The irresistible magnetism of the poetry of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin lies in the fact that it allows you to enjoy not only the beauty of the Russian language and the expressiveness of artistic images, but also appreciate the wisdom and philosophical motives in poetry.
Pushkin's poems are famous for the fact that they cover all the basic questions to which philosophy has been searching for definite answers for centuries. Pushkin's lyrics are as diverse and broad as his personality is interesting and colorful, which is revealed to us in his immortal poems.
"I visited again..."
The poem “Once again I visited...” is dedicated to thinking about the past, about the experience experienced, which consisted of searching for the meaning of life and the purpose of human destiny. But these lyrics cannot be called gloomy or overly sad; Pushkin’s philosophical reflections lead the reader to the understanding that the past is only a symbol of the changes that make life so beautiful and inspiring.
Pushkin wrote this poem in 1835, and in his poems the philosophy of a mature man sounds, who realizes the power and charm of the eternal cycle of life and the fact that without the past there is no future.
“The daylight has gone out...”
And the poem “The luminary of the day has gone out...” reveals to us the tragic fate of the author, who had to endure many hardships and torments on his life’s path. Pushkin's philosophical thoughts are centered around the depravity that is ingrained in society and he has to admit that this cannot be changed in any way.
His lyrics tell about the doubts and sorrows that a person is capable of experiencing, trying to correctly follow the path he has chosen, about how difficult it is to live up to his fate... Pushkin uses simple allegories associated with nature to convey to us his philosophical mood, and this makes his poetry truly charming and memorable. ()
"Elegy…"
“Elegy...” Alexander Sergeevich wrote in 1830, and this poem is one of the most personal in his work - in its form it resembles a monologue. No longer young, Pushkin looks back and peers into his past to see his imperfection and feel the heaviness in his soul. And in the future he sees “labor and sorrow,” which sounds quite worried, but still it is an incentive to think and create further.
The poet expresses his desire to live fully, and for him to live means to think and feel, and he is ready for the fact that he will have to suffer, he accepts it. This is the philosophical content of this sad but emotionally charged poem. He talks about his eternal muses - harmony and stormy love (), without which his work was not so bright and full-fledged.
"Imitation of the Koran"
The poem “Imitation of the Koran” is also classified as philosophical lyricism, since this poetic work contains the experiences of an exiled poet, which Pushkin felt himself to be, creative throwing and the search for his purpose as a poet. Pushkin uses the oriental style in order to give the artistic form of the poem sublimity and color; he wants to convey the powerful spirit that is inherent in the original source. He touches on the theme of the “poet-prophet” and talks philosophically about concepts such as honor and duty and how they matter to people.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is one of the most popular poets and writers in the world. But first of all, he conquered Russia with his talent. He became famous both as a wonderful romantic and as an outstanding realist. The themes of his works are varied: philosophical, civil, historical, love, socio-political and many others. But each topic in turn is intertwined with the poet’s philosophical reasoning.
Pushkin, like, in general, any person, more than once thought about the eternal questions of existence. He tried to find out what the meaning of life is, the purpose of a poet and poetry, what death and immortality, good and evil are, etc. These questions can be listed endlessly. That is why so many discussions on philosophical topics are present in his works.
Pushkin the philosopher writes not about problems on a global scale, but about personal experiences. The poet's philosophy is deeply felt.
He passed every question through his soul, which is not typical of any of the poets of his time.
Philosophical problems worried Pushkin even during his studies at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. During these years, Batyushkov had a strong influence on him, who saw the meaning of life in personal sensory benefits.
For young Pushkin, the meaning of life lay in eternal celebrations, feasts and fun. He didn't think about anything serious. This is clearly seen in the example of the sixteen-year-old poet’s poem “The Tomb of Anacreon”:
Mortal, your age is a ghost:
Catch happiness quickly;
Enjoy, enjoy;
Fill the cup often;
Tired of ardent passion
And relax with a cup!
The same vision of the world can be observed in his other poems. For example, in the work “Stanzas to Tolstoy”:
Drink every drop of pleasure,
Live carefree, indifferent!
Be obedient for a moment of your life,
Be young in your youth!
At a young age, Pushkin does not yet think about the future; his whole philosophy is in feasts and entertainment. Moreover, it is precisely this lifestyle that he advises the reader to adhere to.
The turning point in Pushkin's life was the 1820s. At this time, he begins to analyze his life and creativity.
Southern exile was the era of romanticism for the poet. Then all young people focused on this direction. With the change in worldview, the poet’s philosophy also became more mature. During the romantic period of his creativity, Pushkin considered the highest goal of human life not to spend time carefree, but to strive for heroic deeds. Such changes were reflected primarily in the poet’s work:
Seeker of new experiences,
I fled you, Fatherly land;
I ran you, pets of pleasure.
