Analysis of Mandelstam's poem "Century"
My age...
This combination of words causes various associations, but, for the most part, this is something necessarily good. But, having become acquainted with Mandelstam's poem "The Age", you realize that each person has his own idea of \u200b\u200blife.
In this poem, Mandelstam comprehends the time, his era. Mandelstam's age is presented as a terrible beast, in which all the vertebrae are interconnected, but the slightest change can affect the historical course of events. "Wave" is a revolution that can radically change the political and social foundations of society and the state. And the blow falls on the most vulnerable and sore spot, on the "crown", that is, the revolution is ready to destroy the old way of life. But, according to Mandelstam,
To wrest the century from captivity,
To new world to start, you need to use creativity, that is, life is connected with creativity, which can control time. But in the third stanza, the author claims that "the century is swaying with human anguish." It turns out that time "dictates" a person's worldview. In the fourth stanza, some hope appears, since “the buds will still swell”, but again a contradiction - the eyelid receives a “mortal bruise”. And all hopes, desires dissolve in time, in such a merciless time that dictates to a person his life ...
Is there anything better life? I think no. Life is what is given to man. Even if life for someone is disappointment, pain, suffering, then there is nothing more pleasant than to feel and experience it. But, after reading Mandelstam's poem "Century", the purpose of a person becomes incomprehensible, one does not want to believe that a century, and not a person, dictates an opinion.
Bibliography
For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.litra.ru/
The events of the October Revolution are very tragic and bloody. Many of these actions left an indelible imprint on the personality of many authors, including the great poet Osip Mandelstam. It would seem that everything should get better, because with the advent of Soviet power, great changes are coming: the tsarist autocracy is overthrown, everything should change for the better. Not everything is as happy as it should have been: a huge number of innocent people died, there were thousands of victims. The turning points in history were bloody.
Everything that happened at that time greatly worried and disturbed Mandelstam. The poet created a very penetrating poem, in which everything was accurately and vividly described: just the cry of the poet's soul, his feelings and experiences.
The change of centuries, from the 19th to the 20th, was a tough one indeed. This time Mandelstam calls the beast. Everything around is changing, life and the usual way of life is also changing. It was hard for people to come to terms with the new laws and way of life. The Bolsheviks tried to build a new world, however, for the sake of this new world, they had to go through collapse and devastation.
Mandelstam vividly and colorfully showed in his poem "Vek" that the change of power, the October Revolution, was a real tragedy, which must be corrected as soon as possible. The poet believed that only the arts and the creative power possessed by talented people are capable of this. People needed the truth, which no one but writers could show them. Only people of art could open people's eyes to the truth. The Russian people have already experienced so much during their entire existence. Around reigned chaos, devastation and trouble. People were in a panic, did not know what to do and what to expect.
Mandelstam is trying to cope with the new government thanks to his creativity and zeal. He is inspired, wants to fight and does not intend to give up. He calls on all those who are connected with art to fight with him, so that all of them together can save all those who suffered at this time from bitterness and anger. After all, if this does not happen, nothing better will happen. There will be no changes. There will be no salvation, which people are waiting for.
A century is a beast - a comparison that Mandelstam considered the most appropriate. The Beast is tired of the changes, eternal wars and problems that have fallen on the heads of ordinary people. Mandelstam used various artistic techniques to make his verse even more expressive, penetrating and sensual.
Analysis of the poem Vek according to plan
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The poem “Vek” was written by Mandelstam in 1922. This is the writer’s understanding of the new century, his era, the revolution of 1917, which the young poet accepted with enthusiasm, civil war and its consequences.
Literary direction and genre
The signs of acmeism as the basis of the poet's work clearly appear in this poem. All abstract concepts are materialized (the age is like a beast, the current difficult time has broken its spine, the earthly elements also have cartilages and vertebrae). For the sensitive Mandelstam, the ensuing chaos is like the death of his beloved earthly tangible things, the destruction of the world order. By genre, the poem belongs to philosophical lyrics, it is an elegy.
Theme, main idea and composition
The poem consists of 40 lines. It is divided into 5 octets. Each eight-line formally breaks up into 2 quatrains, not connected by rhyme, but interconnected by meaning. Each octet is a new turn of the poet's thought.
