Ideological characteristics of Derzhavin’s poetry. Interesting facts about Derzhavin Own path in literature
Goals: give a brief description of the work of G. R. Derzhavin, an outstanding poet, with independent views and judgments, courageous and decisive; help students feel the innovative nature of the poet’s lyrics; reveal Derzhavin’s views on the role of the poet and poetry in the life of society.
Progress of lessons
Epigraph for the lesson:
The human mind and heart
They were my genius.
G. R. Derzhavin. Confession
I. Quiz for homework. (See questions in the previous plan.)
II. The teacher's introductory speech about G. R. Derzhavin.
These words belong to the remarkable poet of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816). His character, life and work reflected the controversial era of the late 18th and early 19th centuries like a mirror.
Coming from a noble family who lost his father early, Derzhavin went through a difficult “school of life.” He began his service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment in St. Petersburg as a simple soldier, and ended it as the personal secretary of Catherine II and the Minister of Justice.
He achieved everything on his own, without anyone’s protection or patronage. All his life he tried to “make up for the shortcomings of his education.” (First he studied at the school in Orenburg, then at the Kazan gymnasium, which he never graduated from, since he went to serve in the Preobrazhensky Regiment as a soldier.) “In this academy of needs and patience I learned and educated myself,” he wrote subsequently.
Later, already in the civil service, Derzhavin met and became friends with the satirist writer V. Kapnist, author of the play “Sneak”. And the poet, musician and painter Nikolai Lvov became his faithful friend for life.
A direct, honest and open man, with a highly developed sense of self-esteem, Derzhavin often provoked attacks from his superiors. Sometimes N. Lvov helped resolve conflicts that constantly haunted Derzhavin.
After serving for several years in the civil service under the command of Prince A. A. Vyazemsky, Gabriel Romanovich was forced to resign.
Derzhavin's social views were quite conservative: he was a staunch supporter of an enlightened monarchy and a defender of serfdom. But even in his early poetic works he demanded from those in power a high social consciousness, civic feat and justice.
Derzhavin loved poetry passionately. At first he wrote, imitating Lomonosov's odes. His works, which often appeared in magazines, attracted the attention of readers (although they were without the author’s signature).
One of the best poetic works is dedicated to the then famous rich man and nobleman A. I. Meshchersky, at whose feasts Derzhavin attended - the ode “On the Death of Prince Meshchersky.” (Read out fragments.) But real fame came to the poet when he wrote an ode called “Felitsa” (1783) (from the Latin . Felix, What means "happiness"). Although the ode was published anonymously, Derzhavin had to reveal his authorship.
III. Expressive reading of the ode “Felitsa”.
IV. Conversation on questions:
1. To whom did Derzhavin dedicated the ode?
2. What words does the poet use to address Catherine II?
3. Was Catherine II really an “ideal” ruler? Why are there so many words of praise addressed to her?
4. Which of the “powerful people” did Derzhavin ridicule and how? (The empress’s favorite is the all-powerful G. A. Potemkin, known for his love of lavish entertainment; Count A. G. Orlov, a great lover of horses and fist fights; the treasury manager, Prince A. A. Vyazemsky; the owner of the serf horn music orchestra S. K. Naryshkin and other nobles.)
5. About “Felitsa” Derzhavin wrote: “This is a work of the kind that has never existed in our language.” What did the poet mean? (The poet had in mind a violation of the strict rules of classicism. Humor, elements of morality, real life, everyday life, a conversational and relaxed tone imperiously invade the stanzas of Derzhavin’s ode. The heroes of “Felitsa” acquire “features of living people, odic “singing” is interrupted by satirical laughter. For the first time in Russian poetry there is that “extraordinary combination of the highest words with the lowest and simplest,” which N.V. Gogol considered the main feature of Derzhavin’s poetic style. All this testified to the “evolution of the ode genre”, the destruction of the entire “artistic system of classicism.” )
6. Prove that the ode “The Nobleman” (1794) had a programmatic character for Derzhavin. (The work contains a bold “crossing” of a high style with colloquial words. The author gave a contrasting image of an ideal nobleman and a nobleman disgracing his rank. This is especially visible in the famous lines:
A donkey will remain a donkey
Although shower him with stars;
Where should one act with the mind,
He just flaps his ears.)
7. What, according to Derzhavin, should a statesman be? (Ode to “Sovereigns and Judges.”)
V. Introduction to the poems “On the Capture of Izmail”, “On the Crossing of the Alpine Mountains”, “Snigir”, “On Victory in Italy” (optional).
Questions:
1. What is the main idea of Derzhavin’s poems? (The author reflects the heroism of his time, the brilliant victories of Russian weapons.)
2. Which Russian commanders are discussed in the works read? (Both the poet himself and many of his outstanding contemporaries “come to life” for us. Derzhavin glorifies Russian commanders - N.V. Repnin, P.A. Rumyantsev, A.V. Suvorov. The poet mourns not only Suvorov the commander, but also Suvorov the real person, sharing with the soldiers all the hardships of camp life - an ode to “Snigir.”)
