A short message about the poet and Nekrasov's poetry. The main motives of Nekrasov's lyrics

Many artists of the word have addressed the theme of the poet and poetry more than once, but they have revealed it in their works in different ways. In the middle of the 19th century, two main trends emerged in understanding the tasks of art.

Proponents of the so-called "pure art" believed that poetry "consists not in reality, but in the elegance of both the form and the subject of the poem." They deliberately avoided real problems reality and turned to "eternal" themes.

Representatives of the democratic direction in art took a different position. They relied on the experience of such writers as the Decembrist poets, Pushkin, Lermontov. Ryleev called himself a poet-citizen, Pushkin was proud that his art aroused “good feelings” in people, and as a poet-prophet he saw the mission of art in “burning people’s hearts with a verb.” Lermontov in difficult conditions Russian reality of the 30s of the 19th century grieved that the poet's voice no longer sounds, "like a bell on a veche tower in the days of celebrations and troubles of the people."

Thus gradually emerged that position in the understanding of art, which defined its main task as serving civil ideals, the embodiment of the aspirations of the people. She received her final expression in aesthetic program and the practice of the "natural school" and its further followers, among whom Nekrasov occupied the most significant place.

“In our fatherland, the role of a writer is, first of all, the role of a teacher, and, if possible, a defender of the voiceless and humiliated,” Nekrasov argued in one of his letters to L.N. Tolstoy. Having inherited best traditions his predecessors, he went further and established in Russian poetry the new principles of democratic art, which was supposed not only to serve the people, but to speak "the language of the people." Such art responded to the civil needs of society:

Go into the fire for the honor of the fatherland,

For faith, for love...

Go and die flawlessly.

You won't die in vain... It's solid,

When blood flows under him,

Called poets Nekrasov. These views corresponded to the position of the democratic wing in the Russian social movement, which, from the point of view of the goals and objectives of art, were defined in the works of Nekrasov's associates N.G. Chernyshevsky and N.A. Dobrolyubova.

Nekrasov came to Russian literature in the mid-40s of the nineteenth century as new poet, inspired by the Muse, quite unlike traditional image beautiful maiden - the goddess of poetry. In the poem "Yesterday, at six o'clock ...", written in 1848, Nekrasov writes that his Muse is the sister of a peasant woman tortured in the square with a whip. The lines of his poem are surprisingly simple and even prosaic. They sound harsh restraint and hidden pain:

Yesterday at six o'clock

I went to Sennaya;

They beat a woman with a whip,

A young peasant woman.

Not a sound from her chest

Only the whip whistled, playing ...

And I said to the Muse: “Look!

Your own sister!"

An ordinary street scene turns under the poet's pen into a symbol of suffering, proud patience and anger.

At the same time, the line between civil and intimate lyrics is erased. It is too distinguishing feature Nekrasov's poetry: all his works, even poems dedicated to love and nature, that is, to those " eternal themes”, for which the representatives of “pure art” stood up, express the thoughts and feelings of a poet-citizen. Contemplatively. The pose of the Olympian poet, indifferently listening to good and evil, is unacceptable for Nekrasov.

This once again confirms the poem "Muse", in which the poet speaks of his Muse as "the sad companion of the sad poor." At the same time, he deliberately opposes it to the Romantic poet's Muse, entering into an open dispute with representatives of "pure art".

This theme was developed in Nekrasov's poetic declaration - the poem "The Poet and the Citizen". In it, the author affirms not just the poet's right to be a citizen, but considers this his main duty: "You may not be a poet, / But you must be a citizen."

For this programmatic work, Nekrasov chooses the form of a dialogue. The polemical orientation is generally inherent in his work. The dispute underlies many of his poems about the specifics and tasks of art. Thus, he opposes the romantic Muse with his Muse, “whipped with a whip”; "gentle poet" - satirist writer ("Blessed gentle poet…”). He constantly argues with those who say that "the theme is the old suffering of the people, / And that poetry should forget it" ("Elegy"). Such a dispute is the ideological and compositional basis of the poem "The Poet and the Citizen".

One of the heroes of the poem is a disappointed poet who has gone through a difficult creative path. In his youth, he "honestly hated" and "genuinely loved." He remembers the time when

No disgust, no fear

I went to prison and to the place of execution,

I went to courts and hospitals.

I will not repeat what I saw there ...

