Composition
His poetry is, as it were, a scattering of the treasures of his soul with both handfuls.
A. Tolstoy
A favorite poet with his poems often makes a person think about his surroundings. Sometimes people don't even notice his presence, but it seems to me that he is always there. For me this is Sergei Yesenin. Much of his poetry moves my soul. Sometimes thoughts arise that surprise me and amaze me. What am I thinking about when leafing through a collection of Yesenin’s poems?
V. Smirnov said about one of the poet’s features: “He seems to expose himself to the reader.” Of course, these words can be understood in different ways, but for me they are proof of the simplicity of Yesenin’s poetry, the openness of his soul. In my opinion, the poet sought to show people his inner world, and not hide it. Maybe that’s why my thoughts often coincide with S. Yesenin’s thoughts? This man talked about everything: about life, about love, about the Motherland. Reading his poems, one cannot help but think about the future. The poet, as it were, helps us build our lives. Relying on his work, I discover for myself those feelings, those thoughts that are characteristic of Yesenin. In my essay, I would like to write about the most important issues that the poet considered in his works. In my opinion, none of them can leave a person indifferent.
With some excitement I re-read the following lines:
No guarantee is required from love,
With her they know joy and sorrow.
The poet wrote about the state of a person when the willingness to give everything for someone reaches its highest point. Pure feelings, it seems to me, overwhelmed him. They are also transmitted to the reader. I think that Yesenin’s theme of love has some special character. I am amazed by his desire for good, which runs through the poet’s entire work. He himself understands love as something divine and lofty. Creating masterpieces, Sergei Yesenin spoke simply but beautifully, putting his whole soul into his poems:
Darling, sit next to me
Let's look into each other's eyes.
I want under the gentle gaze
Listen to the sensual blizzard.
It is no coincidence that in this poem love is combined with nature, because this feeling in itself is a natural phenomenon. The poet is honest with us, he says: “I never lie with my heart.” His words confirm that love is always sincere. Reading S. Yesenin’s poems, I realized that it is not the reciprocity of feelings that is important, but the understanding between people. There are often breakups, love tragedies, even the poet was not spared from them, but sadness should not overwhelm honor. In difficult times, you need to be able to say as Yesenin said:
Live like this
How the star guides you
Under the tabernacle of the renewed canopy...
Nobility in love is characteristic of the poet. He never accuses a woman; on the contrary, Sergei Yesenin protects her, protecting her from lawlessness:
We are spring girls in Russia
We don't keep chains like dogs.
We learn to kiss without money,
Without dagger tricks and fights...
Yes, Yesenin’s love lyrics are varied. But all the poems about this wonderful and incomparable feeling have one thing in common: they were written with a pure soul. The reader is conveyed the thoughts of the poet himself, who seems to worship women. It seems to me that S. Yesenin in his poems wanted to express his love not only for beautiful, charming girls, but also for mothers, because they also belong to the fair sex. Re-reading individual lines again and again, I think that loving is happiness!
“My lyrics are alive only with love - love for my homeland. The feeling of homeland is fundamental in my work,” wrote Yesenin. The poet dedicated many poems to the country where he was born and spent his life. I want to note that his works speak not only about Rus':
I think:
How beautiful
Earth
And there is a man on it.
And how many unfortunates are there due to the war?
Freaks and cripples now!
And how many are buried in the pits!
And how many more will be buried!
And I feel in my stubborn cheekbones
A severe spasm of the cheeks.
Yesenin loved this land, he did not want another. According to V. Smirnov, the poet is “the heart, the soul of the Russian people, their Razin and Chaliapin voice!” Sergei Yesenin was truly devoted to Russia. He himself was born in the village, about which he would later say:
I was born with songs in a grass blanket,
The spring dawns twisted me into a rainbow.
The poet did not hide his anxiety for the future of all humanity, our entire planet, but he believed in the brotherhood of peoples. He could not imagine himself, his life without Russia, his fate was tightly connected with the fate of our country:
But even then
When in the whole planet
The tribal feud will pass,
Lies and sadness will disappear, -
I will chant
With the whole being in the poet
Sixth of the land
With a short name “Rus”.
