How many ingenious, instructive and incredibly interesting works exist from the pen of famous Russian writers and poets. Many foreign citizens admire them and read, as they say, avidly. But Russian people study them for the most part at school, forgetting over time both the main characters, and the plot, and important thought classical literature.
In this article, we would like to recall Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin. In particular, his autobiographical poem, which he called "Anna Snegina". It tells about the youthful love of a famous poet and his native village in the era October revolution. Also in it one can trace the attitude of Sergei Alexandrovich himself to the events of that time and their consequences.
The popular expression says: "A man without a past is like a tree without roots." That is why it is impossible to ignore your history in any case. After all, a person who has abandoned his past runs the risk of losing himself. That is why it is so important to continuously strive into the mists of time, absorbing new streams of information.
However, most history textbooks are written in a dry language, so not every person decides to study them at their leisure. But read literary works- pure pleasure. And having cast at least a cursory glance at the summary and analysis of the work of Sergei Yesenin "Anna Snegina", this can be seen.
The early years of the future poet
Most modern schoolchildren know Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin only because he once wrote poems with obscene words. But he is considered a classic of Russian literature for completely different merits. But for what? Only a few will be able to answer this question.
The famous poet was born on October 3, 1895. His family lived, as they say now, below the poverty line. The situation of the Yesenins improved only when they moved to Moscow, and the head of the family took the position of a clerk. However, this did not bring happiness. Little Seryozha was taken into care by three uncles, who brought him up in a very peculiar manner. That could not but affect the formation of the personality of the future poet. The mother, unable to withstand the constant delays of her husband at work, returned to the village of Konstantinovo near Ryazan, where they had previously lived. And I tried to arrange my life with another man. So Sergei Alexandrovich had a brother Sasha. But then the woman returned to her husband again.
The future Russian classic was educated at the Konstantinovskaya zemstvo school in his native village, which he will talk about in the poem "Anna Snegina". Yesenin in school years earned a reputation as a repeater with obnoxious behavior. But then he moved to the parish educational institution and it seems to have improved. Further, the future poet studied at zemstvo school and the teacher's school, where he first woke up a craving for writing poems and poems.
Yesenin's first poetic experience
As we know, Sergei Alexandrovich did not succeed as a teacher. In general, he was determined for a very long time with a place of work, unsuccessfully trying to find himself. When Yesenin worked as a proofreader, he met poets, and then became a free student at Moscow City University.
The first published work of Sergei Yesenin was the poem "Birch". It begins with the following words: "A white birch under my window ..." This significant event for the poet took place in 1914. About eleven years before Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" was written. In the future, the outlook, views, character, and, accordingly, the artistic style of the poet changed significantly. And this can be easily traced in his work, even on the example of the above works.
Yesenin's personal life also deserves attention. After all, he was officially married to three women and had four children. But most of all, his romantic relationship with the famous American dancer Isadora Duncan was imprinted in the memory of his contemporaries. She was much older than him, but this did not bother the couple at all.
The sudden death of the great Russian classic
Yesenin had an irresistible craving for alcohol. And not only his relatives, but also the townsfolk knew about it. Sergei Alexandrovich was not in the least ashamed or embarrassed by his behavior and often appeared in public in an indecent form. In 1925, he was even sent to a Moscow clinic for treatment. When it ended or, as some sources say, was interrupted by the poet, he moved to Leningrad. And it seems that the life of Sergei Alexandrovich went smoothly, but on December 28 of the same year, the country was stunned by the almost insane news of his death.
The reason for the sudden death of the Russian classic is still shrouded in darkness. There is even a version that Yesenin committed suicide and wrote a farewell poem with his blood. However, there are still no facts confirming it. Therefore, the descendants can only guess and get lost in speculation.
Themes and problems in Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina"
In the work under study, in addition to love, revolutionary and military themes, the theme of the Motherland is clearly revealed. And this is captured in numerous descriptions of the landscapes of his native village, in which the protagonist looking for salvation, consolation. Here, in the wilderness, he also develops a deep sense of patriotism and love for his Fatherland. This is especially true at the end of the poem. After all, Sergusha did not follow Snegina to a foreign land, he chose his homeland. Which for him is represented not by huge Moscow with its political intrigues, but by a quiet, remote village with the beauty of Russian expanses. Also in the work important role the road plays as a symbol of the path, helping the reader to know inner world the narrator through his reflections.
