“I love the Fatherland, but strange love»
Perhaps the theme of the homeland is the main one in the work of all great Russian writers. She finds a peculiar refraction in the lyrics of M. Yu. Lermontov. In some ways, his sincere thoughts about Russia coincide with Pushkin’s. Lermontov is also not satisfied with the present of his homeland; he also wishes her freedom. But his lyrics do not contain Pushkin’s ardent optimistic confidence that “she will rise, a star of captivating happiness.” His penetrating and merciless artist's gaze reveals those negative aspects Russian life, which make the poet feel a sense of hatred towards them and, without any regret, part with the fatherland.
Goodbye, unwashed Russia,
Country of slaves, country of masters,
And you, blue uniforms,
And you, their devoted people.
In Lermontov's well-executed, laconic lines, the evil that causes his anger and indignation is concentrated to the utmost. And this evil is slavery of the people, despotism of autocratic power, persecution of dissent, restriction of civil liberties.
A feeling of sorrow for the oppressed homeland permeates the poem “The Turk's Complaints.” The acute political content forces the poet to resort to allegory. The title of the poem refers to the despotic state regime Turkey, in which the national liberation struggle of the Greeks under its rule was waged. These anti-Turkish sentiments found sympathy in Russian society. At the same time, it was quite clear to progressive-minded readers true meaning poems directed against the hated autocratic-serfdom regime of Russia.
Early life there is hard for people,
There, behind the joys comes reproach,
There is a man groaning from slavery and chains!..
Friend! this region... my homeland!
Yes, Lermontov was not satisfied with Nikolaev Russia in the 30s of the 19th century, which marked his creative maturity. What fueled Lermontov’s love for his homeland? Perhaps her glorious heroic past? Lermontov, like Pushkin, was admired by the courage, fortitude, and patriotism of the Russian people who defended freedom home country V terrible years Patriotic War 1812. He dedicated the wonderful poem “Borodino” to the most striking heroic event of this war, which was already history for Lermontov. Admiring the feat of the Russian heroes of the past, the poet involuntarily recalls his generation, which passively endures oppression, making no attempt to change the life of its fatherland for the better.
Yes, there were people in our time
Not like the current tribe:
The heroes are not you!
They got a bad lot:
Not many returned from the field...
If it weren't God's will,
They wouldn't give up Moscow!
In the poem “Motherland,” Lermontov nevertheless says that this “glory bought with blood” cannot give him “a joyful dream.” But why is this poem filled with some kind of bright, Pushkin-like mood? There is no rebellious angry spirit characteristic of Lermontov. Everything is quiet, simple, peaceful. Even the poetic rhythm here gives the work smoothness, slowness and majesty. At the beginning of the poem, Lermontov talks about his “strange” love for his homeland. This oddity lies in the fact that he hates autocratic-serf Russia, the country of “blue uniforms,” and with all his heart he loves the people of Russia, its discreet but charming nature. In “Motherland,” the poet paints a people’s Russia. Pictures dear to the heart of every Russian person appear before the poet’s mind’s eye.
But I love - for what, I don’t know myself -
Its steppes are coldly silent,
Her boundless forests sway,
The floods of its rivers are like seas.
The artist paints here three successively changing landscape images: the steppe, the forest and the river, which are typical of Russian folklore. After all, in folk songs The steppe is always wide and free. With its immensity and infinity it attracts the poet. The image of a heroic, mighty forest enhances the impression of the power and scope of Russian nature. The third image is a river. Unlike the fast, impetuous mountain rivers of the Caucasus, they are majestic, calm, and full of water. Lermontov emphasizes their strength by comparing them with the seas. This means that the greatness, scope and breadth of his native nature evokes in the poet “pleasant dreams” about the great future of Russia and its people. These reflections of Lermontov echo the thoughts of other great Russian writers - Gogol and Chekhov, who saw in native nature a reflection of the national spirit of its people. Lermontov's entire poem is permeated with ardent love for rural, rural Russia.
I love the smoke of burnt stubble,
A nomadic convoy in the steppe
And on a hill in the middle of a yellow field
A couple of white birches.
With joy unknown to many
I see a complete threshing floor
A hut covered with straw
A window with carved shutters...
The severity of the people’s forced position makes the poet see with particular joy the few “traces of contentment and labor” that still exist in peasant life. He seems to lead the reader with him through the forest and steppes, along country road to the village, to a simple hut and stops to admire the daring Russian dance “with stomping and whistling to the chatter of drunken peasants.” He is endlessly pleased by the sincere folk fun at the holiday. One can feel the poet’s ardent desire to see the Russian people happy and free. Only her people's Russia The poet considers his real homeland.
