Motives of loneliness in the lyrics of Lermontov: plan of composition

Lermontov's poetry inspires, fascinates with its depth, his works are truly masterpieces. His lyrics are infinitely multifaceted: the greatest poet wrote on the themes of nature, love, and homeland. But the motif of loneliness in Lermontov’s lyrics certainly passes through all creativity . The plan of the essay should be drawn up on the basis of its various emotional and literary shades. Lermontov’s loneliness is different, it carries different semantic and psychological burdens, it exists in several forms in parallel, revealing to us the whole soul of the poet.

The poem "Sail"

At the mention of the name of Lermontov, the majority of his famous poem “Sail” pops up in his memory. From the very beginning, the reader seems to plunge into the sea of ​​the poet’s infinite solitude. “A lone sail whitens / In the blue fog of the sea ...” - with these words the work begins. The word “lonely” is immediately striking in the eyes. It is not for nothing that the poet uses it here: he uses the inversion technique, highlighting this word for the reader, emphasizing that it is the key in the poem.

It was from this work that one should begin to describe the motives of loneliness in the lyrics of Lermontov. An essay on this subject most often begins precisely with Sail, and for good reason. The lyrical hero here is a sail, he is also a romantic image, which has its own character and even soul. "And he, the rebel, asks for the storm, / As if there was peace in the storm." In reality, sail is the soul of the poet himself. It is she, and not the sail "does not seek happiness and does not flee from happiness."

The poem "cliff"

If in the poem “Sail” the lyrical hero seems to revel in his loneliness, then in another lyric work he suffers from this loneliness. “He stands, alone, thought deeply / And he cries quietly in the desert ...” - Lermontov's poem “The Cliff” ends sadly and penetratingly. The reader is again attracted to the self-explanatory word lonely.

The word "desert" also carries its semantic load. In the context of this poem, it means a place where there is absolutely nothing, empty, lonely. A lonely cliff suffers, quietly crying in the middle of the desert, like a man abandoned to his fate.

The poem "I go out alone on the road ..."

Another poem by Lermontov about life and death and about constant loneliness. And again, the aforementioned motive is present. From the first line, the hero is again alone with himself, he goes out on the road in thought.

Not without reason are the primary motives of loneliness in the lyrics of Lermontov. His poems allow you to look into the very soul of the poet. After all, he himself, like the lyrical hero, remained alone with himself until the end of his life. Lonely and proud, he was always faithful to his own detachment from the vain and unjust world.

Loneliness as a citizen's position

M.Yu. Lermontov fell to live and create during the tough political reaction that took place in Russia after the bloody suppression of the Decembrist uprising. The picture of cruelty and imperfection of the world was supplemented by the fact that the poet lost his mother at an early age. This formed him as an observer of life, sad and philosophical-dreamy. But more often than not, the lyrical hero in Lermontov’s poems is a person who is not clogged with loneliness, but a proud one, opposed to an unjust world and society. The poet’s lyrics are filled with hidden protest against all types of slavery - internal and external, political, when a person is not free to express his position directly, openly.

The lyrical hero, like the poet himself at that time, finds no place either in a motley secular society, in a love field, or in friendship, or even in his Fatherland. In the poem "Duma" very clearly traced the motives of loneliness in the lyrics of Lermontov. The summary of the poem is as follows: the poet honestly and openly says how much the modern generation has lagged behind him in terms of spirituality, how cowardly and cowardly it is. The poet complains that young people were simply embittered before the mass rampant of despotism and tyranny, this causes him an attack of angry contempt. However, Lermontov does not separate himself from his unworthy generation, saying not “they”, but “we”. The poet also condemns himself, condemning from the perspective of future generations.

By means of the poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd”, the motives of loneliness in Lermontov’s lyrics are very clearly reflected. Here, the poet is absolutely alone among the masks, "the decency tightened." He does not like their company, as well as the touch of soulless "urban beauties." The poet, in proud loneliness, confronts the whole crowd, he is ready to “boldly throw an iron verse” in their face, dousing him with “bitterness and anger”.

Loneliness of the poet in love and friendship

In Lermontov’s poem, “It Is Boring and Sad,” life is interpreted as “an empty and stupid joke.” It makes no sense if, at the time of loneliness, even “there is no one to shake hands with.” It reflects not only Lermontov’s loneliness among the crowd, but also his attitude to love and friendship. It is easy to trace his complete disbelief in love. After all, loving “for a while is not worth the trouble”; forever, loving is simply impossible.

The same motives of loneliness in Lermontov’s lyrics can be traced in the poem “Gratitude”. In it, the poet thanks his beloved for "the poison of the kiss", "for the bitterness of tears", even "for the revenge of the enemies, for the slander of friends." However, do not take it literally. Such gratitude contains a rebuke in the insincerity of human feelings, when even the poet considers the kiss “poison”, the friends in his concept are hypocrites who slandered him.

The lyrical hero is also lonely in the poem “No, I do not love you so passionately ...”, where he recalls “past suffering” and considers youth “dead”. Loneliness pushes him to his memories, he again sees in front of him a "living mouth", a burning "fire in his eyes." But the poet’s reality is completely different, he doesn’t even want to think that the mouth has become “long mute”, that the life fire in his eyes has “long gone out”. Again, the poet is left alone with the past, he does not want to meet with the present at all.

Loneliness and misery

Interesting motives of loneliness in the lyrics of Lermontov, in particular in the poem "Testament". It is written in the form of a dying confession of a soldier dying in war. The work features a woman with an “empty heart”. The soldier speaks of her like this: "Do not spare the empty heart." He exclaims bitterly: "Let her cry ... She means nothing to her." In the person of this person, the author depicted all the cruelty and injustice that a soldier experienced in his life. The motive for loneliness is very bright here. Although the lyrical hero has parents, he still does not believe in earthly love alone with himself.

The poem "Prayer" is written in the form of a monologue of the lyrical hero. He prays for the happiness of his beloved, taking care of her soul. The tragedy of deep spiritual loneliness is present here. Misfortunes and hardships did not destroy the interest and participation of the lyrical hero in the life and fate of a person who failed to maintain spiritual purity. The author even sympathizes with one whose spirituality could not stand the test, could not cope with the influence of the "cold world."

Alone through the poem "Wild in the North." It tells of a pine tree, which stands "alone on a bare peak" and dreams of a palm tree "in the distant desert." A palm tree also stands "alone and sad." Pine dreams of a close soul languishing somewhere in the distant overseas regions.

Theme of Homeland and Solitude

Another topic, closely related to the motive of loneliness, also plays an important role in the entire lyrics of Lermontov. This is the theme of the motherland. Here many writers note how similar in this context the motives of loneliness are in the lyrics of Lermontov and Pushkin:

• The attitude of both of these poets towards Russia has always been ambiguous.
• They loved the Russian nature and admired it, but did not accept the autocracy and the laws that prevailed in the society of those times.

It is impossible not to mention the poem "Homeland", describing the motives of loneliness in the lyrics of Lermontov. The composition should definitely be supplemented with an analysis, because it is in this work that Lermontov admits that he loves the homeland, but with a “strange love”. The author wants to see that Russia, where “trembling lights of sad villages flickered”, where “the smoke of a burnt stubble” was felt, where it was possible to see “a couple of whitening birches in the middle of a yellow cornfield”.

Conclusion

Having considered the motives of loneliness in the lyrics of Lermontov, it must be said that the poet was able to reveal this topic perfectly. His lyrical heroes are not just lonely, they are full of energy, pure noble indignation, they want to change the reality around them. The poet’s lyrics reflected his entire multifaceted spiritual world.