Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet(the first 14 and the last 19 years of his life he officially bore the surname Shenshin, November 23 (December 5), 1820, the Novoselki estate, Mtsensk district, Oryol province - November 21 (December 3), 1892, Moscow) - Russian lyric poet, translator, memoirist.

Surname Fet(more precisely, Fet, German Foeth), became for the poet, as he later recalled, "the name of all his sufferings and sorrows." Son of the Oryol landowner Afanasy Ivanovich Shenshin and Caroline Charlotte Föth, who he brought from Germany, he was recorded at birth (probably for a bribe) as the legitimate son of his parents, although he was born a month after Charlotte's arrival in Russia and a year before their marriage. When he was 14 years old, a “mistake” in the documents was discovered, and he was deprived of his surname, nobility and Russian citizenship and became a “foreign subject Athanasius Fet” (thus, Charlotte’s first husband, the German Fet, began to be considered his father; who really was Afanasy's father is unknown). In 1873, he officially regained the surname Shenshin, but continued to sign literary works and translations with the surname Fet (through "e").

Afanasy Afanasyevich was born on November 23, 1820, near the town of Mtsensk, Oryol province, in the village of Novoselki.

Until the age of 14, Fet lived and studied at home, and then in the city of Verro, Livonia province (now Võru, Estonia), in the German private boarding house of Krummer. In 1837, he was transferred to Moscow, where Afanasy Afanasyevich studies at the boarding school of Professor Pogodin, a historian, writer, and journalist, in which he entered Moscow University for training. Soon Fet entered the Moscow University, the Faculty of History and Philology. Almost all student time Athanasius Fet lived in the family of his friend at the university, the future literary critic Apollon Grigoriev, who had an influence on the development of his poetic gift.

1840 - the first collection of his poems "Lyrical Pantheon" is published.
The blessing for serious literary work was given to Fet by Gogol, who said: "This is an undoubted talent." Fet's first collection of poems, Lyrical Pantheon, was published in 1840 and received Belinsky's approval, which inspired him to further work. Since 1842, Fet's poems have regularly appeared on the pages of the Moskvityanin and Otechestvennye Zapiski magazines. “Of all the poets living in Moscow, Mr. Fet is the most gifted,” writes Belinsky in 1843.

In 1844 Afanasy Afanasyevich graduates from Moscow University and in 1845, a promising poet, becomes a cavalryman of the cuirassier regiment of the Military Order, since the first officer rank gave the right to receive hereditary nobility. In 1853 Fet moved to the Lancers Guards Regiment; in the Crimean campaign was part of the troops guarding the Estonian coast. In 1858 he retired, like his father, as a staff captain. Afanasy Afanasyevich, however, did not manage to achieve noble rights then: the qualification required for this increased as Fet rose in the service.

1850 - the second collection of the poet's poems was published in Moscow. In 1856, the third book, which attracted the attention of connoisseurs and lovers of poetry, was published in St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, his poetic fame grew. The success of the second book, Poems by A. Fet, published in Moscow in 1850, opened him access to the Sovremennik circle in St. Petersburg, where he met Turgenev and V.P. Botkin. Later, Afanasy Fet met L.N. Tolstoy, who returned from Sevastopol. The Sovremennik circle selected, edited and beautifully printed a new collection of Poems by A.A. Feta” (St. Petersburg, 1856). In 1863 it was republished by Soldatenkov in two volumes, with the second volume including translations by Horace et al.

In 1857, Afanasy Afanasyevich married in Paris Marya Petrovna Botkina, the sister of the doctor S.P. Botkin. Literary successes prompted Feta leave military service and in 1858 the poet retires with the rank of guards headquarters captain, settles in Moscow.

In 1860, Afanasy Afanasyevich bought the Stepanovka farm with 200 acres of land, in the Mtsensk district, and energetically began to manage, living there all the time and only briefly visiting Moscow in winter. For more than ten years (1867 - 1877) Fet he was a justice of the peace and at that time wrote journal articles about rural conditions (“From the village”) in Russkiy Vestnik, where he showed himself to be such a convinced and tenacious Russian “agrarian” that he soon received the nickname “feudal lord” from the populist press. Afanasy Fet turned out to be an excellent owner, in 1877 he left Stepanovka and bought the Vorobyovka estate in the Shchigrovsky district, Kursk province, near the Root Hermitage for 105,000 rubles. At the end of his life, Fet's fortune reached a value that can be called wealth. In 1873, the surname Shenshin with all the rights associated with it was approved for Fet. I.S. immediately reacted to this. Turgenev: "As Fet you had a name, as Shenshin you have only a surname."

