I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 248 The Greatest Social Experiment and Irving
Those who rest here forever, their fame recorded on the water.

— Keats's own epitaph, written before his death.

In the British poetry scene of 1846, the mainstream aesthetic continued the Romantic lyricism and grand narrative, emphasizing ornate language, strict meter, classical allusions, and rich emotions.

Under this aesthetic, the poem "The Road Not Taken" may seem simple and plain at first glance, but if you savor it carefully, you will find it refreshing, elegant and unique. Compared with the poetry style that is currently popular in Britain, this poem seems to represent a completely different path.
Is this Russian about to promote some new style in England, like the Symbolism he proclaimed in France?
As the poets present exchanged bewildered glances, each lost in their own thoughts, Dickens, though not very knowledgeable about poetry, was nonetheless moved by the poem's profound philosophical depth and began to speak:
“How incredible is fate! I was so close back then, I was about to start my life as an actor, and I might not have had time to write.”

"Fate will eventually bring you back to the path of writing."

Mikhail smiled slightly and casually flattered Dickens, saying, "There's nothing wrong with being an actor, but with your talent, writing offers a much broader horizon."

Dickens: "?"

I like hearing that.
"Your poem is very different."

Dickens couldn't help but nod and reply, "It's different from many poems I'm familiar with, but I think it's indeed a good poem."

After exchanging pleasantries, and seeing that the poem didn't seem to convince everyone, Mikhail took the opportunity to say, "I've also translated the Russian poem 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' and the French poem 'When You Are Old,' which I had previously recited. Please listen to them and see if they're suitable."

The poets present: "?"

Is it really cross-language?
Moreover, poetry inevitably suffers a lot of wear and tear during the translation process. Are you so confident that you dare to let a group of British poets judge it?
To this, Mikhail could only say that these two poems have truly come home to England; perhaps the British will appreciate them even more than the Russians and French.
And so, under the scrutinizing gaze of the British poets, Mikhail recited the two poems once with different emotions and tones. After Mikhail finished reciting them, the British poets present, who had been listening intently, stared blankly, looking dazed. After a long while, one poet finally murmured in a daze, "Absolutely perfect."

Whether it's the rhythm, the emotion, or anything else, it's absolutely flawless!
Is his command of language really that profound?

Is this true even for English?

After the three poems, an eerie silence fell over the scene. As everyone gradually came to their senses, those who had originally intended to take this opportunity to do something suddenly lost their interest.

In fact, after Mikhail finished reading his poem, no other poet came out to read his work for the rest of the gathering.

There's no way around it; if I read it now, wouldn't it inevitably create a contrast with this Russian's English poetry?
As for the quality of those poems he just mentioned, how many British poets' works can be compared to them?

Once they realized this, the gathering seemed quite harmonious for the rest of the time. Several poets even took the initiative to speak with Mikhail, implying that they hoped he would comment on their poems and, ideally, publish them in top literary review magazines.

If they might have previously felt that having their poetry reviewed by a foreigner was a stain, now, it's likely that once his poems are published in British magazines, his comments might actually enhance their reputation.
To be honest, Mikhail's ability to appreciate poetry is only so-so, so he can chat with others about it briefly, but not much more.

During his conversations with these poets, Mikhail also heard the names of many familiar poets from them.

In the realm of poetry, the overall achievements of the British during the Romantic period may even surpass those of the French, with the most famous being the three prematurely deceased geniuses: Byron, Shelley, and Keats.

In addition, there are other well-known figures such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey from the 'Lake Poets'.

Unfortunately, only Wordsworth is still alive today, and he is also the current Poet Laureate of Britain, essentially a leading figure in the British poetry scene.

These people all had one thing in common: they were all passionate about revolution, with Byron even dying for it.

But like those three Lake Poets, who were initially full of enthusiasm for the French Revolution, they later became increasingly conservative and abandoned their early radical political beliefs.

Their stories are certainly epic, but unfortunately they lived in a different era than Mikhail. Therefore, Mikhail could only hear about the scandals and anecdotes of these great poets and their poems that were destined to be remembered in literary history from the mouths of British poets.

After Mikhail returned from the Dickens family gathering, the poems he had recited there spread rapidly, and he quickly submitted them to well-known literary magazines in London.

As these messages began to spread and ferment, they crashed down like a boulder onto the already turbulent British poetry scene.

If there was any impact, then publisher Eliot was probably the one who felt it most acutely. On this ordinary day, he clearly heard his assistant's report, but he still couldn't help but ask, "You mean, all the printed poetry collections have already sold out?"

"Yes."

The assistant, equally incredulous, replied, "We need to contact the printing factory immediately to reprint."

As professionals in London's publishing industry, they were well aware of just how difficult it was to sell poetry collections in London's cultural market today. Even for renowned poets, their collections typically sold only a few thousand copies, while those of moderately famous poets often sold only a few hundred. Even though publisher Eliot chose to trust Mikhail's recommendation, he wasn't overly optimistic, only hoping to recoup his costs.

But now it seems that this deal was actually profitable?

Thinking of this, Eliot finally came to his senses. He hurriedly arranged for his assistant to contact the printing press to reprint the book, while he also took out paper and pen, ready to convey this good news to the author of the collection.

