Formation and development of Russian book poetry. Development of versification in Russian poetry

V.A. Kovalev and others. "Essay on the history of Russian Soviet literature"
Part two
Publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1955.
OCR site

Continued work...

The best works of Soviet poetry of the post-war period are characterized by a sense of modernity, the pathos of creative work, creation and struggle for peace, the pathos of the country's aspirations forward, towards communism.
The feeling of Soviet patriotism, which filled the hearts of the Soviet people who defeated fascism, merged with a sense of pride for great role The countries of the Soviets in the destinies of all mankind. The confident voice of the people sounds in the simple words of the poet Isakovsky, inspired by this proud feeling:

There is a country of Bolsheviks,
Great country.
From all five continents
Her star is visible.
..........
The peoples know:
There is truth!
And they see where she is.
The road to happiness is with her alone
Open all the way
And to her -
To my native country -
Hearts are directed.

The idea of ​​Soviet patriotism and friendship of peoples sounds soulfully in Isakovsky’s lyrics. It was during these years that he created such widely known songs as “Song of the Motherland” and “Migratory Birds Are Flying” (1948).
The character of the hero of post-war poetry was revealed primarily by his attitude to work. In the first post-war years, he was a victorious warrior who returned to his homeland to create peacefully. The continuation of military traditions in new, peaceful conditions is a characteristic motif of many lyrical poems.
A passionate appeal expressing the hopes of the people and confidence in imminent victories on the labor front were already heard in “The First Toast” (1945) by M. Isakovsky:

Let's raise cities to the sky
From the ashes, from the ruins,
So that not a trace remains
From grief and sadness...

The pain of the dead, the feeling of irretrievable loss, which was melted among millions of Soviet people into the energy of intense creative work, had, of course, nothing in common with the mood of fatigue and pessimism that penetrated the works of individual poets in the first post-war years.
The response to such sentiments was A. Tvardovsky’s poem “I was killed near Rzhev,” in which the hero who fell for the Motherland demands that the survivors take care of the Fatherland as their happiness.
Soviet poetry also fought back against the mood of complacency, which was reflected in the works of poets who depicted the Soviet country as a kingdom of newfound peace among peacefully blooming nature (“The Garden” by A. Prokofiev). False idyllic notes and a craving for archaization also affected some young poets, in whose poems the typical signs of the first post-war years with their intense construction and rapid pace of restoration disappeared National economy. But these phenomena were exceptions. In general, our poetry truthfully expressed the thoughts and feelings of Soviet people who were ready to overcome difficulties and to selflessly work to restore the national economy destroyed by the Nazis.

We don't need rest
And not silence.
Don't caress us with the title:
"Participant in the war."
It’s hard for us to renew orders and honor!
The thirst for hard work cuts our palms, -

The young poet M. Lukonin warmly addressed “Those who came from the war.”
The first major poetic work of the post-war years was A. Tvardovsky’s poem “House by the Road”.
The fate of the Soviet family in the harsh days of the Patriotic War, the fate of the house near the military road, the inhabitants of which had to endure a lot of suffering, was reflected in a number of poems by A. Tvardovsky, written at the front (“The House of a Soldier”, “The Ballad of a Comrade”), and in poem “Vasily Terkin” (“Before the Battle”). The motifs of these works organically entered his new lyrical poem, creating a vivid poetic picture that depicts the remarkable features of ordinary Soviet people and reveals the meaning of the people’s struggle against fascism.
According to the original plan, the main image of “House by the Road” was supposed to be the image of ordinary collective farmer Anna Sivtsova, a heroic patriotic worker who abandoned native home escaping from the enemy. This was evidenced by the first chapters of the poem, which were published in 1942 on the pages of the front-line newspaper “Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda”. In the final edition (1946), the poem underwent significant changes. Anna Sivtsova did not have time to leave her home, was captured by the Nazis and, together with her children, was sent to Nazi Germany. This change in the plot of the poem helped A. Tvardovsky reveal the resilience of the Soviet woman with even greater clarity.
The fate of the Soviet family during the war against the fascist invaders and the victory of the socialist system over fascism as the victory of life over death, creation over destruction - these are the two interpenetrating plans of the poem. Both with the image of Anna Sivtsova, a heroic worker and mother, and with the image of her husband Andrei, the poet affirms the unshakable fortitude of the Soviet person, brought up under the socialist system. The chapter of the poem dedicated to the birth of Anna's son and his first days in captivity is filled with deep meaning and great lyrical power. Despite the inhuman conditions of fascist hard labor, the child survived. His life was saved thanks to the selfless care of his mother and the help of Soviet people who languished together with Sivtsova in captivity. The bright principle of life, personified in the images of mother and child, wins. The theme of a new life conquering death sounds with particular force in the monologue that the author conducts on behalf of a child.
An angry protest against fascism and war, the affirmation of the inexhaustible power of the people and the joy of creative work constitute the pathos of the poem, addressed to the future, to construction, to life. The leitmotif that runs through the entire poem is a folk chant in Kosovitsa:

Mow, scythe, while there is dew,
Dew away - and we're home.