The analysis of the poem "Anna Snegina" by Yesenin cannot ignore the problems raised by the author. Many of which readers catch on their own. However, we will still reveal each of them. First, there is the issue of class inequality. After all, it was she who became the leading cause of the revolution and separated on different sides of the two loving people- the narrator and Anna. Secondly, the theme of the First World War, in which the soldiers were not interested and went to death for the interests of others. Thirdly, the problem of debt, due to which Snegina cannot be with Sergusha. After all, this is how she betrays her late husband. But the poet himself is driven by conflicting thoughts. This becomes apparent when he refuses to help Anna, thereby supporting the peasants. Fourthly, the problem of diabolical cowardice, which the author demonstrates to us on the example of the image of Labuti. His example also reveals the fifth problem - betrayal. Sixthly, the problem of inconsistency of actions with one's own ideals. After all, the Bolsheviks promoted universal equality and justice with might and main. But despite this, they still harmed other people - the nobility. And they even kicked out the unfortunate widow from their own house, leaving her to the mercy of fate. And, seventhly, the problem of power, which does not care about the needs of the common people. Yesenin formulates his thoughts in this way, passing them on to the reader through a driver who takes the protagonist to his native village: “If we are in power, then they are in power, and we are just ordinary people.”
This is what the wonderful poet wanted to convey to people, such are the problems of Yesenin's Anna Snegina.
Features of the structure of the poem
According to historical information, the poem "Anna Snegina" Sergei Yesenin finished shortly before his death. And he started it when he went on his second trip to the Caucasus. According to some reports, this place was of great importance for the poet. After all, it was there that the brightest creative period of Yesenin flowed. He himself said that he writes with insane rapture, almost in one gulp, receiving unprecedented joy from the process itself. And this is felt when reading the poem. After all, it can be compared with a whole book containing two literary genres:
- love experiences of the hero - lyrics;
- events external to the hero - epic.
But that's not the only thing that's special. Also noteworthy is the poetic size of Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina". Indeed, in this work the poet uses the style beloved by Nikolai Nekrasov. Namely, a three-foot amphibrach, in which the stress falls on the third syllable (“village, which means ours - Radovo, yards, honor, two hundred” ...).
Many critics, including modern ones, note that in the work Yesenin managed to show the country's transition from Russian Empire to Soviet republic. And also fate little man during the Civil War and World War I.
In addition, it should be noted that the plot of Sergei Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina", as often noted in contemporary works is based on real events. The village of Radovo is a prototype of the place where the poet himself lived. Therefore, his mention is of great importance for the creation of the so-called metaphorical space.
The poem begins and ends in the same way. In both cases, the story is about how the main character arrived in his native village. Due to this feature, the composition of the work has a cyclic structure.
There are five chapters in the poem. Each of them contains its own special stage in the formation of a new country:
- The first tells about the negative impact it has on residents. The first World War. After all, the whole country is forced to work only in order to feed the Russian army. Which participates in the never-ending carnage. For this reason, the main character decided to desert from the front and have a little rest.
- The second, in fact, is the author's commentary on the disasters that have befallen the country. In it, the main character recalls youthful love, and later meets Anna Snegina, who is now the wife of another and spends the whole day talking with her.
- The third chapter of Sergei Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" tells about the relationship of the main characters. Remembering the past, they realize that their sympathy is mutual. But the situation is much more complicated by the news of the death of Snegina's husband. She accuses the protagonist of cowardice, breaking off all relations with him. At the same time, a revolution is taking place in the country, ordinary people are eager to get land for general use.
- In the fourth chapter, Anna and Sergusha still reconcile. The woman confesses her feelings to the main character. In the countryside, the transfer of noble property to the state is in full swing. Therefore, at the end of this part, the narrator leaves for St. Petersburg in order to find out the situation.
- The fifth chapter describes the ending civil war. The country has become impoverished, crime is thriving around, Sergusha returns to his native village, but does not find Anna. The protagonist still loves her, but Snegina emigrated to London, and Sergusha is unable to leave her country.
According to friends of Sergei Alexandrovich, in his last years he began to reconsider his views on life and the situation in the country. He was tired of the bohemian life, he was tired of rebelling, and that is why he went to the Caucasus to inhale the "provincial" air. And this is felt when reading Yesenin's work "Anna Snegina". After all, the woman personifies the poet's regret about the loss of youth, symbolizes the desire to return to human values. But it appears like a mirage, and the melancholy of Sergei Alexandrovich is rather out of place. The country is falling apart, and nothing will be the same as before.
Narrator as a prototype of Sergei Yesenin
In Sergei Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina", which we analyze in this article, there are only six heroes. The most important among them is the narrator, behind the mask of which the poet himself is hiding. He comes from peasants, has an excellent mind and insight. His story is a complete reflection of the life of Sergei Alexandrovich. He too rose from the bottom and became famous literary figure. But it's been a hard road. His character changed greatly, he lost all faith in the decent qualities of humanity and became a cynic. Therefore, at the first stages of communication with Anna, the narrator keeps somewhat at a distance from her, reveling more in the marvelous landscapes around and thoughts about the past.
