Vasily Trediakovsky was one of the most famous poets of the 18th century. However, his creative heritage was not appreciated by contemporaries. Only later, already in the 19th century, his translations and original works received recognition. The reason for this belated success is that the author's contemporaries sought to create an easy literary language, while the poet was a proponent of complex versification, focusing on the best examples of antiquity and imitating them.
Childhood and youth
Vasily Trediakovsky was born in 1703 in the family of an Astrakhan priest. He graduated from the Latin school, which was founded during the Catholic mission in the city. As a child, he sang in a church choir. He carried away his passion for music throughout his life, and subsequently even began to compose his own compositions. Little information has been preserved about his youth; only a notebook with a quatrain has remained, which indicates the boy's early fascination with poetry.
The future poet was going to first enter the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, but for unknown reasons he did not go there, but instead went to Moscow. From 1723 to 1725, Vasily Trediakovsky studied at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy at his own expense. At this time, he seriously engaged in literature: composed his own novel and translated some works from the Latin language. After two years of study, he had the opportunity to go abroad, so he left the academy.
Euro-trip
Vasily Trediakovsky lived for some time in The Hague, but soon left this country and moved to Paris, where he settled at the head of the Russian diplomatic mission. In general, very little is known about the poet’s stay in European countries, however, the surviving news suggests that he received a good education at the University of Paris. However, he failed to pass the exams for the bachelor, because they were paid, and the poet did not have money.
Nevertheless, this stage was important in his work, as he became acquainted with French culture, an enlightenment that had a great influence on him, although, of course, in just two years he could not be completely imbued with new ideas for him from European ideology. From 1729 to 1730, the poet lived in Hamburg. Vasily Trediakovsky, whose work had already taken shape as pro-European by that time, met local intellectuals, studied music and wrote some poems. In addition, he was included in the circle of Russian diplomats, communication with which increased his cultural level.
First success
Returning to his homeland, the poet was assigned to the Academy of Sciences as a student, which was a great success, since it opened up great opportunities for him in the scientific world. In 1730, he published his translation of the French novel Riding on the Island of Love. It has become a real event in cultural life. This romantic courteous work immediately gained great popularity among the reading public. After the publication of this essay, it was Vasily Trediakovsky who remained the most popular author. The poet accompanied his work with a collection of poems of his own.
Versification reform
In the 1730s, the poet began to change the Russian literary language. Trediakovsky sought the separation of prose and poetry and considered Latin poetry to be the standard of the latter, to which Russian poetry also tried to adapt. However, he immediately began to be criticized for the complex construction of sentences, unclear meaning, confusing grammatical construction. The poet often resorted to inversion, actively used interjection, which in the view of literary critics of that time complicated and spoiled the lyrics.
Value
Vasily Trediakovsky, whose brief biography is the subject of this review, left a noticeable mark in the history of Russian literature. His experiments, scientific research in the field of literature, disputes with Lomonosov and Sumarokov contributed to the emergence of domestic criticism and original works in different genres. He made a great contribution as a translator. So, thanks to him, the Russian reader got acquainted with the works of the French scientist on ancient history. At the end of his life, his health deteriorated, and he died in 1769.