Poem "To Chaadaev".
Perception, interpretation, evaluation
The poem “To Chaadaev” was written in 1818. It is dedicated to a close friend A.S. Pushkin, to the officer of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment P. Ya. Chaadaev, who had a great influence on the poet. The poem was widely circulated in lists. In a distorted form, without the knowledge of the author himself, it was published in the almanac “Northern Star” in 1829.
We can classify the poem as civil lyricism, its genre is a friendly message, its style is romantic.
Compositionally, we can distinguish three parts in this message. The poet speaks about the past, present and future of himself and his generation, of all progressive-minded young people of his time. Their past is one of youthful fun, deceptive love and hope. The present is an ardent desire to see one’s Motherland free, an expectation of the “holy moment of freedom.” The poet compares civil and love feelings here:
We wait with languid hope for the holy moment of freedom,
How a young lover waits for the moment of a faithful date.
The compositional center of the poem is an appeal addressed to all like-minded people:
While we are burning with freedom,
While hearts are alive for honor,
My friend, let’s dedicate our Souls’ wonderful impulses to the Fatherland!
The future of the Motherland is its freedom, awakening from sleep.
The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. A.S. Pushkin uses various means of artistic expression: epithets (“fatal power”, “impatient soul”, “holy freedom”, “beautiful impulses”, “star of captivating happiness”), metaphor (“deception did not endure us for long”, “while we are burning with freedom” , “Russia will awaken from sleep”), comparison (“Young fun has disappeared, like a dream, like morning fog”). The poet widely uses socio-political vocabulary: “fatherland”, “oppression”, “power”, “freedom”, “honor”. At the phonetic level we find alliteration (“Deception did not endure us for long”) and assonance (“Under the yoke of fatal power”).
Thus, this poem is imbued with an ardent call for freedom, sincere faith in the future of the country and the personal inspiration of the poet. We can consider it in the context of all the freedom-loving lyrics of A.S. Pushkin.
“My friend, let us dedicate our souls to the Fatherland with wonderful impulses!” Analysis of the poem “to Chaadaev”.
The theme of freedom continues in other poems of the poet, but the most striking and significant of the youthful freedom-loving works is “To Chaadaev” (1818).
Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev is one of the brightest and most remarkable personalities of Pushkin’s era.
Pushkin and Chaadaev met in 1816 in the Karamzin house. Chaadaev is 22 years old, he is a cornet of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, covered in the glory of the battles of the War of 1812, who reached Paris with the Russian army. Pushkin is a lyceum student, he is 17 years old. They quickly became close and, despite the age difference, became friends, and then friends. Pushkin admired Chaadaev, absorbed his freedom-loving speeches like a sponge, and drew his friend in the margins of his manuscripts.
This is the kind of person one of Pushkin’s best poems is addressed to.
Let's read it.
What does it sound like? What intonations predominate in it?
The poem sounds upbeat, solemn, it inspires to fight for the happiness of the Fatherland, calls to serve it. It is this high call that is the leading intonation of the work.
In what ways is the poem “To Chaadaev” consonant with the ode “Liberty”? What images of him resonate with her?
Both “To Chaadaev” and “Liberty” are devoted to the same theme, and in both works there is a passionate call to the fight for freedom:
"Tyrants of the world! Tremble! / And you, take heart and listen, / Arise, fallen slaves.”
“While we are burning with freedom, / While our hearts are alive for honor, / My friend, we will dedicate our souls to the Fatherland’s beautiful impulses!”
Many of the images in them have something in common: “an autocratic villain” - “the wreckage of autocracy”, “Holy liberty”, -unjust power” - “under the yoke of fatal power.”
Which of these images, in your opinion, is the leading image in the poem “to Chaadaev”? This is “Holy Liberty”, which the Fatherland and the lyrical hero of the poem crave; he awaits it “with languid hope.”
How do you see this “Liberty”? Draw a verbal portrait of her.
Ninth graders often draw the image of a young girl in a white dress standing on top of some cliff or cliff. The wind blows her loose hair and flutters her dress. Clouds are rushing over the girl’s head, illuminated by the rays of the sun, and at the foot of the cliff the sea is raging...
What do you think in Pushkin’s poem suggested the image of a girl to you?
