Balmont, Konstantin Dmitrievich - a short biography. Konstantin Balmont ~ biography, photo, personal life, best poems When Balmont was born and died

Balmont Konstantin Dmitrievich (1867-1942)

Russian poet. Born in the village of Gumnishche, Vladimir province, into a noble family. He studied at the gymnasium in Shuya. In 1886 he entered the law faculty of Moscow University, but was expelled for his participation in the student movement.

The first collection of poems by Balmont was published in Yaroslavl in 1890, the second - "Under the Northern Sky" - in 1894. They are dominated by motives of civil grief. Soon Balmont appears as one of the pioneers of symbolism.

In the late XIX - early XX centuries. the poet released collections "In the Boundless", "Silence", "Let's Be Like the Sun". In 1895-1905. Balmont was perhaps the most famous among Russian poets; later, its popularity declines. His poetry is characterized by an emphasized exoticism, a certain mannerism and narcissism.

Balmont made several voyages around the world, describing them in essay books of prose. He was captured by the revolutionary events of 1905, performed with poems praising the workers (the book "Songs of the Avenger").

From the end of the same year, due to the repressions of the autocracy, he lived abroad and was able to return to his homeland under an amnesty only in 1913. He translated a lot from the poetry of the West and the East. He was the first to translate into Russian the poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" by the classic of Georgian literature Shota Rustaveli.

In 1921 he emigrated, lived in great need in France. There he created a cycle of vivid poems full of longing for Russia.

He died in the town of Noisy-le-Grand near Paris.

Konstantin Dmitrievich Balmont was born on June 3 (15), 1867 in the village of Gumnishchi, Shuisky district, Vladimir province. Father, Dmitry Konstantinovich, served in the Shuisky district court and zemstvo, going from a minor employee with the rank of collegiate registrar to a magistrate, and then to the chairman of the district zemstvo council. Mother, Vera Nikolaevna, nee Lebedeva, was an educated woman, and greatly influenced the future worldview of the poet, introducing him into the world of music, literature, history.

In 1876-1883, Balmont studied at the Shuya gymnasium, from where he was expelled for participating in an anti-government circle. He continued his education at the Vladimir Gymnasium, then at the University of Moscow, and the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl. In 1887 he was expelled from Moscow University for participation in student unrest and exiled to Shuya. He never received a higher education, but thanks to his hard work and curiosity, he became one of the most erudite and cultured people of his time. Balmont annually read a huge number of books, studied, according to various sources, from 14 to 16 languages, besides literature and art, he was fond of history, ethnography, chemistry.

He began to write poetry in childhood. The first book of poems "Collection of Poems" was published in Yaroslavl at the expense of the author in 1890. After the book was published, the young poet burned almost the entire small print run.

The decisive time in the formation of Balmont's poetic worldview was the mid-1890s. Until now, his poems did not stand out as something special among late national poetry. Publication of the collections "Under the Northern Sky" (1894) and "In Boundlessness" (1895), translation of two scientific works "History of Scandinavian Literature" by Gorn-Schweitzer and "History of Italian Literature" by Gaspari, acquaintance with [V. Bryusov] and other representatives of the new direction in art, strengthened the poet's faith in himself and his special mission. In 1898 Balmont published the collection Silence, which finally marked the author's place in modern literature.

Balmont was destined to become one of the pioneers of a new direction in literature - symbolism. However, among the “senior Symbolists” ([D. Merezhkovsky [, [Z. Gippius], [F. Sologub], [V. Bryusov])) and among the “younger” ([A. Blok], [Andrey Bely], Vyacheslav Ivanov ) he had his own position associated with a broader understanding of symbolism as poetry, which, in addition to a specific meaning, has a hidden content, expressed through hints, mood, musical sound. Of all the Symbolists, Balmont developed the impressionist branch most consistently. His poetic world is the world of the finest fleeting observations, fragile feelings.

Balmont's forerunners in poetry were, in his opinion, Zhukovsky, Lermontov, Fet, Shelley and E. Po.

Balmont became widely known quite late, and in the late 1890s he was rather known as a talented translator from Norwegian, Spanish, English and other languages.

