Prophet literary analysis. Analysis of the poem "Prophet"

In the work of Pushkin, it is customary to single out the theme of "the poet and poetry." To this group lyrical works include poems that set out the author's views on the nature of the poetic gift, on the poet's mission in this world, his high mission. One of these works is the poem "The Prophet".

Here Pushkin refers to the images of biblical mythology. At the beginning of the poem it reflects mental emptiness, which tormented the poet during the years of the "crisis", and a miraculous transformation of feelings and abilities, the realization of his mission as a prophet. The poet's feelings are extremely sharpened: "wise vision" opens up, and the perception of the outside world expands. The poet asks himself: is it possible to convey such a subtly subtle perception and wise observation with an ordinary human word (“And he clung to my lips / And pulled out my sinful tongue, / Both idle-talking and crafty, / And the sting of the wise snake / In my frozen mouth / He invested it with his bloody right hand.”) The poet needs “heat of the heart”: only a very high intensity of feelings can melt ordinary prosaic life into pure poetic gold (“And he cut my chest with a sword, / And pulled out a trembling heart, / And coal, blazing with fire, / He put a hole in his chest.”) Sharp observation and the ability to poetically describe what you see are not enough for real art - this is dead photography, naturalism. It is necessary to have an active attitude to the observed, the ability to critically, accurately, truthfully evaluate it, a deep and true idea is needed that fills the soul of the poet. This is how the transformation of the prophet ends: the poet comes to the idea that he should not only console, delight people or give them pleasure with his work, but teach the reader, lead him along.

This poem is in three parts. The first part reveals the state of the "prophet" before "God's voice called to him." He, "tormented by spiritual thirst", dragged himself in the "gloomy desert". The second part describes his meeting with the messenger of God - the "six-winged seraphim", who works with him certain actions- pulls out "sinful language, and idle-worded, and crafty" and inserts in its place "the sting of the wise snake."

The messenger of God endows the poet with the ability to hear and feel what was previously inaccessible to him: “he touched my ears, and they were filled with noise and ringing.” Perception of the world lyrical hero is changing; he becomes open to the world, feels an inextricable, limited connection with it. Instead of a heart, a burning coal is placed in his chest, since only a person with a hot, caring heart should and can speak the word of truth to people.

In the third part, the poet hears "God's voice", which "calls" to him, prompting him to "see" and "listen" and, "bypassing the seas and lands, burn people's hearts with a verb." Here is the face of the poet and his inner essence completely change. His soul awakens, he is "filled with the will" of God. The poet, therefore, does not belong to himself, he is only a conductor through which God gives people beauty and harmony.

Pushkin's views on the purpose of the poet and poetry are fundamentally different from the views of the romantics. The main difference is that Pushkin does not consider poetic talent as a merit of the individual, a manifestation of exclusivity. individual person. Individualism is alien to Pushkin's philosophy. Talent for him is not a seal of "God's chosenness". A divine gift, the ability to hear more subtly and feel the world more strongly. A poet is just a person with a more sensitive ear than the rest. But the most important quality that a poet must possess is a warm heart, warmed by the moral law, a humane attitude towards the world. Without this "coal" a person is dead. The moral law is that “voice of God” that “called out” to the poet. And his freedom consists in consciously following this voice, reminding people of the Divine soul contained in them, of the beauty of the world and the good that they are called to do.

To make the language more expressive, Pushkin uses metaphors in the poem "Prophet" (spiritual thirst, gloomy desert); comparisons (prophetic pupils opened, like those of a frightened eagle); epithets (trembling heart, heavenly flight of angels, vegetation of the valley of the vine, sinful language). The archaic church vocabulary gives solemnity to the language, the enduring, eternal nature of what is stated is emphasized.

So, in the poem "The Prophet" one of the central ideas of Pushkin's work was reflected, his idea of true purpose poet and poetry, about the Divine "nature" of his gift and duty true poet to follow his great calling, thereby bringing the light of Beauty and Wisdom to other people. The poem "The Prophet" is a kind of poetic program of Pushkin, his view of the world through the prism of a poetic gift.

