This is another big theme in Pasternak's lyrics. It is revealed primarily in 25 poems by Yuri Zhivago, which make up the final chapter of the novel.
This cycle opens with the poem “Hamlet”. In the image of the lyrical hero of the poem two faces of the author are combined- aspiring artist, listening to the "distant echo" of the coming century, and fifty-year-old poet, already knowing what happened in his lifetime. The lyrical hero is brought closer to the hero of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet” by the awareness of the need to make a life choice in a battle with a whole sea of troubles. Runs through the entire text motive of "role" lyrical hero. The artist is likened to an actor who goes on stage to follow the “schedule of action”, the author’s plan, but at the same time thinks about how exactly he should play the universal drama. Life requires an actor to become involved in the destinies of the world.
In Hamlet it develops motive of sacrifice, premonition of death as the price for true art. The lyrical hero acutely feels the inevitability of the path and his loneliness in a world where around him there are only spectators, whose unclear hum subsides so that the words of the tragic role become more audible.
Pasternak was acutely aware that the practical twentieth century, full of severe upheavals and contradictions, immersed in the topic of the day, had noticeably devalued traditional spirituality. And he could not agree that this process is irreversible. He stubbornly believed that the greatness of the universe, if understood and felt by people, is capable of doing good. For Hamlet, the connection between times was broken. He is called upon to restore this connection, to fill the gap. To do this, he must remain himself. He fills the spiritual voids of his time, but this is precisely what creates the tragedy of his situation. His sacrifice, in essence, lies in the fact that he, aware of his duty, I am forced to admit and agree that he may not be understood by his contemporaries.
According to Pasternak, the artist’s mission has a similar tragic feature. Carrying out a spiritual connection between times, an artist at a certain moment may seem outdated to both those around him and himself. But, being “last,” he is at the same time “first,” already in relation to the future.
The theme of the merging of the poet’s fate with the destinies of other people sounds in another poem from Doctor Zhivago - “Dawn”. At the beginning of the poem, the lyrical hero takes on the burden of other people's worries. The merging of the destinies of the lyrical hero and the people is a covenant from above. After a spiritual meeting with Blok, the lyrical hero comes to life for a new life. And this becomes the beginning of the revival of the poet, who managed to merge with the crowd.
I want to be with people, in the crowd,
In their morning excitement.
I'm ready to smash everything into pieces
And bring everyone to their knees.
At the end of the poem it sounds motive for accepting life, all people:
There are people with no names with me,
Trees, children, homebodies,
I'm defeated by them all
And only in that is my victory.
So in this poem, Pasternak declares the primordial romantic opposition of “the poet and the crowd.”
The poem “August” is the compositional center of the cycle of poems “Doctor Zhivago”. The lyrical hero has a dream about his own burial. He says goodbye to life, seen from eternity. The idea of the coexistence of two worlds- material and spiritual, temporary and eternal permeate the entire figurative system of the poem. The poem begins with an image of the morning in the hero's room:
As promised, without deceiving,
The sun came through early in the morning
An oblique strip of saffron
From curtain to sofa.
The picture of the dream is just as palpable. Even the date “August 6” is indicated. The moment of the funeral was also captured:
In the forest by a government land surveyor
Death stood in the midst of the graveyard,
Looking into my dead face,
To dig a hole according to my height.
The lyrical hero says goodbye to the earthly light in the last three stanzas, which are the semantic center of the poem, as if summing up his earthly path.
Farewell, Preobrazhenskaya azure,
And the gold of the second Light,
Soften with the last feminine caress
I feel the bitterness of the fateful hour.
Goodbye, wingspan spread,
Flight of free perseverance,
And the image of the world, revealed in words,
Both creativity and miracles.
The thought of the finitude of his own earthly existence did not frighten Pasternak. He was filled with a feeling of gratitude to life for everything that it so generously bestows on those living on earth. In “August,” the poet was able to look at the world from beyond the line that death draws: from there his farewell words addressed to those who remained were heard.
The last book of poems, “When it clears up” (1956-1959), opens with the poem “In everything I want to achieve...”.
At the beginning of the poem, Pasternak declares his desire to “... get to the very essence”: in work, “in search of a path,” “in heartfelt turmoil.” In all phenomena of the world, the poet strives to reach
To the essence of the past days,
Until their reason,
To the foundations, to the roots,
To the core.
All the while grasping the thread
Fates, events,
Live, think, feel, love,
Complete open.
