In
the late 19th century, “symbolism” became a
major influence upon the arts. It started with Charles Baudelaire,
who was strongly influenced by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. Symbolists believed
that art was all about absolute truth, which could only be expressed
indirectly. And so they focused on metaphors and other symbols.
Symbolism
affected fiction, poetry, painting, and music; some of the artists and writers
embracing it or influenced by it were Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Edvard
Munch, Henrik Ibsen, Frederic Nietzsche, Paul Verlaine, and Oscar Wilde, among
many others.
The
Symbolists in turn influenced the next generation, including T.S. Eliot, Claude
Debussy, William Butler Yeats, Alexander Pushkin, and Boris Pasternak. In Russia,
Symbolism found its primary expression in poetry, and especially in the poetry
of Alexander Blok
(1880-1921).
To
continue Reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak
Poetry.
Photograph: The
Alexander Apartment Blok Museum in St. Petersburg.
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