In 1881 Shenshin I bought a house in Moscow and began to come to Vorobyovka for the spring and summer already as a summer resident, having handed over the farm to the manager. At this time of contentment and honor, Afanasy Afanasyevich set to work with new energy on original and translated poetry, and on memoirs. He published in Moscow: four collections of lyric poems "Evening Lights" (1883, 1885, 1888, 1891) and translations of Horace (1883), Juvenal (1885), Catullus (1886), Tibullus (1886), Ovid (1887), Virgil (1888), Propertia (1889), Persia (1889) and Martial (1891); translation of both parts of Goethe's Faust (1882 and 1888); wrote memoirs "The Early Years of My Life, Before 1848" (posthumous publication, 1893) and “My Memories, 1848-1889” (in two volumes, 1890); translation of the works of A. Schopenhauer: “on the fourth root of the law of sufficient reason” and “on the will in nature” (1886) and “The World as Will and Representation” (2nd edition - 1888).

On January 28 and 29, 1889, the anniversary of the 50-year literary activity of Fet was solemnly celebrated in Moscow; shortly after that, he was granted the title of chamberlain by the Highest. Afanasy Afanasyevich died on November 21, 1892 in Moscow, two days before the age of 72. He was buried in the family estate of the Shenshins, the village of Kleimenov, in the Mtsensk district, 25 versts from Orel.

Creation Feta characterized by the desire to escape from everyday reality in the "bright realm of dreams." The main content of his poetry is love and nature. His poems are distinguished by the subtlety of the poetic mood and great artistic skill.

Fet is expressive and accurate in depicting pictures of nature at different times of the year, in each of which he finds a unique charm. Even in the pictures of fading nature, the poet sees the beauty that gives rise to bright, life-affirming feelings. This is felt in such poems as, “The sheets trembled, flying around ...”, etc. Fet’s nature is inhabited by living creatures, and not only traditional for poetry (nightingale, eagle, swan), but also, perhaps, for the first time falling into the lyrical landscape (lapwing, sandpiper). The accuracy, concreteness of landscapes is largely due to the achievements of Russian realistic prose (Turgenev and L. Tolstoy in the first place). The poeticization of the beauties of nature is one of the merits of the Feta-lyricist before Russian literature. Poems Feta about nature have long become a textbook.

Another, no less significant merit Feta- an image of a deep love feeling. His love lyrics are characterized by tragedy and deep psychologism. At the same time, the appearances of the hero and heroine are deprived of social and everyday certainty by Fet. It is not for nothing that the style of his love poems is so characteristic of a technique when a portrait or psychological detail acts as part of the whole. “Parting to the left”, “children's tears”, “miraculous features”, “bends of a close soul”, “torment of a sinless soul”, “instant image” are signs of the heroine.

A. A. Fet is a poet whose work is characterized by a departure from everyday bustle into the “kingdom of dreams”. Nature and love are the main content of his poems. They subtly convey the mood of the poet, prove his artistic skill.

Birth story

To this day, no one knows for sure to which family Fet Afanasy Afanasyevich belongs. A brief biography can be stated using the following authentically known facts. His mother, German Charlotte Becker, married Johann Vöth in 1818.

A year later, their daughter was born. And after another 6 months, Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, an impoverished Russian landowner, arrived in Darmstadt for treatment. He fell in love with Charlotte and secretly took her to his country. At the time of the escape, she was pregnant. Some biographers claim that from her husband, as she gave birth shortly after arriving in Russia. Others believe that it is still from Shenshin. I. Fet himself did not recognize this child as his own in his will. The boy was born in 1820. He was baptized as Orthodox and recorded in the metric as the son of Shenshin. Only a year later, Fet gave his wife a divorce, and she was able, having accepted a new faith, to marry a new husband. Athanasius Jr., up to the age of 14, grew up and was brought up as an ordinary barchuk.

Years of study and pen trials

From the age of 14, the life of the future poet changed dramatically. His father took him first to Moscow, then to St. Petersburg, and then, on the advice of friends, assigned him to study at a pedagogical institution of some Krummer in the remote Livonian town of Verro. The fact is that back in 1835, the spiritual consistory decided to consider I. Fet as the boy's father.

