Classic      01/15/2020

Native all places high manor house. My Lermontov. Analysis of Lermontov's poem "How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ..."

One of the most significant poems of Lermontov, written in 1840, in its accusatory pathos close to "Death of a Poet".


The creative history of the poem is still the subject of ongoing debate between researchers. The poem has the epigraph "January 1st", indicating its connection with the New Year's ball. According to the traditional version of P. Viskovaty, it was a masquerade in the Noble Assembly, where Lermontov allegedly violated etiquette: he boldly answered “two sisters” (the daughters of Emperor Nicholas I - Olga and Maria) in blue and pink dominoes, who hit him with a “word”; the position of these "sisters" in society was known (a hint of their belonging to the royal family). Paying attention to Lermontov's behavior at that moment turned out to be inconvenient: “It would mean making public what has gone unnoticed by the majority of the public. But when the poem “The First of January” appeared in the “Notes of the Fatherland”, many expressions in it seemed unacceptable”(viscous).


(daughter of Emperor Nicholas I)

I. S. Turgenev in "Literary and Everyday Memoirs" claimed that he himself saw Lermontov in the masquerade of the Nobility Assembly "on the eve of the new year 1840", and in this connection cited disparaging lines about ballroom beauties from verse. "How often...".


It has now been established that there was no New Year's masquerade in the Nobility Assembly. This seems to turn Viskovaty's message into a legend. It has been suggested that Lermontov's trick did take place, but long before his New Year's poem, she did not refer to the royal daughters, as was previously thought, but to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna; it is to January and February 1839 that her visits to masquerades in the Assembly of the Nobility belong. During these same days, she was interested in Lermontov's unpublished poems.



It is possible that the deaf stories about the masquerade events in 1839 and the impressions of the New Year's poem of 1840 merged in the memory of contemporaries into one episode. According to another assumption, the poem referred to a masquerade on the night of January 1 to 2, 1840 at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theater, where the emperor and heir were present. The real basis of the version about the biographical source of the poem is subject to further verification. There is no doubt, however, that the publication of the poem in Otechestvennye Zapiski led to new persecution of Lermontov.

On December 31, 1839, in the white-columned hall of the Nobility Assembly on Mikhailovskaya Square in St. Petersburg, a New Year's masquerade ball was held, which was attended by high society and Nicholas 1 with members of his family. Mikhail Lermontov was also at this ball.

Subsequently, I. S. Turgenev recalled: “At the ball of the Noble Assembly, they did not give him rest, they constantly pestered him, took him by the hand; one mask was replaced by another, but he almost did not move from his place and silently listened to their squeak, turning his gloomy eyes on them one by one. At the same time, it seemed to me that I caught on his face a beautiful expression of poetic creativity ” Lermontov deliberately emphasized that the poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...” was written in connection with this ball: instead of an epigraph, the date was set - “January 1”.

The poet depicted in his work the high society, which he despised, and openly expressed his attitude towards him. main topic poems - denunciation of life's "masquerade" and cold
the soullessness of secular society. the work has a circular composition. It begins and ends with a description of the upper light. In the middle, the lyrical hero is transferred to childhood - he plunges into the natural world of harmony. The work is characterized by a combination of two contrasting genres - elegy and satire.

The poem has three semantic parts. In the first part, a picture of a high society ball is given. In the second, the poet takes the reader into the bright world of his memories. In the third part, the lyrical hero returns to a world alien to him, which causes a storm of indignation and heartache in him.
The first two six lines are one complex sentence with two
adnexal:
As often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...
I caress an old dream in my soul,
Lost years holy sounds.
Rereading two common subordinate clauses, the reader clearly feels a heap of images, flashing colorful figures and masks. Such emotional sensations, created by a complex syntactic construction, bring the reader closer to the lyrical hero. The hero is bored among the “variegated crowd”, “wild whisper of hardened speeches”, among “soulless people” and “decency of masks pulled off”. The women at this ball, although beautiful, are very similar to puppets. The lyrical hero is displeased with their coquettishness, gestures rehearsed in front of a mirror, “long-quivering” hands that know neither excitement nor embarrassment. These urban beauties know their worth and are sure that no one can resist their charms. But the hero is bored among them.

