M. Yu. Lermontov is a well-known Russian classic who was one of the most striking and gifted poets, prose writers, and playwrights of a romantic direction. All of Lermontov's works of art are unusually lyrical, superbly composed and easily perceived by the reader. His literary work was greatly influenced by such world figures as D. G. Byron and A. S. Pushkin.
Pedigree
The surname Lermontov has its roots from the native of Scotland, George Lermont, who served with the Polish king, whom the Russians captured during the siege of the Belaya fortress. He joined the detachments of Moscow troops. And already from 1613 he was registered in the service of the Tsar of Russia, and for loyal service he received land in the Galich district (Kostroma province).
The surname Lermont was also carried by the famous Scottish poet of the 13th century - Thomas. The surname Lerma was also at the Spanish duke. The poet was looking for a connection with the Scottish ancestors, but most of all for him the kinship with the Spanish Duke - Minister of King Philip III was captivating. Lermontov even has a whole “Spanish” cycle in the visual arts, because he was also an excellent artist.
By the time the poet was born, the Lermontov family was very impoverished. Father Yuri Petrovich was a notable handsome man with a sympathetic and kind soul, but he was extremely unrestrained and sometimes very frivolous. His estate Kropotovka in the Efremov district bordered on the estate of S. A. Arsenyeva (nee Stolypin). Her daughter, the romantic Maria Mikhailovna, could not help but fall in love with such a charming neighbor and, despite the protests of her mother, married her. But family happiness was short-lived, exhausted by consumption and nervous breakdowns due to the constant betrayal of her husband, she died in the spring of 1817.
The childhood of Mikhail Lermontov
In Moscow on October 3, 1814, Mikhail Lermontov was born. As a child, he was a sickly, moody, and nervous boy. He suffered from diathesis, scrofula and measles. For a long time he was bedridden due to rickets, which led to the curvature of his legs. After the early death of his mother, Lermontov had only vague, but very dear to his heart images. Grandmother Elizaveta Arsenyeva took upon herself all the troubles of his upbringing and cared for him anxiously for the rest of his life. But she simply could not stand her son-in-law. Yuri Petrovich, because of enmity with his mother-in-law, was forced to leave for his estate and leave her his son to her. However, he still visited several times with his mother-in-law with the intention of taking Mikhail to him, but everything was in vain. The boy saw enmity, it was very difficult for him to endure all this. He constantly suffered and hesitated between grandmother and father. In the drama Menschen und Leidenschaften, Lermontov reflected all his feelings about this. Then he and his grandmother moved to an estate called Tarkhany (Penza province). There, almost all the poet’s childhood passed.
Youth and adolescence
In 1828, Lermontov began to study at the Noble guesthouse of Moscow University. Then he continued his studies at the verbal department of the same educational institution. But in the end, he was forced to give up all this because of a major quarrel with a reactionary professor. His career was in doubt. And grandmother insisted that her grandson enroll in the School of Guards Warrant Officers and Cavalry Junkers. Young Lermontov was not very inspired by the military career, but at the same time he dreamed of the great feats that his ancestors performed, although he understood in his heart that at best he would face a war in the Caucasus.
In 1834 he graduated from the School and went to serve as a cornet to the Nizhny Novgorod Hussar Regiment. The first work to appear in print in 1835 without his knowledge was the poem Haji Abrek.
Links to the Caucasus
Lermontov's works very often bore a prophetic character. In 1837, he dedicated to A.S. Pushkin his fateful verse "The Death of a Poet," where he blames death on all high-ranking authorities in Russia, headed by Tsar Nikolai I. Then he is sent to exile in the Caucasus. A year later, he returned to St. Petersburg, but because of a duel with the Frenchman Ernest de Barant, he was again sent to the Caucasus in an infantry regiment. In battle, he showed unprecedented courage and courage, but the king did not mark him with any awards. Lermontov was even interrupted by a vacation in St. Petersburg and ordered to leave the city in two days.
Upon returning to the regiment, Lermontov stopped in Pyatigorsk to recover a little, but there he had a ridiculous quarrel over his ridicule, presumably over Natalya Solomonovna, Martynov’s sister, a schoolmate with whom he had never really been at enmity with. The girl thought that Lermontov was in love with her, and he described his heroine Mary in The Hero of Our Time from her. July 15, 1841 a duel took place. On it, M. Yu. Lermontov was instantly killed by N. S. Martynov. A bullet passed right through his heart.
For all this short time allotted by God, such famous works of Lermontov were created that became truly masterpieces of Russian literature. This “Song about the merchant Kalashnikov”, and “Mtsyri”, and “Demon”, as well as a huge number of lyric poems, the drama “Masquerade” and the immortal novel “Hero of our time”.
