In the poem “The Twelve,” Blok wanted to achieve a truthful depiction of the post-revolutionary time with all its contrasts, turmoil, and confusion. In the 12th chapter, the mixture of intonations reaches its apogee: here there are echoes of all the rhythms that sounded in the poem, summarized by a literary, book-style ending. The breath of “The Twelve” seems to absorb the whole world, and a living picture of the era emerges from the apparent chaos.
The first line of the chapter is alarming: “. .They walk into the distance with a sovereign step...” From the poem we know who the detachment of twelve Red Guards consists of. They “would like an ace of diamonds on their back!”, that is, they are bandits. However, they are “walking with a sovereign step.” The phrase brings the power, the state closer to the criminals. But perhaps the author wanted to express the idea that to create a new world state, power, strength, and sovereignty are needed, capable of protecting and strengthening what has already been conquered.
The next line is one of the most controversial in the work: “Who else is there? Come out!” Who are the “twelve” afraid of, who is the nameless one who waves the red flag, who “walks at a quick pace, hiding behind all the houses”? Is it possible to agree with the idea that the Red Guards intuitively sense this presence of Jesus Christ, anxiously throwing unanswered questions into the blackness of the night: “Hey, answer, who’s coming?..” In response to them, “only you burst into long laughter in the snow.” Probably, if we perceive the image of Christ as hostile, then in an ethical sense. Yes, he, indeed, poses a threat to the resurrection of such concepts as sin, conscience, repentance, overthrown by the new morality. And in this regard, the constant refrain “Keep your revolutionary pace!” looks like a spell. The epithet “invisible” in relation to the image of the enemy emphasizes that he does not belong to the material world. The poem does not show who the Red Guards need to fight with, not the bourgeoisie who “has his nose wrapped in his collar,” and not the mangy dog:
Get off, you scoundrel.
I'll tickle you with a bayonet!
The old world is like a mangy dog,
If you fail, I'll beat you up!
It is obvious that the listed images do not give rise to fear in the heroes. And the danger in this context becomes the One who disturbs the souls of the heroes with His commandments. The “Savior” that escaped the lips of one of the “twelve” makes the “comrades” literally shudder: “Petka! Hey, don’t lie!” And again it sounds like a defensive conspiracy: “Take a revolutionary step!” The heroes feel fear of the One whose gaze they constantly feel on themselves, Whom they are afraid to see behind every snowdrift: “Whoever is in the snowdrift, come out!..” Jesus came down to earth to save it from the “twelve”, to try to wake up those who is in spiritual hibernation, to prevent the Holy Faith and Holy Rus' from being trampled. He is the enemy of the Red Guards, and they are so afraid of him throughout the entire action of the poem, shouting to maintain their own spirit:
-Who is walking there at a quick pace?..
-Who's waving the red flag there?..
-Who else is there?
Come out?..
It is out of fear that the heroes fire from their rifles at Holy Rus', and at the end of the poem - at the Lord himself:
Fuck-fuck-fuck!
Fuck-fuck-fuck...
But then the question arises, why does Jesus go “ahead - with a bloody flag,” a symbol of the revolution? True, M. Voloshin said this well: “Is the red flag in the hands of Christ? There is no blasphemous double meaning in this. The bloody flag is the new cross of Christ, a symbol of his current crucifixions."
The figure of Christ was interpreted as a symbol of a revolutionary, a symbol of the future, a pagan Christ, an Old Believer “burner” (the schismatics had the name “Jesus”, not “Jesus”), as a superman, as the embodiment of the Eternal Femininity, as Christ the artist... And Until now, as at the beginning of the century, some want to see Lenin, rather than Christ, at the head, and the feelings of believers are offended by the appearance of Christ “under the bloody flag” ahead of all those who personify the godless revolution. The poet himself cannot exactly explain the role of Jesus: “That Christ goes before them is undoubtedly... the scary thing is that He is with them again... but we need another....” One gets the feeling that Blok was really listening to the “music of the revolution,” trying to hear a revelation in this hum, to record a voice, and awareness of the meaning of what he heard was supposed to come later. In his diaries there are no entries preceding the creation of the poem, but only attempts made after its writing to comprehend and explain the appearance of the image of Christ.
What does the word “ahead” mean - at the head of the detachment or away from it, at a distance? Perhaps such ambiguity in interpretation arose because Blok himself did not know the answer? He blindly surrendered to the elements of inspiration, the elements of time and asked himself: “Why - Him? I don’t know... I look closer and I see that He...” This “I’ll take a closer look” corresponds to the fact that the blizzard, that “You can’t see each other at all / In four steps!” Therefore, He seems to the author either “small, bent,” and then suddenly, after a few words in the diary, he is already “huge...” “The tragedy of the artist” was the impossibility of finding an adequate image to express the thoughts and feelings that overwhelmed him. The antithesis is also significant: “Behind is a hungry dog<...>Ahead is Jesus Christ.” The rhyme is emphasized by syntactic parallelism, which highlights the eternal opposition between Satan and God.
Like any truly great work of art, the poem “The Twelve” will always be interpreted differently, revealing to us more and more of its facets. This is also due to the fact that, through specific images and signs of the times, the author touched upon the broadest philosophical, historical, moral and ethical problems illuminated by the dawn of the revolution. And the ending of the poem with the crowning image of Jesus Christ leaves us with hope for salvation, for the presence of that miracle that allows us to live on, despite all the tragedies of time.
“Today I am a genius!” - this is what Alexander Aleksandrovich Blok, a symbolist poet, wrote after finishing work on his, perhaps, main work- the poem “The Twelve”. The October Revolution of 1917, to which the poem is dedicated, became an event that divided the lives of all people of the early twentieth century into BEFORE and AFTER. Those who could not accept the new government and the values established by it emigrated from Russia forever. Those who remained had to decide once and for all their attitude to what happened. The symbolist Blok heard the “music of the revolution” and called on all his contemporaries to follow his example.
“The Twelve” is an epic poem that reflects pictures of reality and is more reminiscent of a kaleidoscope. Plot quite simple: twelve Red Army soldiers, a military patrol, maintain order in the city during curfew. But in fact, the chapter pictures, changing as in a children's kaleidoscope, add up to a large-scale panorama of the post-revolutionary days.
The poem begins with a symbolic image of the wind- a certain element that sweeps away everything in its path, and this element is all-encompassing: "Wind in all God's world". It is not difficult to guess the revolution itself in this cleansing whirlwind, because it is the wind that disperses the remnants of the “old world”: "lady in karakul", "I'll take my hair off my butt", an old woman who resembles a chicken, and the quintessence of the whole old world - a rootless dog that trudges along with its tail between its legs.
The new world is symbolized by twelve Red Army soldiers - “apostles of the new faith,” as they are commonly called. A very diverse company, I must say. A frightening image emerges from individual details: "rifles black belts", "cigarette in teeth", "take the cap", and as if the apotheosis of everything - “I need an ace of diamonds on my back”. This detail speaks volumes: such a sign clearly indicated a convict, and, as you know, people were exiled to hard labor for serious crimes - murder, robbery, violence. So, the apostles of the new faith have a dark past, but a bright future.
The poem is based on contrast: "black evening" And "White snow". However, the wind seems to erase the boundary between these images. In this case, a completely symbolic picture emerges. It is the images of the old world that are associated with light: “There are lights, lights, lights all around...” And the new world is not only with black rifle belts, but also with black anger boiling in their hearts. The author calls this anger "saint", because it accumulated over centuries, while serfdom reigned - the right of some people to abuse others.
And at the same time this "sad anger". This assessment is given by the narrator - the hero-intellectual, who understands the horror of the situation, but does not have the opportunity to change anything. Indeed, all that remains is to be sad and mourn. Narrator's image is end-to-end. It is he who sees a snow-covered city at night, through which twelve people are walking. It was he who saw the poster about the Constituent Assembly, and the bourgeoisie, and the old “chicken” woman, and all the other heroes of the old world. It is he who feels the mood of the liberated people, to whom everything is now allowed, who "was nobody", But "will become everything":
Lock the floors
There will be robberies today!
Unlock the cellars -
The bastard is on the loose these days!
Against the backdrop of such a mood, murder seems quite logical "fat-faced" Katka, who “I went for a walk with the cadets, now I’m going with the soldier”. This scene is composition center poems. Katka is the link connecting the old world and the new in the person of Petka, one of the twelve Red Army soldiers. And now, when Petka, out of jealousy for the “bourgeois Vanka,” personally kills Katka, his hands are free for further crimes. After all “Now is not the time to babysit you”.
Is there a future for those who “He walks into the distance with a mighty stride”? For whom now "freedom without a cross", which means there are no more moral prohibitions? After all, they are coming "without the name of a saint". But at the end of the poem it suddenly appears image of Jesus Christ. Until now, no one can give a final assessment of this image in the poem. After all, for believers, the appearance of God at the head of murderers and criminals looks like sacrilege. But it is also impossible to regard the appearance of Christ as an attempt to sanctify the revolution. What remains?
Blok himself wrote in his diary: “Unfortunately, Christ.” After all, there is no other one yet, but another is needed. But for now - “In front of Jesus Christ in a white crown of roses”. As a symbol of faith, as a martyr who took upon himself all the sins of humanity, which cannot achieve justice in life.
Probably, the answer to the poem will depend on how to evaluate this symbol: is this a blessing or a curse of the revolution? Obviously, each subsequent generation will find its own explanation. But as long as this poem disturbs the minds and hearts of people, the work will be truly brilliant.
- “Stranger”, analysis of the poem
A. A. Blok wrote the poem “The Twelve” in January 1918. Russia at that time was shocked by the October Revolution. The October Revolution is a controversial event, the debate about which continues to this day. Some believe that her victory was a consequence of the weakness of the Provisional Government, while others believe that the victory was natural.
Blok's poem, written two months after the coup in Russia, is also still being debated. In the center of the work is a post-revolutionary city, power in which was seized by the Bolsheviks, and order is maintained by twelve patrolmen, in whose honor the poem is named.
Although Blok had moved away from such a literary direction as symbolism by 1918, there really are a lot of symbols in “The Twelve.” And their interpretations can be completely different.
Blok supported the revolution (although he became disillusioned with it by the end of 1918), but reading the poem for the first time, it is difficult to understand the author’s attitude to the events described. The author depicts both the positive and negative sides of the revolution.
The first feature of the poem that I want to note is the color writing. Blok describes the city using only white and black colors: “Black evening. “White snow”, “white snowball”, “snowdrift”. We usually associate these colors with good and evil. Russia hesitates between them. According to Blok, the future of Russia is white, and the past (“condo”, “hut”, “fat-assed” Rus') is black. What color does Blok associate with the present of Russia, that is, revolution? In chapter 11 the “red flag” appears, in chapter 12 Jesus carries the “bloody flag”. Red color is a symbol of blood and revolution, which, unfortunately, are inseparable.
In the poem, even the elements support the revolution. We see how “wind” and “frost” are soft to “twelve”, but the opponents of the revolution cannot stand on their feet and are freezing: “old woman”, “bourgeois”, “Vitya” (writer), “priest”. The latter are symbols of the old, passing world. They all understand their hopelessness, so they do nothing.