The words of this opening line, expressing the cheerfulness and hard work of the Russian people, are heard already at the beginning of the poem, depicting Andrei Sivtsov’s working day, interrupted by the fatal news of the war. Anna Sivtsova can also hear them, keeping her cheerful during the most difficult days of fascist captivity. They finally result in a solemn melody that concludes the poem, conveying the joy of Andrei Sivtsov’s return to peaceful work:

And wiped my braid with grass
At a short stop,
He seemed to be listening to his own voice,
When the shovel rang.
And that voice seemed to be in the distance
He cried out with longing and passion.
And carried with him his sadness,
both pain and faith in happiness:
Mow, scythe, while there is dew,
Down with the dew - and we're home...

The poem “House by the Road” is called by the author a “lyrical chronicle.” It is based on a lyrical beginning, the poet’s reflections on war and peace, on life and death, on creation and destruction - reflections born of the difficult and glorious years of the Great Patriotic War.
The lyrical hero of the poem is always in the foreground; his voice sounds not only in lyrical digressions, but also merges with the voices of the characters in the poem. The philosophical and lyrical principle determines the intonation of the narrative, the composition of the poem, and its language, which does not convey the peculiarities of the language of the hero of the poem (as was the case in the poems “The Country of Ant” and “Vasily Terkin”), but represents the excited speech of the poet himself - speech, colored with pathetic, and angry accusatory, and sincerely lyrical tones.
The depth of A. Tvardovsky’s lyrical talent was revealed with great force in his further post-war work - in a number of poems and especially in fragments of the new poem “Beyond the Distance - Distance,” which the poet called “chapters from a travel diary” (1950-1954).
All of his post-war work is united by a lyrically revealed image of the Motherland, tirelessly building “its own living and man-made world.”
“Travel Diary” depicts the endless spaces of the Soviet country, where, on a long journey, a new, “own, different distance” opens before the poet beyond the distance. The chapters of the new poem are full of poetic thoughts about the people - “ascetics and heroes”, about the historical path of their native country, which united “half the world in our camp”, about the right and responsibility of the poet. In a relaxed story about his experience, the poet laconically, in two or three strokes, recreates the features of his childhood in a remote Smolensk village, recalls the village blacksmith shop “under the shadow of the smoke of smoky birches,” which was for both adults and for him, a village boy,

on that small particle of light
The then club and newspaper,
And the Academy of Sciences.

With a kind smile, he depicts carriage life and his compartment neighbors, and in his quick poetic sketches lively typical images emerge. The lyrical landscape in the poet’s diary is full of great meaning and acute expressiveness - “Mother Volga” and “Father Ural”, Siberian expanses, taiga, where

Dry blizzard with drowsy smoke
The bony forest is clouded.

Opening distances, each

A stack of harvested hay,
Well, travel booth -

They fill the poet’s soul to the brim with “the warmth of delight and sadness,” and the heartfelt stanzas of the diary, sounding like the poet’s living speech, more than once make us remember the lyrical depth of the landscape of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov, Blok.
In the first post-war years, the theme of returning to peaceful creative activity became the main poetic theme of the new generation of poets who grew up during the difficult years of the war. It is expressively revealed in the poem by the young, untimely deceased poet A. Nedogonov “The Flag over the Village Council” (1947). Agronomist Yegor Shirokov, the hero of the poem, a Soviet man who defended his Motherland in fierce battles with the enemy, takes up peaceful work with even greater enthusiasm. The dream of a flourishing native land, which captured Shirokov, captivates both young and old in the poem. Genre scenes and landscape sketches are imbued with spiritual cheerfulness, love for the Soviet Motherland, and life-affirming optimism. The poet shows how in the atmosphere of friendly collective farm work, spiritual closeness of people arises. Depicting the intense struggle for a rich harvest, A. Nedogonov does not ignore the unhealthy moods that infected some of those “who came from the war.” The bearer of these sentiments in the poem is Andrey Dubok. Showing off his orders and merits to his fellow villagers, he pretends to rest after the war.
Depicting the clash between Yegor Shirokov and Dubko, Nedogonov debunks backward views and asserts high consciousness and moral purity as characteristic features of Soviet people.

- Are you saying that you are tired of the war?
Is it true, Andrey?
You have become a hundred times stronger
And a hundred times more cheerful, -

Shirokov exclaims in a dispute with Andrei, and in these words there is confidence in mighty force Soviet people, enriched by the experience of war.
Showing how Dubok is gradually drawn into artel work and returns to duty, the poet reveals the enormous educational significance of collective work. Overcoming difficulties and achieving success in the struggle for the harvest, Yegor Shirokov and his comrades grow spiritually and appear in the final chapter, covered in revolutionary romance, as true builders of a communist society.

