''Collection of Poems. Book 2. 1903–1909'' (russian: Собрание стихов. Книга вторая. 1889–1903) is the second book of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

Zinaida Gippius Zinaida Nikolayevna Gippius (Hippius) (; – 9 September 1945) was a Russian poet, playwright, novelist, editor and religious thinker, one of the major figures in Russian symbolism. The story of her marriage to Dmitry Merezhkovsky, which laste ...

which comprised 62 of her poems. It was published in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

by Musaget (Мусагет) Publishers.

Critical reception

The book garnered good reviews.

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953) was the first Russian writer awarded the ...

called Gippius' poetry 'electric', noticing the special way the oxymoron were used as an electrifying force in the hermetic non-emotional world. Innokenty Annensky in his summary of the two ''Collections'' lauded the author's 'hint and pause' metaphor technique, and the art of "extracting sonorous chords out of silent pianos." The poet and critic

Mikhail Kuzmin Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin (russian: Михаи́л Алексе́евич Кузми́н) ( – March 1, 1936) was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Biography Born into a noble fa ...

greeted the second ''Collection'', noting that it took up exactly where the first one had left off, both presenting "one straight line without ups or downs". Among the book's 'pearls' he mentioned "Wisdom" (Мудрость), "Interruption" (Перебой), "Sonnet's Three Forms" (Три формы сонета), "Malinka", "Little Devil" (Дьяволенокъ) and "Womanly" (Женское). Kuzmin disliked what he saw as "too many abstractions when it comes to expressing the movements of the soul" as well as the author's long-standing and, apparently, Balmont-inspired habit of "forming nouns from all possible kinds of adjectives" which "gives the poems either dryly abstract, or decadent feel."

References

{{Zinaida Gippius 1910 poetry books Russian poetry collections