Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin - a world famous poet, prose writer, publicist, playwright and literary critic - went down in history not only as the author of unforgettable works, but also as the founder of the new literary Russian language. At the mere mention of Pushkin, the image of the original Russian national poet immediately arises. The poet Pushkin is a globally recognized genius, the vocabulary of his works is unique, the imagery of his lyrics is wide and absolutely unique, the depth of the sensual and philosophical component of his poems amazes and excites readers of all countries and all generations. But still, Pushkin’s lyrics deserve special attention, the versatility and imagery of which is still not fully understood.
The color of Pushkin's lyrics
The poetry of Pushkin is his poetic biography and, at the same time, the creative chronicle of everyday and spiritual life of those distant times. The war of 1812 and the uprising of the Decembrists of 1825, serfdom and dreams of “holy liberty”, loved ones, friends and enemies, “beautiful moments” of life and sadness and “sadness of days gone by” - all these moments were reflected in Pushkin’s poems , messages, elegies, poetic tales, songs, epigrams. And all these themes and motives of Pushkin’s lyrics are so harmoniously combined by the author that not the slightest tension or dissonance is felt during the reading of his works. This indescribable inner unity of Pushkin’s lyrics was extremely accurately and precisely defined by V. Belinsky: “The whole color of lyric and any other poetry of Pushkin is the inner human beauty and humanity that warms the soul.”
Pushkin's love lyrics
Pushkin's love lyrics are rightly called the "encyclopedia of love experiences." It contains a wide palette of feelings: from the beautiful and bewitching moment of the first reverent meeting to the complete disappointment and loneliness of the soul devastated by passions. Love in Pushkin’s lyrics is very different. This is an ideal feeling that exalts the soul of any person, and just a random hobby that suddenly arises, but passes just as quickly, and a burning passion, accompanied by flashes of jealousy and resentment. The main motives of Pushkin’s lyrics of love theme are light love, adult and meaningful feeling, passion, jealousy and pain, resentment and disappointment.
The poem "I remember a wonderful moment ..."
The most famous poem by Pushkin, "I remember a wonderful moment ...", the author wrote during the period of exile in Mikhailovsky. These words are addressed to Anna Petrovna Kern. For the first time, Pushkin saw her in St. Petersburg in 1819 and became interested in her. Six years later, he again met her at the neighbors, the landowners of the village of Trigorsky, where Anna came to visit her aunt. The love feeling in the poet’s soul flared up with renewed vigor. Before Anna left Trigorsky, Pushkin presented her with a piece of paper folded four times over. Expanding it, Anna saw poetic lines that would later become a masterpiece of Russian lyrics and forever glorify her name.
The compositional structure of the poem
The lyrical plot reflects the main biographical milestones of the relationship between Pushkin and Kern, the main one is the motive of memory in Pushkin’s lyrics. Compositionally, the poem breaks up into three separate parts with respect to their semantic component. Each of them, in turn, consists of two quatrains - the same size of quatrains. In the first part, the lyrical hero recalls the “wonderful moment” when he saw the beauty and forever fell in love with her. The second describes the years of separation - the time "without a deity and without rage." In the third - a new meeting of lovers, a new flash of feelings in which "and deity, and inspiration, and life, and tears, and love." For the lyric hero of the poem, love is like a true miracle, divine revelation. That is how the poet Pushkin himself felt at that time, it was this feeling that lived in him then, and he lived without looking back.
The poem "I loved you ..."
Another famous poem, “I loved you ...” Pushkin wrote in 1829 along with another of his masterpieces - “What is in my name? ..”. Initially, the work was inscribed in the album of Carolina Sobanskaya, in which the poet was hopelessly long and in love. A distinctive feature of the verse "I loved you ..." is that the lyrical feeling in it is transmitted extremely laconic, but surprisingly aphoristic and expressive. In the poem there are almost no metaphors, hidden images, polysyllabic ear-cutting epithets with which poets of those times usually depicted their feelings for their beloved. However, the image of love that arises before the reader from the lines of the poem is full of magical poetry and charm, unusual light sadness. The culmination of the work, reflecting the main motives of Pushkin’s lyrics in love themes, are the two final lines. In them, the poet not only says that he "loved so sincerely, so dearly", but also wishes the object of his past adoration of happiness with his new chosen one the words "how God grant you beloved to be different."
Landscape lyrics of Pushkin
Nature has always been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Pushkin. His verses reflect numerous images of paintings of nature and the elements, various seasons, of which the poet loved autumn most of all. Pushkin proved himself a true master of landscape detail, a singer of Russian landscapes, picturesque corners of the Crimea and the Caucasus. The main themes, motives of Pushkin’s lyrics are always, one way or another, “tied up” with the surrounding nature. It is conceived by the poet as an independent aesthetic value, which causes admiration, but the vast majority of Pushkin's landscape poems are built in the form of a comparison of nature paintings and situations of human life. Natural images often serve as a contrast or, conversely, consonant accompaniment to the thoughts and actions of the lyrical hero. It is as if a living literary background are paintings of nature in the poet's lyrics. She acts in the role of poetic symbols of his dreams, aspirations, spiritual values ​​defended by him.
