Note to reader: Many references to individual stanzas of Russian poems are included throughout this paper. Full copies of the six poems discussed accompany this piece, as well as various other Futurist art-forms to further show the reader the influence that the movement had during the Bolshevik period.
“Futurism as a united well-defined movement did not exist in Russia before the Russian revolution.” – Mayakovsky1
This paper will focus on the revolutionary ideology present in the Futurist poems of the early Bolshevik regime. Like the majority of Russian society, the poets were initially anticipatory and joyous over the new government. They believed that a new future, and therefore a better life, would be granted to them through the Socialist movement. The Futurist poetry of the early decades of the twentieth century depicted not only the historical events that occurred, but also the initial anticipation and hope that was felt towards the early Bolshevik government, as well as the later disenchantment and frustration experienced as Russia developed into a Soviet state. The Futurist poems referenced will provide examples of both ideologies.
The genesis of revolutionary poetry began with the Symbolist literary movement of the late nineteenth century during the Silver Age of Russian poetry. This was a product of the general modernist movement in European art and literature, created in reaction to the Realism movement. Connected with the rise of individualism and religious idealism, Symbolism presented itself most prominently in the poetry written by Alexandr Blok and Valery Bryusov. In contrast, Realism acted as a continuation of the great Russian novel, and is associated with the Russian Golden Age of poetry of the early nineteenth century. The movement to follow the end of Symbolism would be Futurism.
Originating from the Italian Futurist movement of Marinetti, although their ideologies would emerge quite independent of each other, Futurism can be traced back to 1910, when the literary school of Symbolism began to disintegrate.2 Due to this, many scholars argue that the movement began as a continuation of Symbolism, although a main component of Futuristic thought was to declare a virtual “war” on any preceding literary schools.3 Futurism can also be seen in Russian avant-garde painting* and is said to derive from this as well. Unlike Symbolism and Realism, Futurism acted as a revolutionary movement, attacking bourgeoisie culture and past art forms. The movement also defined itself through the propaganda posters that it created to further the Socialist regime. Similar to the government to which its art would be dedicated, the Futurist movement looked only forward. The October revolution propelled the Futurists into a new era of creation and inspiration.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 brought control of the nation to the Bolshevik party, bringing the leaders Vladimir Lenin, and later, Joseph Stalin, to absolute power. The initial uprising occurred in February of 1917, when the Czarist regime was overthrown and a Constitutional Assembly was put in place as a provisional government. In October of 1917, the provisional government was then replaced by a combination of Bolshevik and Menshevik parties, led by revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. A civil war between the multiple parties then ensued, ending with the victory of the Bolsheviks and the creation of a Soviet state. A cultural revolution also emerged from the ashes of the previous government as the revolutionary society sought to establish a new order apart from the demolished bourgeoisie class. This new culture prompted a wave of avant-garde art and literature, furthered by the Futurist movement.4 It is significant to mention that much of Russian art would soon be forbidden and censured by the Socialist government, and many artists deserted Russia to escape prosecution. This paper will focus on the poetry produced by the writers who remained in the region after the October coup, and who were strong supporters of the revolution in its early stages.
One poem that describes the revolutionary passion and fervor of the early years is “The Young Guard,” written by Alexandr Ilyich Bezymensky in 1918. A member of the underground Social Democratic Party in 1916, he would become the recognized bard of the Russian communist party.5 He derived much of his inspiration and writing technique from the renowned Futurist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky.
“The Young Guard” was written to the tune of both a soldier’s march and a revolutionary speech. The first and last lines of the poem urge Russian society to take up their arms and fight for the socialist movement.
Comrades in the struggle!
Go forward, meet the dawn,
With bayonets and grapeshot
We’ll lay the road ahead.
Loft the ensign of youth on high!
We are the Young Guard of the peasants and working class.
Here, Bezymensky not only cries out to the mass proletariat, but targets the youth of the revolution to channel their efforts to a united victory. The “dawn” symbolizes the birth of the new order, which they believed to be strong enough to encompass the entire world. Bezymensky urges the use of violence and terror to rid Russia of the old world order to seek out a new and improved beginning. It is also interesting to note how Bezymensky aligns himself with the reader, connecting himself to the workers through the pluristic use of “we” and “our.” This is a united call to action. The body of the poem describes the past struggles of the workers while the Czar was still in power.
We carried chains around our hearts – The legacy of darkness…
We created with our work,
Wealth for other men.
This refers to the struggle of the proletariat to rise above their situation in czarist Russia where they were oppressed by the bourgeoisie. The inference is that the revolution has rid the proletariat of their “chains” and, now, rather than working for individual income, their labors will contribute to an equal Socialist state.