Yes, the very feeling of the poet, who is impatiently waiting for a meeting with “Holy Liberty,” “like a young lover awaits / The minutes of a faithful date.” He associates liberty with his beloved.
What does this comparison of the poet make you think about?
Liberty is desired for him just like his beloved: it evokes languor, trembling, hope in his heart...
How are the images of Liberty and the Fatherland connected in the poem?
The Fatherland calls for help (“Let us heed the call of the Fatherland”) because it suffers “under the yoke of fatal power,” it is waiting for liberation from it, waiting for “Holy Liberty.”
Freedom is what she needs, like air, like bread, like water... Think about the poet’s invoking words, full of youthful strength:
While we are burning with freedom,
While hearts are alive for honor,
My friend, let's dedicate it to the Fatherland
Beautiful impulses from the soul!
In what sense is the word “honor” used here?
Honor here is synonymous with conscience - an internal call to goodness, denial of evil, nobility. If “hearts are alive for honor,” it means that you will not remain indifferent to the fate of the Fatherland, which means you will join the battle for its freedom.
And thanks to the common efforts of the faithful sons of the Fatherland, the “star of captivating happiness” will certainly rise over Russia, that is, it will become free, only “debris” will remain from the autocracy, on which the names of those who
dedicated “the beautiful impulses of his soul” to the Fatherland.
Please note that this poem seems to be framed by the motif of a dream:
“youthful fun has disappeared, like a dream ...” and “Russia will awaken from sleep ...”,
What is the meaning of this motif at the beginning of the poem and what is it at the end?
At the beginning, the dream is an illusion associated with the hope for change, which ardent young hearts await “with languid hope.” In the end, the dream is associated with the centuries-old torpor of Russia in the shackles of slavery - serfdom, and it is from this torpor that the country must rise. The illusion of “quiet glory”, a peaceful appeal to justice dissipates, “like a dream, like morning fog”, “The call to the Fatherland” becomes more audible.
It is those who hear this “calling” who are able to destroy Russia’s centuries-old sleep and return it to a free, full life.
Consider G. Klodt’s illustration for Pushkin’s poem “To Chaadaev.” What does it remind you of?(Emblem, coat of arms.)
PHOTO
Decipher the symbols of this emblem: the torch is a symbol of freedom burning in the chest of the lyrical hero, the chains are a symbol of slavery, the scrolls symbolize the poetic word, a call to action and at the same time their outlines resemble a lyre.
Why do you think the artist chose this style?
The poem itself is in many ways akin to the emblem of freedom fighters, this is evidenced by the images-symbols, images-emblems that we find in the work.
In the coat of arms and emblem, all symbols have their own meaning, carry a certain idea, they themselves unfold only when you look at them; So in Pushkin’s poem, images - symbols do not require explanation; they themselves lead both the visual and semantic series, suggesting thoughts, actions, deeds.
That is why this poem was so loved by the future Decembrists, which is why copies of it were found on almost all those arrested in connection with the uprising.
ANOTHER ANALYSIS
This poem is one of the most famous
political works of Alexander Sergeevich
Pushkin. It is written in the genre of a friendly message -
nia. In the 19th century it was a common literary
tour genre, which Pushkin often turned to
co. A friendly message implies the utmost
sincerity, but this does not mean at all that poetry
the creation was created only for the named person - it
addressed to a wide range of readers.
It is known that Pushkin did not plan to publish
message “To Chaadaev”. However, the poem
recorded from the words of the poet during reading in a narrow
circle of friends, began to be passed from hand to hand
and soon became widely known, although omitted
it was highlighted only in 1829. Thanks to
the author gained the reputation of a freethinker, and
the poem is still called literary
anthem of the Decembrists.
The poem is addressed to one of the remarkable
neyshik people of his time and a close friend
Pushkin - Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev. At 16 years old
Chaadaev joined the Semenovsky Guards Regiment, with
which he traveled from Borodino to Paris. In 1818
the year when the poem was written, he served
in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, later became famous
great philosopher and publicist. It was for Pushkin
an example of commitment to liberation ideas
(in 1821 Chaadaev became a member of the secret Decembrist
social society "Union of Prosperity").
in the first lines of the message “To Chaadaev” contains
there is a hint of the carefree youth of two young
people. Peaceful pleasures and fun, hopes
Fortunately, dreams of literary fame bound the friends together:
Love, hope, quiet glory
Deception did not last long for us,
The youthful fun has disappeared
Like a dream, like morning fog...
