SOURCE: "Block and the Symbolists," in Modern Russian Literature: From Chekhov to the Present, Oxford University Press, 1953, pp. 184-210.

In the following excerpt, Slonim studies the progression of Blok's poetry in relation to both his life and social and political conditions in Russia; identifies the major elements of Blok's style; and comments on Blok's views concerning the role of the artist in society.

Russian Symbolism still awaits its historian: this rich and complex movement, with all its ramifications, is not as yet thoroughly explored. But one thing we know with certainty is that its whole course has been encompassed by and summarized in the work of Alexander Blok (1880-1921), the greatest Russian poet of the twentieth century. His name must be added to the list of five luminaries of Russian poetry: Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrassov, Fet, and Tiutchev. As time goes by Blok grows in stature and acquires a...