In the second chapter of the poem, the Red Guards appear. Already from the first lines, the narrator’s hostility towards them is noticeable:
There is a cigarette in his teeth, he has taken a cap,
You need the Ace of Diamonds on your back!
Blok compares the “twelve” with convicts who were released. To some extent this is true. The patrolmen were mostly from the peasantry - the most powerless and enslaved layer of society. After the revolution, the boundaries of classes were erased - peasants and boyars became equal. The Red Guards felt that everything was possible for them, thinking that they were acting for the good of the country: “Keep your step revolutionary! The restless enemy never sleeps!” They are captured by the spirit of the revolution, because it was it that allowed them to feel power. They are driven by “black anger,” but the Bolsheviks directed it into a “holy” channel.
The unlimited freedom of action of the patrol officers led to tragedy - the death of Katka. Katka symbolizes the old, sinful Rus' with its orders (“I fornicated with the officers”). The image of the girl is radically different from the images of women from Blok’s works of love poetry. Speaking about Katka, Blok uses rude words: “Minion ate chocolate,” “Lie, carrion, in the snow.” Her death is the destruction of old foundations and the cleansing of the world from sins. Can we say that Petka’s murder of Katka was justified by Blok? No; as already said, he accepts the revolution, but does not deny its horrors. Murder is something that cannot be kept silent about and cannot be justified. Petka, of course, regretted what he had done (“Only the poor murderer / You can’t see his face at all...”), but as soon as the rest of the patrolmen began to mock him (“...What are you, Petka, a woman, or what?”) , Petka seemed to have forgotten about Katka, whom, as he himself admitted, he loved, and continued the procession through the streets of the city.
It is symbolic that Petka was aiming not at Katka, but at Vanka, a traitor to the revolution. Vanka survived because there are too many traitors to get rid of them all. But do they have a future? I think not, because the revolution is stronger than all of them.
“Blizzard,” which is mentioned for the first time in the tenth chapter, is a symbol of revolution, unpredictable, destructive and at the same time cleansing. The blizzard takes away the old order and brings a new world. It is worth noting that it “gathers dust... in the eyes” not only of the opponents of the revolution, but also of the “twelve”: they do not see each other “four steps away.” So she, I believe, is trying to stop them from rioting.
The main (and most controversial) symbol of the poem is, of course, “Jesus” Christ. He appears only in the last stanza of the poem, but is of great importance in it. Firstly, it becomes clear that there are twelve patrol officers for a reason. There were twelve apostles in the Bible, and among them was a traitor - Judas (Vanka plays his role in the poem). Jesus walks ahead of the patrolmen, symbolizing the new world, while the “hungry dog” “keeps up” behind - a symbol of the old order, which many cannot let go of.
There is much debate about why Jesus appears in the poem. Blok said: “When I finished [writing the poem], I myself was surprised: why Christ? But the more I looked, the more clearly I saw Christ.” There really are a lot of theories. Some believe that Jesus leads the Red Guards and supports the revolution. Others say that the “bloody flag” in his hands is stained with his own blood; I don’t agree with this theory, because Blok himself writes that Christ “is unharmed by a bullet.” It seems to me that Jesus is leaving Russia and leaving it to the Bolsheviks. And not even because they are fighting religion, but because society has reached its peak - equality and justice. Twelve Red Guards replaced the twelve apostles in Russia. It cannot be said that Christ forgives the murders of the Red Guards. By no means, because they themselves used to believe in God (and maybe they still do)! Now they are guarding the revolution “without a cross”, denying the Ten Commandments. I think that Blok considers this state of affairs temporary. As a result, these “twelve” will cleanse Russia of its sins and create support for a new - communist - society, where everyone is equal and where there is no reason to commit crimes.
Revolution in Blok's poem is a “world fire”, it is an all-consuming force, which is useless to resist. The Red Guards are the ones who will spread this fire. It seems to me that Blok does not justify their bad actions and does not even want to divert our attention from them. But he encourages us to try to understand “the twelve.” They - former poor people who had no power - literally became the pillars of the new world. They are driven by “black anger” and at the same time a thirst for justice. This, it seems to me, is the idea of Blok’s work: you need to give the revolution a chance, endure its horrors in order to enjoy the results.
The purpose of the lesson: show the polemical nature of the poem, its artistic features.
Lesson equipment: illustrations for the poem, various editions of “The Twelve”.
Methodical techniques: analytical reading of the poem.
During the classes.
I. The teacher's word
Having written the poem “The Twelve,” Blok exclaimed: “Today I am a genius!” "The Twelve" - whatever they are - is the best thing I've written. Because then I lived in modern times,” the poet asserted. However, the first reading of the poem usually even causes bewilderment and raises many questions.
- Why is the poem called “The Twelve”? What is the meaning of the name?
Firstly, the poem contains twelve chapters . Secondly, the heroes of the poem are twelve Red Army soldiers . Thirdly, the image of Christ walking ahead of these Red Army soldiers (at the end of the poem, evokes associations with the twelve apostles .
The following question arises:
Why Christ? What is this image in the poem? We will try to answer this question at the end of the lesson.
In general, “The Twelve” is a paradoxical work. It was written in January 1918, that is, hot on the heels, two months after the October Revolution. It is very difficult for a contemporary to understand the significance of the event - “big things are seen from a distance.” The poem surprised Blok’s contemporaries. According to V. Mayakovsky, “some read in this poem a satire on the revolution, others - glory to it.” But if the poem is about revolution, why does the poem not depict revolutionary actions, the leaders of the revolution? Why is the pursuit of the “traitor” Katka (a prostitute, actually) and her murder at the center of the epic narrative?
