On the morning of June 28, 1762, a palace coup took place in Russia. Two young women joined the conspiracy of the guards officers: the wife of the emperor and her friend Princess Dashkova. In the morning, the future empress visited the Izmailovsky barracks, the Semyonovsky regiment, and at the Kazan Cathedral she was enthusiastically greeted by the horse guards and musketeers of the Preobrazhensky regiment.
Down with Peter III! shouted the converts. - We do not want to go on a Danish campaign!
The young queen called out:
Take off your Prussian uniforms, wear Russians!
The Preobrazhenians were delighted: after all, Russian uniforms are
Uniforms introduced by Peter the Great! Voices were heard:
Long live Mother Empress!
On the same day, a manifesto was drawn up in the Senate and the new Empress was named Catherine II.
On this day, which was followed by 34 years of the reign of Catherine II, the musketeer Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin shouted "Hurrah", then - the officer, the Olonets and Tambov governors, the state secretary and the Minister of Justice of Russia.
For many years Derzhavin admired the empress. She seemed to him, a convinced supporter of enlightened absolutism, a model of intelligence and charm, kindness and justice. He was ready to write about her, serve her, defend her. Therefore, when the Peasant War broke out under the leadership of Pugachev, Derzhavin, with his usual ardor, rushed to defend the interests of his empress. In 1777 he began his service in the Senate, where he continued to faithfully serve the "enlightened empress", in whom he saw a progressive reformer of Russia.
While still a musketeer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Derzhavin wrote poetry, which he did not attach serious importance to. These were sometimes laudatory songs to familiar girls, then gallant couplets about the guards regiments. Sometimes Derzhavin wrote odes, imitating his poetic idol, the great Lomonosov. Very often the poet-musketeer reproached himself for the fact that he could not keep within the framework of the “high calm”: “Then a colloquial word will pop out, then a soldier’s.”
Derzhavin's first odes, marked by maturity of skill, depth of thought and feeling, appeared in the late seventies. One of them - "Felitsa" - written in an ingenuous and unconstrained manner, attracted the attention of the poet's friends. In handwritten lists, she became known in the reading society. People who were not stupid liked her, and she aroused indignation among the court hypocrites.
The poet borrowed the name "Felitsa" from Catherine II's moralizing work "The Tale of Tsarevich Chlorine". Under his pen, the fantastic “Princess of the Kirghiz-Kaisak Horde” turned into the ideal of an enlightened ruler, the mother of the people, whom he wanted to see in the person of the empress.
Felitsa was also discussed at the Academy of Sciences.
Yes, it's just rubbish!
And I like poetry, - said Ekaterina Romanovna
Dashkova, longtime friend of the Empress, who became president
Academy.
An educated and well-read woman, she understood and appreciated the satirical orientation of the ode.
No, just listen to what he writes here! - exclaimed the princess:
And I, sleeping until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday
I circle my thoughts in chimeras...
In my opinion, here we are talking about His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin.
Yes, this is his portrait, spilled!
Ekaterina Romanovna did not like Potemkina. However, she turned out to be right. Already at the end of his life, in his "Explanations", Derzhavin admitted that both "lazy" and "grouche" belonged to the nobles close to the queen.
In 1783, the ode "Felitsa" was published in the journal "Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word". The ode received "the highest approval" and the road to literary activity opened up before Derzhavin. Catherine II became interested in the poet, who "knew me so briefly, who knew how to describe me so pleasantly."
In the image of Derzhavin, the queen appears before the reader as follows:
Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Don't value your peace
You read, you write before the lay...
In this stanza, the queen is described as a respectable, hardworking person, who differs in this from her lazy, carefree subjects, who often indulge in gluttony and pleasures.
At the end of the ode, Catherine already has divine properties:
You alone are only decent,
Princess! create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
Strengthen their integrity with the union.
Interestingly, having served for several years as Catherine's personal secretary, Derzhavin was unable to compose new laudatory poems for her. However, he served in all posts honestly, zealously, devotedly.
