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1880
Born into gentry family, his father was a jurist, musician,
and professor at Warsaw University, his mother A.A. Beketova
was a writer. They separated early on in Blok's life and
he spent much of his youth with his maternal grandparents
1889
His mother remarries and he moves to Petersburg
1898
Graduates from Gymnasium, enters Petersburg University Law
School, but transfers to Historical-Philological Division
three years after
1903
Marries L.D. Mendeleeva, daughter of Mendeleev, the famous
scientist and joins circle of Symbolists such as Bely
and Solovyov. First verses are
published in The New Way, edited by Hippius and Merezhkovsky.
His earliest poems are influenced by Zhukovsky
and Fet, as well as by the German
romantics
1904-1905
Publishes first book, Verses on a Beautiful Lady
(see left), which was very well received in Symbolist circles.
In these verses he explores eschatological beliefs and the
cult of Sophia. His motifs, distance, dawn, sundown, azure,
bizarre or mysterious encounters, are all connected to his
themes of utopia and universal catastrophe
1906
Graduates from university; Writes and stages The
Puppet Show , which contributes to his growing fame
1907
Publishes second book, Inadvertent Joy, and he becomes
a man of letters; publishes Land in Snow - both collections
show his transition from mysticism to spiritual crisis and
passion as he even parodies his earlier devotion to the
philosophy of Vladimir
Solovyov (read Soloviev's poetry).
The theme of the "Unknown
Woman" becomes more prevalent, as do his gritty
presentation of urban life; Publishes the cycle Free
Thoughts, an oddly realistic blank verse collection
1908
Publishes Lyric Dramas; Stages The Unknown Woman
1909
Journeys to Italy, inspiring "Italian Verses" and
the essays cycle Lightning Flashes of Art; father
dies, and he travels to Warsaw, inspiring the verse epic
Retribution which contains the poem "The
Commander's Steps"
1911
Publishes Nocturnal Hours
1912
Three-volume collection of his work appears
1913
Writes the play Rose and the Cross
1915
Publishes the verse epic Garden of Nightingales
1916
Writes and edits collection by Grigoriev; drafted into military
and was stationed near Pskov
1918
Writes essay Intelligentsia and Revolution in support
of new government; writes "The Twelve" (see right)
a verse epic created in response to the Revolution. The
poem is polyphonic with abruptly shifting rhythms, and uses
the language of the city, of romance, and of sloganeering.
The twelve Red Army soldiers represent the twelve apostles,
and the poem contains twelve sections; Also writes "The
Scythians," in which he explores Slavophile issues
and compares the place of Russia on the cusp between Europe
and Asia.
1920
Elected head of Petrograd's All-Russian Union of Poets
1921
Writes "To Pushkin House" and "On the Poet's
Calling," in which he celebrates the "secret freedom"
of art in the face of banality and officialdom
1922
Dies, possibly of venereal disease, as his mental health
had deteriorated, as had his physical health and living
conditions. He dies profoundly disappointed, nearly apathetic,
at the shape of the Revolution
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