Composition

N. A. Nekrasov famous Russian poet XIX century, editor of the magazines Sovremennik and Otechestvennye zapiski. Despite the fact that the poet grew up in rich family, he was worried about the fate of the common people. The heroes of his poems and poems are simple peasants, townspeople, the poor, and the disadvantaged. This was Nekrasov’s innovation as a poet. After all, neither Pushkin, nor Lermontov, nor Gogol will see ordinary people the main characters of the works. Nikolai Alekseevich not only created vivid images of peasants and townspeople in his poems, but also worried about the fate of the poorest strata of society. The poet speaks about this in the poem “Elegy,” written in 1874, 13 years after the abolition of serfdom.

Elegy is a special genre that many romantic poets turned to: Zhukovsky, Baratynsky, Batyushkov. Elegy, translated from ancient Greek as “complaint,” conveyed sad experiences, mainly about unhappy love. Nekrasov changed the genre, giving his elegy a social overtone. This is a sad poem-meditation about the fate of the people after the reform of 1861 and the establishment of high life ideals. The elegy is written in iambic hexameter with missing accents (a line traditional for elegies).

The first part begins with an appeal to to the younger generation readers:

That the theme is old - “the suffering of the people”,

And that poetry should forget her, -

Don't believe it, boys! She doesn't age.

The poet tries to start a conversation by defining the theme of his work in general and this work in particular - “the suffering of the people.” This is what interests him most. He seeks to convince the reader that he is right, using vivid comparisons and epithets:

"Alas! While the peoples

They wallow in poverty, submitting to the gods,

Like skinny herds across mown meadows.

The antithesis heightens the urgency of the question:

Remind the crowd that the people are in poverty,

While she rejoices and sings...

The poet uses in elegy exclamation sentences, rhetorical questions, silence, which brings the style closer to journalistic. Exclamation:

The muse will mourn their fate, the muse will serve them,

And there is nothing stronger in the world, more beautiful than union!

echoes the rhetorical question asked at the end:

Arouse people's attention powerful of the world –

What better service could the lyre serve? ...

For Nekrasov, the muse and creativity are obliged to serve the people; a true poet, a citizen, cannot help but worry about his fate:

I dedicated the lyre to my people...

This line is the leitmotif of Nekrasov’s entire work.

In the second part, which begins with these words, the poet reflects on the reform of 1861. For him, this decree is a great joy. But the author’s irony is also felt in these lines:

I saw a red day: There is no slave in Russia!

And I shed sweet tears in emotion...

Enough to rejoice in naive enthusiasm, -

The muse whispered to me...

And again the poet-publicist asks a question related to the theme of the poem: The people are liberated, but are the people happy? We will find the answer to this further.

An elegy traditionally contains a descriptive part. In the third and fourth parts, Nekrasov draws using bright epithets and a metaphorical picture of life after the reform village, he observes the peasants, admires their work:

Do I listen to the songs of the reapers over the golden harvest;

Is the old man slowly walking behind the plow,

Does he run through the meadow, playing and whistling,

Are the sickles sparkling, are the scythes ringing together...

And again at the end of the stanza, like a shot - rhetorical questions:

Have you become more bearable, peasant suffering?

And long slavery came to replace

Has freedom finally brought a change?

IN people's destinies? into the tunes of rural maidens?

Or is their discordant melody also sad?

Evening is coming. Excited by dreams

Through the fields, through the meadows filled with haystacks,

I wander thoughtfully in the cool semi-darkness...

... The valleys and fields echo her,

And the echo of distant mountains sends her feedback

And the forest responded...

What about the people? The one whose fate the poet is so worried about? We will find the answer to this question at the end of the poem:

Alas! He does not heed and does not give an answer...

It is no coincidence that the author uses silence not only after rhetorical questions and exclamations, but also at the end of the poem: The people do not hear the poet’s questions, they do not want a better life for themselves. Nekrasov is outraged by the long-suffering of the peasantry. People are so accustomed to being dependent on the landowners that they continue to carry out labor duties out of habit and do not see any other fate for themselves. Liberation from serfdom did not bring the expected changes in peasant life. This is the idea of Nekrasov’s “Elegy”. And the answers to the questions posed must be given by the readers, the younger generation to whom the poet addresses.