3. What did Derzhavin value most in the Russian people? (The Russian people, the Russian soldier, are the main character of his victorious patriotic odes. In a person, Derzhavin valued the greatness of civil and patriotic feat most of all.)
VI. Introduction to the poem “Monument” (1796).
The poem “Monument” is a free adaptation of an ode by the ancient Roman poet Horace.
What does G. R. Derzhavin see as his service to the Fatherland, to the Russian people?
The author reflects (in a poem written a few days before his death) about the impact of the poetic word on contemporaries and descendants, about the poet’s right to the love of fellow citizens, to immortality. Immortality, according to Derzhavin, is given not to kings, but to poets. Proclaiming his right to historical immortality, Derzhavin explains:
...I was the first to dare in a funny Russian syllable
To proclaim Felitsa’s virtues,
Talk about God in simplicity of heart
And speak the truth to kings with a smile.
Homework.
Individual tasksaccording to the works of V. A. Zhukovsky (by groups):
1st group . Formation of Zhukovsky's personality.
2nd group . It is expressive to read one of Zhukovsky’s elegies and give a brief analysis (“May Morning”, “Rural Cemetery”, “Evening”).
3rd group . A message about the previously studied ballad “Svetlana”, an expressive reading of the passage.
4th group. Read a romantic poem (of the students’ choice) and give a brief analysis.
DERZHAVIN GAVRILA ROMANOVICH (1743-1816), Russian poet and statesman. Representative of Russian classicism.
"Rumors will spread about me"
from White Waters to Black Waters...
Like out of obscurity
I became famous for that
That I was the first to dare
in a funny Russian syllable
...speak the truth to kings with a smile.”
G.R. Derzhavin. "Monument", 1795
“From birth he was very weak, small and dry. The treatment was harsh: according to the then custom of those places, the child was baked in bread. He didn't die." (V.F. Khodasevich, 1988, p. 40.)
“He was 11 years old when his father died. The widow and children were left in great poverty... In March 1762, Derzhavin was already in St. Petersburg, in the soldiers' barracks. The twelve years that followed (1762-73) constitute the most dismal period in his life. Hard menial work consumes almost all of his time; he is surrounded by ignorant comrades; this quickly and most disastrously affects the addicted young man. He became addicted to cards, playing first “small” and then “big”. While living on vacation in Moscow, Derzhavin lost the money sent by his mother to buy an estate at cards, and this almost ruined him: he “traveled, so to speak out of desperation, day and night to taverns, looking for games; met the players, or, better yet, with decent deeds and the clothes of robbers covering up... When it happened that there was nothing left not only to play with, but also to live, then, locking himself at home, he ate bread and water and scribbled poetry." (Arkhangelsky, 1993, pp. 629-630.)
“Being in an extremely cramped financial situation after the death of his father, Derzhavin became addicted to card games, became a notorious card sharper, led a dissolute life... committed a number of criminal offenses... Contemporaries attributed Derzhavin’s misadventures to his harsh, quarrelsome character.” (Blagoy, 1930, pp. 205-207.)
“I didn’t know how to pretend, / To resemble a saint, / To inflate myself with an important rank / And to assume the appearance of a philosopher...” (Derzhavin G.R. “Calling”, 1807.)
“Derzhavin’s labors during the Pugachevism ended for him, however, in great trouble, even in court. The reason for this was partly Derzhavin’s temper, partly his lack of “politics”... Derzhavin was much happier at the cards at this time: in the fall of 1775, “with only 50 rubles in his pocket,” he won up to 40,000 rubles. Soon Derzhavin received a fairly prominent position in the Senate and at the beginning of 1778 he married...
Derzhavin had no children from either his first or second marriage.” (Arkhangelsky, 1993, pp. 630-631, 633.)
“Derzhavin’s direct and decisive character, his intolerance of abuses that officials were guilty of, brought him many enemies, and his tendency to abuse power brought Derzhavin to trial in 1788. After a long trial, the Senate acquitted him. In 1791, Derzhavin became the cabinet secretary of Catherine II and bothered the empress with his zeal, seeking a fair solution to matters” / Zapadov, 1971, p. 58-59.)
Derzhavin develops the traditions of Russian classicism, being a successor to the traditions of Lomonosov and Sumarokov.
For him, the purpose of a poet is to glorify great deeds and censure bad ones. In the ode “Felitsa” he glorifies the enlightened monarchy, which is personified by the reign of Catherine II. The intelligent, fair empress is contrasted with the greedy and selfish court nobles:
You just won’t offend the only one,
Don't insult anyone
You see the foolishness through your fingers,
The only thing you can’t tolerate is evil...
The main object of Derzhavin’s poetics is man as a unique individual in all the richness of personal tastes and preferences. Many of his odes are philosophical in nature, they discuss the place and purpose of man on earth, the problems of life and death:
I am the connection of worlds existing everywhere,
I am an extreme degree of substance;
I am the center of the living
The trait is the initial of the deity;
My body is crumbling into dust,
I command thunder with my mind,
I am a king - I am a slave - I am a worm - I am a god!