Shenshin had enemies who sought to use his presence to his detriment. He tried in this way to ensure the further well-being of the family. From now on, the boy was obliged to sign as Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet. At the same time, his biography did not change, however, he did not like the bewilderment and dumb questions of those around him and embarrassed him. In 1837, the young man became a student at the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow University. He studied for 6 years as a foreigner. At this time, his poetic gift awakened. The first collection of his poems was published in 1840. In 1842-1843 he continued to publish in Moskvitianin and Otechestvennye Zapiski. In 1844, the poet's mother passed away. His uncle, Pyotr Shenshin, promised to sign off his estate to his nephew, but since he died in Pyatigorsk, and not at home, his legacy was ruined and money was stolen from the bank. In order to get at least some funds and return the title of nobility, Athanasius was forced to join the army. A year later, he received only the first officer rank.

Useful acquaintances

In 1848, the regiment with which the poet arrived stopped in the village of Krasnoselye. There, Athanasius met Brzhesky, the leader of the local nobility, and through him, the Lazich sisters, one of whom he fell in love with. But Fet decided that it was not good for a beggar to marry a poor woman. Soon Elena Lazich died in a fire. The regiment was moved closer to the capital. In many respects, the acquaintances that Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet made in St. Petersburg turned out to be decisive. His creative biography only benefited from his friendship with Turgenev, and through him with many other writers.

Family life

The world saw a new collection of poems by the poet. He was a huge success. In 1858, Alexander II issued a decree, according to which the title of nobleman could only be obtained with the rank of colonel. Fet realized that he would only rise to a ripe old age and immediately retired. He moved to Moscow and there in the same year made an offer to M. Botkina. The woman, who had an illegitimate child, immediately agreed. They lived well.

Her father, a tea merchant, gave her a decent dowry. Having received the money, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet showed himself from a completely different side. His biography, with the advent of finance, has changed for the better. In 1860, the writer bought an abandoned farm and transformed it into a rich estate. The poet did not support the reform of 1861. Fet turned out to be a fierce defender of the old order. Now he thought only about increasing wealth and bought one estate after another. In 1863, a two-volume collection of poems by A. Fet was published. The new generation did not accept it. The poet has come for many years, he did not write a single line.

Long awaited respect

Neighbors-landowners elected Fet as a justice of the peace. The position was quite honorable. For the next 17 years, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet stayed on it. The biography of the creative poet, on the other hand, was in crisis. Fet ceased to cooperate with the Sovremennik magazine, since the Chernyshevsky-Dobrolyubov line was established there. And the poet did not want to take either the side of the Democrats or the views of the Liberals. In 1873, the Senate issued a decree classifying Afanasy Afanasyevich to the Shenshin family. The couple Fetov was even able to purchase a rich house in Moscow on Plyushchikha.

The last years of life and creativity

Only in 1881 did the poet return to literature. At first he was engaged in translations, then he began to write poetry again, and even later - memoirs. In 1889, the Grand Duke, a friend and admirer of the poet, granted him the title of chamberlain. The last poem known to posterity was written in October 1892. The final edition of Fet's works was published only in 1894. The poet died in November 1892 from complications after bronchitis. So says the official biography of his last days. Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet, in fact, according to the testimony of relatives, asked for champagne before his death, tried to kill himself with a stiletto, and only then he had a stroke.

A. A. Fet - the largest representative of the galaxy of poets of "pure art"

A genius of "pure art" or a man of "no name"?

The future poet was born in the village of Novoselki, Oryol province, in December 1820. The son of a wealthy landowner Shenshin and Lutheran Carolina Charlotte Föth, a born German, was long considered "illegitimate". Being married, the mother secretly fled with 45-year-old Shenshin to Russia in the seventh month of pregnancy. Shenshin was recorded as the father of the poet, but this was illegal from a legal point of view, since Fet and Shenshin were not married at that time. When the deception was revealed, Fet turned from a wealthy nobleman into a foreigner of very dubious origin. This fact of the biography of an adherent of "pure art" is still under the hood and overgrown with secrets.

However, this circumstance played a cruel joke on the child - he was deprived of the title of a nobleman, his father's name and the right to inherit. From youth to deep gray hair, he considered this an indelible shame and was forced to seek his lost rights. The rich heir became a "man without a name" and the return of the lost position turned into an obsession that determined his life path.

