The lyrics of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin are very diverse, but the leading place in it is occupied by the theme of the poet and poetry, because poetic creativity was his main occupation, and he highly appreciated the role and character of the poet. He has written more than a dozen poems that reveal the theme of the poet and poetry from different angles. The most important of them: “The Prophet” (1826), “Conversation between a bookseller and a poet” (1824), “The Poet” (1827), “The Poet and the Crowd” (1828), “To the Poet” (1830), “Echo” (1831) , “From Pendimonti” (1836), “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands...” (1836). What, in Pushkin’s understanding, is the purpose of a poet and the tasks of poetry in this world?

In the poem “The Prophet” the poet is compared to a prophet. The work talks about the properties that a poet should have, in contrast to an ordinary person to fulfill your purpose with dignity. “The Prophet” is based on the story of the biblical prophet Isaiah, who saw the Lord. This poem differs from others in which, speaking about poetry and the poet, Pushkin used images ancient mythology(Muses, Apollo, Parnassus). The lyrical hero of the work goes from a sinner who “dragged” without a goal in the “dark desert” to a reborn, purified, prophet who penetrated into the secrets of existence. This awakening of the Pushkin prophet was prepared by his condition: he was “languishing with spiritual thirst.” The Messenger of God, the Seraphim, transforms the entire nature of man in order to make a poet out of him. The sinner's eyes are opened:

The prophetic eyes have opened,

Like a frightened eagle...

Man received a sensitive ear, instead of a “sinful”, “idle-talking”, “evil” tongue - “the sting of a wise snake”, instead of a “quivering heart” - “a coal blazing with fire”. But even this complete transformation, a change in a person’s feelings and abilities, is not enough to become a real poet: “I lay like a corpse in the desert.” We also need a high goal, a high idea, in the name of which the poet creates and which revives, gives meaning, content to everything that he sees and hears so deeply and accurately. And at the end, the Lord puts His divine will into the prophet:

Arise, prophet, and see and listen,

Be fulfilled by my will,

And, bypassing the seas and lands,

Burn the hearts of people with the verb.

This is precisely what Pushkin sees as the purpose of a poet: if God has endowed him with poetic talent, then he must use all the power and beauty of his words in such a way as to truly “burn the hearts of people,” showing them the true, unvarnished truth of life.

The poem “Conversation between a bookseller and a poet” is also devoted to the theme of the poet and poetry. The poet yearns for those times when he “wrote out of inspiration, not out of payment.” But the glory of the lyrical hero took away his peace: “the world recognized and bought up” his “sweet-sounding creations.” But “the persecution of a lowly ignoramus” and “the admiration of a fool” are not at all worth doing for their sake, Pushkin believed. The secular mob is unworthy of the inspiration of a great poet. To the admiration of the crowd, glory in the light lyrical hero prefers freedom. But the bookseller objects:

Our age is a huckster; in this iron age

Without money there is no freedom.

He wants to purchase the manuscript of the poet’s new poem and offers:

Inspiration is not for sale

But you can sell the manuscript.

Why hesitate?

The poet agrees, but expressing his agreement, he abruptly switches to prose: “You are absolutely right. Here's my manuscript. Let's agree." After all, there is no poetry in selling your creativity. The poet was given a gift from God; he is called upon to “burn the hearts of people with words,” and not to sell his poems. But such is life, and this is a tragedy for a true singer, for a great poet.

The poems “The Poet”, “The Poet and the Crowd”, “The Poet”, “Echo” are dedicated to the tragic fate of the poet, his loneliness, and difficult relationships with the “crowd”, that is, the secular mob.

In the poem “Poet” Pushkin emphasizes the divine origin of the poetic gift. In the first part of the work we see that the poet is an ordinary person, like everyone else; he is immersed “in the worries of the vain world”:

His holy lyre is silent;

The soul tastes a cold sleep,

And among the insignificant children of the world,

Perhaps he is the most insignificant of all.

But in the second part there is a transformation. Moreover, transformations in the poet’s soul occur thanks to the “divine verb.” And in this sense, the poem “Poet” is akin to “Prophet”. The sinner’s path through the desert was as aimless as the “cares of the vain world” in which the poet was immersed. But thanks higher power a transformation takes place, and the soul of the poet awakens, like the soul of the prophet. Now the “fun of the world” and human rumor are alien to the lyrical hero. Now he yearns for the environment in which he previously moved. The prophet goes to people to “burn” their hearts with the word of God. But the poet has no place among people, among the crowd that does not understand him, and he runs, “wild and harsh,”

On the shores of desert waves,

In the noisy oak forests...