But, being so wonderful, I
Where did it happen? - unknown:
But I couldn’t be myself.
Ode "God", (1784)
Derzhavin creates a number of examples of lyrical poems in which the philosophical tension of his odes is combined with an emotional attitude to the events described. In the poem “The Snigir” (1800), Derzhavin mourns the death of Suvorov:
Why are you starting a war song?
Like a flute, dear bullfinch?
With whom will we go to war against Hyena?
Who is our leader now? Who is the hero?
Where is the strong, brave, fast Suvorov?
Severn thunder lies in the grave.
Before his death, Derzhavin begins to write an ode to THE RUIN OF HONOR, from which only the beginning has reached us:
R eka of times in its aspiration
U carries all people's affairs
AND drowns in the abyss of oblivion
N nations, kingdoms and kings.
A if anything remains
H sounds of the lyre and trumpet,
T about eternity will be devoured
AND common fate will not escape!
Derzhavin develops the traditions of Russian classicism, being a successor to the traditions of Lomonosov and Sumarokov.
For him, the purpose of a poet is to glorify great deeds and censure bad ones. In the ode “Felitsa” he glorifies the enlightened monarchy, which is personified by the reign of Catherine II. The intelligent, fair empress is contrasted with the greedy and selfish court nobles: You are the only one who does not offend, You do not offend anyone, You see through foolishness, Only you do not tolerate evil...
The main object of Derzhavin’s poetics is man as a unique individual in all the richness of personal tastes and preferences. Many of his odes are of a philosophical nature, they discuss the place and purpose of man on earth, the problems of life and death: I am the connection of worlds existing everywhere, I am the extreme degree of matter; I am the center of the living, the initial feature of the deity; I decay with my body in dust, I command thunder with my mind, I am a king - I am a slave - I am a worm - I am a god! But, being so wonderful, when did I come from? - unknown: But I couldn’t be myself. Ode "God", (1784)
Derzhavin creates a number of examples of lyrical poems in which the philosophical tension of his odes is combined with an emotional attitude to the events described. In the poem “The Snigir” (1800), Derzhavin mourns the death of Suvorov: Why do you start a war song like a flute, dear Snigir? With whom will we go to war against Hyena? Who is our leader now? Who is the hero? Where is the strong, brave, fast Suvorov? Severn thunder lies in the grave.
Before his death, Derzhavin begins to write an ode to the RUIN OF HONOR, from which only the beginning has reached us: The river of times in its rush carries away all the affairs of people and drowns peoples, kingdoms and kings in the abyss of oblivion. And if anything remains Through the sounds of the lyre and trumpet, It will be devoured by the mouth of eternity And the common fate will not leave!
Variety of creativity: Derzhavin did not limit himself to just one new type of ode. He transformed, sometimes beyond recognition, the odic genre in a variety of directions. Particularly interesting are his experiments in odes that combine directly opposite principles: laudable and satirical. This is exactly what his famous ode “To Felice”, discussed above, was. The combination of “high” and “low” in it turned out to be quite natural precisely because the poet had already found the right artistic move. What came to the fore in the work was not an abstract, lofty state idea, but the living thought of a specific person. A person who understands reality well, is observant, ironic, and democratic in his views, judgments and assessments. G.A. said this very well. Gukovsky: “But here comes a praise for the Empress, written in the living speech of a common man, speaking about a simple and genuine life, lyrical without artificial tension, at the same time sprinkled with jokes, satirical images, features of everyday life. It was as if a laudatory ode and at the same time at the same time, a significant part of it was occupied as if by satire on the courtiers; but on the whole it was neither an ode nor a satire, but the free poetic speech of a person showing life in its diversity, with high and low, lyrical and satirical features intertwined - as they are. intertwined in reality, in reality."
Derzhavin's short lyric poems are also imbued with an innovative spirit. In epistles, elegies, idylls and eclogues, in songs and romances, in these lyrical genres smaller than the ode, the poet feels even more liberated from strict classicist canons. However, Derzhavin did not adhere to a strict division into genres at all. His lyric poetry is a kind of unified whole. It is no longer supported by the same genre logic, not by the strict norms that prescribed compliance with correspondences: high theme - high genre - high vocabulary; low topic - low genre - low vocabulary. Until recently, such correspondences were necessary for young Russian poetry. Standards and models were required, in opposition to which there is always an impetus for the further development of poetry. In other words, more than ever there was a need for a starting point from which a great artist starts, looking for his own path.
The lyrical hero, uniting Derzhavin’s poems into one whole, is for the first time himself, a specific person and poet recognizable to readers. The distance between the author and the lyrical hero in Derzhavin’s “small” poetic genres is minimal. Let us remember that in the ode “To Felice” such a distance turned out to be much more significant. The Murza courtier, a sybarite and an idle lover, is not the hard worker Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin. Although their optimistic outlook on the world, cheerfulness and complacency make them very similar. The poet’s lyrical poems are described with great accuracy in the book by G.A. Gukovsky: “In Derzhavin, poetry entered life, and life entered poetry. Everyday life, a genuine fact, a political event, walking gossip invaded the world of poetry and settled down in it, changing and displacing in it all the usual, respectable and legitimate relationships of things. Theme the poem received a fundamentally new existence<…>The reader must first of all believe, must realize that it is the poet himself who is talking about himself, that the poet is the same person as those who walk in front of his windows on the street, that he is not woven from words, but from real flesh and blood . Derzhavin’s lyrical hero is inseparable from the idea of the real author.”
