Preview:
Abstract
open lesson on literature
on the topic:
“A.A. Block. Motives of the lyrics."
Catherine
Alexandrovna,
Russian teacher
Language and literature
Municipal educational institution Gymnasium No. 56"
P. Kraskovo
Lesson topic
A.A.Blok. Lyric motives.
Lesson objectives:
Educational
- Identify the main motives of Blok’s lyrics.
- Through creativity, get acquainted with the biography of the author.
Developmental
- Contribute
Formation of students' skills in search and research activities,
Expanding your horizons through acquired skills and abilities,
2) Reinforce the skill
By systematizing the material,
Participation in the discussion
To improve students’ ability to draw independent conclusions after familiarizing themselves with several works,
Reasonably express your opinion, defend it,
Improve expressive reading and the ability to analyze poetic text.
Educational
Contribute to the moral and aesthetic education of the individual:
To cultivate attention to the word, to create interest in Blok’s lyrics,
To form an idea of eternal values,
Foster love for the Motherland,
Cultivate a high attitude towards women.
Technologies:
Project technology,
Advanced learning technology,
Group training technology,
Block-modular technology,
Research learning technology.
Interdisciplinary connections:
Story,
Music,
Painting,
Movie,
Philosophy,
Psychology.
Equipment:
Portrait of Blok,
Reproductions of paintings by Russian artists,
Fragments from the feature film “Yesenin”,
Recording of Blok’s poem “Stranger” performed by
Yartseva,
Schemes, supporting notes,
Computer and multimedia board.
Previously, the children received an assignment for the lesson: to independently familiarize themselves with Blok’s poems, his diary entries, letters, and articles. Based on their observations, divided into groups, students had to develop projects on the topics:
1) “Poems about a Beautiful Lady.”
2) Cycle “City”.
3) The theme of the Motherland in Blok’s poetry.
4) What are the sources of patriotism in Blok’s lyrics?
Lesson Plan
- Teacher's word
- Checking homework:
Project “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”,
Conversation on the “City” project
3) New material (moral thought of the poem “Stranger”
4) Checking homework:
Project “Motherland in Blok’s lyrics”,
Conversation on the project “What are the sources of patriotism in Blok’s lyrics?”
5) Lesson summary:
Images,
Motives,
6) Homework
A.A. Block. Lyric motives.
Teacher's word
When under the fence in the nettles
The unfortunate bones will rot,
Some late historian
Will write an impressive work...
Only the damned one will torture you,
Innocent guys
Years of birth and death
And a bunch of bad quotes...
It's a sad fate - it's so difficult
It's so hard to live painfully
And become the property of an assistant professor,
And create new critics...
I wish I could bury myself in the snowy weeds,
I wish I could fall asleep forever!
Shut up, damn books!
I never wrote to you.
Therefore, we will talk about Blok’s personality and his fate in a slightly unconventional way:not from biography to creativity, A through creativity to biography. We will rely on works, diaries, articles, letters.
Subject today's lesson: “A.A. Block. Motives of the lyrics." Which means target classes - to find out what the author’s worldview is, what worried him, what motives are the main ones in his work.
Let's start getting acquainted with the poet. By the way, many people dreamed of meeting this man: fans, aspiring authors. Let's see how the first meeting between Blok and Yesenin took place.
Watch how A.A appears. A block in a fragment from the feature film “Yesenin”?
(Blok is presented as intelligent, serious, thoughtful.
It seems that he is disappointed in life, knows how to discern talent, and appreciate it adequately. Blok is delicate, reasonable, pessimistic)
This is 1915. Blok is thoughtful and pessimistic. Was he always like this? In bloc studies, different opinions are expressed. We will do our research. Let's go back to 1901. At this time, Blok created the cycle “Poems about a Beautiful Lady.”
Let's find out what they are motives his lyrics from this period? What's it like Blok's worldview?