He is full of “sounds and confusion”, his inspiration seeks outlet, and his “holy lyre” can no longer remain silent. This is how poems are born that can shake human souls, that can “burn” people’s hearts.

But people do not always heed the poet’s calls, and he does not always find understanding among them. Most often, the poet is alone in society, in the “crowd,” by which Alexander Sergeevich means the secular mob. The poem “The Poet and the Crowd” is about this. Pushkin laments and is indignant at the inertia and stupidity of the mob, calling it “stupid,” “cold,” “arrogant,” “uninitiated.” In this work, the poet pours out his despair and bitterness, because the crowd does not accept him, they do not hear or understand his calls:

To what goal is he leading us?

What is he strumming about? What does it teach us? –

interpreted as “cold-hearted eunuchs,” “slanderers, slaves, fools.” The poet’s song is an empty sound for them; it has no material expression, therefore the mob rejects such art:

What use is it to us? –

they say. The singer expresses contempt for the “meaningless people”:

Go away - who cares

To the peaceful poet before you!

Feel free to turn to stone in depravity,

The voice of the lyre will not revive you!

You are as disgusting to my soul as coffins.

Pushkin is outraged by the spiritual poverty of the crowd, its sleepy existence, without upward impulses, without aspirations for beauty. What is the opinion of such a crowd worth, unable to hear and understand the great poet? He doesn't need her recognition and love. The singer does not want to “correct the hearts of his brothers,” because such hearts will not revive the “lyre’s voice.” And the poet was born “not for everyday excitement,” but for “inspiration, for sweet sounds and prayers.”

The message “To the Poet” is devoted to the same topic. The author calls on the nameless poet not to pay attention to the “judgment of a fool” and the “laughter of a cold crowd”:

You are the king: live alone. On the road to freedom

Go where your free mind takes you.

The author claims that the best judge of his creativity is the poet himself. The opinion of the unenlightened crowd, deeply indifferent to true poetry, does not matter. But if a “discriminating artist” is satisfied with his work, then his work is really worth something. And then

...let the crowd scold him

And spits on the altar where your fire burns,

And your tripod shakes in childish playfulness.

The poet’s loneliness and the readers’ misunderstanding are also spoken of in the poem “Echo.” The author's mood at the beginning and at the end of this work is not the same. At the beginning, Pushkin talks about how poetry is born. Any sound encourages the poet to create, inspires inspiration: the roar of an animal, thunder, the singing of a girl, and the cry of shepherds. The poet “for every sound” has “its own response in the empty air.” That is why the singer is compared to an echo. But, like an echo, the poet does not receive an answer to his “responses”. Thus, the ending of the poem is sad, because the poet’s fate is sometimes tragic: not all of his calls awaken the hearts of people, not everyone is close to his poems.

In the poems “Poet”, “To the Poet”, “Poet and the Crowd” Pushkin proclaims the idea of ​​freedom and independence from the crowd, the secular mob. Alexander Sergeevich wants to preserve the independence of his talent from encroachments on him from the world. The poem “From Pindemonti” is imbued with this mood. The poet talks about what kind of freedom a person needs. According to the author, “loud rights” to “challenge taxes or prevent kings from fighting each other” mean nothing. They make you “dizzy,” but such a “sweet fate” does not promise real freedom. What are the “better rights” and “better freedom” that Pushkin “needs”?

Don’t give a report, only to yourself

To serve and please; for power, for livery

Don’t bend your conscience, your thoughts, your neck;

To wander here and there on a whim...

This is what the author considers to be the highest happiness, true rights. This is the goal that, according to Alexander Sergeevich, we should strive for. The final approval of the poet's civic duty, summing up his creative activity Pushkin realizes in the poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands...”, where he says that his whole purpose, the whole meaning of his work lies in

That I awakened good feelings with my lyre,

That in my cruel age I glorified Freedom

And he called for mercy for the fallen.

The poem is a kind of testament of the poet. Addressing the Muse, the author calls on her to be obedient to the “command of God,” to accept “praise and slander” with indifference and, most importantly, “not to challenge a fool.” This call is addressed to the poet who will create in the future.