In the last two decades of his life, the poet created a number of lyric poems in the Anacreontic spirit. He gradually moves away from the ode genre. However, Derzhavin’s “anacreontics” bears little resemblance to what we encountered in Lomonosov’s lyrics. Lomonosov argued with the ancient Greek poet, contrasting the cult of earthly joys and fun with his ideal of service to the fatherland, civic virtues and the beauty of female selflessness in the name of duty. Derzhavin is not like that! He sets himself the task of expressing in poetry “the most tender feelings” of a person.
Let's not forget that we are in the last decades of the century. On almost the entire literary front, classicism, with its priority of civil themes, is losing ground to sentimentalism, an artistic method and direction in which personal, moral, and psychological themes are paramount. It is hardly worth directly connecting Derzhavin’s lyrics with sentimentalism. This issue is very controversial. Literary scholars solve it in different ways. Some insist on the poet's greater proximity to classicism, others to sentimentalism. Author of many works on the history of Russian literature G.P. Makogonenko reveals clear signs of realism in Derzhavin’s poetry. It is only obvious that the poet’s works are so original and original that it is hardly possible to attach them to a strictly defined artistic method.
In addition, the poet’s work is dynamic: it changed within even one decade. In his lyrics of the 1790s, Derzhavin mastered new and new layers of poetic language. He admired the flexibility and richness of Russian speech, which, in his opinion, was so well adapted to conveying the most varied shades of feeling. Preparing a collection of his “Anacreontic poems” for publication in 1804, the poet stated in the preface about the new stylistic and linguistic tasks facing him: “For my love for the Russian word, I wanted to show its abundance, flexibility, lightness and, in general, the ability to express the most tender feelings that are hardly found in other languages."
Freely adapting the poems of Anacreon or Horace into Russian, Derzhavin did not at all care about the accuracy of the translation. He understood and used “Anacreontics” in his own way. He needed it in order to show Russian life more freely, more colorfully and in more detail, to individualize and emphasize the characteristics of the character ("character") of the Russian person. In a poem "In Praise of Rural Life" the city dweller paints in his imagination pictures of a simple and healthy peasant life:
A pot of hot, good cabbage soup,
A bottle of good wine,
Russian beer is brewed for future use.
Derzhavin's experiments were not always successful. He sought to embrace two disparate principles in a single poetic concept: public policy and the private life of a person with its everyday interests and concerns. It was difficult to do this. The poet is looking for what can unite the two poles of the existence of society: the instructions of the authorities and the private, personal interests of people. It would seem that he finds the answer - Art and Beauty. Rearranging in the poem “The Birth of Beauty” the ancient Greek myth about the emergence of the goddess of beauty Aphrodite from the sea foam (myth in Hesiod’s version - L.D.), Derzhavin describes Beauty as an eternal reconciling principle:
…Beauty
Instantly she was born from the waves of the sea.
And only she looked,
Immediately the storm subsided
And there was silence.
But the poet knew too well how real life works. A sober view of things and uncompromisingness were the hallmarks of his nature. And therefore, in the next poem “To the Sea,” he already questions that in the current “Iron Age” Poetry and Beauty will be able to prevail over the victoriously spreading thirst for wealth and profit. In order to survive, a person in this “Iron Age” is forced to become “harder than flint.” Where can one “get to know” Poetry, with Lyra! And love for a beautiful modern person is becoming more and more alien:
Are the eyelids now made of iron?
Are men harder than flints?
Without knowing you,
The world is not captivated by the game,
Alien to the beauties of goodwill.
In the last period of his creative work, the poet’s lyrics are increasingly filled with national themes, folk poetic motifs and techniques. The “deeply artistic element of the poet’s nature,” which Belinsky pointed out, emerges more and more clearly in it. Derzhavin created poems that were remarkable and very different in terms of genre, style, and emotional mood during these years. "Swallow" (1792), "My idol" (1794), "Nobleman" (1794), "Invitation to dinner" (1795), "Monument" (1796), "Khrapovitsky" (1797), "Russian girls" ( 1799), "Bullfinch" (1800), "Swan" (1804), "Confession" (1807), "Eugene. The Life of Zvanskaya" (1807), "River of Times..." (1816). And also “Mug”, “Nightingale”, “For Happiness” and many others.
Let us analyze some of them, paying attention first of all to their poetics, that is, that very, as the critic puts it, “deeply artistic element” of Derzhavin’s works. Let's start with a feature that immediately attracts attention: the poet's poems affect the reader with colorful, visible concreteness. Derzhavin is a master of paintings and descriptions. Let's give a few examples. This is the beginning of the poem "Vision of Murza":
On the dark blue ether
The golden moon floated;
In its silver porphyry
Shining from the heights, she
Through the windows my house was illuminated
And with your fawn ray
I painted golden glasses
On my varnish floor.