Until the end of his days, Derzhavin will wear the honorary uniform of the tsarina's chosen interlocutor, who will talk to her "in a funny Russian style", admitted to the number of those who are allowed "with a smile" to reveal the "truth" to the authorities. In the famous "Monument", written in the year of Catherine's death, in 1796, the poet, in retrospect, summing up his poetic experiences of the Catherine era, declares with almost terminological clarity:
That I was the first to dare in a funny Russian syllable
Proclaim about the virtues of Felitsa (496).
Commenting on these lines, L.V. Pumpyansky rightly pointed out the importance of two sets of words: "what" and "how" (497) . Meanwhile, Derzhavin gave a fairly serious explanation of his poems; Behind the seeming non-terminology of the definitions was a well-considered political and literary attitude: “Of all Russian writers, the author was the first who wrote lyrical songs in a simple, funny, light style and jokingly glorified the Empress, which he became known for” (498) .
The "what" in his odes of the 1780s was always focused on Catherine. At the same time, the relationship "poet - tsar" is replaced by a conditional correlation "Tatar Murza" - "Kyrgyz-Kaisak Queen". Derzhavin continued to develop the same plot in his subsequent writings. The "Tatar Murza" turns into a kind of "fantastic" mask, and the real story of the relationship with the Empress is mixed with the fictional one. "False" and "fiction" are combined in a plot that cycles the works of the poet of this period. Murza emphasizes the intimacy of his relationship with Felitsa, who comes to his house, "secretly" sends gifts, and he, in turn, sings his "Tatar songs" to her, overcoming the intrigues and slander of ill-wishers - "from under the bushel" (" Vision of Murza”), This approach to the image of the Empress is interpreted as non-hypocritical, and the style of description is considered as “simple”. In "Thanks to Felitsa" of 1783, Derzhavin remarks:
When you are in a non-hypocritical
Simplicity is pleasing to the syllable,
Listen… (499)
The point was not only in the playful development of the resulting plot, but also in emphasizing the "outlying" associations that signaled the imperial context of the conversation with the king (500) . On the other hand, Derzhavin’s constant appeal to Tatar roots was also significant: in the dedicatory poem “The Monarch!”, presented to Catherine along with the manuscript of a volume of poems on November 6, 1795, the poet will bring his genealogy to the glorious Bagrim, the ancestor of several noble families, who came from Zolotoy Hordes to serve the Grand Duke Vasily the Dark ("The last family of Bagrim will be forgotten in me" (501)). Genealogy raised the status of the dialogue, allowed the “Tatar Murza” to speak with the tsar on behalf of a “representative of the nobility”, who had long been accustomed to serving the authorities. Felice's praise was thus followed by the sanction of the noble class.
Dithyrambs to the Empress are presented by Derzhavin as words of "truth", "truth", about which he "dares" to speak - despite suspicions of flattery on the part of the nobles, and on the part of the object of glorification itself. The poet takes the liberty of “reading” the strategy of good and happiness in the logic of the political deeds of the empress. He addresses this almost "secret" knowledge not to his contemporaries, but to his descendants. It is no coincidence that between “Felitsa” and “Monument” was written “The Vision of Murza” (published only in 1791, but actively read in literary circles), where the poet declared:
But, crowned virtue!
I sang not flattery and not dreams,
And what the whole world is witness to:
Your deeds are the essence of beauty.
I sang, I sing and I will sing them,
And in jokes the truth I will proclaim;
Tatar songs from under a bushel,
Like a ray, I will inform posterity (502).
The new approach of Derzhavin, who defined "truth" as the "merits" of the Empress, was picked up by the authors of The Interlocutor. Such was the poetic message of M.V. Sushkova, titled in imitation of Derzhavin "Letter from a Chinese to Tatarsky Murza, who lives on business in St. Petersburg." "MS", "submissive servant". living in Moscow, at the same time imitated Catherine herself both by the playful anonymity of her tone and by the creation of a literary mask (in the preface, M.S. reports that she “was in China, found this paper”:
From the end of the earth, we know what is created in another;
In Beijing, O Murza, we read your poems,
And the truth loving, according to say:
On the throne of Northern Confucius we see.