He did not run away from life, but boldly invaded it, was not afraid to show it in his work. dark sides. This is, of course, a realist poet, close in spirit and aesthetic positions to the author himself. But the relationship between the author and the hero in this poem is somewhat more complicated. After all, the poet that Nekrasov is talking about is shown at the wrong time of his vigorous activity, but when he was exhausted in the struggle and folded his "hands humbly." Together with civic feelings, his poetry has also faded, he is in a state of deep crisis. It was then that a “citizen” appeared who called on the poet to return to his former ideals and take a worthy place in art and society:

Be a citizen! serving the art

Live for the good of your neighbor

Subordinating your genius to feeling

All-Encompassing Love…

But to whom is this call directed? The whole logic of the development of the artistic thought of the poem shows that Nekrasov's Citizen and Poet are not separated by an impassable abyss. It can be said that the Citizen lives in the Poet himself. And then it turns out that the grief of the Nekrasov Poet about his own impotence is truly civil grief. Nekrasov comes to deny the very alternative: a poet or a citizen. He affirms a new understanding: the poet-citizen.

This idea is confirmed by the analysis of the vocabulary of the poem. At the beginning of the poem, the citizen speaks like a poet, because he preaches high ideals (“the year of grief”, “herald of the truths of the ages”, “prophetic strings”, “chosen one of heaven”), and the poet answers as a person immersed in the prose of life (“ I almost fell asleep, where are we up to such views”). But in the last monologue, the vocabulary changes - now the poet spoke differently. Sorrow and remorse overwhelm him. These are already completely different feelings, and therefore other words sound, the voice of a true poet sounds (“a sacred duty of a person”, “severe rock”, “an extraordinary gift of songs”).

The ending of the poem does not final decision dispute between a poet and a citizen. Yes, as a result of this dispute, the poet is ready to reproach himself for apostasy from the mission of civil art:

Poor man! And what did you get out of

Are you the duty of a sacred man?

What a tribute from life took

Are you the son of a sick sick century?

The key words of the poem: “You may not be a poet, / But you must be a citizen,” are not perceived as an appeal to the poet to refuse poetic creativity for the sake of civic service, but rather as the ideal to which, according to Nekrasov, he should strive true poet-citizen.

But is this ideal achievable? Nekrasov leaves this question open. The poem "The Poet and the Citizen" does not end at all with the reconciliation of all contradictions, it ends with the dramatic confession of the Poet:

Under the yoke of years the soul bent,

She cooled down to everything

And the Muse completely turned away,

Full of bitter contempt.

Now in vain I call to her -

Alas! Hidden forever.

And many years later, Nekrasov did not leave doubts about himself, his work, but still the Muse did not leave him. In many other poems, he continues to persistently seek an answer to the question, what should a true poet be like, what kind of poetry is worthy of the lofty civil tasks of art?

These reflections are reflected in the poem "Blessed is the gentle poet ...", written as a response to the death of the great Russian satirist writer Gogol. The source of the poem was lyrical digression, which begins Chapter VII of Volume 1 " dead souls". In it, Gogol spoke in defense of art, which dares to show "the mire of trifles", and not only the high side of life.

Nevertheless, Nekrasov's poem sounds somewhat different: more sharply, polemically, passionately. In it, like in Gogol, two types of poets are opposed to each other. One is a “gentle poet”, “in whom there is little honor, a lot of feeling”; he is welcomed and extolled by the crowd, "the friends of the quiet art." The other is a poet-denunciator who “feeds his breast with hatred”, and his “punishing lyre” “preaches love with a hostile word of denial”. The path of such a poet is difficult and thorny. Compared with Gogol's characteristic, Nekrasov reinforces the theme of the rejection of such a poet by the crowd and the tragedy of his fate. The poem ends with a bitter picture:

From all sides they curse him,

And, only seeing his corpse,

How much he did, they will understand

And how he loved - hating!

It is in this poem that famous formula"love-hate", widely picked up by representatives of the democratic camp. More than once Nekrasov will then return to her:

That heart won't learn to love

Who is tired of hating.

Nekrasov emphasizes the idea that a true patriot poet is not only one who praises his Motherland and sings of it in verse. The poet-citizen remains a patriot even when he dares to talk about the shortcomings that exist in his country, because he, “like his own, wears all the ulcers of his homeland on his body.” Let us recall that even Lermontov claimed that the “disease” of the century can be cured only with the help of “bitter medicines”. This idea continues and develops in his work Nekrasov.

