My comrade flapping his wing at the bloody meal. Alexander Pushkin - Prisoner: Verse

1. The works of A. S. Pushkin and M. Yu. Lermontov.
2. The originality of the poems “Prisoner” by each of the poets.
3. Similarities and differences between poems.

A. S. Pushkin is rightfully considered the “sun of Russian poetry”, his work is as multifaceted and rich in various shades as only the work of a true genius can be rich. M. Yu. Lermontov is very often called a follower of Pushkin; many researchers and simply admirers of his talent claim that if he had lived longer, his creations could have eclipsed Pushkin’s work. It seems to me personally that both Lermontov and his predecessor are brilliant, original writers; of course, every person is free to choose between them, appreciate this or that work, and compare them. Pushkin’s poem “The Prisoner” is textbook, we all know it by heart. It is written from the perspective of an eagle - a proud, freedom-loving bird, a symbol of fearlessness and heroism. It is precisely this image, imprisoned, that evokes the greatest sympathy. It is more difficult for an eagle to come to terms with imprisonment than any other bird. The first lines tell us about his fate:

I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon
A young eagle raised in captivity.

We understand that the eagle did not know any other life; he was put behind bars as a chick. However, in the depths of his memory there is always a longing for will. It is possible that another, free life exists, was told by another eagle:

My sad comrade, flapping his wing,
Bloody food is pecked under the window.

Pushkin’s prisoner not only vegetates in captivity, which is hard in itself, he is also forced to watch how:

Pecks and throws and looks out the window,
It’s as if he had the same idea with me.

The free bird empathizes with the prisoner, sympathizes, urges him to leave his prison:

He calls me with his gaze and his cry
And he wants to say: “Let’s fly away.”

So that the slave has no doubts, the free eagle adds:

We are free birds. It's time, brother, it's time!

There, where the mountain turns white behind the clouds,
Where the edges of the sea turn blue,
To where we are only the wind and me.

We can only guess what is going on in the prisoner’s soul after such stories. It is unlikely that he will be able to leave his prison and rush to those beautiful distances that the “sad comrade” told him about. Rather, he must make a cruel choice between continuing such a miserable existence in captivity or death. The author leaves it to the readers to figure out the ending of this sad story for themselves. And although we don’t hear the prisoner’s complaints, we can imagine what’s going on in his soul.

M. Yu. Lermontov’s poem “The Prisoner” also tells the story of a lyrical hero languishing in captivity. However, I would immediately like to say that it does not contain that painful tragedy that permeates Pushkin’s work. The poem begins with a call:

Open the prison for me!
Give me the shine of the day
The black-eyed girl
Black-maned horse!

I'm a beauty when I'm younger
First I will kiss you sweetly,

Then I’ll jump on the horse,
I’ll fly away to the steppe like the wind! -

The hero does not look broken or depressed. On the contrary, memories of a free life are alive in his soul, he is able to mentally transport himself beyond the dark walls of the dungeon, to resurrect bright and joyful pictures in his memory. However, the hero is aware that at the moment a free life is prohibited for him:

But the prison window is high,
The door is heavy with a lock.
Black-eyed is far away, -
In his magnificent mansion.
Good horse in a green field
Without a rein, alone, in the wild
Jumps, cheerful and playful,
Spread the tail in the wind.

The hero realizes that his dreams are unrealistic. The prisoner imprisoned can only remember the bright and joyful moments of his free life. Of course, he evokes sympathy in the reader, but at the same time we understand that most likely the hero of the poem is suffering a well-deserved punishment. Perhaps he committed a crime. For some reason, it seems that he could very well turn out to be a robber, there is too much daring in his words. Or perhaps the prisoner was a military man and is now languishing in captivity. But even in this case, such a confluence of circumstances could have been expected and expected.

The ending of the poem is tragic. The hero understands that there is no way out for him from the dark walls of the dungeon:

I am alone, there is no joy!
The walls are bare all around,
The ray of the lamp shines dimly
Dying fire.
You can only hear it behind the walls
Sound-measured steps
Walks in the silence of the night
Unresponsive sentry.

I believe that each of the analyzed poems is a masterpiece of poetic creativity. Both Pushkin and Lermontov managed to brilliantly portray the melancholy of a freedom-loving soul imprisoned in captivity. And each poem is beautiful, full of different artistic means. Pushkin and Lermontov are two true geniuses. And each, with the power of his boundless talent, managed to embody the same idea, creating two original works.

I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon. A young eagle, raised in captivity, My sad comrade, flapping his wing, pecking at bloody food under the window, pecking, and throwing, and looking out the window, as if he had the same idea with me; He calls me with his gaze and his cry And wants to say: “Let’s fly away! We are free birds; it’s time, brother, it’s time! To where the mountain turns white behind the cloud, To where the sea edges are blue, To where only the wind walks... yes I !.."

