The analysis of the poem “Prophet” by Lermontov will begin by learning about the time of its creation. It was written in 1841. The poem is considered one of the latest creations of a genius. We can say that the "Prophet" is a kind of testament of the poet, his farewell.
The poem was published only after the death of the author. Nevertheless, it is a landmark for Mikhail Yuryevich.
In his work, the poet tried to reflect his entire life path. The analysis of Lermontov’s poem “The Prophet” is often compared with the analysis of a similar “Prophet” by Pushkin.
Consider the genre affiliation and compositional construction of the poem. It is based on a biblical text and gravitates to such a genre as a legend. An important difference from Pushkin’s work is that he chose the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and Lermontov chose the book of the prophet Jeremiah.
The composition of poems of the same name is also compared. The fact is that in Pushkin this is a movement from the lowest to the highest: first the “desert is gloomy”, and then the path to people with hope. For Lermontov, on the contrary: first, enthusiasm, love and truth, and then an escape from the city with ashes on his head.
The analysis of the poem “Prophet” implies consideration of the ideological and artistic content of the work, ending with the appeal, designed in the form of direct speech. This is a kind of call of the “old people” to the young generation, children who must renounce the prophet and in no case follow him.
Now let's talk about the main ideas of the poem. The main thing here is the theme of poet and poetry. You should pay attention to the image of the desert. It has two semantic features:
1) the space that opposes the city, the population of people and the whole world, which was created by man;
2) a large and open space, which symbolizes the vastness.
No wonder it was the desert that quenched the thirst of the prophet. Here he receives what was lacking in urban life - communication. Among people and the bustle of the city, no one listened to him, and now even the stars listen to him. The loneliness of the poet is opposed to unity with the universe.
A detailed analysis of the "Prophet" poem requires consideration and artistic features. Widely used here are biblical vocabulary, as well as Slavicism. Let us give examples of such words: earthly creature, eyes, prophet, chapter, covenant, etc. The poet uses epithets belonging to a high style, for example, God's food, eternal judgment, pure teachings and others. What is interesting - Mikhail Yuryevich also uses satire and irony. He draws an aggressive crowd that does not recognize the prophet and drives him. The line "elders say" with a proud smile "is repeated in both final quatrains.
Because of this stylistic heterogeneity, Lermontov divides the poem into stanzas. It consists of seven quatrains, each of which conveys a certain stage in the development of the storyline.
As for the poetic size, here we will find a combination of four-foot iamba with pyrrhic.
The poem abounds with words in which there are explosive consonants, for example, “sprinkled with ashes”, “in the desert”, “escaped” and so on. These words create an atmosphere of tension. The emphasis on the letter “y” provides the intonation of sadness and longing, for example, “I live in the desert”, “how gloomy and thin he is.”
Lermontov sums up all his work, his life. He touches on the tragic fate of the poet-prophet, his existence in the world. Mikhail Yuryevich is one of the few classics who laid the foundation for a correct understanding of the poet’s mission and all art.
Analysis of the poem "Prophet" is completed.