Russia for Alexander Blok is the motherland. 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" devotes his life to the theme of the motherland. The beginning of the 20th century is a time of unprecedented changes, historical events that have not been seen before 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 only a real poet can solve, 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 appeal to Russia is imbued with a feeling of sincere quivering love, comparable to first love ("like 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, “patterned kerchief to the eyebrows”. Willfulness and humility - such an antithesis unfolds from stanza to stanza with contextual antonyms: gold - gray, a cross - robbery, robbery - beautiful, rings - deaf, deceives - you will not be lost - and draws the image of great people's Russia as accurately and completely as possible.
A cart drawn by exhausted horses, gray huts, endless forests and fields, noisy rivers that carry not only water, but also streams of human tears, paths-roads 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 longing, spilling over with folk songs: “... the dull song of the coachman rings with anguished longing!” Using such details of the image of Russia as a song, tears and a scarf, the author paints a picture of the motherland, strong in spirit and guarded by the shroud of God: "You will not be lost, you will not perish ..". The motive 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 bear my cross ...”, “And the impossible is possible, The road is long and easy ...”), because he loves her.
Updated: 2018-04-26
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Useful material on the topic
- Answer to tasks #8 and #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?
“There is always something especially noble,
meek, gentle, fragrant and graceful
in every feeling of Pushkin.
V.G. Belinsky
V. G. Belinsky accurately defined the purpose of poetry: “... to develop in people a sense of grace and a sense of humanity, meaning by this word an infinite respect for the dignity of a person as a person.” And today this is her holy purpose.
A.S. Pushkin is rightly called a miracle of Russian literature. His poetry is an inexhaustible source, which, like in a fairy tale, gives water to everyone who touches it with “living water”.
The whole world appreciates the poet for what he himself appreciated in himself:
For a long time I will be kind to the people,
That I aroused good feelings with 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 works of the poet is the amazing power of feelings, the brilliance of the mind. But his poems must be read carefully, thinking about each 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 kind of "good feelings" does Pushkin's lyre evoke? At the dawn of his poetic activity, even in lyceum poetry, the poet thinks about the role and fate of poetry and the poet in contemporary society. Understanding perfectly the unenviable fate of the poet, the young Pushkin chose the path of literary creativity for himself:
My lot has fallen: I choose the lyre!
He chooses a “modest, noble lyre”, which 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 own 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. “Burn the hearts of the people with the verb” is his motto. In the "Prophet" - the whole 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 of slavery and passionately awaiting their release. Pushkin, a 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
On the throne to strike vice.
Young people knew the poet's poems, breathing freedom, and were carried away by them. Decembrist MN Paskevich, for example, wrote that he "borrowed" his first liberal thoughts from reading Mr. Pushkin's free poems.
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 for nothing that in the poem, summing up his entire creative life, the poet takes special merit for “that in my cruel age I glorified freedom and called for mercy to the fallen.”
It is impossible to read the amazing poems of A.S. Pushkin about nature without excitement. These are real paintings. So you see how “boron drops his autumn outfit”, how “mist falls on the fields”, how “noisy caravan geese” stretches, and the moon “like a yellow spot”, and many other beautiful paintings, as if drawn by a wonderful artist. How deep is the poet's love for everything native, national, close and dear to the heart of a Russian person! These verses bring up love for the motherland in an excellent way.
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. To the depths of his soul, he was shocked by the news of the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, in which Kuchelbecker, Pushchin and many other friends dear to his heart participated. 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 to Siberia:
In the depths of Siberian ores
Keep proud patience
Your mournful work will not be lost
And doom high aspiration.
Yes, A.S. Pushkin knew how to be a faithful and devoted friend.
And love poems! “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 to love truly. More than one generation of people has been reading with excitement the poet's inspired lines, warmed by a burst of hot, sincere and pure feeling. His poems sing and shine. They went beyond the limit of their time and became the property of all who are able to experience the same selfless, full of happiness love.
In Pushkin, even the simplest, everyday feelings are described in such a way that when you read some of his poems, you are amazed at the love of life, the 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 dull;
Everything is instant, everything will pass;
Whatever passes will be nice.
The poem was written in 1825. And this year for the poet was the year of "despondency".
Is it possible to list everything. Strict and deeply moral, cheerful, sometimes mischievous and not very modest works of the poet, for the most part, are not only an amazing monument of 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 piit will be alive," Pushkin's work will not be forgotten. For this is what distinguishes spiritual wealth from material wealth, that the more it is spent, the more it becomes.
Poem "To Chaadaev".
Perception, interpretation, evaluation
The poem "To Chaadaev" was written in 1818. It is dedicated to a close friend of A.S. Pushkin, officer of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment P. Ya. Chaadaev, who had a great influence on the poet. The poem was widely circulated in the lists. In a distorted form, without the knowledge of the author himself, it was published in the almanac "Northern Star" in 1829.