In 1903, one of the best collections of the poet "Let's be like the sun" and a collection "Only love" were published. And before that, for the anti-government poem "Little Sultan", read at a literary evening in the city duma, the authorities expelled Balmont from St. Petersburg, banning him from living in other university cities. And in 1902 Balmont went abroad, becoming a political emigrant.

In addition to almost all European countries, Balmont visited the United States of America and Mexico and in the summer of 1905 returned to Moscow, where two of his collections, Liturgy of Beauty and Fairy Tales, were published.

Balmont responded to the events of the first Russian revolution with collections of Poems (1906) and Songs of the Avenger (1907). Fearing persecution, the poet leaves Russia again and leaves for France, where he lives until 1913. From here he travels to Spain, Egypt, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Ceylon, India.

Published in 1907, the book "The Firebird. Slav's pipe ", in which Balmont developed the national theme, did not bring him success, and from that time on, the poet's fame began to decline gradually. However, Balmont himself was unaware of his creative decline. He remains aloof from the fierce polemics between the Symbolists in the pages of Libra and the Golden Fleece, differs from Bryusov in his understanding of the tasks facing contemporary art, and continues to write a lot, easily, selflessly. One by one the collections Birds in the Air (1908), Round Dance of Times (1908), and Green Helicopter (1909) were published. [A. Block].

In May 1913, after the announcement of an amnesty in connection with the three-centenary of the Romanov dynasty, Balmont returned to Russia and for some time found himself in the center of attention of the literary community. By this time, he was not only a famous poet, but also the author of three books containing literary-critical and aesthetic articles: Mountain Peaks (1904), White Lightning (1908), Sea Glow (1910).

Before the October Revolution, Balmont created two more really interesting collections "Ash" (1916) and "Sonnets of the Sun, Honey and Moon" (1917).

Balmont welcomed the overthrow of the autocracy, but the events that followed the revolution scared him away, and thanks to the support of A. Lunacharsky, Balmont received in June 1920 permission to temporarily leave the country. The temporary departure turned into long years of emigration for the poet.

He died on December 23, 1942 from pneumonia. He was buried in the town of Noisy le Grand near Paris, where he lived in recent years.

The greatest representative of poetry at the beginning of the twentieth century, Konstantin Dmitrievich Balmont, was born on June 3, 1867 in the village of Gumnishchi, Vladimir province. His father was listed as a judge in the city zemstvo, and his mother was engaged in literature. She often spent literary evenings, appeared in amateur performances.

It was the mother who introduced Balmont to literature, history, music and literature, influencing the perception of the boy. As the poet wrote later, from his mother he learned the unbridled and passionate nature, which became the basis of his entire subtle soul.

Childhood

Constantine had 6 brothers. When it was time to educate the elders, the family settled in the city. In 1876 little Balmont went to the gymnasium. The boy soon got bored with studying, and he spent all his days reading drunkenly. Moreover, German and French books were read in the original. What he read inspired Balmont so much that at the age of 10 he wrote poetry for the first time.

But, like many boys of that time, little Kostya underwent rebellious revolutionary sentiments. He got acquainted with the revolutionary circle, where he actively participated, which is why he was expelled in 1884. He completed his studies in Vladimir, and somehow graduated from high school in 1886. Then the young man was sent to Moscow University to study law. But the revolutionary spirit did not go away, and a year later the student was kicked out for holding student riots.

The beginning of the creative path

The first poetic experience of a 10-year-old boy was severely criticized by his mother. Touted to the quick, the boy forgets about poetry for 6 years. The first published work dates back to 1885, and it appeared in the Zhivopisnoe Obozreniye magazine. From 1887 to 1889 Konstantin was closely engaged in translating books from German and French. In 1890, due to poverty and a sad marriage, the newly-made translator was thrown out of the window. With severe injuries, he spends about a year in the hospital. As the poet himself wrote, a year spent in the ward led to "an unprecedented flowering of mental excitement and cheerfulness." During this year Balmont published his debut book of poetry. No recognition followed, and, wounded by indifference to his work, he destroys an entire print run.

