Zhukovsky's works: list

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

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky is considered one of the founders of romanticism in Russia. This poet put the problems of the inner world of man at the center of his work. As Belinsky said about him, Zhukovsky's merit is invaluable - he gave the "soul and heart" of Russian poetry.

Zhukovsky's works focus on the inner experiences of the hero, the feelings and emotions of a common man, which led to the fact that the poet had to overcome the high syllable used by the classicists, his predecessors. The language of the works has become more emotional, lively, conveying various psychological nuances. It includes phraseology and colloquial speech.

The origin of the poet

The poet was born on January 29, 1783 on the border of the Oryol, Kaluga and Tula provinces, in the village of Mishenskoye. He was the illegitimate son of a we althy landowner, Afanasy Ivanovich Bunin, and a Turkish woman who was captured by the Russians during the storming of Bendery in 1770.

The future poet received his surname from his relative, Andrei Ivanovich Zhukovsky, a poor nobleman,who lived on the estate of Bunin, who adopted the boy. Thus he escaped the status of illegitimate.

Zhukovsky's works (list)

The poet wrote a lot, so it is very difficult to cover his work in one article. Nevertheless, we bring to your attention the main works of Zhukovsky (the list is arranged in chronological order).

1. "May morning" (1797).
2. "Thoughts at the Tomb" (1797).
3. "Rural Cemetery" (1802).
4. "Evening" (1806).
5. "Lyudmila" (1808).
6. "Svetlana" (1812).
7. "A singer in the camp of Russian soldiers" (1812).
8. "Aeolian harp" (1814).
9. "Inexplicable" (1819).
10. "Tsarskoye Selo Swan" (1851).
11. "Wandering Jew" (1851-1852).

Read more about each piece below.

Young years and first works

Even in his youth, while studying at the Noble Boarding School, located at Moscow University, Zhukovsky Vasily Andreevich, whose works we will analyze, created his first poems. His most significant achievements at that time are: the poem "May Morning" and the prose work "Thoughts at the Tomb", written in 1797. The poem "May Morning" begins in the spirit of classicism: "Dawn rises for Belorumyan …". picture of naturedescribed abstractly, idealistically. High vocabulary ("face"), mythologisms ("Phoebus"), compound epithets ("Belarusians") are used. However, in the following lines, a feeling of bitterness and heart loss appears. The work ends in the spirit of sentimentalism: "Life, my friend, is an abyss of tears and suffering…".

Rural cemetery

Vasily Zhukovsky often wrote early works in the genre of elegy. Karamzin, at that time a famous Russian writer, was a friend and teacher of the poet. It was he who was entrusted by Zhukovsky to evaluate one of his first serious works - the elegy "Rural Cemetery", a translation of the elegy of Thomas Gray, an English poet. Karamzin approved this work and ensured that in 1802 the revised elegy was published in Vestnik Evropy, the publisher of which he was at that time. The main theme of the work is the meaning of life, as well as the relationship of man with the outside world. The elegy is built as a reflection of the poet, caused by the contemplation of the rural cemetery. In the mind of the poet spontaneously appear questions that he tries to answer. They are united by a common idea of the transience of life and the vicissitudes of fate. The poet gives preference not to the "confidants of fortune", but to those who work hard for the good of the earth.

Evening

A little later, the first original works of Zhukovsky appeared, for example, the elegy "Evening", written in 1806. Although the poet's own handwriting is not yet completelyformed, the harmony and musicality of the language of the elegy is striking. The theme of "Evening" is the meaning of life, the purpose of man. The best things in life, according to the poet, are love and friendship, the beauty of nature. Classicist traditions were still discernible in this elegy: mythologisms ("Bacchus", "Zephyr", "Alpin", "Minvana") and Slavicisms ("near the shore", "golden", "oratay", etc.) were used.

"Don Quixote", critical articles

Zhukovsky's works for children are opened by the first of six volumes of the translation of Cervantes' Don Quixote, which appeared in 1804, which also notes melodious speech, lively Russian language.

In 1808, Zhukovsky (at the age of only 25) became the editor-in-chief of Vestnik Evropy, Karamzin's successor. At the same time, he translates a lot, writes fairy tales, reviews, poems, and critical articles. In the latter, the poet speaks of romanticism as a new independent direction in Russian literature. Classical norms for romanticism are no longer applicable, it must be evaluated in terms of "proportionality" and "conformity" of taste, stylistic compatibility.