But first, with the help of an explanatory dictionary, let’s clarify the meaning of the word"motive".
(Motif is an integral part of the plot or theme in a work of art.)
So, let’s look at the project “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”, find out what topics concern the author, what images appear in his work?
(Students’ presentation: poems from the cycle “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” are read, a description of the poetry of this period is given, a conclusion is drawn about the author’s worldview.)
Question for the group
Did you understand everything in the poems of the cycle “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”?
(Much is unclear)
Why does Blok write incomprehensibly during this period? What do you think?
(Firstly, Blok devotes his poems to the mysterious, incomprehensible, that is, a dream. Secondly, Blok at this time is fascinated by mysticism. That is why there is so much that is incomprehensible in the poems of this cycle.)
Question for the class
What images are the main ones in the cycle of poems “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”?
(These are images of nature, women, dreams, reality, society, city.)
City near Blok. Is this a specific city or a city in general?
(This is St. Petersburg)
What colors does Blok Petersburg paint? In what poems?
(In the poems of 1901–1902, St. Petersburg is painted in light colors, in the “City” cycle - in dark colors.)
Do you think St. Petersburg is Blok’s friend or foe? Give reasons for your answer.
(Blok has a contradictory attitude towards St. Petersburg. On the one hand, it is a friend (meetings with L.D. Mendeleeva took place here, the author calls the city “dear friend”, paints it in light colors), on the other hand, St. Petersburg is the embodiment of evil. About This is evidenced by the gloomy tones, scary creatures, dwarfs living in the city, blood on the pavement.)
One of the students working on the City project recites a poem from memory.
Why do you think the picture of the world in this poem is not at all similar to the picture of the world in “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”?
(Firstly, this poem was written in 1908 and is part of the “City” cycle; secondly, the author shows not a dream, but a real capitalist society; thirdly, if the Beautiful Lady is good, then there is also the embodiment of evil. )
Let's listen to another poem by Blok, “The Stranger,” performed by Yartseva.
What images do we see in it? To which cycle Do you think this poem belongs? Give reasons for your answer.
(Images of a city, a woman-stranger, appear. The stranger is shown as mysterious, enigmatic. This brings her closer to the Beautiful Lady. But when describing the city, gloomy tones are used, the following details attract attention:
- "corruptive spirit"
- "baby cry"
- “the disk is bent”,
- "drunken monster."
This indicates that, most likely, the poem is part of the “City” cycle)
Of course, each of you presented your own Stranger. Perhaps she is like this (on the board there is an illustration for the poem).
The stranger is mysterious, enigmatic. We know nothing about her life, about her fate, but we can assumeis she happy?
(Hardly. A woman cannot be happy in such a city, in such a society.)
The poem “Stranger” contains to the highest degreemoral thought: if a woman is unhappy in society, if she is humiliated, slandered, deceived, then the whole nation is humiliated and deceived. Therefore, the fate of a woman is for Blok symbol the fate of Russia itself.
Is it only for Blok that a woman is a symbol of the fate of Russia?
(No. Similar motives are found in Nekrasov.)
Let's look at another project, “Motherland in Blok’s lyrics.”
(Students’ presentation: characterization of poems about the Motherland, reading works by heart, presentation of video materials).
Question for the class
What images appear in Blok’s works about the Motherland?
Do you have any extras? Which biographical Does the information confirm Blok’s love for the Motherland?
(1. After the revolution, Blok stopped writing. He admitted that he was “suffocating.” But despite everything, he not only did not go abroad, but was also irritated with those emigrants who condemned Russia.
2. Blok believed that one should not leave the Motherlandduring difficult times for her.
3. Blok had a very strong blood connection with his Motherland. Being terminally ill, Blok never went abroad for treatment. At first, it took a very long time to process documents for departure. As soon as they were formalized, Blok was gone. It turns out the Motherland-wife didn’t let me go.)
What do you think are the origins of Blok’s patriotism?