Three lucky guys!
Because of this incident, Mr. Mikhail seems to have been subjected to a lot of attacks. He himself may not care about it and will not bring it up with the three of them, but after careful consideration, Elliott felt that it would be better for him to add this part of the situation.

While Eliot was busy writing and sending letters, elsewhere in London, Mikhail was also pondering how to write a letter to a respectable gentleman for advice, while also assessing the risks involved.

As for why there would be a risk, simply put, his letter would be sent to a gentleman named Robert Irwin.

How should one live one's life?
Robert Irving's answer is to keep moving towards eliminating exploitation and oppression and creating a truly equal world.

Born in 1771 into a poor family of artisans, he became an apprentice at the age of nine to earn a living. This experience made him deeply aware of the plight of the lower classes, and as a true pragmatist, Irving chose to take action.

When he was twenty, he became the manager of a large factory thanks to his management skills. In the process, Irving also successfully turned the factory owner into his father-in-law.

Once the conditions were met, Irving began his sweeping reforms, reducing workers' working hours, improving dormitory conditions, emphasizing greenery, building evening recreation centers for workers, and providing education for children and adults.
Thanks to his outstanding management skills, Irving's teaching philosophy, teaching concepts and teaching plans achieved great success in New Lanark. In addition to the school, Irving also ran a workers' canteen, created a workers' consumer cooperative, and established a workers' medical and pension system.

His tremendous achievements won the attention and respect of the upper classes in many countries at the time, and every year tens of thousands of people would visit Irving's factory and his character-building museum.

But Owen was not willing to stop there; he wanted to extend this model to the whole of Britain and even the whole world, so as to truly build a new world where everyone is equal.

Then he began to run into obstacles, just as Engels later commented on Irving:
"The turn to communism was a turning point in Irving's life. When he was just a philanthropist, all he gained was wealth, praise, fame, and honor. He was one of the most famous figures in Europe. Not only people of his social standing, but also dignitaries and royalty listened attentively to his speeches. But when he put forward his communist theory, the situation changed completely."

So what will Irving choose next?
In 1825, Irving, along with his four sons and disciples, spent a huge sum of £30,000 to purchase 30,000 acres of land in Indiana, USA.

Irving built factories, farms, schools, and living quarters in New Harmony Village, then found more than 800 people and put them there. He told them, "I have prepared everything for you. There is no oppression here. You are completely free. Property belongs to everyone. Everyone works together, distributes property together, receives education together, and everyone is equal."
This is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most sublime social experiments in human history, embodying the deep-seated human yearning for greatness and sublimity.

But Owen's ideals went bankrupt, and he returned to England almost penniless, where he was subjected to ridicule and scorn from royalty and people from all walks of life. However, his dream did not end there. After returning to England, he chose to participate in the burgeoning workers' movement at the time, and Owen remained active in various sectors of society until 1846.

He seemed to be an idealist who would never die.

Until the failure of the European Revolutions in 1848 and the emergence of new SH (socialist) ideologies, Irving felt deeply disappointed and gradually became marginalized. Under these circumstances, Irving began to come into contact with "spiritualism" and "psychicism," claiming that he could communicate with deceased great men.
That's the end of the story. He died in 1858, and his tombstone reads: "He tried to improve the human condition."

Thinking about these things, Mikhail felt a surge of emotions and mixed feelings, and quickly began to write a letter.

Besides expressing his respect, Mikhail's most important intention was to learn from this "father of human resource management" and ask him if he had any suitable management talent to recommend.

After all, to achieve a truly virtuous cycle, a kind heart alone is not enough; one must actually know how to allocate and manage resources. If these things are all in a chaotic state, then it is possible that good intentions may actually lead to bad results.

Having worked so hard, Mikhail has basically completed the framework. Once everything is almost ready, Mikhail will officially begin his board game project.

Incidentally, in July of this year, Friedrich Engels was commissioned to go to London to personally meet with British socialist groups and workers' organizations, with the aim of promoting the establishment of a branch of the "Communist Committee on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" in Britain. Mikhail was indeed considering whether or not to personally visit them.
The world is full of talented people, like fish crossing a river.

Mikhail couldn't help but sigh at the thought that he might have to come into contact with so many important figures.

After some time had passed, Mikhail's letter had been sent, and in an ordinary small town in England, the three female writers, who had been living a life of constant hardship, finally received the letter they had been waiting for.

Charlotte had only glanced at him when she gasped in surprise. When her two sisters turned to look at her, Charlotte announced in a trembling voice:

"We've already sold two or three hundred copies. I heard that a poet who's somewhat famous in London can only sell that many copies. But the publisher says our poetry collection should sell even more, since Mr. Mikhail will be staying in England for a long time."

While the three sisters were too excited to speak, Charlotte opened another thick package, which was full of reviews of their poetry collection by London critics. But for some reason, after Charlotte flipped through it briefly, she found that Mikhail's name appeared in almost every article.

Why is this young Russian man so popular in Britain?

After reading these things, the three sisters almost cried and laughed for a long time. Realizing that their lives might be changed as a result, they hurriedly wrote a letter to Mr. Mikhail.
(End of this chapter)