I love my fatherland, but with a strange love!
My reason will not defeat her.
Nor glory bought with blood,
Neither complete proud trust peace,
Neither dark antiquity cherished legends
No joyful dreams stir within me.
But I love - for what, I don’t know myself -
Its steppes are coldly silent,
Her boundless forests sway,
The floods of its rivers are like seas;
On a country road I like to ride in a cart
And, with a slow gaze piercing the shadow of the night,
Meet on the sides, sighing for an overnight stay,
Trembling lights sad villages;
I love the smoke of burnt stubble,
A convoy spending the night in the steppe
And on a hill in the middle of a yellow field
A couple of white birches.
With joy unknown to many,
I see a complete threshing floor
A hut covered with straw
Window with carved shutters;
And on a holiday, on a dewy evening,
Ready to watch until midnight
To dance with stomping and whistling
Under the talk of drunken men.
Year of writing: 1841
Analysis of the poem "Motherland" by Lermontov
Creative heritage Russian poet and writer Mikhail Lermontov has many works that express civil position author. However, the poem “Motherland,” written by Lermontov in 1941, shortly before his death, can be classified as one of the most striking examples of patriotic lyrics of the 19th century.
Writers who were contemporaries of Lermontov can be divided into two categories. Some of them sang the beauty of Russian nature, deliberately turning a blind eye to the problems of the village and serfdom. Others, on the contrary, tried to reveal the vices of society in their works and were known as rebels. Mikhail Lermontov, in turn, tried to find in his work golden mean, and the crown of his aspirations to express his feelings towards Russia as fully and objectively as possible is rightfully considered the poem “Motherland”.
One consists of two parts, different not only in size, but also in concept. The solemn introduction, in which the author declares his love for the Fatherland, is replaced by stanzas that describe the beauty of Russian nature. The author admits that he loves Russia not for its feats of arms, but for the beauty of nature, originality and bright national color. He clearly distinguishes concepts such as homeland and state, noting that his love is strange and somewhat painful. On the one hand, he admires Russia, its steppes, meadows, rivers and forests. But at the same time, he is aware that the Russian people are still oppressed, and the stratification of society into rich and poor becomes more pronounced with each generation. And beauty native land unable to veil the “trembling lights of sad villages.”
Researchers of this poet's work are convinced that by nature Mikhail Lermontov was not a sentimental person. In his circle, the poet was known as a bully and a brawler, he loved to mock his fellow soldiers and resolved disputes with the help of a duel. Therefore, it is all the more strange that from his pen were born not bravura patriotic or accusatory lines, but subtle lyrics with a touch of slight sadness. However, there is a logical explanation for this, which some literary critics adhere to. It is believed that people of a creative nature have amazing intuition or, as it is commonly called in literary circles, the gift of foresight. Mikhail Lermontov was no exception and, according to Prince Peter Vyazemsky, he had a presentiment of his death in a duel. That is why he hastened to say goodbye to everything that was dear to him, taking off for a moment the mask of a jester and actor, without which he did not consider it necessary to appear in high society.
However, there is an alternative interpretation of this work, which, undoubtedly, is key in the poet’s work. According to literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, Mikhail Lermontov not only advocated the need government reforms, but also had a presentiment that very soon Russian society with its patriarchal structure will change completely, completely and irrevocably. Therefore, in the poem “Motherland” there are sad and even nostalgic notes, and the main leitmotif of the work, if you read it between the lines, is an appeal to descendants to love Russia as it is. Do not exalt her achievements and merits, do not focus attention on social vices and imperfection political system. After all, the homeland and the state are two completely different concepts, which you should not try to bring to a single denominator even with good intentions. Otherwise, love for the Motherland will be seasoned with the bitterness of disappointment, which is what the poet who experienced this feeling was so afraid of.
Analysis of the poem “Motherland” by Lermontov (2)
Lermontov's poem "Motherland" is studied in literature lessons in grade 9. In our article you can find the complete and brief analysis"Motherland" according to plan.
History of creation - the poem was written as a declaration of love to the Motherland in 1841, a few months before the death of the poet.
The theme is love for the motherland, true patriotism, edged with paintings of native nature.
The composition is two stanzas of different lengths, containing philosophical reflections and a declaration of love for the motherland with a listing of pictures of native nature.
Genre – thought. The second stanza is very close to an elegy.
The poetic meter is iambic hexameter, turning into pentameter and tetrameter with cross rhyme (the work has both paired and ring rhyming methods). Female rhyme predominates.
Metaphors - “glory bought with blood”, “cold silence of the steppes”, “boundless swaying forests”, “a couple of birches”.
