SOURCE: "Nikolaj Gumilev's Early Dramatic Works," in Slavic and East-European Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, Spring, 1969, pp. 326-47.

In the following excerpt, Driver focuses on Gumilev's dramatic works, discussing his early influences and the autobiographical themes of his plays.

Of the major poets who began their careers as Acmeists, Nikolaj Gumilev remains relatively obscure. In recent years, works by and critical studies of Axmatova and Mandel'štam have been published both in the Soviet Union and abroad. Gumilev, who gave organization and primary impetus to the Acmeist movement, has for the most part been studied only by a small but dedicated group of émigré scholars. It is paradoxical that Gumilev's general reputation rests not so much on his poetry as on his role as a theoretician for Acmeism—yet poetic theory was probably the weakest of his varied and not inconsiderable literary talents.

If political reality has precluded publication of...