Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Tsvetaeva THE DOUBLE BEAT OF HEAVEN AND HELL Lily Feiler ~] DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS Durham and London 1994 © 1994 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper § Typeset in Joanna by Tseng Information Systems Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. To my grandchildren Joshua, Zina, Benjamin, and Gabriel, with all my love. Contents Acknowledgments xi Permissions xiii A Note on Translations, Transliteration, and Punctuation xv Introduction 1 FAMILY AND CHILDHOOD 7 Formative forces 2 GROWING UP: REALITY AND FANTASY 22 God/Devil: the central conflict 3 ADOLESCENCE, MOTHER'S DEATH 30 Schools abroad / Escape into imagination 4 DAWNING SEXUALITY 43 Ellis and Nilender / First poetry collection 5 ILLUSIONS 56 Marriage to Sergey Efron / Birth of daughter, Ariadna/ Alya Disenchantment / Father's death 6 LESBIAN PASSION 66 Sofiya Parnok / The wound that would not heal 7 IN THE SHADOW OF THE REVOLUTION 78 Flirtation with Mandelshtam / Love affairs and dread Birth of second daughter, Irina / Revolution and separation viii Contents 8 LIFE UNDER COMMUNISM 86 Poverty, excitement, and creativity / Involvement with actors and theater / Closeness with Alya 9 PASSION AND DESPAIR 95 Sonechka: fantasy of pure love / Irina's death 10 YEARS OF FRENZY AND GROWTH 104 Volkonsky. Vysheslavtsev, Lann / The Tsar-Maiden and "On a Red Steed" 11 NEW POETIC VOICE AND DEPARTURE 116 A young Bolshevik, literary friends / Departure 12 RUSSIAN BERLIN 124 Vishnyak, new infatuation / Old friends: Ehrenburg and Bely Reunion with husband / Correspondence with Pasternak 13 PRAGUE, CREATIVE PEAK 133 Creative crest-"The Swain" / Letters to Pasternak and Bakhrakh 14 GREAT LOVE, GREAT PAIN 144 Konstantin Rodzevich / "Poem of the Mountain" and "Poem of the End" / Marriage crisis 15 RESIGNATION AND BIRTH OF SON 152 Grinding poverty, women friends / Birth of son Georgy (Mur) Move to Paris 16 PARIS, SUCCESS AND NEW PROBLEMS 160 "The Ratcatcher" / Initial success / Eurasians-new friends, criticism 17 THE CORRESPONDENCE WITH RILKE AND PASTERNAK 168 Search for the Beyond / Conflict with Pasternak / Economic hardships 18 SPIRALING DOWN 180 Rilke's death / Hostility in literary circles / Efron's turn toward Soviets 19 GROWING ISOLATION 187 Phaedra / After Russia published Defense of Mayakovsky / Nikolay Gronsky 20 HITTING BOTTOM 196 Poetic crisis, growing isolation / End of Pasternak's marriage / Depression Contents ix 21 ALIENATION AND SELF-ANALYSIS 203 Salomea and "Letter to an Amazon" 22 INDIGENCE AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PROSE 210 Ivask correspondence / Efron applies for a Soviet passport / Family conflicts 23 FURTHER WITHDRAWAL 223 Pasternak's visit / Steiger-new hopes for love dashed 24- A FATEFUL YEAR, 1937 231 Pushkin essays-a look into herself / Alya's leaving for Russia The Efron case 25 RETURN TO THE SOVIET UNION 24-2 Atmosphere of Stalinist terror / Arrest of Alya and Sergey Golytsino Writers' House / Frustrated attempts to publish; translations 26 WAR, EVACUATION, SUICIDE 254 Afterword 265 Notes 269 Bibliography 291 Index 295