The Education of the "Boy Without Privileges"

Having received an excellent education in a German boarding house in the town of Verro in Estonia, Athanasius went to study with Professor Pogodin, a historian, writer and journalist. In 1844, after graduating from the verbal department of Moscow University (philosophical faculty), Fet had already begun to write poetry. From the university bench, a sincere friendship with A. Grigoriev, a friend in passion for poetry, grew stronger.

It is also interesting that A. A. Fet gave his “blessing” for a solid literary work by none other than the recognized N. V. Gogol, who cut off: “Fet is an undoubted talent.” Already at the age of 19, the first collection of poems "Lyrical Pantheon" was published, which was highly appreciated by V. G. Belinsky. The approval of the critic inspired the aspiring poet to further work. The first poems were handwritten with great success and were published in leading publications.

Years of military service is a matter of honor

Achieving the goal of a lifetime - the return of the title of nobility led Fet to a provincial regiment in southern Russia. After a year of service, he received the rank of officer, and by 1853 he was transferred to a regiment near St. Petersburg. An adherent of the ideas of "pure art" visited the heart of his homeland and became close to Goncharov, Turgenev and Nekrasov, and also became an honorary author of the popular magazine Sovremennik. Although the military career did not develop as successfully as we would like, by 1858 Fet resigned, having risen to the honorary rank of headquarters captain.

The admiration of critics promised the acceptance of the most famous poets and writers into the environment. Thanks to earnings in the literary field, Fet improved his financial situation and made his first trip to Europe. Rumor has it that after the resignation, Fet and his family "settled" in Moscow and actively engaged in literary work, demanding from publishers at that time an "unheard of price" for their own works. Realizing that the gift of creating the most beautiful and elegant poetry is a rarity, Fet did not suffer from excessive modesty.

Love is like a muse: “not daring to put out the fire of passion”

During the years of military service, many hardships and wanderings were endured. In an avalanche of difficulties, tragic love became a stumbling block, leaving an indelible mark on the poet's soul for life. The poet's lover, Maria Lazich, was not destined to become the woman of his life: she was from an intelligent but needy family, which became a serious obstacle to their marriage. The parting was hard for both, and a few years after the parting, the poet learns about the tragic death of his beloved during a fire.

Only at the age of 37 did Fet first marry Maria Botkina, the daughter of a wealthy tea merchant. It was not a marriage of love, rather, of convenience, which the poet never hid and openly admitted to the bride in the "family curse." However, this did not stop the elderly maiden. In 1867, Afanasy Fet even became a justice of the peace.

Creative path: "absolute beauty" and "eternal values"

Fet's poems were a ghostly attempt to escape from reality: he sang the beauty of love, native nature. A characteristic feature of creativity is to talk metaphorically about the eternal, which was facilitated by a rare talent to capture the subtlest shades of mood. Pure and bright emotions awakened in all connoisseurs of creativity his brilliant poems.

He dedicated the poem "Talisman" to the love of his life, Maria Lazich. After the publication of the second collection of poems, critics mutually recognized Fet as one of the most capable poets of our time. As a representative of the "pure art" direction, he abhorred touching on acute social issues in his works. Until the end of his days, he remained a staunch monarchist and conservative and considered the glorification of beauty to be the only goal of creativity.

Critics' Favor: The Battle Banner of "Pure Art"

Throughout his life, Fet was generously treated kindly by critics. Belinsky called him "the most gifted poet." Belinsky's warm reviews became an excellent ticket to creativity. Publications in the most popular magazines - "Moskvityanin", "Sovremennik", "Domestic Notes" contributed to gaining fame.

There were critics who did not share the poet's continuity with the ideas of "pure art" and considered him a "dreamer", completely divorced from reality. However, Fet's art is still under the special attention of critics. Not only poetry, but also translations of Goethe, Ovid, Horace deserved positive reviews.

The thorny path of life developed in Fet a gloomy view of society and life in general. Hardened by the blows of fate, the heart did not heal from deep wounds, and a strong desire to compensate for the attacks of society made him a difficult person. The year 1888 became prophetic for the poet - in connection with the 50th anniversary of "his muse", he managed not only to achieve the court rank of chamberlain, but also to return the name of Shenshin. According to Fet, it was "one of the happiest days of my entire life."

Russian poet (real name Shenshin), corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1886). Lyrics of nature saturated with specific signs, fleeting moods of the human soul, musicality: "Evening Lights" (collections 1 - 4, 1883 - 91). Many of the poems have been set to music.

