Lermontov's work briefly. Works by M. Yu. Lermontov

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

One of the most famous Russian poets, a "prophet" of the first half of the nineteenth century, who lived only twenty-seven years… But in this short period of time he was able to convey in verse everything that was seething in his soul.

In this article we will consider the work of Lermontov. Let us briefly touch on the periodization of the author's development, and also talk about the main motives of his works.

M. Y. Lermontov

It is difficult to speak briefly about Lermontov's work. This is a giant, on a par with Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.

The most fruitful time for Mikhail Yurievich fell on the thirties of the nineteenth century. This is a period in the history of the Russian Empire, when a stage of depression and disappointment began in society. After the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, it was necessary to look for new answers to the age-old question: "What to do?"

In the literature, this trend is expressed in the strengthening of realistic motives, the assertion of the unacceptability of current events. However, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov went in a completely different way (a photo of his self-portrait is presented below).

Poet for lifeturned out to be true to romanticism, but was able to masterfully combine it with realism in his poetry, dramaturgy and prose.

Next, we will talk about two periods of creativity of this great man. But through all events, the red line will be his desire for the sublime, the struggle, the Byronian ideal of freedom.

Youth creativity

Researchers and literary critics divide Lermontov's work into two periods. In short, this is the lyrical stage of formation, which lasted from 1828 to 1836, and maturity. The border between them was the death of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and the work "The Death of a Poet".

So, the boy's first attempts to express his thoughts in the form of poetry date back to fourteen years. At this time, a “war” broke out in his family between his father, who saw his son’s talent and supported him in every possible way, and his grandmother, who sought to make a nanny out of a child for herself.

The first poems are permeated with despair, youthful maximalism, heroic motives of struggle. These include sketches for "Demon" and "Monologue", which later took shape in "Duma".

In addition to problems on the family front, the defeat of the Decembrists and the oppressive atmosphere prevailing in society greatly affect the mood of the young poet.

During the lyrical period, the young man gets acquainted with Western European literature, especially taking a great interest in the work of Byron. Therefore, in Lermontov's poems, images of romantic heroes with a restless soul are born. They are independent, thirst for freedom, despise the environment and are in a state of eternal struggle with themselves.

Mature stage

The turning point is the death of Pushkin. It is this event that radically changes the work of Lermontov. Briefly express this in one word - awakened.

Now Mikhail Yurievich realizes his destiny as a prophet and poet. Burn people's hearts with a verb. Show the public the real situation that has developed throughout the Russian Empire.

For this purpose, Lermontov leaves for the Caucasus, away from the emperor and his "servants". The free and rebellious spirit of the poet opposes the current situation. He puts his experiences into the poems "Prophet", "Death of a Poet", "Borodino", "Motherland" and others.

It is at the end of life that the “civilian” Lermontov is born. A photo of the poet in the Caucasus demonstrates his disappointment, loneliness, reflects deep thoughts and an accepted mission.

Until his death, the poet develops the socio-political ideas of Pushkin, Belinsky, Chaadaev. In the works of the mature period, he raises questions about the fate of a generation, the tragedy of love, and tries to comprehend the place of poetry in the history of mankind.

Fight motif

As we said earlier, Lermontov's poetry is permeated through and through with romantic motifs, ideas, images. Lord Byron's influence on the young boy lasted for the rest of his life.

The very first poems by M. Yu. Lermontov are permeated with heroism, lack of halftones, suffering from the imperfection of the real world and the incomprehensibility of the poet's aspirations.

Especially full of the mood and feelings of the young man are transmitted in three works– Captured Knight, Prisoner and Sail.

They are dominated by landscape-symbolic images. For example, in "Sail" we see a reflection of internal events in the soul of a poet who tries to portray them with the help of a ship lost at sea.

The poem "Prisoner" reflects not just Lermontov's stay behind bars because of the seditious "Death of a Poet". To a greater extent, these are the thoughts of a young man about his place in the Russian Empire under the existing regime.