N. A. Nekrasov is one of those Russian poets who, with all their creativity, seemed to be arguing with the previous literary tradition and at the same time they themselves created a new tradition, characterizing the time in which they created. N. A. Nekrasov completely rethinks the idea of poetry, the role of the poet in the life of society. But in order to argue with tradition, it was necessary to establish a connection with it. Therefore, a number of poems by N. A. Nekrasov are clearly polemical in nature. This becomes one of the best, in my opinion, poems of the poet - “Elegy”.

The poem “Elegy” was written in 1874 and became N. A. Nekrasov’s response to statements made by many critics about the poet.

One of them wrote: “What was his (Nekrasov’s) favorite topic - a direct description of the suffering of the people and the poor in general - has already been exhausted by him, not because such a topic in itself could ever be completely exhausted, but because Our poet has begun to repeat himself somehow when he takes on this topic.” Another critic suggested that after 1861 the topic itself seemed outdated and untenable. It is precisely through polemics with such statements that, in my opinion, the beginning of the poem can be explained:

Let him tell us changing fashion,

That the topic is old - “the suffering of the people”

And that poetry should forget her, -

Don't believe it, boys! she doesn't age.

For his poem, N. A. Nekrasov chooses iambic hexameter with paired rhyme, that is, Alexandrian verse - the solemn size of the era of classicism.

This immediately sets the orientation towards high level verse and, in addition, a connection with Pushkin’s “Village”. Between the two poems there are lexical connections. Let’s compare with N.A. Nekrasov:

…Alas! bye peoples

They languish in poverty, submitting to the whips,

Like skinny herds across mown meadows... -

and from Pushkin:

Leaning on an alien plow, submitting to the scourge,

Here skinny slavery drags along the reins...

This comparison is intended to once again emphasize the importance of the topic and establish a connection between times.

N. A. Nekrasov proves the urgency of addressing this topic by introducing into “Elegy” a description of the life of the people and showing the complete failure of the reform. And therefore the poem becomes a kind of declaration of N. A. Nekrasov’s attitude to the topic of poetry and understanding of the role of the poet: the poet must have one goal - serving the people - until the people are happy. Nekrasov claims civic poetry, social poetry. The choice here is not accidental

genre: elegy - traditional lyrical genre, the content of which is love experiences lyrical hero. The place of N. A. Nekrasov’s beloved is taken by the people, the poet’s thoughts are addressed to them. However, this love remains unrequited, and this is where the tragedy inherent in the sound of the poem arises:

I dedicated the lyre to my people.

Perhaps I will die unknown to him,

But I served him - and my heart is calm... These phrases again show a connection with A.S. Pushkin, this time with the poem “Echo”:

For every sound

Your response in the empty air

You will give birth suddenly.

You don’t have a response... So are you, poet!

The only difference is that N. A. Nekrasov connects this topic directly with the people, and the very meaning of the comparison is concretized:

But the one about whom I sing in the evening silence,

To whom are the poet’s dreams dedicated?

Alas! he does not heed and does not give an answer...

“Does not give an answer” is a clear focus on digression from the final part of Gogol's poem " Dead souls" Not only the people - but also

all of Rus' - this is the unchanging beloved of N. A. Nekrasov, to whom they are dedicated best works poet.

Let changing fashion tell us,
That the old theme is “the suffering of the people”
And that poetry should forget her.
Don't believe it, boys! she doesn't age.
Oh, if only years could age her!
God's world would flourish!... Alas! bye peoples
They languish in poverty, submitting to the whips,
Like skinny herds across mown meadows,
The muse will mourn their fate, the muse will serve them,
And there is no stronger, more beautiful union in the world!…
Remind the crowd that the people are in poverty,
While she rejoices and sings,
To arouse the attention of the powerful of the world to the people -
What could a lyre serve more worthily?...

I dedicated the lyre to my people.
Perhaps I will die unknown to him,
But I served him - and my heart is calm...
Let not every warrior harm the enemy,
But everyone go into battle! And fate will decide the battle...
I saw a red day: there is no slave in Russia!
And I shed sweet tears in tenderness...
“It’s enough to rejoice in naive enthusiasm,”
The Muse whispered to me. “It’s time to go forward.”
The people are liberated, but are the people happy?..

