In the famous comedy “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!”, Which was released in 1975, songs were sung to poems by Akhmadulina, Pasternak, Yevtushenko, Tsvetaeva. In one of the last scenes, the actors Andrei Myagkov and Valentina Talyzina read a touching poetic work of the then still little-known author. The poem "The Ballad of a Smoked Wagon" is called. The author's name was Alexander Kochetkov.
Imbued with anxiety, longing and foreboding of imminent trouble, "Ballad of a smoked wagon." The history of the creation of this work is quite interesting. Once with Kochetkov there was a case that inspired him to create a poem, unusual both in form and in plot. In 1932, the poet miraculously escaped death.
Before telling the story of the creation of the “Ballad of a Smoked Wagon,” a few words should be said about the author.
Alexander Kochetkov
The future poet was born in 1900. He graduated from the philological faculty of Moscow State University. Poetry Kochetkov began to write in his youth. At seventeen, he met the poets Vera Merkuryeva and Vyacheslav Ivanov, and they had a great influence on his work. During the life of Alexander Kochetkov, not a single collection of his poems was published. Several works appeared in 1926 in the magazine Zolotaya Zurna.
The poet was actively engaged in translations. He composed poems less often. "He wrote a ballad about a smoked carriage" in 1932. Other works by Alexander Kochetkov are plays in the poems "Free Flemings", "Copernicus", "Nadezhda Durova". The poet translated the works of Schiller, Racine, Beranger, Cornell into Russian. Kochetkov died in 1953. He could not have thought that the poem, written by him in the early thirties, would become a real hymn to all lovers.
The history of writing "Ballads on a smoked wagon"
This poem became a hit in the second half of the 20th century. Even today, few would know about him, if not for the aforementioned film by Eldar Ryazanov. The poet was inspired by the case from his life to create the Ballad of a Smoked Carriage.
Kochetkov spent the summer of 1932 with his wife in Sochi. They lived for several months with relatives, and in the fall the poet bought a ticket to Moscow. The wife should have gone later. She escorted him to the station, but in the last minutes, when they had already announced the departure of the train, she suddenly persuaded her to stay. They changed the ticket. Kochetkov delayed the trip for three days. The train on which he was supposed to go was in a disaster at the Moscow-Tovarnaya station.
Three days after that terrible accident, Kochetkov nevertheless left. In the capital, his appearance by colleagues was perceived as a resurrection. Acquaintances and friends knew that he had bought a train ticket for the wrecked train, but did not know that he had changed his mind at the last moment and handed it over. Among the dead were friends of the poet - Muscovites that day were returning from the Sochi sanatorium. Kochetkova from death was saved by love. So the idea of the poem "Ballad of a smoked carriage" appeared.
The poet transferred his emotions to paper. In the first letter that his wife received from him, was "Ballad about a smoked wagon." The terrible event that occurred that day made Kochetkov think about the role of chance in human life, as well as the power of love, which can save from death.
“Do not part with your loved ones” - these are the keywords in the verse “Ballad about a smoked carriage”. Many believe that this is the name of the work of Alexander Kochetkov. The poem was first published 34 years after writing. It was first published in the collection "Day of Poetry." In the sixties was included in the anthology "Song of Love." Today, Kochetkov’s “Ballad” can be found in many collections of lyric works.
Kochetkov's work is a story full of tragedy. Conditionally, it can be divided into three parts:
Parting
The Ballad of a Smoked Carriage is filled with melodic refrains and metaphors. In the opening lines, the heroes - man and woman - say goodbye. The first part of the poem is built in the form of dialogue. It is painful for the heroes to part, "bifurcating under the saw." A man talks about how hard it will be for him to bring separation from his beloved. The woman answers him that wherever he is, she will always be with him. Behind the breakup there will certainly be a meeting. It is only necessary to survive a short separation.
Parting
Why did Alexander Kochetkov call his work so? There is nothing romantic or touching in the phrase “smoky carriage”. This, perhaps, is the main advantage of the poetic work - in contrast to the scene depicting a touching farewell, and a cold, smoky carriage in which the hero feels homeless and alone.
Death
A man is absorbed in his thoughts. He "half-cried, half-slept." At this moment, an accident occurs in which he dies. Neither love nor prayers saved him. The promised meeting did not prevent the death.
In the cinema
Ryazanov’s films are loved by viewers, but not all critics. But even the most rigorous film expert cannot deny: this director was able to select poetic and musical accompaniment for his paintings.
The “Ballad of a Smoked Carriage” sounds in the last frames of a romantic comedy, released in the mid-seventies. The hero buys tickets for the train Leningrad - Moscow. He leaves, leaves his beloved woman, it would seem, forever. And at this moment, the work of Alexander Kochetkov performed by Myagkov and Talyzina sounds. Actors read the poem simply, without pathos. Perhaps this is the best scene in the movie "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath".