Analysis of the poem - You come, you look like me...
The first two decades of the 20th century, starting in 1901, are called the Silver Age of Russian poetry. During this time, lyrics went through three periods of development: symbolism, acmeism and futurism. There were other literary trends. Some authors did not join any of them, which was quite difficult in that era of the heyday of various poetic “circles” and “schools.” Among them is Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva, an original, talented poet with a complex, tragic fate. Her lyrics captivate with their brightness, sincerity, and the strength of the feelings expressed. The poem “You’re coming, you look like me...”, written by Marina Tsvetaeva in Koktebel on May 3, 1913, can rightfully be considered one of the masterpieces of “Silver Age” poetry. In it the author expresses his thoughts about eternity, about life and death. The life of M. Tsvetaeva for five years, starting in 1912, was the happiest in comparison with all previous and subsequent years. In September 1912, Marina Tsvetaeva had a daughter, Ariadna. Tsvetaeva was overwhelmed with the joy of being and at the same time thought about the inevitable end. These seemingly mutually exclusive feelings are reflected in the poem: “You walk, looking like me, with your eyes looking down. I lowered them too! Passerby, stop!” At first glance, there is nothing strange in these lines. The word “lowered” can be interpreted as follows: it happened that she lowered her eyes, but now they are not lowered. But after reading the next stanza, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “omitted” is different. “... My name was Marina,” writes the poetess. The past tense of the verb is alarming. So they don't call you anymore? So we can only talk about a deceased person, and the following lines confirm this guess. Everything that has already been said is filled with new meaning: it turns out that the once-living poetess is addressing a passerby examining the gravestones and inscriptions carved on them in the cemetery. The consonance “similar - passer-by” is noteworthy. In the poem, these words occupy such positions that they do not form rhymes: one word is at the end of one line, the other at the beginning of another. However, taken by themselves, they rhyme, and their similarity extends beyond what is necessary for rhyme: not only are the stressed syllables the same and those that follow them, but the pre-stressed ones are also consonant. What is the meaning of the juxtaposition of these words? I think that the author wanted to emphasize the following idea: everyone who is overtaken by her voice from underground is like her. She, too, once “was,” like a passer-by now, that is, she lived, enjoying the joy of being. And this is truly worthy of admiration. Marina Tsvetaeva wrote about Alexander Blok: “The amazing thing is not that he died, but that he lived. All of him is such an obvious triumph of the spirit, such a visceral spirit, that it’s surprising how life, in general, allowed it to happen.” These words can also be applied to her. It is amazing how Marina Ivanovna was able to defend the talent given to her, not give up on it, and preserve her world, unknown and inaccessible to others.
Marina Tsvetaeva does not want to disturb the tranquility of a passer-by: “Think about me easily, / Forget about me easily.” And yet one cannot help but feel the author’s sadness because of his own irreversibility to life. Parallel to this tragic feeling, there is another one that can be called pacifying. Man is irrevocable in flesh and blood, but he is involved in eternity, where everything he thought about and felt during his life is imprinted. Researcher A. Akbasheva points out that the work of the “Silver Age” poets coincided with the development of Russian philosophy, lying between the teachings of V. Solovyov and A. Losev. V. Solovyov insisted that “philosophical thought has no right to refuse to comprehend the connections of man with the insubstantial world, inaccessible to direct observation and strict research, the supersensible.” A. Losev developed the doctrine of existence as eternal becoming. Thus, we can say that M. Tsvetaeva’s poem “You’re coming, you look like me...” is a reflection of the movement from the principles of V. Solovyov to the teachings of A. Losev. Each person is unique, each, according to Tsvetaeva, participates in the development of the world as an individual.