The epithet quiet (glory) indicates that
friends dreamed of quiet, peaceful happiness. Talking about
that “young fun” has disappeared, Pushkin cites
a capacious and vivid comparison: “like a dream, like a morning
fog". And in fact, neither from sleep nor from morning
there is nothing left of the fog.
There is obvious disappointment in these lines
reign of Alexander 1. It is known that the first
the steps of the young emperor inspired his subjects
hope that his reign will be liberal
(Alexander 1 even discussed with his closest friends -
our plans for transforming Russia into a constitutional
monarchy), but this hope was not justified.
In conditions of political oppression and lack of rights, the “quiet
glory" was simply impossible.
Then the poet says: “We are waiting... for a moment of freedom.”
ity of the saint ", the epithet of the saint testifies
about the high understanding of “freedom”. Comparison:
“How a young lover waits / For faithful minutes
dates,” emphasizes the poet’s passionate desire
wait for “holy freedom” And even confidence in
making this happen (sure date).
The poem contrasts two images:
“fatal power” and “fatherland”:
Under the yoke of fatal power
With an impatient soul
Let us heed the calling of the Fatherland.
The epithet fatal gains more power
(power) - cruel, inhuman. And the poet's homeland
calls her father; choosing from a range of synonyms
the most intimate and soulful meaning.
It is important to note that the poet speaks not only about his
feelings - it expresses the thoughts and desires of many
of their like-minded people: “But there is still something burning within us -
Lanier"; “We wait with languid hope,”
What does the “star of captivating happiness” mean?
which one should rise? In political vocabulary
of that era, the word “star” often symbolized
revolution, and the rising of a star - victory in liberation
body struggle. No wonder the Decembrists Kondraty
Ryleev and Alexander Bestuzhev named their al-
manah "North Star". Of course, Pushkin did not
accidentally chose this word in a message addressed to
to your friends.
Addressing the reader with a fiery appeal:
“My friend, let’s dedicate / Beautiful souls to the fatherland
impulses,” the poet expresses confidence that
“Russia will awaken from sleep, / And on the ruins of self-government -
stya / / They will write our names!”, The words “the wreckage of sa-
autocracy" means the coming fall of the autocracy
viya. The poet calls for selfless service
homeland, to the fight for freedom. For him, the concepts of “pa-
triotism" and "freedom" are inseparable from each other. But
Pushkin understands that he will voluntarily make concessions
the king will not agree. That is why in recent
Analysis of the poem
1. The history of the creation of the work.
2. Characteristics of a work of the lyrical genre (type of lyrics, artistic method, genre).
3. Analysis of the content of the work (analysis of the plot, characteristics of the lyrical hero, motives and tonality).
4. Features of the composition of the work.
5. Analysis of means of artistic expression and versification (presence of tropes and stylistic figures, rhythm, meter, rhyme, stanza).
6. The meaning of the poem for the poet’s entire work.
The poem “To Chaadaev” was written by A.S. Pushkin in 1818. It is addressed to a person whose friendship the poet valued very much. P.Ya. Chaadaev was five years older than Pushkin, he had rich life experience, an excellent education (Moscow University), and was a man of deep, encyclopedic mind. He took part in the Patriotic War of 1812, in 1816–1820. was an officer in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. Chaadaev had a great influence on the young poet; Pushkin valued his friendship with him very much. The poet addressed several messages and the quatrain “To the Portrait of Chaadaev” to Pyotr Yakovlevich, in which he compares his senior comrade with the heroes of antiquity:
He is the highest will of heaven
Born in the shackles of royal service.
He would be Brutus in Rome, Pericles in Athens,
And here he is a hussar officer.
The message “To Chaadaev” became widespread in the lists. In a distorted form, without Pushkin’s knowledge, it was published in the almanac “Northern Star” for 1829. But it was completely printed only in 1901.