But he was aware that the fulfillment of this task requires great courage and perseverance from the poet. Nekrasov himself, at times, doubted his abilities:

Whatever the year - the strength decreases,

The mind is lazier, the blood is colder ...

Sometimes, it seemed to him that the duty of a citizen poet was unfulfillable in the conditions in which he had to live and create:

Shut up, Muse of revenge and sorrow!

I don't want to disturb someone else's dream

We cursed you enough.

Alone I die - and I am silent.

The motive of doubt sounds in his "Elegy", which in many respects echoes Pushkin's poems about the contradictions between the poet and those to whom his work is addressed - "Echo", "The Poet and the Crowd", "To the Poet". The comparison of the poet with the echo is also heard in Nekrasov's "Elegy". Pushkin speaks bitterly about the fact that the poet, responding, like an echo, to all the phenomena of life, does not receive an answer.

Nekrasov's "song" is echoed by the forest, and dales, and fields, and mountains, only the people to whom "the poet's dreams are dedicated" do not respond. This makes him as tragically lonely as the hero of Pushkin's poem.

But still, Nekrasov does not abandon the idea of civic art, serving the interests of the people:

Let the changing fashion tell us

That the topic is old - the suffering of the people

And that poetry should forget it, -

Don't believe me guys! She doesn't age.

This call is also addressed to himself. So again at the end of life and creative way the poet begins, in spite of everything, to sound notes of optimism and faith in the cause to which his life was dedicated. Minutes of doubt passed, and the poet could proudly assert:

I dedicated the lyre to my people.

Perhaps I will die unknown to him,

But I served him, and my heart is calm.

Let not every warrior harm the enemy,

But everyone go to battle!

Nekrasov was an example of a poet-citizen for Russian society, who “carries all the ulcers of his homeland like his own on his body” and, despite any difficulties, fulfills his duty to the end.

In each new era requiring civil service from a person of art, questions that worried Nekrasov are raised again and again. And every time the answers are different. Perhaps this is one of the main tasks of art and the role of the poet in people's lives.

Russian society of the forties of the XIX century - the time in which literary activity N. A. Nekrasova, - was actively looking for ways to develop Russia. At that time, such currents and directions of social thought as official ideology, Slavophilism, Westernism were already quite clearly defined; during the same period, the formation revolutionary democracy headed by Belinsky and Herzen.

The problem, which was simply impossible to avoid in those conditions, was the liberation of the people from serfdom. The struggle for the interests of the disadvantaged, the awareness of the grandiosity of what was being done brought into the life of a person who chose the path of the protector of the Russian plowman, a feeling of fullness of being and happiness. The social movement of those years reached unprecedented proportions. In the world of art, the question of the purpose of literature, and in particular poetry, was raised again and again.

Nekrasov also repeatedly addressed this problem. The poet chose the path of “an accuser of the crowd, its passions and delusions” in his youth, but the first statements on this topic date back to a later time.

On February 21, 1852, on the day of the death of N.V. Gogol, whose name is inextricably linked with citizenship in literature, Nekrasov wrote the poem “Blessed is the gentle poet ...” - the first poetic declaration. At the poles of his system of values, he outlined the externally opposite and internally hostile concepts of “calm art” and “punishing lyre”. Nekrasov chose his thorny path long ago, long ago the benefits became main goal his poetry, and love, hatred - the source that feeds it.

Next loud statement creative credo was the 1856 poem "The Poet and the Citizen". It is constructed as a dialogue, and this form is traditional for Russian literature. So “The Poet and the Crowd”, “The Conversation of the Bookseller with the Poet” by A. S. Pushkin, “Journalist, Reader and Writer” by M. Yu. Lermontov were written. But Nekrasov's dialogue is an internal dispute, a struggle in his soul between the Poet and the Citizen. The author himself tragically experienced this internal rupture, often making the same claims to himself as the Citizen to the Poet. The citizen in the poem shames the Poet for inaction; in his understanding, the immense loftiness of civil service overshadows the former ideals of creative freedom, high goal- die for the Fatherland: "... go and die flawlessly."

In fact, there are two confessions in the poem: each of the characters opens the soul, and it becomes clear that there is no antagonism in the ideas of opponents. Only unworthy weakness, cowardice prevent the Poet from standing next to the Citizen.

I was called to sing of your suffering,

Patience amazing people!