The poem "Prophet" cannot be considered in isolation from historical events that shook Russia at that time. Written in 1826, less than half a month after the execution of the main participants, the instigators of the uprising on Senatskaya, it is a kind of answer by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin to the Decembrists, royal power and sentiment in society as a whole. In The Prophet, despite the obvious confusion that spread at that time through the thinking, progressive part of the nobility, there is a fierce strength and hope - the hope that the word will be able to change a lot, that the prophet - that is, the poet - is able to influence the worldview of people, ignite their hearts.

It is important to note that the "Prophet" is a kind of summing up the famous exile of the disgraced poet, a reflection on the time spent in Mikhailovsky. At the time of writing, Pushkin already knew about the exile and executions, but his own fate remained a mystery to him. Despite this, the disturbing notes in the work are almost inaudible - everything is drowned out by a powerful call to action and awareness of the true mission of the poet: prophetic service to the truth, and not earthly, but "higher" power.

The main theme of the poem

In The Prophet, Pushkin formulates his poetic declaration, the principle and meaning that he will follow throughout his life. The poet, according to Alexander Sergeevich, is a modern prophet, a messenger of God, who must carry the holy truth to people who are unable to know it on their own. It is the purpose of poetry as a whole and the special, unique role of the poet - key topics of this work.

The artist is responsible to God, and to no one else - this is how Pushkin understands the poetic ministry, carrying out this idea and revealing it throughout the entire work. It is God (or his intermediary, the seraphim angel) who is driving force, which makes the prophet-poet transform, listen to the voice that is heard, stop his miserable existence and live in accordance with his destiny.

At the same time, Pushkin, of course, understands that no service, either religious or poetic, is possible without sacrifice. Accepting the gift, the artist changes himself - his ears are filled with noise and ringing, the sinful, worldly tongue breaks out, and in its place appears the “sting of the wise snake”, and instead of a trembling heart in the poet’s chest, now there is an unfading coal. Such is the payment for the opportunity to hear the voice of God and carry it into the world, and Pushkin accepts this condition.

For Pushkin, a poet is at the same time a chosen one, a teacher, and a visionary who must serve freedom and truth, not paying attention to the hardships and hardships that accompany him, enlighten people, bring them the light of true wisdom. Summarizing this, we can say that Pushkin recognizes for himself divine nature poetry.

The theme of responsibility supreme authority is especially important, since Alexander Sergeevich, who has barely served one exile, goes to the capital, not knowing whether his connection with the Decembrists is known, and if so, how much. At the same time, in The Prophet, he declares his readiness to make sacrifices for the sake of truth, his readiness to speak directly and honestly, regardless of censorship. At that moment, the poet was already aware that if he wants to continue to create in accordance with his ideals, he will not see universal recognition and loyalty of those in power.

Structural analysis of the poem

The work is written in an odic style, somewhat similar to the biblical one. Pushkin actively uses high vocabulary and archaisms, achieving rhythmic and phonetic similarity with religious texts. There is no division into stanzas, the size is iambic tetrameter. There are many anaphoras, Slavonicisms, comparisons and metaphors in the work. The poet creates a tense and at the same time solemn atmosphere by using contrasts, both in the worldview of the prophet and in immobility, alternating with a call to act. The author ends his lyrical declaration with an appeal.

The Prophet is a work whose significance in Pushkin's literary heritage can hardly be overestimated. This is a milestone that marks a turning point in the development of the poet, milestone his evolution. It was Alexander Sergeevich who, for the first time in Russian literature, dared to elevate the poet so highly, to compare him with a religious prophet, to designate the special, holy role of poets in Russia.

Moment of writing this poem refers to 1826, when A.S. Pushkin was 27 years old. Key theme poem is the problem of the spiritual realization of the poet as a prophet and the problem of the essence of poetry. It belongs to mature period poetic creativity A. S. Pushkin, which many Pushkin scholars count from 1826 and end in 1836. "Prophet" can be considered the most significant, based on the magnitude of the disclosed topic.