The end of the poem is an invitation to the reader to join the revolution, and become a part of the new and emerging future of the working class.
Comrades, over here!
Come, you can build with us the republic of laborers…
To make work the master of the earth
And join us in one family – To arms! Young Guard
Of the peasant and working class!
The “republic of laborers” refers to the Bolshevik idea of a systematically planned society of workers, each contributing to the noble and innovative goal of mass industrialization. An inference to religion is also in this stanza as work replaces God as “master of the earth.” As the regime continued to mature, religious institutions and ideals were eventually destroyed by the Soviet government, so that all worship would be directed to the Soviet state.6 The call to “join in one family” follows the socialist ideology that all people are equal. This idea was brought about through the mass collectivization of private farms and businesses in rural areas, which would eventually lead to wide famine and devastation in the Stalin regime of the thirties.
However, Vladimir Mayakovsky was perhaps the greatest Russian Futurist poet. An adamant revolutionary and Bolshevik supporter, his works were widely regarded as the “poetry of the revolution.”7 A highly troubled and serious man, he grew disillusioned with the war and the terror that the revolution unleashed. Disenchanted and depressed, he committed suicide in 1929, but not before establishing himself as one of Russia’s most celebrated writers.
One poem by Mayakovsky that best professes his views on the Futuristic movement and the revolution is the “Decree to the Army of Art,” written in 1918. Like Bezmensky, Mayakovsky uses his speaker to urge and demand participation in the movement.
He alone is a communist true
Who burns the bridges for retreat,
Stop marching slowly, Futurists,
Into the future – leap!
There is a frustrated tone present in these lines, as if the speaker is angry with the artistic culture’s expression towards the revolution. He begs the Futurists to “leap!” into the future, and embrace the cultural and political upheaval. The body of the poem reads like a march, with short phrases and strong diction.
All the Soviets won’t budge the troops
Unless the musicians play.
Drag the pianos into the street,
Let drums or pianos beat,
Let tumult be,
Let thunder!
Here, the speaker explains the importance of the arts in encouraging and spreading the Soviet ideology, and emphasizes that the revolution will never succeed without them. There is an oblique reference to the use of the arts for propaganda purposes as well. Futurist motifs were routinely used for propaganda leaflets and posters at this time, and Mayakovsky was a frequent contributor.8
Wipe the old from the heart who dares.
The streets shall be our brushes,
Our palettes shall be the squares.
The thousand-pages Book of Time Revolution’s songs shall know;
Into the streets, Futurists,
Drummers and poets, go!
An image is created here of the Futurist duty fulfilled, the streets and squares of Russia painted anew with progressive fervor. The writer leaves the reader with an admonishment to surrender all fear and embrace the new regime, which will live on throughout the centuries and become etched in the “Book of Time.” This represents the idealistic view that Bolshevism will spread throughout civilized society.
“The Night Search” was written by Velimir Khlebnikov in 1921 while he was working for the Bolshevik party in Piatagorsk. The poem describes a group of Bolshevik sailors searching an apartment of a family suspected of having White, or Menshevik, connections. The sailors immediately kill two White soldiers and the body of the poem centers around the women’s reaction to this, as well as the private musings of the leader of the Bolshevik sailors as he begins to question his role in the killings. The poem is written like a play, the only description coming from the strong dialogue of the characters.
At the ready! Rifles steady.
Get moving, shipmates-
On the right, thirty-eight…
Smell it, brother?
The White bastard scent?
Grab as much as you can.
We’re no tsars to sit and daydream.
Shipmates, swoop, shipmates, swoop!
Hey, sea swoop, swoop like an eagle!
The beginning of the poem begins with the Bolshevik sailors entering the apartment and immediately killing the two soldiers they find there. A strong animalistic tone is created by the actions and words spoken by the soldiers, as they “scent” out the Menshevik soldier, and “swoop” down to pillage and plunder the occupant’s belongings. One of the woman’s sons, Vladimir, is forced to remove his clothing and face the stove while they place a gun to his head. He nonchalantly inquires whether the soldiers will “blow [his] brains out.” They reply that it is for the “people’s good,” and kill him in front of his mother and wife.
The sea is the bearer of snow
In a quarter of an hour I’ve gone gray.
If you don’t like the sight of an old woman,
Don’t look, turn away!