V. Rozhdestvensky notes that the poem “You’re coming, you look like me...” is distinguished by conciseness of thought and energy of feelings. I think this is precisely what the active use of punctuation marks to help one grasp the meaning entails. “Invincible rhythms” (A. Bely) by Tsvetaeva is fascinating. The syntax and rhythm of her poems are complex. You immediately notice the poet’s passion for the dash. Today this prepin sign
Ania replaces both the comma and the colon. It’s amazing how M. Tsvetaeva was able to sense the capabilities of the dash almost a century ago! The dash is a “strong” sign that cannot be ignored. It helps to mint the words: “I omitted them too!”, “Read - chicken blindness.” Probably, the paucity of epithets used in the poem stems from the conciseness of thought and the energy of feelings: “wild stem”, “cemetery strawberry”. M. Tsvetaeva uses the only metaphor - “in gold dust”. But repetitions are widely represented: “... that here is a grave”, “That I will appear, threatening...”, anaphoras: “And the blood rushed to the skin”, “And my curls curled...”. All this, like the alliteration on the sound “s,” invites thought and reasoning.
The idea of the poem, in my opinion, can be defined as follows: a person knows that death is inevitable, but he is also aware of his involvement in eternity. The idea of doom in the mind of M. Tsvetaeva does not look depressing. You need to live, fully enjoying today, but at the same time do not forget about eternal, enduring values - this is the call of the poet.
To read the poem “You walk, you look like me” by Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva, one of her most famous works, you need to know that it was written in 1913. The lyrical heroine depicted by the author is a deceased poetess who rests in an old cemetery and addresses those who examine the tombstones. But there is no need to assume that the work is sad. If you read it carefully in a literature lesson in class, you can see that she likes both the resting place and the afterlife - the poetess is just a little jealous of someone who can walk around like that.
If you study the text of Tsvetaeva’s poem “You Walk, You Look Like Me” with attention to detail, you will notice that she sympathizes with the passerby - he should not be afraid of her ghost, she wants the walk to be calm and relaxed. And it is precisely the feeling of peace that this work, read online in full, leaves behind. Speaking about herself in the past tense, Tsvetaeva is not sad, because she knows for sure that she will live her life the way she wants. And therefore, the only thing the poetess, who treated death with grace and ease, is sad about is that you cannot live forever. It is impossible not to feel the light and joy that fill the poem.
You're coming, looking like me,
Eyes looking down.
I lowered them too!
Passerby, stop!
Read - night blindness
And picking a bouquet of poppies -
That my name was Marina
And how old was I?
Don't think that this is a grave,
That I will appear, threatening...
I loved myself too much
Laugh when you shouldn't!
And the blood rushed to the skin,
And my curls curled...
I was there too, a passerby!
Passerby, stop!
Pluck yourself a wild stem
And a berry after him:
Cemetery strawberries
It doesn't get any bigger or sweeter.
But just don't stand there sullenly,
He lowered his head onto his chest.
Think about me easily
It's easy to forget about me.
How the beam illuminates you!
You're covered in gold dust...
- And don’t let it bother you
My voice is from underground.
Marina Tsvetaeva is considered one of the most prominent poets in Russian literature. She instilled in readers a certain femininity, imagery, romance, and unpredictability. Her creative works were filled with love and light.
One of Tsvetaeva’s most famous creative works is the poem “You’re coming, you look like me...”. It was written in 1913.
When you first read the poem “You’re coming, you look like me...” it may seem very strange, because it is a monologue by Marina Tsvetaeva, who has already died. The poetess addresses the reader from the other world.
In this poetic work, Tsvetaeva tried to look at the future and imagine her grave. The poetess wanted to end her earthly journey in an old cemetery where the most delicious strawberries grow. She also imagined her favorite wildflowers around.
In her monologue, she addresses a random passerby who, like her once, wanders through the old cemetery, enjoying the silence and peering at the worn signs.
Tsvetaeva turns to a passerby and asks him to feel free and not constrained, because he is still alive and should appreciate every second of life.
Then the poetess says that “she herself loved to laugh when she shouldn’t.” By this she emphasizes the fact that you need to follow the call of your heart and not recognize conventions, that she lived for real, having experienced all the feelings from love to hatred.