In the first stanza, the lyrical hero refers to the beast-age, which fell at the turn of the ages, whose spine is broken. The poet defines the main problems of the age: all earthly things are wounded, blood gushing from their throats. But she is the builder of blood. Only the sacrifice of blood will glue the vertebrae of the beast. This should be a man not a timid ten, not a backbone. He will have to look into the pupils of the beast, stand face to face with him, try to understand him. This is a search for a hero, a plea for help.
The second stanza indicates the reason why the beast is wounded: the wave plays with its spine. Researchers of Mandelstam's work see the wave as a symbol of revolution, but the symbol is always ambiguous. These can be various dramatic and tragic events at the turn of the century. In the second part of the stanza, we are talking about the deeds of the “wave”. The eyelid is likened to the tender cartilage of a child sacrificed. From the point of view of the lyrical hero, everything most important and vulnerable (the crown of life) was killed, and at the beginning of its existence, in the infancy of the earth.
In the third stanza, the lyrical hero offers his way out, how to start " new century and wrest the old from captivity. Here the word century acquires an even narrower meaning of "epoch", that is, it can not even be calculated. human life, and even more so not a century, but to be a short turning point. At the eyelid, knees appear, consisting of knotty days. The flute that binds the knees is a symbol of creativity or creation. But creation is impossible, because the wave (revolution and cataclysms) does not swing by itself, but people, with their longing and thirst for a good life, shake the wave. The viper, breathing with the measure of the golden age, is at the same time a serpent-tempter, offering a revolutionary path, and a wise ideal of the golden age, to which those who thirst for revolution aspired.
The fourth stanza is about the course of history and the change of eras in general. The lyrical hero suggests that other times will be happy, but the century in which he happened to live can only look back at the time when he was a flexible beast, at the traces of his deeds of those times when the spine was not broken.
The last stanza is tragic. The lyrical hero did not find a cultural hero capable of healing the beast. The blood-builder continues to gush out of earthly things (refrain of the first stanza). All earthly elements (sea, sky) are indifferent to what is happening in human society. The wound of the century is fatal, this era will be marked by tragic events.
The theme of the poem is a prophecy about the tragedy and incurability of the age, about the destructiveness of ongoing events. The main idea is the inevitability and inevitability of destruction and death, which is due to inaction and misunderstanding of society, the absence of real heroes in it.
Paths and images
The whole poem is metaphorical (the age-beast, the blood-builder, the vertebrae of centuries, the throat of earthly things, the backbone trembles, the threshold of new days, the crown of life, tear the eyelid out of captivity, tie knotted knees with a flute, the warm cartilage of the seas sweeps hot fish into the shore, a bird's net - the sky, wet blocks - clouds). The epithets in the poem are most often metaphorical. A mortal bruise is the most important image, a conclusion about the impossibility of healing the era, an attempt to come to terms.
At the heart of the images is personification. Mandelstam animates not just natural phenomena (the sea, the sky also have vertebrae, they look, the wave plays), but also the abstract concept of the era (the age, the throat of earthly things). In the beast-century, not only the appearance is described (pupils, vertebrae, knotted knees of days, paws), but also personal traits(epithets beautiful, pitiful, once flexible, cruel and weak, meaningless smile).
The double comparison in the second stanza (the eyelid is compared to the delicate cartilage of a child, and its sacrifice to the biblical sacrifice of a lamb) complicates the syntax and perception.
The images of the wave, the viper, the breathing measure of the golden age, the flute, the blood of things are symbolic.
Hamlet is the hero that a person of the Renaissance has, but who is not at the beginning of the 20th century. He is ready to set the century own hand. Another thing is that he does not succeed.
Size and rhyme
The poem is written in four-foot chorea, the rhythm is simple and clear, the rhyme is crossed, the feminine rhyme alternates with the masculine. The simple form does not distract from the content, which each reader understands in his own way, interpreting the poem within the text.
The image of the century in O. Mandelstam's poem "Century"
My age, my beast...
O. Mandelstam
Osip Mandelstam rightfully occupies a special place in the literature of the 20th century - among such great names as Mayakovsky, Yesenin, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Pasternak.
The poet was always honest and open to himself and his time, and although many trials fell to his lot, he strove for a free and frank expression of his thoughts, without fear and doubt he went towards a difficult fate. And therefore, even in the most difficult years for himself and the country, he could not help but find himself on the highest crest of historical insight © All Soch. RU 2005 and self-realization. A sensitive heart and a liberated mind gave him the opportunity to look into the future and soberly assess the present.
