Vladimir Mayakovsky – The Person
“Let the storms hit us
Let the heat burn us,
O, let the hunger too –
We shall look into its eyes,
Shall appease her,
By the foam from ocean alone,
But we are the Masters here!”
Who would believe that the author of these lines, who calls upon the masses to face the difficulties bravely, to put on a confident countenance in the times of trial, himself would be the possessor of a very delicate, tender, gentle heart behind the mask of a lion! This heart would easily get hurt even at the smallest pretext – like the careless ruffle of someone’s dress, the smallest sense of indifference from friends and so on and so forth.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a very sensitive person. The love, affection and reputation that he got during the early years after the Great October Revolution made him even more sensitive. He just could not tolerate when he noticed that he was being let down by the powerful members of the RAPP (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers) and also by the authorities. The times were such that everyone wanted to gain favour from the authorities. This was the case with the intelligentsia too. In order to prove that they are serving the cause of the Revolution, they tried to paint an anti revolutionary picture of the genuine ones and Mayakovsky was one such gem who suffered at the hands of these opportunists. He would come back tired and gloomy from the office of the GOSLITIZDAT (Government Publishing House) – having waited there for ages for someone important (!) and tried to convince him what did not require any proof – throw himself on the bed and would virtually wail, “I – can’t – any…more…!”
In 1930 Mayakovsky organised an exhibition to mark the 20th anniversary of his service to literature. The exhibition was called “20 years of Work”. IN one of the meetings of the LEF (Left Front of Arts) a committee was constituted to work out the details of its organisation. During the last two months of 1929 Mayakovsky was very busy collecting the material for this exhibition, arranging them in a proper order for the occasion. He was too much involved in this, was too optimistic and enthusiastic about the results of the exhibition – but then started the chain of his misfortunes. First thing that dampened his spirit was the design of the tickets that were printed for the exhibition and were distributed on 29th January 1930. The very repulsive sight of these tickets was enough to drive people away from the exhibition rather than attracting them. Vladimir Vladimirovich was disturbed. He wanted that everything connected with the exhibition should have a great aesthetic sense – and here everything was being done in just the opposite manner by the organisers who were none other than boys from REF (Revolutionary Front of Arts).
Next day, i.e. on 30th of January someone wrote on the showcase of newspaper Kiosks: “Mayakovsky is beyond the reach of masses”. The organising committee had not met even once and the exhibition proved interesting only thanks to the materials displayed there in (which, obviously, Mayakovsky himself had collected alone).
The exhibition was inaugurated on 1st February 1930. Lots of people visited it – but these included mainly youngsters. None of the Party leaders, government officials or great men of letters of that time visited the exhibition. As a result of this Vladimir Vladimirovich was deeply distressed.
Mayakovsky had attached a great importance to this exhibition. He wanted recognition from those who were in power. He wanted the Party leaders and government officials to visit the exhibition and say that He – Mayakovsky is a good poet. By this time Vladimir Vladimirovich was tired of struggle, quarrels, scandals, polemics etc. and wanted a decent settlement for himself in the society – enough money and a little comfortable life for his literary pursuits. He had been observing that all sorts of ‘liars and rogues’ live a much better life than him and Mayakovsky felt that he has a right to obtain a few comforts as well as recognition. In order to achieve this goal he had organised this exhibition.
But he did not succeed in his aim. He got nervous, felt humiliated and got converted into just the opposite to the kind of Mayakovsky whom people were used to seeing – the fighter, the fiery orator, the brave writer. This insult, combined with his failure in various love affairs together constitute an atmosphere, where in the person of his kind could not live – and he chose to finish his life.
Vladimir Vladimirovich was basically a very sensitive person who loved life in all its forms – he loved the revolution, arts, his work, women, sunrise, sunset and also the air which surrounded him. His tremendous energy helped him cross all the obstacles in his way. But the indifference shown by whosoever it might be and the fear of old age were the two things which he just could not face.
Vladimir Vladimirovich was very popular among women. Around the World War I he fell in love with Elsa Triolet who was only about 16 at that time. Vladimir Vladimirovich loved with a sense of dominance over the object of his love and demanded complete dedication from her. Soon after his acquaintance with Elsa Triolet’s sister Lily Brik – wife of famous futurist poet Osip Brik – Vladimir Vladimirovich started paying less attention to Elsa Triolet and got emotionally involved with Lily Brik. This intimacy with Lily Brik and dedication to her continued till his death – although a few parallel love affairs also went on simultaneously. He had written:
Love into days we don’t divide,
And never change the names of the beloved.
