Chapter Three

And under the arch on Galernaya...
A. Akhmatova

In St. Petersburg we will meet again,
It’s as if we buried the sun in it.
O. Mandelstam

That was Last year...
M. Lozinsky

Petersburg 1913. Lyrical digression: last memory of Tsarskoe Selo. The wind, either remembering or prophesying, mutters:

Christmastide was warmed by fires,
And the carriages fell off the bridges,
And the whole mourning city floated
For an unknown purpose,
Along the Neva or against the current, -
Just away from your graves.
On Galernaya there was a black arch,
In Letny the weather vane sang subtly,
And the silver moon is bright
Above silver age cold
Because on all roads,
Because to all thresholds
The shadow was slowly approaching
Vteer tore posters from the wall,
Smoke danced squatting on the roof
And the cemetery smelled of lilacs.
And sworn by Queen Avdotya,
Dostoevsky and the demoniac,
The city was fading into fog.
And looked out of the darkness again
An old St. Petersburg resident and a reveler,
How the drum beat before the execution...
And always in the frosty darkness,
Pre-war, prodigal and menacing,
There lived some kind of future hum,
But then he was heard more faintly,
He hardly disturbed souls
And he drowned in the snowdrifts of the Neva.
Like in the mirror of a terrible night
And he's furious and doesn't want to
Recognize yourself as a person
And along the legendary embankment
It was not the calendar one that was approaching -
The Real Twentieth Century.

Now let's go home quickly
Cameron Gallery
Into the icy mysterious garden,
Where the waterfalls are silent,
Where all nine will be happy to see me,
How happy you were once.
There behind the island, there behind the garden
Won't we meet eyes
Our former clear eyes,
Won't you tell me again
Death-conquering word
And the answer to my life?

Chapter four and final

Love passed and became clear
And the traits of death are close.
Sun. TO.

Corner of the Champ de Mars. House built in early XIX century by the Adamini brothers. It would take a direct hit from an air bomb in 1942. A high fire is burning. You can hear the bell ringing from the Savior on Spilled Blood. On the field behind the snowstorm is the ghost of a palace ball. In the interval between these sounds, Silence itself speaks:

Who froze at the darkened windows,
On whose heart is there a “fawn curl”,
Who has darkness before their eyes? -
“Help, it's not too late!
You've never been so frosty
And the night was not alien!”
A wind full of Baltic salt
Blizzard Ball on the Champ de Mars
And the invisible sound of hooves...
And there is immeasurable anxiety,
Who has a little time left to live,
Who only asks God for death
And who will be forgotten forever.
After midnight he wanders under the windows,
Points at him mercilessly
Dim beam corner lamp, -
And he waited. Slim mask
On the way back from Damascus
I returned home... not alone!
Someone with her is “nameless”...
Unambiguous separation
Through the slanting flames of the fire
He saw buildings collapse.
And in response, a snatch of sobbing:
“You are Dove, sunshine, sister! -
I'll leave you alive
But you will be my widow,
And now...
It's time to say goodbye!"

The place smells of perfume,
And a dragoon cornet with poetry
And with senseless death in my chest
He'll call if he's brave enough...
He spends his last moment
To praise you.
Look:
Not in the damned Masurian swamps,
Not on the blue Carpathian heights...
He's on your doorstep!
Across.
May God forgive you!

(How many deaths came to the poet,
Stupid boy: he chose this one, -
He did not tolerate the first insults,
He didn't know what threshold
Is it worth it and how expensive is it?
A view will open before him...)

It's me - yours old conscience
I found the burned story
And on the edge of the windowsill
In the dead man's house
I put it -
and tiptoed away...

Afterword

Everything is in order: there is a poem
And, as is typical for her, she remains silent.
Well, what if the topic breaks out,
He will knock on the window with his fist, -
And will respond from afar
To the call of this terrible sound -
Bubbling, moaning and screaming
And the vision of crossed arms?..

Month, silver month,
The month has sharp horns.
The month, the month has a clean face,
The back is a round arch.

That you wander across the sky all night,
Are you looking for something or guarding?
Or you can't sleep either,
And do you run after sleep?