Here, the reader sees the first sign of feeling in the Bolshevik leader as he notices the aging beauty of the dead soldier’s wife, whose hair has turned gray from the shock of her husband’s death. She explains that “the sea is the bearer of snow” and that they should turn away from her if they don’t like the consequences of their actions. The “sea” represents the violent and tempestuous wave of the sailors as they plunder the house, the “snow” symbolizing the death they have caused. It is interesting that the sailor is more disturbed by the sudden change in the young woman than by the death of her husband, and he orders the troops to spare her and her mother, calling that enough blood has been shed. This is the change that the reader sees in the commander, and it is obvious that he begins to feel remorse and even guilt over his actions.
Mirrors can be cruel at times. They
Observe doggedly,
And we need no judges here – We’re better off with darkness!
This idea is further emphasized as the old sailor faces himself in the mirror and confesses that there is comfort in the “darkness” where no judges are needed. However, this misgiving does nothing to stem the tide of devastation that his shipmates unleash, as they throw a piano out the window and break windows.
Our cause is the sea’s:
At a blow send it crashing!
At a blow send it smashing!
This verse describes the unspeakable destruction that the troops incur, which can be seen as a parallel to the pain that the Revolution had caused the Russian people since its creation. Their “cause is the sea’s” which means that it can never be stopped, and never be changed.
Eyes of deep pre-daybreak blueness,
Both prophetic and silent…
They silently look down
In reproachful mystery,
On us, on the whole crew
Of saint killers.
The last pages of the poem reveal the religious introspection that the old sailor experiences as he gazes at a picture of Christ, whose eyes “silently look down in reproach” on the “whole crew of saint killers.” The sailor is feeling guilty over the deaths, and he finds himself turning to the figure over and over, as its “prophetic and silent” eyes draw him closer. Later, the sailor compares Christ to a maiden that he wishes to seduce and bring flowers, no doubt to offer repentance for his sins. He also refers to a struggle with Christ, so that He may kill him and therefore be given the opportunity to face Death with the same courage as shown by the White soldier in the poem.9
- The old woman! The cunning old witch! * You’ve set us on fire!
Try rifle butts.
The door’s of iron!
Do we shoot ourselves?
Or suffocate?
As you please.
The poem ends with the sailors suddenly realizing that the old woman has locked them inside and set the house on fire. The reader is then left with the haunting question of whether the soldiers decided to shoot themselves or suffocate to death. In the end, the sailor realizes that he could not escape his own soul, and will die just as his victims did. His only power is in deciding the method.
The poem “Electrification” was written in 1924 by a satirist comedy troupe and performed in a show called the Blue Bonnet Skit. Although this work does not directly follow the characteristics necessary to make it a Futuristic piece, the researcher found its content significant to the topic. The Blue House Worker’s Theater movement was an acting troupe that performed current events through skits and plays. This poem was written in response to the Bolshevik promise that Russia would be “electrified” and move into the modern world.
“Electrification” reads almost like a child’s nursery rhyme, but with a strong taunting and sarcastic undertone. Like in Bezymensky’s, “The Young Guard,” the speaker also refers to the workers and peasants in the first stanza, creating a connection with the audience. The two most relevant parts of the poem are the beginning and concluding stanzas.
(First Stanza)
We, the workers and the peasants,
Swept the tsarist throne away.
We twist a socket in the ceiling
And it shines the night away!(Second Stanza)
Electricity and steam,
Reap and mow and forge for us.
Soon, electricity, not brains,
Will do our thinking all for us!
The beginning of the poem refers to the proletariat takeover of the royal family, and the creation of a Bolshevik state. By “twisting the socket,” or by initiating the revolution, the light “shines the night”, or the previous government, away. This poem actually centers on Lenin’s promise to electrify the country, and therefore move it into an advanced age. The conclusion of the poem details the twist in the voice of the speaker. Although appearing to be enthusiastic, the speaker is actually sardonically criticizing the current regime and the control it is exerting over Russian society. Freedom of speech and thought will be lost under the flashy lights and roar of mass construction and industrialization.
Another work by Mayakovsky is “Vladimir Lenin”, written in 1924 after the Socialist leader’s death. It remains as one of the great literary achievements of the revolution, and became known as the epic of the proletariat. The poem compares the age-old struggle of the Russian proletariat to Lenin’s victory over bourgeoisie culture. Furthermore, the party is depicted as a strongly united force, rising up against the ills of individualism and capitalism.
Lenin is now
the most live of all living,
our weapon, our knowledge, our power…
I clean myself by Lenin,
To cruise still further in revolution’s sea.