The role of the poet and poetry is a topic that concerned most of the writers and poets we studied. I would also like to dwell on , in whose work this topic is one of the main ones. Many of Pushkin’s works are devoted specifically to the theme of the poet and poetry, which we will talk about in more detail in ours.

Pushkin wrote many different works, revealing different current problems of its time. More than a dozen works by Pushkin are devoted to the theme of the poet and poetry. Here is his famous, Echo, I erected a monument to myself... and many others. In each of these works, the author reflects on the role of the poet and poetry, interpreting it differently, depending on the time when a particular poem was published.

Even during his years of study, Pushkin wrote that not everyone can become a poet. As the writer writes in his poem To a poet friend, creative work requires great spiritual dedication, and given that not all society understands and accepts creativity, you need to be prepared for a difficult fate.

Dedicating poems to the topic of the poet and poetry, Pushkin constantly tries to reflect on the purpose of the poet, his role and function in the life of society. At the same time, he takes upon himself the courage to talk about the very qualities that every poet should possess. These considerations can be clearly seen in the work called The Prophet. And here we see that for the poet it is not enough simply to receive the sting of a wise snake instead of a tongue, but to receive a burning coal instead of a heart. You must have high ideas and goals. This is exactly why you need to work, conveying your message to society and the people.

Revealing the role of the poet and poetry in his lyrics, Pushkin goes further. In his works Poet and the Crowd and Echo, the writer talks about personal freedom. The poet must be independent of the crowd and its opinions. How he should be independent from those who are indifferent to poetry. For a poet, it is important, despite everything, to reveal and point out the current problems of humanity. It is for these reasons that poets are often lonely and constantly persecuted by the authorities. After all, not everyone is able to understand the creativity, idea and high aspirations of the poet. But even all this is not a reason to stop writing. A true poet will continue to create regardless of the circumstances, even including loneliness.

The topic of our lesson is the theme of the poet and poetry in Pushkin’s lyrics of the late 1820s. We will talk about two poems: the poem “The Prophet,” written in 1826, and the poem “The Poet and the Crowd,” written in 1828.

Topic: Russian literature of the 19th century

Lesson: The theme of the poet and poetry in the lyrics of A.S. Pushkin. ("The Prophet", "The Poet and the Crowd")

Judging by the chronology, we are in Pushkin’s second St. Petersburg period, after Mikhailovsky exile, where, according to the established tradition, the source of which was Pushkin himself, his muse began to acquire more and more life-like features, reminiscent of Pushkin’s realism. However, some themes in Pushkin's work begin to be developed based on romantic traditions. And first of all, this concerns the topic of the poet and poetry. Let us recall that in Pushkin’s works it is precisely the themes of poetry that acquire the character of the world in which highest degree human freedom. That is why this romantic tradition becomes an important support for the implementation of the plans that will be discussed. Before starting a conversation about specific Pushkin works, let us recall that in the poetry of the romantics, in the poetry of Pushkin’s teachers (Zhukovsky, Batyushkin), among the civil romantics (Ryleev) and Pushkin’s closest lyceum friend V.K. Kuchelbecker's theme of the poet and poetry acquired a special character. She went beyond the ideas of what poets and poetic creativity could imagine. Under the pen of the romantics, the poet acquired the appearance of an ideal person who perceives the world around him in his own way. His poetic talent is not a conversation about poetry, it is not a conversation about writing poetry, it is a conversation about a special vision of the world, about a special experience of the world, which is not accessible to everyone. Romantic poets, of course, separated from the crowd and turned into a rather lonely, on the one hand, and on the other hand, a circle of people united by a common sacred union who turned out to be close and related to each other, rather in such a spiritual sense. It is no coincidence that Pushkin chooses some metaphorical moves to develop the theme of the poet and poetry. In one case, the figure of a poet appears before us, metaphorically represented by the figure of a prophet, in another case - by the image of a priest. There is something in common between them, because both of them are intermediaries between the world of gods and the world of people. The language of the gods is incomprehensible to an ordinary person, because the gods speak a language inaccessible to ordinary human understanding. Between the world of divine language and the world of people, an intermediate figure necessarily arises - the figure of the prophet, the figure of the priest, whose mission and goal is to make that language intelligible and understandable to at least some extent, because it is inaccessible to the human mind to fully decipher and understand the full extent of the divine idea . In all Pushkin’s poems, the effect of understatement, a certain mystery and inaccessibility to ordinary human understanding is preserved, because in the concept the poet retains his mystery and incomprehensibility to ordinary human consciousness. In order to somehow get closer to understanding these Pushkin works, it makes sense to turn to the direct meanings and meanings of these metaphors that Pushkin refers to.

