The article will consider in detail one of the most famous poems of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and analyze it. "The Village" (Pushkin) is a work that reflected the political views of the poet, his opinion on the role of the Russian peasantry in the life of the country.
Features of Pushkin's poetry
The work of the great poet is divided into several stages. However, all of them are united by a number of themes and features that arose in the early period of Pushkin's formation. Communication with the Decembrists and famous writers had a particularly strong influence on the formation of the writer's artistic consciousness. Also, the development of his literary abilities was influenced by Russian folklore and Western European culture and literature.
The second stage of the poet's work, relating to the post-lyceum period, reflects the analysis of the poem "Village". Pushkin during this period led an active political and social life, he was especially keenly worried about the need to adopt reforms that would help change the autocratic structure of Russia. Subsequent periods of the poet's work are associated with references. Romantic, philosophical, and later realistic motives begin to predominate in them.
Analysis: "The Village" (Pushkin)
The analysis of any poem is carried out according to a specific plan, which may be as follows:
- History of creation.
- Theme and idea.
- Lyrical "I".
- Composition.
- Poetic size.
- Visual and expressive means.
The history of the creation of the poem
As noted above, the poem belongs to the second, St. Petersburg period of the poet's work and was written in 1819. Active secret meetings with the Decembrists, communication with Chaadaev and Ryleev - all influenced the theme of the poem "Village". The analysis of Pushkin's poem includes the poet's statements about the despotism of the autocracy, about the political and social lack of freedom of people, about the inhumanity of serfdom.
Theme and Idea
The main theme of the work is the problem of serfdom. Pushkin seeks to show its perniciousness, barbarism and anti-humanism. To focus on cruelty and unfair treatment of the people, the poet resorts to opposition. Structural analysis of the verse "Village" (Pushkin) allows us to speak of a two-part composition.
The first part of the poem (ends with the words “In the depths of the soul ripen ...”) reflects an idyllic picture of village life. Pushkin sings of her peace, natural beauty, harmony, she gives inspiration and promotes creativity and poetry, morally cleanses. The second part sounds like a sharp contrast, where the poet openly speaks out against autocratic despotism, points to the suffering of the oppressed people, to the unnaturalness of serfdom and the cruelty of the slave system.
The image of a lyrical hero
The lyrical hero is a person who is able to appreciate the beauty and harmony of the world that exists according to the laws of nature, which is what the village is. For him, this is an idyllic world, "a haven of tranquility ... and inspiration", here he finds freedom. The poet paints a heavenly picture: fields, meadows, "a garden with its coolness and flowers", "bright streams", "peaceful noise of oak forests".
The hero in the first part acts as a romantic with a finely organized soul and the ability to feel the beautiful, in the second part - from a civic position, which is confirmed by the analysis. "The Village" (Pushkin) is a work where the poet's lyrical "I" is dramatically transformed, the romantic turns into a politician who perfectly understands the shortcomings of the monarchical system of his country. The image of the landlords is noteworthy: “The lordship is wild, without feeling, without law ...” This ignorant oppressive force lives off the “skinny slavery”.
The lyrical hero bitterly regrets that his voice cannot "disturb the heart", therefore he is not able to change the arbitrariness that is happening in the country. His cherished dream is to see the "dawn of enlightened freedom" so that the landowners stop appropriated "both labor, and property, and the time of the farmer."
Composition and meter
The poem is written in the form oratory in which the poet expresses the thoughts and ideas of the progressive people of his time. The story begins with an appeal to the beauties of the village and a description of the idyll. Such an introduction is absolutely appropriate. Continuing to develop his thoughts in the chosen style, the poet builds the second and third stanzas in the same way. He uses the same technique in the second part, starting the stanzas with the word "here." The abundance of exclamatory and interrogative sentences is also determined by the oratorical style. Pushkin refers to such a compositional construction for a reason. His poem is a call not only in content, but also in form. This is an open action that requires the elimination of an injustice that arose centuries ago.
Structural analysis of the work "The Village" by Pushkin allows us to conclude that the poem is written in alternating with tetrameter. Rhyming is cross, male rhyme (1st, 3rd lines) alternates with female (2nd, 4th lines).
