BLOK, ALEXANDER (188o-1921), Russian poet, was born in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). His father was professor of mathematics at Warsaw. In 1903 he married the daughter of the Russian scientist Mendeleyev. His first book of poems, Songs to the Belle Dame (1904), shows the influence of the mystic poet and philosopher V. Soloviev. Later his romantic style was changed to one of bitter irony and his works show deep disil lusionment conflicting with a national idealistic inspiration. "The Scythians" is representative of this latter phase. All these alter nating motives, expressing the eternal contrast between the real and the ideal, form the vast scope of Blok's greatest poetry. The Bolshevist revolution inspired him to write his famous poem "The Twelve"—English translations by C. E. Bechhofer (192o), and B. Deutch and A. Yarmolinsky, New York (192o). The poem is an apologia for the revolution. He is the finest lyric poet of modern Russia, and ranks with the great masters of the past. His outstanding qualities are the depth of feeling manifested in his poetry, the rich melody of his verse, his extremely varied rhythm, and the blending of an exquisite lyrical style with the raciness of speech of the masses.
Blok's principal poems, besides those already mentioned, are "The Unexpected Joy" (i9o7), the lyric drama The Fair Booth, "The Earth under Snow," "Hours of the Night," "The Hoary Morning" and the romantic drama The Rose and the Cross.