Onegin stanza is the golden stanza of Russia

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

If the periodically repeating structure of a poem, elegy or poetic novel has exactly fourteen lines and one hundred and eighteen syllables, then it is the same Onegin stanza. This number of components is unchanged. Such a stanza is also organic in small poems, which are a sensual outline of the plot. Both visually and intonationally, it can be divided into four parts, each of which is characterized by a certain way of rhyming, which contributes to interest and helps to keep the reader's attention.

Onegin's stanza is a certain form of a poem. A. S. Pushkin created it on May 9, 1823 in order to embody the novel "Eugene Onegin" in verse. This form can rightfully be called the golden stanza of Russian poetry.

The Onegin stanza is based on a skillful interweaving of three forms: an octave, a quatrain and a “Shakespearean” sonnet. The change of male and female rhymes in it is constant and regular. At the same time, the first rhyme of the stanza is always female (w - stress on the penultimate syllable), and the last rhyme is male (m - stress on the last syllable).

This stanza uses a complex but very harmonious rhyme:

• the first quatrain is written using words with a closed syllable andcross rhyme: A (g) - B (m) - A (g) - B (m);
• words with a closed syllable and a paired rhyme are used in the second quatrain: C (g) - C (g); D (m) – D (m);
• in the third quatrain at the end of the line you can see words with an open syllable and belted rhyme: E (g) - F (m) - F (m) - E (g);

• 

  in the last two lines, where at the end of the word with a closed syllable, the rhyme is paired: G (m) - G (m).

Interestingly, such a sequence in Lafontaine's poetry had a random character: he spontaneously "diluted" it with free rhymes, not accepting the constraint of a predetermined framework. This is very reminiscent of the transformations that evolution creates in order to reveal to the Earth a new kind of precious stone. This style of versification was characteristic of French poets of the 17th-18th centuries, who wrote ironic works of frivolous content.

The golden stanza is famous for its convenience in the embodiment of lyrical poetic ideas. It is especially well suited to lyrical poems and meaningful elegies. Why did other famous poets also use the Onegin stanza in their work?

This made it possible to reveal the event with a story in verse using well-known compositional techniques that are easy to arrange with this stanza. The unique structure allows you to apply any emotional tone to the text, with the last two lines perfect for the conclusion.

Onegin's stanza is a compositionally complete poem. In the first quatrainthe theme of the stanza is hidden; in the second quatrain, the action develops; the third characterizes the climax; and the couplet at the end is the conclusion in the form of an aphorism. Such a composition is convenient for writing poems in which the form will be repeated many times, thereby extending the event line. Therefore, where there are lyrics and large volumes of the work, there is often a Onegin stanza. This diversity in application gives reason to assert that the composition in it is harmonious and thorough.