This theme continues in The Captured Knight. It is also written in the conclusion that followed after the duel with Barant. In the work, we observe a gradually unfolding conflict between society and the individual.

Thus, such stanzas reflect Mikhail Yuryevich's unwillingness to surrender under the onslaught of social frameworks and conventions.

The fate of a generation

According to contemporaries, Lermontov's poetry expresses the deepest aspirations of the intelligentsia, which most are afraid to even think about.

The main work, which is fully permeated with the motive of uncertainty and indignation from public inaction and cowardice, is the satire-elegy "Duma". In its genre, it resembles the poem "The Death of a Poet". But, unlike the first, all the intelligentsia are stigmatized here, and not the court nobility.

Mikhail Yurievich in the lines of the poem reproaches his contemporaries for cowardice and escape from the political struggle for a better future. Along with this, the poet calls them to the moral and spiritualupdate. Lermontov's ideas completely echo Ryleev's thoughts in The Citizen.

The critics of that time, Herzen and Belinsky, took the appearance of this work very positively. In it, they saw the deepest expression of the cause of the sense of indifference and apathy that afflicted society in the thirties of the nineteenth century.

Disappointment

Like many other poems by M. Yu. Lermontov related to the last years of his life, the works “In a difficult moment of life …”, “I go out alone on the road …” and “And it’s boring and sad” are permeated with calmness and sadness.

The poet is tired of the endless and senseless battle with contemporaries who do not want to hear his voice and wake up from deadly oblivion. The rushing and active nature of a young man gradually calms down in the fetters of a deceitful and cowardly society.

Each line of the above poems shows through the desire to break out of the cage, which Lermontov considered his life. He, as in his early youth, is still absent-minded, as if he was born at the wrong time.

Like many other poems by Lermontov, these poems connect landscapes and inner feelings of the author. In the above three works, we see the sadness and endless loneliness of a man who gave his life to awaken a generation, but remained unheard.

This is high art

Not only Lermontov's poems reflect the attitude to the stagnant events of the thirties. The master could express the deepest thoughts in justa couple of words. Any line can be full of hidden meaning.

If we try to analyze two of his works ("Prophet" and "Poet"), we will see the endless pain that Mikhail Yuryevich felt. The first of them was written a few weeks before the death of a genius. In it, a twenty-seven-year-old man portrays a hero in the form of an abandoned and misunderstood prophet. He is forced to live in the desert and endure ridicule from narrow-minded philistines.

The second work is characterized by a stunning comparative series. In it, the author compares the activities of a strong poet with the essence of the existence of a combat dagger as such. At first, when there was a need for him, he tore the chain mail and fulfilled his destiny. Afterwards, he's just an empty golden toy gathering dust on a shelf.

Civil position

The later works of M. Yu. Lermontov express more the attitude of a realist to events in society, and do not oppose the rebel to the crowd.

Thus, the poet's civil position is most clearly shown in such verses as "Farewell, unwashed Russia", "Death of a poet" and "How often, surrounded by a motley crowd…".

In them we see suppressed bitterness and anger at the spiritual emptiness of society. The last work of the above is especially strong. In it, Lermontov demonstrates the callous mask of the emperor and his retinue under masks, comparing them with dreams of a village morning from childhood. This poem was written after visiting the New Year's carnival in St. Petersburg, in the winter of 1840.

The hero who fled and died in the Caucasus Mountainsagainst the backdrop of his short and turbulent life shows the stagnation of his contemporaries. Later critics lamented how much literature had lost. For twenty-seven years, Lermontov managed to plant the seed of rebellion in the soul of the public, to raise it from its knees after the defeat of the Decembrists.

Love

The works of M. Yu. Lermontov not only reflect the struggle of a proud loner with society, a stormy sea or a masquerade crowd. In some of his creations, we also meet love experiences. However, even there we are not left with the eternal sense of doom and tragedy experienced by the poet.

Thus, in this article we got acquainted with the stages and main ideas expressed in the work of the great Russian poet.

Good luck to you, dear friends!