Before us is a magnificent painting with words. In the frame of the window, as if in a frame bordering a picture, we see a wonderful landscape: in the dark blue velvet sky, in “silver porphyry” the moon floats slowly and solemnly. Filling the room with a mysterious radiance, it draws golden reflection patterns with its rays. What a subtle and whimsical color scheme! The reflection of the lacquer floor combines with the fawn beam and creates the illusion of “golden glass”.
And here is the first stanza "Invitations to Dinner":
Sheksninsk golden sterlet,
Kaymak and borscht are already standing;
In decanters of wine, punch, shining
Now with ice, now with sparks, they beckon;
Incense flows from the incense burners,
The fruits among the baskets are laughing,
The servants do not dare to breathe,
There's a table around waiting for you;
The hostess is stately and young
Ready to lend a hand.
Well, is it possible not to accept such an invitation!
In a big poem "Eugene. Life of Zvanskaya" Derzhavin will bring the technique of picturesque colorfulness of the image to perfection. The lyrical hero is “at rest”; he has retired from service, from the bustle of the capital, from ambitious aspirations:
Blessed is he who is less dependent on people,
Free from debts and from the hassle of orders,
Doesn't seek gold or honor at court
And alien to all kinds of vanities!
It seems that there was a whiff of Pushkin’s verse from “Eugene Onegin”: “Blessed is he who was young from his youth...” Pushkin knew Derzhavin’s poems well and studied with the older poet. We will find many parallels in their works.
The colorfulness and visibility of the details of “Evgenia. The Life of Zvanskaya” is amazing. The description of the table set for dinner with “homemade, fresh, healthy provisions” is so specific and natural that it seems like you can reach out and touch them:
Crimson ham, green cabbage soup with yolk,
Ruddy yellow pie, white cheese, red crayfish,
That pitch, amber-caviar, and with a blue feather
There are motley pike there - beautiful!
In the research literature about the poet, there is even a definition of “Derzhavin still life.” And yet, it would be wrong to reduce the conversation only to naturalness, the naturalness of the everyday scenes and natural landscapes depicted by the poet. Derzhavin often resorted to such artistic techniques as personification, personification of abstract concepts and phenomena (that is, giving them material characteristics). In this way he achieved high mastery of artistic convention. The poet can’t do without her either! It enlarges the image and makes it especially expressive. In “Invitation to Dinner” we find such a personified image - it gives us goosebumps: “And Death is looking at us through the fence.” And how humanized and recognizable Derzhavin’s Muse is. She “looks through the crystal window, mussing her hair.”
Colorful personifications are already found in Lomonosov. Let's remember his lines:
There is Death between the Gothic regiments
Runs, furious, from formation to formation
And the greedy jaw opens,
And he stretches out his cold hands...
However, one cannot help but notice that the content of the personified image here is completely different. Lomonosov's image of Death is majestic, monumental, its lexical design is solemn and pompous (“opens”, “stretches”). Death has omnipotence over formations of warriors, over entire regiments of troops. In Derzhavin, Death is likened to a peasant woman waiting behind the fence for her neighbor. But it is precisely because of this simplicity and ordinariness that a feeling of tragic contrast arises. The drama of the situation is achieved without high words.
Derzhavin is different in his poems. His poetic palette is multicolored and multidimensional. N.V. Gogol persistently searched for the origins of the “hyperbolic scope” of Derzhavin’s creativity. In the thirty-first chapter of “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends,” which is called “What, finally, is the essence of Russian poetry and what is its peculiarity,” he writes: “Everything about him is large. His syllable is as large as anything else.” Which of our poets. If you take an anatomical knife, you will see that this comes from an extraordinary combination of the highest words with the lowest and simplest, which no one would have dared to do except Derzhavin. Who would have dared to express himself the way he expressed it in. in one place about the same majestic husband of his, at that moment when he had already fulfilled everything that was needed on earth:
And death awaits as a guest,
Twisting his mustache, lost in thought.
Who, besides Derzhavin, would dare to combine such a thing as the expectation of death with such an insignificant action as twirling a mustache? But how much more palpable is the appearance of the husband himself through this, and what a melancholy-deep feeling remains in the soul!
Gogol is undoubtedly right. The essence of Derzhavin’s innovative style lies precisely in the fact that the poet introduces the truth of life into his works, as he understands it. In life, the high coexists with the low, pride with arrogance, sincerity with hypocrisy, intelligence with stupidity, and virtue with meanness. Life itself is adjacent to death.
The conflict of the poem is formed by the collision of opposite principles "Nobleman". This is a large lyrical work of odic form. It has twenty-five stanzas of eight lines each. A clear rhythmic pattern formed by iambic tetrameter and a special rhyme scheme (ababvggv) is consistent with the genre tradition of the ode. But the resolution of the poetic conflict is not at all in the tradition of the ode. The plot lines in the ode, as a rule, do not contradict one another. In Derzhavin they are conflicting, opposite. One line - a nobleman, a person worthy of both his title and his destiny:
The nobleman must be
The mind is sound, the heart is enlightened;
He must set an example
That his title is sacred,
That he is an instrument of power,
Support for the royal building.