S. Yesenin was, in my opinion, one of those who were ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the “beloved land”. Reading his poems about the Motherland, I think about how lofty the poet’s words about Russia are. How much he worried about her! S. Yesenin, as it were, calls on people to fight for happiness, for freedom: Russia! Dear land to the heart!
The soul shrinks from pain,
The field has not heard for many years
Cock crowing, dog barking.
Yesenin’s poems are not outdated, they still do not lose their meaning. How hard does it feel in your soul when you think that the poet’s experiences were not at all in vain?! What is Great Rus' now? But we need to strive for the best. Yesenin wanted to see the country happy. Maybe that's why his poems sound like a call?
The poet’s love for the Motherland is also manifested in the way he paints nature.
About Rus' - raspberry field
And the blue that fell into the river -
I love you to the point of joy and pain
Your lake melancholy.
Only a person who sincerely loved his native land could utter such words. But V. Smirnov directly stated that “Yesenin is Russia.” I think no one will ever deny this. After all, this poet will always remain for us the person who could so easily and simply describe the most beautiful corners of our Motherland.
The golden grove dissuaded
Birch, cheerful language,
And the cranes, sadly flying,
They don’t regret anyone anymore.
Yesenin's nature is always alive. His poems contain some kind of mystery that can enliven everything around them. I involuntarily draw in front of me the pictures that the poet writes. In my opinion, for Sergei Yesenin, nature is eternal beauty and eternal harmony, and man is an inseparable part of it. His poems awaken something in me that strives to overcome the line that is between me and the poet, me and his words:
But most of all
Love for the native land
I was tormented
Tormented and burned.
Yes, Yesenin was and will be a singer of Russian nature, just a singer!
Many say that Sergei Yesenin was born a poet. Yes, of course, he began writing poetry from early childhood. But what does it mean for him to be a poet?
... it means the same thing
If the truths of life are not violated,
Scar yourself on your delicate skin,
With the blood of feelings, caress other people's souls.
Nowadays, in pursuit of material things, we lose souls. For me, Yesenin is a spiritual and moral support. He helps me a lot. I think being a poet also means being a mentor to someone.
Another topic I would like to talk about is thinking about life. Now, when times are becoming very complex and difficult, it would not be amiss to note for yourself those concepts that are the most important.
The poet experienced a lot in his life: he was accused of drunkenness, poetry was considered forbidden. But he didn't give up:
I do not regret, do not call, do not cry,
Everything will pass like smoke from white apple trees.
Withered in gold,
I won't be young anymore.
Sergei Yesenin reflects on the essence of human existence, on life and death, on good and evil, on eternity and immortality. I am especially struck by his words written to his mother:
I'm not such a bitter drunkard,
So that I can die without seeing you.
A person does not choose the day of death, but the poet does not want to upset his loved one, because his mother is dear to him.
How great is the significance of Yesenin’s philosophy for me! How deeply it touches the soul! The poet speaks about the most important things in such a way that it is simply impossible not to remember his lines:
And nothing will disturb the soul,
And nothing will make her tremble, -
He who loved cannot love,
You can't set fire to someone who's burned out.
Yesenin lived for thirty years. Where do you get these thoughts from? His life, in terms of the number of years he lived, can be called very short, but, in my opinion, it was oversaturated with events, as evidenced by all the poet’s work. The death of Sergei Yesenin shocked many. “The greatest poet died...” wrote Alexei Tolstoy in those days. Nowadays there is a lot of talk about the “murder” and “suicide” of S. Yesenin. At the moment, no one is sure of either one. But for those who truly love the poet, there is no difference. They all respect him for who he was. I would like to end the topic of reflections on life with the last lines of Sergei Yesenin:
Goodbye, my friend, without a hand, without a word,
Don’t be sad and don’t have sad eyebrows, -
Dying is nothing new in this life,
But life, of course, is not newer.