For twenty years now glory has been saying everywhere,
Majesty of the soul, wisdom, meekness of disposition,
Benevolent laws and deeds,
With which she exalted herself so much,
An example of earthly Lords, midnight countries Queen,
And today you, Murza, sung by Felitsa (503).
The Interlocutor cultivates a similar type of "epistolary ode" containing references to Derzhavin's Felitsa. An anonymous author writes in his message "To my friend ***":
Murza in his poems to Felitsa
only one the truth wrote,
Not flattering this wise Queen,
What did she say,
And the sounds of truth rang out
And gentle tears shed
All of joyful eyes.
I wish Murza like
Describe the affairs of Felitsa
And just like him, in verse freely
All my feelings say… (504)
When Derzhavin wrote about his merits in the "Monument" ("And the truth to the kings with a smile"), he relied on the tradition created by himself and approved in the circle of the "Interlocutor". In this case, “truth” did not at all mean “bitter truth,” which the poet dared to express to the authorities (as this maxim was repeatedly interpreted in criticism). It was a rhetorical move in which "truth" meant "high appreciation of the activity" ("what"), and the definition "with a smile" defined "how", that is, "funny", "jokingly", in a new spirit that replaced old, "frontal", seriously-eloquent complimentary (Petrov, Ruban).
In his later Discourse on Lyric Poetry, or Obod, Derzhavin gave a kind of key to understanding his odic strategy, illustrating with a fragment from Felitsa a description of the type of ode that he defined as "mixed". Derzhavin wrote: “In it alone, the Poet can talk about everything. - Praise the hero, glorify God; describing nature, preaching morality, and so on. The diversity of objects produces diversity and gives birth to abundance, it has a sharpness of the mind like lightning, instantly rushing from one end of the sky to the other, which excites surprise; but only here sanity, or logic, is highly needed. Inasmuch as in such mixed odes, allegorical praises and hints are conveniently placed, which, like a subtle fragrance or quiet harmony, brought from afar, amuse more sensitive and noble hearts than a close and rough thunderclap, or thick incense smoke, smoked right in the face, then they are liked better by people who have taste. But the sudden union of all distant and near rays, or circumference, to one point is the height of art. It is something that, shaking the soul, is called graceful or lofty” (505).
This retrospective look at his own ode highlights Derzhavin's poetic strategy and allows a more correct answer to the questions posed by Pumpyansky - primarily to the question "how". The poet speaks about the orientation of "Felitsa" to people "with taste", who in hints and allegories will decipher the object of "praise", and the sophisticated - allegorical - type of narration, connecting dissimilar objects, "amuses" and shows the "sharpness" of the author. The ability to "amusingly" smoke incense - such is the dignity of the ode, according to the poet's definition. This is how Derzhavin's contemporaries understood the meaning and content of the ode "Felitsa".
The birth of a new canon did not go unnoticed by contemporaries. Almost every issue of "Interlocutor" contained references to the famous ode. The author of eight commendable odes to Catherine, Yermil Kostrov, appeared on the pages of the "Interlocutor" with a lengthy message to Derzhavin, a kind of nomination of the poet for the first place in Russian poetry. In the "Letter to the creator of an ode composed in praise of Felitsa, the princess of the Kirghiz-Kaisaika" Kostrov declared:
You, apparently, Pinda at the top
And in the green, pure muses valley
The paths are all right through and the streets passed;
And to glorify the princess so much.
Comfort, amuse, amuse,
You have found the path untrodden and new (506).
Kostrov, as he himself writes, expresses the opinion of sophisticated readers who gladly accept new configurations of the ode and cannot stop from rereading it many times -
To again funny do not listen to toys in it (507).
On the pages of the Interlocutor, Kozodavlev, expressing the opinion of his high patrons, urged Derzhavin to repeat the experience of the successful glorification of Catherine. In the same magazine, he publishes a “Letter to the Tatar Murza, who composed “Ode to the Wise Felitsa”, where he insistently calls on the poet:
To fun good souls you write poems
The deeds of the glorious and wise queen.
Which we honor under the name of Felitsa (508).