What is happening in the country depresses the hero. He does not see any point in the terrible bloodshed, he is angry because the rich live without knowing the troubles and sit out in safety, and people with less wealth - the people - go to death ("The war has eaten my whole soul. For someone else's interest"). It is for this reason that Sergusha flees to his native village, wanting to abstract from reality and immerse himself in thoughts and thoughts about the past. And so begins the poem of Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin "Anna Snegina".
It is also important to mention the following: critics and writers note that the events in the country are perceived by the main character critically, with pain and indignation. And he would like to oppose reality, to rebel, but fatigue, sadness and a certain fear still take their toll. Expressed in the desire to hide from the senseless war and revolutionary confrontations, nostalgia for the past. And it seems that the narrator wants to understand the situation, contrasts, compares the past and the present. But there is no strength to move on, and he remains with the past.
Anna Snegina as an image of Yesenin's real beloved
In the analysis of “Anna Snegina” by Yesenin, it is impossible to remain silent about the fact that under the guise of the heroine, whose name the work is named, Lydia Ivanovna Kashina is hiding. She was a noblewoman, but despite this, in her youth she had great love with the future poet. Nothing serious came of deep attachment. Sergei chose the life of a poet, and the girl chose family life. And quite favorably she married the White Guard Boris.
The heroes of the poem met again only during the period of revolutionary actions. When the class difference became especially noticeable. Anna has changed a lot, and the main character barely recognizes the former simple girl in her. And she is flattered not only by her acquaintance with the famous poet, but also by the youthful love that his heart once burned with. She begins to flirt with Sergusha, and he, despite significant changes in the character and demeanor of the girl, still falls in love with her again.
And then it seems to him that Anna is still clean and snow-white. This is hinted at by her surname and outfit. So much so that thoughts about a senseless war, about the endless streams of blood of the people recede into the background. In the main character, Sergusha sees a symbol of the former country, he plunges into the world of the past, allowing himself to be forgotten.
However, the further plot of Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" tells us that the relationship of the main characters does not add up. After all, the girl accuses Sergusha of cowardice and desertion. The situation is especially aggravated when news of the death of Anna's husband comes from the front. Nevertheless, at the end of the work, the characters reconcile and even confess their love to each other. But the girl emigrates to London, because she cannot find a place for herself in New Russia.
This is what distinguishes real events and those that are set forth by Yesenin in the plot of Anna Snegina. In life, Lydia Kashina goes to Moscow, having previously transferred the estate to the peasants. Adapts to Soviet Russia and becomes a typist.
Pron Oglobin as the embodiment of fellow villager Yesenin
Let's start with the fact that this hero is negative. But in it, the poet presents the reader with a revolutionary dreamer and romantic who is obsessed with the desire for radical change and sincerely believes that they can only be achieved by insurrection. He is a Bolshevik, strives for popular equality, universal justice, socialism. And he remains true to his judgments to the end. Raises a riot, but dies at the hands of the Whites.
His character is based on Pyotr Yakovlevich Mochalin. Here are just some of the features are greatly exaggerated. After all, Pron is a rude, impudent and fighter who loves to drink. Moreover, he has a tendency to aggression, violence. And this is proved by the fact that in the past he was exiled to hard labor for murder.
However, the image differs from the real character not only by an exaggerated character, but also by fate. After all, Pyotr Mochalin does not die, but settles down quite well and is engaged in party work.
Labutya as an example of the ambiguity of the revolution
This character is an important part of the story. Therefore, the summary of Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" loses its special meaning without it. So, Labutya is Pron's brother. But despite this, it is its complete opposite. After all, he is a coward, which is proved by the episode of the execution of Pron by the Bolsheviks, in which Labutya hides behind hay.
He does not care about the ideas of the revolution; moreover, he does not share them. But the desire to benefit and not to miss his own burns in him with fire. And this becomes obvious when the reader comes to the point where Labutya hurries to describe Anna's house and property as soon as possible.
By contrasting Pron and Labuti, Yesenin wanted to demonstrate the ambiguity of the revolution. After all, they participated in the ideological struggle different people, so the revolution turned out to be versatile. Not specifically good or bad.
Melnik as an example of national character
Most readers of even a summary of Yesenin's "Anna Snegina" note that this hero is the most kind, merciful, positive and sincere. He knows how to accept with a smile all the hardships of fate and does not divide people into rich and poor, to know and peasants, whites and reds. And it shows in his actions. For example, he treats Sergusha, and Anna and her mother provide warm shelter at a difficult moment. Thus demonstrating the character traits of a true Christian.
Critics are in solidarity with the opinion of readers, however, they add that in the image of Melnik, Yesenin demonstrated the breadth of the Russian soul and best qualities our people.