The grain growers stood:
it seemed to the residents of Dubrovsk -
this is the Red Banner
with gold tip
grew
and touched with flying silk
those heights that we are in life
We call it communism.

A. Nedogonov's poem truthfully revealed the profound changes that took place in the post-war years in the collective farm village. One of the features of the poetry of A. Nedogonov, who began his work on the poem at the front, is its colorful, festive character, the author’s ability to convey the romance of labor upsurge using simple poetic means, to reveal spiritual world peasant collective farmer. The descriptions of nature, native fields, forests are picturesque; In Nedogonov they are organically connected with the phenomena of the new, socialist way of life. The elevated solemnity of individual chapters is replaced by simple conversational intonation, friendly speech, warmed by warm humor. This variety of speech means gives Nedogonov’s poetic narration ease and naturalness. The poet widely and uniquely uses a variety of stanzas, changing rhythms, images and techniques of folk art - fairy tale motifs, songs, ditties. There is no stylization or antiquity in the poem. Nedogonov, in his own way, continues the Nekrasov traditions, developed and enriched in Soviet poetry in the works of M. Isakovsky, A. Tvardovsky and others.
New villages that are being built on the site of destroyed buildings, surrounded by scaffolding, the smell of freshly planed boards, the beeps of restored factories, the running lines of newly laid rails - these are the characteristic pictures, details, images found during these years in the poems of poets and the older generation, and “ young people" - M. Lukonina, A. Mezhirova, S. Gudzenko, S. Narovchatova, S. Smirnova and others. The poetic cycle “Glorious is Labor” (1947) by S. Shchipachev is filled with the pathos of peaceful creative labor (1947), where the poet in his characteristic lyrical meditation, in a capacious and precise artistic image, strives to philosophically comprehend and poetically express the typical phenomena of post-war reality.
Love for the Motherland in the poetry of the post-war years is an active feeling that requires action, creative passion, effective participation in the collective work of the people.

Nowadays it’s not enough to love the Motherland, -
She needs to love you
And it’s not easy to become and be like that!

S. Smirnov expressed this conscious feeling.
The cycle of his poems “In Our Area,” in which one can feel the artist’s sharp eye, demanding work on words, and humor, paints images of ordinary Soviet people striving to be “loved by their Motherland.” The head of the tree nursery is Tatyana Lvovna, a modest “woman with a shy smile”, who treats her trees as “pupils” (“The Household Woman”); watchman Klim Lukich, who grew melons in forest plantations to suppress weeds and is convinced that his work, “if you look into it, can be seen from the Kremlin” (“Klim Lukich”); a girl hydrologist who creates a “branch of the Rybinsk Sea” (“Rusalka”) - all of these are restless and greedy for work, simple and modest people with a rich spiritual world. All of them are captured by the romance of creation and renewal. They are the true masters of a “power thousands of miles long,” and their personal fate is connected with the fate of the socialist Motherland.
Life itself has brought the image of a communist to the forefront in fiction, and it is no coincidence that in the lyrical hero of poetry of the post-war years we first of all recognize his features.

Everywhere,
Where the lead lines intersect,
Where there is no shortage of selfless labor,
Through the centuries
for centuries,
forever,
to end:
Communists, go ahead!
Communists, go ahead!

wrote the young poet A. Mezhirov.
Progressive communists leading the labor energy of the masses are depicted in a number of other post-war poems: party organizer Zernov in N. Gribachev’s poem “Spring in “Victory””, Alena Fomina in the poetic story of the same name by A. Yashin, Badin in “Working Day” by M. Lukonin and etc.
In the process of creative post-war work, the best traits of a person are revealed. We recognize these features in the heroes of A. Yashin’s cycle “Soviet Man” (about the builders of grandiose Volga structures), in M. Aliger’s cycle “Lenin Mountains” and others.
The tea leaf collector, passionate about her work, evokes a feeling of beauty in the poet, who follows the rapid movements of her skillful hands; This aesthetic feeling was reflected by N. Tikhonov in a poem depicting the Georgian post-war spring. The poet emphasizes that “it was an example of ordinary labor,” and sees in the work of the collective farm girl labor raised to the level of art. The poignant comparison between a tea leaf picker and a pianist is full of depth:

It's as if these hands were playing
With green leaves, gliding
On the branches more tender than anything in the world.
I only noticed the dark complexion of these hands,
But their speed cannot be described.
Perhaps these are the fingers of a pianist,
Flying across the keys by heart,
Like swallows, they cut low
Melodies of memorized sadness.