It was clear to a literate reader of the 19th century, well acquainted with the biblical tradition, that many of the motifs of Pushkin’s poem go back to the text of the Old Testament, namely to the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Therefore, it makes sense to turn to this text to see what exactly Pushkin borrowed from there and how he revised the text of this book. There is also a need to note the fact that the very figure of the prophet in the biblical tradition arises in an unexpected way, in the sense that the biblical prophets are not some outstanding personalities, but ordinary Hebrew shepherds, on whose heads this divine mission suddenly fell unexpectedly : go and tell the Jewish people necessary words God. Therefore, in almost all biblical books one and the same close plot is found, which is familiar to us as the election of the prophet. This is the first encounter of an unexpecting man with God. It was this very place that attracted Pushkin’s attention. The first thing Isaiah experiences when he hears the voice of God is his own uncleanness. He, being an ordinary person, turns out to be sinful, at least original sin. And when he finds out that he needs to carry the Word of God, the first thing he asks is to cleanse his unclean lips from this sin. And then a six-winged seraphim appears, who takes coal from the altar and burns Isaiah’s lips with it, removing this sin from him and making it possible for these human lips to carry the Word of God. And then Isaiah hears the text that he needs to carry to the rebellious house of Israel: “You will look with your eyes and will not see, with your ears you will hear and will not hear, for the heart of this people has become hardened, and they will not come to me so that I can heal them.”.

Rice. 2. Prophet Isaiah (J.B. Tiepolo) ()

From here it is clear that Pushkin uses some motifs from this book in his poem, but in a deeply transformed form.

If we are talking about the poem “Prophet”, then let us recall that in the 19th century in the popular anthology in which best works Russian poets, which was published by Galakhov,

this poem was once printed with the note - Isaiah. Pushkin actually reworks the book “The Prophet Isaiah,” thereby hinting that in his poem he does not at all strive to create a poetic image of the biblical prophet. Or, according to at least, not only that, because circumstances make us think that this is a metaphor for the poet and his poetic ministry:

We are tormented by spiritual thirst...

And this is already news, because if this divine mission fell unexpectedly on the biblical prophet, then Pushkin’s lyrical hero is tormented by spiritual thirst. This means that the subsequent meeting with the seraphim and God arises as a response to his spiritual thirst, to his experiences, to the lack of spiritual support, the spiritual meaning of his life.

Rice. 4. Six-winged seraph (M.A. Vrubel, 1905) ()

Then, in response to spiritual thirst, a six-winged seraphim is sent to meet him. This character from the spiritual hierarchy is mentioned only once in the book “Prophet Isaiah”. Then a certain transformation occurs with the Pushkin prophet. It is easy to see that the transformation concerns the very parts that God remembers when offering Isaiah his prophetic mission - the eyes, ears and heart:

With fingers as light as a dream
He touched my eyes.
The prophetic eyes have opened,
Like a frightened eagle.
He touched my ears–
And they were filled with noise and ringing:

And he came to my lips,
And my sinner tore out my tongue,
And idle and crafty,
And the sting of the wise snake
My frozen lips
He put it with his bloody right hand.
And he cut my chest with a sword,
And he took out my trembling heart,
And coal blazing with fire,
I pushed the hole into my chest.

If in Isaiah this six-winged seraph still touched his lips with coal, then in Pushkin’s poem he suddenly appears instead of the heart. In the end, this amazing metamorphosis ends with a completely paradoxical image of a corpse appearing before us; a person is destroyed in his certain natural, human, natural quality. All his senses have changed. From the point of view of the prophetic book, they were cleansed. And then this lying corpse is resurrected by the voice of God:

“Rise up, prophet, and see and listen,
Be fulfilled by my will,
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn the hearts of people with the verb.”

And still mysteries remain. One of the most significant is, of course, what was revealed to the prophet in the process of this transformation? Perhaps the only place that explains something is this fragment:

And I heard the sky tremble,
And the heavenly flight of angels,
And the reptile of the sea underwater,
And the valley of the vine is vegetated.