The heyday of the poet

After a bad experience with his own book, Balmont took up self-development. He reads books, improves languages, spends time traveling. From 1894 to 1897 translates History of Scandinavian Literature and History of Italian Literature. New, now successful, attempts to publish poetry appear: in 1894 the book "Under the Northern Sky" was published, in 1895 - "In Boundlessness", in 1898 - "Silence". Balmont's works appear in the Libra newspaper. In 1896 the poet married again and left with his wife for Europe. The travels continued: in 1897 he gave lessons on Russian literature in England.

A new book of poetry was published in 1903 with the title "Let's be like the sun." She had an unprecedented success. In 1905 Balmont left Russia again and went to Mexico. Revolution of 1905-1907 the traveler met with passion, and took a direct part in it. The poet was regularly on the street, carried a loaded revolver and read speeches to students. Fear of arrest makes the revolutionary leave for France in 1906.

Having settled in the outback of Paris, the poet still spends all his time away from home. In 1914, having visited Georgia, he translated Rustaveli's poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin". In 1915 he returned to Moscow, where he lectured students on literature.

Creative crisis

In 1920 Balmont again left for Paris with his third wife and daughter, and never left its borders. In France, 6 more collections of poems were published, in 1923 autobiographies "Under a new sickle" and "Air way" were published. Konstantin Dmitrievich missed his homeland very much, and often regretted that he had left it. Suffering poured into the poetry of that period. It became more and more difficult for him, and soon he was diagnosed with a serious mental disorder. The poet stopped writing and devoted more and more time to reading. He spent the end of his life at the Russian House orphanage in the French countryside. The great poet died on December 23, 1942.

B almont Konstantin Dmitrievich (1867, June 15, the village of Gumnishchi, Vladimir province - 1942, December 23) - Russian poet, translator, essayist.

Born in the village of Gumnishchi, near the city of Vladimir. Father, Dmitry Balmont, was a judge. Mother - Vera Lebedeva, hails from the family of a general, where the main cultural development of a person was considered. She strongly influenced Constantine's passion for music and literature.

At the age of five, he could already read, which he learned on his own. The first poets, whose work I met, were:,. In 1876, the family moved to Shuya, where Balmont studied at the gymnasium. At the age of ten he began to write his own poems. By that time, he had read many books in German and French. In 1884 he was expelled due to participation in a "revolutionary" circle.

The same year, Balmont moved to the city of Vladimir, where he continued his studies at the gymnasium for two years. In 1886 he entered the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. Constantine had a rebellious character, and the free atmosphere at the university only strengthened him. He took part in a student revolt against innovations at the university and was soon expelled and spent several days in Butyrka prison. Soon he returned to study, but did not receive a legal education due to a loss of interest. He wrote that all knowledge in the field of literature, history, philosophy, philology that he received was acquired as a result of self-education. He followed the example of his older brother, who was deeply passionate about philosophy.

1890 Balmont attempted suicide by jumping from a third-floor window. After that, he remained lame for life. Apparently, Balmont had a genetic tendency towards mental illness. This began to manifest itself in the early years of the writer's life and had an impact throughout his life. Many historians and biographers believe that Balmont's creative abilities were positively influenced by his mental disorders.

Balmont's debut as a poet was followed by many setbacks. For several years, none of the newspapers agreed to publish his poems. In the end, he decided to do everything himself and published a book of poetry in 1890. But the book was not successful, even friends and family did not approve of it. Such a reaction to his book hurt Constantine so much that he burned all copies.

Instead of writing poetry, Balmont focuses on translating the works of foreign poets and writers. He possessed amazing linguistic abilities, speaking more than ten languages. This gave him the opportunity to read European literature and translate it into Russian. He worked with English and Spanish poetry and translated the works of Calderon, Ibsen, Whitman, Allan Poe and many Armenian and Georgian poets. In 1893 he published translations of all of Percy Shelley's works in Russian. Balmont dealt with works in many other languages: Baltic and Slavic, Indian and Sanskrit.