Visual and expressive means
Not only the content is different, but also different parts of the poem "Village". The analysis of Pushkin's work can be continued by the fact that the poet builds the beginning intonation so that the reader is immersed in a world of calm and friendliness. This atmosphere is created thanks to the epithets: “peaceful noise”, “silence of the fields”, “azure plains”.
The second part is more expressive, the poet is indignant and excited. Hence a lot of words with a bright emotional coloring: “wild nobility”, “relentless owner”, “destruction of people”, “heavy yoke”.
Conclusion
Speech against serfdom - this is the main theme of the poem "Village". Brief analysis Pushkin's work showed that the poet rebels against the tyranny of autocracy and wants justice and freedom for the Russian people.
The poem "The Village" was written by Pushkin in 1819, during the so-called "Petersburg" period of his work. For the poet it was time active participation in the socio-political life of the country, visiting the secret union of the Decembrists, friendship with Ryleev, Lunin, Chaadaev. The most important issues for Pushkin during this period were the social structure of Russia, the social and political lack of freedom of many people, the despotism of the autocratic-feudal system of government ...
So, the poet devotes the poem “Village” to the problem of serfdom, which worried many thinking people of that time. The poem has a two-part composition: the first part (before the words “... but the thought is terrible ...”) is an idyll, while the second is a political declaration, an appeal to strong of the world this.
The village for the lyrical hero is, on the one hand, a “desert corner”, a kind of ideal world where silence and harmony reign. In this land, “a haven of tranquility, work and inspiration”, the hero gains spiritual freedom, indulges in “creative thoughts”. The images of this part of the poem: “a dark garden with its coolness and flowers”, “bright streams”, “striped fields”, “scattered huts in the distance”, “winged mills” are undoubtedly romanticized, which creates an idyllic picture of peace and tranquility. But a completely different side of life in the village is revealed to us in the second part, where the poet ruthlessly denounces the disgrace social relations, the arbitrariness of the landowners and the disenfranchised position of the people. “Wild nobility” and “skinny slavery”, the main images of this part, embody “ignorance, a murderous shame”, all the irregularity and inhumanity of serfdom. The lyrical hero, identified with the poet himself, who calls himself a “friend of mankind”, does not accept this injustice and lawlessness, wants to “disturb the hearts ...” of people, exposing the atrocities of the landlords and the hopelessness of the life of the peasants, dreams of seeing “the people not oppressed” and “the fatherland of enlightened freedom ". The world surrounding the hero, full of cruelty and violence, a world where some “a burdensome yoke drags them to the grave”, while others, “not seeing tears, not heeding a groan”, “appropriated the work, and property, and time of the farmer”, looks especially ugly against the backdrop of beautiful, harmonious nature, the realm of “happiness and oblivion”. Thus, a contrast is created between the two parts of the poem, which makes it possible to reveal with particular force the idea of inferiority, the impossibility of the existence of serfdom.
The poet also uses many figurative and expressive means of the language. In the first part, they create a romantic and peaceful atmosphere: “the stream of my days flows”, “winged mills”, “azure plains lakes”, “peaceful noise of oak forests”, “silence of fields”. And in the second part, the poet uses figurative means to most vividly expose the ugliness of the social system: “... with a violent vine”, “alien plow”, “tormented slaves”, “relentless owner”. In addition, the last seven lines of the poem are filled with rhetorical questions and exclamations, because they have the character of an appeal to others, express the indignation of the lyrical hero and his unwillingness to put up with the unfair structure of society.
The size of the poem is iambic six-foot. Rhyme - both male and female, both cross and ring:
I greet you, deserted corner (female),
Shelter of tranquility, work and inspiration (male),
Where the invisible stream of my days flows (f.)
In the bosom of happiness and oblivion (m.)
(cross rhyme a-b-a-b).
I am yours - I love this dark garden
With its coolness and flowers,
This meadow, lined with fragrant stacks,
Where bright streams in the bushes rustle
(ring rhyme a-b-b-a).
The poem "Village" aroused the anger and discontent of the government. After all, it is in it that the great Russian poet denounces the “wild nobility”, which turned the life of ordinary people into a “burdensome yoke”. But it is precisely their labors that build that beautiful picture that is described in the first part of the poem.