Mother of Anna Snegina
The last character of Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" summary rarely mentioned. Because he only says a few short phrases. But even despite this, the reader catches what Anna Snegina's mother is. Firstly, a woman is rather stingy with feelings and emotions. And this is not surprising, given the relevant living conditions. Secondly, she has a sober mind and self-control. Thanks to this, he not only accepts the death of his son-in-law relatively calmly, but also helps his daughter come to terms with an unexpected blow of fate.
In Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" and a brief summary, the spirit of self-sacrifice is felt. After all, the main character, like Sergei Alexandrovich himself, could not accept the new aggressive Russia, where relatives are at enmity and constantly clash their foreheads. But he couldn't leave her either. And he preferred to indulge in nostalgia for the past, peaceful patriarchal Russia, which can no longer be returned. She is symbolized by Anna Snegina. Which remained only in the dreams of the poet.
S. Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" begins and ends with a lyrical chord - the author's memories of early youth, of "a girl in a white cape." The plot develops in the first part of the poem: the hero returns to his native place after a three-year absence. The February Revolution was over, but the war continues, the peasants did not receive land. New terrible events are brewing. But the hero wants to stay away from them, to relax in communion with nature, to remember his youth. However, events themselves burst into his life. He had just returned from the war, threw down his rifle and “decided to fight only in poetry”:
* The war has eaten away my soul.
* For someone else's interest
* I shot at my close body
* And he climbed on his brother with his chest.
February 1917 shook the village. The former enmity between the inhabitants of the village of Radovo and the village of Kriushi flared up with new force. Kriushi has his own leader - Pron Ogloblin. A former fellow villager who came from St. Petersburg, the hero of the poem, was greeted by fellow countrymen both with joy and "with curiosity." He is now a "big shot", a metropolitan poet, but still "his own, peasant, ours." He is expected to answer the most burning questions like this: “Tell me, will the peasants go away without redemption of the arable land of the masters?” However, other questions worry the hero. He is occupied with the memory of "the girl in the white cape." Youthful love was unrequited, but the memories of it are light, joyful. Love, youth, nature, homeland - all this merged into a single whole for the poet. It's all in the past, and the past is beautiful and poetic. From his friend, an old miller, the hero learns that Anna, the daughter of the neighboring landowner Snegina, remembers him. The hero of the poem is not looking for a meeting with her. Everything has changed, they have changed. He does not want to disturb that light poetic image that remains from his early youthful impressions.
Yes, now Anna Snegina is an important lady, the wife of a military officer. She herself finds the poet and almost directly says that she loves him. But the past image of a young girl in white is dearer to him, he does not want to change it for an accidental love affair. It has no poetry. Life brings the poet even closer to the local peasants. He goes with them to the landowner Snegina to ask her to give them the land without a ransom. But in the house of the Onegins, grief came - the news came that Anna's husband had died at the front. The conflict between the poet and Anna ends in a break. "He died ... But you are here," she reproaches the hero of her short novel. The events of the October days bring the narrator and Anna together again. The property of the landowner Snegina was confiscated, the miller brought the former hostesses to him. The last meeting did not bring the former lovers closer. Anna is full of personal, intimate experiences, and the hero is engulfed in a storm of civil events. She asks to be excused for her involuntary insults, and he thinks about the redistribution of the landlords' lands.
So life intertwined, confused the personal and the public, separated these people forever. The hero rushed off to St. Petersburg, Anna went to distant and alien London. The last part of the poem is a description of the harsh times of the civil war. Against this background - two letters. One from the miller with a message that Ogloblin Pron was shot in Kriushy. Another letter is from London, from Anna Snegina. It was handed over to the hero by a miller during his next visit to his homeland.
What is left of previous impressions and experiences? For Anna, yearning in a foreign land, now memories of her former love merge with memories of her homeland. Love, motherland, nature - these are the true values that can warm the soul of a person. The poem "Anna Snegina" is written in poetic form, but its peculiarity is the fusion of the epic and lyrical genres into a single inseparable whole. There is no through action in the poem, there is no consistent story about events. They are given in separate episodes, the author is interested in his own impressions and experiences from the encounter with these events. The lyrical hero of the poem acts both as a narrator, and as the hero of the work, and as a participant in the events of the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary times.
And in this manner of the author, and in the plot itself, although the events take place at a completely different time, there are some echoes of Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin". Possibly related to them female image and Russian soul. I take the liberty of asserting that "Anna Onegin" is Yesenin's novel in verse in terms of the scope of events and the richness of images.
The poem by Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin "Anna Snegina" is largely a final work, in which the personal fate of the poet is correlated with the fate of the people. The poem is closely connected with the lyrics of Yesenin, absorbed many of her motives and images.
The central, organizing beginning of the poem is the speech of Yesenin himself, the voice of the author, the personality of the author, his attitude to the world permeates the entire work. It is noteworthy that the author does not impose his views, his attitude to the world on other heroes, he only combines them in the poem.