The poem "To the Sea"
Pushkin began to write this poem in 1824 in Odessa, already knowing about his new exile to Mikhailovskoye, where he subsequently completed work on the poem. The main motives of Pushkin’s lyrics, which have a natural orientation, always go in parallel - natural phenomena and feelings and experiences of the poet himself. In the poem “To the Sea,” farewell to the sea vistas becomes the basis for the poet’s lyrical thoughts about the tragedy of human fate, about the fateful force that historical circumstances have over it. The sea, its free element for the poet is a symbol of freedom, evokes associations with figures of two personalities who were the masters of thoughts and the personification of human power. This very power of the circumstances of everyday life seems as strong and free as the sea element. These are Napoleon and Byron, with whom Pushkin compares himself. This motive of memory in Pushkin’s lyrics, where he refers to the departed geniuses, is inherent in many of his poems. There are no more geniuses, and the fate of the poet continues in all his tragedy.
Tyranny and education - a contradiction in the poem
In the poem, in addition to natural motives, the poet brings together two concepts: tyranny and education. Like other romantics of that time, Pushkin implies in his work that civilization, introducing a new system of education, at the same time spoils the naturalness and sincerity of simple human relationships controlled by the dictates of the heart. Saying goodbye to the free and powerful sea element, Pushkin seemed to say goodbye to the romantic period of his work, which is being replaced by a realistic worldview. Freedom-loving motifs in Pushkin's lyrics increasingly appear in his later works. And even if at first it seems that the central core of the poem is landscape, a description of natural phenomena, you should look for the hidden meaning associated with the poet’s desire to release his craving for freedom, spread his wings of inspiration in full, without fear and without looking back at the strict censorship of those rebellious times.
Philosophical lyrics of Pushkin
Pushkin’s philosophical lyrics embody the poet’s understanding of the imperishable themes of human existence: the meaning of life, death and eternity, good and evil, nature and civilization, man and society, society and history. An important place in it belongs to the themes of friendship (especially in verses dedicated to lyceum comrades), devotion to the ideals of good and justice (in letters to former lyceum students and friends-Decembrists), sincerity and purity of moral relations (in poetry-thoughts about the meaning of life, about relatives and people close to the poet). Philosophical motifs accompany the poet's lyrics more often the older he gets. The most philosophical are the last poems of Pushkin, written shortly before his death. It was as if the poet, foreseeing his departure, was afraid of not saying, not thinking and not feeling enough, he wanted to pass on to the descendants of himself all without a trace.
Civil lyrics of Pushkin
The civil theme in Pushkin’s lyrics is revealed through the motives of love for the motherland, through a sense of national pride in its historical past, through a decisive protest against autocracy and serfdom, which threatens the primordial freedom of man as a person. The main motives of Pushkin’s lyrics of a civic orientation are themes of freedom and internal human power. Freedom is not only political, consisting in serving high social ideals based on the principles of equality and justice, but also the inner freedom of every person that no one can take away. The main component of verses of a civilian theme is the condemnation of tyranny and any forms of enslavement of a person, the chanting of internal, personal freedom, which manifests itself in a clear and principled moral position, self-esteem and a spotless conscience.
Theme of poet and poetry
Along with civilian religious motives are present in Pushkin’s lyrics. In moments of doubt and inner spiritual discord, the poet resorted to such images. It was the Christian component that seemed to bring him even closer to the worldview of the people. A kind of synthesis of the lyrics of philosophical and civilian sound are poems dedicated to the theme of poet and poetry. What is the purpose of the poet and the meaning of the lyrics themselves - these are the two main questions that trigger Pushkin’s reflections on the problems of the place and role of the poet in society, the freedom of poetry, his relationship with the government and his own conscience. The peak of Pushkin’s lyrics on the theme of poet and poetry was the poem "I have erected a monument made by myself not made by hand ...". The work was written in 1836 and during the life of Pushkin was not published. Subjects and individual plot motifs of Pushkin's poem originate from the famous ode of the ancient Roman poet Horace "To Melpomene." From there, Pushkin took the epigraph to his work: “Exegi monumentum” (“I have erected a monument”).
Message to future generations
The main motives of Pushkin’s lyrics of those times are a message to representatives of future generations. According to its content, the poem “I have erected a miraculous monument to myself ...” is a kind of poetic testament that contains a self-esteem of the poet’s work, his merits to society and descendants. The significance that his poetry will have for future generations, Pushkin symbolically correlates with the monument, which ascended above the "Pillar of Alexandria." The Pillar of Alexandria is a monument to the ancient Roman commander Pompey in Egyptian Alexandria, but for the then reader he was previously associated with the monument to Emperor Alexander, erected in St. Petersburg in the form of a high pillar.
Classification of the main motives of Pushkin's lyrics
Very clearly shows the main motives of Pushkin's lyrics, the table below:
Genres of lyrics | Motive |
Philosophy | The motive of freedom - both internal and civil |
Human relationships | The motive of love and friendship, devotion and strength of earthly human bonds |
Attitude to nature | The motive for proximity with nature, its comparison with man and his inner world |
Religion | Religious motive, especially close to the reader of those times |
Poetry | A deeply philosophical motive that answers the question about the place of the poet and poetry in the world of literature in general |
This is just a general description of the main themes of the works of the great poet. Each and every motive of Pushkin’s lyrics cannot fit the table, the poetry of genius is so versatile and comprehensive. Many literary critics admit that for each Pushkin his own, each discovers for himself new and new facets of his work. The poet also counted on this, speaking in his notes about the desire to arouse a storm of emotions among the reader, to make him think, compare, experience and, most importantly, feel.