In a letter to Grimm dated August 16, 1783, Catherine described the literary settings of the Sobesednik magazine, also using the buzzword “funny” (“amusant”): “As for NB and notes, you need to know that four months ago in St. to publish a magazine in which there are hilarious NBs and notes; in general this magazine jumble of amusing things. I also provided him with a description of the original history of Russia; satisfied with the magazine. NB I say this out of modesty, as he seems to be a complete success” (509) .
The word "fun" becomes synonymous with the literary creativity of the new direction. Later, in 1786, in connection with the appearance of Catherine's comedies, Bogdanovich would confidently declare the principles of a new literary strategy, finding their model in the writings of the monarch herself. In "Poems to the Writer of New Russian Comedies" he writes:
loving fatherland,
Show him the path of peace, happiness, glory;
Softening the formidable and rude charters,
Usefully interfere with pleasure in your fun,
fun desire to correct people's morals,
Without offending people with another desire,
Are these not the works worthy of Thee? (510)
A few years later, in the poem "Dobromysl" Bogdanovich will point to the "funniest creators" as a whole galaxy of poets; addressing Catherine, he will write:
Do you wish, finally, that "Darling" writer,
Ancient fiction is a simple narrator.
Entered the wide way funniest creators… (511)
“Funny toys”, “funny style”, however, meant more than a rejection of the odic “floating” or the ability to give humorous characteristics to the nobles, although Derzhavin liked this in the first place.
What is Derzhavin's "funny style"? First of all, it was a stylistic revolution in relation to the theory of the “three calms”: Derzhavin dared to write an ode in the “middle” style, which allowed the mixing of all speech layers and played on this mixing itself (“macaronic” style, according to B.A. Uspensky (512) ). It was also important that in such a "macaronic" style there was no correlation between the "high" (throne) and "low" (sleepy nobleman smoking tobacco) objects of description. The drop in style by one level in the high genre was a colossal shift in form, coupled with a shift in content. The cosmology of the ode was destroyed, and instead of the macrocosmic space, the Russian emperor found himself in the microcosmic space - at the desk, with a glass of lemonade, at a simple dinner.
On the other hand, the "low" way of life ceased to be perceived as low and unworthy of a high genre. There was an exaltation of the object of description, the realization of ordinary worldly activities as worthy of the high genre of the ode. This double destruction of the odic canon by no means desacralized power. On the contrary, the system of odic sacralization lit up with renewed semantic planes.
As V.F. subtly noted. Khodasevich, in "Felitsa" Catherine saw herself "beautiful, virtuous, wise" not in the idealized, high odic tradition - she no longer perceived herself like that, but "and beautiful, and wise, and virtuous within the limits accessible to a person" (513) . Derzhavin identified the empress with that ideally enlightened man of the era whom the authorities themselves wanted to cultivate (including through the “Interlocutor”).
| |
- What themes can you highlight in the poem "Monument"?
- What do we, following Derzhavin, mean by a "wonderful" and "eternal" monument, which is as hard as metals and "higher than the pyramids"? What is the meaning of the opposition of metal, pyramids and a monument erected by the poet to himself?
- How is the theme of immortality solved in the poem? Why is the author sure that after death his fame will increase?
- What does Derzhavin credit to himself as a poet and a person?
- What do you think "funny Russian syllable" means? Can you give examples of him from Derzhavin's poetry?
- What style is this poem written in? Does it have elements of high style? What is the role of Old Slavonicisms in the poem?
The high appointment of the poet in society and the people's memory of his work are the leading themes of the "Monument". You can highlight the topics through which the main ones are revealed. This is the theme of a monument capable of withstanding the pressure of time and the elements. This is the connection of the glory of the Russian poet with the existence of the Slavic clan (“As long as the Slavic race will be honored by the universe ...”), the geographic boundaries of this glory. This is also the creative manner of the poet, the creation of which Derzhavin takes credit for. At the same time, two specific works are named - “Felitsa” and “God”. Finally, the muse crowning her brow with the "dawn of immortality."