Biography

Born in October or November in the village of Novoselki, Oryol province. His father was a wealthy landowner A. Shenshin, his mother was Caroline Charlotte Föth, who came from Germany. The parents were not married. The boy was recorded as the son of Shenshin, but when he was 14 years old, the legal illegality of this record was discovered, which deprived him of the privileges given to hereditary nobles. From now on, he had to bear the surname Fet, a rich heir suddenly turned into a "man without a name", the son of an unknown foreigner of dubious origin. Fet took it as a disgrace. To return the lost position became an obsession that determined his entire life path.

He studied at a German boarding school in the city of Verro (now Võru, Estonia), then at the boarding school of Professor Pogodin, historian, writer, journalist, where he entered Moscow University for training. In 1844 he graduated from the verbal department of the philosophical faculty of the university, where he became friends with Grigoriev, his peer, a friend in the passion for poetry. "Blessing" for a serious literary work Fet was given by Gogol, who said: "This is an undoubted talent." Fet's first collection of poems, The Lyrical Pantheon, was published in 1840 and was approved by Belinsky, which inspired him to continue his work. His poems have appeared in many publications.

In order to achieve his goal - to return the title of nobility - in 1845 he left Moscow and entered military service in one of the provincial regiments in the south. He continued to write poetry.

Only eight years later, while serving in the Guards Life Lancers Regiment, he got the opportunity to live near St. Petersburg.

In 1850, in the journal Sovremennik, owned by Nekrasov, Fet's poems are published, which are admired by critics of all directions. He was received among the most famous writers (Nekrasov and Turgenev, Botkin and Druzhinin, etc.), thanks to literary earnings, he improved his financial situation, which gave him the opportunity to travel around Europe. In 1857, in Paris, he married the daughter of the richest tea merchant and the sister of his admirer V. Botkin - M. Botkina.

In 1858, Fet retired, settled in Moscow and vigorously engaged in literary work, demanding from publishers an "unheard of price" for their works.

A difficult life path developed in him a gloomy outlook on life and society. His heart was hardened by the blows of fate, and his desire to compensate for his social attacks made him a difficult person to communicate with. Fet almost stopped writing, became a real landowner, working on his estate; he is elected justice of the peace in Vorobyovka. This went on for almost 20 years.

In the late 1870s, Fet began to write poetry with renewed vigor. The sixty-three-year-old poet gave the name "Evening Lights" to the collection of poems. (More than three hundred poems are included in five editions, four of which were published in 1883, 1885, 1888, 1891. The poet prepared the fifth edition, but did not manage to publish it.)

In 1888, in connection with the "fiftieth anniversary of his muse", Fet managed to achieve the court rank of chamberlain; he considered the day on which this happened to be the day when the surname "Shenshin" was returned to him, "one of the happiest days of his life."

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet was born in 1820. The mysterious circumstances of his birth were the most dramatic experiences of the poet himself and the subject of special study of many researchers of his work. According to the research of biographers, A.A. Fet was the son of an amt-assessor Johann Peter Karl Wilhelm Feth, who lived in Darmstadt, and his wife Charlotte. But the future poet was born in Russia, on the estate of Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, a Russian officer who took A. Fet's mother away from her hometown and, having achieved her divorce from her first husband, married her. Until the age of 14, Fet was considered the son of A.N. Shenshin and bore his last name. The revealed truth deprived the boy of the right to be called the Russian nobleman Shenshin, and Russian citizenship, and hopes for the future.

All his life, Afanasy Fet subordinated the “idea-passion” - to return the name Shenshin and be called a Russian nobleman. In the struggle with life circumstances, the young man showed extraordinary courage, patience, perseverance. True, Fet himself was not inclined to recognize only the role of personal will in human destiny. In his memoirs, he stated:<...>Whatever the personal will of a person, it is powerless to go beyond the circle indicated by Providence. And then he further emphasized this dependence of human aspirations on the higher will: “The idea of ​​the subordination of our will to another higher will is so dear to me that I do not know spiritual pleasure above contemplating it on the life stream.” But be that as it may, A.A. Fet really showed extraordinary will and patience, achieving his goal.

Serving in the army and obtaining an officer's rank was the only way to return the lost noble rank and citizenship, and Fet, having graduated from Moscow University and refusing to live in Moscow, which was closer to him in spiritual inclinations, began serving in the provinces. An undoubted victim on the altar of the goal was Fet's refusal to marry Maria Lazich, the daughter of a poor Kherson landowner. “She has nothing, and I have nothing,” he wrote to Y. Polonsky, explaining his decision. Soon, in 1851, Maria Lazich died tragically.