History of creation
The student can begin the analysis of Pushkin's "Village" with the history of the creation of the work. It was written in 1819. When the young poet, after graduating from the lyceum, received the post of collegiate secretary in St. Petersburg, he did not even suspect that after three years Alexander I himself would be happy to exile him to Siberia, and maybe even to the Solovetsky Islands. Only thanks to the petition of close friends of the poet - V. Zhukovsky, A. Karamzin, A. Turgenev - it was decided to replace the sentence with a reference to the south of Russia.
The king's displeasure
Why did the anger of the tsar, who defeated the Napoleonic army, and in whose honor the “Pillar of Alexandria” fanned with glory stood on Palace Square fall? The reason was the freedom-loving works of the poet. The tsar once even reproached the then head of the lyceum E. A. Engelhardt for the fact that his graduate "flooded Russia with his outrageous works." Pushkin was not a member of any secret society, of which there were many then. After all, for this he was too unpredictable and quick-tempered. However, it turned out that for just one poem, in which the great Russian poet freely expressed his thoughts, he was exiled to the south. After all, it was this work that was saturated with hopes that great reforms could await the country.
What did the poet say
At that time, the poet was working on the creation of the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila", which he began during his studies at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. But, finally finding himself at liberty after six years of study, the poet begins to write about the "freedom of the saint." And he called his first work, related to the genre of ode, “Liberty”. In it, he condemned tyrants who disregard the laws. And in the work "The Village", which was written after two years, the great Russian poet angrily condemns serfdom.
Continuing the analysis of Pushkin's "Village", we can point out that this work is a socio-political monologue. It affects those social problems which deeply disturbed the author. According to his convictions, Pushkin was a supporter of the constitutional monarchy, while he denounced serfdom, indicating that the liberation of the people was to take place at the behest of the ruler. During the life of the poet, only the first part of the work was printed. The second was distributed only in lists. The entire poem was published by Herzen abroad in 1856, and in Russia in 1870.
Artistic media
Making a literary analysis of Pushkin's "Village", the student can also describe the artistic means used by the poet for a good grade. Big role oppositions, antonymic images play in the poem, for example, “wild nobility” - “heavy yoke”. The poet includes in the work exclamations that are characteristic of the ode genre, as well as rhetorical questions. Similar techniques are usually used in the journalistic style of the pamphlet. We see that in Pushkin's "Village" means of expression are used in a variety of ways. Also, a special sounding of the work is given by its size - iambic six-meter. In another way, it is called "Alexandrian verse" and is often used in odes.
Sublime and accusatory work
Pushkin's work is full of accusatory pathos, Old Slavonic terms, as well as ancient images (the influence of classicism affects here). There are also many solemn, pompous turns in it. After the first part of the work was published, Emperor Alexander I ordered to express gratitude to the poet, and after the second part was distributed, he exiled the great poet to the south of Russia. Analyzing Pushkin's "Village", one can also mention one of the most interesting features poems. This is his composition - the poet uses the technique of genre displacement. The first part is more like a sentimental pastoral, the second is closer to a political pamphlet.
idyllic place
At the beginning of Pushkin's Poem "The Village" the reader is immersed in an idyllic picture of the village. The first stanzas can undoubtedly be attributed to idyllic landscape lyrics. Here the paintings, which are drawn by the poet, breathe beauty and tranquility. He writes that in this area he lives with completely different moral values. And for the great Russian poet, it is especially important that in the countryside he has the opportunity to create. Most of the images mentioned in the first part of Pushkin's poem "The Village" are romanticized. This is a “dark garden”, “striped fields”.
The village for the poet is a place of silence and tranquility. Here he finally finds spiritual freedom. The epithets in Pushkin's "Village" create a picture of appeasement. This quiet corner is much more dear to the poet than the “vicious court of Circe”, or, for example, “luxurious feasts”. The lyrical hero is sure that he will find peace in creativity in this idyllic place, but his dreams did not come true. The intonation of the first part of the work is calm, friendly. The poet is carefully engaged in the selection of epithets that he uses in in large numbers. This helps him convey a picture of a rural landscape.