A monument, “wonderful, eternal”, which is “harder than metal and higher than pyramids”, is a deeply spiritual concept, later colorfully and accurately Pushkin will call it “not made by hands”. This is the memory of the people, which will honor the works of the poet, which have both concrete historical and timeless significance. The material structure will sooner or later be destroyed by time, the creative heritage, if it represents a spiritual value for society, is not subject to destructive processes.
The poet connects the significance of his work with the existence and development of Slavic culture. He considers the creation of a new poetic manner as a new and significant contribution to Russian poetry.
The merits are listed by him succinctly and accurately: “to proclaim Felitsa’s virtues in a funny Russian style”, that is, to humanize the image of the reigning empress, reform the style of the ode, introduce simplicity and sincerity into the style of philosophical reflections (“God”).
"Funny Russian syllable" is a new stylistic manner introduced by Derzhavin into Russian literature, in which two of his central works "Felitsa" and "God" are written. She is characterized by sincerity, the absence of solemn affectations, civic courage and love of truth. Derzhavin spoke “The Truth to the Tsars” “with a smile,” i.e., softening the harshness of moralizing with a playful tone, but without reducing the depth of objections and disagreements, which we know well from his biography. The “funny Russian style” is one of the essential stylistic elements of Derzhavin’s poetry, which is also called in literary criticism as “the destruction (or, according to A. V. Zapadov, renewal) of the classicist ode.”
It is expedient to cite examples from the mentioned works. So, contrasting the contemporary reign of Catherine II with the mores of the court of Anna Ivanovna, Derzhavin includes the lines in the ode to Felitsa:
There they don’t soar clownish weddings, They don’t fry them in ice baths, They don’t click on the mustaches of nobles; Princes don't cackle with hens, And they don't stain their faces with soot.
In the same ode, we read the image of the life of a provincial nobleman, although he lives in the capital. material from the site
Or, sitting at home, I'll play, Playing fools with my wife; Sometimes I get along with her on the dovecote, Sometimes we frolic in blindfolds; Now I have fun in a pile with her, Then I look for her in my head.The poem sounds smoothly, solemnly. We can say that it was written in a high style, based on a combination of both common and outdated Old Slavonic vocabulary, which gives it a solemn sound. Old Slavisms contribute to giving special significance to topics that are so important for the poet, to assert his high mission in society (erect, crush, decay, universe (truncated form), despise, forehead, crown, etc.). And only the stanza about the “funny Russian style” is performed in the middle style, it sounds cordial and simple, which fully corresponds to the theme stated in it.
In the life and work of the remarkable Russian poet Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, in his peculiar, sharply defined character, the era of the 18th century, full of contradictions, was reflected as in a mirror. Derzhavin - resolute and courageous, always direct, independent in his judgments, with a developed sense of his own dignity - often caused strong discontent on the part of his superiors. After spending several years in the civil service, the poet was forced to retire.
During these difficult years, the literary talent of the poet reached its highest peak. His poems, although without the name of the author, appeared in magazines and began to attract the attention of readers. But fame came to Derzhavin only in 1783, after the appearance of his famous ode “Felitsa” (lat. “happiness”) addressed to Catherine the Great.
During the creation of Felitsa, Derzhavin knew the Empress only by hearsay and sincerely believed that she was the way she tried to show herself - an enlightened mother of the Fatherland. This is how Catherine is depicted in his ode. But the work, along with the glorification of the queen, denounces the arrogant, selfish and lazy nobles around her.
Like all writers of the 18th century, Derzhavin was a representative of the classical school, but the poet's mighty talent was cramped within the strict rules of this direction. Therefore, Derzhavin combined ode and satire in Felitsa - two different poems, and created an ode-satire, which became a real literary revolution. The high poetry of the ode became simpler and closer to life. Ode "Felitsa" is a civil ode. Derzhavin addressed all civil odes to persons endowed with great political power: monarchs, nobles. Their pathos is not only laudatory, but also accusatory, so V. G. Belinsky called some of them satirical. "Felitsa" is dedicated to Catherine II and continues the tradition of Lomonosov's laudatory odes, but differs sharply from them in a new interpretation of the image of an enlightened monarch. The ode is imbued with an inner unity of thought. Personifying modern society in himself, the poet gracefully praises Felitsa, comparing himself with her and depicting his vices. The image of an enlightened monarch is contrasted with the collective image of a vicious murza, half-jokingly, half-seriously, the author speaks of the merits of Felitsa,
laughing merrily at himself. In the ode, according to Gogol, there is a "combination of the words of the highest with the lowest."