Do I listen to the songs of the reapers over the golden harvest,
Is the old man slowly walking behind the plow?
Does he run through the meadow, playing and whistling,
Happy child with his father's breakfast,
Do the sickles sparkle, do the scythes ring together -
I'm looking for answers to secret questions,
Boiling in the mind: “In recent years
Have you become more bearable, peasant suffering?
And long slavery came to replace
Has freedom finally brought a change?
In people's destinies? into the tunes of rural maidens?
Or is their discordant melody just as sad?..”

Evening is coming. Excited by dreams
Through the fields, through the meadows filled with haystacks,
I wander thoughtfully in the cool semi-darkness,
And the song composes itself in the mind,
Recent, secret thoughts are a living embodiment:
I call for blessings on rural labors,
I promise curses to the people's enemy,
And I pray to my friend in heaven for power,
And my song is loud!.. The valleys and fields echo it,
And the echo of distant mountains sends her feedback,
And the forest responded... Nature listens to me,
But the one about whom I sing in the evening silence,
To whom are the poet’s dreams dedicated?
Alas! He doesn’t heed and doesn’t give an answer...
___________________
Date of writing: August 15-17, 1874

Analysis of the poem “Elegy” by Nekrasov

The poem “Elegy” is Nekrasov’s ironic response to the constant attacks of reactionary figures. He was constantly accused of humiliating with his poems proud title poet, describing the life of the dark and always drunken peasantry. The attacks intensified after the abolition of serfdom. The “most merciful granting” of freedom to those who do not deserve it provoked protests from inveterate serf owners. They were outraged that even after such an unheard of act, there were people who continued to speak out about the plight of the peasants. Without retreating from civil lyrics, Nekrasov wrote a poem in the genre of elegy in 1874. In it, he described his thoughts on the Manifesto of 1861 and clearly expressed his views on the true calling of the poet.

According to Nekrasov, the duty of any citizen, and especially a poet, is to strive to make his country happier and more prosperous. The situation in which “peoples are languishing in poverty” should not leave anyone indifferent. "The Suffering of the People" is the most hot topic for creativity. You can’t turn a blind eye to it and describe the brilliance and senseless wasting of life by high society. The concept of “pure” art was absolutely unacceptable to Nekrasov. He was a realist and proceeded from practical benefit of their works.

Nekrasov proudly declares: “I dedicated the lyre to my people.” He has the right to make such a statement. The poet's poems caused a wide public response and generally contributed to a change in attitudes towards the common people. Nekrasov does not expect recognition for his services; he is glad that he has made at least some contribution to improving the situation of the peasants.

The poet proceeds to analyze the consequences of the abolition of serfdom. He solemnly calls the adoption of the decree a “red day.” But years have passed. Has it changed to better life peasant? Nekrasov invites the reader to answer this question honestly. In fact, the situation of the common people remained virtually unchanged. The abolition of personal dependence was replaced by financial dependence (redemption payments).

The description of an imaginary idyll in the genre of elegy (“songs of the reapers,” “contented child”) is Nekrasov’s irony about his hopes for the abolition of slavery. He never makes an author’s assessment of the event of 1861, ending the verse with the sad remark that the people “do not heed... and do not give an answer.”

Poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Elegy"

When you pick up something unfamiliar literary work, the first thing you notice is the name. What is "Elegy"? Why did Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov name his creation that way?

In the Dictionary literary terms“You can read the following: “Elegy is a genre form of lyrics. The themes of the elegy are varied: patriotism, the ideals of civil and military valor, the joy and sorrow of love. In the new European literature The elegy loses its clarity of form, but acquires certainty of content, becoming an expression of predominantly philosophical reflections, sad thoughts, and grief.”

It was the latter that was clearly reflected in Nekrasov’s “Elegy” (1874). The theme of mournful reflections on the suffering of the people, the theme of the widespread oppression of the serfs - the most important direction in the works of Nekrasov.

Let changing fashion tell us,

That the topic is old - “the suffering of the people”

And that poetry should forget it, -

Don't believe it, boys! she doesn't age.