The image of a cruel and bloody time, which at the same time brought up a whole galaxy of remarkable poets and writers and was the "cradle of a new life", appears before us in O. Mandelstam's poem "The Age", written in 1923.
Blood-builder gushing Throat of earthly things, The backbone only trembles On the threshold of new days.
Mandelstam accepted the revolution in the hope that it would bring the people true freedom and, consequently, happiness. The revolution brought pain, blood, famine, destruction* because it began not with the construction of the new, but with the destruction of the old. But in a difficult time for the country, Mandelstam does not leave his homeland in search of a more peaceful life, but is ready to share both grief and joy with her.
My age, my beast, who will be able to look into your pupils, And glue the vertebrae of two centuries with their blood?
The century seems to the poet a beast, because this time was characterized by superhumanity, spontaneity, uncontrollability of events that managed to break the back of an established life, but were unable to independently raise a new being. Mandelstam sees the deep roots of the tragedy that has unfolded and is ready, with the sensitive instrument of his art, to help the troubled and enraged age regain harmony and harmony, in order to strengthen the mutilated and bloodied ridge of time with the "flute-spine":
To wrest a century from captivity, To start a new world,
Knotty knee days Need to be tied with a flute.
But it takes time to build a new one, and it is sorely lacking, just as the efforts of one poet are not enough to heal the wounds of an entire country: "Indifference pours, pours on your mortal bruise."
And yet, despite the difficult events that Mandelstam also witnessed, life goes on, goes on as usual. Man is only a grain of sand in the ocean of the universe, and it is capable not only of destruction, but also of creation - one must believe in this and strive for this. Otherwise, life will pass by, leaving people alone with their troubles, problems and pain.
And the buds will still swell, The green shoot will splatter, But your spine is broken, My beautiful miserable age! And with a meaningless smile You look back, cruel and weak, Like a beast, once flexible, At the traces of your own paws.
Osip Mandelstam - one of the brightest representatives of poets Silver Age. It is difficult to overestimate his contribution to the development of Russian literature of the 20th century, and his tragic fate leaves no one indifferent.
In itself, Mandelstam is fascinating and interesting, moreover, he reveals in his lyrics the world of acmeists, their attitude to poetry and artistic orientation. The article will cover the most famous works writer: "Leningrad", "Insomnia", "Tender Evening", "Century" and "Notre Dame".
Curriculum vitae
The future poet was born in 1891 in a Warsaw merchant family, which in 1897 moved to St. Petersburg. Here Osip Emilievich graduated from the Tenishev School. Then he goes to Paris, attends lectures at the Sorbonne, and studies at the University of Heidelberg.
In 1910, his poems were published for the first time in the Apollo magazine. In a year, Mandelstam becomes his own in the literary environment, while gravitating towards the ideas of the acmeists. In 1913, the writer publishes the first collection of poems - "Stone".
The poet ends in 1938, when he was repressed and exiled to Voronezh. Mandelstam died in the exile camp and was buried in a mass grave.
The analysis of the poem also helps to reveal the peculiarities of the poet's worldview. In this regard, Mandelstam reveals to the reader his point of view on what happened at the beginning of the twentieth century in Russia, and to which he himself was a witness.
Characteristics of the lyrics of Osip Mandelstam
Mandelstam's poetic path began at the age of 14, when the first poems were written. From this moment begins the early period of creativity, characterized by pessimism and the search for the meaning of life. Initially, Mandelstam was fascinated by the ideas of the Symbolists and turned to musical images and motifs in his poetry. However, acquaintance with the acmeists dramatically changed the ideas and tone of the poet's lyrics. In such works as "Nature - the same Rome ..." architectural images begin to appear, which confirms the analysis of the poem. Mandelstam understands the development of civilizations as a continuous constant process, where cultural heritage(including architecture) reflects the changes and views of peoples.
In order to understand and comprehend the features of Mandelstam's lyrics, it is necessary to turn to the analysis of his programmatic poems.
"Leningrad"
An analysis of the poem "Leningrad" by Mandelstam can begin with a description of the plot. The lyrical hero returns to the city of his childhood - Leningrad. Here he found his calling, found friends, many of whom he can no longer meet. His connection with the city is so strong that it is comparable to blood and carnal ties: "to the veins, to the swollen glands of children." This is a connection with the space of Leningrad: “the fat of the Leningrad river lights”, “the yolk is mixed with the sinister tar” (a metaphor that also describes the dim sunlight). But the bonds of friendship are the strongest: "I still have addresses where I can find dead voices." But no matter how strong the connection between the lyrical hero and the city is, there are those who can easily break it - “guests”. They come at night without invitation and take their relatives and friends with them. Their arrival is tantamount to death, as those whom they take away never return.