Nekrasov writes these lines in 1867 in the poem “I will die soon. A pitiful legacy... The poet again turns to the slogan that defines all his work.

In 1874, Nekrasov created the poem "Prophet". This work, of course, continued the series in which the works of Pushkin and Lermontov already stood. It again speaks of the difficulty of the chosen path, of divine beginning creativity:

He has not yet been crucified,

But the hour will come - he will be on the cross,

Sent by the God of Wrath and Sorrow

Remind the kings of the earth about Christ.

Nekrasov's god bears very little resemblance to the gods of his predecessors. The Christ of this “Prophet” is closer to the savior of the utopian socialists than to the one who was honored by the Orthodox Church.

In 1877, Nekrasov defines the goals of the life of every person, including the poet: “Sow reasonable, good, eternal ...” (“To the Sowers”), once again refers to the topic of sacrifice:

Who, serving the great purposes of the age,

He gives his whole life

To fight for the brother of man

Only he will survive...

("Zine")

So, all of Nekrasov's work affirmed the thought: "You may not be a poet, but you must be a citizen." At the same time, the author of these lines has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that in his soul the poet and the citizen do not get along well. In the 1876 poem "Zina" he confessed:

The struggle prevented me from being a poet,

Songs prevented me from being a fighter.

Nekrasov was bitter to realize that, striving to be a fighter, he voluntarily renounced poetic freedom. Regrets about the lost are repeated many times in the poet's verses:

There is no free poetry in you,

My harsh, clumsy verse!

There is no creative art in you...

(“Celebration of life - years of youth ...”, 1855)

How little I knew of free inspirations,

Oh homeland! your sad poet!

(“I will die soon. A miserable legacy...”, 1867)

Busy journalistic work - social struggle- Nekrasov sometimes had a hard time with his creations:

My poems are the fruit of an unhappy life,

At the rest of the stolen hours,

Hidden tears and timid thoughts...

(“I am unknown. I did not acquire you ...”, 1855)

But even Turgenev, who did not like Nekrasov, was forced back in 1856 to admit that the poet's poems, "collected into one focus, burn." The author himself revealed the secret of this in a poem of 1858:

My poems! Witnesses alive

For the world of shed tears!

We will meet the same thought in the “Elegy” of 1874: “... And the song itself is composed in the mind, recent, secret thoughts living embodiment...”

In 1855, Nekrasov proudly spoke of his work:

But living blood boils in you,

A vindictive feeling prevails

Burning, glimmering love...

Over the years, shame has become mixed with pride. Far from always, what was written was created at the moment of inspiration: there were too many publications designed to support Sovremennik, blacked out by the censor. Until the end of his life, Nekrasov repented of writing a message in honor of Muravyov the Hangman...

These motives are felt in the poem “I will die soon. A pitiful legacy...”:

I did not trade lyre, but it happened,

When inexorable fate threatened,

The lyre made the wrong sound

My hand...

The poet accused himself not only of crimes against talent and conscience. He became much sharper when it came to retreat from the cause of struggle. Necessity and civic duty could justify an ode to Muravyov, but nothing excused cowardice. Strict in self-esteem, Nekrasov was not shy about talking about his mistakes. His reproaches to himself are reminiscent of the dialogue between the Citizen and the Poet:

I deeply despise myself for this.

That I live, day after day uselessly destroying ...

And I cursed the heart that was confused

Before the fight - and stepped back! ..

(“Return”, 1864)

The poet believed that he was not capable of a feat, although he wrote in the "Prophet" about the impossibility of "serving good without sacrificing oneself." Nekrasov hated his weakness, but could not change anything:

I will not sell opinions for money

I won't lie unless absolutely necessary...

But - to die a victim of persuasion

I can't... I can't...

(“The Man of the Forties”, 1866-1867)

The quoted lines again bring us back to the poem “The Poet and the Citizen” with its loud appeal: “Go and die impeccably...” The citizen from the poem is sure that he is right...

But Nekrasov sometimes had doubts, for a while the awareness of the meaning of life disappeared. The moment of such a spiritual crisis was reflected in the 1867 poem “Why are you tearing me to pieces ...”, which ends with a bitter confession: “...But I don’t know what to die for.”

In general, moments of at least relative peace of mind are rare for Nekrasov. The poet was tormented by the fact that he left a “miserable legacy” to his homeland, that his poems did not find a response among the people:

But I do not flatter that in the memory of the people

Some of them survived...