The novelty of this ode lies in the fact that the image of Felitsa is diverse. Felitsa is both an enlightened monarch and a private individual. So, for example, the author depicts the private life of the queen, her habits and character traits:
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table...
Shows the specific deeds of the ruler, her patronage of trade and industry, she is a god who allowed her people a lot: “to jump into foreign areas”, “to look for silver and gold”, “to cut wood”, “to weave, and spin, and sew”, "untying the mind and hands." On the one hand, Felitsa “enlightens morals”, on the other hand, she looks at poetry, which she favors, like “tasty lemonade in summer”. Catherine the writer seeks to develop literature in the spirit of protective ideas.
Derzhavin concretely and expressively contrasts his contemporary reign with the previous one:
There with the name of Felitsa you can
Scrape the typo in the line...
But the praise of the empress herself is combined with satire on her entourage. Murza Derzhavina is the poet himself, frank and sometimes sly, with many characteristic features of real Catherine's nobles. In Derzhavin's poem, in its entirety and contradictions, the image of his contemporary, a natural person, with his ups and downs, is revealed.
The poet K. I. Kostrov wrote that the “soaring” ode no longer delivers aesthetic pleasure, and believed that the “simplicity” of Derzhavin’s style deserves special attention. The author himself was also aware of the novelty of "Felitsa" and attributed it to "a kind of composition that has never happened in our language."
Catherine, flattered by Derzhavin's ode, returned him to the service, but the poet, who, during personal communication with the empress, became convinced that he idealized her image in Felitsa too much, refused to write laudatory poems for her and began to condemn her environment. In man, Derzhavin valued the greatness of civic and patriotic deeds most of all, and with his accusatory works won the fame of one of the founders of civic poetry. Derzhavin's historical merit lies in his introduction into Russian poetry of the "ordinary poetic word."
- New!
In the history of Russian literature of the eighteenth century, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin occupies a special place. The famous nineteenth-century critic Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky called Derzhavin's poems a poetic chronicle of the reign of Catherine the Great....
Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin is one of the major poets of the 18th century, the last representative of Russian classicism in literature. His work is absolutely contradictory. Revealing the potentials of classicism, Derzhavin, along with this, smashed it, paving the way for a romantic ...
Derzhavin's work is deeply contradictory. Revealing the possibilities of classicism, he at the same time destroyed it, paving the way for romantic and realistic poetry. Derzhavin's poetic work is extensive and mainly represented by odes, among which ...
Lomonosov was the forerunner of Derzhavin; and Derzhavin is the father of Russian poets... VG Belinsky Among my peers you will not meet people who would read the poetry of Gabriel Derzhavin. Nevertheless, every student knows about his special role in Russian literature....