II. Analytical conversation.
Let's first look at the issues of genre, style and composition.
“The Twelve” is an epic poem, as if composed of individual sketches, pictures from life, quickly replacing one another. The dynamism and chaos of the plot, the expressiveness of the episodes that make up the poem, convey the confusion that reigned both on the streets and in the minds.
- Are there lyrical motives in the poem? How does the author manifest himself?
The composition, reflecting the elements of the revolution, determines the stylistic diversity of the poem. “Listen to the music of the revolution,” Blok urged. This music sounds in the poem.
- How does Blok convey the “music of the revolution”?
(First of all, Blok’s “music” is a metaphor, an expression of the “spirit”, the sound of the elements of life. This music is reflected in the rhythmic, lexical, and genre diversity of the poem. Traditional iambic and trochee are combined with different meters, sometimes with unrhymed verse.)
- What rhythms did you hear?
(The poem sounds march intonation:
It hits my eyes
Red flag.
Is heard
Measured step.
Here he will wake up
Fierce enemy.
(ch.11)
You can hear urban romance. It plays out in an interesting way: the beginning is familiar, and then it goes wild:
You can’t hear the city noise,
There is silence above the Neva Tower,
And there is no more policeman -
Go for a walk, guys, without wine!
A ditty motif is often found:
Lock the floors
There will be robberies today!
Unlock the cellars -
The bastard is on the loose these days!
A revolutionary song is directly quoted:
Go-go,
Working people!)
- What, besides music, do we hear?
(In addition, the poem is striking slogans: “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, snatches of conversations can be heard:
And we had a meeting...
...In this building...
- What is the lexical structure of the poem?
(Vocabulary of the poem diverse. This is the language of slogans and proclamations and colloquial language with vernaculars:“What, my friend, are you dumbfounded?”; And distortions of words: “floors”, “electric”; and reduced abusive language: “cholera”, “ate”, “scoundrel” and high syllable:
With a gentle tread above the storm,
Snow scattering of pearls,
In a white corolla of roses -
Ahead is Jesus Christ.)
- How does Blok draw the images of the characters in the poem?
(Heroes are outlined concise and expressive. This figurative comparison: “the old lady, like a chicken, / somehow rewound over a snowdrift”; speech characteristic: “Traitors! Russia is dead! / The writer must be / Vitia...”; biting epithet and oxymoron: “And there’s the long-haired one - / Side behind the snowdrift... / Why is he so sad today, / Comrade priest?”
Twelve heroes make up one squad: There’s a cigarette in his teeth, he’s wearing a cap, / I need an ace of diamonds on my back! - short and clear - the prison is crying for them” (the rhombus was sewn onto the clothes of the convicts). Among them is Petka, the “poor killer,” who became cheerful when his comrades reminded him: “Keep control over yourself!”
Katka is shown in more detail. Here is her appearance: “her teeth sparkle with pearls,” “her legs are painfully good,” “she has kerenki in her stocking,” “she fornicated with the officers,” and an attractive charm: “because of her poor prowess / In her fiery eyes, / Because for the crimson moles / Near the right shoulder...").
- What are the features of the plot of the poem?
(The plot can be defined as two-layer - external, everyday: sketches from Petrograd streets and interior: motives, rationale for the actions of the twelve. One of the centers of the poem is the end of the 6th chapter: the motive of revenge and murder merges with the motive of the slogans of the revolution:
What, Katka, are you happy? - No gu-gu...
Lie, you carrion, in the snow!
Revolutionary step up!
A restless enemy never sleeps!)
-Trace where and how the motive of hatred is manifested?
(The motive of hatred is observed in seven chapters of the poem. Hatred also manifests itself as a holy feeling:
Anger, sad anger
It's boiling in my chest...
Black anger, holy anger...
And how sacrilege:
Comrade, hold the rifle, don’t be afraid!
Let's fire a bullet into Holy Rus' -
To the condo,
In the hut,
In the fat ass!
Eh, eh, no cross!)
- What other motives did you see in the poem?
(Happens several times vigilance motive: “The restless enemy never sleeps! General hatred, readiness to fight the enemy, spurring vigilance and distrust constitute the revolutionary consciousness of the detachment. At the center of the poem - permissiveness of bloody massacres, devaluation of life, freedom “without a cross.” The second center of the poem is in the 11th chapter:
And they go without the name of a saint
All twelve - into the distance.
Ready for anything
No regrets...
- What images-symbols did you notice in the poem?
(Wind, blizzard, snow- constant Blok motives; color symbolism: “Black evening. / White snow", bloody flag; number twelve, “rootless dog”, Christ.)
- Let's return to the first question - what is the significance of the image of Christ in the poem?
(Discussion.)
III. Final words from the teacher.
Some perceive the image of Christ as an attempt to sanctify the cause of the revolution, others - as blasphemy. The appearance of Christ, perhaps, is a guarantee of future light, a symbol of the best, justice, love, a sign of faith. He is “unharmed by a bullet”, and he is dead - “in a white corolla of roses.” “The Twelve” shoot at him, albeit “invisible.”
“Christ in the poem is the antithesis of the “dog” as the embodiment of evil, the central “sign” of the old world, is the brightest note of the poem, the traditional image of goodness and justice” (L. Dolgopolov).
“Blok introduced Christ not as an image of church tradition, but as a popular idea of God’s ingenuous truth, not clouded by the church and state. Blok did not at all “bless” the revolution with this borrowed attribute of the people’s faith, but only asserted historical continuity. The revolution inherited the ethical faith of the people!” (A. Gorelov).
