Read I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon. Lermontov was a brilliant poet from his early youth

A freedom-loving, handsome Russophobe who despised the world, a student of Pushkin, killed by a sniper from the mountain, and other knowledge gained on school lessons and from educational television programs that urgently need to be forgotten

Lermontov in the auditorium of Moscow University. Drawing by Vladimir Milashevsky. 1939

1. Lermontov was born in Tarkhany

No; The poet’s second cousin Akim Shan-Girey wrote about this, but he was wrong. In fact, Lermontov was born in Moscow, in the house of Major General F.N. Tolya, located opposite the Red Gate. Now at this place there is a monument to Lermontov by sculptor I. D. Brodsky.

2. Lermontov left Moscow University due to persecution

Allegedly, the poet was persecuted in connection with the so-called Malov story, which happened in March 1831, when M. Ya. Malov, a professor of criminal law, was boycotted by students and forced to leave the audience during a lecture, for which they were punished. No; in fact, Lermontov decided to continue his studies at St. Petersburg University, for which he left for St. Petersburg in 1832. In his resignation letter, he wrote: “Due to domestic circumstances, I can no longer continue my studies at the local university, and therefore I humbly ask the board of the Imperial Moscow University, having dismissed me from it, to provide me with the appropriate certificate for transfer to the Imperial St. Petersburg University.” (However, Lermon-tov did not study there, but entered the School guards ensigns and cavalry cadets.)

3. Lermontov was killed as a result of a conspiracy, on the orders of Nicholas I. It was not Martynov who shot the poet, but a sniper from the mountain

All this is unfounded speculation. The reliably known circumstances of the duel were outlined by Prince A. I. Vasilchikov, who left memories, A. A. Stolypin, who drew up the protocol, and N. S. Martynov during the investigation. It follows from them that Martynov challenged Lermontov to a duel because of the insult that the poet inflicted on him. The version about the sniper, in particular, was voiced on the “Culture” channel and expressed by V. G. Bondarenko in latest biography Lermontov, published in the ZhZL series. According to the testimony of Vasilchikov and Stolypin, who were present at the scene of the duel, it was Martynov who fired. There is no reason to believe otherwise.

4. Lermontov had a bad time at the cadet school, and he could not write poetry

In fact, although Lermontov stayed in cadet school only two years, during which time he wrote quite a bit: a number of poems, the novel “Vadim”, the poem “Hadji Abrek”, the fifth edition of “The Demon”. And this is not counting the specific cadet creativity, which was mostly obscene in nature. In addition, Lermontov drew a lot at the cadet school: more than 200 drawings have survived.

Apparently, this idea of ​​Lermontov’s appearance was formed under the influence of his character. Thus, in memoirs and fiction there is periodic mention of Lermontov’s gaze: caustic, malicious, persecuting. But most of his contemporaries remembered Lermontov not at all as a romantic handsome man: short, stocky, broad in the shoulders, in an overcoat that did not fit him, with a large head and a gray strand in his black hair. At the cadet school he broke his leg and then limped. One of the memoirists noted that due to some congenital disease, Lermontov’s face sometimes became covered with spots and changed color. However, there are also references to the fact that Lermontov had almost heroic health and strength. For example, A.P. Shan-Girey wrote that in childhood he never saw Lermontov seriously ill, and A.M. Merinsky, the poet’s cadet comrade, recalled how Lermontov bent and tied a ramrod in a knot.

6. Pushkin was Lermontov’s teacher

It is often said that Pushkin was Lermontov's teacher; Sometimes they say that, having moved to St. Petersburg and getting acquainted with Pushkin’s circle, the poet, out of reverence, was afraid to meet his idol. Lermontov was really impressed by romantic poems Pushkin and under their influence created several of his own. For example, Lermontov has a poem with the same title as Pushkin, “ Prisoner of the Caucasus" In "A Hero of Our Time" much is taken from "Eugene Onegin". But Pushkin’s influence should not be exaggerated; he was far from being the only model for Lermontov.

Sometimes they say that even in his death in a duel, Lermontov “imitated” Pushkin, but this is a mystical interpretation, not based on facts. Lermontov's first duel is more similar to Pushkin's last duel - with the Frenchman Ernest de Barant, who had previously lent a weapon to Dantes' second. Lermontov's duel with de Barant ended without damage to both opponents, but the poet was sent into exile, from which he never returned.