Lord's arbitrariness
Sometimes as homework the student is given the question of what and what is opposed in Pushkin's "Village". The poet's humanistic ideals are opposed to the picture of cruelty and slavery. This is where the antithesis is used. Reality destroyed all his thoughts about peace in the countryside. The second part of the work has a completely different color. It was not passed by the censors, and the poet had to put four lines of dots instead. In it, Alexander Sergeevich mercilessly denounces those who turned out to be the ruler of people to their death.
Antithesis
This compositional technique - the contrast between the first part of the work and the final one - is intended to have a great impact on the reader. And with its help, the poet manages to further strengthen the impression of the revealing image of tyranny, which does not allow people to live freely, to embody their life aspirations.
The pictures of this arbitrariness are horrifying in that any person could be in the place of serfs, who, in hard work, lose their human appearance. With the help of his poetic gift, Pushkin masterfully depicts the images of the “bar”, and does it indirectly - the reader sees what the life of a serf turns into because of this arbitrariness. The main definitions given by the poet in the second part are “wild nobility”, “skinny nobility”. With their help, the theme of Pushkin's "Village" becomes clear - the injustice of the serf yoke.
Citizen Poet
And the poet-dreamer thus turns into a worthy citizen - he now speaks not on behalf of a private individual, but on behalf of the entire advanced society, which seeks to provide freedom to the people from the serfdom. The great Russian poet understands that everything in the country is decided by the ruler. And he hopes that someday this slavery will be abolished due to the "mania of the tsar", and in the end, for the Russian state, a radically new era will finally come over the "fatherland of enlightened freedom", when the oppressed person will receive their rights, and there will be no more must give his life on the altar of the well-being of spoiled and cruel landlords.
We examined the history of the creation of Pushkin's "Village", the features of this work, which created so many difficulties for the poet, but served as a way for him to express his opinion about injustice. In the work, the poet does not give an answer on how exactly to fight injustice. The mood of the narrator cannot be called rebellious. His inner world is rich, but in it the reader can also see those concepts that are the most valuable for the lyrical hero - this is following the truth, peace, freedom, creativity.
The poem "The Village" by Pushkin, which we will analyze, is indicative of the understanding that it is difficult to divide the lyrics according to thematic feature. The scope of one theme is tight for this elegy. Found in it new form the embodiment of freedom-loving motives, but, in addition, a picture of rural nature was created, and thoughts about history, literature, and creativity were expressed.
chief artistic medium in the poem "The Village", which is close in genre to an elegy (from the Greek "sad song", a genre form in lyrics, a poem expressing concentrated reflection or being an emotional monologue that conveys the sadness of a lyrical hero from the consciousness of moral and political imperfections or from love turmoil) , is the antithesis. Antithesis (from the Greek “opposition”) is an openly expressed opposition, a contrast that is not hidden behind other relationships, but is revealed due to the artistic features of the work. In The Village, an extended antithesis arises between the two parts of the poem. The first consists of three stanzas, published in 1826 under the title "Seclusion". They used free iambic. In the initial quatrain, a combination of three lines of iambic six-foot is repeated with a four-foot ending, which is constant in the first Russian elegy, owned by V.A. Zhukovsky ("Evening", 1806). As in it, the lyrical hero, residing in the bosom of nature, cherishes the signs of the landscape - "the peaceful noise of the oaks", "the silence of the fields." The coolness of a dark garden, the aromas of flowers and hay, the overflow of water in streams and lakes are discussed in the second stanza, which continues the outline of rural harmony. The idea that in nature not only beauty is revealed to the attentive observer, but also the balance of colors, sounds, smells, sounded from Zhukovsky. It was not conspicuous, it was “quiet” (“How pleasant your quiet harmony! ..” - “Evening”), but pacified the soul, forcing one to believe in the meaningfulness of being.
The gaze of the lyrical hero Pushkin sees “traces of contentment” in everything: the meadow is lined with stacks of hay, the sail of the fisherman turns white on the lake, the fields are plowed, herds roam along the shore, the wings of mills rotate, ovens are heated in barns where grain is dried.
The richness and diversity of human life is complemented by a harmonious combination of colors and sounds in nature (dark garden - bright streams, azure lakes - yellow fields; silence of the fields - the sound of streams). Everything moves, shimmers, makes up a “moving picture”. A wind blows over it, carrying the aromas of flowers and smoke escaping from the chimneys of the barns.