It would seem that we have before us a certain picture of the world, but pay attention, at least what can be extracted from Pushkin’s text is surprising in itself. Ordinary people still see the sea, but the prophet also discovers a “reptile underwater passage”, he sees the seabed. An ordinary person sees the sky, and the prophet Pushkin sees the flight of angels, something beyond the scope of human vision. He sees a certain picture of the universe from top to bottom. And as if simultaneously, at the same time. Because when we look at the heavens, we do not see what is happening under our noses, under our feet; when we look at our feet, we do not see the heavens. And only the prophet is given the opportunity to see in a stereoscopic image at the same time everything that is impossible to see with human vision. There is another greater biblical tradition behind it all. You see, the entire universe is the creation of God, in which his wisdom is embodied. But again, in our ordinary human earthly practice we do not at all feel our life as filled with divine providence, divine meaning. Rather, on the contrary, all around us we see only inconsistencies, only troubles, evil, which every time prevents us from realizing our human dream. And you need to take some strange, unusual position in order to, through all the imperfections of the world, in such an unusual, almost fantastic way, discover the divine harmony behind it all and, of course, be ashamed of your own imperfection. Moreover, the theme that permeates this entire poem from its beginning to the final line, “With the verb, burn the hearts of people,” becomes the theme of fire, also represented by different metaphors. First, it is a six-winged seraphim (from Hebrew - fiery), because its function is precisely to incinerate the sins of the world with this divine fire. This is a coal, blazing with fire, which arises instead of the former human heart in the chest of the prophet. And finally, his mission is “to burn the hearts of people with the verb.” It becomes clear that this poet-prophet must perform almost the same operation on people as the seraphim performed on him. It must make people see, hear, and perceive the world around them differently. But in order for this transformation to occur, essentially each of us must kill the ordinary person within ourselves and revive the spiritual one. In the poem “Prophet”, after all, its lyrical hero conducts the conversation from his own name"I".

When it comes to Pushkin and his works, each of them could play its own independent role in the history of Russian culture and poetry. What looks completely complete and harmonious in Pushkin’s work, in the perception of subsequent poets could differ in different sides. What is meant is the fact that, suppose, the theme of the poet and poetry, developed in the poem “Prophet,” later served to develop that direction in Russian poetry, which is usually called civil poetry. This is understandable, because in this case the poet acted as public figure, the purpose of which was to try to remake the world around us. And this fit well into a certain tradition, which Pushkin also relies on. First of all, it's tradition civic poetry, civil romanticism (the tradition of Ryleev) and his lyceum friend Küchelbecker, who at that moment (in 1826) had already been convicted in the Decembrist case, and his further fate has not yet been determined. On the other hand, the poem “The Poet and the Crowd” will turn out to be a kind of symbol and basis for the development of a diametrically opposite direction in the development of Russian poetry, a direction that thought of itself and built itself in direct opposition to the socially significant understanding of the poet’s poetry. This is the so-called pure art. And the only authority and ideal embodiment of the poet in his pure form in our tradition will be the poetry of A.A. Feta:

Not for everyday worries,
Not for gain, not for battles,
We were born to inspire
For sweet sounds and prayers.

It is these lines that will become a kind of poetic symbol of Fet’s entire work.

But in the poem “The Poet and the Crowd” we see a slightly different situation, a different picture. This is not a lyrical monologue, which unfolds as if on behalf of a lyrical character. This is a kind of dramatic scene, which is now staged in the form of a dialogue, presented, on the one hand, by the priest, and on the other hand, by this very unenlightened crowd. Moreover, Pushkin paints this most dramatic scene, now relying on another tradition - not the Old Testament, not the Bible, not the Christian, but the ancient tradition, in this case the Greco-Roman one. This is not accidental, because it was antiquity that gave birth to this particularly cultural phenomenon, which is commonly called dialogue. Therefore, it is no coincidence that this dialogue unfolds between these characters. From an external point of view, the topic of this dialogue seems to unfold in connection with the fact that the priest’s song is being discussed here. We must believe that he still conveys a certain voice, a certain will of God, which he is trying to convey to people. On the other hand, this voice and this song turn out to be incomprehensible to the crowd:

Poet of inspired lyre
He rattled his absent-minded hand.
He sang– and cold and arrogant
There are uninitiated people around
I listened to him senselessly.