Here, the speaker refers to Lenin as a weapon against the bourgeoisie, and the source of all knowledge for the working class. The worship and wonder that the speaker feels for the great leader is evident by the first stanza which emphasizes how Lenin was deified by the people. He is also the most “live of all living” which refers to his embalmment as a saint, so that his body would never decompose. This represents the lasting and enduring Bolshevik state that will never wither. The speaker cleanses himself in Lenin’s legend and memory, spurring him further into Socialist action.
The city pillaged,
Plundered, ransacked,
Clogging its belly with cash,
But at the benches skinny and hunchbacked
Stood the working class….
But we’ll give birth,
We’ll send, someday shall rise,
A man…
The body of the poem describes the history of the proletariat in Russia and the struggles endured by the working class against those who “pillaged” and “clogged their bellies with cash.” The workers are portrayed in a beaten, yet hopeful light as they wait for the one man, Lenin, to rise and bring them out of oppression. Much like a savior or Messiah, Lenin was seen by the majority as the individual that would “rescue” the Motherland.
Workers arise-for the last fight resolved!
Straighten your backs-unbend your knees!
Proletarian army, there’s no time to pause.
Long live the Revolution, joyful and swift to be!
This is the greatest of all great wars ever known to history!
The last stanza ends with the same call to action as seen in many of the Futurist poems, inspiring its readers to “straighten [their] backs” and “unbend [their] knees,” for the final fight, which has only increased in intensity and fervor since Lenin’s death.
Finally, perhaps the greatest poem of the Revolution was one not written by a Futurist poet, although the work does show Futurist tendencies. Dvenadtsat or, “The Twelve,” written by legendary Symbolist Alexsandr Blok in 1918, is generally thought to be his greatest literary feat. Blok, like most citizens, was initially supportive of the revolution, but this work shows a profound pessimism and disenchantment with the war. In the poem a band of twelve Red guards violently march in Bolshevik Russia through the icy streets of Petrograd. They are led by a strange Christ figure, which appears beneath a red flag.10
The beginning of the poem depicts various characters of the old world, including a girl wondering over propaganda posters, a priest, and a bourgeoisie woman. The second part focuses on the troupe of soldiers as they march through the snow-covered streets.
The wind is high, soft snow flits down.
Twelve men are on their way through town.
Black rifle swings. Light here and there.
Lights all around. Lights everywhere.
Keep in revolutionary step! Make no mistake,
The restless enemy keeps wide awake.
Comrade, your gun! Ger rid of fear
Let’s shoot up holy Russia here.
The twelve men, ironically, are meant to draw a parallel to the twelve apostles of Christ. Here, however, they are the apostles of destruction. Contrasting imagery is used in the first stanza to compare the dark guns of the guardsmen to the “light” that the city emits, as if the Twelve are black shadows moving under some all seeing, yet absolutely blinding light. This section of the poem describes a young army guard, Van’ka, and his love affair with a girl named Kate. In the next section, however, the young guard accidentally kills his beloved as he aims for a cabby.
But where is Katie? – Katie’s dead.
She’s got bullet through her head.
Keep in Revolutionary step! …
Comrade, your gun! Get rid of fear
Let’s shoot up Holy Russia here –
Here, the young man is tormented by the idea that he has killed his love, but his comrades urge him to move on and continue in a determined revolutionary step. Not even death can stop this march against the “restless enemy,” or anti-revolutionists, and the idea of violence and power urges the troupe forward. Later in the poem, Van’ka remembers that everything is fine, and he forgets about his little “fling” as they push on through the city.
The bourgeois at the crossroads stands.
And hides his nose inside his fur,
While pressed against him, tail twixt legs
Skulks a rough haired, scruffy cur.
The bourgeois like a question stands
Silent, hungry, mongrel-like.
Behind him, tail between its legs,
The old world, like a mangy tyke.
Here, the old world before the revolution is represented by a scruffy cur, or dog. The bourgeois is compared to this dog, “silent, hungry, mongrel-like” as it stands beneath a crossroads. This demonstrates the destruction of the ruling class, as well as the transformation of Russia for the new society. This dog begins to follow the army troupe through the city, persistent in his direction, even though they yell and threaten to kill it. This symbolizes the inability of the government to rid itself of the “old world,” no matter how it tries.
…So they march with sovereign tread;
In their rear, the hungry cur,
And with blood-red flag ahead,
Unseen, since the blizzard’s there,
Unharmed as the bullets fly,
Stepping gently, blizzard-high,
Sprinkling pearly trails of snow,
With garlands of white roses spliced-
Up in front is Jesus Christ.