A flock of bright stars across the sky,
Surrounding you, it floats.
From above to people, blinking to us,
Invites you to take flight.

Moon with silvery light,
Did strange world Terrestrial.
Tales of ghostly, secret,
Secretly wonderful, twilight.

Month, month of wits,
Sharp horn, arched back.
You do not...

Silver drops of rain
Tears glisten on my eyelashes.
I realize that I am no longer yours,
And happiness flies into the sky like a bird.

And on my lips they are still fresh
Memories of your tender kisses.
I will remain silent, but the cry of the soul
I can't hide it in my eyes.

With silver threads
Stitches the firmament together
A tailor, invisible to the eye,
In works from year to year.
He's in a hurry, trying...
After all, in August it’s always
Turns quickly into thread
Flying star.
At night, at the time of starfall
Lovers can't sleep
They need treasured ones
Make wishes.
Desires come true
They won't wait long.
Autumn time is coming -
For weddings, grace.

The golden moon has risen into the midnight sky
Illuminating the misty dust of the violet skies.
Gilding of misty moonlight
Blue light silvers the edges, fields and meadows.

On the river banks, in the darkness of the autumn night
The wind plays the melody of October with leaves,
What fell from the branch of a slender poplar,
Dissolving in the coolness of the autumn rain.

At night the surface of the river is almost invisible.
The gloom of the blue forests slumbers,
And somewhere you can hear the rustle of quiet steps
And the golden month shines in the cool...

A month of love and two years of suffering,
A pile of papers I had written all over.
Just spare me... without lamentations,
The wondrous Sudak remains in my memory.
I'll take out the trash, and with it the scraps
The notebook sheets I tore -
These are simple excerpts from life,
History is made up of many pieces.
There will be problems: she won’t want to
To just forget her.
But there’s no point... let him bother...
This is unlikely to lead to anything good.

Blurred frames last dates -
Where to kiss, where to hug...
Just spare me...

The month went for a walk,
Looked at everything from above,
And in a distant alley
The Soul got lost.

The month is in a hurry to help her,
Lighting the Path with yourself.
Lost at midnight
He takes her Home.

How many of them, so sad,
Lost in the Night
My distant light-faced friend
Gave salvation the keys

“And the silver month cooled brightly over the silver age”

The Silver Age as a phenomenon in Russian literature

The Russian poetic Silver Age traditionally fits into the beginning of the 20th century; in fact, its origin is XIX century, and all its roots go back to the “golden age”, to the work of A. S. Pushkin, to the legacy of Pushkin’s galaxy, to Tyutchev’s philosophy, to the impressionistic lyrics of Fet, to Nekrasov’s prosaisms, to the border lines, full of tragic psychologism and vague forebodings, by K. Sluchevsky. In other words, the 90s began to leaf through the drafts of books that would soon make up the library of the 20th century. Since the 90s, literary sowing began, which brought shoots.

The term “Silver Age” itself is very conditional and covers a phenomenon with controversial outlines and uneven relief. This name was first proposed by the philosopher N. Berdyaev, but it finally entered literary circulation in the 60s of the twentieth century.

All the poetry of the Silver Age, greedily absorbing the heritage of the Bible, ancient mythology, the experience of European and world literature, is closely connected with Russian folklore, with its songs, laments, tales and ditties.

In order to understand more clearly the reason for the phenomenal cultural upsurge in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, which is rightly called the “Russian Renaissance”, it is necessary first of all to turn to the atmosphere of the spiritual life of Russia at the turn of the century, which became a condition for the development of poetic creativity.

The philosopher N. Berdyaev tried to characterize this cultural phenomenon from the position of dialectics. Here is what he wrote about this in his book “Self-Knowledge”:

“This was the era of the awakening in Russia of independent philosophical thought, the flourishing of poetry and the intensification of aesthetic sensuality, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and the occult... But all this happened in quite vicious circle, divorced from the wider social movement. Initially, this Russian renaissance included elements of decadence... The cultural renaissance appeared in our country in the pre-revolutionary era and was accompanied keen sense the approaching death of old Russia. There was excitement and tension, but there was no real joy... The cultural and spiritual movement of that time was a kind of Russian romanticism; it was least of all classical in its spirit.”

