Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov, an extraordinary man, encyclopedically educated, stood at the origins of symbolism.
Brief description of creativity
In his youth, having received a brilliant historical education, he could not imagine himself without writing poetry. Positioned himself no more and no less than a genius. He really did a lot to loosen the ossified field of art, created new forms of versification.
He had many followers and students, who significantly outstripped him in his work. These include poets who have reached truly highest peaks like Alexander Blok and Andrei Bely. That is, the students went around their teacher. As a writer, he is interesting in historical terms, from which a huge legacy remains, which literary scholars are engaged in. For the simple reader, there are only a few works, for example, “The Coming Huns” (Bryusov), an analysis of the poem, which will be done below. Bryusov is a symbolist who at times deliberately obscured the meaning of the work, complicating it with its multifaceted nature.
Who are the Huns
From Asia to Europe came the invasion of wild nomadic tribes - the Huns. The name of their leader Attila inspired fear and horror, because the savages destroyed everything in their path. In 451, the eternal enemies — the Roman centurions and Germans — stood on the Catalunian fields in Gaul side by side to stop the destruction of their culture and protect their lives. A bloody battle took place, and the Huns rolled back. In history, their name has become a household name. These are barbarians for whom there are no values that can only be destroyed.
They come from nowhere and go nowhere. The poem begins with a metaphorical question-exclamation "Where are they - these Huns!" Who did the author understand by them? The Russian people, who, when they get up, do not know how to maintain their strength and power, which will crush the whole aesthetic culture
without leaving a stone unturned? He compares it to a cloud that still hangs, but has not rained on the ground in bloody rain, so it must be assumed that it is the poet who is waiting for blood from the future. With fear mixed with curiosity, he seems to look into the abyss from where he hears cast-iron stomp, a wonderful epithet selected by the author, determining the severity of the invasion and calamity that the coming Huns bear (Bryusov, analysis of the poem).
Second stanza
Just as he once changed traditional poetic forms to symbolism, now Bryusov offers the barbarians to collapse at all, to crush. This is a forgotten in wine, intoxicated crowd. What for? And it is necessary to shake the decrepit, hardened world in everyday life, to refresh it.
Than? Only blood that burns with a blazing wave. The apocalyptic picture of the necessary, according to the poet, destruction can give the coming Huns.
(Bryusov, the analysis of the poem continues in the third stanza and the next stanza).
Stanzas third and fourth
He offers slaves to destroy the palaces, and to plant a field on the site of the throne rooms. Then, as a continuation, books should be burned and joyfully danced around bonfires.
They also do not need temples - they should also be dirtied. They don’t know what they are doing, therefore the future Huns (Bryusov, analysis of the poem shows this) must be forgiven, the gospel motifs are heard in this.
In their actions, he sees rapture in the process of destruction of the past and the creation of a new, natural, or rather, simple. This is a sign of revolutionary time. This will be the impact of historical change.
What to do? The eternal question
People should not fight them. We must hide at the turn of the changes along with our cultural achievements. Will anything treasured by the storm remain? This is the case of the Case, which plays, creating chaos, and nothing more. That's the way to act when the coming Huns come. Bryusov (analysis gives such a conclusion), will say that he welcomes everyone. Let everyone and destroy him, but he is ready to accept everything and forgive everything. The poem is extremely exalted and filled with pathetics. Verbs in the imperative mood emphasize this. Behind them is fear and misunderstanding of what the seas of blood will mean when a brother goes to his brother. What really ugly is death, death and destruction. Welcome hymns are out of place here. Valery Bryusov did not understand this. “Coming Huns” - the analysis of the poem leads to rather gloomy conclusions, in the light of what we know today: the civil war, the re-enslavement of the peasantry in collective farms, mass repressions and executions. This is a terrible part of our story. In the meantime, in 1905, the poet praises the offensive of the new world, and these are the coming Huns (Bryusov, analysis says, will not see the terrible consequences of the 17th year.)
What size is used
The brilliantly erudite poet-experimenter did not use the usual poetic forms. He chose something exotic from his piggy bank - a three-hit dolnik. In the schematic notation, the first stanza looks like this:
U_ _U _ _U _
_U _ _U _ _U _
U_ _U_ _U_
_ _U_ _U _ _U_
This concludes the analysis of the verse "The Coming Huns." Bryusov used metaphors, epithets, definitions, but they are described in the text.
For schoolchildren
If homework is given, then you can make the following heading: “The Coming Huns” (Bryusov) analysis according to plan:
- Size (dolnik).
- Trails (metaphors, epithets, definitions).
- Phonetics (a combination of vowels and consonants, their repeatability, oxymoron, creating an alarm).
- Genre (message, anthem).
Carefully read the poem aloud and analyze the stanzas.