“Scattered” (“Scattered huts in the distance ...”) life on the ground makes the lyrical hero forget about the delusions inspired by his pastime in the capital. It was luxurious, feasts were replaced by fun, it was fascinated by high-society circuses (Circe, or Kirk, - in Greek mythology, the name of the sorceress who kept Odysseus on her island - Homer. "Odyssey", X), but there was no place for "works and inspiration." The soul came to life only in the "desert corner", soothed by the silence of nature. Harmony reigns in the inner world of the lyrical hero, the stream of his days “flows”, he does not pay attention to time, immersed in thoughts. To everyone, forgetting the outer existence seems like “idleness,” but in reality, an intense inner life is labor that brings happiness. In the first stanza of the elegy, not only begins the creation of a picture of nature, which will become the antithesis of what people have turned into a peaceful corner, but also draws attention to the reasons for the rejection of vanity and false charms:
I greet you, desert corner,
A haven of peace, work and inspiration,
Where the invisible stream of my days flows
In the bosom of happiness and oblivion.
I am yours - I traded the vicious court for a circus,
Luxurious feasts, fun, delusions
To the peaceful noise of oak trees, to the silence of the fields,
To free idleness, a friend of thought.
In the third stanza, the lyrical hero returns to the artistic goal outlined at the beginning, the depiction of the landscape (the prototype was the impressions of nature seen by the poet in Mikhailovsky, a family estate that he visited in his youth) gives way to a lyrical outpouring that characterizes his interests. Feeling freed from the shackles of secular crowds, from the influence of the crowd worshiping villains and fools, he finds true pleasure in solitude: alone with himself, he seeks answers to his doubts in the works of historians and writers (“Oracles of the ages, here I ask you!”, the oracle - Latin "soothsayer"). There, his moral sense finds a response that brings joy, bliss. His correctness is confirmed by the truths discovered in other eras. Regardless of the time, freedom, sympathy, independence of thought remain valuable for a person - those humanistic ideals that inspire the creator: awaken the soul from the “gloomy sleep”, “give birth to labors”. There is a grain of truth in them, ripening in him to give excellent outcomes in creativity.
Enlightenment requirements seem to be the most important for the lyrical hero: he does not just strive to understand the works of defenders of popular interests and preachers of reasonable transformations in society, but learns to “idolize the law”, listens to the “shy plea”, is ready to denounce “wrong greatness”. The second part of the poem, due to the appearance of which it was not published in full, contains a sharp criticism of the main vice social life in Russia - serfdom. The “terrible thought” about him overshadows reflections, prompts you to forget about the beauties of nature and creative plans. Not one of the inner sensations drowns out the groans coming from the "blooming fields", does not obscure the spectacle of "deadly shame", noticeable "everywhere", in general "here", in Russia. The long-suffering of the people and the ignorance of the "wild nobility" are those moral vices that distance humanity ("friend of mankind" - a definition significant for the enlightening characterization of the views of the lyrical hero) from the "chosen" day - the "beautiful dawn" of freedom. In the final lines, as in the poem “To Chaadaev”, there is a reminiscence from Radishchev’s ode “Liberty”, which is also indicated by the six-foot iambic of the finale (in the text of the elegy, such six-foot lines alternate with four-foot ones, this alternation is irregular, forming a free iambic) .
Between the first and second parts of the poem "The Village" (Pushkin), the analysis of which interests us, there is a detailed antithesis. Its basis is the humanistic ideals of the lyrical hero, which is opposed to the picture of slavery. His “shy plea” (everyone who is able to free himself “from vain shackles” should learn to listen to it with participation) needs an expression that only a poet can find, who is given a “terrible gift” that allows him to “disturb hearts”. Thus, reflections on the role of the artist in social struggles become an important point in the content of the poem. He is not one of those who fight against autocracy in an open struggle, but a vitiya (orator, eloquent person) conscious of his exclusivity, appealing to the peoples and kings, increasing the effectiveness of moralizing, thanks to the expressive power of art:
Why does a fruitless heat burn in my chest?