7. Lermontov wrote “I’m sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon...”

No, these are poems by Pushkin. The authors of classical Russian poems are often confused even school teachers: « Spring thunderstorm“Tyutchev is attributed to Fet, “Under an embankment, in an unmown ditch” by Blok - to Nekrasov, and so on. Usually, an author with an appropriate reputation is “selected” for the text; Lermontov's aura of gloomy exile, romantic loneliness and impulse for freedom is firmly attached to Russian culture. Therefore, it seems that Pushkin’s “The Prisoner” is more suitable for Lermontov than his own poem with the same name (“Open the prison for me, / Give me the radiance of the day...”).

8. Lermontov was a brilliant poet from his early youth

The poet allegedly took place in early youth, like Pushkin. Actually early poetic creativity Lermontov is largely imitative and contains many direct borrowings that were easily recognized by contemporaries. Belinsky assumed that Lermontov’s poems, which he did not like, “belong to his very first experiments, and we, who understand and appreciate his poetic talent, are pleased to think that they [the first experiments] will not be included in the collection of his works.”

9. Lermontov, freedom-loving, like Mtsyri, was bored in high society and despised it

Lermontov was really burdened by the unnatural behavior of people in high society. But at the same time he himself participated in everything he lived secular society: in balls, masquerades, social evenings and duels. Bored, the poet, like many young people in the 1820s and 1830s, imitated Byron and his hero Childe Harold. The idea of ​​Lermontov as an adversary high society entrenched in literary criticism in Soviet time, obviously thanks to "Death of a Poet", in which we're talking about about the responsibility of the imperial court for the death of Pushkin. 

Reading the poem “I am sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is a real pleasure for all connoisseurs of Russian literature. The work is filled with a feeling of hopelessness and romantic melancholy. Pushkin wrote this poem in 1822, while in exile in Chisinau. The poet could not come to terms with being “exiled” to such a wilderness. Despite the fact that Siberia was a harsh alternative to this imprisonment, Alexander Sergeevich felt like a prisoner. He was able to maintain his place in society, but the feeling of suffocation did not leave him. It was these emotions that inspired the poet to write such a dark and desperate work.

The text of Pushkin’s poem “I’m sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon” from the first lines immerses the reader in the author’s world, full of powerlessness in the face of circumstances. The poet compares himself to an eagle who spent his life in captivity. Pushkin extols the strength of the bird’s spirit, which, having been born in captivity, still strives upward, away from this prison. The poem consists almost entirely of the eagle’s monologue. He seems to be teaching both us and Pushkin himself that freedom is the best that can be. And you involuntarily heed this lesson. The work sets up philosophical reflections on the willpower of an oppressed person.

I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon.
A young eagle raised in captivity,
My sad comrade, flapping his wing,
Bloody food is pecking under the window,

He pecks and throws and looks out the window,
It’s as if he had the same idea with me;
He calls me with his gaze and his cry
And he wants to say: “Let’s fly away!”

We are free birds; it's time, brother, it's time!
There, where the mountain turns white behind the clouds,
To where the sea edges turn blue,
Where we walk only the wind... yes I!..”

I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon.
A young eagle raised in captivity,
My sad comrade, flapping his wing,
Bloody food is pecking under the window,

He pecks and throws and looks out the window,
It’s as if he had the same idea with me.
He calls me with his gaze and his cry
And he wants to say: “Let’s fly away!”

We are free birds; it's time, brother, it's time!
There, where the mountain turns white behind the clouds,
To where the sea edges turn blue,
Where we walk only the wind... yes me!..."

Analysis of the poem “Prisoner” by Pushkin

A. S. Pushkin in 1820-1824 for his too free verses he served the so-called southern exile (in Chisinau and Odessa). The poet faced much more severe punishment(exile to Siberia with deprivation of noble rights). Only personal petitions from friends and acquaintances helped achieve a reduced sentence. Nevertheless, the poet's pride and independence suffered greatly. Pushkin’s creative nature could not calmly endure violence against his personality. He considered the exile as a grave insult. As punishment, the poet was assigned to do routine clerical work, which depressed him even more. A kind of “rebellion” of the author was his negligent attitude towards his duties. He continues to write caustic epigrams and “inadmissible” poems. In 1822, he created the poem “The Prisoner,” in which he allegorically described his situation. There is an assumption that Pushkin described his impressions of visiting the Chisinau prison and talking with prisoners.