But the officer ranks that Fet receives for conscientious service bring not only satisfaction, but also bitter disappointment. By the highest decree of the emperor, since 1849, the rank of cornet just received by Fet did not give the noble rank, and from 1852 - the rank of major assigned to him. Fet retires in 1853, without having achieved the title of nobility.

And yet, on the slope of life, Fet returns the name Shenshin, becomes a chamberlain. This goal was achieved not thanks to military service, but to the fame that his poetry acquires, however, in rather narrow, albeit influential circles (for example, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, who entered Russian poetry under the pseudonym K.R. .). Already after the death of Fet, the well-known critic N. Strakhov, who knew him well, wrote to S.A. Tolstoy: “He was a strong man, he fought all his life and achieved everything he wanted: he won a name, wealth, literary celebrity and a place in high society, even at court. He appreciated all this and enjoyed it all, but I am sure that his poems were dearest to him in the world and that he knew: their charm is undoubted, the very heights of poetry.

Fet needed undoubted willpower not only at the crossroads of life, but also in his creative destiny. Fet's literary fate was also not cloudless: there were few connoisseurs of Fet's poetry, although among them were such authoritative judges as V.G. Belinsky, I.S. Turgenev, L.N. Tolstoy, N.N. Strakhov, F.M. Dostoevsky, Vl. Solovyov. Fet did not receive wide recognition from democratic criticism or ordinary readers. The poet much more often had to hear the voices of critics, rather mocking and unfriendly than admiring.

The hostility of modern Fetu criticism was explained by various motives. One of the reasons was rooted in Fet's demonstrative rejection of civic themes as the subject of poetry, which, in the era of the dominance of Muse Nekrasov, the "sad companion of the sad poor," and the "sorrowful" poets who imitated Nekrasov, was perceived as a challenge to the moods of a radical society, eager to see poetry as a platform for discussion. social and political problems.

In the preface to the third edition of Evening Lights, Fet explained the rejection of "mournful" poets and their poetry, which describes social ulcers:<...>No one will suggest that, unlike all people, we alone do not feel, on the one hand, the inevitable burden of everyday life, and on the other, those periodic trends of absurdities that are really capable of filling any practical worker with civic sorrow. But this grief could not inspire us in any way. On the contrary, it was these hardships of life that forced us for 50 years to turn away from them from time to time and break through everyday ice in order to at least for a moment breathe in the pure and free air of poetry. And then Fet gives his understanding of poetry as "the only refuge from all worldly sorrows, including civil ones." According to Fet, “poetry, or artistic creativity in general, is a pure perception not of an object, but only of its one-sided ideal.<...>The artist, - he believes in an article devoted to the poems of F. Tyutchev, - only one side of the objects is dear - their beauty.

Undoubtedly, it was a hard-won conviction. Fet was very upset by "the disgrace of the whole course of our life," as N.N. Strakhov after meeting with the poet. But the idea of ​​"the ugliness of the whole course of our life" did not find a consistent poetic embodiment. Defining life on earth as a “bazaar shouting God”, as a “prison” (“Windows in bars, and gloomy faces”, 1882), “blue prison” (“N.Ya. Danilevsky”), the poet does not see his task in to pass judgment on her or to describe in detail "worldly sorrows." Recognizing the imperfection of the social structure, Fet made the beauty of earthly existence the subject of his work: the beauty of nature and the poetry of human feelings.

1880s - one of the most intense, fruitful periods of A.A. Feta. In 1883, his poetry collection "Evening Lights" was published, which collected his best works, three more editions of the collection were published every two or three years. Fet is working on his memoirs, and in 1890 he publishes two thick volumes of My Memoirs. The third volume - "The Early Years of My Life" comes out after the death of the poet in 1893. Fet translates a lot. Among his most significant translations is the main work of the German philosopher A. Schopenhauer "The World as Will and Representation", a poetic translation of all the works of Horace (a work begun in his youth). Less highly researchers appreciate the translations of other Roman authors made by Fet, but one cannot but be amazed at the purposefulness and enthusiasm of the Russian poet. He translates the comedies of Plautus, the "Satires" of Juvenal, the lyrical works of Catullus, the "Sorrowful Elegies" and "Metamorphoses" of Ovid, the epigrams of Martial. Before his death, Fet is working on the fifth issue of "Evening Lights".

In 1892 the poet died.