Afanasy Fet: analysis of the poem "Another May Night"

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

Before analyzing the poem "Another May Night", it is necessary to say a few words about the aesthetic views of the poet. Afanasy Fet lived and worked at the same time as Nekrasov, but the poets' idea of the purpose of poetry and the lyrics themselves were diametrically opposed. If Nekrasov saw his Muse as a grumbling sister of the “tormented” people, then in Fet she is a source of “pure thoughts” designed to take away from “worldly excitement”. In the era of democratic sentiments, Fet's lyrics were alien to progressive and popular magazines at that time, the poet was ridiculed, criticized and dozens of parodies were written on his elegant and not at all social poems.

The meaning of art

Fet's poem "Another May Night" was written in 1857. In it, he appears as a true apologist for "pure art". This term means that the purpose of art is to proclaim eternal values, to strive for perfect beauty, and not to depend on current events, and even more so not to denounce the unrest in society. The creative spirit, according to Fet, is needed precisely in order toovercome the "dark darkness" of everyday life, escape from it.

Analysis of the poem "Still May Night": content

The secret of true poetry lies in the fact that no matter how much you read (or listen to) a lyrical work, it finds a deep response and each time evokes new feelings and images. This is due to the fact that the poet brings to the fore the image-feeling, image-experience and uses expressive artistic means to embody it. Such is Fet's poem "Another May Night". In order to fully enjoy the poetic masterpiece, to feel it together with the poet, we will thoughtfully read the poem several times. First, we will see that the lyrical hero admires the spring night with inspiration, inhaling its air, listening to its sounds.

Following reading will surprise us with a whole range of emotions experienced by the poet. He is full of excitement, gratitude, bliss and anxiety. A sharp intrigue is manifested in the fact that the face of the May night gives rapture and at the same time gives rise to thoughts about the finiteness of being.

Composition of the poem

This exquisite lyrical work consists of four successively reinforcing quatrains. The first begins and ends with an exclamation, reflecting admiration and introducing into the atmosphere of spring. The second quatrain repeats the exclamation in the first line and gives sound and visual images that prepare the excited mood of expectation deployed in the next quatrain. It opens with a metaphor of a birch-bride, which "trembles" - inthis word combines the physical thrill of leaves in the wind and the emotional state. In the fourth quatrain, the author again refers to the night, "explaining" with her as with a "disembodied" beloved. The song of the nightingale (serene and light) is replaced by the "involuntary song" of the inner "I". Both songs arise instinctively, involuntarily. The last line of the poem, which at first glance sounds in dissonance with the general mood, nevertheless turned out to be prepared: languor, which at first had a tinge of bliss, gradually flowed into a feeling of confusion.

Expressive means

The lyrical hero conveys confusion through the appearance of birches that are “waiting” for something. The image of the stars is remarkable, not distant and cold, as is customary, but “warmly and meekly” looking into the soul. This personification instantly reduces the time and space of the poem. Everything is now seen as closely interconnected, intertwined in a mysterious and gentle union of the vast Universe and the human soul, which contains it all. It is no coincidence that the poet uses the metaphorical image of the bride in the poem "Another May Night". An analysis of the synonymic row in which this image is given demonstrates a delightfully careful and intimate intonation. These are carefully selected metaphors and epithets: “newlywed virgin”, “bliss”, “fresh”, “clean”, “translucent”, “meek”, “shy”, “trembling”, “beckoning and comforting”.

Analysis of the poem "Another May Night" reveals another of its features: the opposition of images and feelings moves from external and large-scale perception to internal,elusive and hidden. Thus, the static realm of blizzards, ice and snow is opposed to the fresh flying May, tangible tenderness is opposed to incorporeality. Joy is opposed to strangeness, anxiety competes with love, perfect beauty is opposed to possible death. Poets always keenly feel the abyss between the infinite cosmos, the ever-renewing nature and mortal man. Afanasy Fet is no stranger to this idea. "Another May Night" represents this antithesis: the young breath of spring is opposed by the last song. But Fet would not be himself if he had not softened this opposition with a mysterious “maybe”. In general, it is not in the rules of the poets of the school of "pure art" to place clear accents and confident strokes. On the contrary, reticence, the presence of mystery, light contours and hints are welcome. So the poet overcomes the finiteness of being, unites the soul restless in anxiety with the boundless power of love. From this, sadness becomes light, gains wings.

Central idea

When analyzing the poem “Another May Night”, it is worth mentioning that in it Fet goes beyond landscape lyrics, in which his pen feels so at ease. Before us is a philosophical work, expressing the idea of the harmony of nature and the powerlessness of the mind to comprehend this harmony. To this end, the author deliberately uses a non-existent grammatical form - "incorporeal", where the comparative degree arises not from a qualitative, but from a relative adjective. The idea of the poem is confirmed by its sound organization. Written in iambic pentameter with a crossrhyme, it has a sublimely solemn intonation.