The artist's task- strive for discoveries, not break away from reality, but merge with it. The poems should reflect all the poet’s feelings, his whole soul, embodied in the visual (“If the linden trees would bloom in them in a row...”), sound (“Thunderstorms are rolling”), fragrant (“I would bring the breath of roses into the verse... ") images.
The last stanzas of the poem contain a generalization: true art not only transforms the artist’s impressions, but also flows into life.
Oxymoron“a living miracle... of graves” emphasizes the idea of the transformative power of art, capable, like the word of God, of resurrecting and reviving to life.
In another poem, “It’s Ugly to Be Famous” (1956), Pasternak finally proclaims his refusal to construct the poet’s life according to romantic or any canons in general:
Being famous is not nice.
This is not what lifts you up.
There is no need to create an archive.
Shake over manuscripts.
The purpose of creativity is dedication.
Not hype, not success.
Shameful, meaningless
Be the talk of everyone.
Here Pasternak had in mind some of the official writers of Soviet literature of those years, to whom fame came “from above.”
In this poem, Pasternak proclaims the only goal of creativity- in complete dedication, in the desire to merge poetry and life.
The poem “Night” ends with a similar appeal to the artist:
Don't sleep, don't sleep, work.
Don't interrupt your work.
Don't sleep, fight drowsiness,
Like a pilot, like a star.
Don't sleep, don't sleep, artist,
Don't give in to sleep.
You are a hostage to eternity
Trapped by time.
From Pasternak’s point of view, it is creativity that justifies the existence of man on earth. Artist- the representative of eternity, the herald of higher principles, and his activities- This is a continuously, tirelessly accomplished feat.
For Pasternak, creativity is a way to go beyond the boundaries of earthly existence, breaking out of the shackles of space and time, to get closer to the highest, divine principle within oneself.
The article presents a small selection of poems devoted to the theme of poetry and the fate of the poet, and their brief analysis. This selection will help graduates taking the Unified State Exam in Literature when writing a detailed answer in task 16, where it is necessary to compare the given excerpt from the lyric text with other poems with similar themes and quote them.
He is being pursued by blasphemers:
He catches the sounds of approval
Not in the sweet murmur of praise,
And in the wild cries of anger...
Nekrasov's poem is built on an antithesis. The first part is dedicated to poets who do not touch on current, topical topics, do not use satire in their work and, thus, find a large number of admirers of their work: “And his contemporaries are preparing a monument to him during his lifetime...”. The second part of the poem reflects the creative life of a rebel poet, one who writes sharply, sincerely, and does not try to please. He remains honest with readers and, above all, with himself, and in his works he shows the truth of life without embellishment. Despite the fact that such a poet does not find recognition during his lifetime (“And every sound of his speeches produces harsh enemies for him”), Nekrasov notes that after his death, great works will be understood and appreciated even by those who previously criticized them. Thus, the author of the poem reflects the following point of view: a genius poet is a person who is not afraid to express his civic position in poems, is not afraid of being misunderstood and does not strive for fame, and who sees the meaning of his life in the opportunity to speak through his creativity.
Mayakovsky "An Extraordinary Adventure..."
I will pour my sunshine,
and you are yours,
in poetry.
The author depicts a dialogue between the poet and the sun, thereby as if likening the person who creates the poems to a luminary shedding light on the earth. The poet, just like the star, dispels the darkness, but only does this in the soul of each individual reader. Mayakovsky’s message is important: you need to work hard and hard, and then the constructions can become for people that very sunshine, warming and illuminating the path of life:
Always shine, shine everywhere,
until the last days of the Donetsk,
shine - and no nails!
This is my slogan and the sun!
Tvardovsky “The whole essence is in one single covenant...”
During my lifetime I worry about one thing:
About what I know better than anyone in the world,
I want to say. And the way I want.
In most of his poems, Tvardovsky calls on people to always be honest, to say only what they think. He depicted contemporary life and a Russian man with an open soul. The lyrical work “The whole essence is in one single covenant...” was no exception, but here Tvardovsky draws attention to the special purpose of the poet. The only purpose of creativity for him is to express thoughts and feelings through his lines. The creator must speak openly and directly, without lies and falsehood - this is the only possible condition for the existence of art. The work is structured as a monologue-declaration, that is, as a proclamation of one’s truth, which for the lyrical hero is an indisputable truth.
Pushkin "Poet"
But only a divine verb
It will touch sensitive ears,
The poet's soul will stir,
Like an awakened eagle.