The poet makes me think about a lot. And it’s not that he forces me, it’s just that, reading his poems, I involuntarily imagine the life that awaits me. People say: “Learn from the mistakes of others.” But I would like to say differently: “Look for the ideal, look for the teacher, and, without a doubt, he will help you.” And I often consult with Yesenin. As soon as you open a collection of his poems, all your questions are immediately answered. Why? Yes, because all the poet’s works were written specifically for us - those who need advice. After all, each of his poems can be understood differently at different moments in his life. S. Yesenin’s creativity can influence any person.
Russia for Alexander Blok is his homeland. The theme of the homeland becomes the main one in the poet’s work after the early period of poems about the Beautiful Lady. Blok noted in his diary that he “consciously and irrevocably” devoted his life to the theme of his homeland. The beginning of the twentieth century is a time of unprecedented changes, historical events previously unseen not only in Russia, but throughout the world.
To comprehend such events and convey them to the minds and hearts of compatriots is a task that can only be solved by a real poet, which was Alexander Blok. In 1908, he created the historical cycle “On the Kulikovo Field” and wrote the poem “Russia”.
The lyrical hero of the poem “Russia” is the poet himself. The poet's address to Russia is imbued with a feeling of sincere, reverent love, comparable to first love (“like the tears of first love...”). Russia appears before the reader in the image of a Russian beauty, endowed with “robber beauty” and wearing, according to Russian custom, “a patterned dress up to her eyebrows.” Willfulness and obedience - such an antithesis unfolds from stanza to stanza with contextual antonyms: golden - gray, cross - robbery, robbery - beautiful, ringing - deaf, deceive - you will not be lost - and most accurately and completely paints the image of the great people's Russia.
A cart drawn by exhausted horses, gray huts, endless forests and fields, noisy rivers carrying not only water, but also streams of human tears, paths to prisons - another antithesis to the image of the beauty of Russia.
The feeling of love is saturated with pain and bitterness at the sight of poverty and “gray huts”, filled with inescapable melancholy, overflowing with folk songs: “... the dull song of the coachman rings with prison melancholy!” Using such details of the image of Russia as a song, tears and a scarf, the author paints a picture of a homeland, strong in spirit and protected by the cloth-shroud of God: “You will not perish, you will not perish...”. The motif of the path from the first lines of the poem to the last, as well as the image of the cross, expand the poet’s thought about the complex but surmountable great destiny of Russia.
The poet believes in Russia (“And I carefully carry my cross...”, “And the impossible is possible, The long road is easy...”) because he loves her.
Updated: 2018-04-26
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Useful material on the topic
- Answer to tasks No. 8 and No. 15. How is the main conflict of the work outlined in this episode of Fathers and Sons? What feeling is imbued with the poet’s appeal to Russia?
Vanya (in Armenian coachman's dress).
Dad! who built this road?
Dad (in a coat with a red lining.) 1.
Count Pyotr Andreich Kleinmichel 2, darling!
- - Conversation in the carriage - -
I
Glorious autumn! Healthy, vigorous 3
The air invigorates tired forces;
Fragile ice on a chilly river
It lies like melting sugar;
Near the forest, like in a soft bed,
You can get a good night's sleep - peace and space! -
The leaves have not yet faded,
Yellow and fresh, they lie like a carpet.
Glorious autumn! Frosty nights
Clear, quiet days...
There is no ugliness in nature! and kochi 4,
And moss swamps and stumps -
Everything is fine under the moonlight,
Everywhere I recognize my native Rus'...
I fly quickly on cast iron rails,
I think my thoughts...
II
Good dad! Why the charm 5
Should I keep Vanya the smart one?
You will allow me in the moonlight
Show him the truth.
This work, Vanya, was terribly enormous -
Not enough for one!
There is a king in the world: this king is merciless,
Hunger is its name.
He leads armies; at sea by ships
Rules; rounds up people in an artel,
Walks behind the plow, stands behind
Stonemasons, weavers.
It was he who drove the masses of people here.
Many are in a terrible struggle,
They found a coffin for themselves here.
The path is straight: the embankments are narrow,
Columns, rails, bridges.