The poem was written thirteen years after the reforms of 1861. The people are “liberated”, they “have land”, they are “happy”. What kind of “suffering of the people” can we talk about?! These are already relics of the past. But such a statement is fundamentally incorrect. And Nekrasov understands this, he “reminds that the people are in poverty,” he realizes the significance of the problem. Our attention is drawn obsolete form emphasis in the word “aging”, which was typical for Russian literature of the 19th century century (remember at least Chatsky’s statement: “What’s older is worse”). When reading, willy-nilly, you pay attention to both the word itself and the entire sentence, which expresses one of the main thoughts of the entire poem.

Alas! bye peoples

They languish in poverty, submitting to the whips,

Like skinny herds across mown meadows...

Reading these lines, you involuntarily remember “The Village” by A.S. Pushkin: “Bending over an alien plow, submitting to the whips, // Here skinny slavery drags along the reins.”

With this similarity, Nekrasov seems to agree with the thesis “that the topic is old - “the suffering of the people”,” but at the same time he shows that after fifty-five years no significant changes have occurred in society, and emphasizes that the topic has not lost its relevance.

It is noteworthy to compare the people with herds. What is a herd? How to explain this concept in relation to people? This large mass people who are not able to think, she obeys only the “shepherds”. The noble intelligentsia could lay claim to the role of “shepherd,” but they, like the people, do not think much about this and about life in general, live according to rules not established by them, and cannot (or do not want), due to their weakness, accept any rules. then drastic decisions. Hence the comparison with the crowd.

But let's return again to the people. Without a shepherd, a flock is an “amoeba-like” mass of people incapable of accepting independent decisions, obeying the influence of some external factors independent of her, but ready to “get along” with them. The same definition applies to serfs, whose rights are everywhere violated, turning them into slaves. But the serfs believe that this is how it should be, they don’t even think about freedom, believing that nothing needs to be changed - it is the way it is, which means it should be so. Why think when everything has already been decided for you by the “kind” gentleman Krainev K. Poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Elegy”: Perception, interpretation, evaluation. // Literature. - No. 17. - 2008..

Reflecting on this topic, you recall Pushkin’s poem “The Desert Sower of Freedom...”:

Graze, peaceful peoples!

The cry of honor will not wake you up.

Why do the herds need the gifts of freedom?

They should be cut or trimmed.

You can dedicate your lyre, your thoughts, aspirations, life to the people... but they will remain deaf, like the herd...

“Elegy” is addressed to certain young men, but who are these young men? Let's remember Nekrasov's "Railroad", little Vanya, who learned the bitter truth about the construction of Russia's first Nikolaevskaya railway. Then, in 1864, Nekrasov’s lyrical hero tried to convey the truth to the boy, who still had his whole life ahead of him, in the hope that he, a representative of the new generation, would ease the lot of the serfs and save the people from suffering. Ten years later, in 1874, Nekrasov’s lyrical hero again tries to do the same. In essence, the “young men” represent the same Vanya, only ten years older, and his peers. But why are the same thoughts addressed to “the same person”? After all, so much time has passed, the people are “free”, why repeat it, it’s no longer in fashion? Nekrasov is trying to “reach out” to the younger generation:

“It’s enough to rejoice in naive enthusiasm,”

The Muse whispered to me: - It's time to go forward:

The people are liberated, but are the people happy?..”

Nekrasov’s lyrical hero persistently seeks an answer to the question:

"Has freedom finally brought a change

In people's destinies? into the tunes of rural maidens?

Or is their discordant melody just as sad?..”

He wanders through the fields, absorbed in thoughts about the people's happiness. He, like Gogol in “Dead Souls,” asks the question: “Where is Rus' rushing now?” But She doesn't give an answer. The same can be attributed to Nekrasov’s “subject of chanting”:

“And my song is loud!.. It is echoed by the valleys, fields,

And the echo of distant mountains sends her feedback,

And the forest responded... Nature listens to me..."