IN HEART SIMPLICITY
I am a poet who has written and published several books. My work is diversely presented on the site. For example, "Chronicles of cloudy Terra" (a book of poems), "History of Russian literature (90s of the XX century)", "Oh, my sun!" (a book of poems), and more books - both in verse and in prose ... In 1795, Derzhavin wrote the poem "Monument" and in it predicted that he would be glorious, "as long as the universe honors the Slavs." I wonder what three of his main poetic merits Derzhavin lists to confirm that everything will be exactly like this: That I was the first to dare in a funny Russian syllable Then his "Felitsa" - Catherine II - was still alive. Therefore, it is hard to be surprised that in this short poetic list, in the first place, the poet writes about his time, about the power, the success of which he - perhaps too directly - connected precisely with state orders, sovereign will and the unmistakable political instinct of the queen. Moreover, one can understand this “primacy” by remembering that it was the tsarina who helped Derzhavin in many ways as a professional writer (after the ode “Felitsa”, the forty-year-old poet, previously little known, immediately became an all-Russian celebrity). Yes, and he was immediately elevated up the ranks - Catherine twice made him governor (however, Derzhavin's ingenuous directness both times led him on the administrative path to clashes with various covetous men, to the slander of slanderers and, in the end, to disaster). It should be noted that the poet did not glorify “Felitsa” herself so much (odes “Felitsa”, “Thanks to Felitsa”, “Vision of Murza”, “Image of Felitsa” - that's almost all! He praised the state, whose successes he was so happy about. Here it is necessary to list many (the most artistically weighty) "Potemkin" and "Suvorov" odes of his like "Autumn during the siege of Ochakov or" On the capture of Ishmael ". Already in the 19th century, that is, several decades later, Pushkin's friend, the poet Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, would write : Lomonosov's odes are predominantly an earlier era, the time of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. On the other hand, the poetry of Vasily Petrovich Petrov (the son of a Moscow priest), a modest friend of the all-powerful Potemkin, is the work of the most talented Derzhavin predecessor on the path of civic poetry of Catherine's time. (Vasily Petrov, subsequently artificially “forgotten”, not really republished in the 20th century, deserves a separate detailed discussion about himself). The odes of Petrov and Derzhavin, where the confrontation between Christianity and Islam (at that time clothed in the form of wars between Russia and Turkey) are artistically comprehended, are in literary terms the highest examples of the Russian ode. The second thing that Derzhavin himself takes credit for is that he dared "to talk about God in simplicity of heart." Let's remember this confession of his - "in the simplicity of the heart"... The poet composed spiritual odes all his life, obviously experiencing an unceasing creative need for this. Recently republished, these odes by Derzhavin amounted to a whole volume (G. R. Derzhavin. Spiritual odes. M., Klyuch, 1993). And the famous ode "God", and a number of other odes in relation to the artistic, are undoubtedly very strong works. True, the question arises: did the poet intrude into that higher sphere, addressing which it is better to avoid any personal speculation - including artistic and poetic. It is known that the people of the Church treated Derzhavin differently. Our Orthodox ascetic, the recluse of Zadonsk Georgy (Mashurin), in one of his letters of 1827, says: “I repeat the verses of the well-meaning, who, speaking sensibly about temporary things, recognize and write as they see and find in their minds. Derzhavin writes: What do we need in gold with ranks? In addition to the high appraisal of the “well-meaning” Derzhavin, in his own spiritual poems the recluse Georgy (who had an undeniable, although perhaps literary uneven talent) approaches Derzhavin’s tradition in style. Here is his "Negro's Prayer": Be good to me, O Eternal God It is easy to feel how the intonations of both works echo. On the other hand, such a spiritual writer as St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) once said: The severity of St. Ignatius' judgment is understandable. But the fact is that the artistic creativity of the human spirit at all times is relentlessly drawn to religious themes. And in Russian literature there are rare examples of when (as, unfortunately, in some of the later works of Leo Tolstoy) this gravity contains a conscious intention to express some deliberate heresy. Russian literature of the 18th century would have become much poorer without complete verse transcriptions of the Psalter by V.K. The author of the article has already had to express on the pages of Pravoslavnaya Moskva (No. 6, 1996) the opinion that an artist who writes on a religious theme, by the very nature of man, will inevitably involuntarily mix right thoughts and wrong thoughts - only a different proportion of both is possible, as the worst as well as the best. There is no doubt that Derzhavin also had a chance to listen to many fair remarks about his spiritual odes - especially since he communicated with the leaders of the Orthodox Church, and even communicated with Metropolitan Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov) purely friendly and dedicated his famous poetic epistle to him “Eugene. Zvanskaya life ”(describing his personal life in the estate on the Volkhov). But as a poet, he is always sincere - he writes as "the heart says." After resigning, the former minister began to live either in his St. Petersburg house or in Zvanka. He liked to take care of literary youth; about acquaintance with him, for example, the author of the "Family Chronicle" S. T. Aksakov and the famous memoirist S. P. Zhikharev. Derzhavin, who was born on July 3, 1743, lived until July 8 (O.S.), 1816, witnessed the French invasion and the expulsion of the French by the people in 1812 - events that he spoke about in his youthful ardent poems. A deeply Orthodox person, Derzhavin, of course, knew the significance of the archangel, whose name he bears, in the salvation of mankind. This knowledge strengthened and encouraged him in his truthful, honest writings and his bold deeds. EXEGI & NON EXEGI MONUMENTUM
Not a monument - the pine is early in the morning. Whether he erected or not erected - they will see later. You are glorious with their hatred, prophet! Yes, you dared in a nasty time And the Orthodox word is also a thing: Yuri Mineralov Next are links to a page with my poems from four previously published collections, as well as to "historical compositions" (documentary stories) about two forgotten heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 - about generals M. A. Mamonov and M. F. Orlov ("Surrender Paris" and "Prince Monomakh..."). Clicking on the banner below will take you to my main website.