(Patriotism is love for the Motherland. For the Blok, the Motherland is first Shakhmatovo, later the Motherland is all of Russia.
Love is formed as a result of aesthetic influence (source - nature) and moral education (source - family).
Nature, Motherland - words of the same root. They give life to a person, creative strength to a poet. And indeed, difficult times have come for the Motherland, and the poet’s strength has been undermined. Already in 1919, contemporaries spoke of Blok: “Dead poet,” and in 1921...
Fragment from the feature film “Yesenin”
What is behind Yesenin’s phrase? How do you understand it?
Why are Blok’s poems close and understandable to contemporaries, regardless of age or origin?
(1. Blok continues the traditions of Russian literature of the 19th century. He writes about what worries any person:
About love
About the Motherland,
About a woman
About Russia,
About the revolution.
2. Blok is a symbolist, and a symbol is a window to infinity, it allows for several interpretations, and the reader becomes a co-author.)
So, we have come to the conclusion that the main motives of Blok’s lyrics are the themes of love, Motherland, city, and revolution.
The motives are the same, but what about the feelings? Psychologists in this case rely on special tests; it is important for them color. We use this technology. What does color painting say about Blok’s worldview?
What colors does Blok use at the beginning of his work and at the end?
(At the beginning of creativity - white, lilac, azure, gold, silver, pink. At the end of creativity - black, dull, lead, tin. Thus, the color scheme changes. This clearly reflects the poet’s worldview.)
At the beginning of the lesson the question was asked: “Was Blok always pessimistic and withdrawn?”
Based on our research, write an essay “HowDo I represent Blok?
Rita Solovyova
The main motives of Blok's lyrics
The poet himself wanted his readers to view his lyrics as a single work - as a three-volume novel in verse, which he called the “trilogy of incarnation.” At the center of his lyrics is the very personality of modern man. It is the personality in its relationship with the whole world (social, natural, and “cosmic”) that forms the core of the problematics of Blok’s poetry. Blok’s personality became the hero of the “trilogy of incarnation.” Therefore, in relation to him in literary criticism, the category of “lyrical hero” is used. This term first appeared in the works of the literary critic Tynyanov in his articles on Blok’s poetry. According to him, Blok’s biggest lyrical theme was the poet’s personality itself. “Incarnation” is a word from the theological lexicon that means the appearance of the Son of Man, the incarnation of God in human form. In Blok’s poetic consciousness, the image of Christ is associated with the idea of a creative personality who renounces himself for the sake of the ideals of goodness and beauty.
System of motives - figurative, lexical, intonation repetitions that connect individual poems and cycles into a single whole. Motif, unlike theme, is a formal-substantive category. That is, the motif in poetry serves as a compositional organization of many individual poems into a tangible lyrical whole. It is created by lyrical situations and images (metaphors, numbers, color designations) that are repeated many times and vary from poem to poem. Central cycle first volume trilogy - “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”. They reflected Blok’s love affair with Mendeleeva and his passion for the philosophical ideas of V.S. Solovyova. In the teachings of the philosopher Blok, he was attracted by the idea of eternal femininity, that through love it is possible to eliminate selfishness and unite man and the world. In a woman it is necessary to see her heavenly nature. The plot of the poems “About a Beautiful Lady” is the plot of waiting to meet your beloved. The lyrical hero and the beautiful lady are obviously unequal; this is a contrast between the earthly and the heavenly. In their relationship there is an atmosphere of medieval chivalry, it is at an unattainable height. Recurring motifs - “unknown shadows”, “incomprehensible secret”, “everything will be known”, “waiting”, “watching”, “guessing”. The hero is yearning for love. Figurative church signs - lamps, candles, scarlet, white and gold colors. At the same time, the hero is afraid of meeting the muse: “... The whole horizon is on fire, and the appearance is near. But I’m scared - you’ll change your appearance. And you will sharply arouse suspicion, By changing the usual