On the one hand, he listens, but on the other, he is meaningless, because he does not understand what he is singing. But this senseless crowd is trying to figure out what’s going on, trying to comprehend in their human categories what is happening before their eyes:

And the stupid mob interpreted:
“Why does he sing so loudly?
In vain hitting the ear,
To what goal is he leading us?
What is he strumming about? what does it teach us?
Why do hearts worry, torment,
Like a wayward sorcerer?
Like the wind, his song is free,
But like the wind and barren:
What good does it do us?”

The crowd is trying to pull out one of the criteria by which the poet’s song could be interpreted - benefit. And suddenly he hears in response:

Be silent, senseless people,
Day laborer, slave of needs, worries!
I can't stand your impudent murmur,
You are a worm of the earth, not a son of heaven;

You would benefit from everything - worth it's weight
Idol you value Belvedere.
You don’t see any benefit or benefit in it.
But this marble is god!.. so what?
The stove pot is more valuable to you:
You cook your food in it.

It becomes clear that the purpose of poetry is not benefit at all, but something else. Which one is not yet entirely clear. Then the unenlightened crowd will not calm down again. She still won't be able to understand what's going on. She will then try to draw a lesson from this poet’s song:

No, if you are heaven's chosen one,
Your gift, divine messenger,
For our benefit, use:
Correct the hearts of your brothers.
We are cowardly, we are treacherous,
Shameless, evil, ungrateful;
We are cold-hearted eunuchs,
Slanderers, slaves, fools;
Vices nest in a club within us.
You can, loving your neighbor,
Give us bold lessons,
And we will listen to you.

Amazing recognition from the crowd. Firstly, it suddenly turns out that she is all filled with a bunch of vices, but she does not at all object to poets correcting these same vices. Still, the theme is that some benefit, some meaning must be discovered in this meaningless song. And suddenly in response the poet says something unexpected:

Go away– what's the matter
To the peaceful poet before you!
Feel free to turn to stone in depravity,
The voice of the lyre will not revive you!
You are as disgusting to my soul as coffins.
For your stupidity and malice
Have you had so far
Scourges, dungeons, axes;
–Enough of you, crazy slaves!
In your cities from the noisy streets
Sweep away the rubbish– useful work!–
But, forgetting my service,
Altar and sacrifice
Do the priests take your broom?
Not for everyday worries,
Not for gain, not for battles,
We were born to inspire
For sweet sounds and prayers.

Only in the poet’s very last answer does he refer to the figure of the priest, to the figure of the mediator between the world of the Gods and the world of people. Symbols of this priestly service appear - an altar, a sacrifice. And if you do not understand the meaning of the divine work of the priest, then it is not his duty to explain it to the unenlightened crowd. The riddle still remains unsolved, unless one imagines the most obvious. The goal of poetry is poetry, the goal of art is art, self-sufficient within itself, not requiring any justification for its existence.

The story of the creation of the poem “The Prophet” may itself look like a separate story. Let us remember that Pushkin wrote this poem when the news of the Decembrist uprising reached him. Sitting in Mikhailovskoye, he knew about the impending uprising from I.I., who once came to visit him. Pushchina. Therefore, when the news of the uprising reached Pushkin, Pushkin’s closest friends, who were in the thick of events, informed him about the events that were unfolding in St. Petersburg. It was obvious that the lion's share of the Decembrists, telling Nicholas I about where they got their freedom-loving ideas from, quite openly named Pushkin and quoted his poems. Therefore, how Pushkin’s subsequent fate could unfold was a problem and a mystery for Pushkin himself. And it is on this occasion that he composes “The Prophet,” because the impetus for writing this poem will be the news of the tragic defeat of the Decembrist uprising, of Pushkin’s friends who suffered in this story. Here there is reason to remember Kuchelbecker, in whose work the image of the poet primarily came into contact with the image of the prophet and whose tradition is continued by Pushkin. In general, Pushkin was preparing a worthy response to the emperor. True, later many specific historical circumstances associated with the creation of this poem were excluded by Pushkin from the text of “The Prophet,” and he himself acquired a broader, universal, symbolic meaning than history itself.

Before us are two poems with two diametrically directed ideas of the poet and poetic service. If in the poem “The Prophet” the poet, fulfilling a divine mission, must “burn the hearts of people with his verb,” that is, carry out a socially significant task of correcting people, then in the case of the poem “The Poet and the Crowd,” a diametrically opposite situation emerges before us. We are talking about art as such, which exists in a form that does not require any additional justification for its existence. Let me remind you that, from Pushkin’s point of view, this does not have to be perceived as some kind of contradiction, which is difficult to resolve by the poet himself. In reality, both topics will one day come together in one place. It will be famous poem“I erected a monument to myself, not made by hands,”

Rice. 6. Autograph of the poem “Monument” ()

where the immortality of the poet and his work will be represented in the form of glory:

And I will be glorious as long as I am in the sublunary world

At least one piit will be alive.