Poetry, as the most subtle and sensitive element of culture, captured these alarming contradictions of the crisis era: a surge of spirituality, on the one hand, and a premonition of an imminent catastrophe, on the other, which could not but affect its further development. In poetry, as well as in other areas of culture at the beginning of the 20th century, decadence became widespread, the main motives of which were embodied in various directions of modernism. Moreover, this happened not only in poetry, but also in other forms of art.

The question of the chronological boundaries of the Silver Age is quite controversial. Its beginning is considered to be the 1890s, when the first shoots of symbolism began to emerge. One way or another, by the time the new century arrived, a new cultural (and, within the framework of the issue we are considering, a poetic) era had already declared itself loudly. Symbolist poetry reached its apogee during the years of the first Russian revolution (1905-1907), when the names of A. Blok and A. Bely were added to the founders of the movement, K. Balmont, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, F. Sologub, who had entered the period of highest poetic maturity. , Vyach. Ivanova.

By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, symbolism as a school was losing its leading role. New ones are emerging literary movements: the positions of the symbolists are actively challenged by their actual heirs: the Acmeists and direct opponents - the futurists.

During these years, new stars light up on the poetic horizon - A. Akhmatova, N. Gumilyov, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Kuzmin, I. Severyanin, M. Tsvetaeva, V. Khlebnikov, V. Mayakovsky, S. Yesenin, B. Pasternak, V. Shershenevich and many others.

In a word, the initial boundary and the heyday of the Silver Age can be determined quite accurately. But the question of its end is still a matter of debate. The poet N. Korzhavin believed that the “Silver Age” began in the 10s of the 20th century and ended... with the First World War.” Critic E. G. Etkind writes: “1915 is the highest rise of the “Silver Age” and, at the same time, its end.” Other researchers have a different view reasonable point views on chronological boundaries: 1917, 20s and even 30s of the 20th century.

O. Ronen shifts the upper limit of the Silver Age even further in time, although he approaches the outline of its boundaries by defining this era as a whole as cultural phenomenon: “Whenever this century, nicknamed “silver,” comes to an end - in the 17th year, or in the 21-22nd - with the death of Gumilyov and the death of Blok and Khlebnikov, or in the 30th - with the suicide of Mayakovsky, or in ’34 - with the death of Andrei Bely, or in ’37-39 with the death of Klyuev and Mandelstam and the death of Khodasevich, or in ’40, after the fall of Paris, when Akhmatova began “A Poem without a Hero”, and Nabokov, having escaped from France, conceived the “Paris Poem”, dedicated, like Akhmatova’s, to summing up the results - the name “Silver Age” was just an alienated nickname given by critics, in best case scenario as an apology, and at worst as a slur. The poets themselves, still living representatives of this century, Piast, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, used it occasionally with vague and ironic humility, without condescending to openly argue with critics.”

And yet, it would be more reasonable to consider the October upheavals of 1917, which tragically affected not only poetry, but also the entire Russian culture as a whole, as the main boundary, the upper limit of the Silver Age.

The Silver Age was short. Brief and dazzling. The biographies of almost all the creators of this poetic miracle were tragic. The time allotted to them by fate turned out to be fatal. But, as you know, “you don’t choose times - you live and die in them.”

Thus, main feature The poetic stage of the Silver Age was that it was created by the brightest individuals, sharply different in their worldview and talent. They were united not only chronological framework turn of the century, but also the consciousness of his era as completely exceptional, and attempts to develop a fundamentally new concept of personality.

The end of the nineteenth century... The beginning of the twentieth... The turn of the century... A feeling of crisis, upheaval, catastrophism... The twentieth century... even more homeless, More scarier than life darkness, Even blacker and more enormous is the Shadow of Lucifer's wing. And disgust from life, And mad love for it, And passion, and hatred for the fatherland... And black earthly blood Promises us, swelling our veins, All destroying boundaries, Unheard of changes, Unprecedented rebellions... A.A. Blok

Silver Age () ? Otsup N.A. In terms of strength and energy, in terms of the abundance of amazing creations, the poetry of this period is a worthy continuation of the “golden age” Russian cultural Renaissance Berdyaev N.A.