features in the end.” (In short, it all ended with Blok never touching Mendeleeva, and she was so tired of his chivalry that she went to Bely. This just means that Blok very literally perceived and experienced his lyrics, and this was not always compatible with practical life.) Second volume- the motive of immersion in the elements of life. Now the hero’s consciousness is turned to a non-invented life. The elements of nature, urban civilization, earthly love are reflected in these lyrics. The hero's field of vision is the national and social life of the country. The element is the key symbol. The Beautiful Lady is supplanted by the Stranger - a woman of two worlds, a reminder of a high ideal in a world of debauchery and drunkards. The main thing for Blok is the courageous idea of confronting a terrible world, the idea of duty. You can understand his philosophy at this stage of life using the example of this poem: Oh, spring without end and without end - Without end and without end, a dream! I recognize you, life! I accept! And I greet you with the ringing of the shield! I accept you, failure, and luck, my greetings to you! In the enchanted area of crying, In the secret of laughter - there is no shame! I accept sleepless arguments, Morning in the curtains of dark windows, So that spring irritates and intoxicates my inflamed eyes! I accept desert weights! And the wells of earthly cities! The illuminated expanse of the skies And the languor of slave labor! And I meet you at the threshold - With a wild wind in snake curls, With the unsolved name of God On cold and compressed lips... Before this hostile meeting I will never throw down my shield... You will never open your shoulders... But above us is an intoxicated dream! And I look and measure the enmity, Hating, cursing and loving: For torment, for death - I know - It’s all the same: I accept you! Third volume. The leading motive is the death of the world of modern urban civilization. “Night, street, lantern, pharmacy...” is a vivid example. The hero is sinful, callous, and tired. A feeling of hopelessness, the thought of impending retribution for betraying the ideal. New values - people's life, Motherland. The theme of Russia is now the most important in his work. For the lyrical hero, love for the Motherland is an intimate feeling. The images of Rus' and the Wife are very close. Poem “Russia” Again, as in the golden years, Three worn-out harnesses fray, And the painted knitting needles get stuck in loose ruts... Russia, poor Russia, Your gray huts are to me, Your wind songs are to me, - Like the first tears of love! I don’t know how to feel sorry for you And I carefully carry my cross... Whichever sorcerer you want Give away the robber’s beauty! Let him lure and deceive, - You will not be lost, you will not perish, And only care will cloud Your beautiful features... Well, then? One more care - One tear makes the river noisier And you are still the same - the forest, and the field, And the patterned scarf up to the eyebrows... And the impossible is possible, The long road is easy, When the road flashes in the distance An instant glance from under the scarf, When it rings with longing prison The dull song of the coachman!.. Motif of the path. At the end of the lyrical trilogy, this is a common “way of the cross” for the hero and his country.
Excerpt from the poem "On the Kulikovo Field". Alexander Blok 1. The river spreads out. It flows, is sad lazily and washes the banks. Above the meager clay of the yellow cliff, the haystacks are sad in the steppe. Oh, my Rus'! My wife! To the point of pain We have a long way to go! Our path - the arrow of the ancient Tatar will pierced our chest. Our path is steppe, our path is in melancholy..................... boundless, In your melancholy, oh, Rus'! And even the darkness - night and foreign - I am not afraid. Let it be night. He'll get home. Let's illuminate the steppe distance with fires. In the steppe smoke the holy banner will flash and the steel of the khan's saber... And eternal battle! We only dream of peace Through blood and dust... The steppe mare flies and flies And crushes the feather grass... And there is no end! Miles and steep turns flash by... Stop! The frightened clouds are coming, Sunset in the blood! Sunset in the blood! Blood flows from the heart! Cry, heart, cry... There is no peace! The steppe mare gallops!
The outstanding Russian poet Alexander Alexandrovich Blok (1880-1921) during his lifetime became an idol of both the Symbolists, the Acmeists, and all subsequent generations of Russian poets.