The poem “Prisoner” was written in 1822, during the “southern” exile. Arriving at the place of his permanent service, in Chisinau, the poet was shocked by the striking change: instead of the blooming Crimean shores and sea, there were endless steppes scorched by the sun. In addition, the lack of friends, boring, monotonous work and the feeling of complete dependence on the authorities had an impact. Pushkin felt like a prisoner. It was at this time that the poem “Prisoner” was created.

The main theme of the verse is the theme of freedom, vividly embodied in the image of an eagle. The eagle is a prisoner, just like the lyrical hero. He grew up and was raised in captivity, he never knew freedom and yet strives for it. The eagle's call to freedom (“Let's fly away!”) implements the idea of Pushkin's poem: a person should be free, like a bird, because freedom is the natural state of every living creature.

Composition. “The Prisoner,” like many other poems by Pushkin, is divided into two parts, differing from each other in intonation and tone. The parts are not contrasting, but gradually the tone of the lyrical hero becomes more and more excited. In the second stanza, the calm story quickly turns into a passionate appeal, into a cry for freedom. In the third, he reaches his peak and seems to hover on the highest note with the words “... only the wind... yes me!”

Reading the poem “I am sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is a real pleasure for all connoisseurs of Russian literature. The work is filled with a feeling of hopelessness and romantic melancholy. Pushkin wrote this poem in 1822, while in exile in Chisinau. The poet could not come to terms with being “exiled” to such a wilderness. Despite the fact that Siberia was a harsh alternative to this imprisonment, Alexander Sergeevich felt like a prisoner. He was able to maintain his place in society, but the feeling of suffocation did not leave him. It was these emotions that inspired the poet to write such a dark and desperate work.

The text of Pushkin’s poem “I’m sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon” from the first lines immerses the reader in the author’s world, full of powerlessness in the face of circumstances. The poet compares himself to an eagle who spent his life in captivity. Pushkin extols the strength of the bird’s spirit, which, having been born in captivity, still strives upward, away from this prison. The poem consists almost entirely of the eagle’s monologue. He seems to be teaching both us and Pushkin himself that freedom is the best that can be. And you involuntarily heed this lesson. The work sets up philosophical reflections on the willpower of an oppressed person.

I'm sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon.
A young eagle raised in captivity,
My sad comrade, flapping his wing,
Bloody food is pecking under the window,

He pecks and throws and looks out the window,
It’s as if he had the same idea with me;
He calls me with his gaze and his cry
And he wants to say: “Let’s fly away!”

We are free birds; it's time, brother, it's time!
There, where the mountain turns white behind the clouds,
To where the sea edges turn blue,
Where we walk only the wind... yes I!..”

A freedom-loving, handsome Russophobe who despised the world, a student of Pushkin, killed by a sniper from the mountain, and other knowledge gained in school lessons and from educational television programs that urgently need to be forgotten

Lermontov in the auditorium of Moscow University. Drawing by Vladimir Milashevsky. 1939

1. Lermontov was born in Tarkhany

No; The poet’s second cousin Akim Shan-Girey wrote about this, but he was wrong. In fact, Lermontov was born in Moscow, in the house of Major General F.N. Tolya, located opposite the Red Gate. Now at this place there is a monument to Lermontov by sculptor I. D. Brodsky.

2. Lermontov left Moscow University due to persecution

Allegedly, the poet was persecuted in connection with the so-called Malov story, which happened in March 1831, when M. Ya. Malov, a professor of criminal law, was boycotted by students and forced to leave the audience during a lecture, for which they were punished. No; in fact, Lermontov decided to continue his studies at St. Petersburg University, for which he left for St. Petersburg in 1832. In his resignation letter, he wrote: “Due to domestic circumstances, I can no longer continue my studies at the local university, and therefore I humbly ask the board of the Imperial Moscow University, having dismissed me from it, to provide me with the appropriate certificate for transfer to the Imperial St. Petersburg University.” (However, Lermontov did not study there, but entered the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers.)

Marching of cadets of the School of ensigns and cavalry cadets. Lithograph from a drawing by Akim Shan-Girey. 1834 From the album “M. Yu. Lermontov. Life and art". Art, 1941

3. Lermontov was killed as a result of a conspiracy, on the orders of Nicholas I. It was not Martynov who shot the poet, but a sniper from the mountain

All this is unfounded speculation. The reliably known circumstances of the duel were outlined by Prince A. I. Vasilchikov, who left memories, A. A. Stolypin, who drew up the protocol, and N. S. Martynov during the investigation. It follows from them that Martynov challenged Lermontov to a duel because of the insult that the poet inflicted on him. The version about the sniper, in particular, was voiced on the “Culture” channel and expressed by V. G. Bondarenko in the latest biography of Lermontov, published in the ZhZL series. According to the testimony of Vasilchikov and Stolypin, who were present at the scene of the duel, it was Martynov who fired. There is no reason to believe otherwise.

