ნეოკლასიციზმი და აკაკი წერეთლის ჰეროიკული სტროფები
Neoclassicism and Akaki Tsereteli’s Heroic Couplets

Summary/Abstract: This paper has analyzed the history and theory of Neoclassicism, its influence on Georgian literary process. In this respect, particular importance is attached to the study of the creative activity of the great Georgian poet and public figure, Akaki Tsereteli. In specialist literature it is indicated that the features of Neoclassicism in Georgian literature are marked in Akaki Tsereteli’s patriotic lyrics; in 19th-century poetry – in G.Tabidze’s lyrical verses created on antique themes (Hetaera, Mournful Seraphs, etc.).Neoclassic trends in G. Tabidze’s poetry have been more or less studied (T. Doiashvili, G. Asatiani, I. Kenchoshvili, A.Khintibidze, etc.) but Akaki’s poetry in this respect has not been studied as it might have been.The artistic perfection of Akaki’s verse, the wisdom of simplicity, aphoristic laconism of classical Georgian poetry – are the forming parameters which determine Akaki Tsereteli’s link with the principles of the last literary trend of the Enlightenment epoch –Neoclassicism.The heroic couplets in Akaki Tsereteli’s lyrical verses (“Shamil’s Dream”,“Dream”, “Aghmart-Aghmart”, etc) and poems (“Tornike Eristavi”, “The Mentor”, “Natela”, “Bagrat the Great”, “Georgia’s Current Face”, “Gorg-Aslani”, “A Centenary Story”,“Racha-Lechkhumi”, etc.) are distinct with homonymic rhythms, stable strophe, strictly determined isosyllabism, clearly expressed rationalism.The plot of Akaki Tsereteli’s famous historico-heroic poem “Tornike Eristavi” is analyzed in scholarly work as a composition constructed on the principles of neoclassicism; the action takes place in a king’s palace, at Catholics and battle field; the advantage of the reason over the feeling determines the ministry of duty; men’s imperfections manifested against the background of harmony of nature; the verse technology is extremely regulated and an argument between Orbelidze and the fool is known for homonym rhythms demonstrates the sharpness of wit of the characters of the poem.Neoclassicism as a literary movement is the longest in the history of movements.On the one hand, the neoclassical period flourished in European culture and art in 17th-18 th centuries, on the other hand, Neoclassicism reappeared at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries(Pol Valeri, Tomas Eliot). Characteristic features of Neoclassicism are revival of antique,classic or national traditional culture in the sphere of reason or form. As a proof for an artist to respect eternal values, neoclassicism reminds the reader the eternity of universal,moral and national issues in the history of mankind.Through the unity of feeling and mind, the harmony which nourishes poetic perception can be reached. In Akaki Tsereteli’s poem “Natela” the verse is written on the boundary of uniting the laws of divine mystery and “logos”. Let us recall Akaki’s famous words: “The verse has its own mystery and laws”. Natela’s known song: “The chonguri is Georgia…” is an artistic embodiment of neoclassical poetry. The paper considers the poem “A Centenary Story” published in full for the first time in the 20-volumed academic edition of Akaki Tsereteli’s works which was banned in the 10th-20th centuries because of anti-Russian sentiments.In this poem Akaki Tsereteli uses the oldest meter of Georgian verse 7-syllable (4/3,2/5), low shairi (5/3), attests Rustaveli’s aphorisms.Neoclassical theorists saw man as an imperfect being with limited potential and sinful nature. In neoclassical poetry the favorite verse form was the rhymed couplet, which reached its greatest sophistication in heroic couplet; while the theater saw the development of the heroic drama, the melodrama, the sentimental comedy, and the comedy of manners. Eliot saw Neo-classicism as emphasizing poetic form and conscious craftsmanship, and Romanticism as a poetics of personal emotion and “inspiration,” and pointedly preferred the former. Neoclassical poets had a great respect for the artists of the antiquity and imitated much from them. In their poetic works an emphasis was made on order, correctness and established rules were carefully observed. Set phrases were commonly used in their poetry. For neoclassical poets poetry was an imitation of human life. For example, John Dryden wrote heroic couplets and here and there skillfully included satire (compare, Akaki Tsereteli’s satiric poetry).The wisdom gained by neoclassical writers - the regularity of order in the universes to be sought in nature and harmony – is a cornerstone of Akaki Tsereteli’s creativity.This concept is used by the poet in his poem “Tornike Eristavi” and “The Mentor” differently but in a peculiar way: men often break the order created by nature and God but with the help of reason, effort of thinking, blood, repentance, sacrifice and regret manage to restore the balance of mind.The four chapters of Akaki Tsereteli’s “The Mentor” can be read against the background of the “seasons concept” of neoclassical poets: chapter I – spring (harmony of spouses on the top of the mountain); chapter II – summer – passion, ardor which breaks divine order with the desire to satisfy the thirst of this world, chapter III – autumn – or harvesting the fruits of sin, chapter IV – winter – feeding the memory, recollections or traditions through death. The power of example in the poetry of neoclassic writers is necessary: death is not an equivalent of forgetting and complete disappearance, especially in the Caucasus and the Mentor’s suicide is the only way to save the ideal and not denying the principles. The necessity of the unity of knowledge and faith, mind and heart, emotional integrity, the necessity of a dialogue – all this is an evidence of the neoclassicist impulse in the final period of the Enlightenment in Georgian literature of the second half of the 19th century. Akaki Tsereteli’s neoclassical works also describe intellectual height and mystical wisdom that determined the blend of form and emotion (feelings) in his verse.

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