At the beginning of his poetic career, the mystical romanticism of Vasily Zhukovsky’s work was closest to him. This “singer of nature” with his poems taught the young poet purity and elation of feelings, knowledge of the beauty of the surrounding world, unity with God, and faith in the possibility of penetrating beyond the boundaries of the earthly. Far from theoretical philosophical doctrines and the poetry of romanticism, A. Blok was prepared to perceive the basic principles of the art of symbolism.
Zhukovsky’s lessons were not in vain: the “acute mystical and romantic experiences” he nurtured attracted Blok’s attention in 1901. to the work of the poet and philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, who was the recognized “spiritual father” of the younger generation of Russian symbolists (A. Blok, A. Bely, S. Solovyov, Vyach. Ivanov, etc.). The ideological basis of his teaching was the dream of the kingdom of divine power, which arises from the modern world, which is mired in evil and sins. He can be saved by the World Soul, the Eternal Femininity, which arises as a unique synthesis of harmony, beauty, goodness, the spiritual essence of all living things, the new Mother of God. This Solovyov theme is central to Blok’s early poems, which were included in his first collection “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” (1904). Although the poems were based on a real living feeling of love for the bride, over time - the poet’s wife - L. D. Mendeleeva, the lyrical theme, illuminated in the spirit of Solovyov’s ideal, takes on the sound of the theme of sacred love. O. Blok develops the thesis that world love is revealed in personal love, and love for the universe is realized through love for a woman. For this reason, the concrete image is covered by abstract figures of the Eternally Young Wife, the Lady of the Universe, etc. The poet bows before the Beautiful Lady - the personification of eternal beauty and harmony. In "Poems about a Beautiful Lady", there are undoubtedly signs of symbolism. Plato's idea of contrasting two worlds- earthly, dark and joyless, and distant, unknown and beautiful, the holiness of the elevated unearthly ideals of the lyrical hero, he was brought to them, a decisive break with the surrounding life, the cult of Beauty - the most important features of this artistic movement, found vivid embodiment in Blok’s early work.
Already in the first works there were main features of poetic manner Block: musical-song structure, attraction to sound and color expressiveness, metaphorical language, complex structure of the image - everything that theorists of symbolism called impressionistic element, considering it an important component of the aesthetics of symbolism. All this determined the success of Blok’s first book. Like most symbolists, Blok was convinced: everything that happens on earth is just a reflection, a sign, a “shadow” of what exists in other, spiritual worlds. Accordingly, words and language turn out to be “signs of signs” for him, “shadows of shadows.” In their “earthly” meanings, the “heavenly” and “eternal” are always visible. All the meanings of Blok’s symbols are sometimes very difficult to count, and this is an important feature of his poetics. The artist is convinced that there must always remain something “incomprehensible”, “secret” in a symbol, which cannot be conveyed either in scientific or everyday language. At the same time, something else is characteristic of Blok’s symbol: no matter how polysemantic it is, it always retains its first - earthly and concrete - meaning, bright emotional coloring, immediacy of perception and feelings.
Back in the poet's early poems features such as intensity of lyrical feeling, passion and confession. This was the basis for Blok’s future achievements as a poet: unstoppable maximalism and unchanging sincerity. At the same time, the last section of the collection contained poems such as “From the Newspapers,” “Factory,” etc., which testified to the emergence of civil sentiments.
If "Poems about a Beautiful Lady" was liked primarily by symbolists, then the second book of poems " Unexpected joy"(1907) made his name popular among wide readership. This collection includes poems from 1904-1906. and among them are such masterpieces as “The Stranger”, “The Girl Sang in the Church Choir...”, “Autumn Will”, etc. The book testified to the highest level of Blok’s skill, the sound magic of his poetry captivated readers. Substantially The theme of his lyrics also changed. Hero of the Block acted no longer as a hermit monk, but as a resident noisy city streets who looks greedily into life. In the collection, the poet expressed his attitude towards social problems, spiritual atmosphere of society. Deepened in his mind the gap between romantic dream and reality. These poems of the poet reflected impressions of the events of the revolution of 1905-1907,“which the poet witnessed. And the poem “Autumn Will” became the first embodiment of the theme of the homeland, Russia in Blok’s work. The poet intuitively discovered in this theme what was most dear and intimate to him.