The lyrical poem or, rather, the lyrical monologue of S. Kirsanov “The Top” (1954) is dedicated to the heroism of everyday labor feat, humanity, and the height of consciousness of Soviet people, for whom the path to the heights of communism is open in life.
Welders in the sky at a high-rise construction site, combine operators harvesting grain from recent virgin lands, tunnel workers connecting subway tunnels into a ring, a surgeon bringing a person back to life, a mother selflessly raising a new citizen of the socialist Motherland, a watchmaker putting into motion a delicate, complex watch mechanism - everyone has their own cherished, lofty goal, their own creative peak. The path to it is difficult, it requires courage and will, exertion of all strength, and on this difficult but beautiful path everyone feels the elbow of a comrade.
Together with geologists climbing the inaccessible ridges of the Pamirs in search of what the Motherland needs valuable breed, is an ascent and a poet. He is looking for his untrodden path to Mayakovsky Peak, which personifies the pinnacle of true art.
The only hero of the poem is the lyrical hero, focused on his thoughts and experiences. And one can express regret that the author did not have the colors to create living images of geologists, who are for him an example of courage and service to the Motherland. Realistic details in his narrative merge with the dreams of the lyrical hero and images into which the poet invests symbolic meaning. These images reveal a rugged landscape topped by towering mountain peaks. They were given the proud names of the Revolution and the Commune, the names of “the best of the best,” simple and courageous people who gave their lives for the happiness of humanity.
The post-war poetry of K. Simonov (“Friends and Enemies”, 1948; “Poems of 1954”) also reveals the features of an advanced Soviet person. The appearance of his lyrical hero, for whom labor and the people’s struggle for communism is a personal, vital matter, reflected many significant aspects of post-war reality. The poetry of K. Simonov, with his appeal to free intonational verse, is distinguished by the breadth and significance of the topic.
The poet is concerned with the problems of communist morality - new human relationships, military camaraderie, friendship and true love of the Soviet man, the fight against duplicity, hypocrisy, the desire to evade answering the pressing questions of life (“Under the Umbrella”, “Alien Soul”, “Once Upon a Time There Was a Man” careful”, etc.).
In the best “Poems of 1954” by K. Simonov, living images of people appear, the poet’s excited voice is heard (“Visiting Shaw”, “My friend has died - that’s the trouble”, etc.).
A keen sense of modernity, partisanship in assessing people and life phenomena, a persistent search for diverse artistic means, albeit not always successful, testify to the poet’s desire to continue and develop the traditions of V. Mayakovsky.
And if the poet’s experiences and the images he created excite Soviet people, express their thoughts and feelings, if they recognize themselves in his lyrical hero, it is because K. Simonov, in his best works, was able to truthfully and passionately talk about his attitude towards characteristic and significant phenomena of modern life.
The richness of a person’s spiritual world cannot be shown without revealing his relationship to his homeland, to his work, to his beloved, to a friend, to a child. Each person has his own sorrows and joys, his own thoughts and feelings, and without conveying them, it is impossible to create a living lyrical image of a Soviet person. To convey the individual uniqueness of a poetic personality and at the same time to express the typical feelings of a Soviet person - such is the task of lyric poetry.
In post-war lyrics, there is noticeable increased attention to precisely these tasks.
M. Isakovsky’s simple and sincere song is a poetic story about blooming youth, about emerging feelings, about heartfelt sorrows and joys, combined with deep Soviet patriotism; the images created by the poet are full of love for people, for life.
In the lyrics of S. Shchipachev, the theme of love is connected with the problems of socialist modernity that concern the poet; the poet asserts high demands in personal relationships: love should not be “smaller than our affairs.”
A great demanding feeling, which, as happens in life, generates not only joy, but sometimes also the suffering of unrequited love, sounds in the passionate and truthful lyrics of O. Bergholz (“Letter from the Road”, etc.). In the poetry of the post-war years - A. Tvardovsky (“To the Son of a Dead Warrior”), K. Simonov (poem “Ivan da Marya”, etc.), M. Aliger, E. Dolmatovsky, the themes of motherhood, caring love for a child, a friendly family. The problems of educating feelings and shaping the character of Soviet people were solved not only in lyrics, but also in a broad poetic depiction of life. The epic principle is increasingly evident in works written by both poets of older generations and poetic youth.
In some post-war poems, the formation of the character of Soviet people is revealed in the images of the heroic past. Thus, the poem by O. Berggolts “Pervorossiysk” (1951), brightly colored by revolutionary romance, in upbeat lyrical digressions and heroic episodes of the civil war, reveals the images of the old Bolsheviks - St. Petersburg workers of the first years of the revolution: inspired by V.I. Lenin and with his support, they bravely carry into the wilderness Altai region ideas of an agricultural commune.
The image of one of the founders of nationwide socialist competition, Makar Mazai, is created in the poem of the same name by S. Kirsanov (1951). The poet, using the techniques of romantic writing, shows the development of the character of a Soviet man, who went from an inconspicuous village shepherd to a brave innovator-steelmaker and a selfless fighter for communism, who died tragically in a fascist dungeon.
Based on the material of the Great Patriotic War, major ethical problems are solved in the dramatic poem “Loyalty” by O. Bergholz (1954), the genre of which the poetess defines as modern tragedy. Written in a dialogical form, although without a distinct individual speech characteristic of each hero, the poem truthfully depicts the affairs and days of the defense of Sevastopol.
In “appeals to tragedy”, author’s remarks, genre scenes full of drama, in an acute conflict plot, images of the “unconquered” are revealed - Andrei Morozov, the former chairman of the city council, the organizer of the “urban partisans”, the tragically deceased fighter Sergei and their loved ones, who heroically “stood on death".
The courageous image of an unconquered people, turning away with contempt from cowards and traitors, merges with the strong image of a lyrical hero, a poet of a big heart, big thoughts and feelings:

I speak for everyone who died here.
In my lines are their muffled steps,
their eternal and hot breath.
I speak for everyone who lives here
who went through fire, and death, and ice,
I speak like your flesh, people,
by the right of shared suffering...