Epithets - “dark antiquity”, “cherished giving”, “pleasant dream”, “cold silence”, “sad villages”, “boundless forests”, “dewy evening”.
The simile is “the floods of its rivers are like seas.”
History of creation
In 1841, Lermontov returned from the Caucasus on vacation to resolve the issue of retirement and take up literary creativity. Long absence in his homeland played a role, inspiring the poet to the most beautiful poem- declaration of love. The simple Russian beauty of nature was such a contrast to the Caucasian mountainous terrain that the poet created beautiful lines, poignant and sincere.
It was written on March 13 and was originally called “Fatherland,” but upon publication it was decided to replace the name with “Motherland” (it is devoid of civic pathos, softer and more melodic, which corresponds to the understanding of patriotism that permeates the poem). Longing for the homeland and awareness of its value and closeness sounds like the main motive in the poem. The poem combines both real landscapes and individual natural sketches taken by the poet from memories and impressions of another period.
Subject
The theme of love for the motherland, landscape and patriotism, deep, folk, personal, practically devoid of a state or civil component. Its traces are only at the beginning of the poem, then pictures of everyday life and native landscapes are pushed aside by pathos and a solemn tone.
Lermontov's love is very personal and sincere; he is fond of the lights in the windows of rural houses, the smells of fires, thatched huts, and birch trees that line the road. The author characterizes his love as “strange,” because he himself does not understand its roots and causes, but strong overwhelming feeling comes through in every line of the poem. Only a pure mind, a huge talent, can write something like this. Lermontov has no love for social life, he was disgusted with the “laws” of high society, intrigue, rank, rumors, the meaninglessness of the existence of the nobility and the empty Russian reality.
The main idea of the poem– love for the homeland is a strong, incomprehensible feeling given from above. The idea of the poem is to reveal the essence of a person - a patriot (the author himself), who devotedly loves his homeland, attached to it with all his soul. The lyrical hero presents his feeling as something personal: that’s how they love loved one, despite his shortcomings, strongly and selflessly.
Composition
First semantic part poem - stanza - consists of 6 verses. They are philosophical in nature and clearly define the absence of attachment bonds lyrical hero to the history of the country, its glory and heroism. He loves his homeland, not the country, not for something, but in spite of everything that it has done to the poet. The second stanza – 20 lines – is the lyrical hero’s confession of true filial love for his homeland. A kind of semantic antithesis is expressed by the selection of vocabulary: at the beginning of the poem - sublimely, solemnly, and in the second stanza - simple, colloquial, with everyday descriptions.
Genre
The lyrical poem is close to the duma genre, which was characteristic of the work of the Decembrists. The second stanza - the largest in volume - meets all the requirements of the elegy genre. In the first stanza, the author gives three negatives that could have been a reason for love for the homeland, but were not. The second stanza is a pure declaration of love with an amazing and very original in its simplicity description of native landscapes: there is no evidence or reason, only the “fact of love.” The poem combines iambic 6, 5, at times turning into tetrameter, more traditional for the author.
Means of expression
Metaphors: “glory bought with blood”, “cold silence of the steppes”, “boundless swaying forests”, “couple of birches”.
Comparison: ""the floods of its rivers are like seas."
Anaphora in the first stanza makes the thoughts of the lyrical hero emotional and sublime: “Neither glory bought with blood, nor peace full of proud trust, nor cherished legends of dark antiquity...” The anaphora in the second stanza gives the poem a songlike and elegiac quality: “Her steppes are coldly silent , its boundless forests sway...”
The exclamatory sentence, which is the first verse of the work, expresses its central thought: “I love my fatherland, but with a strange love!”
What is patriotism? Literally translated from ancient Greek given word means “fatherland”, if you look for information even deeper, you can understand that it is as ancient as the human race. This is probably why philosophers have always talked and argued about him, statesmen, writers, poets. Among the latter, it is necessary to highlight Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. He, who survived exile twice, knew like no one else the true price of love for his homeland. And the proof of this is his amazing work“Motherland,” which he wrote literally six months before his tragic death in a duel. You can read the poem “Motherland” by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov completely online on our website.
In the poem "Motherland" Lermontov talks about love for his native patronymic - Russia. But from the very first line, the poet warns that his feeling does not correspond to the established “model.” It is not “stamped”, not official, not official, and therefore “strange”. The author goes on to explain his “strangeness.” He says that love, no matter who or what it is, cannot be guided by reason. It is reason that turns it into a lie, demands from it immeasurable sacrifices, blood, tireless worship, glory. In this guise, patriotism does not touch Lermontov’s heart, and even the ancient traditions of humble monastic chroniclers do not penetrate his soul. Then what does the poet love?