The defeat of the first Russian revolution had a decisive impact not only on the fate of the entire poetic school of symbolism, but also on the personal fate of each of its supporters. A distinctive feature of Blok’s creativity in the post-revolutionary years is strengthening civic position. 1906-1907. were a period of revaluation of values.
During this period, Blok’s understanding of the essence of artistic creativity, the purpose of the artist and the role of art in the life of society changed. If in the early cycles of poems Blok’s lyrical hero appeared as a hermit, a knight of the Beautiful Lady, an individualist, then over time he began to talk about the artist’s duty to the era, to the people. Blok's change in social views was also reflected in his work. At the center of his lyrics is a hero seeking strong ties with other people, realizing the dependence of his fate on the common fate of the people. The cycle “free thoughts” from the collection “Earth in the Snow” (1908), especially the poems “On Death” and “In the North Sea”, shows a tendency towards democratization of the work of this poet͵ ĸᴏᴛᴏᴩᴏᴇ reflected in the state of mind of the lyrical hero, in his attitude, and in the end, in the lyrical structure of the author’s language.
Nevertheless, a feeling of despondency, emptiness, complicated by personal motives, fill the lines of his poems. Awareness of the environment began reality as a "terrible world"", which disfigures and destroys Man. Born in romanticism, the traditional for classical literature theme of the collision with the world of evil and violence found a brilliant successor in A. Blok. Blok concentrates the psychological drama of personality and the philosophy of existence in the historical and social sphere, feeling first of all social discord. On the one hand, he strives to change society, and on the other, he is frightened by the decline of spirituality, the element of cruelty that increasingly engulfed the country (the cycle “On the Kulikovo Field” (1909) appears in his poetry of those years). the image of a lyrical hero, man of crisis era who has lost faith in old values, considering them dead, lost forever, and has not found new ones. Blok’s poems of these years are filled with pain and bitterness for tormented destinies, a curse on a harsh, terrible world, the search for saving points of support in a destroyed universe and gloomy hopelessness and found hope and faith in the future. Those included in the cycles “Snow Mask”, “Scary World”, “Dances of Death”, “Redemption” are rightly considered the best of what Blok wrote during the heyday and maturity of his talent.
The topic of the death of a person in a terrible world was covered significantly by Blok wider and deeper than his predecessors, nevertheless, at the top of the sound of this theme is the motive of overcoming evil, which is important for understanding Blok’s entire work. This, first of all, was manifested in the theme of the homeland, Russia, in the theme of Blok’s hero finding a new destiny, who seeks to bridge the gap between the people and that part of the intelligentsia to which he belonged. In 1907-1916. a cycle of poems “Motherland” was created, where the paths of development of Russia are comprehended, the image of which appears either attractively fabulous, filled with magical power, or terribly bloody, causing anxiety for the future.
We can say that the gallery of female symbolic images in Blok’s lyrics ultimately finds its organic continuation and logical conclusion: Beautiful Lady - Stranger - Snow Mask - Faina - Carmen - Russia. Nevertheless, the poet himself insisted later that each subsequent image is not just a transformation of the previous one, but, first of all, the embodiment of a new type of worldview of the author at the next stage of his creative development.
The poetry of A. Blok is a kind of mirror that reflects the hopes, disappointments and drama of the era of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Symbolic richness, romantic elation and realistic specificity helped the writer discover a complex and multifaceted image of the world.