From the first lines, the poet makes us understand that he describes his life, his creative way, since there are pronouns "... I dragged myself ...", ".. appeared to me ...", "... my pupils ...", "... my ears ..." and throughout the poem is coming first person narration. The poem is very wisely written and contains many hints about how the process of the prophet finding his mission takes place, but you should not take every word as a description of the actions taking place in physical world. These allegories can be attributed to a more subtle, spiritual plane of being.

Spiritual thirst tormented,
In the gloomy desert I dragged, -

In the very first lines, the poet describes his existence until the moment of insight, or as this process is also called in the East - enlightenment, and compares the life of that time with a gloomy desert. Thus, showing that he was always looking for a spiritual principle in everything and positions himself as a highly spiritual person.

And a six-winged seraph
He appeared to me at a crossroads.

With the advent of the six-winged seraphim, the spiritual rebirth of the poet begins, hitherto unknown things and worlds are revealed to him. Seraphim in Christian tradition this is the highest angelic rank, closest to God, and they appear before people who have a certain great mission as messengers of this destiny. However, they can only appear in front of a person who is mentally and physically prepared for the meeting. The meeting with the seraphim is like a fiery baptism of a person, his initiation.

The only biblical reference to seraphim is in Isaiah. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on the throne, and "... Seraphim stood around Him; each of them had six wings: with two each one covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And they called to each other and said : Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts! the whole earth is full of His glory!" One of the seraphim touched Isaiah's lips with a burning coal from the altar and said: "... your iniquity is removed from you, and your sin is cleansed." This consecration prepared Isaiah for his mission.

With fingers as light as a dream
He touched my eyes.

Next comes a description of the transformation of A.S. Pushkin on the subtle plane of being. It also emphasizes the fact that any transformation of a person and his change is possible only with direct contact, that is, with the help of touch, as with the initiation of the prophet Isaiah.

Prophetic eyes opened,
Like a frightened eagle.

When a seraphim touches his eyes, the poet opens up clairvoyant abilities, gaining spiritual vision, which at first frightened him.

He touched my ears
And they were filled with noise and ringing:

By touching the ears, the poet describes gaining the gift of clairaudience. Since the seraphim are the closest to God, when they touch, the process of pouring Divine fire into the physical and spiritual components takes place. human essence. These lines described the work of the seraphim on the poet and its consequences:

And I heard the shudder of the sky,
And the heavenly angels flight,

After gaining the gift of clairvoyance and clairaudience, the poet briefly, in four lines, describes what he managed to see and hear at that moment:

And the reptile of the sea underwater course,
And the valley of the vine vegetation.

After the initiation that A.S. Pushkin went through, he has the opportunity to see everything that happens, regardless of time and space, and what was previously hidden from eyes and ears becomes clear and obvious. Thus, upon acquiring the above abilities, it became possible to observe things and processes at a distance and view with spiritual vision what is necessary.

And he clung to my lips,
And tore out my sinful tongue,
And idle and crafty,

In these lines, once again, attention is focused on the need for physical impact with the help of touch, and, of course, the poet himself admits that his language up to this point was sinful, idle-worded and crafty.

And the sting of the wise snake
In my frozen mouth
He invested it with a bloody right hand.

The turn of transformations associated with the mouth has come, which is very important for further activities A.S. Pushkin as a poet. It should be noted that a seraphim can perform actions on a person, both with the help of Divine fire, and with the help of freezing, a kind of anesthesia during an operation, in order to somehow reduce pain.

And he cut my chest with a sword,
And took out a trembling heart,
And coal burning with fire
He put a hole in his chest.

The very last action of the seraphim on the poet is, of course, the work with the heart. Endowing him with divine fire gave Pushkin the opportunity to accept and understand his mission as a prophet.

Like a corpse in the desert I lay,
And God's voice called out to me:

At the end of the poem, the real feelings of the poet, the consequences of the work of the seraphim are described. The meeting with him did not go unnoticed. This process brought a lot of physical suffering to A.S. Pushkin "... I lay like a corpse in the desert ...". Followed by main idea poem, it becomes clear the purpose of the transformation: "Arise, prophet, and see, and listen,
Fulfill my will
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn the hearts of the people with the verb."