But now I want to say a few words about a completely different Russian poet. He lived in the second half of the 18th century, even before Pushkin. I grew up on his poems. His name was Gabriel Derzhavin.
Proclaim the virtues of Felitsa,
Talk about God in simplicity of heart
And tell the truth to kings with a smile.
“Lomonosov, Petrov, Derzhavin were the bards of a people almost always under arms, a people celebrating victories or preparing for them.<...>This poetry, so to speak, official, should be attributed not so much to their character as to the character of the eras in which they lived.
What is there to wish for?
And covered with crosses
There will be a worm in the coffin to torment.
Everything will fade, everything will decay,
And the villain will go into darkness.
Everything in the world has an end
And he will pass in his turn.
Thus, one after the other always flows and plunges into the abyss of the destinies of the Almighty!”
I am here a minute guest - I am a slave!
You are Infinite - I am insignificant;
Omnipotent You - I am poor and weak!
Recall how Derzhavin's ode to "God" sounds:
I am your creation, Creator!
I am a creature of your wisdom,
Source of life, good Giver,
The soul of my soul and the King!
“I really don’t like the compositions: “Ode to God”, all the psalm sentences, starting with the sentence of Simeon of Polotsk, the sentence from Job Lomonosov, all poetic works borrowed from Holy Scripture and religion, written by secular writers. By the name of the secular, I mean not one who is dressed in a tailcoat, but one who is led by wisdom and the spirit of the world. <...> For me, it’s already better to read, for literary purposes, “Vadim”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “Crossing the Rhine”: there secular poets talk about their own - and in their own way, beautifully, satisfactorily.
The “Prisoner of the Caucasus” by A. S. Pushkin, “Crossing the Rhine” by K. N. Batyushkov, and, probably, “Vadim Novgorodsky” by Derzhavin’s contemporary Ya.
Derzhavin's active nature did not allow him to confine himself to words - he not only knew how to "speak the truth to kings with a smile", but at every opportunity he tried all his life to fight for a just cause ("The singer of the Gods Will never be a scoundrel"). Alexander I, at the dawn of his reign, tried to rely on some well-known public figures, appointed Derzhavin Minister of Justice. However, he began to serve (in the tsar's own words) "very zealously" - in particular, he entered into a fight with wine farmers, who, using shortcomings in the legislation, literally enslaved the population (especially in the southern and western provinces).
(Derzhavin)
Winter in Russia forever with witchcraft:
on a coniferous branch - an apple is ruddy.
(Not an apple, bullfinch blood with milk!)
But the wicked hate here and there.
Go as the finger of God points.
And let the rumor wind around on the heels.
You have already penetrated to the core,
what kind of winds damage Russia,
and that weaves every foreign language in it.
It is unprofitable to love the fatherland.
You chose the sharp edge, not the middle.
You chose to do rather than talk.
the people are not silent at your call.
Wander well, glory and piit, separately!
The frost is humming, the bullfinch sings from the pine tree!..
I emphasize: there, as in my other historical compositions, I described only true facts. But the life of these two people - as if from a fascinating historical novel. Yes, reality is more interesting than literature ...