Literay Fact Literay Fact 2541-8297 2542-2421 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2026-41-8-24 Research Article Articles Unkbown Poems by Nikolai Klyuev Azadovsky Konstantin M. editor@litfact.ru 2026 Nikolai Klyuev “People’s Circle ” Petr Travin collection “The Lights ” “New Peasant” poetry Old Belief national spirit modernism stylization Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The early period of Nikolai Klyuev’s work (1904–1905) has rarely attracted scholarly attention. The reason is quite obvious: few poems (only about fifteen) from this period are known. This publication introduces five newly discovered poems by Klyuev from 1904–1905 into scholarly circulation, which help to define and clarify his creative evolution. It is immediately obvious that the poetics, style and language of Klyuev’s early poems differ from the works written after 1906/1907, when he was introduced to Alexander Blok and discovered Russian modernist poetry. Responding to the interests and sentiments of Russian society between the two revolutions and its search for a “national spirit,” Klyuev consistently created and refined his poetic myth: he assumed the role of a “folk” poet whose work is rooted in Russian folklore and Old Belief, presented himself as a bearer of the “hidden” peasant truth, rejected urban culture, and debunked the intelligentsia. Coming from the people himself, he identified with the “people” and attempted to speak on their behalf. A deeply religious man, he cultivated themes of martyrdom and brotherly love in his work, describing his mystical insights and “prophetic” dreams. The mature Klyuev’s literary manner — composing pseudo-folk “songs” and Khlyst “chants” — is fundamentally different from his poems of the First Russian Revolution period, and allows us to see him not so much as a “peasant” author, but as a talented stylizer and refined modernist. Azadovskii, M. Nikolai Kliuev. Put’ poeta [Nikolai Klyuev. 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Moscow, Progress- Pleiada Publ., 2010, pp. 765–820. (In Russ.) Subbotin, I. “Nikolai Kliuev — chitatel’ L. Trefoleva i P. Iakubovicha: Ob istokakh rannego kliuevskogo tvorchestva” [“Nikolay Klyuev — a Reader of L. Trefolev and P. Yakubovich: On the Origins of Klyuev’s Early Work”]. Nikolai Kliuev. Issledovaniia i materialy [Nikolai Klyuev. Research and Materials]. Moscow, Nasledie Publ., 1997, pp. 163–182. (In Russ.) Iukhimenko, E.M. “Narodnye osnovy tvorchestva N.A. Kliueva” [“The Folk Foundations of A. Klyuev’s Work”]. Nikolai Kliuev. Issledovaniia i materialy [Nikolai Klyuev. Research and Materials]. Moscow, Nasledie Publ., 1997, pp. 5–15. (In Russ.)