THE BOOK OF POEMS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY ... - TopReferat

Извивайся,—но мой покой
Не тобою будет нарушен...
И растаял он на глазах,
На глазах растворился в прах,
Оттого, что я—равнодушен...
But this time from my work
I did not raise my eyes to him,
Unresponsive—and indifferent.
Go ahead and leave, stay with me,
Wriggle—but my peace
Will not be disturbed by you…
And he melted before my eyes,
Before my eyes he dissolved into dust,
Because I am indifferent.
Makovskii considered "Равнодушие" the most terrifying of the three devil poems,
viewing the poet's indifference as a capitulation, a loss of the emotional power found in
"Час победы." 164
Matich too has written of the danger of indifference in Gippius's
worldview, associating it with apathy and irresoluteness—a refusal to engage in the
spiritual journey, to participate in dynamic faith. Indifference results from a loss of will
required by traditional Christian humility. 165
In "Равнодушие," however, the poet has achieved an ultimate victory. The devil
does not fade away into emptiness, but dissolves into dust—there is no possibility of
return. Here, instead of "indifference" the poet appears to have reached a more literal
164 Makovskii recalls the willful slap in the face the poet gives the devil in "Час победы," but incorrectly
attributes the disdainful look (глядит презрительно) to the poet instead of the devil. Makovskii, Na
Parnase, 160-1.
165 "[I]t is the devil, the evil spirit, who tempts Gippius by offering her the easy escape into a 'willless' state
which leads to indifference." Matich, Paradox, 54. See also Marietta Shaginian, O blazhenstve
imushchego (Moscow: Al'tsion, 1912), 20-23. Zlobin, too, addresses this poem, calling Gippius's
indifference a "sham" without further explanation. Zlobin, A Difficult Soul, 140. In general, Zlobin's
readings of the devil poems take many liberties.
127