And on the sides there are all Russian bones...
How many of them! Vanechka, do you know?
Chu! menacing exclamations were heard!
Stomping and gnashing of teeth;
A shadow ran across the frosty glass...
What's there? Crowd of the dead!
Then they overtake the cast-iron road,
They run in different directions.
Do you hear singing?.. “On this moonlit night
We love to see our work!
We struggled under the heat, under the cold,
With a perpetually bent back.
They lived in dugouts, fought hunger,
They were cold and wet and suffered from scurvy.
The literate foremen robbed us 6 .
The authorities flogged me, the need was pressing...
We, God's warriors, have endured everything,
Peaceful children of labor!
Brothers! You are reaping our benefits!
We are destined to rot in the earth...
Do you still remember us poor people kindly?
Or have you forgotten a long time ago?..”
Do not be horrified by their wild singing!
From Volkhov, from Mother Volga, from Oka,
From different ends of the great state -
These are all your brothers - men!
It's a shame to be timid, to cover yourself with a glove,
You're not little!.. With Russian hair,
You see, he’s standing there, exhausted by fever,
Tall sick Belarusian:
Bloodless lips, drooping eyelids,
Ulcers on skinny arms
Always standing in knee-deep water
The legs are swollen; tangle 7 in hair;
I'm digging the chest that's on the spade 8 diligently
Day after day I worked hard all my life...
Take a closer look at him, Vanya:
Man earned his bread with difficulty!
I didn’t straighten my hunchbacked back
He is still: stupidly silent
And mechanically with a rusty shovel
It's hammering the frozen ground!
This noble habit of work
It would be a good idea for us to adopt...
Bless the work of the people
And learn to respect a man.
Don’t be shy for your dear fatherland...
The Russian people have endured enough
He also took out this railway -
He will endure whatever the Lord sends!
Will bear everything - and a wide, clear
He will pave the way for himself with his chest.
It’s just a pity to live in this wonderful time
You won’t have to, neither me nor you.
III
At this moment the whistle is deafening
He squealed - the crowd of dead people disappeared!
“I saw, dad, I had an amazing dream,
- Vanya said. - Five thousand men,
Representatives of Russian tribes and breeds
Suddenly they appeared - and he said to me:
“Here they are, the builders of our road!”
The general laughed!
I was recently within the walls of Vatican 9,
I wandered around Colosseum 10 for two nights,
I saw St. Stephen 11 in Vienna,
Well... did the people create all this?
Excuse me for this impudent laugh,
Your logic is a little wild.
Or for you Apollo Belvedere 12
Worse than a stove pot?
"Railway". Artist I. Glazunov. 1970
Here are your people - these 13 thermal baths and baths,
A miracle of art - he took everything away!
“I’m not speaking for you, but for Vanya...”
But the general did not allow him to object:
Your Slav, Anglo-Saxon and German
Do not create - destroy the master,
Barbarians! wild crowd of 14 drunkards!..
However, it’s time to take care of Vanyusha;
You know, the spectacle of death, sadness
It is a sin to disturb a child's heart.
Would you show the child now?
The bright side...
IV
Glad to show you!
Listen, my dear: fatal works
It’s over - the German is already laying the rails.
The dead are buried in the ground; sick
Hidden in dugouts; working people
A tight crowd gathered around the office...
They scratched their heads:
Each contractor owes 15 left,
Walking days have become a penny!
The foremen entered everything into a book -
Did he take you to the bathhouse, or was he lying sick?
“Maybe there is a surplus here now,
Here you go!..” They waved their hand...
In a blue caftan - a venerable meadowsweet 16,
Thick, stocky 17, red as copper,
A contractor is traveling along the line on holiday,
He goes to see his work.
The idle people part decorously...
The merchant wipes the sweat from his face
And he says, putting his hands on his hips:
“Okay... nothing... well done!.., well done!..
"Repair work on the railway." Artist K. Savitsky. 1874
With God, now go home - congratulations!
(Hats off - if I say!)
I expose a barrel of wine to the workers
And - I give you the arrears of 18!..”
