions for the history of perception of Polonsky's work: about the correspondence of form to the content of his poetry, about the relationship in his lyrics of reflection and inspiration, about the integrity of his worldview, about the ideological direction of his works, about the characteristic features of his poetry. It is proved that Solovyov, forming his own concept of lyrical creativity, theoretically substantiates the importance of Polonsky for Russian literature and strengthens his role as one of the first lyricists of the post-Pushkin era. It is argued that Solovyov's articles create a holistic creative image of Polonsky as a poet: the aesthetic views, worldview, principles of the author's poetics are characterized; the corpus of program poems in which Polonsky is revealed as a pure lyricist is determined; his place among contemporary poets is outlined.

References: 

(Sources)

Collected Works

  1. Belinskiy, V.G. Russkaya literatura v 1844 g. [Russian literature in 1844], in Belinskiy, V.G. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy v 13 t., t. 9 [Collected works in 13 vols., vol. 9]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR, 1955, pp. 430–488.
  2. Belinskiy, V.G. Stikhotvoreniya Apollona Grigor'eva. Stikhotvoreniya Ya.P. Polonskogo 1845 g. [Apollon Grigoriev’s poems. Ya.P. Polonsky’s poems in 1845], in Belinskiy, V.G. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy v 13 t., t. 9 [Collected works in 13 vols., vol. 9]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR, 1955, pp. 590–600.
  3. Dobrolyubov, N.A. Stikhotvoreniya Ya.P. Polonskogo. Kuzneche(i)k-muzykant. Rasskazy Ya.P. Polonskogo [Ya.P. Polonsky’s poems. The grasshopper-musician. Ya.P. Polonsky’s novels], in Dobrolyubov, N.A. Sobranie sochineniy v 9 t., t. 5 [Collected works in 9 vols., vol. 5]. Moscow; Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo khudozhestvennoy literatury, 1962, pp. 140–151.
  4. Nekrasov, N.A. Stikhotvoreniya Ya.P. Polonskogo [Ya.P. Polonsky’s poems], in Nekrasov, N.A. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy v 15 t., t. 11, kn. 2 [Collected works in 15 vols., vol. 11, book 2]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1990, pp. 135–137.
  5. Saltykov-Shchedrin, M.E. Sochineniya Ya.P. Polonskogo. 2 t. [The works of Ya.P. Polonsky. 2 vols.], in Saltykov-Shchedrin, M.E. Sobranie sochineniy v 20 t., t. 9 [Collected works in 20 vols., vol. 9]. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1970, pp. 343–347.
  6. Solov'ev, V.S. Impressionizm mysli [Impressionism of thought], in Solov'ev, V.S. Sobranie sochineniy v 10 t., t. 9 [Collected works in 10 vols., vol. 9]. Saint-Petersburg: Knigoizdatel'skoe tovarishchestvo “Prosveshchenie”, [1914], pp. 77–83.
  7. Solov'ev, V.S. O liricheskoy poezii. Po povodu poslednikh stikhotvoreniy Feta i Polonskogo [On lyrical poetry. Concerning the last poems of Fet and Polonsky], in Solov'ev, V.S. Sobranie sochineniy v 10 t., t. 6 [Collected works in 10 vols., vol. 6]. Saint-Petersburg: Knigoizdatel'skoe tovarishchestvo “Prosveshchenie”, [1914], pp. 234–262.
  8. Solov'ev, V.S. Poeziya Ya.P. Polonskogo. Kriticheskiy ocherk [Ya.P. Polonsky’s poetry. Critical essay], in Solov'ev, V.S. Sobranie sochineniy v 10 t., t. 7 [Collected works in 10 vols., vol. 7]. Saint-Petersburg: Knigoizdatel'skoe tovarishchestvo “Prosveshchenie”, [1914], pp. 329–353.
  9. Turgenev, I.S. Redaktoru “S.-Peterburgskikh vedomostey” 8 (20) yanvarya [To the editor of the St. Petersburg Gazette on January 8 (20)], in Turgenev, I.S. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 30 t. Pis'ma: v 18 t., t. 10 [Collected works and letters in 30 vols. Letters in 18 vols., vol. 10]. Moscow: Nauka, 1994, pp. 122–127.

Individual works

  1. Druzhinin, A.V. Stikhotvoreniya Ya.P. Polonskogo [Ya.P. Polonsky’s poems], in Sovremennik, 1855, no. 11, section III, pp. 1–20.
  2. [Kudryavtsev, P.N] Gammy. Stikhotvoreniya Ya.P. Polonskogo [Scales. Ya.P. Polonsky’s poems], in Otechestvennye zapiski, 1844, no. 10, pp. 37–45.
  3. Solov'ev, V.S. Nekrolog. Yakov Petrovich Polonskiy [Obituary. Yakov Petrovich Polonsky], in Vestnik Evropy, 1898, no. 11, pp. 419–420.
  4. Strakhov, N.N. Nekrasov i Polonskiy [Nekrasov and Polonsky], in Strakhov, N.N. Zametki o Pushkine i drugikh poetakh [Notes on Pushkin and other poets]. Kiev: tipografiya I.I. Chokolova, 1897, pp. 127–179.
  5. Unsigned. Gammy. Stikhotvoreniya Ya.P. Polonskogo [Scales. Ya.P. Polonsky’s poems], in Moskvityanin, 1845, no. 1, section XII (Bibliografiya), pp. 23–28.
  6. Unsigned. Stikhotvoreniya Ya.P. Polonskogo [Ya.P. Polonsky’s poems], in Otechestvennye zapiski, 1855, no. 11, section IV, pp. 1–7.
  7. Unsigned. “Stikhotvoreniya” Ya.P. Polonskogo [“Poems” of Ya.P. Polonsky], in Sankt-Peterburgskie vedomosti, 1855, no. 219, pp. 1149–1150.
  8. V.T. Literaturnaya deyatel'nost' Ya.P. Polonskogo [Literary activity of Ya.P. Polonsky], in Nablyudatel', 1887, no. 6, pp. 293–301.
  9. Ya.P. Polonskiy – Chekhovu. 1888. 27 marta [Ya.P. Polonsky to Chekhov. 1888. March 27th], in Perepiska A.P. Chekhova v 2 t., t. 1 [Correspondence of A.P. Chekhov in 2 vols., vol. 1]. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1984, pp. 389–392.

(Articles from Scientific Journals)

  1. Anokhina, Yu.Yu. «Chistaya lirika»: k voprosu o ponyatiynom apparate statey Vl. Solov'eva o russkoy poezii [“Pure Lyrics”: concepts in Vl. Solovyov’s articles on Russian Poetry], in Russkaya slovesnost', 2025, no. 1, pp. 63–74.
  2. Asadulaeva, G.Kh. Osobennosti kriticheskogo metoda Vladimira Solov'eva [Features of Vladimir Solovyov's critical method], in Vestnik Dagestanskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2007, no. 6, pp. 30–37.
  3. Morozova, S.N., Shcheblykin, I.P. Kritiki i pisateli o tvorchestve Ya. Polonskogo [Critics and writers on the work of Ya. Polonsky], in Vestnik Chuvashskogo univetsiteta, 2010, no. 1, pp. 291–296.
  4. Musaeva, G.Kh. Poeziya Ya.P. Polonskogo v literaturno-filosofskoy kritike V.S. Solov'eva [Ya.P. Polonsky’s poetry in the literary and philosophical criticism of V.S. Solovyov], in Vestnik Dagestanskogo gosudarstvennogo uninversiteta, 2013, no. 3, pp. 50–53.
  5. Tarzaeva, A.V. V.S. Solov'ev i Ya.P. Polonskiy: k ponimaniyu sushchnosti liricheskoy poezii [V.S. Solovyov and Ya.P. Polonsky: towards understanding the nature of lyric poetry], in Russkaya slovesnost', 2025, no. 1, pp. 75–80.

(Articles from Proceedings and Collections of Research Papers)

  1. Asoyan, A.A. Lirika Ya. Polonskogo v retrospektive Serebryanogo veka [Ya. Polonsky’s lyrics in a retrospective of the Silver Age], in Sbornik nauchnykh statey «Ya.P. Polonskiy: tvorchestvo, sud'ba, epokha» [Collection of scientific articles “Ya.P. Polonsky: work, destiny, epoch”]. Ryazan': Ryazanskiy gosudarstvennyy universitet imeni S.A. Esenina, 2015, pp. 118–127.
  2. Polivanov, I.L. Ya.P. Polonskiy o Belinskom (Po povodu neizdannogo pis'ma) [Ya.P. Polonsky on Belinsky (About an unpublished letter)], in Venok Belinskomu: Novye stranitsy Belinskogo, rechi, issledovaniya, materialy [Wreath to Belinsky: New pages of Belinsky, speeches, research, materials]. Moscow: Novaya Moskva, 1924, pp. 236–242.

(Monographs)

  1. Baranskaya, E.M. Liricheskiy geroy i literaturnaya lichnost' Ya.P. Polonskogo [The persona and literary personality of Ya.P. Polonsky]. Simferopol': IT «ARIAL», 2020. 184 p.
  2. Eykhenbaum, B.M. Ya.P. Polonskiy [Ya.P. Polonsky], in Eykhenbaum, B.M. O poezii [About poetry]. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel', 1969, pp. 234–276.
  3. Lagunov, A.I. Lirika Yakova Polonskogo [Yakov Polonsky’s Lyrics]. Stavropol': Knizhnoe izdatel'stvo, 1974. 127 p.
  4. Magomedova, D.M. Blok i Polonskiy. Zametki k teme [Blok and Polonsky. Notes on the topic], in Magomedova, D.M. Kommentiruya Bloka [Commenting on Blok]. Moscow: RGGU, 2004, pp. 73–103.
  5. Orlov, V.N. Polonskiy [Polonsky], in Orlov, V.N. Puti i sud'by: literaturnye ocherki [Paths and destinies: literary essays]. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel', 1971, pp. 265–312.

(Thesis and Thesis Abstracts)

  1. Yurina, N.G. Literaturno-kriticheskaya kontseptsiya V.S. Solov'eva: istoki, stanovlenie, razvitie. Diss. … kand. filol. nauk [V.S. Solovyov's literary-critical concept: origins, formation, development. Cand. philol. sci. diss.]. Saransk, 2004. 213 p.
Key words: 
poetry of Ya.P. Polonsky, the history of reception of Ya.P. Polonsky's creativity, literary criticism of the 1840s–1890s, Ya.P. Polonsky in the perception of V.S. Solovyov, pure lyrics, lyrical and prosaic
2025. Issue 3 (87)
The DOI index: 
10.17588/2076-9210.2025.3.117-131
Publication file: 
str.117-131_87.pdf