In a number of poems, attempts were made to show Soviet people in their creative creative activity.
N. Gribachev was one of the first to depict the post-war collective farm reality in the poem “The Bolshevik Collective Farm” (1947), constructed as a cycle of individual genre scenes, without a developing plot. Each episode of the poem depicted something new that the poet saw on the post-war collective farm, pictures of creative labor, images of collective farm women and collective farmers. However, the author did not show the difficulties of the struggle waged by the collective farms for the rise Agriculture, and the remnants of capitalism in the minds of the backward part of collective farmers.
In the poem “Spring in “Victory”” (1948), N. Gribachev sought to reveal the character of the advanced Soviet man, formed in the struggle, his unshakable will, high socialist consciousness, selfless struggle for communism.
The vital, working atmosphere is poetically expressed already in the landscape of the collective farm spring, full of rapid movement and bright colors. The poet depicts the entry into the field of a column of collective farm tractors as the beginning of a wide spring offensive.
Individual genre scenes and expressive figures of collective farmers in the poem are directly related to its central image - the party organizer Zernov. In the stories about him by the collective farmer Nilovna, the talkative grandfather-driver and other characters in the poem, the heroic biography of this “most necessary person for the party” unfolds feature by feature.
Party organizer Zernov looks at life “from the heights of the party”, knows how to “approach things in a party way,” and for him communism is not a distant beautiful dream, but a feasible and realizable reality. Zernov is seriously ill, but does not leave his post. Death finds him on the threshold of a collective farm club, where, not listening to the entreaties of his friends, gathering his last strength, he goes to make a report. Despite tragic death main character, N. Gribachev's poem is painted in optimistic tones and affirms the immortality of human labor given to the benefit of the Motherland. Zernov died, but his life’s work is embodied in the “Zernovsky” highway, created by his initiative and perseverance, and in the new huts that replaced the dugouts - in the entire prosperous life of the collective farm, in the growing consciousness of the collective farmers.
In this poem, N. Gribachev depicts not only the bright, but also the shadow sides of collective farm life and creates the image of a collective farmer who is temporarily separated from the collective and has descended to speculation and fraud.
Artistic images typifying some essential features of the post-war collective farm, figurative language, including the characteristic colloquial speech of the heroes, a bright emotional coloring of the narrative and especially lyrical digressions, a variety of expressive means of verse (classical meters, intonation verse, assonance, compound rhyme and others) are strong sides of this poem, in which N. Gribachev sought to creatively follow the tradition of V. Mayakovsky.
The creative tradition of the great poet, refracted in its own way, is also reflected in M. Lukonin’s lyric poem “Working Day” (1948). Post-war reality is revealed in the picture of intense creative work at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, which rose from the ruins, in the images of Soviet patriots of the older and especially the younger generation of the working class. Everything in the poem - the pictures of factory life that change during the working day, in which the poet makes good use of various rhythms, and the sketched portraits of workers in the workshop, and the lyrical landscape of the coming spring - is subordinated to the main task: the depiction of the younger generation of the working class.
The poet embodies the features of this generation in the image of Valya, the adopted daughter of the Bardins, in the guise of the worker Volodya, who has just arrived at the factory from the bench of a vocational school, in the image of the heroically deceased Dima, who invisibly lives in the poem, about whom we learn from the fairy tale told by his mother.
In the poetic story, M. Lukonin lyrically reveals not only the theme of Komsomol friendship, when a comrade brings to life the creative dream of a departed friend, but also the theme of pure youthful love.
P. Antokolsky’s poem “In the Lane Behind the Arbat” is also dedicated to the image of the modern Soviet man.
“The past has become friends with the future,” in an upbeat, pathetic narrative written in classical iambic, rich in lively intonations, and in lyrical digressions filled with great feeling, the poet introduces the reader to the life path of his hero Ivan Egorov. This path begins with the brave journey of a village boy to Moscow in the first months of the October Revolution and ends with his work as an architect on a post-war construction site in the capital. Adolescence in an orphanage, where the abilities of a teenager first manifest themselves, the work of a young engineer in the Donbass in the 30s, the blossoming youthful feeling that forever connects Egorov with Zhenya, an aspiring artist, the heroic struggle of the people with fascist invaders When a peaceful builder becomes a patriotic warrior, chapter by chapter, in precise realistic details of life pictures, the poet reveals the formation of the hero’s character. At the same time, he also depicts the developing characters of his loved ones: his wife, who went from a small theater of youth in the first years of the revolution to the big stage of the Moscow theater, and the teacher from the orphanage, Andrei Grigorievich, who became an archaeologist.
Already in the first stanzas of the poem, the image of its lyrical hero appears, relegating the other heroes of the poem to the background.
The poet’s voice sounds strong and courageous in his lyrical appeals to his heroes, to the reader, to himself, to Moscow:

For you, Moscow, what you have experienced
I'll give it away in half a century.
Standing in front of you without a hat,
I am compiling my chronicle.
I know happiness and unhappiness
Days of holidays and years of thunderstorms.
I was their invisible part
And that’s all he lived and grew up with.