All those present at the ball put on masquerade masks as if to hide their soullessness and other vices. In this crowd, the lyrical hero feels alien and lonely. In order to escape from the unpleasant noise and brilliance, he is mentally carried away to the cherished world of dreams - to his childhood. The second part of the poem immerses the reader in a special atmosphere:
And I see myself as a child, and around
Native all places: high manor house
And a garden with a destroyed greenhouse ...
Native places are Tarkhany, where Lermontov spent his childhood. There is a clear opposition of the soulless world of high society to living nature:
I enter the dark alley; through the bushes
The evening beam looks, and yellow sheets
Noisy under timid steps.
Soul lyrical hero reaches for naturalness and sincerity - to what has long been forgotten in the "high society". Home and childhood for Lermontov are symbols of the "ideal world" (it is shown in the works "Motherland", "Mtsyri", "Will"). But the "ideal world" exists only in memories, and the hero "memory to recent antiquity" flies like a "free bird".
The poet painted a romantic landscape. It has all the romantic attributes: a sleeping pond, haze, fogs, a dark alley. A poetic atmosphere of mystery and Divine presence has been created.

It is at this moment that the lyrical hero turns to the theme of love. He talks either about his dream, or about his dream. The image of a beautiful girl for him is the embodiment of purity and tenderness:
With eyes full of azure fire,
With a pink smile like a young day
Behind the grove the first radiance.
Those eyes and pink smile are a complete contrast to the masks of soulless people at the ball. Only in this world is the lyrical hero happy - here he feels harmony. It turns out that the soul of the lyrical hero belongs to the ideal world, and he is forced to live in the real world - among the "variegated crowd". His tragedy is the tragedy of all romantic heroes. It lies in the fact that the hero is doomed to eternal wanderings between these two worlds. The pictures of childhood, in comparison with the pictures of the ball, are so beautiful that when the lyrical hero again finds himself among the crowd he hates, he can no longer endure this suffocating atmosphere, and
he has a desire to throw an angry challenge to the realm of masks:
Oh, how I want to embarrass their cheerfulness
And boldly throw an iron verse into their eyes,
Filled with bitterness and anger! ..
Expressive means language help the poet to reveal the ideological content of the poem. It is entirely built on antithesis (opposition). The poet depicts two worlds using sharp contrasts. In the poem, everything is contrasting - sounds, colors. The world of bustle is painted with colorful words, flickering, masks - here brightness and brilliance are mixed into one faceless mass. Drawing an ideal world, the poet uses a completely different palette - this is azure, green herbs, radiance, a pink smile, yellow leaves. The sound tone in these worlds also differs. The festival of masks is accompanied by the noise of music, dancing, “a wild whisper: - all this is very disharmonious. The sounds of an ideal world add up to a quiet melody - this is silence, the rustling of leaves,
the cry of a man.

Depicting art space of the earthly world, Lermontov shows us a close circle of faceless figures - a "motley crowd" that monotonously revolves around the lyrical hero "with the noise of music and dance." It is dominated by tightness and lack of freedom - "decency tightened masks." But the space of the imaginary world is limitless. Here is the endless sky<лечу Я вольной, вольной птицей»), и бесконечные просторы (поле, пруд, туманы), и бесконечная глубь (тёмная аллея, уводящая в таинственную неизвестность). У стихотворения сложный, сбивчивый размер (иногда шести-, иногда четырехстопный ямб). Наблюдается также сочетание парной рифмовки с
annular. All this together, as well as complex syntactic constructions, convey the painful, disharmonious state of the lyrical hero.

How often, surrounded by a motley crowd,
When in front of me, as if through a dream,
With the noise of music and dance,
At the wild whisper of hardened speeches,
Flickering images of soulless people,
Properly tightened masks,

When my cold hands touch
With the careless boldness of urban beauties
Long untrembling hands, -
Outwardly immersed in their brilliance and vanity,
I caress an old dream in my soul,
Lost years holy sounds.

And if somehow for a moment I succeed
To be forgotten - a memory of recent antiquity
I fly free, free bird;
And I see myself as a child, and around
Native all places: high manor house
And a garden with a destroyed greenhouse;

A green net of herbs will cover a sleeping pond,
And behind the pond the village smokes - and they get up
In the distance fog over the fields.
I enter the dark alley; through the bushes
The evening beam looks, and yellow sheets
Noisy under timid steps.

And a strange melancholy oppresses my chest;
I think about her, I cry and love,
I love the dreams of my creation
With eyes full of azure fire,
With a pink smile like a young day
Behind the grove the first radiance.

So the kingdom of the marvelous almighty lord -
I spent long hours alone
And their memory lives on to this day.
Under a storm of painful doubts and passions,
Like a fresh island harmless among the seas
Blooms in their wet desert.

When, having come to my senses, I will recognize the deception
And the noise of the human crowd will frighten away my dream,
An uninvited guest on a holiday,
Oh, how I want to embarrass their cheerfulness
And boldly throw an iron verse into their eyes,
Filled with bitterness and anger!