Because it is clear that poets will first of all appreciate that same artistic mastery, that same highest aristocratism of the artist, which brilliantly unfolds in the poetic form of Pushkin’s works. But as for the rumor that will spread throughout Rus', this Great Rus' will appreciate the poet for something completely different. For this:

That in my cruel age I glorified Freedom

And he called for mercy for the fallen.

It is no coincidence that “Monument” will end with an amazing combination of Christian and ancient traditions:

By the command of God, O muse, be obedient.

We will talk later about how the theme of the poet and poetry developed in other, later works of Pushkin.

1. Sakharov V.I., Zinin S.A. Russian language and literature. Literature (basic and advanced levels) 10. M.: Russian Word.

2. Arkhangelsky A.N. and others. Russian language and literature. Literature (advanced level) 10. M.: Bustard.

3. Lanin B.A., Ustinova L.Yu., Shamchikova V.M. / ed. Lanina B.A. Russian language and literature. Literature (basic and advanced levels) 10. M.: VENTANA-GRAF.

1. Russian literature and folklore ().

1. Swipe comparative characteristics some poems by different authors of the XVIII-XIX centuries. and tell us what is new and unique about the theme of the poet and poetry in Pushkin’s work.

2. Analyze Pushkin’s poems (“The Prophet”, “The Poet and the Crowd”) from the point of view of their imagery.

3. *Based on the analyzed poems of Pushkin, write an essay-reflection on the topic: “Personal qualities that a true poet should have.”

The theme of the purpose of a poet and poetry in literature is fully revealed in the lyrics of the following poets:

1. In the lyrics of A. Pushkin. Pushkin considered it his duty to sing of freedom to the world and to defeat vice on the thrones (ode “Liberty”, 1817). He said that not everyone is given the opportunity to be a poet, that it is very difficult life path(“To a Poet Friend,” 1814) that the poet is obliged to set fire to people’s hearts with a verb, serve his people and raise people to fight for truth and freedom (“Prophet,” 1828). He called on the poet to be free from the opinions of the crowd: You yourself are your own highest court (“To the Poet,” 1830) and compared yourself to an echo that responds to all the sounds of life (“Echo,” 1831).
2. In the lyrics of M. Lermontov. Following Pushkin, Lermontov recognizes the special mission of the poet, inspiring the people to fight for freedom (The Prophet, 1841), and compares the poet with a dagger: he must also be firm and unbending in serving his ideals (The Poet, 1839).
3. In the lyrics of N. Nekrasov. Nekrasov’s muse descended from the poetic Olympus onto city streets and rural arable lands - he compared his muse to a young peasant woman (“Yesterday, at about six o’clock,” 1848). All his work is permeated with the thought: You may not be a poet, But you must be a citizen (“Poet and Citizen”, 1856).
4. In the lyrics of V. Mayakovsky. Mayakovsky argued that today the poet’s rhyme is a caress and a slogan, and a bayonet, and a whip. The poet’s word heals and burns, so his duty is to roar like a copper-throated siren (“Conversation with the financial inspector about poetry”, 1926). In the poem “At the top of his voice” (1930) he says that poetry is a weapon, and the poet is not a chosen one and a priest, but a performer of the most difficult work (a sewer man and a water carrier, mobilized and called up by the revolution), his word should not only convey the idea to the reader , but also to excite, motivate to immediate action - building a new world.
5. In the lyrics of A. Akhmatova. For Akhmatova, the process of composing poetry is a disease, languor: If only you knew from what rubbish / Poems grow without knowing shame (“I don’t need odic armies...”, 1940). She considers her main task to be recording poetry under the dictation of the muse, and this ability is bestowed on poets from above. Creativity is a thorny path on which the poet encounters misunderstanding, deafness and blindness on the part of people. The purpose of the poet is to go alone and heal the blind (“We have freshness of words and simplicity of feelings”, 1915).

An example of a poem on the topic of the poet and poetry - “I erected a monument to myself, not made by hands” by A.S. Pushkin. Let's try to briefly analyze it.