And it reads the main mission of the poet as a prophet - with the help of words and divine fire in the heart to convey to the people Divine truths or secret knowledge. What was done by A.S. Pushkin is more than brilliant, everything that he created later is encrypted in the form of fairy tales and poems so that the next generation does not distort the truth hidden in them, does not make changes to it. Confirmation this fact is that the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" was published in the summer of 1820. without the poetic preface "At the seashore the green oak", which A.S. Pushkin wrote in 1836. after 16 years. Does this mean that certain Truths are hidden in this preface?

Prophet. Discussions

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"Prophet" analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, characters, problems and other issues are disclosed in this article.

"Prophet"- one of the most famous poems Pushkina. Alexander Sergeevich wrote it in the autumn of 1826 during his exile in Mikhailovsky. It was a very difficult period for the poet. Pushkin deeply experienced the massacre of the Decembrists, many of whom he was friends with, and rethought his place in society.

The basis of the work was a biblical story from the VI chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah. But the author filled it with a completely different philosophical sense, turning it into a manifesto about the purpose of the writer. This topic Pushkin raised in his works before, using traditional images ancient mythology: Parnassus, Apollo, muse, lyre. But before the "Prophet" there was nothing like it in terms of the strength of the emotional impact and the depth of thought in his work.

The poem "Prophet" written in ode genre, striking solemnity of style and brightness artistic images. Since the monologue is presented in the first person, the reader involuntarily associates the lyrical hero with the author of the work. Some of Pushkin's contemporaries even accused the poet of becoming proud and imagining himself "God's chosen one." But the analysis of the work shows that Alexander Sergeevich only declared creative program every true poet.

The Prophet consists of three parts, in which the transformation of the hero is consistently traced. In the first part he "spiritual thirst tormented" drags himself into "dark desert". Just one sentence, but what a capacious image! The poet is in a spiritual and creative search. And suddenly "at the crossroads" he meets a six-winged seraphim - the messenger of God. Doesn't surprise at all "crossroads" in the desert where there are no roads. It is clear that this choice symbol, to which the hero approached.

The meeting with the seraphim, according to the biblical canons, speaks volumes. After all, these are the angels closest to God, who appear only to exceptional people. Pushkin emphasizes the significance of the poet, his chosenness for an important mission.

In the second part of the poem, we see the gradual rebirth of the hero, which takes place before our eyes. The first step is the symbolic opening of the eyes and the acquisition of sensitive hearing. It's just the result of a simple touch. But the following metamorphoses are far from painless. See and hear more subtly and deeply than a common person, for a real poet - not enough. To express the revealed wisdom is not good "idle", "sly" and "sinful" language. It should be torn out and replaced with "the sting of the wise snake".

But also sharp "stinging" a word that carries the truth, do not create samples high art. A clear mind, observation and talent will be cold and dead without a warm heart. Therefore, the angel plunges into the chest of the hero "coal burning with fire". After such a transformation, the poet is worthy to bring the light of truth to people. And "God's voice" resurrects the spiritual "dead body", which he was before meeting with the seraphim, so that the newly-born prophet would remind people of the "God's spark" in every soul.

In the poem "Prophet" the arsenal means of expression Pushkin is unusually wide. This is:

• numerous metaphors - "shudder of the sky", "verb burn";
• epithets - "the sting of the wise snake", "idle language", "spiritual thirst";
• comparisons - "like a dream", "like a corpse", "like a frightened eagle".

To enhance the divinity of the plot, the poet uses a lot Old Slavonic words: fingers, pupils, voice, see, listen, high. They fill the text with a biblical atmosphere. This was necessary for Pushkin to emphasize the truth of his judgments, relying on the indisputable authority of Holy Scripture. Emotional tension is also added by lines that begin with the union "and". Such a stylistic construction is characteristic of biblical texts.

A large number of hissing sounds and slow iambic tetrameter without dividing into stanzas, they create a "torturous" rhythm that corresponds to the hero's suffering. Pushkin uses different kinds rhymes. It seems that in this work Alexander Sergeevich did not achieve perfection of form, but was completely concentrated on the content of the verse.

Using the biblical legend and style of presentation, Pushkin clearly conveyed to us main idea poems: a poet, like a prophet, must "to burn people's hearts with the verb". This is his true calling.