Analysis of the poem "How often, surrounded by a motley crowd" Lermontov

M. Yu. Lermontov towards the end of his life completely cooled off to a secular way of life. From birth, he was inherent in the desire for loneliness, intensified by a passion for romanticism. Lermontov had strong convictions that he could not freely express in the highest circles. His open views aroused ridicule and suspicion. This closed the poet even more in himself, he gave the impression of a constantly gloomy and gloomy person. But the position of the nobility obliged him to attend the most important secular balls. One of these masquerade balls took place in January 1840. The poet reluctantly visited it and expressed his feelings in the poem "How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...".

Already from the first lines, the poet's irritation from what is happening is felt. Balls were accompanied by the observance of strict decorum and refined speeches to the sounds of beautiful music. The characterization of the ball by Lermontov gives a completely different picture: “dance”, “wild whisper”, “soulless images”. The author knows that everyone present is well aware of the unnaturalness of what is happening, but they will never admit it. Any ball is saturated with falsehood and deceit. People's conversations do not make sense and do not touch on any meaningful topics. Mutual hatred and anger is hidden under masks. Moreover, under the masks, Lermontov means not so much paper decorations as unnatural faces of people. The generally recognized beauties have long lost their freshness and charm, their feelings have become dulled from endless romances.

Lermontov's only salvation during the ball is to be carried away by memories of his distant childhood with his naive dreams and hopes. The poet, only as a child, could devote himself wholeheartedly to the beauty of the surrounding landscape. He was not yet familiar with the vicious and deceitful human society. These memories awaken in the author's heart a long-forgotten feeling of pure love for life. They allow him to feel young and full of energy again. Lermontov can be in such a pleasant oblivion for a long time, protecting himself from the outside world. It was for this complete immersion in oneself that the poet was given the bad reputation of a closed and unsociable person.

The longer the poet stays in this state, the more painful and tragic his parting with him. "The noise of the crowd of people" brings him to his senses. Lermontov, as after a deep sleep, looks around with horror and again sees the hated picture of disgusting fun. This infuriates him. The poet dreams of breaking the idyll with some daring trick. Realizing that this would lead to the final fall of his authority, Lermontov limited himself to the “iron verse”, which was the work “As often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...”.

“How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...” Mikhail Lermontov

How often, surrounded by a motley crowd,
When in front of me, as if through a dream,

With the noise of music and dance,

At the wild whisper of hardened speeches,
Flickering images of soulless people,

Properly tightened masks,

When my cold hands touch
With the careless boldness of urban beauties

Long untrembling hands -

Outwardly immersed in their brilliance and vanity,
I caress an old dream in my soul,

Lost years holy sounds.

And if somehow for a moment I succeed
To be forgotten - a memory of recent antiquity

I fly free, free bird;

And I see myself as a child; and around
Native all places: high manor house

And a garden with a destroyed greenhouse;

A green net of herbs will cover a sleeping pond,
And behind the pond the village smokes - and they get up

In the distance fog over the fields.

I enter the dark alley; through the bushes
The evening beam looks, and yellow sheets

Noisy under timid steps.

And a strange melancholy oppresses my chest:
I think about her, I cry and love,

I love the dreams of my creation

With eyes full of azure fire,
With a pink smile like a young day

Behind the grove the first radiance.

So the kingdom of the marvelous almighty lord -
I spent long hours alone

And their memory lives on to this day.

Under a storm of painful doubts and passions,
Like a fresh island harmless among the seas

Blooms in their wet desert.

When, having come to my senses, I will know the deceit,
And the noise of the human crowd will frighten away my dream,

On a holiday an uninvited guest,

Oh, how I long to confuse their gaiety,
And boldly throw an iron verse into their eyes,

Filled with bitterness and anger!

Analysis of Lermontov's poem "How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ..."

As a teenager, Mikhail Lermontov dreamed of shining in secular society. However, over time, he realized that the people with whom he had to communicate at various balls and receptions were distinguished by amazing hypocrisy. Very soon, the young poet got bored with empty and grandiloquent conversations that had nothing to do with reality, and he began to avoid communicating with those whom he considered "people with a double bottom."

It should also be taken into account that Lermontov himself was by nature a rather secretive person, he did not know how to maintain a secular conversation at the proper level and reward women with flattering compliments. When etiquette demanded it, the poet became sharp and mocking, because of which he very soon gained fame as an ill-mannered rude person who despises etiquette. What was the poet thinking at that moment? He tried to express his thoughts and observations in the poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...”, which he wrote in January 1840. At this time, Lermontov, having received another vacation, arrived in Moscow for several weeks and found himself in the thick of social events, when traditional winter balls followed literally one after another. He could not ignore them, but he clearly did not feel the pleasure of having to attend each such event.