We can attribute the poem to civil lyrics, its genre is a friendly message, its style is romantic.
Compositionally, we can distinguish three parts in this message. The poet speaks about the past, present and future of himself and his generation, of all progressive young people of his time. Their past is youthful fun, deceitful love and hope. The present is an ardent desire to see one's Motherland free, the expectation of a "holy minute of liberty." The poet compares civil and love feelings here:
We await with languor the hope of the Holy Minute of Liberty,
As the young lover waits for the moment of faithful rendezvous.
The compositional center of the poem is an appeal addressed to all like-minded people:
While we burn with freedom
As long as hearts are alive for honor,
My friend, let us dedicate our souls to the homeland with wonderful impulses!
The future of the Fatherland is its freedom, awakening from sleep.
The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. A.S. Pushkin uses various means of artistic expression: epithets (“fatal power”, “impatient soul”, “holy liberties”, “beautiful impulses”, “star of captivating happiness”), metaphor (“deceit did not live long for us”, “while we burn with freedom” , “Russia will rise from sleep”), comparison (“Young amusements have disappeared, like a dream, like a morning mist”). The poet makes extensive use of socio-political vocabulary: "fatherland", "oppression", "power", "freedom", "honor". At the phonetic level, we find alliteration (“Deceit did not live long for us”) and assonance (“Under the yoke of fatal power”).
Thus, this poem is imbued with an ardent call for freedom, sincere faith in the future of the country and the personal inspiration of the poet. We can consider it in the context of all the freedom-loving lyrics of A.S. Pushkin.
Alexander Blok became a prominent representative of the Symbolists, who saw not only the past path of his country, but also the future. Motherland played an important role in the poet's work.
Homeland in the work of A. A. Blok
The poet reflected the process of the formation of Russia, touching in his works not only the historical past of the country, but also its future, the tasks facing it, its purpose.
The image of the Motherland of Blok was of interest even in the years. However, the heyday of the subject is noted after its end. The revolutionary experiences of rise and fall are reflected in every stanza of the poet's patriotic poems.
Blok's poems about the Motherland are imbued with a feeling of boundless love, tenderness, but at the same time they are saturated 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 soul of the poet, wounded by loneliness and misunderstanding of society, could lean. Blok himself realized.
Motherland, her attitude changed, but the change in the nature of feelings did not affect which the writer carried through his whole 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, tearful, but still unique, 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: a lover, a friend, a bride, a wife.
The early work of the poet is characterized by a vision of a poor and dense country, but at the same time unusual and talented.
The homeland in the works of Blok is a beautiful lover who will forgive in any situation. She always understands the poet, because she is a part of the soul, her better half, a manifestation of purity. Blok understood that, despite her “shameless and deep” sins, the Motherland remains “more precious than all lands” for 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 "light will overcome darkness."
Consider some of the poems of Alexander Blok in order to most accurately understand the topic so significant to him: "Motherland".
Block. The poem "Gamayun, the prophetic bird"
It is believed that the theme of the tragic history of Russia first appeared in a poem belonging to the still very young Alexander, “Gamayun, the prophetic bird”:
The poem was Blok's first loud appeal, combining love for Russia and awareness of the horror from the past and present. But the author wants to understand the truth, no matter how terrible and terrible it is.
The first deliberate and serious embodiment of patriotic thought is considered to be a 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 can give peace, happiness and the meaning of life to his tormented soul:
The psalms sung by the poor are an echo of drunken Russia. 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, impoverished - that heals Blok, gives him peace and hope.
Cycle of works "On the field of Kulikovo"
Blok's poems about the Motherland, included in the cycle of works "On the Kulikovo Field", have the deepest, most passionate meaning. The history of the 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 in the past is looking for a force that allows Russia to boldly go towards its intended goal and not be afraid of "darkness - night and abroad."
The “unbreakable silence” in which the country is mired predicts “high and rebellious days,” 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, which 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 fabulous and even magical land:
Intertwining worlds (the real world and the dream world) help the poet mentally transport readers to the old, old times, when Russia was full of witches and sorcery spells.
The lyrical hero is recklessly in love with the country, so he reveres it. He sees her not just unusual, but mysterious, charmingly ancient. But Russia appears before him not only fabulous, but also impoverished, suffering and sad.
The work “Born in Deaf Years” is dedicated to Z. N. Gippius and is imbued with anticipation of future changes.
Blok understood that the modern generation was doomed, so he called on him to rethink life, to renew it.
Russia's doom lies in its untapped potential. She, possessing incredible wealth, is terribly poor and frighteningly miserable.
Motherland as the central leitmotif of the work
The poem "Russia" is striking in 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 reader is presented with the image of a poor Motherland, which aspires "to the distant past."