But even the best of the poems about modernity did not portray a broad picture of the majestic socialist construction of the post-war years, did not yet create a full-blooded image of the Soviet man of our days.
Built rather on the principles of lyrical composition, the post-war poem, bringing to the fore the image of the lyrical hero, outlined only the general outlines of the main characters of the poem. She revealed them most often in lyrical terms, in experiences, in description, and not in action, also depriving them of the originality of speech.
Post-war poetry also has some other shortcomings. Intonation verse is sometimes difficult to distinguish from rhymed prose. Many of the poems and lyric poems are drawn out and verbose and, as a result, lose expressiveness. A number of poets clearly did not have enough artistic skill to create such a complex form of poetic art as a poem. It was rightly noted in one of the articles of Pravda that the reader is sometimes concerned only with individual episodes from such rather weak poems, such as, for example, “Komsomolskaya Tale” by Ya. Helemsky, “The Builder” by S. Poddelkov, etc.
In some works of poetry in recent years, there has been a reduction in the lyrical theme, the replacement of genuine civic pathos with rhymed rhetoric. The effective artistic image, characteristic of socialist realism, in some lyrical poems, and sometimes even in entire collections, is replaced by sluggish everyday and landscape descriptions.
The notorious “theory” of non-conflict also played a harmful role in poetry. This “theory” dulled the creative vision of poets. Post-war poetry, like many works of other genres of literature, turning to collective farm reality, often ignored the negative phenomena of village life.
The best works of Soviet poetry of the post-war years correctly highlighted positive typical phenomena, inspiring Soviet people to fight for communism. But along with this, the active struggle against everything alien and hostile was weakened in poetry. to the Soviet man. Satirical poetry, aimed at combating remnants in the consciousness and life of Soviet people, lagged noticeably behind. In recent years, when the party and the general Soviet public drew attention to such a lag, there has been some revival in this area of ​​​​poetic life.
Among the poetic works dedicated to exposing the dark sides of our reality, stand out are individual satirical portraits by K. Simonov and some fables by S. Mikhalkov, ridiculing specific carriers of the remnants of capitalism in Soviet society - sycophants and cowards (“Hare in Hop”), inert bureaucrats (“Raccoon , but not that one”, “Current repairs”). Bright types in the best fables of S. Mikhalkov, successfully personified in images of the animal and objective world, characteristic, expressive vocabulary, laconicism and sharpness of artistic means determined the success of poetic satire when it hit a large and important goal. But the satirical speeches of K. Simonov, the fables of S. Mikhalkov, the epigrams of S. Marshak, the most successful poems of S. Vasiliev, A. Bezymensky, A. Raskin, S. Shvetsov, V. Dykhovichny and M. Slobodsky, V. Mass and M. Chervinsky, individual poems in the magazine “Crocodile” and other publications were few. Often satirical poems were devoted to unimportant phenomena of literary life and approached the type of “friendly cartoons.”

“Every poem is a veil stretched over the edges of words. These words shine like stars, and because of them the poem exists.” The opinion of Alexander Blok, a wonderful Russian poet, will certainly coincide with the point of view of anyone who is naturally talented and writes poetry with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, today poetic art does not have the same value that “music of the soul” acquired in the era of Alexander Pushkin or Anna Akhmatova. However, there is still hope for the revival of past traditions, because Every year on March 21, authors and readers celebrate the holiday, designed to remind the inhabitants of the planet about the existence of the Beautiful World.

history of the holiday

The holiday on March 21, World Poetry Day, was established not so long ago: in 1999, in the capital of France, as part of the 30th general assembly UN. Events dedicated to the newly created World Poetry Day were also held there. The main goal The annual World Poetry Day is, first of all, an introduction to the art of poetry modern people, far from romance and lyrical thinking. After all, it is known that the problem of a dying culture is becoming more acute every year.

In addition, due to the popularization of market relations, poetry is considered simply unprofitable from a commercial point of view, and therefore superfluous in the list of spheres of human activity. Therefore, World Poetry Day is needed by society in order to dispel pessimistic misconceptions.

The holiday of March 21 - World Poetry Day is real opportunity show your Creative skills so that others would learn about the talent of a nearby, unknown poet.