Minutes of youth, minute friends.
These are lines from the famous elegy of 1820 “The Sun of Day Has Gone Out.” Here a new bright symbol of freedom and inspiration appears - the ocean. It is as pure and powerful as the feelings that fill the poet’s soul. This image also appears in the poem “To the Sea”. Pushkin compares human life with the life of the ocean.
Six months before his death, Pushkin wrote the poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands...”. It’s as if he foresees his imminent death. In the work, the poet reflects on the meaning of life, about the purpose for which a person is born, and says with confidence:
I erected a monument to myself, not made by hands,
The people's path to it will not be overgrown.
He ascended higher with his rebellious head
Alexandrian Pillar.
In his poem, Pushkin draws a conclusion from his early thoughts about the purpose of a poet. He seriously thinks about what will be left of him to people after death:
No, all of me will not die - the soul is in the treasured lyre
My ashes will survive and decay will escape -
And I will be glorious as long as I am in the sublunary world
At least one piit will be alive.
Pushkin understands perfectly well that physical immortality is impossible, so he strives for creative immortality. During his lifetime, the poet, with his own efforts, erects a “monument not made by hands.” He creates with his thoughts, mind and feelings. Pushkin deservedly considers himself a people's prophet. It may seem to some that the poet’s pride knows no bounds, but he is right. Alexander Sergeevich in “a cruel age glorified Freedom / And called for mercy for the fallen.” Few dared to do this.
Pushkin always uses the pronoun “I,” but not because of excessive pride. In the 19th century any wrong step was severely punished, but he was not afraid of anything. Freedom-loving lyrics were his pride.
The poem “I erected a monument to myself...” contrasts two monuments: spiritual and material. The poet opposes the so-called idol of time. In a duel with him, Pushkin uses the most dangerous weapon - the poetic word. And if we remember how the poet is admired to this day, we can safely say that he won this battle.
For Pushkin, poetry is not just a description of his thoughts and feelings. This is the path that leads the reader to his heart. In his poems, he spoke about what he could not say live, for fear of remaining misunderstood.
In the poem “The Prophet” the lyrical hero begins to see the light. He is overcome by terrible torment, but the main thing is that the poet discovers the highest meaning of life. He begins to see beyond the horizon and hear truths inaccessible to an ordinary mortal.
As already mentioned, all the themes of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin’s lyrics are imbued with his personal philosophy. There are many examples of such poems. Pushkin developed throughout his life not only as a person, but also as a poet. Accordingly, the poet’s attitude towards eternal philosophical problems also changed. This can be easily seen in his work.
For many years, the title of one of the most talented prose writers and poets of the 19th century has been borne by A.S. Pushkin. is present in almost every one of his works, although he is a rather diverse poet, interested in many topics. Alexander Sergeevich wrote poems on civil and love themes, raised questions about friendship, the purpose of the poet, and described the beauty of Russian nature. But still, a thread of philosophy runs through all his poems; they make the reader think about good and evil, the meaning of human life, faith and unbelief, death and immortality.
The philosophy that amazes everyone with its originality is deeply intimate, personal in nature, because every feeling belonged to the poet, he described his own thoughts, impressions of life. It is this fact that distinguishes the lyrics of Alexander Sergeevich from other authors. As the poet grows up, his works change and a different meaning appears in them. From the poems you can find out how Pushkin lived in different years.
The philosophical lyrics of that period, when the poet was still a lyceum student, are imbued with a spirit of fun. Alexander Sergeevich encourages you to have fun in the company of friends, enjoy friendly feasts and not worry about anything. You can learn about his youthful thoughts from the poem “The Tomb of Anacreon,” written in 1815, and the poem “Stanza to Tolstoy” (1819). The poet preaches pleasure and entertainment.
Philosophical motives in Pushkin's lyrics changed dramatically in the 20s. Like all young people of that period, Alexander Sergeevich was drawn to romanticism. The poet admired Byron and Napoleon; the purpose of life was no longer to waste time senselessly at friendly parties, but to accomplish a feat. The heroic impulses of the soul could not but be reflected in the author’s philosophical lyrics. The most striking works of that period are considered to be the elegy “The Daylight Has Gone Out,” written in 1820, and the poem “To the Sea,” 1824.