Modernism (fr. Moderne - newest, modern) is an artistic and aesthetic system that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, embodied in a system of relatively independent artistic directions and movements characterized by a feeling of disharmony in the world, a break with the traditions of realism, a rebellious and shocking worldview, the predominance of motives for loss of connection with reality, loneliness and illusory freedom of the artist, locked in the space of his fantasies, memories and subjective associations.

Symbolism (D. Merezhkovsky) Symbol is the main aesthetic category Themes of the works: denial of reality (the world is a menagerie, prison, cell); life is a dream, a play of shadows; self-deification; throwing a person from darkness to light (motif of a swing); loneliness; Eternal Femininity, Soul of the World

A pale young man with a burning gaze, Now I give you three covenants. First accept: do not live in the present, Only the future is the domain of the poet. Remember the second thing: don’t sympathize with anyone, love yourself infinitely. Keep the third: worship art, only it, thoughtlessly, aimlessly. V. Bryusov

Futurism (future) Manifesto “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste”: “We Deny Spelling”; "We have loosened the syntax"; “We have destroyed punctuation marks” “We are new people of a new life” Collections: “Roaring Parnassus”, “Dead Moon”, “Milkers of Exhausted Toads” Groups: “Jack of Diamonds”, “Donkey’s Tail”, “Budetlyans”

I know funny lines from mysterious countries About a black maiden, about the passion of a young leader, But you have been breathing in the heavy fog for too long, You don’t want to believe in anything but rain. And how I will tell you about the tropical garden, About the slender palm trees, about the smell of incredible herbs. You are crying? Listen... far away, on Lake Chad An exquisite giraffe wanders N. Gumilyov Comparative table modernist movements turn of the century Criteria for comparison Symbolism Acmeism Futurism 1. Attitude to the world The world is not knowable The world is knowable The world must be remade 2. The role of the poet The poet-prophet unravels the mysteries of existence, words The poet returns clarity and simplicity to the word The poet destroys the old 3. Attitude to the word The word is ambiguous and symbolic Clearly defined - quality of the word Freedom in handling the word 4. Features of the form Hints, allegories Specific imagery Abundance of neologisms, distortions of words 5. A related type of art Music Painting, architecture, sculpture Painting

"And the silver moon is bright

there was a chill over the Silver Age"

Teacher

The article belongs to the section: Teaching literature

There are 3 groups on stage:

Symbolists - in black suits

acmeists - formal clothes

futurists - shirts untucked, tousled.

Stage backdrop:

Poster “Silver Age of Russian Poetry”

Enlarged covers of books by M. Tsvetaeva, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, V. Bryusov and others.

Rachmaninov's music sounds

Presenter 1.

Christmastide was warmed by fires,

And the carriages fell off the bridges,

And the whole mourning city floated

For an unknown purpose,

Along the Neva or against the current -

Just away from your graves.

There was a black arch across Galernaya,

In Letny the weather vane sang subtly,

And the silver moon is bright

It was freezing over the Silver Age.

Presenter 2. Silver Age! What is it? What are its boundaries? It is more or less easy to talk about the beginning of the Silver Age. IN scientific works The beginning is usually taken to be the mid-1890s (Merezhkovsky and early Bryusov). And the second border should be pushed back to the end of the twentieth century. You can connect it with the shot that ended the life of N. Gumilyov in 1921. The Silver Age is, of course, not a century in the direct sense of the word, but a period of several decades when a group of poets appeared who managed to make a name for themselves with new, unusual creativity.

Presenter 1. They were very different, poets of the Silver Age. They lived a complex inner life, tragic and joyful, filled with quests, feelings, and poetry.

The groups are highlighted on the stage so that the names on the tables are visible (“Symbolists”, “Acmeists”, “Futurists”).

