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

state of "равнодушие"—an equilibrium of the soul. 166
Her struggle is over, she has
achieved the spiritual balance which she has sought throughout her life. 167
As Gippius wrote in the third poem of Сияния, "Мера," this sense of balance or
measure is only attained by God: 168
Всегда чего-нибудь нет,—
Чего-нибудь слишком много...
На всё как бы есть ответ—
Но без последнего слога.
..........................
Ущерб, перехлест везде.
А мера—только у Бога.
Always something is lacking—
There is always too much of something…
It is as if there is an answer for everything—
But without the final syllable.
……………….
Decline, overflow is everywhere.
But only God has measure.
The lyrical "я" of "Равнодушие," like God, has achieved this sense of measure. His
spiritual journey is over. Gippius's, however, is not. In the seven poems which follow
"Равнодушие," the poet will continue to struggle with the same issues of eternity, faith,
and despair. The poet will encounter difficulties in "Сложности"; she will experience a
166 In the rough draft of the poem, Gippius offered a variation on the sixth line of the sixth stanza, later
scratched out, which supports this positive reading of "равнодушие": instead of "Неответен—и
равнодушен," she wrote "Безболезненно-равнодушен."
167 Matich claims the poem as a final victory over the devil but does not explicitly address the issue of
indifference. Matich, Paradox, 94. She does address the theme of indifference to death in relation to
Gippius's final poem, dictated to Zlobin on her death bed: По лестнице...ступени все воздушней/Бегут
наверх иль вниз—не все ль равно!/И с каждым шагом сердце равнодушней/И все, что было—было
так давно. Matich claims that such indifference "is a product of Gippius's inability to struggle, desire or
accept. It is a state which, as we know, Gippius feared the most because it is associated with the abrogation
of her will." Ibid, 107. According to Matich, Gippius is not reconciled with her death. In my opinion, this
final poem expresses neither reconciliation nor indifference to death, but rather the actual experience of
death. The poet is, in fact, dying, and as she dies her heart becomes more and more balanced, coming
closer and closer to heavenly equilibrium. Her past is a distant memory because she is entering into
another form of existence.
168 For more on Gippius's notion of balance, see Zinaida Gippius, "Выбор?," Vozrozhdeniie 222 (June
1970): 58-77.
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