Balmont, Konstantin Dmitrievich (1867–1942)

Russian poet and translator. He was the most talented of the older Symbolists (see Symbolism). His verse has a songlike quality and combines technical experimentation in form and rhythm with erotic and exotic subject matter. Examples of his work are Budem kak solntse/Let us be like the Sun (1903) and Poeziia kak volshebstvo/Poetry as Sorcery (1915).

Balmont was a prolific writer and colourful personality. After 1918 he lived in exile in Paris, and published Stikhi o Rossii/Verses about Russia (1924).