Collection of Poems. 1889–1903
| Author | Zinaida Gippius |
|---|---|
| Original title | Собрание стихов. 1889–1903 |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Russian Symbolism |
| Publisher | Scorpion, 1903 |
| Media type | print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Followed by | Collection of Poems. Book 2. 1903-1909 |
Collection of Poems. 1889–1903 (Russian: Собрание стихов. 1889–1903) is the first book of poetry by Zinaida Gippius which collected 97 of her early poems. It was published in October 1903 (the date on the cover was given as 1904) by the Scorpion Publishing house.
Instrumental in the publication was the Scorpion's representative, poet Valery Bryusov with whom Gippius corresponded regularly since 1902, while compiling the collection, adding new poems and continuously changing their order.
It came out with a Foreword by Gippius called "Neobkhodimoye o stikhakh" (The Essential Things About Poetry) which appeared a month earlier as a short essay in Novy Put (1903, No. 9) and was later included into the compilation Anton Krainy (Z. Gippius). Literary Diary (1899-1907), published in 1908 by M.V. Pirozhkov Publishers.
In retrospect Gippius' debut book of poetry has been regarded as the major event in Russian cultural and literary life. "Gippius the poet holds her special place in the Russian literature; her poems are deeply intellectual, immaculate in form and genuinely exciting," the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary wrote in the early 1910s. Critics praised her originality, virtuosity of a wordsmith and called her the "true heir of Baratynsky's muse".
Upon its release, though, The Collection of Poems. 1889–1903 was unanimously praised only by a small group of art and literary critics belonging to the Modernist group (held derogatively as 'decadents' by detractors) and almost unanimously panned by those belonging to the 'traditionalist' camp. The latter, who were in the majority (and for a rare occasion united critics from all sides of the political specter, including the left radicals and the right-wing conservatives), attacked both Gippius and the 'new Art' in general.
The Marxist critic and philosopher Vladimir Shulyatikov described The Collected Poems. 1889–1903 as the 'artistic failure' of the author who's found herself "confused by the life process." The conservative author Mikhail Menshikov, writing for Severny Vestnik, admitted there were 'some lovely lines' in Gippius' poetry, but disliked the way they were buried under the barrage of dissonant, 'ugly and deranged, rudely deformed' stanzas.
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