Prayer as a genre in Lermontov's lyrics. Creativity Lermontov. The peculiarity of Lermontov's lyrics

Already in the outgoing, in 2014, the literary world celebrated the 200th anniversary of the great Russian poet and prose writer Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov. He is certainly a significant figure in Russian literature. His rich work, created in a short life, had a considerable influence on other famous Russian poets and writers of both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Here we will consider the main motives in Lermontov's work, as well as the peculiarities of the poet's poetry.

On the origin of the Lermontov family and the education of the poet

Before we begin to consider the work of Mikhail Yurievich, it is necessary to write a few sentences about where the poet came from in the beginning of the nineteenth century with a name that was so unusual for the then Russian ear. So, in all likelihood, Lermontov's ancestors originated from Scotland and originated from Thomas Lermont, the legendary Celtic bard who lived in Scotland in the 13th century. Looking ahead, we point out one interesting detail: the great English poet George Byron, so respected by Lermontov, also considered himself a descendant of Thomas Lermont, thanks to the fact that one of Byron's ancestors was married to a woman from the Lermont family. So, one of the representatives of this name was taken to Russian captivity in the beginning of the 17th century, enlisted in the military service, accepted Orthodoxy and became the ancestor of the Russian name Lermontov. However, it should be noted that Mikhail Yurievich personally associated his surname with Francisco Gómez Lerma, the Spanish statesman of the 16th century. This is reflected in the drama "Spaniards" written by Lermontov. But the poet dedicated his Scottish roots to the lines from the poem "Desire". Lermontov's childhood was spent in the Tarkhany manor of the Penza province. The poet was brought up mainly by his grandmother, Elizabeth Arsenyev, who loved her grandson madly. Little Misha was not very strong and suffered from scrofula. Because of his poor health and this illness, Misha could not spend his childhood as he was done by many of his peers, and so his main imagination became his main "toy." But none of the surrounding and native people even noticed the inner state of the poet, nor his dreams and wanderings through his "other worlds." It was then that Misha felt in himself the very loneliness, gloominess, and - on the part of other people - the misunderstanding that would accompany him throughout the rest of his life.

Literary heritage of Lermontov

Lermontov's creative path, like his life, was very short, but extremely productive. All his conscious literary activity - from the very first student's pen tests to writing the top of his prose, the novel "The Hero of Our Time" - lasted just over twelve years. And during this time the poet Lermontov managed to write four hundred odd poems, about thirty poems and six dramas, and the prose writer Lermontov - also three novels. All of the writer's work is divided into two periods: early and mature. The border between these periods is usually the second half of 1835 and the first half of 1836. But we will bear in mind that throughout his creative career Lermontov remained faithful to his ideas, literary and life principles, which was formed at the very beginning of his becoming a poet as a person. A decisive role in the creative development of Mikhail Yurievich was played by two great poets: Pushkin and Byron. Typical for Byron's verses, the attraction to romantic individualism, to the depiction of the deepest passions in the soul, to lyrical expression, to the type of hero who is in conflict with the surrounding people, and sometimes even the whole of society, is particularly evident in the poet's early poetry. But the influence of Byron on his work, the poet Lermontov still overcomes what he writes in his poem "No, I'm not Byron, I'm different ...", while Pushkin was and remained for him an unchanging literary guide throughout Life. And if initially Lermontov directly imitated Pushkin, then already in the mature period of his work he consistently began to develop Pushkin's ideas and traditions, sometimes as if entering into some kind of creative polemic with him. In his later work Lermontov, we see, completely disillusioned with life, he already ceases to portray his inner world as something exceptional, but, on the contrary, begins to shift to ordinary feelings. However, he did not manage to solve his eternal question, which tore his soul from his youth. Or did not have time.

Lyric Lermontov

Lermontov's work can not be imagined without his lyrics. We all read his poems. Lyric M.Yu. Lermontov is largely autobiographical: she relies on the sincere spiritual experiences of the poet, conditioned by personal events and torments. However, it should be noted that this autobiography is not just from the real life of the poet, but the most that is literary, that is, creatively transformed and interpreted by Lermontov himself through the prism of his perception of the world and himself. The subject of Mikhail Yurievich's poems is unusually wide. The main motifs of Lermontov's lyrics are philosophical, patriotic, love, and religious. He wrote about friendship, about nature, about the search for the meaning of life. And when you read these poems, you involuntarily get an amazing feeling - a bright feeling of deep sorrow and sadness ... But how bright it is - this feeling! And now we will dwell on these motives in more detail and show what the peculiarity of Lermontov's lyrics is all about.

