Mayakovsky's works occupy a prominent place in Russian literature. His prose and plays became a prominent phenomenon in poetry and dramaturgy of the first decades of the 20th century. A specific style, an unusual form of construction of poems earned him popularity and fame. And today, interest in his work does not wane.
Futurism Feature
Mayakovsky, whose poems are the subject of this review, entered Russian literature as a vivid and most prominent representative of the direction of futurism. A feature of this trend was a break with the traditions of the classics and generally of all previous art. This approach has determined the interest of its representatives in everything new. They were looking for new forms of expression of their thoughts, ideas, feelings. A great role in the work was acquired by art, or rather the creation of bright and catchy posters, which were supposed to draw attention to their works. The poet himself was also carried away by new trends, which in many respects were determined by his handwriting. However, the originality of his style allowed him to rise above the rank-and-file representatives of futurism and survive his time and era, entering the ranks of the classics of Soviet poetry.
Features of poems
Mayakovsky’s works are traditionally included in the school curriculum in Russian literature. This is due to the fact that his works and writings very vividly characterize the trends and ideas of his time. The heyday of the poet’s work fell on a very difficult era, when in literature and art in general there was a struggle between various directions. While maintaining the position of the traditional classical school, young authors actively broke with past achievements and looked for new means and forms of expression. The poet also became a supporter of innovative ideas and therefore created a special poetic form that resembled a staircase rhyme. In addition, he, having some experience in writing posters, used bright catchy phrases that resembled slogans in his compositions.
Poems about creativity
Mayakovsky’s works, as a rule, reflect the trends and ideas of an era full of serious struggle between various artistic movements and trends. Therefore, they can conditionally be called journalistic in their focus, but in content they are a valuable source for studying the views and thoughts of not only the author himself, but also those who also belonged to the futurist camp.
Mayakovsky’s light poems learn simply and quickly due to the simplicity of rhyming. For example, the work “Could you?” Is notable for its small volume, it is concise, concise and at the same time in a concentrated form conveys the poet’s thoughts about his difficult work. His language is very simple, accessible, and therefore schoolchildren and teenagers always like it. Another poem about creativity is called "Extraordinary Adventure." It has an unusual storyline, very good humor and is therefore very easy to remember.
Poet of Contemporaries
Mayakovsky’s works are devoted to various topics, and one of them is an assessment of the activities of contemporary authors. In this series of works, a special place is occupied by the poem “Sergei Yesenin”, in which the poet in his characteristic ironic manner outlined his attitude to his work and tragic death. This work is interesting in that it is more soft and somewhat lyrical, despite the rude manner of expressing their feelings. It is also indicative in the sense that Yesenin was the poet's unspoken rival: both, one might say, opposed each other, but Mayakovsky appreciated the latter’s talent, and therefore it would be appropriate to offer this poem to students in the lesson.
Works as a reflection of the era
Mayakovsky, whose poems are the subject of this review, took an active life position: he reacted vividly to events around him. The first decades of the 20th century were marked by a complex search for new poetic forms and plots. The poet actively experimented with rhyme and various language means. Thus, he paid tribute to an era that was distinguished by very turbulent events not only in the political, but also in the cultural fields. Mayakovsky’s light poems become clearer and more accessible if they are considered as a reflection of the active search for new pictorial means in the first half of the century.
Most famous poem
“I get from wide trousers” is perhaps the poet’s most famous work. Probably every student knows his lines. The secret to the popularity of this poem is that it expresses in a concentrated form the Soviet ideology of the first years of Bolshevik rule. It is in this context that this composition should be understood. It is very easy and quick to remember and is still actively quoted by artists at various performances.
Plays
The satirical works of Mayakovsky along with his poetry occupy a prominent place in Russian literature. First of all, it is about his compositions “Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. In these works, the poet in his unusual form showed the phenomena of his time. The extravagant and original plot, the pretentiousness of vocabulary, the unusual images of the main characters provided these plays a fairly long life. In Soviet times, for example, very often one could see productions of these works with the famous artist Andrei Mironov in the title role.
The place of the poet in Russian literature
The famous works of Mayakovsky provided him with popularity during his lifetime. The ease and unusualness of poetic forms, as well as the original way of expressing thoughts and the pretentiousness of language means immediately attracted attention to him. Currently, his works are very interesting for understanding the era of Soviet power. A striking example of this is the poem "I get out of wide trousers." This essay on the Soviet passport clearly demonstrates the attitude of the new intelligentsia to the order that was established in our country after 1917. However, this does not exhaust the importance of the author for Russian literature. The fact is that he was a very multifaceted person and tried himself in a wide variety of genres.
An example of this is the fact that he wrote not only plays, but also poems. The most famous of them, which are still being studied at school, are Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Good. In them, the author expressed his attitude to the most important events of his time in a very capacious and concise form. This explains the interest in his work, which does not weaken to this day. His works clearly characterize the cultural life of a significant part of the intelligentsia during the Soviet era.