- Konstantin Batyushkov
Konstantin Nikolayevich Batyushkov "Константин Николаевич Батюшков" (OldStyleDate|29 May|1787|18 May,
Vologda - OldStyleDate|19 July|1855|7 July,Vologda ) was an important precursor ofAlexander Pushkin in Russian poetry.Batyushkov was brought up in the house of his uncle
Mikhail Muravyov , who was reputed for his light and humorous poetry. At an early age he became fascinated with theItalian language and set out to Italianize Russian poetry. Batyushkov's most important poems were written between 1809 and 1812 and collected into a slender volume in 1817. Pushkin's copy of the book survives, with his curious remarks on the Italianate music and technique of Batyushkov's mellifluous verse.About 1823 Batyushkov went mad. During the period of his mental illness, he still made weird attempts at versification. His rare poems from this period are impeccable metrically but their meaning is not clear, e.g., "I only wake to fall asleep / And sleep, to wake without end", his last lines from 1853. Such pieces fascinated the 20th-century poet
Osip Mandelstam , who repeatedly addressed Batyushkov's life and poetry in his essays and verse.External links
* [http://www.rvb.ru/batyushkov/bio/bio_eng.htm Detailed biography in English]
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