Vyacheslav Ivanov and C.M. Bowra: a ... - UCL Discovery

a matter of biographical circumstance. Apart from two essays on Byron (1906 and 1916)
and one on Shakespeare (1916), his critical writings contain rather few references to
English literature. This may well have been linked to the greater ‘resistance’ of English
writers (with the notable exceptions of Milton and Byron) to interpretation or
assimilation within the distinctive brand of religious and philosophical literary criticism
practised by Ivanov as an integral part of his Symbolist aesthetics.
It is therefore particularly intriguing to find Ivanov developing an unexpected
friendship towards the very end of his life with a remarkable Englishman from Oxford,
the classical scholar and literary critic, Cecil Maurice Bowra (1898-1971). In 1943, prior
to their first contact, Bowra published his pioneering Book of Modern Russian Verse,
including his own translations of three poems by Ivanov. Following the suggestion of
Sergei Konovalov, Professor of Russian at Oxford, Ivanov sent Bowra some offprints in
1946, accompanied by a poetic address in Latin distichs; this initial contact prompted
their subsequent correspondence and led to two meetings in Rome in 1947 and 1948.
The legacy of the relationship was substantial: as well as bringing examples of Ivanov's
early verse to an English audience, Bowra also wrote a foreword to the English
translation of Ivanov's highly influential study of Dostoevskii (1952) and was
instrumental in facilitating the publication by the Clarendon Press of the poet's
magnificent late collection of verse, Svet Vechernii (Vespertine Light, 1962), to which
he contributed a fairly extensive introduction.
The interest of this relationship, however, goes well beyond the considerable role
that Bowra played in disseminating knowledge of Ivanov's works in the West. As we
shall see, their correspondence reflects the dialogue of two highly original minds,
seeking to affirm from their different perspectives the continuing relevance of the
cheta”: Londonskii epizod 1899 goda po pis'mam Vyach. Ivanova i Lidii Zinov'evoi-Annibal’, in his
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