In Pushkin’s view, the poet is a sublime, heavenly creature - this is exactly how Alexander Sergeevich describes him in his works. Therefore, at the beginning of the poem, the life of the creator in the everyday world is reflected, in which there is no place for sublime ideas and dreams. He suffocates and feels worthless, being part of this routine and prosaic life: “And among the insignificant children of the world, perhaps he is the most insignificant of all.” The second half of the poem is devoted to the very moment of creativity, when the muse comes to the poet and he becomes not involved in the world of ordinary people. The author emphasizes that a creative person cannot live without inspiration; only in the presence of it does he become truly free and happy; the usual earthly life is alien to him. And it is at the moment of creating his works that he can be alone with his art.
Balmont "Higher, higher"
Higher, higher, everything is behind me,
Enjoy the heights
Get caught in my net,
I sing, I sing, I sing.In the poem “Higher, Higher,” Balmont described the creative process. He portrays the poet as a creator, a creator who touches the soul of everyone who reads his poem: “I touched the souls of strangers, like strings, but my strings.” Another image that Balmont’s metaphorical nature suggests to us is that of a lyricist as a musician who, with the help of words, creates a work that plays on the strings of a person’s soul. The poem can also be considered as the process of reading this work: “With the fluttering of sonorous wings, I fogged, intoxicated.” Indeed, with each line you read, you become more and more immersed in the artistic world of Balmont and you yourself unconsciously become a part of it.
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In what works of Russian poets does the theme of creativity sound and in what ways can these works be compared with A.S. Pushkin’s poem “In hours of fun or idle boredom”?
In hours of fun or idle boredom,
It used to be that I was my lyre
Entrusted pampered sounds
Madness, laziness and passions.
But even then the strings of evil
Involuntarily I interrupted the ringing,
When your voice is majestic
I was suddenly struck.
I shed streams of unexpected tears,
And the wounds of my conscience
Your fragrant speeches
The clean oil was refreshing.
And now from a spiritual height
You stretch out your hand to me,
And the strength of meek and loving
You tame your wild dreams.
Your soul is burning with your fire
Rejected the darkness of earthly vanities,
And listens to the seraphim's harp
The poet is in holy horror.
Show full text
In their lyrical works, many Russian poets sought to reflect the theme of poetic creativity and inspiration.
So, we can find a similar motive in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Oh, muse, I am at the door of the coffin...” and in the poems by A.S. Pushkin “The Prophet” and “In hours of fun or idle boredom.”
In the poem “Oh, Muse, I am at the door of the coffin...” N.A. Nekrasov turns to his inspiration, summing up his entire work. The author points out that even after his death, the muse will connect the hearts of people, giving eternal life to the poet’s works.
Comparing the poem with the lyrics of A.S. Pushkin (“In hours of fun or idle boredom”), we can say that for authors an important “assistant” in creativity has become
Poems devoted to the theme of the poet and poetry are few. One of the first appeals from F.I. Tyutchev’s approach to this topic was inspired by Pushkin’s ode “Liberty”:
Blazing with the fire of freedom
And drowning out the sound of chains,
The spirit of Alceus woke up in the lyre -
And the dust of slavery flew away with her.
Sparks ran from the lyre
And with an all-crushing stream,
Like the flame of God, they fell
On the pale foreheads of kings.
Much in Tyutchev’s understanding of poetry turns out to be close to Pushkin, the author of the famous “Liberty” (1817): first of all, the affirmation of freedom as the highest value for the poet, as the source of poetry. Like Pushkin, Tyutchev also seeks to establish the poet’s literary continuity, tracing it back to the ancient Greek poet-tyrant fighter Alcaeus (Alceus). The likening of the poetic lines to a flame - threatening and cleansing - also makes the two poets related. And yet, some lines of Tyutchev’s poem are polemical in relation to Pushkin’s. Expressing his admiration for the civic courage of the author of “Liberty,” Tyutchev nevertheless asserts his understanding of the role of the poet: his goal is not only to independently and freely broadcast “holy truths,” but also to reconcile hearts, soften them, morally transform people:
Happy is he who has a firm, bold voice,
Forgetting their dignity, forgetting their throne,
Broadcast to tyrants who are closed-minded
Holy truths are born!<…>
Sing and with the power of sweet voice
Tenderize, touch, transform
Friends of cold autocracy
Friends of goodness and beauty!
But don’t disturb the citizens
And don’t darken the shine of the crown,
Singer! Under the royal brocade
With your magic string
Soften, do not disturb your hearts!