And when Elsa Triolet commented that though he writes such things but he, on the contrary, is always surrounded by new and new women, he quipped with anger, “I have never been unfaithful to Lilichka. And remember I shall never be!” Without being unfaithful to LIlichka, he demanded from other women that absolute love for him, which he could never give them. But when the woman, knowing that he would not leave Lily Brik and destroy her little life, would not stake her for him, he would become a beast. But if, by chance, someone would bestow upon him her unbounded love – he would run away from her.
This happened with Tonya. Tonya was an artist – simple, ordinary, strong, special, accurate…She just adored Mayakovsky…but due to some reason she threw herself out of window and finished her life.
Mayakovsky moved from one woman to another. He needed them all – but at the same time he longed for a single, dedicated, permanent love.
In 1928, in Paris, Vladimir Vladimirovich had a stormy affair with Tatyana Yakovlevna. Tatyana was fascinated by the great poet, but she was equally afraid of him. Mayakovsky proposed that Tatyana should come back to Russia and he had decided to marry her. But Tatyana was not at all that faithful to him. Firstly, she was scared of the hardships she would face in the new Soviet capital and secondly, she was simultaneously continuing her love affair with her would-be husband. Once Mayakovsky, by chance, saw this and that was the end of it. He was angry, depressed, humiliated. Came back to Moscow and met an actress Veronica Polonskaya, who used to work in theatre. Veronica Vitaldovna gave him that love which he was looking for throughout his life. He wanted to marry her…she too agreed. Mayakovsky insisted that she should leave the theatre, her husband, her rehearsals and should remain devoted to him. She said ‘yes’ to all his demands, but said she would quit the theatre only after completing the assignment she had in hands.
That day – on the 14th of April 1930, Lily and Osip Brik were in Berlin. Veronica Polonskaya left for rehearsal; Vladimir Vladimirovich was alone in his room. The loneliness, of which he was so scared, took possession of him – and he shot himself down.
What were the reasons which led Mayakovsky to commit suicide? One of the most important reasons was the feeling that he was lonely – though he had friends and he was loved and honoured by them. He wanted to get recognition from the Party bosses, from RAPP: The love and admiration that he used to receive at his poetry recitation sessions were not enough for him. It was like a drop in the ocean for a person who had a ‘hungry thief hiding in his heart’, who demanded that he should be read by those who don’t read him; should be heard by those who don’t visit his poetry sessions; should be loved by that woman who does not love him. He wanted absolute recognition, absolute love, absolute praise and absolute fame. All this was very essential for a sensitive person like Mayakovsky who looked at things in his own way: ‘Someone is late for a game of cards with him, it means that he is not needed by anyone; the girl did not give him a ring, when he was waiting for her call means – nobody loves him. And if it is so – the life is meaningless – and there is absolutely no need to live such life.’
Such casual bouts of depression often tried to lead him to a catastrophe – and a thought about suicide always accompanied Vladimir Vladimirovich like a chronic disease. Even in 1916 he had once attempted to shoot himself. Early in the morning he called up Lili Brik and said: “Good bye, Lilic. I am finishing this life.” She shouted: “Wait for me!” And on reaching there she found the pistol on the table: “Missed the first shot, could not gather courage for a second one,” said Vladimir Vladimirovich like a child, who was caught while committing a mistake. Lily Brik hurriedly removed the pistol from the table, brought Vladimir Vladimirovich home and after a few hours Mayakovsky came our of the melancholy mood. But Lily was scared that Mayakovsky would shoot himself down at the slightest provocation. In 1920 Roman Jakobson had commented: “I can’t imagine Vladimir Vladimirovich in wrinkles. How would he look them?” and Lily Brik answered, “He will never get old…he will definitely commit suicide. He had already attempted once…and one is not always lucky to miss the aim.”
And it turned out that Lily was right. Mayakovsky feared old age like anything. He would always say: “In 35 years one already gets old. I would live for 30 years and then finish myself.”
And all these factors – failure of his play ‘Bath House (it was done systematically by those who wanted to degrade Mayakovsky); marriage of Tatyana Yakovlevna; inability on the part of Veronica Polonskaya to marry him at once; catastrophe with his exhibition, ‘20 years of work’; indifference shown by the Party and the RAPP members; inadequate recognition; negative criticism in newspapers and Lily Brik’s absence from Moscow during that time together constituted the climax – which Vladimir Vladimirovich – that sensitive, gentle, tender poet – could not face and he choose to finish his life rather than living the life with a sense of dejection, depression and humiliation.
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