In the mid-20s, Pushkin experienced an ideological crisis. The philosophical lyrics of that period are no longer imbued with romanticism; realism is replacing it. The poet begins to understand the harsh truth of life, and it scares him. He sees problems, but does not see a goal to strive for. In the work “The Cart of Life,” Alexander Sergeevich compares life with an ordinary cart, it travels without stopping, days and nights, the beginning of the trip seems joyful and bright, but the end seems sad and dark. The poet's morale broke after the defeat of the Decembrists; Pushkin felt guilty before his friends because he could not take part in the uprising against the tsarist regime.
By the end of the 20s, the poems traced the despair and loneliness that Pushkin experienced during that period. The poet's philosophical lyrics have become sadder and even tragic over the years. In the poems “A Vain Gift, an Accidental Gift”, “Elegy”, “Am I Wandering along the Noisy Streets” there are questions of life and death; the author considers what will happen after he is no longer on this mortal earth. But this does not mean that Alexander Sergeevich wished to die, he wanted to live in order to bring his creativity to people, to guide people on the true path. He firmly believed that by the end of his life he would be able to find happiness and harmony.
The great poet’s lyrics reveal his entire personality, his character, his soul, his attitude towards the world around him; his thoughts and experiences.
It is difficult to find poems in the poet’s legacy that do not express a view on the world around us, on the place of man in it, on the “damned questions” of life and death, happiness and duty, that is, on the basic questions of philosophy.
Already from his lyceum years, A. S. Pushkin thought about man and his place in the world and put forward his idea of the purpose and form of human life, trying to comprehend it as a temporary phenomenon, to recognize the patterns of perpetual movement, generational change, the pointlessness of attempts to go against the natural laws of existence , the dying of the old and the birth of the new and at the same time the affirmation of the eternal life of nature, the glorification of human life, illuminated by reason and deep feelings.
Reflecting on the transience of life, Pushkin constantly thought about its inevitable outcome:
I say: the years will fly by,
And no matter how much we are seen here,
We will all descend under the eternal vaults -
And someone else's hour is near.
However, the thought of death does not inspire him with despondency, but with submission to the will of God and reconciliation with his lot.
The greatness of a person lies in his “independence,” that is, in uniqueness, in singularity. In equality only to yourself. But such a self-state is not from the outside, the life-giving force is the person himself, creating himself.
In many of his poems, the poet reflected on the degree of dependence of a person on the environment in which he was formed. The environment is powerful, it influences people, but, according to the poet, the one who is able to rebel against conditions hostile to him has the right to be called a man. “You have understood the goal of life: a happy person,” he wrote in the poem “To the Nobles” in 1830, admiring the ability of the addressee of this poem to perceive life in its diversity, to accept what is honest and pure in it, to reject and despise what is dirty and empty in it.
Man consists of two worlds: external - physical and internal, hidden - spiritual. At first, when a person just begins his earthly existence, his soul is pure and bright, but he faces a difficult choice: to live a life full of hardships, but with a clear conscience, or to succumb to the desire of the body - to dirty his soul.
The strength of Pushkin’s soul lies in the fact that he longs for light and worships purity:
And the heat of involuntary tenderness
For the first time I vaguely knew.
This is a victory over the demonic mocking view of life.
Where does Pushkin’s soul strive? Up, free yourself from pride, accomplish the Christian feat of the human soul:
There, in the sky-high cell, in the neighborhood of God, I should hide!
Long years of spiritual struggle with oneself have proven the possibility of a fall in purity and for the fall - the path of rebirth:
And reading my life with disgust,
I tremble and curse
And I complain bitterly
And I shed bitter tears,
But I don’t wash away the sad lines.
These doubts, passions, embracing despair, develop feelings, thoughts, make a person human.
Philosophical lyrics by A.S. Pushkin mainly takes the form of lyrical confessions, moreover, of a universal, broad meaning. For example, this is the poem “Memory”.
The lyrical hero is a person with a sensitive conscience. He mentally looks back at his past life. And he is horrified. But at the same time, he does not attract any harsh condemnation. Rather, he is worthy of sympathy. He judges himself. And no one can condemn him stronger and more than himself. This inspires respect for him and makes him see not only a sinner, but also a strong personality.
Pushkin's poetic confessions, thanks to their sincerity and depth, have not only a personal, but also a universal character.
The universal sound of the poem “Memory” is greatly facilitated by its lexical structure. The text contains many bookish words that have a solemn connotation: instead of “man,” “mortal” is used; instead of “remorse” - “snake of heart remorse”.
In the poem "Elegy" (1830) everything seems amazingly alive. Deep and strong thoughts are inseparable from sensual impulses. The poet understands that for him the past is full of sadness. There are no illusions about the future either. But the final lines reflect the heroic effort of the spirit, of a great soul that knows how to love and appreciate not the pleasures in life, but its complexity.