Lyudmila

The genres of Zhukovsky's works were not limited to elegies. In 1808, the first ballad, "Lyudmila", was published, which is a free translation of the work of G. Burger, a German poet. This work takes the reader into an unknown other world, frightening and alluring at the same time. The plot takes the reader to the Middle Ages, the periodLivonian wars of the 16th-17th centuries. The main character, Lyudmila, is waiting for her beloved from the battlefield and, without waiting, begins to grumble at fate. The mother tries to calm her down, saying that "heaven is a reward for the humble, hell is for rebellious hearts," and calls to be obedient to heaven. However, Lyudmila loses faith, and hell instead of the expected reward becomes her lot.

Svetlana

The work "Svetlana" (Zhukovsky) is already an original ballad, which included Russian rituals and beliefs.

The mood of this work, unlike "Lyudmila", is joyful, bright. Elements of Russian folklore are inserted into the ballad - observant songs and expressions ("blacksmith, forge me gold and a new crown", "my beauty", "my friend", "joy, the light of my eyes", "red light", etc.). Svetlana is also expecting her fiancé, but, unlike Lyudmila, she eventually meets him.

Eolian harp

Romantic works of Zhukovsky continue the creation of "Aeolian harp" (1814). It organically combines ballad and lyrical elements. Belinsky proposed an analysis of Zhukovsky's work, in his opinion, this ballad "concentrates the whole meaning, all the fragrant charm of Zhukovsky's romance." The heroine does not die, but goes to the other world, where she finally unites with her lover. The motive of duality permeates many of Zhukovsky's famous works, passing through all of his work.

Singer inbecome…

The Patriotic War of 1812 could not but evoke a response in the heart of the poet, who was familiar with it firsthand - Zhukovsky took an active part in hostilities with the rank of lieutenant, fighting for the Motherland. The work "A Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors" is devoted to the events of that time, in which the patriotic theme sounds especially strong, because everything is connected with the author's personal experience. The main part of the work was written at the front, before the battle of Tarutino. The poet praises the courage and valor of the Russian people, their heroism and fearlessness in the face of the enemy. Characteristic here are odic solemnity, sublime language, the use of Slavic words, such as "army", "host", "se", "beholds", "stared" and others. The work was written in a combination of iambic trimeter and iambic tetrameter, which was unusual at that time, since odes had previously been written exclusively in iambic tetrameter.

Inexplicable

After the death of Masha Protasova, beloved and muse, with whom the poet never united in life, since the girl’s mother was against their marriage, Zhukovsky begins to think more and more about the eternal, heavenly, a mystical shade and religious motives appear in the verses. The works become a little stricter, sometimes the poet refuses his favorite stylistic excesses, and even rhyme. He is overwhelmed by the "excess of inexplicable feelings", which he tried to convey in the poem "Inexplicable" (1819):

"All the immensity crowds into a single breath;And only silence speaks clearly."

Translations of the 20-30s

In the 20-30s. the poet creates new ballads and translations. He borrows plots from Goethe ("The Fisherman"), Schiller ("The Knight of Togenburg", "The Cup"), Scott ("Castle Smeagolm, or Ivan's Evening") and other poets. Zhukovsky translates The Tale of Igor's Campaign, Byron's Prisoner of Chignon (1818-1822), Schiller's Maid of Orleans, and is also fond of Goethe, whom he managed to meet in person in 1821, when the poet made his first trip abroad.

The last works of Zhukovsky

Zhukovsky's last ballads are translations of the poems "Rustem and Zorab" and "Nal and Damayanti", in which he thinks about eternity. These ballads sound very modern, because they are written in free verse and touch on exciting topics. Zhukovsky Vasily Andreevich, whose works were no less original because of this, often borrows motifs and themes from foreign authors.

Only at the age of 58, in 1841, the poet finally found a family by marrying Elizabeth Reitern. However, some time after the marriage, Elizabeth fell ill, and the family went to Germany to improve her he alth. Here Zhukovsky fell ill, but continued to work.

In 1851, Zhukovsky wrote the elegy "Tsarskoye Selo Swan", which ends with the death of a swan that once lived in Tsarskoye Selo. Workit is completely autobiographical, allegorical, but very sincerely tells about the tragic fate of the poet, who survived his era and himself.

In the same year, he began to dictate (because he could no longer hold a pen) his last poem "The Wandering Jew", which was a kind of result of all the author's work. Unfortunately, it remained unfinished.

April 12, 1852 Zhukovsky died in the German city of Baden-Baden.

Zhukovsky's works came out of the era of classicism and the literary movement of the first third of the 19th century, answered a number of pressing issues of that time and gave impetus to the development of literature in a new direction - in a romantic key.