In his book dedicated to Tyutchev, G.A. Chagin explains the appearance of these lines by the fact that the young poet, apparently, “was afraid of his own courage, which is why in the second stanza of the poem his tyrant-fighting pathos was replaced by cowardly advice to his older brother in the pen “to soften with his magic string, and not to disturb the hearts” of those who hold power.” But this explanation is unlikely to be correct: the early poem expressed a conviction that would be characteristic of later poems: Tyutchev did not accept radical - revolutionary ways to improve the life of the country and society. This constant position explains both the rejection of the Decembrist uprising (expressed in a poem addressed to the Decembrists - “You have been corrupted by Autocracy (December 14, 1825)”, 1826, and the glorification of poetry as “oil”, a source of consolation for people (“Poetry”, early 1850) .
Characteristic of Tyutchev (and fundamentally significant for the next poetic generation - the Symbolists) will be the understanding of poetry as a source of knowledge of the world: poetry provides “the key to the temple of nature” (“Spring greetings to poets”). Poetry is perceived as a heavenly voice, clear only to the chosen poet, and therefore the brilliant contemporary poet Pushkin is called “the living organ of the gods” (in the poem “January 29, 1837”).
Tyutchev’s other thought also seems important: the poet’s familiarization with the natural world makes him not subject to human laws, but dependent on those mysterious forces that govern the Universe. In the poem of 1839 “Don’t believe, don’t believe the poet, maiden,” the poet is the bearer of “scorching fire,” which he kindles in the heart that loves him; and even the crown on the poet’s head can burn. The idea of the poet’s inability to control his passions is also expressed by another comparison: the poet, Tyutchev claims, is “all-powerful, like an element.” This likening to the elements explains the poet’s paradoxical combination of purity and destructive power: the poet has a “clean hand,” but at the same time, he “unwittingly” brings the death of the one who loves him. Another metaphor is also typical: the poet is likened to a bee, but the source of the “honey” of his poetry is a loving heart: it is the destructive feeling of love caused by the poet that becomes the source of poetry:
You won't understand his heart
With your infant soul;
You can't hide the scorching fire
Under a light virginal veil.
The poet is omnipotent, like the elements,
He has no power only in himself;
Involuntarily young curls
He will burn with his crown.
In vain he reviles or praises
His senseless people...
It’s not like a snake that stings the heart,
But like a bee sucks it.
Your shrine will not be violated
The poet's clean hand
But inadvertently life will strangle
Or it will carry you beyond the clouds.
As researchers have already noted, in his poems Tyutchev creates the image of “a romantic poet with his dream of high love and an independent attitude towards the great World.” The poet is alone in the human world, living by his own laws. “Obsessed with his dream of “unearthly” love and only sometimes “accessible to the passions of people,” the poet contrasts love for “earthly idols” with the “idolization of omnipotent beauty” of a woman. But for Tyutchev the concept of “almighty beauty” also includes the “living word” - the truth sounded in the speeches of “earthly idols”, to which the poet instantly responds and responds. This idea was voiced in the 1840 poem “Greetings with Living Sympathy”:
<...>All my life I've been lost in a crowd of people,
Sometimes accessible to their passions,
The poet, I know, is superstitious,
But he rarely serves the authorities.
Before earthly idols
He walks by, bowing his head,
Or is he standing in front of them?
Confused and proudly fearful...
But if suddenly a living word
It will fall from their lips,
And through the greatness of the earth
All the beauty of a woman will shine,
And human consciousness
Their almighty beauty
Suddenly they will be illuminated like a radiance,
Gracefully marvelous features, -
Oh, how his heart burns!
How delighted and touched he is!
Even if he doesn't know how to love -
He knows how to worship!
The highest purpose of poetry, as Tyutchev asserts in his later work, is to reconcile people, to reconcile earthly enmity (“Poetry”, early 1850), to transform the world, to return harmony to it. Poetry, according to Tyutchev, is a heavenly guest, the very embodiment of harmony, that “order” that Tyutchev conceptualized as one of the foundations of the Universe, but it is born among heavenly turmoil, among the “fiery discord” of the elements. Tyutchev calls poets “sons” of the heavenly guest:
Among the thunder, among the lights,
Among the seething passions,
In spontaneous fiery discord,
She flies from heaven to us -
Heavenly to her sons,
With azure clarity in your gaze<...>
The human world, according to Tyutchev, is filled with the same “fiery discord”; it is also likened by the poet to a violent element, but not to fire, but to water - a “rebellious sea”, disastrous, unpredictable, dangerous. The purpose of poetry is to bring kindness and reconciliation into this violent human element, to give people consolation:
And to the rioting sea
The oil of reconciliation is pouring.
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