The theme of poet and poetry in the works of Lermontov. Lermontov's Poems on Poetry

The theme of poet and poetry in the works of Lermontov is one of the central ones. Mikhail Yurievich devoted many works to her. But you should start with a more significant topic in the poet’s art world - loneliness. She is universal in him. On the one hand, this is the electivity of the Lermontov hero, and on the other, his curse. The theme of the poet and poetry involves a dialogue between the creator and his readers. But, falling into the unusual atmosphere of universal solitude of the lyrical hero, it acquires special significance, color.

We will consider the theme of the poet in the lyrics of Lermontov. We will analyze several poems by Mikhail Yurievich, give them a capacious characterization, and find similarities with the works of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin.

"Do not believe yourself"

The poem was written by M. Yu. Lermontov in 1839. It continues to develop the motives of Pushkin’s poem "The Poet and the Crowd." However, if Pushkin has a priest on one side and uninitiated people on the other, then Lermontov sees it all differently. The theme of the poet in his poem is radically different from Pushkin's. There is a connection between the creator and the crowd. All of them are ordinary people, and the poet is one of them.

However, the poetic word cannot express the inner world of the creator himself. Here we are faced with the already well-known romantic theme, once set by V. Zhukovsky in the poem "Inexpressible." But, of course, in a different interpretation. The word cannot convey the entire depth of the poet’s inner life; it is devoid of this power. People don’t care about the creator’s experiences: “What matters to us, did you suffer or not? / What do we need to know about your worries, / Hopes are silly in the initial years, / Reasoning are evil regrets?”

"Prophet"

The theme of the poet and poetry in the works of Lermontov can be traced in the "Prophet", written in 1841, a few weeks before his death. If in the poem “Do not Believe Yourself,” the poet is close to the crowd, then in this work we observe a different situation. Here the creator is represented in the image of a prophet. And the name of the poem refers us to Pushkin's “Prophet”. In it, the author writes about the changes that happen to a person when he turns into a seer who brings God's word to people. Pushkin concludes the poem with a vigorous appeal: "Verb burn the hearts of men."

Lermontov draws us a tragic continuation of this story. The Pushkin prophet goes to people in order to carry the Divine word. But, unfortunately, they do not understand him. However, the hero’s exclusion from people is compensated by the ability to contact the Universe.

"Poet"

The motive for the uselessness of the prophetic word to people as the theme of Lermontov’s poem “Poet” appeared in 1838. The images of the creator and the dagger come together in it. This again refers us to Pushkin, namely to his poem "Dagger". It was written in the south in 1821. True, Alexander Sergeyevich is really talking about a dagger, but it is created as the image of the last judge, restoring justice. Perhaps this is the only Pushkin poem where the murder is justified from a moral point of view.

Lermontov in his own way recycles the image of a punishing dagger. The poet takes him to the past, when he was an instrument of struggle, and now has become an object that adorns the room: "he shines with a golden toy on the wall." Something similar happened with the poet: once his voice sounded like a bell, but now he has lost his destiny.

We find that Pushkin’s plots of the “Prophet” and “Dagger” poems, which sound positive, optimistic, acquire a pessimistic and dramatic character in the Lermontian interpretations. The prophet is persecuted, the dagger turns into a toy, and the poet loses the ability to influence the world around him.

“How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...”

Lermontov’s other poems about poetry still show us the influence of an artistic word on the world around it. This is most vividly presented in the poem "How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...". Lermontov paints a picture of a masquerade, people hiding their true emotions and feelings. And therefore, looking at this fake and unnatural life, the poet is carried away to distant childhood, where everything was completely different. And then, returning from the dream world, he again discovers the unnaturalness of this masquerade.

"Thought"

The theme of the poet and poetry in the works of Lermontov is also mentioned in the author’s most famous work, in which he paints the image of his generation, including himself in it. This, of course, is about the poem "Duma." If in the work “Do not Believe Yourself,” Mikhail Yuryevich brings the poet and person closer from the crowd, then here he is related to himself and the generation. However, this image is tragic. Nothing remains of the generation: "... not a fertile thought, / Not a genius of the work begun."

However, we all know that everything did not work out as it seemed to Lermontov. From that generation his poetry remained. "Duma" has become a poetic monument to his contemporaries.

"There are speeches - meaning ..."

Lermontov also has poems in which the power of the poetic word is expressed especially strongly. So, the main character of this work becomes Mikhail Yuryevich himself. He describes the influence of a poetic word on his soul. We understand that not everyone is so affected by poetry. But it becomes clear what enormous meaning the poetic word had in the life of Lermontov himself.

Conclusion

It is impossible not to say how strongly A. S. Pushkin influenced the work of Lermontov. Mikhail Yuryevich really wanted to show his poems to an idol, but he was too insecure. The theme of poet and poetry in the works of Lermontov begins with a tragedy for all Russian literature - the death of Pushkin. Shocked, he writes the poem Death of a Poet. Perhaps we would never recognize the genius of Lermontov, if not for his friend Svyatoslav Raevsky. He rewrote the poem by hand to send to the grieving relatives. It produced the effect of an exploding bomb: all of Russia learned about the cornet Lermontov overnight.

After analyzing the poems of Mikhail Yurievich, we noticed how often he turned to the motives, plots of his idol. Continuing them, contrasting his works with Pushkinsky, Lermontov found his niche in Russian poetry, on the one hand, connecting with his predecessor, and on the other - becoming a serious opponent to him.