Viacheslav Ivanov was a multifaceted talent and accomplished scholar who exerted a decisive influence on many aspects of prerevolutionary Russian culture. The field that he sought most energetically to dominate was lyric poetry. From his debut collection in 1903 to his later poetic cycles, Ivanov's learned yet passionate lyrical voice, originating in a profound "thinking heart," was no less audible than that of Konstantin Dmitrievich Bal'mont, Valerii Iakovlevich Briusov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok, or Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev. Ivanov's emigration from Soviet Russia in 1924 and his exclusion from literary history by Soviet authorities made his works lose even more stature than they might otherwise have, but even in the best of circumstances his arcane and even obscure poetry was an acquired taste. Gradually, Ivanov has returned to the Symbolist pleiad largely through the recognition of his influence (both literary and personal) on more popular figures, but his own poetry, prose, and...