“When I finished, I myself was surprised: why Christ? But the more I looked, the more clearly I saw Christ. And then I wrote down to myself: “Unfortunately, Christ.” That Christ goes before them is certain. The point is not whether they are worthy of him, but the scary thing is that he is with them again and there is no other one yet, but another one is needed? - Blok himself wrote.
IV. Assignments based on the poem “The Twelve” by A. A. Blok.
1. Why do you think A. A. Blok rated his own composition so highly - the poem “The Twelve” (“Today I am a genius!”)?
2. V.V. Mayakovsky wrote: “Some read in this poem a satire on the revolution, others read its glory.” What did contemporaries read in A. A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve”? Find in the text of the poem arguments in favor of “satire” and in favor of “fame”.
3. Select in the text of the poem evidence for the thesis of A. A. Blok researcher L. Dolgopolov: “Blok created a new form of the epic poem, and the novelty of the form was directly dependent on the novelty of the content. The philosophy of the revolutionary era, as Blok understood it, was embodied in “The Twelve” in a completely new poetic system, which found expression in new rhythms, in new stylistics, in vocabulary.”
4. Express your point of view regarding the opinion of the researcher of the work of A. A. Blok L. Gorelov: “In the run-up of the poem, through the collision of two worlds, through the drama of the Red Guard Petrukha generated by a historical collision, the hammered little heads, on which the ace of diamonds would fit on the back, turned into the “working people”, into the revolutionary link of the people.”
5. What kind of “cohesion” is L. Gorelov, a researcher of A. A. Blok’s work, talking about? (“Blok’s poem consists of a mass of small details - sketches, pictures of everyday life, replicas, conversations, ditties, threats, exclamations, complaints. But they are all fused together, firmly welded together by a single rhythm, that powerful and menacing semantic subtext, which is the main thing in "Twelve.")
6. How would you interpret the image of Christ in A. A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve”?
Additional material for the lesson.
Analysis of the poem "The Twelve"
The meaning of the poem is metaphysical. Shortly before October, the poet defined what was happening in Russia as a “vortex of atoms of the cosmic revolution.” But in “The Twelve,” after October, Blok, who was still justifying the revolution, also wrote about the threatening power of the elements. Even in the summer, Blok, who believed in the wisdom and tranquility of the revolutionary people, spoke in his poem about the elements that played out “in all of God’s world,” and about the elements of rebellious passions, about people for whom the absolute freedom was, as for Pushkin’s Aleko, will for oneself.
The element is a symbolic image of the poem. She personifies universal cataclysms; the twelve apostles of the revolutionary idea promise to fan a “world fire”, a blizzard breaks out, “the snow curls like a funnel”, a “blizzard is dusty” in the alleys. The element of passions is also growing. Urban life also takes on the character of spontaneity: the reckless driver “rushes at a gallop,” he “flies, screams, yells,” “Vanka and Katka are flying” on the reckless driver, etc.
However, the October events of 1917 were no longer perceived only as the embodiment of whirlwinds and elements. In parallel with this essentially anarchic motif in “The Twelve,” the motif of universal expediency, rationality, and a higher principle embodied in the image of Christ also develops. In 1904-1905 Blok, carried away by the fight against the old world, wanting to “be tougher” and “hate a lot,” assured that he would not go “to be healed by Christ” and would never accept Him. In the poem, he outlined a different perspective for the heroes - the future faith in Christ's commandments. On July 27, 1918, Blok noted in his diary: “People say that everything about what is happening is due to the fall of religion...”
Both the contemplators of the revolution and its apostles - the twelve fighters - turn to God's principle. So, the old woman does not understand the purpose of the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, She does not understand the Bolsheviks (“Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive them into the coffin!”), but she believes in the Mother of God (“Oh, Mother Intercessor!”) . The fighters go through the path from freedom “without a cross” to freedom with Christ, and this metamorphosis occurs against their will, without their faith in Christ, as a manifestation of a higher, metaphysical order.
The freedom to violate Christ's commandments, namely to kill and fornicate, is transformed into the element of permissiveness. In the blood of the twelve watchmen there is a “world fire”; the atheists are ready to shed blood, be it Katka who betrayed her lover or a bourgeois.
The love affair plays a key role in revealing the theme of wasted blood during the period of historical retribution, the theme of non-acceptance of violence. An intimate conflict develops into a social conflict. The watchmen perceive Vanka’s love treachery, his walk “with a stranger’s girl” as evil, directed not only against Petrukha, but also against them: “My, try, kiss!” They view Katka's murder as revolutionary retribution.
The episode with the murder of the “fool” and “cholera” Katka is ideologically and “compositionally directly related to the appearance in the finale of the poem of the image of Christ as the embodiment of the idea of forgiving sinners, that is, murderers. The watchmen and Christ in the poem are both antipodes and those who are destined to find each other. Jesus, “unharmed by the bullet,” is not with twelve fighters. He is ahead of them. He, with a bloody red flag, personifies not only Blok’s faith in the holiness of the tasks of the revolution, not only his justification of the “holy malice” of the revolutionary people, but also the idea of Christ’s atonement for the next bloody sin of people, and the idea of forgiveness, and the hope that those who have crossed through blood they will still come to His covenants, to the ideals of love, and finally, to the eternal values in which revolutionary Russia and the poet himself believed - the brotherhood of equality, etc. The watchmen seem to have to walk the path of the Apostle Paul.
Christ is not with the old world, which in the poem is associated with a rootless, hungry dog that wanders behind the twelve. Blok perceived the old government as immoral and not responsible to the people.
The idea of uniting Christ and the Red Guards in the poem as fellow travelers in a harmonious world was not accidental; it was something that Blok had suffered through. He believed in the affinity of revolutionary and Christian truths. He believed that if there were true clergy in Russia, they would come to the same thought.