Ashik-Kerib
Lermontov's work “Ashik-Kerib” was created as a romantic oriental tale of love. It was based on the literary processed Azerbaijani folk tale, heard by the poet in exile in the Caucasus. This is a kind and bright work about the love of two young heroes of poor Ashik-Kerib and his lover - the daughter of the rich merchant Magul-Megeri. Ashik-Kerib will do everything to get rich and marry his beloved. But the wise and resourceful Magul-Megeri, too, will not remain on the sidelines and will help him with his female cunning. In the end, they will all be happy together. This beautiful fairy tale has not left anyone indifferent.
"Hero of our time"
The novel "Hero of Our Time" Lermontov wrote at 25 years old, a year before his tragic death. This novel was created in the form of separate short stories, short stories, travel essays and diary entries. For the author, the main thing was the disclosure of the image of the main character. Chapters are mixed in the novel; historical reality is not paramount here. The work is complicated by the fact that three storytellers tell their stories in it: a traveling officer, Maxim Maksimych and, finally, the main character - Grigory Pechorin. The image of Pechorin throughout the work is revealed in different ways, according to an outside observer, a friend of his friend and the hero himself. The reader will gradually delve into the psychology of Pechorin. First there will be a superficial, then detailed and only then the deepest psychoanalysis and introspection. The “Hero of Our Time” Lermontov was first published in 1840 at the Petersburg Publishing House under the direction of Ilya Glazunov.
"Sail"
Despite the complex and non-living character, Lermontov is a gentle romantic at heart and a wonderful creator. Indelible impressions make almost all the works of Lermontov. “Sail” is one of his great masterpieces left to the future heritage. It was written by his quivering soul, standing at a crossroads before fateful decisions, and at that moment the young poet seems ready for anything. He was only 17 years old. He could become a Decembrist or a revolutionary, but fate had a different role for him.
Short chronological table of Lermontov
October 3, 1814 | Birth of M. Yu. Lermontov in Moscow |
Spring 1817 | The sudden death of the poet's mother |
1818, 1820, 1825 | Rest in Pyatigorsk |
1828-1830 | The first works of Lermontov. Studying at the Noble Guesthouse |
1830-1832 | Studying at the moral and political faculty of Moscow University. Lermontov's classmates: I. Goncharov, A. Herzen, V. Belinsky |
1831 | The death of the poet's father |
1832 | The poet drops out of Moscow University and sends to the St. Petersburg school of guards warrant officers and cavalry junkers. Creation of the famous “Sail” and the unfinished novel “Vadim” |
1834 | Joined the cornet in the hussar regiment |
1834-1835 | Writing the drama "Masquerade" |
1837 | The creation of the poem “Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov”, the reactionary poem “The Death of the Poet”. The very first link of the poet to the Caucasus. Writing Borodino and The Prisoner |
1838 | Return from the link to Petersburg. Meetings with Karamzin. Creation of the novel “Hero of our time”, as well as the poem “Demon”, Mtsyri ”, the poem“ Poet ” |
1839 | Writing a poem "Three palm trees." In the journal "Domestic Notes" published the story "Bela" |
1840 | The poems “How often a motley crowd is surrounded ...”, “Duma” are written. A duel with Ernest de Barant - the son of a French politician. A separate edition of the work “Hero of Our Time”. Farewell meeting with Karamzin. The verse "Clouds" is created. Repeated reference to the Caucasus. Intravital edition of a collection of poems by Lermontov |
1841 | Two-month vacation in St. Petersburg. Creation of poems "In the north, it’s wild lonely", "Homeland", "I go out alone on the road." Return to the Caucasus |
June 15, 1841 | The poet was killed in a duel near Mount Mashuk, in Pyatigorsk by N. S. Martynov |
April 1842 | The body was transported and buried in a family estate in Tarkhany, with grandmother Arsenyeva |
Children's works of Lermontov
The theme of childhood was reflected in a number of works and has always been a companion of all his work. Children's poetry of the famous poet is unusually gentle and lyrical. They are filled with some special kindness and warmth. Lermontov’s children's works include such magnificent poems as “The Baby”, “The Cossack Lullaby,” “The Child with a Cute Birth” and others.
Lermontov’s life turned out to be difficult, but despite all this, he always considered the time of his childhood and all his “golden days” to be the most wonderful period of a person’s life.
All the works of Lermontov from the point of view of literature are unique. Therefore, they are still interesting to any generation of readers.