In the poem, one can feel the influence of the lyrical digression about the trinity bird from the poem "Dead Souls" by N.V. Gogol.
Blok's "troika" develops into an ominous sign of a dramatic confrontation between the people and the intelligentsia. The image of the Motherland is embodied in a powerful and unrestrained element: blizzard, wind, snowstorm.
We see that Blok is trying to comprehend the meaning of Russia, to understand the value, the necessity of such a complex historical path.
Blok believed that with the help of hidden strength and power, Russia would get out of poverty.
The poet describes his love for the Motherland, admiration for the beauty of nature, reflections on the fate of his country. Block uses the motif of the road that runs through the entire poem. At first we see impoverished 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 one should always hope for the best.
Blok shows us a poor, but beautiful Russia. This contradiction is manifested even in the epithets used by the poet, for example, “robber beauty”.
Two sphinxes in the work of A. A. Blok
Nikolai Gumilyov wrote very beautifully about the poetry of A. Blok: “Two sphinxes stand in front of A. Blok, forcing him to sing and cry with their unresolved riddles: Russia and his own soul. The first - Nekrasov, the second - Lermontov. And often, very often, Blok shows us them, merged into one, organically inseparable.
Gumilyov's words are indestructible truth. They can be proved by the poem "Russia". It has a strong influence of the first sphinx, Nekrasov. After all, Blok, like Nekrasov, shows us Russia from two opposite sides: powerful and at the same time powerless and miserable.
Blok believed in the strength of Russia. However, in contrast to Nekrasov's precepts, Alexander Alexandrovich loved his Motherland only with sadness, without endowing his feeling with anger. Blok's Russia is endowed with human features, the poet endows her with the image of a beloved woman. Here the influence of the second sphinx - Lermontov's - is manifested. But their similarity is not complete. Blok expresses more intimate, personal feelings, endowed with noble thoughtfulness, while in Lermontov's poems, hussar arrogance was sometimes heard.
Is it worth pitying 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 obscure the "beautiful features" of Russia, except for care. Maybe it's because of pity?
The poet loves his country. This is the hidden reason for the lack of pity towards her. would kill the pride of Russia, would humiliate her dignity. If we correlate a large country with a single person, we get a good example of the relationship between pity and humiliation. A person who has been pitied by being told how poor and unhappy he is loses not only his self-esteem, but sometimes 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 what A. A. Blok wants to show us.
The great historical merit of the poet lies in the fact that he connected the past with the present, which we see in many of his poems.
The homeland has become a connecting theme in many of A. Blok's works. It is closely connected with the various motifs of his poems: love, retribution, revolution, the past path and the future path.
So he wrote and it seems he was completely right.
Vanya (in an Armenian coachman's coat).
Dad! who built this road?
Dad (in a coat with a red lining.) 1.
Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel 2, darling!
- - Conversation in the car - -
I
Glorious autumn! Healthy, vigorous 3
The air invigorates tired forces;
The ice is fragile on the icy river
As if melting sugar lies;
Near the forest, as in a soft bed,
You can sleep - peace and space! -
The leaves have not faded yet,
Yellow and fresh 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 -
All is well under the moonlight
Everywhere I recognize my dear Russia ...
I quickly fly along cast-iron rails,
I think my mind...
II
Good papa! Why in charm 5
Keep Vanya smart?
You let me in the moonlight
Show him the truth.
This work, Vanya, was terribly huge -
Not on the shoulder alone!
There is a king in the world: this king is merciless,
Hunger is his name.
He leads armies; at sea by ships
Rules; drives people to the artel,
Walks behind the plow, stands behind the shoulders
Stonecutters, weavers.
He drove the masses of the people here.
Many are in a terrible struggle,
The coffin was found here.
Straight path: the mounds are narrow,
Poles, rails, bridges.
And on the sides, all the bones are Russian ...
How many of them! Vanya, do you know?
Chu! terrible exclamations were heard!
Stomp and gnashing of teeth;
A shadow ran over the frosty glass...
What's there? Crowd of the Dead!
They overtake the cast-iron road,
Then the sides run.
Do you hear the singing? .. "On this moonlit night
We love to see our work!
We tore ourselves under the heat, under the cold,
With a perpetually bent back.
Lived in dugouts, fought hunger,
Were cold and wet, sick with scurvy.
We were robbed by literate foremen 6 .
The bosses were crushed, the need was crushing ...
We have endured everything, God's warriors,
Peaceful children of labor!
Brothers! You are reaping our fruits!
We are destined to rot in the earth ...
Do you all remember us, the poor, with kindness
Or have you forgotten for a long time? .. "
Do not be horrified by their wild singing!
From the Volkhov, from Mother Volga, from the Oka,
From different parts of the great state -
It's all your brothers - men!