It is no coincidence that Nekrasov uses metaphor and personification here. The poet, as it were, revives nature: the valleys and fields understand the song of the lyrical hero; “the echo of distant mountains” even responds to it, apparently trying to enter into a “discussion” of the song; the forest generally responded... nature listens to the lyrical hero... Everything is wonderful: if nature “responded,” then people should even more so understand the hero, but the following lines are unexpected for the lyrical hero, the author, the reader:

But the one about whom I sing in the evening silence,

To whom are the poet's dreams dedicated?

Alas! he does not heed - and does not give an answer...

In this vivid contrast, Nekrasov shows how difficult it is to help the people when the one to whom “the poet’s dreams are dedicated” remains passive and inert in relation to the “people’s intercessors.” Alas, this is how it happened historically in Rus'...

At the end of his life, Pushkin wrote the poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands...”. In this work he summed up his creative activity, he assessed himself as a poet, realized his mission:

And for a long time I will be so kind to the people,

That I awakened good feelings with my lyre,

What's in my cruel age I praised freedom

And he called for mercy for the fallen.

Nekrasov also wrote “Elegy” at the end of his life and also summed up his work, also assessed himself as a poet:

I dedicated the lyre to my people.

Perhaps I will die unknown to him,

But I served him - and my heart is calm...

I would especially like to say about the composition of the poem. The beginning of "Elegy" is very polemical. This is Nekrasov’s response to the statement literary critic O.F. Miller, who believed that “the direct description of the suffering of the people and the poor in general” had already been “exhausted” by the poet and that he “began to somehow repeat himself when he took on this topic.” The rest of the poem is tied around this answer and partially complements the initial judgments addressed to O.F. Miller.

So, “Elegy” is a kind of mirror of Nekrasov’s work. Everything is here: and the theme plight people, and the theme of serving the people, and the poet’s view of modern reality... not without reason in the lines of his letter to A.N. The poet writes to Erakov: “I am sending you poems. Since these are my most sincere and favorite ones that I have written in lately, then I dedicate them to you, my dearest friend..."

"Elegy" -- a wonderful example civil lyrics by Nekrasov. The main idea this poem is proof that the people suffered and are still suffering, despite the reforms. It is also very important for Nekrasov to convey his thoughts about the need for some changes in the situation of the people to the youth, for whom the poet has all his hope.

people homeland poetry nekrasov

Analysis of the poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Elegy" ("Letting changeable fashion tell us...")

"Elegy. A.N.E<рако>wu" (“Let changeable fashion speak to us”) (1874) is an example of a new type of elegy that arose in the work of N. A. Nekrasov, a social elegy, in which, due to a change in the object of the image, traditional poetic means were saturated with new genre features. In particular, it uniquely uses the rhythmic-syntactic structure typical of the romantic meditative elegies of V. A. Zhukovsky.

N. A. Nekrasov directly begins his “Elegy” with an assertion of the relevance of the theme of “the suffering of the people” (polemically directed against the claims made against his poetry by the modern literary historian O. F. Miller, who believed that “a direct description of the suffering of the people and the poor in general “has already been “exhausted” by N.A. Nekrasov and that “our poet has somehow begun to repeat himself when he takes up this topic”): “Let changing fashion tell us, / That the theme is old, “the suffering of the people” / And that poetry should forget it must, / Don’t believe it, young men! She doesn’t age.”

The new question posed by N. A. Nekrasov in “Elegy” in connection with the situation of the people became one of the main questions of the poet’s main canvas - the epic peasant poem-symphony “Who lives well in Russia?”: “It’s time to go forward: / The people are liberated , but are the people happy?

The question about the position of the people merges in “Elegy” with the question about the role of the poet in society: “I dedicated the lyre to my people.” Developing own program citizenship of art, N. A. Nekrasov relied in this poem on the tendencies of the freedom-loving lyrics of A. S. Pushkin (“Village”). N. A. Nekrasov also sounds a peculiar variation of Pushkin’s theme of “the poet and the crowd”: N. A. Nekrasov is tormented by the question of whether his song will reach people's soul, will it be beneficial: “Evening is coming. Excited by dreams, / Through the fields, through the meadows lined with haystacks, / I wander thoughtfully in the cool semi-darkness, / And a song composes itself in my mind, / A living embodiment of recent, secret thoughts: / I call blessings on rural labors, / I promise curses to the people’s enemy, / And I pray to my friend from heaven for power, / And my song is loud!.. The valleys and fields echo it, / And the echo of distant mountains sends her feedback, / And the forest responded... Nature listens to me, / But the one about whom I sing in the evening silence, / To whom the poet’s dreams are dedicated, - / Alas! He does not heed and does not give an answer...”