The genre of the work is a friendly message. The style is romantic, which combines the intonations of love and civil lyrics. However, the message refers to civil, freedom-loving poetry. Its main theme is the theme of freedom, this is the dream of the awakening of Russia.
As researchers have repeatedly noted, in this poem Pushkin writes on behalf of an entire generation that is only still realizing its goals and objectives. The message begins on a sad note: delight in life, love, hopes - all this turned out to be just a deception, a myth, a pipe dream. And this kind of loss often took place in the poet’s contemporary reality. Dreams of glory and freedom often turned into bitter disappointment when confronted with the realities of life. This was the case with Chaadaev. This is exactly what the poet talks about in the first lines of the poem:
Love, hope, quiet glory
Deception did not last long for us,
The youthful fun has disappeared
Like a dream, like morning fog...
However, then the poet’s sad tone gives way to a cheerful and life-affirming one:
But the desire still burns within us,
Under the yoke of fatal power
With an impatient soul
Let us heed the hope of the Fatherland
Holy moments of freedom
How a young lover waits
Minutes of a faithful date.
The inspired dream of “holy freedom” cannot be drowned out by either the difficulties of struggle or the “yoke of fatal power.” The poet here compares serving the Fatherland with a feeling of love, with the ardor of a young lover. At the same time, the important thing is that this heat of the soul should not burn out or cool down.
The poet’s appeal to his older friend is so persistent and inviting:
Comrade, believe: she will rise,
Star of captivating happiness,
Russia will wake up from its sleep,
And on the ruins of autocracy
They will write our names!
And this appeal is not to Chaadaev alone, but to the entire generation.
Compositionally, we can distinguish three parts in the work. The first part is the lyrical hero’s thoughts about the past, a kind of analysis of bygone feelings, attitudes, hopes characteristic of naive youth. The second part is an analysis of your feelings in the present. The center of the poem is a call to a friend and like-minded person:
While we are burning with freedom,
While hearts are alive for honor,
My friend, let's dedicate it to the fatherland
Beautiful impulses from the soul!
The third part is thoughts about the future, revealing the hero’s ardent faith in the idea of freedom, in the possibility of transforming Russia. At the end of the poem, the same motive appears as at the beginning - awakening from sleep. Only in the finale does this motive sound very broadly: this is no longer the individual attitude of the hero, but the attitude of the whole people, Russia. The intimate lyrical intonation here becomes civilly pathetic. In this sense, we can talk about a ring composition.
The message is written in iambic tetrameter, cross and ring rhymes are used. The entire work is divided into quatrains and a final five-line. Each group is independent in its intonation. Pushkin uses a variety of means of artistic expression: metaphor (“we are burning with freedom”, “desire is burning”, “Russia will rise from sleep”), epithets (“quiet glory”, “minutes of holy freedom”), comparison (“Young fun has disappeared, Like a dream like morning fog"). The message uses “high” style vocabulary (“heed”, “fatherland”, “hope”), socio-political terms (“oppression”, “power”, “liberty”, “freedom”, “honor”, “autocracy” ).
Thus, in the romantic message “To Chaadaev” Pushkin moves away from romanticism in its traditional thematic embodiment. The main idea of the work is the idea of freedom and knightly service to the Fatherland.
Love, hope, quiet glory
Deception did not last long for us,
The youthful fun has disappeared
Like a dream, like morning fog;
But desire still burns within us;
Under the yoke of fatal power
With an impatient soul
Let us heed the calling of the Fatherland.
We wait with languid hope
Holy moments of freedom
How a young lover waits
Minutes of a faithful date.
While we are burning with freedom,
While hearts are alive for honor,
My friend, let's dedicate it to the fatherland
Beautiful impulses from the soul!
Comrade, believe: she will rise,
Star of captivating happiness,
Russia will wake up from its sleep,
And on the ruins of autocracy
They will write our names!
Updated: 2011-05-09
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Useful material on the topic
- Analysis of A.S. Pushkin’s poem “To Chaadaev”
Historical and biographical material
History of creation and date of writing of the poem
The poem was written in 1818. Ever since his lyceum years, Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev was a close friend of the poet, despite the difference in age. During the period when this poem was created, Pushkin saw in his friend a person endowed with freedom-loving ideals, but at the same time wise with life experience. Chaadaev was a member of the “Union of Welfare” (secret Decembrist society). For publishing his views in the Philosophical Letter, he was declared crazy by the government.