It's a shame to be shy, to close with a glove,
You are no longer small! .. Russian hair,
You see, he stands, exhausted by a fever,
Tall sick Belarusian:
Lips bloodless, eyelids fallen,
Ulcers on skinny arms
Forever knee-deep in water
The legs are swollen; tangle 7 in hair;
I pit my chest, which is diligently on the spade
From day to day leaned all century ...
You look at him, Vanya, carefully:
It was difficult for a man to get his bread!
Didn't straighten his hunchbacked back
He is still: stupidly silent
And mechanically rusty shovel
Frozen earth hollowing!
This noble habit of work
We would not be bad to adopt with you ...
Bless the work of the people
And learn to respect the man.
Do not be shy for the dear homeland ...
The Russian people carried enough
Carried out this railroad -
Endure whatever the Lord sends!
Will endure everything - and wide, clear
He will pave the way for himself with his chest.
The only pity is to live in this beautiful time
You won't have to, neither me nor you.
III
At this moment the whistle is deafening
He squealed - the crowd of the dead disappeared!
"I saw, dad, I'm an amazing dream,
Vanya said. - Five thousand men,
Russian tribes and breeds representatives
Suddenly they appeared - and he said to me:
“Here they are, the builders of our road!..””
The general laughed!
I was recently in the walls of the Vatican 9,
I wandered around the Colosseum 10 for two nights,
I saw St. Stephen 11 in Vienna,
Well... did the people create all this?
Excuse me this impudent laugh,
Your logic is a bit wild.
Or for you Apollo Belvedere 12
Worse than an oven pot?
"Railway". Artist I. Glazunov. 1970
Here are your people - these terms 13 and baths,
A miracle of art - he pulled everything away!
"I'm not talking for you, but for Vanya..."
But the general did not object:
Your Slav, Anglo-Saxon and German
Do not create - destroy the master,
Barbarians! a 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 revolt a child's heart.
Would you show the child now
Light side...
IV
Happy to show!
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
Gathered in a close crowd at the office ...
They scratched their heads hard:
Each contractor 15 should stay,
Truant days have become a penny!
Everything was entered by ten's men in a book -
Whether he took a bath, whether the patient was lying.
“Maybe there is now a surplus here,
Yes, come on! .. ”They waved their hands ...
In a blue caftan - a venerable labaznik 16,
Fat, stocky 17, copper red
A contractor is walking along the line on a holiday,
He goes to see his work.
The idle people make way decorously...
Sweat wipes the merchant from the face
And he says, akimbo pictorially:
“Okay ... something ... 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 workers
And - I give 18 arrears! .. "
Someone cheered. Picked up
Louder, friendlier, longer... Look:
With a song, the foremen rolled a barrel ...
Here even the lazy could not resist!
Unharnessed the people of the horses - and the merchant
With a cry of "Hurrah!" sped along the road...
Seems hard to cheer up the picture
Draw, General?
Questions and assignments
- What is the meaning of the epigraph "Conversation in the car" in the poem?
- Read the first part of the poem. What can you say about a person who saw a picture of nature like that? How is the picture of nature connected with the subsequent conversation of the author with the neighbors in the carriage?
- Why does Nekrasov call famine "king"? What is the power of this king?
- How do you understand the lines:
Many are in a terrible struggle,
Calling to life these barren wilds,
Did you find a coffin here? ..
What idea is expressed by the antithesis? - Reread the fantastic picture, which depicts a crowd of the dead. What do their words mean: "God's warriors, peaceful children of labor"? What do we learn from their song, how does it feel?
- Reread 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 say about the people? What is the author's attitude towards the depicted? What words and expressions allow us to understand it?
- Why is the poem addressed to children?
The poem depicts a picture of the distant past. What does it reveal to you who live today? What does it teach? Prepare an oral detailed answer to this question.
Consider a reproduction of the painting by the 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 thought?
1 Coats with a red lining (overcoat) were worn by generals.
2 Count P. A. Kleinmichel - tsarist minister, head of the construction of the railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow.
3 Vigorous - here: fresh, healthy.
4 Kochi - bumps.
5 Charm - here: ignorance of the truth.
6 Ten's manager - senior over a group of workers.
7 Koltun - hair, strayed into a tight lump.
8 Spade - shovel.
9 Vatican - here: the palace of the Pope, in which many monuments of art are concentrated.
10 The Colosseum is a circus in Rome built in ancient times.
11 St. Stephen's is a cathedral in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
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, congregation.
15 Contractor is a person who hired (contracted) workers.
16 Labaz - a room for storing flour or grain; labaznik - merchant, owner of a storehouse.
17 Squat - squat, dense.
18 Arrears - here: what the workers, according to the calculations, owed him.