Loneliness and the search for the meaning of life

Lyric Lermontov, his poems, especially the early ones, are almost all imbued with the experience of sad loneliness. Already the first poems show a mood of denial and despondency. Although these moods are already fast enough, where the poet himself is seen in the person of the lyric hero, they change to an open monologue, and in it we are talking about people who do not care about the talent and inner world of the human soul. In "Monologue" Lermontov is no longer talking about a person, but about people, that is, in fact, a personal "I" is inferior to a broader "we". This is how the image of the empty generation, spoiled by this world, is formed. The image of the "cup of life" is very common for the "early" Lermontov; He reaches its culmination in the poem "The Cup of Life" of the same name. And it's not for nothing that the poet himself spoke of himself as an eternally suffering man. The image of eternal wanderers gives a clue and a clue to the entire poem "Clouds", as the fate of the clouds described by the poet becomes closer to the destiny of the poet himself. Like Lermontov himself, the clouds have to leave their native land. But the trick is that no one drives these very clouds, they become wanderers of their own free will. This opposition of two worldviews, that is, freedom, which relieves a person from his attachments, from love, from other people, is denied. Yes, I am free in suffering and persecution, and my choice, but I am not free, because I suffer because my own ideals, principles and the Motherland are not forgotten.

Political motives in the work of Lermontov

Lyric Lermontov, poems - this testament to the poet's descendants. And he bequeathed it to serve the best human ideals, embodying them in the eternal works of art. Many of Lermontov's poems entered the hearts of compatriots during the days of national Russian mourning, for example, during the days of the genocide of Pushkin, when the country mourned, having lost its best poet. The author of the poem "To the death of the poet" shook Pushkin's friends and disconcerted his enemies, thus provoking hatred among the latter. Enemies of Pushkin, a poetic genius, have become enemies of Lermontov. And such a struggle of Russian poetry with its enemies, stranglers and oppressors of the beloved homeland was continued by the efforts of Lermontov. And no matter how difficult this struggle was, the victory still remained behind Russian literature - one of the greatest world literatures. Before Lermontov, there was practically no case where a poet so simply "threw" poems in the face of the government so strong and frank that they instantly evoked a certain resonance in society: excitement and alarm. This was Lermontov's poem "On the death of the poet" and several others. The poem was not only a voice of anger and sorrow, but above all - retribution. It reflects the tragedy of an advanced thinking personality in Russia in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Love theme in Lermontov's lyrics

The peculiarity of Lermontov's lyrics is emphasized in his poems about love. In love lyrics, Lermontov almost always sounds sad, piercing the whole verse. In the early period of the poet's work in his love lyrics, we can hardly find bright, joyful emotions. And this distinguishes him from Pushkin. In the Lermontov poems of the early period, it is primarily about unrequited love, about female betrayals, when a woman can not appreciate the lofty feelings of a poet, her friend. However, in verse Lermontov often finds the strength, based on his own moral principles, to give up personal happiness and claims in favor of a beloved woman. Female images, depicted in verse Lermontov, are serious and charming. Even in the smallest love poem, the poet invested all his cordiality, all his feelings for the beloved. These are poems that, no doubt, were born and were caused exclusively by love. Love is objective, Christian, "right", not selfish, despite the strongest annoyance expressed in stiff rhymed lines. However, Lermontov was not a melancholy, he was a tragic poet ... Although he was extremely demanding of people and of life, looking at everything from the height of undisputed ingenious talent. But every year the poet's faith in friendship and love only grew stronger. He sought and even found what he could call a "native soul." In the poet's late poetry, it is increasingly rare to find the theme of an undivided, lonely love, Mikhail Yuryevich increasingly begins to write about the possibility and need for mutual understanding between people close in spirit; Increasingly he writes about loyalty and loyalty. Love lyrics M.Yu. Lermontov in recent years, almost free of the desperate emotional strain that so often tormented the poet before. He became different. To love and be friends, as the "late" Lermontov believed, means to wish good to one's neighbor, to forgive all minor offenses.