Analysis of the text of the poem.
Chapter 1Where does the poem begin? What picture is being painted?
In the first stanza the opposition of black and white colors is stated ( Black evening. // White snow). Black - symbolizes the dark, evil principle, chaos, unpredictability of spontaneous impulses in man, in the world, in space. Sometimes Blok's blackness reads like emptiness, lack of spirituality. White is perceived as a contrast to black, but it is also the color of purity, spirituality, the light of the future, a dream. (It is not for nothing that at the end of the work there is an image of Christ in a white aureole, in a snowy scattering of pearls as an exponent of purity, holiness, tragic suffering.) But this boundary of black and white is very unstable, which is emphasized by the fourfold repetition of the word in the first stanza wind. In the second stanza wind mentioned for the fifth time , he is in all God's light, and any the person becomes insecure walker, slips and is about to fall.
What temporal realities help determine the time of the poem?
Poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!” indicates early January 1918. On the one hand, it reminds of the political situation, on the other hand, the beginning of January is the time of Christmastide, when evil spirits play tricks on the Orthodox people, play tricks, and play dirty tricks on those who are “without a cross.” The images of wind and blizzard in the poem are not accidental - they always accompany demonic revelry. But the image of the Creator already appears here (Mother Intercessor - by the way, another hidden indication of Christmas; God’s light) and invisibly passes through the entire poem, appearing at the end of the poem in the image of Jesus Christ.
In Chapter 1, Blok depicts the “old world.” Who are its representatives and how are they depicted? Satirical images of an old woman, a bourgeois, a writer-viti, a fellow priest, a lady make us smile contemptuously. Is it only the representatives of the “old world” that the narrator expresses contempt for? Who says, “And we had a meeting...”?(prostitutes). What are they talking about, what are they discussing? This is a satire on the new government (pay attention to the vocabulary, later Mayakovsky will talk about the same thing). The image of the tramp at the end of the chapter evokes our sympathy. And the word “Bread!” Once again emphasizes the unsettled nature of the world - hunger.
At the end of the chapter, the image of EVIL (the trinity - sad, black, holy– why?) This happened historically. Why anger, against whom?(on the butt). Let us turn again to the article: “Why are they making holes in the ancient cathedral? “Because for a hundred years an obese priest has been here, hiccupping, taking bribes and selling vodka.” What should the revolution cleanse Russia of?
Next, the motive of vigilance appears (the chapter ends). When will this motif appear again in the poem?(2 chapters - before the lines about the village, 6 chapters - after the murder of Katka, 10 chapters - as a reproach to Petka for his lack of consciousness, 11 chapters - “The Fierce Enemy will wake up”). It turns out that the first victims of vigilance have already turned out to be, or will turn out to be, not the bourgeoisie at all.
Through whose eyes do we see what is happening? Who evaluates the characters? Who is the hero of the poem? 12 Red Guards? Or someone else?
Why is it important? (In relation to the main character, the author must express his point of view, his concept of life) How?(Pictures depicted in the work, direct author’s assessment or through the image of the narrator). Is there such a narrator in the poem? Who sees a snow-covered city at night, an old woman, a bourgeois, a patrol? Who hears the shots, the screams, the chase, Petrukha’s conversation with his comrades, his confession? Can we talk about the author's perception of what is happening?(Pay attention to the language of the poem: colloquial, coarse vocabulary, and not the language of an educated person - not Blok!) As we analyze the work, let us pay attention to the voice of the hero-narrator. But already here he expresses his opinion (support with examples from the text).
Chapter 2 A completely different poetic rhythm is set. Who are her heroes? How are they depicted (in what color can they be depicted)? What are they talking about? What can we say about them? What feelings do they evoke? These are 12 Red Guards - a night patrol on the streets of Petrograd. They themselves are from the “old world,” Blok gives them a description of criminals:
There is a cigarette in his teeth, he has taken a cap,
You should have an ace of diamonds on your back!
But the poet does not judge them - that’s how it was, this is a difficult legacy of the past.
And what does the exclamation “Eh, eh, without a cross!” mean? at the beginning and end of the chapter? Without a cross - and without what else? Without conscience, without morality, without boundaries - freedom, freedom from everything.
Has Blok addressed the lower classes of society before? (Art. “Factory”. “Rising from the darkness of the cellars”, “Went to attack.”) How did he treat them?(Sympathetically, his hero went through different paths, wanted to feel the same thing that everyone feels). So the feelings, desires (to take revenge on everyone?) and experiences of the urban lower classes were understandable and partly close to the poet.
Here we hear the dialogue of the Red Guard heroes: their speech is cocky, rude, vulgar, illiterate. They are the masters of this city - they have rifles. And the rifles begin to shoot at some obscure enemy. (The image of a “restless” and invisible enemy runs through the entire poem. And in chapter 12, the “comrades” are already shooting at Christ.)
Who is the night patrol shooting at? It is obvious that the enemies of the Red Guards are not representatives of the “old world” - they are too funny and helpless. The heroes “fire” into Holy Rus', renouncing faith and the Savior: “Freedom, freedom.// Eh, eh, without a cross!”
What do these people want?
IN Chapter 3 We find the answer to this question: they want to fan the world fire of revolution. Moreover, they are not afraid of blood – neither their own nor someone else’s. But they turn to the Lord for blessings. For what? Is such a blessing possible? Is this not a desire to shift the burden of responsibility for murders onto the spiritual authorities (and the Soviet ones too)?
IN Chapters 4-7 we see the love story of the Red Guard Petrukha and the “fat-faced” Katka. Who is Katka? Why is she being killed? (And they also say: “Eh, eh, sin! // It will be easier for the soul!” - Will it be easier to kill? And so doubts about the correctness of the punishment overcome.)
