Analysis of the poem "The Prophet" by Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov

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

Analysis of Lermontov's poem "Prophet" let's start by learning about the time of its creation. It was written in 1841. The poem is considered one of the most recent creations of a genius. We can say that the "Prophet" is a kind of testament of the poet, his farewell.

The poem was published only after the death of the author. Nevertheless, it is significant for Mikhail Yurievich.

In his work, the poet tried to reflect his entire life path. Analysis of Lermontov's poem "The Prophet" is often compared with the analysis of the similar "Prophet" by Pushkin.

Let's consider the genre and compositional structure of the poem. It is based on the biblical text and tends to such a genre as a legend. An important difference from Pushkin's work is that he chose the book of the Prophet Isaiah, while Lermontov chose the book of the prophet Jeremiah.

The composition of the poems of the same name is also being compared. The fact is that in Pushkin it is a movement from the lowest to the highest: first, “a gloomy desert”, andthen the way to people with hope. Lermontov has the opposite: first enthusiasm, love and truth, and then an escape from the city with ashes on his head.

Analysis of the poem "Prophet" implies consideration of the ideological and artistic content of the work, ending with an appeal, designed in the form of direct speech. This is a kind of call from the “old people” to the younger generation, children, who should renounce the prophet and in no case follow him.

Now let's talk about the main ideas of the poem. The main thing here is the theme of the poet and poetry. You should pay attention to the image of the desert. It has two semantic features:

1) the space that opposes the city, the population of people and the whole world that is created by man;

2) large and open space, which symbolizes infinity.

No wonder the desert quenched the thirst of the prophet. Here he gets what was lacking in city life - communication. Among the people and the bustle of the city, no one listened to him, and now even the stars heed him. The loneliness of the poet is opposed to unity with the universe.

A detailed analysis of the poem "Prophet" requires consideration and artistic features. Biblical vocabulary is widely used here, as well as Slavicisms. Here are examples of such words: earthly creature, eyes, prophet, head, covenant, etc. The poet uses epithets belonging to a high style, for example, God's food, eternal judge, pure teachings, and others. What is interesting - Mikhail Yuryevich also uses satire and irony. Hedraws an aggressive crowd that does not recognize the prophet and persecutes him. The line "the elders say" with a proud smile" is repeated in both final quatrains.

Because of such stylistic heterogeneity, Lermontov divides the poem into stanzas. It consists of seven quatrains, each of which conveys a certain stage in the development of the storyline.

As for the poetic size, here we will find a combination of iambic tetrameter with pyrrhic.

The poem is replete with words that contain explosive consonants, such as "sprinkled with ashes", "in the desert", "fled" and so on. These words create an atmosphere of tension. The emphasis on the letter "y" provides an intonation of sadness and longing, for example, "I live in the desert", "how gloomy and thin he is."

Lermontov sums up all his work, his life. It touches on the theme of the tragic fate of the poet-prophet, his existence in the world. Mikhail Yuryevich is one of the few classics who laid the foundation for a correct understanding of the mission of the poet and all art.

Analysis of the poem "Prophet" completed.