Working as a translator was far more fruitful than writing poetry. Translations of Edgar Allan Poe's work were published in nearly every magazine that was in print at the time. This fact added courage to Balmont once again to try his hand at the role of a poet. The collections "Under the Northern Sky" in 1894 and "Silence" in 1898 finally brought him the recognition and fame he had been looking for for so long. In addition to the obvious content, Balmont's symbolist poetry carried a hidden message, expressed through veiled hints and melodic rhythms of the language.

At the beginning of the century, Balmont reached the pinnacle of poetry. The books "Let's Be Like the Sun" and "Only Love" are considered the best creations of the author. He brought a moral and almost physical liberation from the traditional gloomy and sad poetry that complained about life in Russia. His proud optimism and life-affirming enthusiasm calls for freedom from the constraints imposed by society. Balmont's poetry became a new philosophy, marking the beginning of the Silver Age of Russian poetry.

In subsequent works, Balmont changed his writing style to a more aggressive one. Many of his contemporaries took this as a call for revolution. Balmont in his works protested mainly against injustice, but his lifelong uprising ended with the writing of the controversial poem "The Little Sultan", in which he criticized Nicholas II, and earned this dissatisfaction with the authorities. Konstantin was expelled from St. Petersburg and was banned from living in university cities in Russia.

Balmont left the country and became a political émigré. He enjoyed traveling and used this time to quench his thirst for adventure. It seems that the world did not yet know the poet, who spent a lot of time there on the deck of a ship or looking out of the train window. He traveled through Europe, Mexico, Egypt, Greece, South Africa, Australia, Oceania, New Zealand, Japan, India. His contemporaries said that he saw more countries than all other Russian writers combined.

In 1905 Balmont published another book of poems called The Liturgy of Beauty. Critics noticed the deterioration of Balmont's poetic work - he began to repeat his old ideas, images and techniques. His praise of life was no longer perceived convincingly, as if it had been played out and the author himself did not believe his words.

In 1913, in honor of the three hundredth anniversary of the House of Romanov, all political immigrants were awarded an amnesty and Balmont was able to come to Russia. He was a supporter of the February Revolution in 1917, but was soon horrified by the chaos and the ensuing civil war. To a greater extent, he could not agree with the new policy aimed at suppressing the individual. He received a temporary visa and left Russia for good in 1920.

Balmont and his family settled in Paris. Here he wrote most of his works - about 50 books. Despite this, his best years as a writer are long gone, his poems indicated a weakening of his creative powers. He did not maintain contact with the society of Russian emigrants and lived in isolation from it. Despite this, he greatly yearned for his homeland and the only way to alleviate his suffering was poetry, which he dedicated to her.

After 1930, signs of mental instability began to show more strongly and his condition began to worsen due to poverty, nostalgia and a loss of poetry skills. Balmont, in fact, went mad.

Balmont died in Nazi-occupied France at the age of 79 from pneumonia. Buried in the city of Noisy-le-Grand.

Konstantin Balmont had a tremendous influence on Russian literature and poetry, freed it from old ideas and introduced new ways of expressing thoughts and ideas.

Konstantin Dmitrievich Balmont was born on June 15, 1867 in the Gumnishchi of the Vladimir province. The poet's father, Dmitry Konstantinovich, a poor landowner, served for half a century in the Shuya zemstvo - as a conciliator, magistrate, chairman of the congress of justices of the peace and, finally, chairman of the district zemstvo council. Mother, Vera Nikolaevna, received an institute education, taught and treated peasants, staged amateur performances and concerts, and was published in provincial newspapers. In Shuya, she was a famous and respected person.

In 1876, Balmont was sent to the preparatory class of the Shuya gymnasium, where he studied until 1884. He was expelled from the gymnasium for belonging to a revolutionary circle. Two months later, Balmont was admitted to the Vladimir Gymnasium, which he graduated in 1886. In the Vladimir gymnasium, the young poet began his literary career - in 1885, three of his poems were published in the Zhivopisnoe Obozreniye magazine. Immediately after graduating from the gymnasium, at the invitation of Balmont, he traveled through the districts of the Vladimir province: Suzdal, Shuisky, Melenkovsky and Muromsky.