(“Celebration of life - years of youth ...”)

I'm just as alien to the people

I'm dying as I began to live.

(“I will soon become the prey of decay...”, 1876)

A special place in the work of Nekrasov is occupied by poems dedicated to his Muse. This image, paradoxical from the traditional point of view, first appears in 1848 in the poem “Yesterday at six o'clock...”. Muse's sister turns out to be a peasant woman - humiliated, disgraced, beaten with a whip. In 1855, Nekrasov clarified the characterization using the same images:

She took her crown of thorns

Without flinching, the disgraced Muse

And under the whip without a sound died.

(“I am unknown. I did not acquire you ...”)

The inspirer of the poet is the Muse unfortunate, defeated, “The Muse of revenge and sadness”, proud, steadfastly accepting the blows of fate, hating, avenging and at the same time loving, forgiving, fallen, “humbly asking” - all this is merged into the image that Nekrasov has ceases to be a symbol, an embodiment high creativity, but becomes a completely visible character, who has acquired flesh, character and destiny. The muse is endowed with the features of a woman from the people who speak through her mouth. Depriving the inhabitant of Olympus of mystery, Nekrasov lowers her to the ground:

But early the bonds weighed down on me

Another, unkind and unloved Muse,

The sad companion of the sad poor...

(“Muse”, 1852)

And she shows the poet, like Dante's Virgil, "the dark abysses of Violence and Evil, Labor and Hunger."

All of the above features were listed in the poems "Muse" of 1852 and "Why are you mockingly jealous ..." of 1855. These two detailed descriptions the inspirers of the poet in the 50s did not appear at all by chance. Nekrasov, as the founder of social poetry, for which there were no forbidden and unpoetic topics, sought to prove that his work was sanctified. In his lyrics, there is always a polemic with Pushkin, whose Muse is "obedient to the command of God." Nekrasov contrasts her with the Muse-slave, who faithfully served the people throughout the life of the poet.

AT last years the seriously ill Nekrasov increasingly returned to his Muse, as if she could share his loneliness and longing with him. “Oh Muse! You were my friend, come to my last call!” - wrote the poet in the "Introduction to the songs of 1876-1877". The poet believes more and more that in verses - his immortality and salvation, and the Muse goes with him hand in hand to last line, looking back, like him, at the life he lived and re-evaluating it:

Between me and honest hearts

You won't let it break for a long time

Living, blood union!

(“Oh Muse! I am at the door of the coffin!”, 1877)

Although the disease did not defeat Nekrasov's talent, mental and physical suffering entered his poems. An unprecedented image of the Muse-death appears in the 1877 poem “Bayushki-bayu”:

Where are you, Muse! Sing like before!

“No more songs, darkness in the eyes;

Say: - We'll die! End of hope! -

I wandered on crutches!”

The poet's muse grew old and died with him, but, as before, she was the "sister of the people":

O Muse! Our song is sung.

Come close the poet's eyes

To the eternal call of non-existence,

Sister of the people - and mine!

(“Muse”, 1876)

Summing up the work of Nekrasov, one cannot but recall the poem "Elegy" of 1874. It was written four years before the death of the poet, but summarizes the main motives found in the lyrics of its author. Here are reflections on the purpose of poetry, and an assessment of the results achieved, and thoughts about the fate of the people. The poem echoes Pushkin's lyrics. "Elegy" echoes the works "Village",

“Monument”, “I visited again...”, “Echo”. The debate between Nekrasov the citizen and “pure art” continues. Again we see the Muse of the creator of the "Elegy", mourning the people's disasters. In this poem, the poet uttered the key words for understanding his work: “I dedicated the lyre to my people.”

Continuing the traditions of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov throughout his entire career constantly turned to the theme of the poet and poetry.

Already in the 40s of the 19th century, referring to these motives, the poet compares his Muse with a simple woman from the people (verse “Yesterday, at six o'clock ...”, 1848). By this, N. emphasized the nationality of his work and at the same time showed the difficulties that he encountered at the beginning of his career, fighting censorship. His muse, like a young peasant woman, is slashed with a whip, cut with a whip, cursed with malicious words. After 4 years, in the poem "Muse" (1852), the poet develops these assessments of his Muse. N. compares his patroness with a peasant woman singing "in a wretched hut, in front of a smoky torch, bent by labor, killed by a torment." But the poet's Muse is not only likened to a rural worker, but also called "the sad companion of the sad poor." The word "sorrows" spoken twice here very accurately defines one facet of character Nekrasov Muses. Another facet of it is a disposition to revenge. In 1855, the definition will be formulated: "The Muse of revenge and sorrow."