Someone shouted “hurray”. Picked up
Louder, friendlier, longer... Lo and behold:
The foremen rolled the barrel singing...
Even the lazy man could not resist!
The people unharnessed the horses - and the purchase price
With a shout of “Hurray!” rushed along the road...
It seems difficult to see a more gratifying picture
Shall I draw, general?..
Questions and tasks
- What is the significance of the epigraph “Conversation in the carriage” in the poem?
- Re-read the first part of the poem. What can you say about a person who saw the picture of nature this way? How is the picture of nature related to the subsequent conversation between the author and his neighbors in the carriage?
- Why does Nekrasov call hunger “the king”? How does this king's power manifest itself?
- How do you understand the lines:
Many are in a terrible struggle,
Having brought these barren wilds back to life,
Did you find your coffin here?..
What idea is expressed by the antithesis? - Re-read the fantastic picture depicting a crowd of dead people. What do their words mean: “God’s warriors, peaceful children of labor”? What do we learn from their song, what feeling does it evoke?
- Re-read the last three quatrains of the second part. What allows the poet to believe in a better future? With what feeling does the poet speak about the future?
- What does the general think about the people, what words does he speak about the people? What is the author's attitude towards what is depicted? What words and expressions allow us to understand it?
- Why is the poem addressed to children?
The poem paints a picture of the distant past. What does it reveal to you living today? What does it teach? Prepare an oral, detailed answer to this question.
Consider a reproduction of the painting by artist K. A. Savitsky “Repair work on the railway.” How is the idea of this picture close to Nekrasov’s poem and how does it differ from the poet’s thoughts?
1 A coat with a red lining (overcoat) was worn by generals.
2 Count P. A. Kleinmichel - Tsar's minister, head of the construction of the railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow.
3 Vigorous - here: fresh, healthy.
4 Kochi - hummocks.
5 Charm is here: ignorance of the truth.
6 The foreman is the senior leader over a group of workers.
7 Koltun - hair gathered into a dense lump.
8 Spade - shovel.
9 Vatican - here: the palace of the Pope, which contains many monuments of art.
10 The Colosseum is a circus in Rome, built in ancient times.
11 St. Stephen is a cathedral in the capital of Austria, Vienna.
12 Apollo Belvedere - a sculpture depicting the ancient god Apollo (located in the Belvedere Palace of the Vatican).
13 Baths - baths in Ancient Rome, which were also sports, social and cultural institutions.
14 Crowd - crowd, gathering.
15 Contractor is the person who hired (contracted) the workers.
16 Labaz - a room for storing flour or grain; meadowsweet - merchant, owner of a storehouse.
17 Squat - squat, dense.
18 Arrears - here: what the workers, according to calculations, owed him.
“There is always something especially noble,
meek, gentle, fragrant and graceful
in every feeling of Pushkin.”
V.G. Belinsky
V.G. Belinsky precisely defined the purpose of poetry: “...to develop in people a sense of grace and a sense of humanity, meaning by this word endless respect for the dignity of man as a person.” And today this is its sacred purpose.
A.S. Pushkin is rightly called a miracle of Russian literature. His poetry is an inexhaustible source, which, as in a fairy tale, gives “living water” to everyone who touches it.
The whole world values the poet for what he himself valued in himself:
For a long time I will be so kind to the people,
That I awakened good feelings with my lyre...
Even before Pushkin, poetry served the people, but with him this need for Russian literature acquired unprecedented strength.
The first thing that attracts us when reading the poet’s works is the amazing power of feelings, the brilliance of the mind. But his poems must be read carefully, pondering every word, because this word is important for understanding the whole, because, as N.V. Gogol said, in every word of Pushkin there is “an abyss of space.”
What “good feelings” does Pushkin’s lyre awaken? At the dawn of his poetic activity, even in his lyceum poems, the poet thinks about the role and fate of poetry and the poet in his contemporary society. Understanding perfectly the unenviable fate of the poet, young Pushkin chose the path of literary creativity for himself:
My lot has fallen: I choose the lyre!