After graduating from high school, Balmont entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law, a year later he was expelled for participating in student riots and sent to Shuya. He tried to continue his education at the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl, but again failed. Balmont owed his extensive knowledge of history, literature and philology only to himself.

In February 1889, KD Balmont married Larisa Mikhailovna Garelina, his daughter. The poet's parents were against it - he decided to break with his family. The marriage was unsuccessful.

Balmont finally decided to take up literature. He published the first "Collection of Poems", published at his own expense in Yaroslavl. This venture did not bring any creative or financial success, but the decision to continue literary studies remained unchanged.

Balmont found himself in a difficult situation: without support, without funds, he was literally starving. Fortunately, very soon people were found who took part in the fate of the aspiring poet. First of all, this is V.G. Korolenko, whom he met while still in Vladimir, as a schoolboy.

Another patron of Balmont was N.I. Storozhenko, a professor at Moscow University. He helped Balmont get an order for the translation of two fundamental works of Horn-Schweitzer's History of Scandinavian Literature and Gaspari's two-volume History of Italian Literature. The time of Balmont's professional development falls on the years 1892 - 1894. He translates a lot: he makes a complete translation of Shelley, gets the opportunity to publish in magazines and newspapers, expands the circle of literary acquaintances.

At the beginning of 1894, the first "real" collection of poems by Balmont, Under the Northern Sky, was published. Balmont is already a fairly well-known writer, translator of E. Poe, Shelley, Hoffmann, Calderon.

In 1895, Balmont published a new collection of poems "In the Boundlessness".

In September 1896, he married (two years earlier, the poet divorced his former wife). Immediately after the wedding, the young people went abroad.

Several years spent in Europe gave Balmont an extraordinary amount. He visited France, Spain, Holland, Italy and England. The letters from this period are filled with new impressions. Balmont spent a lot of time in libraries, improved languages, was invited to Oxford to give lectures on the history of Russian poetry.

The collections "Under the Northern Sky", "In Boundlessness", "Silence" are considered in the history of Russian poetry to be closely connected with the earlier period of the poet's work.

In 1900, a collection of poems "Burning Buildings" was published. With the appearance of this book, a new and main period in the life and literary activity of Balmont begins.

In March 1901, the poet became a true hero in St. Petersburg: he publicly read the anti-government poem "The Little Sultan", and this event had a huge political resonance. This was immediately followed by administrative repression and exile.

Since the spring of 1902, the poet has lived in Paris, then moved to London and Oxford, followed by Spain, Switzerland, Mexico and the United States of America. The result of this trip, in addition to poetry, were travel sketches and translations of the myths of the Aztecs and Maya, which were combined in the book "Snake Flowers" (1910).

At the end of 1905 in Moscow, the Grif publishing house published the book Fairy Tales. It contained 71 poems. It is dedicated to Ninika - Nina Konstantinovna Balmont-Bruni, daughter of Balmont and E. A. Andreeva.

In July 1905, the poet returned to Moscow. The revolution took over him. He writes accusatory verses, collaborates in the newspaper "New Life". But deciding that he was one of the obvious contenders for the tsarist reprisal, Balmont left for Paris. The poet left Russia for more than seven years.

All seven years spent abroad, Balmont mostly lives in Paris, leaving for a short time to Brittany, Norway, the Balearic Islands, Spain, Belgium, London, Egypt. The poet retained his love for travel throughout his life, but he always clearly felt cut off from Russia.

On February 1, 1912, Balmont sets off on a round-the-world trip: London - Plymouth - Canary Islands - South Africa - Madagascar - Tasmania - South Australia - New Zealand - Polynesia (islands of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji) - New Guinea - Celebes, Java, Sumatra - Ceylon - India.

In February 1913, a political amnesty was announced in connection with the “three-centennial of the Romanov dynasty,” and Balmont received the long-awaited opportunity to return to his homeland. He arrived in Moscow at the very beginning of May 1913. A huge crowd of people was waiting for him at the Brest railway station.

At the beginning of 1914, the poet again briefly left for Paris, then to Georgia, where he gave lectures. He is given a magnificent reception. After Georgia, Balmont left for France, where the First World War found him. Only at the end of May 1915, the poet managed to return to Russia.