As part of this wonderful spring holiday, thematic events are held on March 21, where an established writer can communicate with a novice author, and the latter can learn a lot of useful things from a conversation with a more experienced colleague.

Representatives of organizations such as creative clubs and small publishing houses get a chance to offer their services to everyone in need of promoting poetic works and become a meeting place for people of art.

In Russia, World Poetry Day receives a lot of attention. It has already become a tradition to celebrate this holiday with the active support of the Taganka Theater. And a few years ago, celebrations began to take place in other cultural organizations: for example, at the State Center for Contemporary Art. Poetry evenings, where authors publicly perform their the best works, intellectual competitions on poetic themes - all this takes place every year on the holiday of March 21 for more than 10 years.

The emergence and development of poetry

To confirm their words, the ancestors of modern Scandinavians told a legend about two magical peoples opposing each other - the Vanir and the Aesir. When the irreconcilable enemies were tired of endless wars, they concluded a truce, sealing it with the creation of the wise dwarf Kvasir from his own saliva. However, the phenomenal knowledge of the man-made creature in all areas of knowledge did not please two residents - Galar and Fyalar. The cunning people decided to kill the sage, which they did not fail to do. The scoundrels placed the blood of the dead know-it-all in a cauldron and added honey. The resulting mixture was called “the honey of poetry,” and anyone who tasted the wonderful drink acquired the talent of a poet...

Well, what do scientists say? Experts in the field of historical science attribute the composition of the first poetic work to the priestess En-hedu-an, the daughter of the Sumerian ruler. It was a hymn in honor of the gods. The historian Thomas Love Peacock tried to divide the entire period of the existence of poetry into several eras. In total, he got four time periods, each of which differed from the previous one in features unique to it.

According to Peacocke, poetry appeared long before the advent of writing. The earliest poetic forms were primitive odes glorifying warriors performing feats, ruling the people and other prominent personalities. This was the Iron Age of poetry. After it came a golden era, the characteristic features of which included praise not of living ancestors, but of great ancestors, figurative language, originality of poetic turns, and the appropriate level of knowledge of the authors. During this period, the poets Homer, Sophocles, etc. worked.

The Silver Age included the development of two types of poetry: original, with the use of satirical and didactic notes, and imitative, consisting in a peculiar processing of varieties of poems of the previous era.

The final stage was the Copper Age of the art of creating “music of the soul,” the end of which was marked by the advent of the dark era of the Middle Ages. Afterwards, as Thomas Love Peacock argues, poetry only returned to periods already passed, without making the slightest attempt to give humanity something new.

Poems and modernity

Today's society perceives poetic works differently than the society of past centuries. There is less and less meaning in poetry, more and more obviously inappropriate epithets and metaphors, and the idols of youth are increasingly becoming authors who are fluent in writing obscene poetry. But even in the current situation, it cannot be said that “music of the soul” has become obsolete. It’s enough to look at large poetry Internet portals like “Stihi.ru”, “Poeziya.ru”, etc. to understand: in our country (I think in the world too) there are many amazing poets, but most of them are unknown to readers printed publications... However, every author “from the people” always has a chance to declare himself at a higher level, to go beyond the network space - although, mostly, not without the involvement Money. However, there are often exceptions here, which is good news.

Poetry is an original language, understandable to everyone, but suitable for explanation only to a select few. Poems are not just rhymed lines built taking into account a certain rhythm, but an indicator of the level of public culture. Dedicate the day of March 21 to reading lyrical truths, and you will feel a symphony of light flowing into your heart. And perhaps you will understand how right Rasul Gamzatov was, who wrote the following poem:

“Poetry, you are not the servant of the strong,
You protected those who were humiliated
You covered for everyone who was offended
I saw those in power as an enemy.

Poetry, you and I don’t suit us
Raise your honest voice for the strong,
You can't look like a bride
Which self-interest leads to the crown"

We congratulate all connoisseurs of high culture and creativity on March 21, World Poetry Day. Poetry is our cultural past, present and future. Poetry makes us connoisseurs of kind and polite words; poetry instills in us restraint, respect for people, and teaches us to value human feelings and relationships.

The process of democratization of literature meets with a response from the ruling classes. In court government circles, an artificial normative ceremonial style and elements of Ukrainian baroque are being implanted.

The problem of Baroque in Russian literature. The term "Baroque" was introduced by supporters of classicism in the 18th century. to denote art that is rough, tasteless, “barbaric” and was initially associated only with architecture and fine arts. This term was introduced into literary criticism in 1888 by G. Wölfflin in his work “Renaissance and Baroque.” He made the first attempt to define the characteristics of Baroque, reducing them to picturesqueness, depth, openness of form, i.e. purely formal characteristics. The modern French researcher Jean Rousset, in his work “Literature of the Baroque Century in France” (1954), reduces the Baroque to the expression of two characteristic motifs: impermanence and decorativeness. In relation to Russian literature, the term “baroque” was introduced by L. V. Pumpyansky.