Philosophical poems of the poet

Philosophical motifs in Lermontov's lyrics, as well as all his work, in terms of perception and emotions, are tragic in the majority. But this is by no means the fault of the poet himself, but he simply saw the world around him, his life full of injustice and suffering. He constantly seeks, but almost always finds no harmony in life and an outlet for his passions. The rebellious and ardent heart of the poet constantly strives to free himself from this vital "prison." In our unjust world, according to Lermontov's philosophical lyrics, only evil, indifference, inactivity, and opportunism can coexist. All these themes of Lermontov are of particular concern in the already mentioned poem "Monologue." There we see his heavy, bitter meditations on his own destiny, his fate, the meaning of life, about the soul. Philosophical motifs in Lermontov's lyrics are subordinated to the idea that a poet in this world does not find so much freedom for his soul, sincerity of feelings, genuine storms and unrest in the souls and hearts of other people, but finds indifference instead of those storms. Lermontov, arguing about his own life, in which the indelible eternal longing prevails, tends to become like the blue wave, noisily rolling its waters, the white sail, rushing away into the distance in search of storms and passions. But he does not find this either on his native land or in foreign lands. Mikhail Yurievich ironically recognizes all the tragic transience of earthly life. A person lives and seeks happiness, but dies without finding it on earth. But in some verses we see that Lermontov does not believe in happiness after death, in the afterlife in which he, as an Orthodox Christian, certainly believed. Therefore, in many of his philosophical verses, we can easily find skeptical lines. For Lermontov, life is a constant struggle, an uninterrupted confrontation of two principles, a striving for goodness and light, for God. The literary quintessence of his conception of the world and man becomes one of the most famous poems - "Parus".

Prayer as a special genre in Lermontov's poems

Consider another layer of the poet's poetry. The theme of prayer in Lermontov's lyrics plays a significant, if not to say more, role. Let's consider more in detail Prayer in the lyrics of Lermontov, perhaps, can even indicate a special kind of "genre." Orthodoxy-bred Mikhail Yurievich has several poems that are called "Prayer." On topics with them, the poem "Gratitude" is similar. However, the attitude of the poet to God is contradictory. Prayer as a genre in Lermontov's lyrics is constantly evolving. From 1829 to 1832 Lermontov's "prayers" were built, one might say, according to a certain principle, usual for all, and the lyric "I" really appeals to God and asks for His protection and help, regarding faith with hope and sympathy. But if we take a later period, then we can observe in the poet's prayer poems already some kind of resistance to the will of the Almighty, reinforced by irony, audacity and sometimes requests for death. By the way, it can be seen partly in early verses, even in "Do not blame me, God Almighty ...". Such a turn in the lyrics can be associated with the turbulent and rebellious nature of Lermontov, differences in his behavior and mood, as both the poet's acquaintances and biographers talk about. Maybe no one else - neither before nor after Lermontov - if we study Russian poetry, we will not find such "prayerful" verses as Mikhail Yurievich, but, what is very important, prayer as a genre in Lermontov's lyrics is almost necessarily of a character A certain sacrament. The most striking poem is "Do not blame me, All-powerful ...", where the poet most accurately and accurately depicts his personality, which was born for creativity. But he wrote it at the age of 15. The sensation and awareness of the gift given to him by the poet are so accurate and understandable in this vivid verse, and the words to God are so sincere and original that even an inexperienced reader feels it at once. Lermontov exposes the contradictoriness of his soul, and human nature in general. On the one hand, she is firmly attached to this earthly gloom and suffering, and on the other hand she seeks God and understands the highest treasured values. Prayer as a genre in Lermontov's lyrics often begins with a repentant appeal to the Most High, who can both blame and punish. But at the same time with this repentance in the stanzas of the above verse the reader also feels how slips of excuse for himself that slip and forbidden for any prayer. In the rapid change of states, there is an inner self of man, opposed to the will of God, and from this confrontation, repentance and murmur, a feeling of alarm grows, the connection between man and God is broken. Prayer as a genre in Lermontov's lyrics is a verse where the request for forgiveness, as a rule, is muffled by the justification of its rampant passions and actions.

Lyric Lermontov in the school curriculum

In our time, Lermontov's lyrics are actively studied according to the compulsory program in literature classes, beginning with junior ones and ending with graduation classes. First of all, poetry is studied, in which the main motifs of Lermontov's lyrics are clearly traced. Students in primary school get acquainted with the work of Mikhail Yurievich, and only in the upper grades is studied the "adult" lyrics of Lermontov (grade 10). Tenth-graders do not just study some of his poems, but determine the main motifs of Lermontov's poetry as a whole, learn to understand poetic texts.

Prose M.Yu. Lermontov

And in the Lermontov prose, the self-analysis setting found a fruitful embodiment, where it was transformed into the experience of creating a generalized psychological portrait of the "hero of his time", incorporating the features of the whole generation and at the same time preserving both his individual personality and the extraordinary nature of his own nature. Lermontov's prose grows on a romantic basis, but the romantic principles in it are functionally changed and reassigned to the tasks of realistic writing.

Lermontov's creativity is a great value for every person. Thanks to him, each of us thinks about the philosophical problems presented in novels and dramas. And Lermontov's poem, at least one or two, knows by heart, probably every person.