Subject. The poem is considered Pushkin's poetic testament. This is a hymn to poetry, which affirms the high purpose of the poet and poetry. The theme of freedom was introduced: the monument rose higher than the Alexandria Pillar (a symbol of royal power).

Composition. Consists of five stanzas. The 1st stanza asserts the importance miraculous monument. In the 2nd - the immortality of art. The 3rd stanza is devoted to the theme of the wide posthumous fame of Pushkin himself. In the 4th stanza, the poet defines the essence of creativity. In the 5th - he is ready to accept fate, whatever it may be.

Russian classical literature has given the world magnificent examples of poetic creativity. The poems of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov became true masterpieces. One of the main topics for these great masters of words was the problem of the purpose and place of poetry in life, the purpose of the poet, his role in society.

A. S. Pushkin, with all his creativity, asserted the unity of poetry and real life For him, the poet was a person endowed with a divine gift. The muse should not turn away from people, considering it unworthy to pay attention to simple plots. For Pushkin, a poet is a prophet capable of influencing society with his creativity. The poem “The Prophet” is dedicated to this topic, in which the voice of the author is heard calling on the poet:

“Rise up, prophet, and see and listen,
Be fulfilled by my will,
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn the hearts of people with the verb.”

A poet can see and feel what others cannot. But he is obliged to dedicate his gift to people, and not languish with “spiritual thirst” or go into the transcendental heights of dreams and dreams. This is the deep conviction of Pushkin himself, who in the poem “Monument” addresses the muse with instructions;

By the command of God, O muse, be obedient,
Without fear of insult, without demanding a crown,
Praise and slander were accepted indifferently
And don't argue with a fool.

A. S. Pushkin until his death remained devoted to his convictions, faith in the high purpose of poetry, the power and abilities of a poet-citizen, poet-prophet.

These views were fully shared by Pushkin’s successor M. Yu. Lermontov. The same motives sound in his work, but time has left its mark on the poet’s poems. During the years of reaction, the poet's fate was very difficult. In the poem “The Poet,” Lermontov compares the poet to a dagger, which used to be a formidable weapon that served its master faithfully. And now the dagger has become a toy, no one needs it. So the poet lost his purpose and exchanged his mighty voice for gold. Previously, the poet’s words lifted the spirit of people, sounded “like a bell on a veche tower in the days of celebrations and troubles of the people.” It is painful for Lermontov to observe how petty and deceptive poetic creativity has become. He asks bitterly, hoping for a better future:

Will you wake up again, mocked prophet?..
Or never to the voice of vengeance
You cannot snatch your blade from a golden sheath,
Covered with the rust of contempt?..

Lermontov himself experienced the full severity of the position of the poet-pro-rock in his contemporary society. In the poem “The Prophet,” the hero faces a completely different fate than the hero of Pushkin’s poem of the same name. People did not need the “God’s gift” of the prophet; he had to live in the forest, hide from people:

I began to proclaim love
And the truth is pure teachings:
All my neighbors are in me
They threw stones wildly.

This is exactly what their “neighbors” did with Pushkin and Lermontov, whose lives were cut short in the prime of their creative powers. Pushkin died, Lermontov fell in a duel, but in Russia there was a man who continued the work of great artists.

N. A. Nekrasov dedicated all his work to the Russian people. The poet's lyrics served as a model of citizenship for his contemporaries. A poet must first of all be a citizen, said Nekrasov, and serve the people:

It’s a shame to sleep with your talent;
It’s even more shameful in a time of grief
The beauty of the valleys, skies and sea
And sing of sweet affection...

Nekrasov calls on poetry to be an expression of people's interests. The poet is obliged to write about the people and for the people:

Be a citizen! serving art,
Live for the good of your neighbor,
Subordinating your genius to feeling
All-embracing love...

The same theme is heard in the poem “Elegy”. Nekrasov argues that poetry cannot forget about the suffering and aspirations of the common people, because this is precisely its high purpose. The most worthy for the lyre:

Remind the crowd that the people are in poverty
While she rejoices and sings.
To arouse the attention of the powers that be to the people...

Nekrasov's poetry, like the lyrics of Pushkin and Lermontov, had a huge influence on the minds and hearts of people. These great Russian poets raised poetic creativity to unattainable heights, earning fame and recognition from their descendants. And Nekrasov’s words can be safely attributed to each of the brilliant poets of Russia:

I dedicated the lyre to my people...