The poet defined his work as lyric-epic. Its main theme is personal. Therefore, all epic events are revealed through fate, the feelings of the poet and the main character.
The very title of the poem suggests that everything is concentrated in Anna Snegina and in those relations that connect the poet with her. It has already been noted more than once that the name of the heroine sounds somehow especially poetic and ambiguous. Snegina - a symbol of the purity of white snow - echoes the spring flowering of bird cherry, white as snow, and therefore a symbol of youth lost forever. There are also quite a few images familiar from Yesenin's lyrics: “a girl in white”, “thin birch”, “snowy” bird cherry. But everything familiar is connected in the image of the main character.
The fact that Anna Snegina ended up far from her homeland is a sad pattern for many Russian people of that time. And Yesenin's merit is that he was the first to show this. Separation from Anna in the lyrical context of the poem is the poet's separation from youth, separation from the most pure and holy that a person has at the dawn of life. But everything humanly beautiful, bright and holy lives in the hero, remains with him forever as a memory, as " living life».
The theme of the motherland and the theme of time are closely connected in the poem. And in a chronological sense, the basis of the poem is as follows: the main part (four chapters) is the Ryazan land of 1917; in the fifth chapter - a sketch of the fate of one of the corners of large rural Russia from the revolution to the first peaceful years (the action in the poem ends in 1923). Naturally, the fate of the country and the people is guessed behind the fate of one of the corners of the Russian land. The author selected those facts that date back to the time of the largest historical events in the country: the First World War, the February Revolution, the October Revolution and the class struggle in the countryside. But for us, it is not the depiction of epic events that is especially important, but the attitude of the poet towards them.
Yesenin does not idealize the Russian peasantry, he sees its heterogeneity, he sees in him both a miller and an old woman, and a driver from the beginning of the poem, and Pron, and Labutya, and a peasant clutching his hands from profit ... The poet sees a peculiar basis of life in the working peasantry, whose fate is the epic basis of the poem. This fate is sad, as it is clear from the words of the old miller's woman:
We are now restless here.
Everything blossomed with sweat.
Solid man wars-
D going from village to village.
Symbolic are these peasant wars, which are the prototype of a great fratricidal war, from which, according to the miller's wife, "Raseya almost disappeared..." Condemnation of the war - imperialist and fratricidal - is one of the main themes. The war is condemned by the entire course of the poem, by its various characters - the miller and his old woman, the driver, the two main tragedies of Anna Snegina's life (the death of her husband, emigration). The rejection of the bloody massacre is the author's hard-won conviction and a historically accurate poetic assessment of events:
The war has eaten away my soul.
For someone else's interest
I shot at my close body
And he climbed on his brother with his chest.
I realized that I- a toy,
In the rear, merchants, yes, you know ...
And only at the end of the poem does a bright chord sound - a memory of the most beautiful and forever, forever gone. We are convinced that all the best that is left behind the hero lives in his soul:
I walk through the overgrown garden,
The face touches the lilac.
So sweet to my flashing eyes
Puffed up wattle.
Once at that gate over there
I was sixteen years old
And a girl in a white cape
She said to me kindly:
"Not!" Far away, they were cute!
That image in me has not faded away.
We are all in these years loved,
But that means
They loved us too.
The epilogue was very important for Yesenin - a poet and a man: after all, all this helped him live. The epilogue also means that the past and the present are interconnected for the hero, it seems to connect the times, emphasizing their inseparability from the fate of their native land.
The breadth of the historical space of the poem, its openness to life impressions, the best movements of the human soul characterizes the last and main poem of the "poetic heart of Russia" by Sergei Yesenin.
...I understood what poetry is. Do not speak,..
that I stopped finishing poetry.
Not at all. On the contrary, I'm now in shape
became even more demanding. I just came to simplicity...
From a letter to Benislavskaya
(while writing a poem)
I think it's the best thing I've written.
S. Yesenin about the poem
Lyric plan of the poem. Name.
The image of Anna Snegina. The image of the main character - Poet
The poem is autobiographical, based on memories of youthful love. But in the poem, the personal fate of the hero is comprehended in connection with the fate of the people.
In the image of the hero - the poet Sergei - we guess Sergei Yesenin himself. The prototype of Anna is L.I. Kashin (1886-1937), who, however, did not leave Russia. In 1917, she gave her house in Konstantinov to the peasants, she herself lived in the estate on the White Yar on the Oka. Yesenin was there. In 1918 she moved to Moscow and worked as a typist and stenographer. Yesenin met with her in Moscow. But the prototype artistic image- things are different, and the artistic image is always richer; The richness of the poem, of course, is not limited to a specific biographical situation.