The poem “You’re coming, you look like me...” is deeply philosophical, because it reflects Tsvetaeva’s attitude to life and death. The poetess believed that one should live one’s life brightly and richly. Death cannot be a reason for sadness and sadness. A person does not die, he passes into another world. Death, like life, is inevitable. Therefore, there is no need to stand “sullenly, with your head hanging on your chest.” Everything in this world is natural and obeys the laws of nature.
No matter what, the poem “You come, you look like me...” is filled with light and joy. The poetess is a little jealous of the future generation, but at the same time she realizes that life is not endless.
Marina Tsvetaeva committed suicide, having found peace in a world where there is no meanness and betrayal, envy and lies.
The poem “You Come, You Look Like Me” was written by a young poetess in a very unusual form - it is a monologue of a dead woman. A brief analysis of “You Walk Like Me” according to plan will help you understand why she chose this form and other subtleties of the work. The material can be used in a literature lesson in 5th grade for a deep understanding of the topic.
Brief Analysis
History of creation- the poem was written in 1913 in Koktebel, where the poetess was visiting Maximilian Voloshin with her husband and little daughter.
Theme of the poem- the meaning of human life and the essence of death.
Composition– a one-part, monologue-reasoning consists of seven stanzas and is built sequentially from the first to the last.
Genre- philosophical lyrics.
Poetic size– iambic with pyrrhic.
Epithets – “cemetery strawberries”, “gold dust“.
Metaphor – “covered in gold dust“.
History of creation
This poem, like a number of others, was written by Marina Tsvetaeva in Koktebel, where she came to stay with her husband and one-year-old daughter in 1913. The guests were received by Maximilian Voloshin, who settled them in a separate house. Voloshin’s always noisy house was strangely empty that year, and the weather was more conducive to thinking than to walking, so this trip became very significant for the poetess.
Twenty-year-old Tsvetaeva was concerned beyond her years with important philosophical questions, to one of which she dedicated the poem “You Come, You Look Like Me.”
Subject
The work is dedicated to the meaning of human life and the essence of death - this is its main theme. It must be said that Tsvetaeva was superstitious and believed in an afterlife. She considered death only a transition to a new form of existence. And although a person knows nothing about this form, this is not a reason for sadness.
Composition
The seven-strophe verse develops an idea that worried the poetess throughout her youth - about what happens to a person after his death. Having given her reflections the original form of a monologue on her own behalf, Tsvetaeva reasons as, in her opinion, she could speak after her death from under the gravestone.
She calls on an unknown passerby who wanders into the cemetery to stop and read what is written on her grave. And be sure to pick flowers and eat strawberries, because death is not a reason for sadness. She expresses the last thought especially clearly in the sixth stanza, turning to the stranger with a request not to be sad under any circumstances, but to think about her with ease and just as easily to forget about this episode of my life.
The last stanza is a hymn to life: a person who stands illuminated by the bright sun should not worry about the voice coming from underground, because before him is his whole life.
Genre
In her youth, Marina Tsvetaeva often turned to the genre of philosophical lyrics, to which this poem belongs. The poetess was concerned about many complex issues, including those about death. This work makes it clear that she treated it with ease and grace, as if it were something inevitable.
The poem is written in iambic with pyrrhic accents, which creates a feeling of relaxed, lively speech.
Means of expression
It cannot be said that this work is rich in tropes: the poetess uses epithets– “cemetery strawberries”, “gold dust” – and metaphor- “all covered in gold dust.” The main role in creating moods is played by punctuation marks - dashes. They give strength to all Tsvetaeva’s words, allow her to highlight the main thoughts and emphasize the essence of the idea that she conveys to the reader. Appeal is also an important artistic device that attracts the reader’s attention and creates a special form of the poem.
