Mandelstam, Blok, and the Boundaries of Mythopoetic Symbolism, Goldberg Stuart

Mandelstam had no teacher, marveled Anna Akhmatova, reflecting on his early maturity and singularity. But Mandelstam himself spoke of the need and even duty to study a poets literary roots. So how did this consummately complex, compelling, multi-resonant poet navigate and exploit the burden of the Russian Symbolist movement from which he emerged? How did this process change and augment his poetry?