Balmont enthusiastically accepted the February Revolution, but soon became disillusioned. After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks, mindful of Balmont's past liberal views, summoned him to the Cheka and asked: "What party are you a member of?" Balmont replied: "I am a poet."

For KD Balmont, difficult times came. It was necessary to support two families: wife E. A. Andreeva and daughter Nina, who lived in Moscow, and Elena Tsvetkovskaya with her daughter Mirra, who lived in Petrograd. In 1920, they moved to Moscow, which meets them with cold and hunger. Balmont begins the hassle of going abroad.

On May 25, 1920, Balmont and his family left Russia forever. Separation from his homeland Balmont suffered hard. His relationship with the Russian literary emigration was not easy. He maintained close ties with.

Balmont died (of pneumonia) on the night of December 24, 1942. Noisy-le-Grand is located to the east of Paris. Here, at the local Catholic cemetery, there is a gray stone cross, on which is written in French: "Konstantin Balmont, Russian poet."

Sources:

Balmont KD Selected works: poems, translations, articles / Konstantin Balmont; comp., entry. Art. and comments. D.G. Makogonenko. - M.: Pravda, 1991 .-- S. 8-20.

In August 1876, at the age of 9, KD Balmont entered the preparatory class of the Shuya progymnasium, which was later transformed into a gymnasium. Acceptance tests were passed to the round four. On the reverse side of the examination sheet, the poet's children's autograph is a dictation and an arithmetic problem. Balmont studied mediocre, which is evident from the so-called point books, in which the quarter and annual marks of students were entered: he showed the best successes in history and in the French language, remained in the 3rd grade for the 2nd year. According to the teachers' opinion, he was a capable boy who did not suffer from gymnasium ambition, which is why he did not pursue good grades.

Balmont's behavior, except for the preparatory class (where there was 5), was always marked with a score of 4, probably due to the liveliness of his character. There are almost no records of behavior and no serious misconduct.

In the fall of 1884, 5 students were dismissed from the Shuya gymnasium at once, including on September 18th and the youngest - 17-year-old Balmont Konstantin, 7th grade. All these students were dismissed according to the petitions of their parents - Balmont - "due to illness." The dismissal of students followed in violation of the existing rules without the participation of the pedagogical council. The director of the gymnasium Rogozinnikov suggested that parents take their sons from the gymnasium, of course, under the threat of expulsion, in case of failure to fulfill this requirement, with a worse certification, so that the parents were forced to obey. On the same day, when the students were dismissed, they were issued documents and certificates of education, and all were given a low mark in behavior - 4 and also without the pedagogical council, which had the right to certify the behavior of students. In the certificate of K. Balmont for No. 971, triplets were displayed for all subjects. All his papers - a certificate, a birth certificate and a medical certificate under the power of attorney of his mother were received by his older brother - Arkady.

What was the fault of these disciples? What was the reason for their dismissal from the gymnasium so quickly? This is what Constantine later wrote about it.

“In 1884, when I was in the seventh grade of the gymnasium, a certain D., a writer, came to my hometown of Shuyu, brought an issue of the revolutionary newspapers Znamya i Volya and Narodnaya Volya, several revolutionary brochures, and at his call they gathered in in one house, in a small number, a few high-school students and a few adults with a revolutionary attitude. D. told us that the Revolution would break out in Russia not today - tomorrow, and that for this it was only necessary to cover Russia with a network of revolutionary circles. I remember how one of my beloved comrades, the son of the mayor (Nikolai Listratov), ​​accustomed to arranging hunting trips for ducks and woodcocks with his comrades, sat at the window and, spreading his arms, said that, of course, Russia is completely ready for the Revolution and only to organize it, and it is not at all easy. I silently believed that all this is not easy, but very difficult, the enterprise is stupid. But I sympathized with the idea of ​​spreading self-development, agreed to join a revolutionary circle and undertook to keep revolutionary literature at home. Searches followed very quickly in the city, but in those patriarchal times, the gendarme officer did not dare to search the houses of the two main persons of the city - the mayor and the chairman of the zemstvo council. Thus, neither I nor my friend ended up in prison, but were only expelled from the gymnasium, along with several others. We were soon admitted to the gymnasium, where we graduated under supervision. " The supervisory state of K. Balmont also gave its positive results. He hardly distracted himself from studying, studying languages, reading books, writing and translating poetry.