An analysis of Tsvetaeva’s poem “You Come, You Look Like Me” is important when studying the work of this poetess, who left a bright mark on Russian literature. In her works, themes of mysticism and philosophy occupy a special place. The author had a heightened perception of life and death, and this theme was reflected in her most famous works. Marina Ivanovna often thought about her death or the loss of people close and familiar to her, so the idea of her own death received a very dramatic and at the same time bright sound in her works.
Introduction
The analysis of Tsvetaeva’s poem “You Come, You Look Like Me” should begin with a mention of the date of its writing. It was created in the early period of her work, when romantic moods dominated her worldview. This also affected the content of the verse in question. First, the poetess addresses all those who will live after her death. The collective image of all these people is an unknown passerby who accidentally passes by her grave.
Marina Ivanovna immediately emphasizes the similarities between herself and this stranger, drawing attention to the fact that she, too, once lived a serene life, without thinking about anything. She points out that she, too, once looked down in thought and calls on this person unknown to her to stop at the grave and think about her.
Description of the grave
An analysis of Tsvetaeva’s poem “You Come, You Look Like Me” proves the poetess’s specific perception of the end of her life’s journey. From the further text the reader learns that the gloomy perception of death was alien to her. On the contrary, she emphasizes that flowers should grow on her grave - night blindness, stalks of wild grass and strawberries.
Such a picture of a cemetery immediately evokes sad but bright thoughts about death. The poetess deliberately creates such an image of the cemetery, wanting to emphasize that there is nothing terrible, gloomy or frightening in death. On the contrary, she is very optimistic and encourages the unknown passerby to treat everything he sees freely and easily - the way she once treated life and her destiny.
Conversation with a passerby
The analysis of Tsvetaeva’s poem “You Come, You Look Like Me” focuses on the dialogue between the poetess and a stranger. However, it would be more accurate to say that the verse itself is an extended monologue of the poetess about life and death. The reader learns about the behavior and reaction of the unknown from the short remarks of the poetess, who calls not to be afraid of the grave or death, but, on the contrary, to think about it easily and without sadness. The heroine of the poem immediately takes on a friendly tone, wanting to win over the passerby.
Judging by the further continuation of the conversation, she succeeds. The stranger stops and ponders over the grave. First of all, Marina Ivanovna encourages him to pick some flowers, eat strawberries and read the inscription about the life of the one who lies in the grave near which he stopped.
Story about life
In Tsvetaeva’s poem “You Come, You Look Like Me,” an important place is occupied by the story of the life of the deceased. The author depicts her fate in just a few sentences. According to the author, the deceased woman was cheerful, had a carefree character, and loved to laugh. These character traits are reminiscent of Marina Ivanovna herself. She emphasizes that the deceased woman was a rebel by nature, as she loved to laugh where it was impossible. Therefore, the author urges the passerby not to be sad over the grave, as is customary, but to smile and simply think something good about the deceased.
The image of the heroine and the passerby
The main theme of the poem “You Come, You Look Like Me” by Tsvetaeva is a discussion about life and death. An important role in the disclosure of this idea is played by the disclosure of the image of the deceased woman with whom the poetess associates herself. Her appearance remains undisclosed; the reader only learns some details, which nevertheless allow him to understand her better. Marina Ivanovna only mentions the curls that grew unruly around her face, as if emphasizing her obstinate and stubborn disposition. In addition, the description of a smile is of particular importance in the work, which gives a light and relaxed tone to the entire verse.
The idea of Tsvetaeva’s poem “You Come, You Look Like Me” is revealed closer to the end. It is in the last quatrain that the author shows his attitude towards the memory of descendants. From the final part of the verse it is clear that she does not expect recognition, fame or honor. She just wants to be remembered sometimes as a woman who lived her life easily and freely. She clearly does not want her name to be respected; she likes to have some unknown person remember her with a kind word at her grave. That is why the image of an unfamiliar passerby is described in very light colors. The author emphasizes that he is flooded with sunlight, despite the fact that he stopped at the grave. So, the poem in question is one of the most famous works of the poetess, in which the theme of mysticism became decisive.
