The poet Apollo Maykov came from a very creative family. The good education he received in his childhood and youth not only made him an erudite person – he acquired a very interesting outlook on life. Being interested in all its manifestations, he developed his poetic talent and went down in history as one of the most brilliant Russian poets.
Being a native of a noble family, Apollo received not only the original name, but also a good start in life. Father Apollo Maykov was called the same way – Apollo. And he was also a poet. He had four brothers. In childhood, he was taught Russian literature by the famous writer A. Goncharov.
At first, young Apollo decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an artist, but later he preferred painting literature. Mikov composed his first poems when he was fifteen. Contemporaries noted the amazing ability of the poet to vividly convey their feelings. So, in one of his works he colorfully admires the mountains, but at the same time Apollo Mike at the time of composing this poem was never in the mountains. One of the poet’s sons, also named Apollo, became a famous artist. Emperor Nicholas I highly appreciated Maikov’s poetic collection, and ordered him to be rewarded with a thousand rubles (huge by the standards of those years), necessary for him to travel to Italy. The journey was delayed for a whole year. Many works by Apollo Maikov were recited to music by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. The collection of his poems entitled “1854” was distinguished by nationalist sentiments. Some saw it as flattery to the emperor, which did not have the best effect on the poet’s reputation. During the life of Apollo Maykov, he published about one and a half hundred poems.