The second part of the poem “Motherland” begins with a loud statement that the poet loves no matter what, and the truth of this statement is felt in the words that he himself does not know why. And indeed, a pure feeling cannot be explained or seen. It is inside, and it connects a person, his soul with some invisible thread with all living things. The poet talks about this spiritual, blood, endless connection with the Russian people, land and nature, and thereby contrasts the homeland with the state. But his voice is not accusatory; on the contrary, it is nostalgic, gentle, quiet and even humble. He describes his innermost experience by creating bright, expressive and imaginative pictures of Russian nature (“the boundless swaying of forests,” “sad trees,” “a convoy overnight in the steppe”), as well as through the repeated repetition of the verb “I love”: “I love to gallop in cart”, “I love the smoke of burnt stubble”. It’s now easy to learn the text of Lermontov’s poem “Motherland” and prepare for a literature lesson in the classroom. You can download it on our website this work absolutely free.
I love my fatherland, but with a strange love!
My reason will not defeat her.
Nor glory bought with blood,
Nor the peace full of proud trust,
Nor the dark old treasured legends
No joyful dreams stir within me.
But I love - for what, I don’t know myself -
Its steppes are coldly silent,
Her boundless forests sway,
The floods of its rivers are like seas;
On a country road I like to ride in a cart
And, with a slow gaze piercing the shadow of the night,
Meet on the sides, sighing for an overnight stay,
The trembling lights of sad villages;
I love the smoke of burnt stubble,
A convoy spending the night in the steppe
And on a hill in the middle of a yellow field
A couple of white birches.
With joy unknown to many,
I see a complete threshing floor
A hut covered with straw
Window with carved shutters;
And on a holiday, on a dewy evening,
Ready to watch until midnight
To dance with stomping and whistling
Under the talk of drunken men.
I love my fatherland, but with a strange love!
My reason will not defeat her.
Nor glory bought with blood,
Nor the peace full of proud trust,
Nor the dark old treasured legends
No joyful dreams stir within me.
But I love - for what, I don’t know myself -
Its steppes are coldly silent,
Her boundless forests sway,
The floods of its rivers are like seas;
On a country road I like to ride in a cart
And, with a slow gaze piercing the shadow of the night,
Meet on the sides, sighing for an overnight stay,
Trembling lights of sad villages.
I love the smoke of burnt stubble,
A train spending the night in the steppe,
And on a hill in the middle of a yellow field
A couple of white birches.
With joy unknown to many
I see a complete threshing floor
A hut covered with straw
Window with carved shutters;
And on a holiday, on a dewy evening,
Ready to watch until midnight
To dance with stomping and whistling
Under the talk of drunken men.
Analysis of the poem “Motherland” by Lermontov
IN late period Lermontov's creativity appears deep philosophical topics. The rebellion and open protest inherent in his youth are replaced by a more mature outlook on life. If earlier, when describing Russia, Lermontov was guided by high civic ideas associated with martyrdom for the good of the Fatherland, now his love for the Motherland is expressed in more moderate tones and is reminiscent of Pushkin’s patriotic poems. An example of such an attitude was the work “Motherland” (1841).
Lermontov already admits in the first lines that his love for Russia is “strange.” At that time it was customary to express it in pompous words and loud statements. This was fully manifested in the views of the Slavophiles. Russia was declared the greatest and happiest country, having absolutely special way development. All shortcomings and troubles were ignored. Autocratic power and Orthodox faith were declared the guarantee of the eternal well-being of the Russian people.
The poet declares that his love does not have any rational basis, it is his innate feeling. The great past and the heroic deeds of his ancestors do not evoke any response in his soul. The author himself does not understand why Russia is so incredibly close and understandable to him. Lermontov perfectly understood the backwardness of his country from the West, the poverty of the people and their slave position. But it is impossible not to love his own mother, so he is delighted with the pictures of the vast Russian landscape. Using bright epithets(“boundless”, “whitening”), Lermontov depicts a majestic panorama of his native nature.
The author does not directly talk about his contempt for the life of high society. It can be seen in the loving description of a simple village landscape. Lermontov is much closer to a ride on an ordinary peasant cart than a walk in a shiny carriage. This allows you to experience the life of ordinary people, to feel your unbreakable connection with him.
At that time, the prevailing opinion was that nobles differed from peasants not only in education, but in the physical and moral structure of the body. Lermontov declares common roots all the people. How else can one explain the unconscious admiration for village life? The poet is gladly ready to exchange fake capital balls and masquerades for “a dance with stomping and whistling.”
The poem “Motherland” is one of the best patriotic works. Its main advantage lies in the absence of pathos and the enormous sincerity of the author.