When a poet is truly talented, his poetry is all-encompassing and it is very difficult to isolate the main themes of his work. So it is with the poetry of A. Blok. As a symbolist in his early work, he considers three themes: Life, Death, God. In one form or another, these themes are interpreted in different periods of creativity and appear either in the vague symbolic images of the cycle “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” or in the ironic lines of later poems. Typical symbolic images of the early Blok were a star, spring, fog, wind, darkness, shadows and dreams. All this, used in a metaphorical sense, became symbols with the help of which the poet learns the eternal secret of life. But after the blue mists of early creativity come romantic admiration for the purely earthly features of life. This is how the Stranger appears - the embodiment of Femininity, accessible not only to the Soul of the World, but also to a real woman.
It is interesting that A. Blok portrays Motherland as a woman. So in the poems “Rus”, “Russia”, “On the Kulikovo Field” we meet the image of Russia-Woman, Russia-wife. His homeland is hope and joy for him. He believes in her resilience, just as he believes in the resilience and courage of a Russian woman, capable of loving recklessly, forgiving generously and enduring life’s trials with dignity. Thus, the theme of the Motherland is intertwined with the eternal themes of Life, Death, and God.
Blok also says a lot about love as the basis of being. The poet objects to the rude interference of any calculations in the poetry of love; love is an element, it is a storm. It is no coincidence that Blok conveyed it with these very images-symbols. The search for harmony in the poet’s life is associated with images of love. Problems of morality in society are solved through the search for unity with the world. Duality and the search for balance sometimes lead to sad conclusions: “That happiness was not needed, that this pipe dream was not enough for half a life.” However, a connection with the world has been found. And in the later poems of A. Blok the question of the meaning of existence, of Life, Death and God is again resolved. These themes are eternal, no matter in what images they appear in the work of A. Blok.
“After all, my theme, I now know it firmly, without any doubt, is a living, real theme; she is not only greater than me, she is greater than all of us and she is our universal theme... I consciously and irrevocably devote my life to this theme.”
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok completely, completely, immensely loved Russia, gave his soul to her as to the woman he loved. His life was forever intertwined with his Motherland, he sacrificed a piece of himself to her, and she healed his soul with her “healing space.”
Blok saw Russia as Gogol saw it - above the clouds and beautiful. She is Gogol's child, his creation. “She revealed herself to him in beauty and music, in the whistle of the wind and in the flight of the extravagant troika,” wrote A.A. Blok in the article “Gogol’s Child”. The poet sits in this same troika, in it he flies across the boundless fields, blurred and dirty paths of Russia. And on the way, Blok sees what squeezes his heart - the wretchedness and humiliation of the Fatherland.
And in the scraps of her rags
I hide my nakedness from my soul.
The poet's soul is naked, just like the country is naked. “This is the harmonious dance of Russia, which no longer has anything to lose; She gave her whole body to the world and now, freely throwing her hands to the wind, she went dancing throughout her aimless expanse,” Blok wrote in the article “Timelessness.” And it is precisely with aimless expanse that Russia heals man. You have to love her, “you have to travel around Russia,” Gogol wrote before his death.
I will cry over the sadness of your fields,
I will love your space forever...
Shelter you in the vast distances!
We both live and cry without you.
A.A. Blok created his own commandment of love: “If a Russian only loves Russia, he will love everything that is in Russia. Without the illnesses and suffering that have accumulated in her in such quantities and for which we ourselves are to blame, none of us would have felt compassion for her. And compassion is already the beginning of love...” Blok lived with love for Russia, and this gave him strength.
Blok's poetry contains a prophetic prediction and a sense of the fate of the Fatherland in the past. The poems “Scythians” and “On the Kulikovo Field” are of great importance. The poem “Rus” is imbued with magical and fairy-tale motifs. Before us appears the kind of Rus' that Gogol created, full of rituals and secrets. For Blok, Russia is a special country, doomed to endure horrors and humiliation, but still a semi-victor. Key to victory A.A. Blok saw in the revolution, in it, as he believed, high ideals. He viewed revolution as an element capable of changing the world. But this did not happen, and the poet’s dream dissipated like an obsession, leaving in his soul only a bitter sediment of hopes that did not come true.