His whole thought, words, deeds
There must be benefit, glory, honor.
The other line is the nobles-donkey, who will not be adorned with either titles or orders (“stars”): The donkey will remain a donkey, Although you shower him with stars; Where he should act with his mind, He only flaps his ears. ABOUT! In vain is the hand of happiness, Against the natural rank, Dressing up a madman as a master Or as a fool's cracker.
It would be in vain to expect from the poet a psychological deepening of the stated conflict or authorial reflection (that is, analytical reflections). This will come to Russian poetry, but a little later. In the meantime, Derzhavin, perhaps the first of the Russian poets, is paving the way for depicting the feelings and actions of people in their everyday lives.
On this path, the very “Russian bend of the mind” that Belinsky spoke about helped the poet a lot. The poet's beloved friend and wife died. To relieve the melancholy at least a little, Derzhavin in the poem "On the death of Katerina Yakovlevna" turns as if for support to the rhythm of folk lamentations:
No sweet-voiced swallow
Homely from the wild -
Oh! my dear, beautiful,
She flew away - joy with her.
Not the moon's pale glow
Shines from a cloud in terrible darkness -
Oh! her body lies dead,
Like a bright angel in a deep sleep.
The swallow is a favorite image in folk songs and lamentations. And no wonder! She builds a nest near human habitation, or even behind closed doors. She is next to the peasant, touches him and makes him happy. With its homeliness, neatness and affectionate chirping, the “sweet-voiced swallow” reminds the poet of his dear friend. But the swallow is cheerful and busy. And nothing can awaken my dear one from a “sound sleep.” The poet’s “broken heart” can only cry out his bitterest sadness in verses that are so similar to folk lamentations. AND parallelism technique with the natural world in this poem could not be more impressive and expressive.
– almost exclusively lyrics. The tragedies he wrote in recent years are irrelevant. Prose is more important. His Discourse on lyric poetry is a wonderful example of uninformed but inspired criticism. The commentary he wrote on his own poems is full of charming, strange and many clarifying details. Memoirs They portray his difficult and stubborn character very convincingly. His prose, swift and nervous, is completely free from the pedantic flourishes of German-Latin rhetoric and, together with Suvorov’s, represents the most individual and courageous prose of the century.
Portrait of Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin. Artist V. Borovikovsky, 1811
Derzhavin is great in lyric poetry. Even just by the power of imagination, he is one of the few greatest Russian poets. The spirit of his poetry is classical, but it is the classicism of a barbarian. His philosophy is a cheerful and greedy Epicureanism, which does not deny God, but treats him with disinterested admiration. He accepts death and destruction with courageous gratitude for the joys of a fleeting life. He amusingly combines a highly moral sense of justice and duty with a firm and conscious decision to enjoy life to the fullest. He loved the sublime in all its forms: the metaphysical grandeur of a deistic God, the physical grandeur of a waterfall, the political grandeur of an empire, its builders and warriors. Gogol was right when he called Derzhavin “the poet of greatness.”
But although all these features are inherent in classicism, Derzhavin was a barbarian, not only in his love of material pleasures, but also in his use of language. “His genius,” said Pushkin, “thought in Tatar and, due to lack of time, did not know Russian grammar.” His style is constant violence against the Russian language, an incessant, strong, individualistic, courageous, but often cruel deformation of it. Like his great contemporary Suvorov, Derzhavin was not afraid of losses when it came to victory. His greatest odes (and Waterfall including) often consist of individual dizzying peaks of poetry, rising above a chaotic desert of clumsy commonplaces. Derzhavin's poetic sphere is very wide. He wrote laudatory and spiritual odes, Anacreontic and Horatian poems, dithyrambs and cantatas, and in later years even ballads. He was a bold innovator, but his innovations did not contradict the spirit of classicism. In his paraphrase of Horace Exegi Monumentum (Monument) he justifies his right to immortality by the fact that he created a new genre: the playful ode of praise. A daring mixture of the sublime with the real and the comic is a characteristic feature of Derzhavin’s most popular odes, and it was this novelty that struck the hearts of his contemporaries with such unknown force.
Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin
But besides his innovations, Derzhavin is the greatest Russian poet of the most orthodox-classical style, he is the most eloquent singer of the great and immemorially ancient commonplaces of poetry and universal human experience. The greatest of his moralistic odes: On the death of Prince Meshchersky– never Horatian philosophy carpe diem(take advantage of today) was not spoken with such biblical grandeur; a short and strong paraphrase of Psalm 81 - against bad kings, who after the French Revolution brought great displeasure on the poet (he could only answer the accusations with the words “ King David was not a Jacobin, and therefore my poems cannot be unpleasant to anyone"); And Nobleman, a powerful indictment of the most eminent favorites of the 18th century, where caustic sarcasm goes hand in hand with the strictest moral seriousness.