The struggle against the tyranny of the powerful is the central theme of N. A. Nekrasov’s poetry, in which civic motives dominate. The most extensive and significant poem in this regard is “Elegy”. The title itself emphasizes the author's sadness and pain for the fate of the people. N. A. Nekrasov emphasizes that protecting the rights of ordinary people is the primary task of poetry: “Let changing fashion tell us, That the theme is old - “the suffering of the people” And that poetry should forget it, - Don’t believe it, young men! She doesn't age. Oh, if only years could age her! God's world would flourish!.. Alas! While the peoples are languishing in poverty, submitting to the scourge, like skinny herds in mown meadows, the Muse will mourn their fate, and the Muse will serve them, And in the world there is no stronger, more beautiful union!..” It is no coincidence that there are so many exclamations in the poem, there are rhetorical questions (“To arouse the attention of the powerful of the world to the people - What could the lyre serve more worthily?..”, “The people are liberated, but are the people happy?..”, “Have you become more bearable, peasant suffering? And has Freedom, which has come to replace the long-lasting slavery, finally brought a change to the people’s destinies? Or is their discordant melody just as woeful?” In the last two examples we're talking about on the abolition of serfdom (reform of 1961). "Elegy" was written in 1874, but has the situation of the people changed over the decade? Former poverty is what N. A. Nekrasov sees in reality as a poet and citizen. It is interesting that N. A. Nekrasov, in order to more clearly outline the time boundaries, turned to A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Village,” convincingly showing that the picture of a joyless peasant life has not changed since Pushkin’s times.

The plight of the people is eloquently emphasized by the comparison (“Like skinny herds on mown meadows”), as well as the antithesis (“Remind the crowd that the people are in poverty, While they rejoice and sing”). At one pole of the opposition there is a crowd (by which, obviously, the cultural community is understood) and the powers that be, and at the other - ordinary people, whose voice no one hears. The poet equates the struggle for people's happiness with military feat(“Let not every warrior harm the enemy, but everyone go into battle! And fate will decide the battle”). The dialogue between the poet and the Muse introduces an atmosphere of confidential conversation into the work. Additional emotional intensity is given to the poem by an oxymoron (“sweet tears”), a traditional folk poetic epithet (“red day”), an antithesis (“friend” - “enemy”), as well as a poetic landscape sketch in the final stanza.

Russia of the 19th century is perceived primarily as an agricultural country. To show the importance of people's labor, N. A. Nekrasov poeticizes it in every possible way.

Rural heaps, golden harvest, plows, sparkling sickles and friendly scythes - all these details recreate a single picture of peasant everyday life. This suffering evokes respect from both the poet and the reader. What is the “crowd” doing at this time? N. A. Nekrasov emphasizes that he asks the powers that be not for mercy, but for social justice. In support of his song, he calls on nature itself: “And my song is loud!.. The valleys and fields echo it, And the echo of distant mountains sends its feedback to it. And the forest responded... Nature listens to me.” Material from the site

N. A. Nekrasov’s poem “Elegy” is important not only as the main protest against the arbitrariness of the powerful, but also as a work in which the poet sums up a kind of creative conclusion to his poetic reflections: “I dedicated the lyre to my people. Perhaps I will die unknown to him, But I served him - and my heart is calm...” It is no coincidence that from the very first lines of the work it becomes clear that it is dedicated to the younger generation (“Don’t believe it, young men!”). Thus, “Elegy” can also be considered in line with the tradition of poetic monuments. In 1878, N. A. Nekrasov passed away, but the image of the poet, a courageous citizen and people's defender— will live in the memory of his compatriots for many years to come.

The elegy is dedicated to the friend and husband of N.A. Nekrasov’s sister A.N. Erakov and was presented to him on his birthday along with a letter that contained the lines: “I am sending you poems. Since these are my most sincere and beloved ones that I have written recently, I dedicate them to you, my dearest friend.”

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