“The Fatherland is life or death, happiness or death.” Living according to this principle for Blok is not fanaticism, but abolished complete devotion to Russia. The poet believed that the time would come when a ray of sun would fall on the country and it would sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow. Today, at the turn of the third millennium, only we can choose between life and death and thereby determine our destiny.
The new stage of Blok’s creativity is associated with the years of preparation and achievements of the first Russian revolution. At this time, the collection “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” (1904) was published, poems were created, later included in the books “Unexpected Joy” (1907) and “Snow Mask” (1907), a trilogy of lyrical dramas (“Balaganchik”, “King in the Square” ", "Stranger" - 1906). The poet's work in the field of criticism and literary translation begins, literary connections arise, mainly in the symbolist environment (Vyach. Ivanov, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius - in St. Petersburg; A. Bely, V. Bryusov - in Moscow). Blok's name is becoming famous.
In 1903-1906. Blok turns to social poetry more and more often. He consciously leaves the world of lyrical isolation to where “many” live and suffer. The content of his works becomes reality, “everyday life” (although sometimes interpreted through the prism of mysticism). In this “everyday life,” Blok increasingly persistently highlights the world of people humiliated by poverty and injustice.
In the poem “Factory” (1903), the theme of people’s suffering comes to the fore (previously it was only glimpsed through images of urban “devilry” - “A black man was running around the city...”, 1903). Now the world turns out to be divided not into “heaven” and “earth,” but into those who, hidden behind the yellow windows, force people to “bend their weary backs,” and into the poor people.
Intonations of sympathy for the “poor” are clearly heard in the work. In the poem “From the Newspapers” (1903), the social theme is even more noticeably combined with vivid sympathy for the suffering. Here the image of a victim of social evil is drawn - a mother who could not endure poverty and humiliation and “lay down on the rails herself.” Here, for the first time, Blok appears on the theme of the kindness of “little people,” characteristic of the democratic tradition.
In the poems “The Last Day”, “Deception”, “Legend” (1904), the social theme turns into another side - a story about the humiliation and death of a woman in the cruel world of a bourgeois city.
These works are very important for Blok. In them, the feminine principle appears not as “high”, heavenly, but as “fallen” on the “sorrowful earth” and suffering on earth. Blok’s high ideal now becomes inseparable from reality, modernity, and social conflicts.
Works on social themes created during the days of the revolution occupy a significant place in the collection “Unexpected Joy”. They end with the so-called “attic cycle” (1906), recreating - in direct connection with Dostoevsky’s “Poor People” - quite realistic pictures of the hungry and cold life of the inhabitants of the “attics”.
Poems, in which the dominant motives of protest, “rebellion” and the struggle for a new world, were initially also painted in mystical tones (“Is everything calm among the people?..”, 1903), from which Blok gradually freed himself (“We were going on an attack. Straight to the chest...", 1905; "Rising from the darkness of the cellars...", 1904, etc.). In the literature about Blok, it was repeatedly noted that the poet most clearly perceived in the revolution its destructive (“Meeting”, 1905), nature-like, spontaneous side (“Fire”, 1906). But the more important the experience of the first Russian revolution became for Blok, the man and the artist, the more complex and diverse its poetic reflections turned out to be.
Blok, like other symbolists, is characterized by the idea that the hoped-for popular revolution is the victory of new people and that in the wonderful world of the future there is no place for his lyrical hero and people close to him in socio-psychological makeup.
They are far away
They swim merrily.
Just us with you,
That's right, they won't take it!
Civil lyrics were an important step in the artist’s understanding of the world, and the new perception was reflected not only in poems with a revolutionary theme, but also in a change in the poet’s general position.
History of Russian literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983.
