Analysis of Vladimir Mayakovsky's poem "Veil Jacket"

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

Vladimir Mayakovsky is a great phenomenon in the art of the twentieth century, an innovator and reformer who turned the world of poetry upside down. He has an amazing destiny and creative path. In his early years, he was a member of the Futurist circle, which had a great influence on him. The young, bold and daring poet went against established ideas about art, did everything to "throw Pushkin off the ship of modernity."

What is the poem about

"Veil jacket" - a poem that refers to the early work of Mayakovsky, it was written in 1914 (fat - a dandy and a smug person). The poet entered the literary world in the form of a hooligan, so he was accepted and remembered. Mayakovsky had no choice but to continue to play the imposed role. But this man and his lyrics are actually much deeper than it might seem at first glance. It has everything: love, and sadness, and philosophy, and a response to ongoing historical events. But for a widethe public, Mayakovsky remained a rebel - this is what he was interesting for.

The poet always came to literary evenings in a bright yellow shirt, which caused people not the most pleasant feelings. There were legends about this jacket even then, Mayakovsky even had to come up with all sorts of tricks in order to go to events in it. This piece of clothing is what the story is about.

Yellow jacket - a symbol of individuality, dissimilarity, desire to stand out from the crowd.

Images in a poem

The combination of black and yellow is considered very daring and sharp. Mayakovsky, with a few broad strokes, creates the image of a lyrical hero - a non-standard, bright person who challenges society.

In the poem, a lot of attention is focused on the personality of the character. The author distinguishes him from the crowd with the help of pronouns: "his", "I", "me", "mine", "me". In the last quatrain, these parts of speech are even present in every line. An interesting fact: the share of pronouns in Mayakovsky's poem "Veil Jacket" is almost 15 percent.

"Green springs you're going to rape", "women who love my meat" are metaphors that create the image of a rude, a very impulsive and emotional lyrical hero. Few poets would dare to use such harsh expressions. However, Mayakovsky exaggerates, he makes everything deliberately catchy, and this shows his style and personality.

Artistic media

Mayakovsky is a reformer in the field of rhymes. There is no clear rhythm in his works, so they are based only on consonances. The words on which the poet wanted to emphasize, he transferred to the end of the lines and selected the necessary rhyme for them. Thanks to this technique, Mayakovsky's poems sound very characteristic and convey the author's intention well.

"Poems, funny as bi-ba-bo" - here the so-called self-written word is used, that is, devoid of meaningful content. This technique was invented by the futurists. In general, bi-ba-bo is a simple rag doll worn on the arm.

Mayakovsky felt like a lonely warrior who challenged society and old paradigms. A man in a shirt "of three yards of sunset", he played the role of a shocking, slightly crazy and impudent poet. But his poems "both sharp and necessary, like toothpicks" perfectly conveyed the mood of the time, corresponded to historical realities. Everything deep loves a mask, and so it was with Mayakovsky. Behind the image of the herald of the revolution was a very vulnerable, sensitive and lonely person.