In early November 1884, Balmont was admitted to the 7th grade of the Vladimir provincial gymnasium. He was not taciturn or shy, but he was not eloquent either, and he quickly established relations with his new comrades. He was ordered to live in Vladimir in the apartment of his strict class teacher, the teacher of the Greek language Osip Sedlak. The first half of the school year was already coming to an end, the beginner had to sharply catch up with his peers and, at the cost of great efforts, still managed to pass all the subjects successfully and on time.

And the first appearance of Konstantin in print refers to the Vladimir period of his life. As a pupil of the 8th grade of the gymnasium, in 1885 he published three poems in the Zhivopisnoe Obozreniye magazine (No. 48, November 2 - December 7): "Bitterness of Torment", "Awakening", "Farewell Look". Of these, the first two are his own, and the third is a translation from Lenau. Subscribed - “Konst. Balmont ". This event was not particularly noticed by anyone except the class teacher, who forbade Balmont to publish until he completed his studies at the gymnasium.

On December 4, 1885, Konstantin from Vladimir wrote to Nikolai Listratov, already a student at Moscow University: “I have long wanted to write to you, but everything is failing, I can’t tear myself away from the sciences — I’m studying, brother. I was overcome by the desire to graduate from the gymnasium. Whether the efforts will be crowned with success and how long will the patience be enough to cram is covered in the darkness of the unknown.<…>If I stay with my nose in May, it won't matter. And if I get to the University, then I will live gloriously. By the way, the future does not seem to be pale either: Korolenko was here - an employee of Rus<ской>M<ысли>"And" North<ерного>IN<естника>"(I tell everyone about him - he can't get out of my head, how did you get out of your head during it - remember? - D-sky?) This same Korolenko, having read my poems, found in me - imagine - talent. So my thoughts on writing are getting some support. Footprints<ательно>and social studies and learning new languages ​​("Swedish, Norwegian ...") will go much faster. Maybe something will actually be danced. "

“When I was graduating from high school in Vladimir Gubernskoye, I first met a writer personally, and this writer was none other than the most honest, kind, delicate companion that I have ever met in my life, the most famous narrator in those years, Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko. Before his arrival in Vladimir, to visit the engineer M. M. Kovalsky and his wife A. S. Kovalskaya, I gave A. S. Kovalskaya, at her request, a notebook of my poems to read. These were poems written by me mainly at the age of 16-17. She gave this notebook to Korolenko. He took her with him and later wrote me a detailed letter about my poetry. He pointed out to me the wise law of creativity, which at that time of my youth I only suspected, but he clearly and poetically expressed it in such a way that the words of V.G.Korolenko forever engraved in my memory and were remembered by feeling, like the clever word of an elder, which must be obeyed. He wrote to me that I have many beautiful details, particulars, successfully captured from the natural world, that I need to focus my attention, and not chase every moth that flashed by, that I do not need to rush my feeling with thought, but I must trust the unconscious region of the soul, which imperceptibly accumulates his observations and comparisons, and then all of a sudden it all blooms, like a flower suddenly blooms after a long invisible pore of accumulation of its forces. I have remembered this golden rule and I remember it now. This flower rule would have to be, sculpturally, picturesquely and verbally brought over the entrance to that strict shrine, which is called Creativity.

A feeling of gratitude tells me to say that Vladimir Galaktionovich finished his letter to me with the words: "If you manage to concentrate and work, we will hear something extraordinary from you over time." Needless to say, what delight and a stream of aspirations poured into my heart from these words of Korolenko. "

Balmont graduated from the gymnasium course in 1886, in his own words, "having lived like in prison for a year and a half." “I curse the gymnasium with all my might. It disfigured my nervous system for a long time, ”the poet later wrote.

In 1886 Balmont entered the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. But the future poet periodically came to Vladimir and wrote letters to his friends.