The poem "Anna Snegina" is lyric-epic. Her main topic- personal, but epic events are revealed through the fate of the poet and the main character. The title itself suggests that Anna is the central image of the poem. The name of the heroine sounds especially poetic and ambiguous. In this name - full sonority, the beauty of alliteration, the richness of associations. Snegina - a symbol of the purity of white snow, echoes the spring color of bird cherry, white as snow, this name is a symbol of lost youth. There are also many images familiar from Yesenin's poetry: "a girl in white", "thin birch", "snowy" bird cherry ...
The lyrical plot - the story of the heroes' failed love - is barely outlined in the poem, and it develops as a series of fragments. The failed romance of the heroes of the poem takes place against the backdrop of a bloody and uncompromising class war. The characters' relationships are romantic, unclear, and their feelings and moods are impressionistic and intuitive. The revolution led the heroes to part, the heroine ended up in exile - in England, from where she writes a letter to the hero of the poem. But time, the revolution did not take away the memory of love from the heroes. The fact that Anna Snegina ended up far from Soviet Russia is a sad pattern, a tragedy for many Russian people of that time. And Yesenin's merit is that he was the first to show this. But this is not the main point of the poem.
The poet - the hero of the poem - constantly emphasizes that his soul is already largely closed to better feelings and wonderful impulses:
Nothing broke into my soul, Nothing confused me. Sweet smells flowed, And there was a drunken fog in my thoughts ... Now I would have a good romance with a beautiful soldier.And even at the end of the poem, after reading a letter from this woman forever lost to him, he seems to remain as cold and almost cynical as before: "A letter is like a letter. No reason. I would not write such a life."
And only in the finale a bright chord sounds - a memory of the most beautiful and forever, forever lost. Separation from Anna in the lyrical context of the poem is the poet's separation from youth, separation from the purest and most holy that a person has at the dawn of life. But - and this is the main thing in the poem - everything humanly beautiful, bright and holy lives in the hero, remains with him forever as a memory, as a "living life":
I'm walking through an overgrown garden, my face touches the lilac. So dear to my flashing glances Hunched wattle fence. Once at that gate over there I was sixteen years old, And a girl in a white cloak Said to me affectionately: "No!" They were far, dear!.. That image did not die out in me. We all loved in these years, But, therefore, they loved us too.epic plan. The attitude of the hero to the world and fratricidal civil war; images of peasants (Pron Ogloblin, Labuti Ogloblin, miller)
The main part of the poem (four chapters out of five) reproduces the events of 1917 on the Ryazan land. The fifth chapter contains a sketch of rural post-revolutionary Russia - the action in the poem ends in 1923. The events are given in sketches, and it is not the events themselves that are important to us, but the attitude of the author towards them, - after all, the poem is primarily lyrical. Yesenin's poem is both about time and about what remains unchanged at all times.
One of the main themes of the poem is the theme of the imperialist and fratricidal civil war. In the village during the revolution and the civil war, it is restless:
We are now restless here. Everything blossomed with sweat. Solid peasant wars - They fight village against village.These peasant wars are symbolic; they are the prototype of a great fratricidal war, a national tragedy, from which, according to the miller's wife, Raseya almost "disappeared." The condemnation of the war - imperialist and civil - is one of the main themes of the poem. The war is condemned by various characters in the poem and by the author himself, who is not afraid to call himself "the country's first deserter."
I think: How beautiful is the Earth And on it is a man. And how many unfortunate Freaks are now crippled with the war! And how many are buried in the pits! And how many more will be buried! And I feel in my stubborn cheekbones A cruel spasm of cheeks...Refusal to participate in the bloody massacre is not a pose, but a deep, hard-won conviction.
Yesenin, despite the fact that he sees the basis of people's life in the working peasantry, does not idealize the Russian peasantry. The words that representatives of different intellectual strata called the peasant sound sarcastically:
Fefela! Breadwinner! Iris! Owner of land and livestock, For a couple of scruffy "katek" He will let himself be torn out with a whip.Yesenin foresees the tragedy of the peasantry of 1929-1933, observing and experiencing the origins of this tragedy. Yesenin is worried that the Russian peasant is ceasing to be a master and worker on his land, that he is looking for an easy life, striving for profit at any cost.
For Yesenin, the main thing is the moral qualities of people, and in his poem he draws a number of colorful peasant types of the post-revolutionary era.
Revolutionary freedom poisoned the peasants with permissiveness, awakened moral vices in them. The poem, for example, does not romanticize the revolutionary nature of Pron Ogloblin: Pron for Yesenin is a new manifestation of the national character. He is a Russian traditional rebel of a new formation. People like him either go into the depths of people's life, or again break out to the surface in the years of "crazy action."