And the fate of ornate has not given me a formidable gift?
In the story about the signs of serf life special meaning have epithets that enhance the realistic in its authenticity and concreteness image of reality. Ignorance is a “deadly” vice, the yoke of bondage is “painful” for everyone, the owners of souls are “wild”, “relentless”, “insensible”; “tortured” slaves, submissive to the “violent vine”, doomed to bend “on an alien plow”, not daring to “nourish hopes and inclinations in the soul”. They are hard workers, "farmers", but their "property and time" were appropriated by the landlords, like conquerors, who turned them into slaves. Social differences arose "to the detriment of people", as evidenced by the presented canvas. Both its details and stylistic features leave no doubt that it is important for the lyrical hero not only to condemn lawlessness, but also to reveal the insensitivity of the “villains” who raised the “scourge” against their neighbor, who do not notice the tears and groans that torment the “young virgins”, “ young sons”, their aging parents. The lyrical outpouring accentuates the emotional intensity of the experience, the story turns into an angry condemnation, regardless of the semantic plan. Evaluating it, Alexander I, who received a list of elegies from the author, spoke of the poem unexpectedly calmly, as an expression of "good feelings." Indeed, at the end of the elegy, the lyrical hero, waiting for the dawn of freedom, connects its dawn with the “mania” (action) of the king:
Will I see, O friends, an unoppressed people
And slavery, fallen at the behest of the king,
And over the fatherland of enlightened freedom
Will the beautiful dawn finally rise?
However, you can not even remember what the essence of the “fatherland of invocation” (“To Chaadaev”), outlined in other verses dedicated to freedom-loving aspirations, consisted of. It is enough to listen attentively to the voice of the lyrical hero of the "Village", addressing the hearts, souls of the friends of mankind ("But a terrible thought darkens the soul here ...", "Oh, if only my voice could disturb hearts!"), To put the elegy into one next to them, singling it out as an open protest against the foundations of Russian society. As in the ode "Liberty", the main thing is the rebellious pathos (the author's direct emotional attitude to reality, in the words of V. G. Belinsky, "an idea is a passion"), which is obvious in the analysis artistic features works. Its figurative range, emotional content bear the imprint of "terrible" forebodings of witnesses of the age-old oppression of the people, which turned for Pushkin's generation into offensive archaism (from the Greek "ancient"), "deadly shame", inherited and requiring immediate intervention. The reader of The Village, captured by the anxiety of the lyrical hero, the passion of his revelations, involuntarily had to ask what would happen if the young did not see the actions of the authorities that eliminate social shortcomings. The elegy does not give an answer on how to deal with the oppression of the people, its artistic purpose does not include calls for rebellion. The mood of the lyrical hero is far from abstract rebellion. Along with the reliability of a detailed picture of rural life, Pushkin's poem "The Village" also contains psychological specifics. The inner world is rich and varied, but the dominant (from Latin “dominant”) is noticeable in it: following the truth, peace, tranquility, greatness, bliss - the most significant concepts that determine a happy being - are unattainable without liberation from social and spiritual bondage; a person must be the master of his own destiny, choosing “freedom of idleness”, following the creative aspirations of a “free soul” or fighting for the onset of an era of “initiate freedom”, in accordance with the movements of his heart, listening to what is “ripening in the depths of the soul”.
Behind the expression of a specific emotional mood, coloring in unique tones the images of each of the poems, where the main theme is freedom-loving, one can see the characteristic of the spiritual world of their author. Among the heroes of his lyrical works are fighters for social justice, and at the same time “pensive singers” (“Liberty”), thinkers seeking truth, peaceful sloths immersed in the contemplation of nature, forgetting about “luxurious feasts, fun, delusions ”(“ Village ”). The author is ready to say to each of these states: “I am yours...” (ibid.), embodying the psychological specificity of experiences. Considering his work, one should not forget either the particular or the general. In addition, in the perception of the world by Pushkin, such dynamics are noticeable that it is impossible to evaluate the poem without context and time perspective. The political aspects of freedom-loving in the early 1820s fade into the background, giving way to the romantic exaltation of the ideal of freedom. However, already in 1827, poems appear in which a final assessment of the contribution of his generation to the historical process is given.
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