Symbolist. I believe, gentlemen, that poetry is the path to higher knowledge of the World. And this knowledge can only be through a symbol. Did you read last job Merezhkovsky “On the causes of decline and new trends in Russian literature”?

Acmeist. But I’ll tell you what, dear symbolists, if we talk about new movements, then first of all we must talk about Acmeism. Well, why do you need these symbols, mysticism, the other world, when there are so many wonderful, earthly things around us. The beyond cannot be comprehended, no matter how original your attempts.

Symbolist. But how musical our poems are. Listen to the lines of K. Balmont. The sounds are the music itself (“Reeds”).

Midnight in the swamp wilderness

The reeds rustle barely audibly, silently.

What are they whispering about? What are they talking about?

Why are the lights burning between them?

They flicker, blink - and again they are gone.

And again the wandering light began to appear.

Isn't it lovely?!

Acmeist. I have nothing personally against K. Balmont, but you must agree - sheer pessimism. And in general, we in the association “Workshop of Poets” abandoned the idea of ​​cognizing the unknowable. I agree with N. Gumilev, S. Gorodetsky that simple, material, objective world significant in itself. And it’s completely in vain that A. Blok accuses us of the fact that our creativity is “without a deity, without inspiration.” Just listen (N. Gumilyov’s poem “Giraffe” is heard).

Futurist. I listened to you, gentlemen poets, I listened and I’ll say straight out: I’m tired! Merezhkovsky, Gumilyov, Pushkin are there, Lermontov should all be forgotten, thrown out of one’s mind. Our poetry is the beginning of all new paths. We dream of an unheard of unseen model of art. This will renew the decrepit world. We are exploding the language, bringing disharmony into poetry! Listen to one of Velimir Khlebnikov's last poems.

The poem by V. Khlebnikov “Oh, laugh, laughers!”

Symbolist. And you also talk about our incomprehensible poetry. Everything is clear here, but here!!! What's the point?

Futurist. So you Symbolists are full of sadness: oohs and aahs! And here they offer to laugh. We didn’t like our V. Khlebnikov, well! But I. Severyanin will conquer you.

The poem “Overture” by I. Severyanin is heard.

Presenter 1. Why are you all arguing?! But I know what unites you all. These are poems about love. And among the Symbolists this theme was generally leading.

Symbolist. Unearthly divine love. The search for eternal femininity is what A. Blok, for example, wrote about.

A poem by A. Blok about love is read from the audience (reader's choice).

Acmeist. And our Anna Akhmatova writes about earthly love. Writes correctly.

A poem by A. Akhmatova about love is read from the audience (reader's choice).

Futurist. And our V. Mayakovsky gave it away.

The poem “Naval Love” is heard from the audience.

Acmeist. It's easy to write about love. At least everyone is allowed. And our

O. Mandelstam wrote poems about things that could not be whispered about. Of course, he was punished. When he was arrested, his wife and A. Akhmatov, who was friends with the family, immediately decided what kind of poems about Stalin they were.

O. Mandelstam’s poem “We live beneath ourselves, not sensing the country” is heard from the hall.

M. Tsvetaeva’s poem “To my poems, written so early” is heard from the hall.

Presenter 1. Excuse me, gentlemen, poets, for some reason I can’t remember, whose poems were sung just now? But this is clearly not O. Mandelstam.

Presenter 2. Yes, they don’t know, I think.

Acmeist. Why don’t we know Marina Tsvetaeva? She's not like everyone else. We simply cannot involve her in any of our groups, but this does not make her poems any worse. Listen.

Poems by M. Tsvetaeva are heard from the hall:

“I like that you are not sick with me...”

“Yesterday I looked you in the eye”

Presenter 2. I still give up. You know M. Tsvetaeva, and you know her poems! I am very happy! And you love the poetry of the Silver Age.

Presenter 1. In general, if we talk about poetry, we can remember what is in it unusual phenomenon. Here, for example, is an acrostic poem. The poets of the Silver Age were passionate about everything! An acrostic poem was also typical for them. Although this phenomenon in literature is not new. Derzhavin was a master of such amusements. Here he has (a poster with Derzhavin’s lines is shown)

I will sing You as I sang

Good Father! I don’t know what to call you

The harp of the soul will ring as it rang,

Having started out as an alpha, I become numb as an omega.