Pron is the embodiment of the Pugachev principle. Let us recall that Pugachev, who declared himself tsar, stood above the people, was a despot and a murderer (see, for example, Pushkin's "History of Pugachev" with a huge list of Pugachev's victims attached to it). Pron Ogloblin also stands above the people:
Ogloblin is standing at the gate And drunk in the liver and in the soul The impoverished people are dying. "Hey, you! Cockroach offspring! All to Snegina! .. R-time and kvass! You give, they say, your land Without any ransom from us!" And then, seeing me, Lowering his grumpy agility, He said in genuine insult: "The peasants still need to be cooked."Pron Ogloblin, in the words of an old miller's woman, is "a brawler, a rude man" who "is drunk for weeks in the morning...". For the old miller's woman, Pron is a destroyer, a killer. And the poet himself Pron evokes sympathy only where it is said about his death. In general, the author is far from Pron, there is some kind of uncertainty between them. Later, a similar type of turning point will be encountered by M. Sholokhov in Virgin Soil Upturned (Makar Nagulnov). Having seized power, such people think that they are doing everything for the good of the people, justifying any bloody crimes. The tragedy of depeasantization in the poem is only foreseen, but the very type of leader standing above the people is correctly noticed. Pron is opposed in Yesenin's poem by a different type of popular leader, about whom the people can be said: "He is you" (about Lenin). Yesenin claims that the people and Lenin are united in spirit, they are twin brothers. The peasants ask the Poet:
"Tell me, who is Lenin?" I quietly replied, "He is you.""You" - that is, the people whose aspirations were embodied in the leader. The leader and the people are united in a common faith, a fanatical faith in the imminent reorganization of life, in the next tower of babel, the construction of which ended with another moral and psychological breakdown. Not opportunistic considerations forced Yesenin to turn to Lenin, but faith, perhaps, more precisely, the desire for faith. Because the soul of the poet was divided, conflicting feelings in relation to the new world fought in it.
Another character, also correctly noticed by Yesenin, the peasant type of the transitional era, Labutya Ogloblin, does not need special comments. Next to Pron, Labutya "... with an important posture, like some gray-haired veteran", turned out to be "in the Council" and lives "not a corn on his hands." He is a necessary companion for Pron Ogloblin. But if the fate of Pron, with all its negative sides, acquires a tragic sound in the finale, then Labuti's life is a miserable, disgusting farce (and a much more miserable farce than, for example, the life of Sholokhov's grandfather Shchukar, who can be pitied in some way) . It is indicative that it was Labutya who "went first to describe Snegin's house" and arrested all its inhabitants, who were subsequently saved from a speedy trial by a kind miller. Labuti's principle is to live "not a corn of the hands", he is "a boaster and a devilish coward." It is no coincidence that Pron and Labutya are brothers.
Pron had a brother Labutya, Man - what is your fifth ace: At every dangerous moment, Khvalbishka and a devilish coward. Of course, you have seen these. Their rock was rewarded with chatter ... Such people are always in mind, They live without calluses on their hands ...Another peasant type in the poem - the miller - is the embodiment of kindness, closeness to nature, humanity. All this makes the miller one of the main characters of the poem. His image is lyrical and dear to the author as one of the brightest and most folk principles. It is no coincidence that in the poem the miller constantly connects people. His proverb is also significant: "For a sweet soul!" He, perhaps, most of all embodies this whole, kind-hearted Russian soul, personifies the Russian national character in its ideal version.
The language of the poem
A distinctive feature of the poem is its nationality. Yesenin abandoned refined metaphor and turned to rich colloquial folk speech. In the poem, the speech of the characters is individualized: the miller, and Anna, and the old miller's woman, and Pron, and Labuti, and the hero himself. The poem is distinguished by polyphony, and this corresponds to the spirit of the reproduced era, the struggle of the polar forces.
The epic theme of the poem is sustained in the realistic Nekrasov traditions. There is a focus on national disasters, and a story about a national leader, and images of peasants with individual characters and destinies, and a story about the villages of Radovo and Kriushi, and a skaz style, and lexical and stylistic features of the speech of peasants, and a free transition from one language culture to another. It is no coincidence that in one of Yesenin's contemporary articles, the idea of a novel-poem with its polyphony and versatility of depicting life was voiced.
Sergei Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina" is studied in the 11th grade at literature lessons. The author himself considered it his best work: he put all his skill into the poem, the most touching memories of his youth and a mature, slightly romantic look at past relationships. The story of the poet's unrequited love is not the main one in the work - it takes place against the backdrop of global events in Russian history - war and revolution. In our article you will find detailed analysis poems according to plan and many useful information when preparing for a lesson or test tasks.
Brief analysis
Year of writing- January 1925.
History of creation- written in the Caucasus in 1925 "in one breath", based on memories of the past and rethinking of the historical events of 1917-1923.