Pushkin addressed several more poems to Chaadaev, but they were already very different from the one created in 1818 in their mood.
The main theme of the poem
Despite the fact that the poem is written in the genre of a friendly message, the theme of friendship cannot be considered the leading one in it. Here we hear the theme of freedom and the fight against autocracy, hope for the awakening of Russia. The political views and sentiments that were common for both Chaadaev and Pushkin are reflected. “To Chaadaev” served as a means of political agitation and was widely distributed in lists.
Poem composition
The composition of this poem can be divided into three parts. The first is an analysis of the past, of naive youth. The second is self-analysis in the present tense. And the third is a look into the future. The composition is circular: at the beginning and at the end there is a motif of awakening from sleep.
Lyrical hero
At first, the lyrical hero remembers the past. He is disappointed that his hopes were not realized. Now he has woken up from his dreams. But his main desire to serve for the good of his Motherland never faded away. It cheers him up and lifts his spirits. And the hero compares this desire with the feeling of love. With his message he not only inspires faith in others, but also encourages himself.
Prevailing mood and its changes
At the beginning of the poem there is a minor motif - the hero’s dreams are dispelled by the phenomena of real life. Then the mood becomes cheerful, there is still hope in the hero. The appeal of the lyrical hero sounds like a call, very persistently.
Vocabulary of the poem
Pushkin uses the vocabulary of the so-called “high style”: “heed”, “hope”. There are also socio-political concepts: “power”, “freedom”, “oppression”.
Poetic syntax
The poem contains a wide variety of means of artistic expression. These are comparisons (“like a dream, like morning fog”), and metaphors (“desire burns,” “we are burning with freedom,” “Russia will rise from sleep”), and epithets (“quiet glory,” “holy liberty”).
The work is written in iambic tetrameter, using ring and cross rhymes. Divided into quatrains and finally a quintet. The intonation in each part is independent.
The young lyceum student A. Pushkin met Chaadaev in 1816 in the house of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, a famous Russian historian and writer. Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev was transferred to the Hussar Life Guards Regiment as an adjutant to Adjutant General Vasilchikov. The young people quickly got along with each other. More experienced and educated, having participated in battles with the French, Chaadaev influenced the moral and civic development of Pushkin.
- just one of those that the poet dedicated to his friend and like-minded person. In it, he seems to continue his long-standing argument with a friend. The poem was written with youthful maximalism and a romantic mood, which the young poet had not yet managed to get rid of, in the guise of his more mature and experienced friend.
The entire poem was not published during the poet’s lifetime, but it quickly spread among the lists. And each copyist tried to add something of his own. Therefore, about 70 variants and variations of this work are known. This poem was considered freedom-loving and was classified as forbidden. If they talked about him, it was in the close circle of secret societies that arose after the Patriotic War of 1812. The poem “To Chaadaev” was one of those for which Pushkin fell into disgrace with the government and was exiled to the south.
The exact date of writing this work is not known. But Pushkinists believe that it was written in 1818, and connect its writing with the speech of Alexander I at the Polish Assembly, held in the spring of 1818. At this Sejm, the emperor spoke about the possibility of introducing a Constitutional monarchy in Russia, but Pushkin did not believe the liberal promises of the tsar.
There is another point of view regarding the date of writing of this work. It was expressed by historian and philologist V.V. Pugachev, who believes that the poem was written in 1820. This was the year of the most lively debate between Pushkin and Chaadaev about the overthrow of tsarism. Chaadaev was against violence, Pushkin called for revolution. The same call sounds in a slightly veiled form in the poem. That is why it became the anthem of the Decembrists.
The poem was first published in 1906. From the moment of writing to the moment of publication, 4 emperors changed on the Russian throne. The author of the poem died in a duel, and Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev was declared crazy for his “philosophical letters.” However, this did not prevent him from continuing his journalistic activities and participating in ideological meetings of Moscow democrats. During his lifetime, Chaadaev was not published; no one wanted to be in the place of “Telescope”, in one of the issues of which a “Philosophical Letter” was published, which criticized Russian reality.