Pushkin uses a multi-stage comparison. He imagines himself as a prisoner “in a damp dungeon.” The prisoner, in turn, is compared to a “young eagle” locked in a cage. Great importance has the characteristic of a captive - “raised in captivity.” It can be interpreted in two ways. Or Pushkin hints at the unlimited nature of autocratic power, under which any person cannot consider himself absolutely free. His imaginary independence can be limited and confined at any moment. Either he emphasizes that he ended up in exile in a very early age when his character was just beginning to take shape. Such brutal violence against a young person can seriously damage him state of mind. In any case, the poet strongly protests against his “conclusion.”

In the poem, the image of a “sad comrade” of a prisoner appears - a free eagle, whose life does not depend on anyone’s whim. Initially, equal “free birds” are separated by a lattice. It's not just the two eagles that are sharply contrasted. Pushkin shows the contrast between the food received from the owner and the “bloody food” - a symbol of freedom and independence.

The free eagle calls on the prisoner to leave his prison and fly to distant, beautiful lands, where there is no violence and coercion. The dream takes away lyrical hero to where only the free wind reigns.

It is known that in 1825 Pushkin seriously planned to escape abroad. It is possible that in the poem “The Prisoner” he first vaguely expressed his plans (“I had one thing in mind,” “let’s fly away!”). If this assumption is true, then we can only be glad that the poet was not able to bring his plans to life.

I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon. A young eagle, raised in captivity, My sad comrade, flapping his wing, pecking at bloody food under the window, pecking, and throwing, and looking out the window, as if he had the same idea with me; He calls me with his gaze and his cry And wants to say: “Let’s fly away! We are free birds; it’s time, brother, it’s time! To where the mountain turns white behind the cloud, To where the sea edges are blue, To where only the wind walks... yes I !.."

The poem “Prisoner” was written in 1822, during the “southern” exile. Arriving at the place of his permanent service, in Chisinau, the poet was shocked by the striking change: instead of the blooming Crimean shores and sea, there were endless steppes scorched by the sun. In addition, the lack of friends, boring, monotonous work and the feeling complete dependence from the authorities. Pushkin felt like a prisoner. It was at this time that the poem “Prisoner” was created.

The main theme of the verse is the theme of freedom, vividly embodied in the image of an eagle. The eagle is a prisoner, just like the lyrical hero. He grew up and was raised in captivity, he never knew freedom and yet strives for it. The eagle’s call to freedom (“Let’s fly away!”) realizes the idea Pushkin's poem: a person should be free like a bird, because freedom is natural state every living being.

Composition. “The Prisoner,” like many other poems by Pushkin, is divided into two parts, differing from each other in intonation and tone. The parts are not contrasting, but gradually the tone of the lyrical hero becomes more and more excited. In the second stanza, the calm story quickly turns into a passionate appeal, into a cry for freedom. In the third, it reaches its peak and seems to hang on the very high note in the words “... only the wind... yes me!”

The poem “The Prisoner” was written in 1922, when Pushkin was in exile in Chisinau. At this time, he became close friends with M.F. Orlov and the future Decembrists V.F. Raevsky. Orlov took command of the 16th division in 1920. He was belligerent and planned to take part in Greek revolt, which, in his opinion, was “part of the plan of the Russian revolution.”

After the defeat of the Chisinau circle, led by M. Orlov, and the arrest of V. Raevsky, Pushkin wrote the poem “The Prisoner.” But in this poem, the poet only partially considered himself a prisoner, especially since he soon had the opportunity to leave Chisinau, where it had become uncomfortable and unsafe.

The theme of this work, of course, was influenced by the poet’s passion. romantic ideas. One of the main themes (almost the leading one) among the revolutionary romantics at that moment was the theme of freedom. Romantic writers described expressive images slave, prison, motives for escape, release from captivity. Suffice it to remember, and. The poem “Prisoner” is from the same thematic series.

The plot of the poem was influenced by his trip to the Caucasus, where nature itself suggested romantic subjects, images, paintings and comparisons.

I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon.
A young eagle raised in captivity,
My sad comrade, flapping his wing,
Bloody food is pecking under the window,

He pecks and throws and looks out the window,
It’s as if he had the same idea with me;
He calls me with his gaze and his cry
And he wants to say: “Let’s fly away!”

We are free birds; it's time, brother, it's time!
There, where the mountain turns white behind the clouds,
To where the sea edges turn blue,
Where only the wind walks... yes I!..

You can also listen to Pushkin’s poem “The Prisoner” performed by the wonderful artist Avangard Leontyev.