Watching the entertainment of the "variegated crowd", the author emphasizes that at this moment, "outwardly plunging into their brilliance and bustle, I caress an old dream in my soul" . What is Lermontov dreaming about at this moment? Thoughts take him to the distant past, when he was still a child and lived with his parents in the village of Mikhailovskoye, not far from the town of Tarkhany. This period of childhood, when the poet's mother was still alive, Lermontov recalls with special warmth. He sees "a tall manor house and a garden with a destroyed greenhouse", which he loved to wander around, listening to the rustle of fallen yellow leaves under his feet.

However, the idealistic picture that the poet paints in his imagination does not at all fit with the reality surrounding him, when “with the wild whisper of hardened speeches, images of soulless people flash by.” Therefore, at balls and secular receptions, Lermontov prefers to retire in order to indulge in dreams in which peace and harmony reign. Moreover, the poet personifies his dreams with a mysterious stranger, who is drawn to him in the form of a young girl "with eyes full of azure fire, with a pink smile, like a young day behind the grove the first radiance." This image captivated the author so much that he found a special charm in solitude and “sat alone for long hours”, not paying attention to the noise and bustle of the crowd.

But sooner or later, the moment came when one of those present destroyed the poet's dreams, forcing him to return to the real world, completely false, full of lies and affectation. And then Lermontov had only one desire - "to embarrass their gaiety and boldly throw an iron verse in their eyes, drenched in bitterness and anger."

This work, filled with romance and aggression at the same time, perfectly characterizes Lermontov's inner world, contradictory and unpredictable. For 28 years of his life, the poet never managed to learn to live in harmony not only with the people around him, but also with himself. Therefore, his later poems are filled with bitterness, resentment and regret that the author did not manage to know the feeling of all-consuming happiness. The poet was dissatisfied with his own fate, but even more angry in him were the actions of representatives of the high society, whom Lermontov considered empty and worthless people who live only to indulge in passions and vices. And the poet splashed out this feeling of irritation not only in public, but also in his poems, thus defending himself from human indifference and the meaninglessness of being.

It is necessary to read the verse “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd” by Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich as a work that reveals the contradictory inner world of the poet. The young man realized early on that he was not created for secular life, however, having arrived in Moscow on vacation in January 1840, he plunged into it and immediately felt disgusted. He conveys this emotion in a poem written at the same time.

The lines read online or at a literature lesson in the classroom, on the one hand, immerse the author in the world of dreams, who recalls his carefree childhood, secluded from everyone, on the other hand, it is easy to feel his irritation when secular reality breaks into the world of dreams. At such moments, the poet wants to convey to others the bitterness and anger that overwhelm him, which is directly stated in the text of Lermontov's poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd”.

If you study it completely, it is also easy to see what a controversial personality the author is: he is a dreamy young man on the one hand and a cynic who is disillusioned with life on the other. He wants life to be full of meaning, but he cannot find it, and therefore he splashes out his irritation and annoyance on people and himself, including in bilious poetic lines.

How often, surrounded by a motley crowd,
When in front of me, as if through a dream,
With the noise of music and dance,
With the wild whisper of hardened speeches,
Flickering images of soulless people,
Properly tightened masks,

When my cold hands touch
With the careless boldness of urban beauties
Long untrembling hands, -
Outwardly immersed in their brilliance and vanity,
I caress an old dream in my soul,
Lost years holy sounds.

And if somehow for a moment I succeed
To be forgotten - a memory of recent antiquity
I fly free, free bird;
And I see myself as a child; and around
Native all places: high manor house
And a garden with a destroyed greenhouse;

A green net of herbs will cover a sleeping pond,
And behind the pond the village smokes - and they get up
In the distance fog over the fields.
I enter the dark alley; through the bushes
The evening beam looks, and yellow sheets
Noisy under timid steps.

And a strange melancholy oppresses my chest:
I think about her, I cry and love,
I love the dreams of my creation
With eyes full of azure fire,
With a pink smile like a young day
Behind the grove the first radiance.

So the kingdom of the marvelous almighty lord -
I spent long hours alone
And their memory lives on to this day.
Under a storm of painful doubts and passions,
Like a fresh island harmless among the seas
Blooms in their wet desert.

When, having come to my senses, I will know the deceit,
And the noise of the human crowd will frighten away my dream,
On a holiday an uninvited guest,
Oh, how I long to confuse their gaiety,
And boldly throw an iron verse into their eyes,
Filled with bitterness and anger!