The love story, jealousy and reprisal against Katka (whose punishment is completely incommensurate with her guilt) is an insignificant episode for them. Human life has no special value for them (“Lie, carrion, in the snow!”). It is more important for them that Petka stay with them.
What dialogue takes place between the characters? Why is he important to Blok?
The unwitting killer is worried. How is his condition transmitted? Who did he “ruin”? And his comrades show him sympathy. How do they do it? Quite contemptuous: displays of feelings are not welcome. And it will always be like this. Do any of the characters realize WHAT they have done? Would Petrukha be worried if he didn’t love Katka? Hardly. Murder becomes the norm (Murders have already been mentioned: in Chapter 5 “Do you remember, Katya, the officer - // He didn’t escape the knife...”). And how did Petka console himself?(“This is not the time to babysit you! // The burden will be heavier for us, dear comrade!”) The mood of those guarding the city and the new government is quite obvious (from the text): courage, robbery, drunkenness. The motive for murder, mockery of human life, of everything, is growing more and more.
The value system, the spiritual world of the heroes is shown in Chapter 8: boredom, seeds, murder are on the same page. Complete spiritual savagery. Where is the person here? Is this behavior typical or random? What words does the chapter end with? What is it about? Whose soul is the poet talking about? Why do you think so?
Chapter 9 The rhythm is sharply different from chapter 8 and it begins with a line from a romance about the Decembrists: “You can’t hear the noise of the city...”. But then a picture of absolute freedom, intoxication with blood is painted. There's just no joy in it. Why does the “old world” appear here again and why does Blok devote so much space to it? The “old world” - the bourgeoisie and the mangy dog as a symbol of this world - is pitiful and homeless. He has no future (no wonder the bourgeoisie is at the crossroads). But the path of the new world is also vague; it is no coincidence that the bourgeois reminds the question). Yes, even a blizzard ( Chapter 10) sweeps away so that “You can’t see each other at all // in four steps!” She seems to warn the short-sighted, clouds their path, deceives those who are without a cross, and mocks them. They are all tied in blood, and not only Katkina’s (Blok seems to foresee rivers of blood).
Chapter 11 again shows the walking patrol. Their step is measured, inevitable. Where are they going? “Into the distance” - where is this? In our time, in the future? What did they bring with them? Have they found their enemy? And the blizzard keeps throwing dust in their eyes days and nights long ». How does this phrase expand the time frame of the poem?
Gorky about the revolution (“Untimely Thoughts”): “Our revolution gave full play to all the bad and brutal instincts that had accumulated under the lead roof of the monarchy, and, at the same time, it threw aside all the intellectual forces of democracy, all the moral energy of the country "
Working with illustrations. Which of the illustrations (Smirnov or Annensky), in your opinion, most accurately reflects Blok’s worldview? Remember in what form the poet represented the revolution. Pay attention to the composition of the drawings, the ratio of the sizes of the images; the globe on a bayonet, an eclipse of the sun, faces and figures of heroes, etc.
The last one Chapter 12.
So, how do the characters make you feel? But who made them like this? Who is to blame for their immorality? Let us turn again to Blok’s article (p. 221, sins of the fathers). Those. The bloc understands and accepts the revolution (in this case, the mission of these soldiers) as a kind of punishment (retribution) to the ruling classes for their criminal neglect of their state duty in relation to their own people. For the centuries-old slavery of the people, there had to be a reckoning someday. One can recall here the words of the Indian writer Premchand, who was born in the same year as Blok: “Man has by nature high moral principles. Under the pressure of circumstances and the lies that reign in the world, he loses them.” Of course, this is an attempt to understand, not justify, immorality . Why does Jesus Christ suddenly (and is it “suddenly”?) appear ahead of the Red Guards?
It is curious that both ardent supporters of Blok's poem and its ardent opponents were unanimous in their rejection of this image in the last stanza. Why?
Some - who saw the “glorification” of the revolution in the poem - believed that Christ was alien to the revolution and its ideals. Hence the lines “A sailor walks ahead.”
Others thought it blasphemous that Blok put Christ ahead of the murderers. (Voloshin said that they were pursuing him. That could also be the case.)
Blok himself, responding to Gumilyov’s attacks, wrote: “I also don’t like the end of “12.” I wish this ending had been different... But the more I looked, the more clearly I saw Christ. And then I wrote down to myself: unfortunately, Christ”... And later: “It’s scary that He’s with them again.”
Let's try to figure out what this image in the poem was supposed to symbolize.
Remember: initially Christianity was the religion of the disadvantaged, striving for a better fate (how is it in the poem?). Perhaps Blok is afraid of a repetition of the historical process that ended in a whirlwind of revolutions, bringing so much grief. But Blok didn’t find another one. Perhaps Christ, at the end of the poem, picks up the red flag and finds himself among those who do not need Him, because He does not have the right to leave this weak, imperfect creature - man - alone with this world of evil, which He Himself created. They are also children of God. If He is with them, it means that there is hope that the darkness and turmoil in human souls will give way to a world of light and goodness... The struggle between God and the Devil is eternal. Maybe that’s why a poem that begins with black light still ends with white.
You can have different attitudes towards what Blok showed in the poem, towards its characters, and their world. You can agree or disagree with the author, but you cannot help but admit that the poem “The Twelve” is a great work about one of the most terrible eras in the history of Russia, for the revolution is a merciless battle between God and the Devil for the human soul. The poem “12” is an honest attempt to understand your country, your people. Not to CONDEMN or JUSTIFY, but to UNDERSTAND. It’s probably not for nothing that I came across the words of V. Solovyov (in many ways Blok’s teacher) about morality: “The highest morality requires some freedom for immorality.” (I would accept Blok for this highest morality). By the way, Blok fulfilled the dream of many of his predecessors, showing the people as the main driving force of history. What came of it?