He chooses a “modest, noble lyre” that will serve only freedom, and his “incorruptible voice” will become “an echo of the Russian people.”
In the poems “Prophet”, “Poet”, “To the Poet”, “Echo” A.S. Pushkin develops his view of the tasks of the poet. The poet, in his opinion, must find feelings in himself in order to educate the reader, to lead him along, using his high gift. “With a verb, burn the hearts of people” - this is his motto. “The Prophet” contains the entire philosophy of Pushkin.
Dozens of poems by A.S. Pushkin are devoted to the theme of patriotism. The poet early felt the living breath of the history of his homeland and thought deeply about the fate of the country. Freedom became his muse. He saw that his people were groaning in the chains of centuries-old slavery and passionately awaiting their liberation. Pushkin, friend and inspirer of the Decembrists, in his youth in the ode “Liberty” declared with ardent conviction:
I want to sing freedom to the world,
Smite vice on the throne.
Young people knew the poet’s poems, breathing freedom, and were carried away by them. Decembrist M.N. Paskevich, for example, wrote that he “borrowed his first liberal thoughts from reading the free poems of Mr. Pushkin.”
Until the end of his days, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was an implacable enemy of the autocracy, a defender of people's freedom. It is not without reason that in the poem summing up his entire creative life, the poet takes special credit for the fact that “in my cruel age I glorified freedom and called for mercy for the fallen.”
It is impossible to read A.S. Pushkin’s amazing poems about nature without excitement. These are real paintings. So you see how “the forest drops its autumn outfit,” how “fog falls on the fields,” how “the caravan of noisy geese stretches,” and the moon “like a yellow spot,” and many other beautiful pictures, as if drawn by a wonderful artist. How deep is the poet’s love for everything native, national, near and dear to the heart of the Russian person! These poems perfectly instill love for the homeland.
An excellent source for awakening the kindest feelings are poems about friendship and love.
How many sincere poems the poet wrote to glorify strong, unchanging friendship. He was shocked to the depths of his soul by the news of the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, in which Kuchelbecker, Pushchin and many other friends dear to his heart took part. He worries about their future fate, emphasizes his spiritual closeness with them and is not afraid to openly admit it in the face of the king himself. With surprising courage for those years, the poet sent his message to the Decembrists in Siberia:
Deep in Siberian ores
Keep your proud patience,
Your sorrowful work will not be wasted
And I think about high aspiration.
Yes, A.S. Pushkin knew how to be a faithful and devoted friend.
And poems about love! “I remember a wonderful moment”, “On the hills of Georgia...”, “I loved you...” They are, indeed, “a genius of pure beauty”. Tender and passionate, cheerful and sad, they teach you to truly love. More than one generation of people has been excitedly reading the poet’s inspired lines, warmed by a rush of hot, sincere and pure feeling. His poems sing and shine. They have gone beyond the limits of their time and have become the property of everyone who is capable of experiencing the same selfless, happiness-filled love.
In Pushkin, even the simplest, everyday feelings are described in such a way that, reading some of his poems, you are amazed at his love of life, his ability to instill hope and faith in people. For example, this poem:
If life deceives you,
Don't be sad, don't be angry!
On the day of despondency, humble yourself:
The day of fun, believe me, will come.
The heart lives in the future;
The present is sad;
Everything is instant, everything will pass;
Whatever happens will be nice.
The poem was written in 1825. And this year for the poet was a year of “despondency.”
Is it really possible to list everything? Strict and deeply moral, cheerful, sometimes mischievous and not very modest, the poet’s works for the most part are not only an amazing monument to the human spirit and an inexhaustible source of pleasure, but also a “school of life” in which they teach “good feelings.”
And as long as “at least one person is alive,” Pushkin’s work will not be forgotten. For this is how spiritual wealth differs from material wealth, that the more it is spent, the greater it becomes.
Alexander Aleksandrovich Blok became a prominent representative of the Symbolists, who saw not only the past path of his country, but also the future. The homeland played an important role in the poet’s work.
