Osip Mandelstam had lived a sublimely tragic life of the poet. There are people who not only change our metaphysical conception of the infinite, but also intrude into the higher realms of the spiritual and acquire a flesh and permanence there. Such absolute values, as Pushkin and Mandelstam, showed the humanity what summits not only poetry but also prose can reach: Pushkin – in “The Queen of Spades,” Mandelstam – in “Conversation about Dante.”
At the age of eighteen Mandelstam looked into the eternity and saw his reflection, and such lines were born:
On the glass of the eternity
My breath, my warmth has lied.
And in 1937 his soul is saying goodbye to the era, the time, the humanity.
Oh, how I want,
Not heard by anyone,
To fly after the ray,
Where there is no me at all.
The creativity of Mandelstam is permeated with prophecy, providence, penetration into the essence of phenomena, where the word – just a hint of recognition of our Divine mission on the earth.