4. Lermontov had a bad time at the cadet school, and he could not write poetry

In fact, although Lermontov spent only two years in the cadet school, during this time he wrote quite a lot: a number of poems, the novel “Vadim”, the poem “Hadji Abrek”, the fifth edition of “The Demon”. And this is not counting the specific cadet creativity, which was mostly obscene in nature. In addition, Lermontov drew a lot at the cadet school: more than 200 drawings have survived.

Apparently, this idea of Lermontov’s appearance was formed under the influence of his character. Thus, in memoirs and fiction there is periodic mention of Lermontov’s gaze: caustic, malicious, persecuting. But most of his contemporaries remembered Lermontov not at all as a romantic handsome man: short, stocky, broad in the shoulders, in an overcoat that did not fit him, with a large head and a gray strand in his black hair. At the cadet school he broke his leg and then limped. One of the memoirists noted that due to some congenital disease, Lermontov’s face sometimes became covered with spots and changed color. However, there are also references to the fact that Lermontov had almost heroic health and strength. For example, A.P. Shan-Girey wrote that in his childhood he never saw Lermontov seriously ill, and A.M. Merinsky, the poet’s cadet comrade, recalled how Lermontov bent and tied a ramrod in a knot.

6. Pushkin was Lermontov’s teacher

It is often said that Pushkin was Lermontov's teacher; Sometimes they say that, having moved to St. Petersburg and becoming acquainted with Pushkin’s circle, the poet, out of reverence, was afraid to meet his idol. Lermontov was indeed impressed by Pushkin’s romantic poems and, under their influence, created several of his own. For example, Lermontov has a poem with the same title as Pushkin - “Prisoner of the Caucasus.” In "A Hero of Our Time" much is taken from "Eugene Onegin". But Pushkin’s influence should not be exaggerated; he was far from being the only model for Lermontov.

Pushkin and Gogol. Miniature by A. Alekseev. 1847 From the album "M. Yu. Lermontov. Life and art". Art, 1941

Sometimes they say that even in his death in a duel, Lermontov “imitated” Pushkin, but this is a mystical interpretation, not based on facts. Lermontov's first duel is more similar to Pushkin's last duel - with the Frenchman Ernest de Barant, who had previously lent a weapon to Dantes' second. Lermontov's duel with de Barant ended without damage to both opponents, but the poet was sent into exile, from which he never returned.

7. Lermontov wrote “I’m sitting behind bars in a damp dungeon...”

No, these are poems by Pushkin. Even school teachers are often confused about the authors of classical Russian poems: Tyutchev’s “Spring Thunderstorm” is attributed to Fet, Blok’s “Under an embankment, in an unmown ditch” to Nekrasov, and so on. Usually, an author with an appropriate reputation is “selected” for the text; Lermontov's aura of gloomy exile, romantic loneliness and impulse for freedom is firmly attached to Russian culture. Therefore, it seems that Pushkin’s “The Prisoner” is more suitable for Lermontov than his own poem with the same name (“Open the prison for me, / Give me the radiance of the day...”).

Lermontov, Belinsky and Panaev. Illustration for “Journalist, Reader and Writer.” Drawing by Mikhail Vrubel. 1890-1891 State Tretyakov Gallery

8. Lermontov was a brilliant poet from his early youth

The poet supposedly came into his own in his early youth, just like Pushkin. In fact, Lermontov's early poetic work is largely imitative and contains many direct borrowings, which were easily recognized by his contemporaries. Belinsky assumed that Lermontov’s poems, which he did not like, “belong to his very first experiments, and we, who understand and appreciate his poetic talent, are pleased to think that they [the first experiments] will not be included in the collection of his works.”

9. Lermontov, freedom-loving, like Mtsyri, was bored in high society and despised it

Lermontov was really burdened by the unnatural behavior of people in high society. But at the same time he himself participated in everything that secular society lived: in balls, masquerades, social evenings and duels. Bored, the poet, like many young people in the 1820s and 1830s, imitated Byron and his hero Childe Harold. The idea of Lermontov as an adversary of high society took hold in literary criticism in Soviet times, apparently thanks to “The Death of a Poet,” which deals with the responsibility of the imperial court for the death of Pushkin.