An analysis of the poem "Leningrad" by Mandelstam speaks of an incredibly disturbing time. The author perfectly conveyed the growing anxiety, the lack of any protection from the arbitrariness that is happening around and the hopelessness of the future.
"Vek"
This is one of the most expressive and terrifying works that Mandelstam wrote. Analysis of the poem "My age, my beast ..." largely reflects the same feelings about the loss of the usual calm world as the previous verse.
Mandelstam compares his age with a ruthless and unbridled beast that broke the backbone of an established world order and cannot fix it, looking back longingly at the past. The poet subtly feels the whole tragedy of what is happening and tries with his art (which the flute personifies) to connect the vertebrae, but there is no time, and the strength of one person is not enough. And the "blood-builder" continues to flow from the wounds of the country. The image of the age-beast contains not only unbridledness, but also helplessness: a broken spine prevents it from regaining its former strength, it remains only to look "at the traces of its own paws." Thus, Mandelstam is painfully, hard and tragically experiencing the revolutionary events and the change of power.
Analysis of the poem "Insomnia"
The work is based on the second song of Homer's Iliad - "The Dream of Boeotia, or the List of Ships", which lists all the ships and generals that went to Troy.
The beginning of the poem is the word "insomnia", which describes the physical condition of the hero. And immediately the poet immerses the reader in the ancient Greek myth: “Homer. Tight couple…”. Endlessly stretching ships, like an endless night, tormenting and not allowing you to fall asleep. The image of the crane wedge only enhances the slowness and prolongation of space and time, which Mandelstam seeks to emphasize. The analysis of the poem "Insomnia" reflects the smooth flow of time and thoughts of the lyrical hero. From the description of the ships, he proceeds to reflect on the purpose of the ancient war. A huge army is driven by love: “Where are you sailing? If not for Helena, what would Troy be to you, Achaean men? .. Both the sea and Homer - everything is moved by love. The next line returns to reality, to the real era for the lyrical hero: “Whom should I listen to? And here Homer is silent.
Love is the main driving force, which has remained unchanged from ancient times to this day, - such an opinion was expressed in this poem by Osip Mandelstam.
Analysis of the poem "Tender Evening"
The poem describes one of the picnics on the shore mediterranean sea, where Mandelstam was a frequent guest during his studies at the Sorbonne. This work stands out sharply against the background of all the poet's work with its joy, happiness and carefree pink light. The poet acts as a romantic, paints a beautiful landscape picture filled with sounds, smells and bright colors. The nineteen-year-old writer is happy, he feels the freedom and limitlessness of his possibilities, the whole world opens up before him. The poet openly expresses his opinion, he does not have fear and fear of incurring trouble (which appear in later works).
After returning to Russia, he will never write such joyful lines to Mandelstam. An analysis of the poem "Tender Evening" reveals the writer's cheerful, thirsty for freedom and life soul.
"Notre Dame"
The poem "Notre Dame", like the previous one, is based on the impressions that my studies in France left about myself. Mandelstam traveled a lot during this period and was shocked by the view. architectural monument dedicated poem. Mandelstam describes the building incredibly metaphorically and sensually. An analysis of the poem "Notre Dame" reveals the beauty of the cathedral, compared with a living being: "the light arch of the cross plays with muscles." The poet is frightened and delighted with the spectacle, he is imbued with the beauty and grandeur of the structure and gradually recognizes it as the most beautiful in the world.
In the very first line, Mandelstam refers to the history of the creation of the Cathedral: "Where the Roman judge judged a foreign people." The emerging Roman theme is necessary in order to show the connection between architecture and the cultural and historical development of peoples.
He admires and marvels at the abilities of the ancient architects Mandelstam. The analysis of the poem "Notre Dame" can be reduced to a description of the contrasts on which the whole work is built: "light vault" - "mass of a heavy wall", "Egyptian power" - "Christian timidity", "oak" - "reed". In the combination of contradictory feelings, dissimilar materials and different approaches to the image, the beauty of both the cathedral itself and the poet's poem is hidden.
Output
Thus, a simple analysis of the poem will help to reveal the soul, worldview and mood of the poet. Mandelstam is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and unusual poets of the Silver Age, whose work delights, attracts and fascinates.
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