Homeland in the works of A. A. Blok
The poet reflected the process of formation of Russia, touching on in his works not only the historical past of the country, but also its future, the tasks facing it, its purpose.
Blok became interested in the image of the Motherland even in the years. However, the flourishing of the theme was noted after its completion. The revolutionary experiences of rise and collapse are reflected in every stanza of the poet’s patriotic poems.
Blok’s poems about the Motherland are permeated with a feeling of boundless love and tenderness, but at the same time they are imbued with pain for the past and present of Russia and hope for a better future.
The poet believed that his country not only deserved a better future, it also showed the way to it. Therefore, he saw in her his consolation, healing:
Love for the Motherland remained the only pure and sincere feeling. It was on her that the poet’s soul, wounded by loneliness and misunderstanding of society, could rely. Blok himself realized.
The homeland and its worldview changed, but the change in the nature of feelings did not affect it, which the writer carried through his entire life.
Image of the Motherland and Alexander Alexandrovich
Thanks to the works of A. A. Blok, years later we can see Russia from the time of the author: full of movement, life, tear-stained, but still unique and original. A special vision of historical events affects the poet’s poems, in which the theme of the Motherland occupies an important place.
Blok created his own unique image of Russia, unknown to others. She became for him not a mother, but a beautiful woman: lover, friend, bride, wife.
The poet's early work is characterized by a vision of a poor and dense country, but at the same time unusual and talented.
The Motherland in Blok’s works is a beautiful beloved who will forgive in any situation. She always understands the poet, because she is part of the soul, its better half, a manifestation of purity. Blok understood that, despite her “shameless and unrepentant” sins, the Motherland remained “dearer than all lands” to him.
How does Blok see Russia? The homeland of Alexander Alexandrovich has charming features, which the poet called “robber beauty”: vast expanses, long roads, foggy distances, wind songs, loose ruts.
Blok loved his Fatherland recklessly, sincerely believing and hoping that soon “the light will overcome the darkness.”
Let's look at some of Alexander Blok's poems in order to most accurately understand the topic so significant for him: “Motherland”.
Block. Poem "Gamayun, the prophetic bird"
It is believed that the theme of the tragic history of Russia first appeared in a poem written by the very young Alexander, “Gamayun, the prophetic bird”:
The poem became Blok's first loud appeal, combining love for Russia and awareness of the horror of the past and present. But the author wants to understand the truth, no matter how terrible and scary it is.
The first deliberate and serious embodiment of patriotic thought is considered to be the work dated 1905, “Autumn Will”.
The poet addresses the Motherland:
The lyrical hero shown by Blok experiences loneliness, and it is unbearably tragic. Only love for Russia and its nature can help overcome it. The poet admits that the landscapes of his native land are sometimes plain and not pleasing to the eye, but they are the ones who can give peace, happiness and meaning to his tormented soul:
The psalms sung by the beggar are an echo of drunken Rus'. However, this does not bother the poet. After all, it is the true face of Russia, without embellishment and rich pathos, that is an inexhaustible source of his inspiration. It is this Motherland - dirty, drunk, poor - that heals Blok, gives him peace and hope.
Cycle of works “On the Kulikovo Field”
Blok’s poems about the Motherland, included in the cycle of works “On the Kulikovo Field,” have the deepest, passionate meaning. The history of his native country sounds louder here than the voice of the poet himself. Due to this, a tense and tragic effect is created, pointing to the country’s great past and predicting an equally great future.
Comparing the past and future deeds of a great power, the author looks in the past for the strength that allows Russia to boldly move towards its intended goal and not be afraid of “darkness - nightly and foreign.”
The “endless silence” in which the country is mired predicts “high and rebellious days,” as Blok believed. The homeland shown in the works stands at the crossroads of time and space - past, present and future. The historical path of the country is embodied in the lines:
The poem “Fed” became a response to the phenomena of the revolution in 1905. These lines express faith in the coming changes that both Blok himself and the Motherland expected.