N. creates his own reflection on the creator - "Blessed is the gentle poet" (1852). Created at the time of the "gloomy seven years", it is dedicated to the memory of the recently deceased N.V. Gogol. And, despite the censorship terror, he is fighting for the "Gogol" direction in literature. Glorifying the poet - "the accuser of the crowd", N. in the second part of the poem endows the creator with the features of a prophet who is "chased by blasphemy", but who firmly goes through his "thorny path". And although the word "prophet" has not yet been named, the mission of prophecy, the ethics of self-sacrifice and service to love and truth are clearly indicated here.

Reflecting on the artist-creator, N. creates the famous poem "The Poet and the Citizen" (1856), in which he gave the image of the Poet some of his own features (known doubts, hesitation and repentance). The figure of the Citizen is also generalized, demanding from the Poet a response to life conflicts, active service to the people, protection of the disadvantaged. The lines “You may not be a poet, but you must be a citizen” go back to Decembrist poetry. Responding to the debate about the role of the poet in society, which were conducted in journalism in the 1870s, N. creates a poem "To the Poet (In Memory of Schiller)" (1874). N. does not touch here on the theme of suffering and torment. For N. life, thought, creativity of the great German poet beautiful primarily because in them he sees the manifestation of the personality of the artist-judge, who is guided by the highest principles of morality and beauty. The poem calls for militant public service:

Arm yourself with heavenly thunders!

…Execution self-interest, murder, sacrilege.

Tear off the crowns from traitorous heads...

But perhaps the deepest expressive poem on the theme of the poet and poetry becomes in the same 70s "Elegy" (1874). This is a sincere spiritual confession, a result summed up at the end of the path. There are many hesitations and doubts. But these doubts are overcome, albeit at the cost of great effort. It was not by chance that N. considered the lines of this poem to be “the most sincere” and favorite of those written in the last years of his life. They conveyed many of his innermost thoughts about modern reality, the situation of the people and about himself. Comprehending the nature of the post-reform years, N. comes to the disappointing conclusion that old topic"suffering of the people" has not lost its topicality:

Oh, if years could age her!

would flourish God's world!

But the share of the people, the fate of the peasants still remain painful and unbearable. With many of its motives, this poem by N. is connected with Pushkin's traditions.

Reflections on the people and the lyre, designed to mourn their disasters and tragic fate, gives rise to a heartfelt stanza about the poet and poetry. It is the most important and deepest Nekrasov self-expression:

I dedicated the lyre to my people.

Perhaps I will die unknown to him,

But I served him - my heart is calm ...

In this the poet sees the role and purpose of poetry in general. This appointment is not only to “remind the crowd that the people are in poverty”, in order to “arouse attention to the people the mighty of the world", but also in calling the people to the final liberation from slavery and finding true happiness for them ("The people are freed, but are the people happy?"). And addressing the young men, the poet calls them to contribute to this with their active deeds. So N. expressed his most important creative program.

Summing up the results of his journey in the quatrain "Muse" (1876), returning to the motif of early poems, N. reaffirms the affinity of his poetry to the common people. The Muse who came to the tomb is “the sister of the people - and mine!” exclaims the poet.

Continuing the traditions of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov throughout his entire career constantly turned to the theme of the poet and poetry.

Already in the 40s of the 19th century, referring to these motives, the poet compares his Muse with a simple woman from the people (verse “Yesterday, at six o'clock ...”, 1848). By this, N. emphasized the nationality of his work and at the same time showed the difficulties that he encountered at the beginning of his career, fighting censorship. His muse, like a young peasant woman, is slashed with a whip, cut with a whip, cursed with malicious words. After 4 years, in the poem "Muse" (1852), the poet develops these assessments of his Muse. N. compares his patroness with a peasant woman singing "in a wretched hut, in front of a smoky torch, bent by labor, killed by a torment." But the poet's Muse is not only likened to a rural worker, but also called "the sad companion of the sad poor." The word “sadness” uttered twice here very accurately defines one facet of the character of the Nekrasov Muse. Another facet of it is a disposition to revenge. In 1855, the definition will be formulated: "The Muse of revenge and sorrow."