In the 17th century, many poets wrote acrostics. But it was more considered table-album fun. But in the 20th century there is a new understanding of acrostic poetry.

Symbolist time is a time of premonitions, an active rethinking of all forms, an understanding of poetry as a kind of cipher. Does it seem like a big deal to run someone's name along the edge of the line? But the fact of the matter is that the easier it is to read the name along the edge, the more difficult it is to get to the bottom of the meaning of the text itself. Nikolai Gumilyov persistently wrote the name into the vertical

A. Akhmatova. B. Pasternak has the name of Marina Tsvetaeva in two acrostics. Innokenty, Annensky, Igor Severyanin, Sergei Yesenin, Sergei Gorodetsky and many others wrote acrostics.

Presenter 2. I would like to talk separately about the sonnet. Let me remind you that a sonnet is a poem of 14 lines, which has a canonical rhyme system and strict stylistic laws. Among various types There are two main sonnets - Italian and English.

Italian consists of two quatrains and two tercets (tercets).

An English sonnet consists of three quatrains and a final couplet. Among other options, we can note French, which differs from Italian in its special rhyme in terzetts. This is precisely what is important for the history of the Russian sonnet.

Traditional style requirements for a sonnet: sublime vocabulary and intonation, precise and rare rhymes, a ban on hyphenation and repetition of a significant word in the same meaning. All these restrictions are due to the artistic purpose of the sonnet as an intellectual genre of lyric poetry.

The Wreath of Sonnets is a chain of 15 sonnets, with the 14 poems forming a ring, as the last line of each sonnet is repeated in the first line of the next, with the last line of the fourteenth poem repeating the first line of the first. The fifteenth sonnet, called a madrigal, consists of the first lines of all fourteen others, in the order in which they follow each other. The wreath of sonnets was also born in Italy, and in modern form developed to end of XVII century. The beginning of the 20th century marks the “golden age” of the Russian sonnet. In I. Severyanin’s work, the sonnet acquired variety and freedom. Acrostic sonnets, “headless” sonnets (with one quatrain), “tailed” (with an extra terzetto), and “lame” (written in lines of unequal length) appear.

The art of the sonnet reaches particular strength in works where this genre is marked by clarity of language, precision of syntax, impeccable clarity of thought and transparency of intonation.

I. Bunin’s sonnet “There are merry drops in his poems” sounds from the hall.

Symbolist. But V. Bryusov’s sonnet was written in front of an amazed audience in the Tenth Muse cafe in May 1918.

The poem “Remember Death” by V. Bryusov is heard from the hall.

Acmeist. Well, let's say with light hand V. Bryusov, a lover of sonnets, he, the sonnet, becomes the property of the Acmeists. N. Gumilyov and representatives of the “Workshop of Poets” organization preferred strict traditional forms. The only exception was the willful A. Akhmatova. Of the 16 sonnets, two or three corresponded to accepted standards. Here's a sonnet

N. Gumilyov, a lover of long-distance travel unusual countries. Hence the exotic moods in his poems, including sonnets. Get acquainted with one of N. Gumilyov's sonnets.

N. Gumilyov’s sonnet “There were five of us... We were captains” sounds from the hall.

Futurist. But we are all rebuilding the language. The number of correct sonnets has generally changed dramatically. It was often difficult to recognize a classic sonnet among the futurists. But at

What is interesting about I. Severyanin is that he dedicated his sonnets to cultural and artistic figures. He had more than 100 such sonnets. Some characteristics of figures are remarkably insightful and objective.

A sonnet by I. Severyanin sounds from the hall (reader's choice).

Presenter 1. Let's not argue anymore. Remember how many songs are written based on poems by poets of the Silver Age. Let's just sit and listen and then say goodbye.

A song based on the poems of M. Tsvetaeva “I like that you are sick not with me” is performed to the accompaniment of a guitar.