"The Prophet" is a textbook poem that demonstrates the poet's filigree style, his ability to put ideas into metaphorical images. The poem is studied in the 9th grade. We invite you to familiarize yourself with brief analysis"Prophet" according to the plan.

Brief analysis

History of creation- the work was created in 1826, in the Mikhailovo estate, after the poet learned about the execution of his Decembrist friends.

Theme of the poem- the origin and purpose of the poet.

Composition- According to the meaning, the poem can be divided into two parts: the story of how the seraphim turned a man into a poet-prophet, the appeal of an angel to his creation. The work is not divided into stanzas.

Genre- elegy.

Poetic size- iambic tetrameter, all types of rhyme are used in the poem.

Metaphors- “We are tormented by spiritual thirst”, “I heard the shudder of the sky”, “he clung to my lips and pulled out my sinful tongue”, “coal, blazing with fire, pushed it into my chest”, “burn the hearts of people with a verb”.

epithets – “six-winged seraphim”, “mountain flight”, “valley vine”, “sinful language”, language “idle and crafty”.

Comparisons- “Fingers are light as a dream”, “prophetic eyes opened like those of a frightened eagle”, “I lay like a corpse in the desert”.

History of creation

The history of the creation of the work is connected with a sad event - the execution of Pushkin's friends who were participants Decembrist movement. Under the impression of a bitter loss, in 1826 The Prophet was written. Apparently, those to whom the work is dedicated were associated by the author with the prophets.

Subject

In the poem rises the eternal philosophical problem purpose of the poet and poetic creativity. The researchers claim that the sources for its disclosure were the sixth chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah and the Koran. Pushkin relied only on some details from sacred books, references to a specific plot, we will not find.

In the center of the poem is a lyrical hero. This image is complex, since the poet-prophet and the author himself were embodied in it. The hero tells how he wandered through the desert, where he met an angel. "Six-winged seraph" turned out to be a messenger of God. He turned a man into a prophet.

He started with the eyes. Through a light touch the protagonist received the gift to see what is not hidden from ordinary eyes. After the touch of the Divine messenger to the ears, the man heard the voices of the sky, birds, underwater "reptiles" and plants. The tongue has been replaced with a snake sting. And this is not surprising, because it traditionally symbolizes wisdom. Finally, it came to the heart. In Pushkin's understanding, the prophet has a flaming coal instead.

After the reincarnation, the hero felt like a corpse, but the voice of God brought him back to life. He called to rise up and go to the people to bring them eternal truths. The fact that a poet is hiding under the image of the prophet becomes clear in the last line: “Burn the hearts of people with the verb.”

Thus, Pushkin interpreted the theme traditional for literature in his own way. A real master of the word should, in his opinion, hear and see everything that happens on earth, in the sky and under water. But even such a perception is not enough for him - you need to be able to pass everything through a fiery heart and convey to people without " idle and crafty" words. Only then can one call oneself a prophet.

Composition

The composition of the poem is simple. According to the meaning, it can be divided into two parts: the story of how the seraphim turned a man into a poet-prophet, the appeal of an angel to his creation. The work is not divided into stanzas, its lines are intertwined with an intricate rhyme. Due to the peculiarities of the plot, the author inserts direct speech into the monologue of the lyrical hero.

Genre

means of expression

To create the image of a prophet, reveal the stated theme and realize the idea, the author uses expressive means. They clearly show the biblical component. prevail in the poem metaphors: “we are languishing with spiritual thirst”, “I heard the shudder of heaven”, “he clung to my lips and tore out my sinful tongue”, “coal, blazing with fire, pushed it into my chest”, “burn the hearts of people with a verb”. Also in the text is epithets- "six-winged seraphim", "mountain flight", "valley vine", "sinful language", language "idle and crafty", comparisons- “fingers light as a dream”, “prophetic eyes opened like a frightened eagle”, “I lay like a corpse in the desert”.

Image system defines features vocabulary poems, so they have a lot of church and Old Slavonic vocabulary: seraphim, right hand, voice, God, prophet, see, listen.