Reflecting on the artist-creator, N. creates the famous poem "The Poet and the Citizen" (1856), in which he gave the image of the Poet some of his own features (known doubts, hesitation and repentance). The figure of the Citizen is also generalized, demanding from the Poet a response to life conflicts, active service to the people, protection of the disadvantaged. The lines “You may not be a poet, but you must be a citizen” go back to Decembrist poetry. Responding to the debate about the role of the poet in society, which were conducted in journalism in the 1870s, N. creates a poem "To the Poet (In Memory of Schiller)" (1874). N. does not touch here on the theme of suffering and torment. For N. life, thought, creativity of the great German poet are beautiful primarily because in them he sees the manifestation of the personality of the artist-judge, who is guided by the highest principles of morality and beauty. The poem calls for militant public service:

Arm yourself with heavenly thunders!

... Execution of self-interest, murder, sacrilege.

Tear off the crowns from traitorous heads...

But, probably, the most profound and expressive poem on the theme of the poet and poetry becomes in the same 70s "Elegy" (1874). This is a sincere spiritual confession, a result summed up at the end of the path. There are many hesitations and doubts. But these doubts are overcome, albeit at the cost of great effort. It was not by chance that N. considered the lines of this poem to be “the most sincere” and favorite of those written in the last years of his life. They conveyed many of his innermost thoughts about modern reality, the situation of the people and about himself. Reflecting on the nature of the post-reform years, N. comes to the disappointing conclusion that the old theme of “the suffering of the people” has not lost its topicality:

Oh, if years could age her!

God's world would flourish!

But the share of the people, the fate of the peasants still remain painful and unbearable. Many of its motives this poem N. associated with Pushkin's traditions.

I dedicated the lyre to my people.

Perhaps I will die unknown to him,

But I served him - my heart is calm ...

In this the poet sees the role and purpose of poetry in general. This appointment is not only to “remind the crowd that the people are in poverty”, in order to “arouse the attention of the mighty of the world to the people”, but also to call the people to the final liberation from slavery and finding true happiness (“The people are freed, but are the people happy? And addressing the young men, the poet calls them to contribute to this with their active deeds. So N. expressed his most important creative program.

The theme of the poet and his appointment in the work of N. A. Nekrasov was central. The lyrics of this poet, no matter what topic she touched, reflected civil position author. In his program poem "The Poet and the Citizen" (1856), N. A. Nekrasov puts the title of a citizen above the title of a poet, thereby defining the purpose of his ministry:

A son cannot look calmly On his mother's grief, There will be no citizen worthy To his homeland, his soul is cold, There is no bitterer reproach for him... Go into the fire for the honor of the homeland, For conviction, for love... Go and die impeccably. You won't die in vain... it's solid, When blood flows under it... And you, poet! the chosen one of heaven, Herald of the truths of the ages, Do not believe that the one who does not have bread Is not worth your prophetic strings! Do not believe that people have fallen at all; God has not died in the soul of people, And the cry from the believing breast Will always be available to her! Be a citizen! serving art, live for the good of your neighbor, subordinating your genius to the feeling of all-embracing love...

The muse of the predecessors of N. A. Nekrasov appeared as a goddess, a beautiful girl who inspired poets. The muse of the author of the poem “Yesterday, at six o’clock ...” (1848) appears in a different image - this is the sister of a peasant martyr. In the last poem by N. A. Nekrasov (“Oh Muse! I am at the door of the coffin! ..”, 1877), she receives the definitions “pale”, “blooded”, “excised with a whip”. Such a muse cannot serve to sing of the beauty of the world, harmony and serenity, no, its fate is different, it is the “muse of revenge and sadness”: material from the site

In a fit of rage, with human untruth, the Mad Woman swore to start a stubborn battle. Indulging in wild and gloomy fun, She played furiously with my cradle, Shouted: "Avenge!" - and with a violent tongue, the thunder of the Lord called her accomplices! "Muse" (1851)

The poet sees the main task of art in serving the people, in depicting their suffering, and the meaning of the life of the poet-"warrior" is the fight against injustice, the fight for better life for the downtrodden. N. A. Nekrasov determined the merit of his poetic gift at the end of his life in a poem called "Elegy" (1874):

I dedicated the lyre to my people. Perhaps I will die unknown to him, But I served him - and my heart is calm ... Let not every warrior harm the enemy, But everyone go into battle! And fate will decide the battle ...

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