But what Derzhavin is inimitable in is his ability to convey impressions of light and color. He saw the world as a mountain of precious stones, metals and flames. His greatest achievements, in this sense, were the beginning Waterfall, where he simultaneously reached the pinnacle of his rhythmic power; startling Peacock(so capriciously spoiled in the end by a flat moral maxim) and stanzas On the return of Count Zubov from Persia(which, by the way, serve as a striking example of Derzhavin’s independence and the spirit of contradiction: the poems were written in 1797, immediately after the accession to the throne of Paul I, whom Zubov especially hated, and were addressed to the brother of the late empress’s last favorite). It is in such poems and passages that Derzhavin’s genius reaches its heights. It is very difficult to convey this in another language, since it is precisely on the extraordinary character of the words, syntax and, above all, the metrical division that the effect they produce is based. It is his brilliant visual flashes and rhetorical eruptions that make Derzhavin the poet of the “purple spots” par excellence.
Anacreontic poems of recent years (first collected in 1804) represent a very unique section of Derzhavin’s poetic creativity. In them he gives free rein to his barbaric epicureanism and passionate love of life. Of all the Russian poets, only Derzhavin, in his blooming old age, sounded this note of joyful, healthy and strong sensuality. The poems express not only sexual sensuality, but also a great love for life in all its forms. This is Zvanskaya life; gastronomic-moralistic Invitation to lunch and lines to Dmitriev about gypsies (Derzhavin, the first of a long line of Russian writers - Pushkin, Grigoriev, Tolstoy, Leskov, Blok - paid tribute to the passion for gypsy music and dance). But among the later Anacreontic poems there are poems of extraordinary melody and tenderness, in which (as Derzhavin himself says in his comments) he avoided “the letter “r” in order to prove the mellifluity of the Russian language.”
Derzhavin’s poetry is a whole world of amazing riches; its only drawback is that the great poet was neither an example nor a teacher of mastery. He did nothing to raise the level of literary taste or to improve the literary language; As for his poetic ascents, it was absolutely clear that it was impossible to accompany him to these dizzying heights.
Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816) - an outstanding Russian poet of the 18th - early 19th centuries. Derzhavin's work was innovative in many ways and left a significant mark on the history of literature in our country, influencing its further development.
Life and work of Derzhavin
Reading Derzhavin’s biography, it can be noted that the writer’s early years did not indicate in any way that he was destined to become a great man and a brilliant innovator.
Gavrila Romanovich was born in 1743 in the Kazan province. The family of the future writer was very poor, but belonged to the noble class.
Early years
As a child, Derzhavin had to endure the death of his father, which further worsened the family’s financial situation. The mother was forced to do anything to provide for her two sons and give them at least some kind of upbringing and education. There weren’t many good teachers in the province where the family lived; we had to put up with the ones we could hire. Despite the difficult situation, poor health, and unqualified teachers, Derzhavin, thanks to his abilities and perseverance, was still able to receive a decent education.
Military service
While still a student at the Kazan gymnasium, the poet wrote his first poems. However, he never managed to finish his studies at the gymnasium. The fact is that a clerical error made by some employee led to the fact that the young man was sent to military service in St. Petersburg a year earlier, as an ordinary soldier. Only ten years later he managed to achieve the rank of officer.
With his entry into military service, Derzhavin’s life and work changed greatly. His duty of service left little time for literary activity, but despite this, during the war years Derzhavin composed quite a lot of comic poems, and also studied the works of various authors, including Lomonosov, whom he especially revered and considered a role model. German poetry also attracted Derzhavin. He knew German very well and translated German poets into Russian and often relied on them in his own poems.
However, at that time Gavrila Romanovich did not yet see his main calling in poetry. He aspired to a military career, to serving his homeland and improving the financial situation of his family.
In 1773-1774 Derzhavin participated in the suppression of the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev, but never achieved promotion or recognition of his merits. Having received only three hundred souls as a reward, he was demobilized. For some time, circumstances forced him to earn a living in a not entirely honest way - by playing cards.
Unlocking talent
It is worth noting that it was at this time, by the seventies, that his talent was truly revealed for the first time. "Chatalagai Odes" (1776) aroused the interest of readers, although creatively this and other works of the seventies were not yet completely independent. Derzhavin's work was somewhat imitative, in particular, of Sumarokov, Lomonosov and others. The strict rules of versification, to which, following the classicist tradition, his poems were subject, did not allow the author’s unique talent to fully reveal itself.
In 1778, a joyful event happened in the writer’s personal life - he fell passionately in love and married Ekaterina Yakovlevna Bastidon, who became his poetic muse for many years (under the name Plenira).
Own path in literature
Since 1779, the writer has chosen his own path in literature. Until 1791, he worked in the genre of odes, which brought him the greatest fame. However, the poet does not simply follow the classicist models of this strict genre. He reforms it, completely changing the language, which becomes unusually sonorous, emotional, completely different from what it was in measured, rational classicism. Derzhavin also completely changed the ideological content of the ode. If earlier state interests were above all, now personal, intimate revelations are also introduced into Derzhavin’s work. In this respect, he foreshadowed sentimentalism with its emphasis on emotionality and sensuality.