Subject- the main themes are homeland, love, revolution and war.
Composition- consists of 5 chapters, each of which characterizes a certain period in the life of the country and a lyrical hero.
Genre- lyric epic poem (as defined by the author). Researchers of Yesenin's work call her a story in verse or a poetic short story.
Direction- an autobiographical work.
History of creation
The poem "Anna Snegina" was written by Yesenin in January 1925, shortly before his death. At that time he was in the Caucasus and wrote a lot. The work, according to the author, was written easily and quickly, in one breath. Yesenin himself was extremely pleased with himself, considered the poem his best work. It rethinks the events of the revolution, military operations, political events and their consequences for Russia.
The poem is deeply autobiographical, the prototype of Anna Snegina was the poet's friend Lidia Ivanovna Kashina, who married a nobleman, a White Guard officer, became distant and alien. In their youth they were inseparable, and in more adulthood Yesenin accidentally met Lydia, and this was the impetus for writing a poem.
The meaning of the name quite simple: the author chose a fictitious name with the meaning of pure, white snow, the image of which appears several times in the work: through delirium during illness, in the poet's memoirs. Snegina remained pure, inaccessible and distant for the lyrical hero, which is why her image is so attractive and dear to him. Criticism and the public accepted the poem coldly: it was unlike other works, political issues and bold images frightened off acquaintances from comments and assessments. The poem is dedicated to Alexander Voronsky, a revolutionary and literary critic. AT full version it was published in 1925 in the journal Baku Rabochiy.
Subject
Intertwined in the work several main themes. A feature of the work is that it contains many personal experiences and images of the past. Homeland Theme, including small homeland- the native village of the poet Konstantinovo (which is called Radovo in the story). The lyrical hero very subtly and touchingly describes his native places, their way of life and way of life, the mores and characters of the people living in the village.
Heroes of the poem very interesting, varied and diverse. Love Theme revealed frankly in Yesenin's way: the lyrical hero sees in his beloved an image of the past, she became the wife of a stranger, but is still interesting, desirable, but far away. The thought that he, too, was loved warms the lyrical hero and becomes a consolation for him.
Revolution Theme revealed very honestly, shown through the eyes of an independent eyewitness who is neutral in his views. He is not a fighter and not a warrior, cruelty and fanaticism are alien to him. The return home was reflected in the poem, each visit to his native village worried and upset the poet. The problem of devastation, mismanagement, the decline of the village, the troubles that were the result of the First World War and the revolution - all this is shown by the author through the eyes of a lyrical hero.
Issues works are diverse: cruelty, social inequality, a sense of duty, betrayal and cowardice, war and everything that accompanies it. Main thought or idea works is that life is changeable, and feelings and emotions remain in the soul forever. From this follows the conclusion: life is changeable and fleeting, but happiness is a very personal state that is not subject to any laws.
Composition
In the work “Anna Snegina”, it is advisable to carry out the analysis according to the principle “following the author”. The poem consists of five chapters, each of which refers to a certain life period of the poet. The composition has cyclicality- the arrival of the lyrical hero at home. In the first chapter we learn that the main character is returning to his homeland to rest, to be away from the city and the hype. The post-war devastation has divided people, the army, which requires more and more investments, rests on the countryside.
Second chapter tells about the past of the lyrical hero, about what kind of people live in the village and how the political situation in the country changes them. He meets with a former lover, they talk for a long time.
The third part- reveals the relationship between Snegina and the lyrical hero - mutual sympathy is felt, they are still close, although age and circumstances separate them more and more. The death of a spouse separates the heroes, Anna is broken, she condemns the lyrical hero for cowardice and desertion.
In the fourth part there is a rejection of property from the Snegins, she and her mother move to the house of the miller, speaks with her lover, reveals her fears to him. They are still close, but the turmoil and rapid flow of life require the author to return to the city.
In the fifth chapter describes a picture of poverty and the horrors of civil war. Anna goes abroad, from where she sends news lyrical hero. The village is changing beyond recognition, only close people (especially the miller) remain the same relatives and friends, the rest have degraded, disappeared in trouble and got lost in the existing vague order.
Genre
The work covers fairly large-scale events, which makes it especially epic. The author himself defined the genre - "lyric poem", however, contemporary critics gave the genre a slightly different designation: a story in verse or a poetic short story.
The short story describes events with a sharp plot and a sharp ending, which is very typical for Yesenin's work. It should be noted that the author himself was not theoretically savvy in matters of literary criticism and genre specificity of works, so his definition is somewhat narrow. Artistic media used by the author are so diverse that their description requires separate consideration: vivid epithets, picturesque metaphors and comparisons, original personifications and other tropes create Yesenin's unique style.
Artwork test
Analysis Rating
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