Block. Poem "Rus"
The theme of the Motherland is also reflected in the work “Rus”. Here, a mysterious, unpredictable and at the same time beautiful Russia appears before readers. The country seems to the poet a fairy-tale and even witchcraft land:
Intertwined worlds (the real world and the world of dreams) help the poet mentally transport readers to ancient, bygone times, when Russia was full of witchcraft and sorcery spells.
The lyrical hero is recklessly in love with the country, and therefore reveres it. He sees her not just unusual, but mysterious, charmingly ancient. But Russia appears to him not only as fabulous, but also poor, suffering and sad.
The work “Deaf Born in Years” is dedicated to Z. N. Gippius and is permeated with anticipation of future changes.
Blok understood that the modern generation was doomed, so he called on it to rethink life and renew itself.
Russia's doom lies in its untapped potential. She, possessing incredible wealth, is terribly poor and frighteningly wretched.
Homeland as the central leitmotif of the work
The poem “Russia” amazes with its sincerity and honesty: not in a single line, not in a single word did the author lie about how he sees and feels his native country.
It is thanks to his honesty that the image of a poor Motherland appears before readers, which is directed “Into the distance of centuries.”
The poem feels the influence of the lyrical digression about the three-bird from the poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol.
Blok’s “troika” is developing into an ominous sign of a dramatic confrontation between the people and the intelligentsia. The image of the Motherland is embodied in the powerful and unrestrained elements: blizzard, wind, blizzard.
We see that Blok is trying to comprehend the significance of Russia, to understand the value and necessity of such a complex historical path.
Blok believed that through hidden strength and power Russia would get out of poverty.
The poet describes his love for the Motherland, admiration for the beauty of nature, thoughts about the fate of his country. Blok uses the motif of a road running through the entire poem. At first we see poor Russia, but then it appears to us in the image of a country that is wide and powerful. We believe that the author is right, because you should always hope for the best.
Blok shows us Russia, poor but beautiful. This contradiction is manifested even in the epithets used by the poet, for example, “robber beauty.”
Two sphinxes in the works of A. A. Blok
Nikolai Gumilyov wrote very beautifully about the poetry of A. Blok: “In front of A. Blok there are two sphinxes, forcing him to sing and cry with their unresolved riddles: Russia and his own soul. The first is Nekrasov's, the second is Lermontov's. And often, very often, Blok shows us them, merged into one, organically inseparable.”
Gumilyov's words are an inviolable truth. They can be proven with the poem “Russia”. It has a strong influence from the first sphinx, Nekrasov's. After all, Blok, like Nekrasov, shows us Russia from two opposite sides: powerful and at the same time powerless and wretched.
Blok believed in the strength of Russia. However, in contrast to Nekrasov’s behests, Alexander Alexandrovich loved his Motherland only with sadness, without endowing his feelings with anger. Blok's Russia is endowed with human traits, the poet endows it with the image of his beloved woman. Here the influence of the second sphinx is manifested - Lermontov's. But their similarity is not complete. Blok expressed more intimate, personal feelings, endowed with noble thoughtfulness, while in Lermontov’s poems one could sometimes hear hussar arrogance.
Should we feel sorry for Russia?
The poet says that he does not know how and cannot feel sorry for the Motherland. But why? Maybe because, in his opinion, nothing can dim the “beautiful features” of Russia except care. Or maybe the reason is pity?
The poet loves his homeland. This is the hidden reason for the lack of pity towards her. would kill the pride of Russia, would humiliate its dignity. If we compare a large country with an individual person, we get a good example of the relationship between pity and humiliation. A person who is pitied by saying how poor and unhappy he is loses not only his self-esteem, but sometimes also his desire to live, as he begins to understand his own worthlessness.
All difficulties must be conquered with your head held high, without expecting sympathy. Perhaps this is exactly what A. A. Blok wants to show us.
The poet’s enormous historical merit lies in the fact that he connected the past with the present, which we see in many of his poems.
The homeland became the connecting theme of many of A. Blok’s works. It is closely connected with various motifs of his poems: love, retribution, revolution, the past path and the future path.
That's what he wrote and it seems he was completely right.