This infamous and deeply controversial ending of “The Twelve,” leaves the reader with the haunting image of Jesus Christ walking amidst falling snow and spliced roses, leading the Red band through the streets. The dog, or the last vestiges of the old world, continues to follow in the rear, as a “blood red flag” precedes the way. Christ is “unseen” through the curtain of snow, and “unharmed” even as the bullets fly. The symbolism of the rose- adorned Christ figure has long been debated, and can be taken to represent a number of things, such as the Rus’, the common people, the Old Believers, the forces of the revolution, the Eternal Feminine, and the Jesus of the Second Coming.11 The red flag rising over Him contrasts deeply with the white snow and roses, like blood marring innocence or purity. This can serve to represent the violence of the Revolution and the destruction of the Old World. But why is Christ leading a band of Red troops?
“I do not know what the image means. I am not able to give explanations,” Blok declared in 1920. “This is the way it came to me….unfortunately, it was Christ, and [this] I had to write.”
After the Revolution, Alexandr Blok said, “A poet must realize that Russia as she was no longer exists, and will never return….A new era is opening for the world. The old civilization, the old social ideas, the old religion are dead.”12
It was through this death, however, that a new civilization, new social ideals, and a new “religion” emerged. Unfortunately, this society was created through oppression, persecution, and mass murder. The new “religion” sanctified not a Divine Creator, but a governmental party given absolute power through the faith held by its constituents. However, a new culture arose as well, one that glorified unity, innovation and progress through the strength of ordinary people.
The Futuristic movement sought to propel Revolutionary Russia, still reeling from civil war, into a new dawn of technology and industry. This was expressed not only through its poetry, but also through the avant-garde art, literature, and dance its art would create. The six poems discussed in this paper represent a portion of the synergy created through the dynamic of revolutionary fervor and idealism and anti-bourgeoisie expression in the early years of Bolshevism, as well as the disillusionment experienced as the government grew in strength and authority.
Blok was correct, the Old Russia of his birth was forever dead, trampled under the boots of progress and transformation.
Notes
1 Markov, Vladimir, Russian Futurism: A History (Berkley: California Press, 1968) 1.
2 Struve, Gleb, Russian Literature under Lenin and Stalin (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971) 4.
3 The early Futurists belonged to a group called Hyalea which leaned towards archaist and primitivism tendencies, alien to the later Futurist mainline:
Terras, Victor, Vladimir Mayakovsky (Boston, Twayne Publishers,1983) 6.
4 In 1917, a government organization called the Proletkult was created to further the development of a proletarian culture: Fitzpatrick, Sheila, The Cultural Front: Power and Culture in Revolutionary Russia (London: Cornell University Press, 1992) 20.
5 Struve, 194-196.
6 In 1905, Lenin called for the strict separation of church and state, declaring that “religion must be a private affair as far as the state is concerned.” This ideology would change by the 1917 revolution and during Stalinism as the government matured and demanded more authority over the nation’s citizens: “Socialism and Religion,” Lenin, Vladimir, Lenin Collected Works, Vol 10. 1965, 14 Jan 2007,
7 Terras 11-13
8 Terras, 11
9 Proffer, Ellendra, The ardis Anthology of Russian Futurism (Michigan: Ardis, 1980) 299-300.
10 Enormous controversy surrounded the appearance of Christ in “The Twelve” in 1918, so much that writer Leon Trotsky advised Blok to “replace Christ with Lenin.” However, the poem was highly popular and greeted as the first literary treatment of the October Revolution: Encyclopedia of Soviet Writers. 13 Jan 2007, 2000,
11 Hackel, Sergei, The Poet and the Revolution, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965,) 188-190
12 Soviet Lit Encyclopedia, 4
Work Cited
“Alexandr Blok.” Encyclopedia of Soviet Writers. 2000. SovLit.com. 13 Jan 2007.
Hackel, Sergei. The Poet and the Revolution. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1965.
Lenin, Vladimir. Lenin Collected Works. Vol 10. 1965. 14 Jan 2007.
Markov, Vladimir. Russian Futurism: A History. Berkley: California Press. 1968.
Proffer, Ellendra, The Ardis Anthology of Russian Futurism. Michigan: Ardis. 1980.
Struve, Gleb. Russian Literature under Lenin and Stalin Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1971.
Terras, Victor. Vladimir Mayakovsky. Boston: Twayne Publishers. 1983.
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Erlich, Victor. Modernism and Revolution: Russian Literature in Transition.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1994.
France, Peter. Poets of Modern Russia. Cambridge University Press. 1982
Marshall, Herbert. Mayakovsky and his Poetry. New York: Pilot Press. Mar 1946.
Trotsky, Leon. Literature and Revolution. New York: Russell and Russell Press. 1963.