Last years
In the last decades of his life, Derzhavin stopped writing odes; love lyrics, friendly messages, and comic poems began to predominate in his work.
Derzhavin's work in brief
The poet himself considered his main merit to be the introduction of the “funny Russian style” into fiction, which mixed elements of high and colloquial style and combined lyricism and satire. Derzhavin’s innovation was also in the fact that he expanded the list of themes of Russian poetry, including plots and motifs from everyday life.
Solemn odes
Derzhavin's work is briefly characterized by his most famous odes. They often contain the everyday and the heroic, the civil and the personal. Derzhavin's work thus combines previously incompatible elements. For example, “Poems for the birth of a porphyry-born youth in the North” can no longer be called a solemn ode in the classic sense of the word. The birth of Alexander Pavlovich in 1779 was described as a great event, all geniuses bring him various gifts - intelligence, wealth, beauty, etc. However, the wish of the last of them (“Be a man on the throne”) indicates that the king is a man, which was not typical for classicism. Innovation in Derzhavin’s work manifested itself here in the mixture of civil and personal status of a person.
"Felitsa"
In this ode, Derzhavin dared to address the empress herself and argue with her. Felitsa is Catherine II. Gavrila Romanovich presents the reigning person as something that violates the strict classicist tradition that existed at that time. The poet admires Catherine II not as a statesman, but as a wise person who knows her path in life and follows it. The poet then describes his life. Self-irony when describing the passions that possessed the poet serves to emphasize Felitsa’s merits.
"To take Ishmael"
This ode depicts a majestic image of the Russian people conquering a Turkish fortress. Its power is likened to the forces of nature: an earthquake, a sea storm, a volcanic eruption. However, she is not spontaneous, but submits to the will of the Russian sovereign, driven by a feeling of devotion to her homeland. The extraordinary strength of the Russian warrior and the Russian people in general, his power and greatness were depicted in this work.
"Waterfall"
In this ode, written in 1791, the main image is of a stream, symbolizing the frailty of existence, earthly glory and human greatness. The prototype of the waterfall was Kivach, located in Karelia. The color palette of the work is rich in various shades and colors. Initially, this was just a description of the waterfall, but after the death of Prince Potemkin (who died unexpectedly on the way home, returning with victory in the Russian-Turkish war), Gavrila Romanovich added semantic content to the picture, and the waterfall began to personify the frailty of life and suggest philosophical thoughts about various values. Derzhavin was personally acquainted with Prince Potemkin and could not help but respond to his sudden death.
However, Gavrila Romanovich was far from admiring Potemkin. In the ode, Rumyantsev is contrasted with him - that’s who, according to the author, is the true hero. Rumyantsev was a true patriot, caring about the common good, and not about personal glory and well-being. This hero in the ode figuratively corresponds to a quiet stream. The noisy waterfall is contrasted with the inconspicuous beauty of the Suna River with its majestic and calm flow, waters full of clarity. People like Rumyantsev, who live their lives calmly, without fuss or boiling passions, can reflect all the beauty of the sky.
Philosophical odes
The themes of Derzhavin’s work continue with the philosophical “On the Death of Prince Meshchersky” (1779) was written after the death of the heir Paul. Moreover, death is depicted figuratively, it “sharpens the blade of the scythe” and “grinds its teeth.” Reading this ode, at first it even seems that this is a kind of “hymn” to death. However, it ends with the opposite conclusion - Derzhavin calls on us to value life as “an instant gift from heaven” and to live it in such a way as to die with a pure heart.
Anacreontic lyrics
Imitating ancient authors, creating translations of their poems, Derzhavin created his miniatures, in which one can feel the national Russian flavor, life, and describe Russian nature. Classicism in Derzhavin’s work underwent its transformation here too.
Translating Anacreon for Gavrila Romanovich is an opportunity to escape into the realm of nature, man and everyday life, which had no place in strict classicist poetry. The image of this ancient poet, despising light and loving life, was very attractive to Derzhavin.
In 1804, Anacreontic Songs were published as a separate edition. In the preface, he explains why he decided to write “light poetry”: the poet wrote such poems in his youth, and published them now because he left the service, became a private person and is now free to publish whatever he wants.
Late lyrics
A feature of Derzhavin’s creativity in the late period is that at this time he practically stopped writing odes and created mainly lyrical works. The poem "Eugene. Life of Zvanskaya", written in 1807, describes the daily home life of an old nobleman living in a luxurious rural family estate. Researchers note that this work was written in response to Zhukovsky’s elegy “Evening” and was polemical to the emerging romanticism.
Derzhavin’s late lyricism also includes the work “Monument”, filled with faith in the dignity of man despite adversity, life’s vicissitudes and historical changes.
The significance of Derzhavin's work was very great. The transformation of classicist forms begun by Gavrila Sergeevich was continued by Pushkin, and later by other Russian poets.