Analysis of the poem "The Twelve"
The meaning of the poem is metaphysical. Shortly before October, the poet defined what was happening in Russia as a “vortex of atoms of the cosmic revolution.” But in “The Twelve,” after October, Blok, who was still justifying the revolution, also wrote about the threatening power of the elements. Even in the summer, Blok, who believed in the wisdom and tranquility of the revolutionary people, spoke in a poem about the elements that played out “in all of God’s world,” and about the elements of rebellious passions, about people for whom the absolute freedom was, as for Pushkin’s Aleko, will for oneself.
The element is a symbolic image of the poem. She personifies universal cataclysms; the twelve apostles of the revolutionary idea promise to fan a “world fire”, a blizzard breaks out, “the snow curls like a funnel”, a “blizzard is dusty” in the alleys. The element of passions is also growing. Urban life also takes on the character of spontaneity: the reckless driver “rushes at a gallop,” he “flies, screams, yells,” “Vanka and Katka are flying” on the reckless driver, etc.
However, the October events of 1917 were no longer perceived only as the embodiment of whirlwinds and elements. In parallel with this essentially anarchic motif in “The Twelve,” the motif of universal expediency, rationality, and a higher principle embodied in the image of Christ also develops. In 1904-1905 Blok, carried away by the fight against the old world, wanting to “be tougher” and “hate a lot,” assured that he would not go “to be healed by Christ” and would never accept Him. In the poem, he outlined a different perspective for the heroes - the future faith in Christ's commandments. On July 27, 1918, Blok noted in his diary: “People say that everything about what is happening is due to the fall of religion...”
Both the contemplators of the revolution and its apostles - the twelve fighters - turn to God's principle. So, the old woman does not understand the purpose of the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, She does not understand the Bolsheviks (“Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive them into the coffin!”), but she believes in the Mother of God (“Oh, Mother Intercessor!”) . The fighters go through the path from freedom “without a cross” to freedom with Christ, and this metamorphosis occurs against their will, without their faith in Christ, as a manifestation of a higher, metaphysical order.
The freedom to violate Christ's commandments, namely to kill and fornicate, is transformed into the element of permissiveness. In the blood of the twelve watchmen there is a “world fire”; the atheists are ready to shed blood, be it Katka who betrayed her lover or a bourgeois.
The love affair plays a key role in revealing the theme of wasted blood during the period of historical retribution, the theme of non-acceptance of violence. An intimate conflict develops into a social conflict. The watchmen perceive Vanka’s love treachery, his walk “with a stranger’s girl” as evil, directed not only against Petrukha, but also against them: “My, try, kiss!” They view Katka's murder as revolutionary retribution.
The episode with the murder of the “fool” and “cholera” Katka is ideologically and “compositionally directly related to the appearance in the finale of the poem of the image of Christ as the embodiment of the idea of forgiving sinners, that is, murderers. The watchmen and Christ in the poem are both antipodes and those who are destined to find each other. Jesus, “unharmed by the bullet,” is not with twelve fighters. He is ahead of them. He, with a bloody red flag, personifies not only Blok’s faith in the holiness of the tasks of the revolution, not only his justification of the “holy malice” of the revolutionary people, but also the idea of Christ’s atonement for the next bloody sin of people, and the idea of forgiveness, and the hope that those who have crossed through blood they will still come to His covenants, to the ideals of love, and finally, to the eternal values in which revolutionary Russia and the poet himself believed - the brotherhood of equality, etc. The watchmen seem to have to walk the path of the Apostle Paul.
Christ is not with the old world, which in the poem is associated with a rootless, hungry dog that wanders behind the twelve. Blok perceived the old government as immoral and not responsible to the people.
The idea of uniting Christ and the Red Guards in the poem as fellow travelers in a harmonious world was not accidental; it was something that Blok had suffered through. He believed in the affinity of revolutionary and Christian truths. He believed that if there were true clergy in Russia, they would come to the same thought.
speak? What does Blok understand about the revolution that others did not see? What do you look at differently than Blok?
So what goal does the poet set for himself when depicting the “music of the revolution”?
On the one hand, Blok understands and accepts its pattern, on the other hand, he saw her cruel face and largely foresaw its disastrous consequences. Welcoming the revolution as a way to radically change life for the better, the poet romantically imagined its forces as more reasonable and humane than they actually turned out to be. He understood and accepted the revolution as a kind of punishment (retribution).
But the fate of a real poet is inseparable from the fate of his country. Blok dreamed of realizing his old dream, of spiritual harmony. But deep disappointment awaited him. Therefore, the poet's voice falls silent.
On May 4, 1919, he writes: “But I can no longer really work while the new noose of the police state hangs around my neck.” Everything returned to where it came from (as in his poem “Night. Street. Lantern. Pharmacy...”). Maybe Blok wanted to destroy the poem, knowing that thousands of people listened to his words, believed him and would follow him. But his note is still known (April 1, 1920): “That is why I do not renounce what was written then, because it was written in accordance with the elements...”.
Disappointment in his ideal, a feeling of powerlessness in the face of a future catastrophe, which Blok already felt, led to his creative death - after the poem “12” and “Scythians” he fell silent forever (1918). Perhaps, as G. Ivanov suggested, “Blok paid with his life for the creation of the Twelve.”
Homework. Answer one of the questions in writing:
1) How is the revolutionary era reflected in the poem?
2) Why does the image of Jesus Christ appear at the end of the poem?