The Hungarian scholar A. Andyal gave an expansive interpretation of the Baroque in his book “Slavic Baroque.” His point of view was developed by A. A. Morozov, who is inclined to classify all literature of the second half of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries as baroque, seeing in this direction an expression of the national originality of Russian literature. The point of view of A. A. Morozov caused sharp objections from P. N. Berkov, D. S. Likhachev, and Czech researcher S. Mathauzerova.

P. N. Berkov came out with a decisive denial of the existence of Russian baroque and raised the question of the need to consider Russian virsch poetry and drama. late XVII V. as the emergence of a new classicist movement. S. Mathauzerova came to the conclusion about the existence in Russian literature of the late 17th century. two directions of Baroque: national Russian and borrowed Polish-Ukrainian.

D. S. Likhachev believes that we should talk about the existence of only Russian Baroque, which was initially borrowed from Polish-Ukrainian literature, but then acquired its own specific characteristics.

In the early 60s, I. P. Eremin analyzed in detail the features of the Russian Baroque in the poetry of Simeon of Polotsk. The conclusions and observations of this scientist are important for understanding this problem.

Despite significant differences in views on Baroque in Russian literature, researchers have established the most significant formal features of this style. It is characterized by an aesthetic expression of exaggerated pathos, deliberate pomp, ceremoniality, external emotionality, an excessive accumulation in one work of seemingly incompatible stylistic components of moving forms, allegorical, ornamental plot and language.

It is necessary to distinguish between two different aspects in the content of the term baroque: a) baroque as an artistic method and style that arose and developed in a certain historical era; b) baroque as a type of artistic creativity that manifested itself in different historical periods.

Baroque as a style emerged in Russia in the second half of the 17th century, and served the emerging enlightened absolutism. In its social essence, the Baroque style was an aristocratic phenomenon opposed to democratic literature. Since the transition to baroque in Russian literature comes not from the Renaissance, as in the West, but directly from the Middle Ages, this style was devoid of mystical-pessimistic sentiments and was of an educational nature; its formation proceeded through the secularization of culture, that is, its liberation from the tutelage of the church.

Writers of the Russian Baroque, however, did not completely reject religious views, but presented the world in a complicated way, considered it mysterious and unknowable, although they established cause-and-effect relationships of external phenomena. Moving away from the old medieval religious symbolism, they looked closely at worldly affairs, living life earthly man and put forward demands for a “reasonable” approach to reality, despite the recognition of the idea of ​​fate and the will of God in combination with didacticism. Fiction, a system of allegories and symbols, as well as a complex, sometimes sophisticated structure of works were built on this system of views.

The Baroque style in Russian literature of the late 17th and early 18th centuries prepared the way for the emergence of Russian classicism. It received its most vivid embodiment in the style of Virsch poetry, court and school drama.

Formation and development of Russian book poetry. One of the important factors in the history of Russian literature of the 17th century. was the emergence and development of book poetry. The question of its origins and reasons for its occurrence has occupied and occupied many researchers. Even in the last century, two opposing points of view emerged. A. Sobolevsky believed that syllabic poems - verses (from the Latin versus - verse) arose under the influence of Ukrainian and Polish poetry. L.N. Maykop argued that “the first experiments in rhymed verse appeared, so to speak, by themselves and, in any case, not as an imitation of Western European syllabic verse with rhymes.”

Significant contribution to the study initial stage the development of Russian poetry was introduced by Soviet researchers A. V. Pozdneev, L. I. Timofeev and A. M. Panchenko.

The emergence of book poetry dates back to the first third of the 17th century. and is associated with the strengthening role of cities in the cultural life of the country and the desire of the advanced strata of Russian society to master the achievements of European culture, as well as, according to A. M. Panchenko, the weakening role of folklore. Russian speech verse is based, on the one hand, on the declamatory verse of buffoons, and on the other hand, it uses the experience of Ukrainian-Polish syllabic poetry.

During the period of the Russian people’s struggle against the Polish intervention, due to the strengthening of the emotional and journalistic element in literature, the first attempts to provide examples of poetic speech appeared. In Abraham Palitsyn's "Tale" we often encounter a rhymed organization of narrative speech. The Chronicle Book, attributed to Katyrev-Rostovsky, ends with rhymed verses. As L.I. Timofeev notes, the verse in these works is entirely based on the means of verbal expressiveness and does not refer to any elements of musicality. However, the speech structure of the verse provided some opportunity to convey the internal state of a person, his individual experiences. The verse was not yet rhythmically ordered: the number of syllables in a line varied freely, no attention was paid to the alternation of stresses, rhyme was used mainly verbal, masculine, feminine, dactylic and hyperdactylic. These so-called pre-syllabic verses are beginning to gain increasing popularity.

However, along with pre-syllabic verses, already in the first third of the 17th century. syllabic verses appear. They are established primarily in the genre of messages. Thus, in 1622, Prince S.I. Shakhovskoy’s “Message to a certain friend is very useful about the divine scriptures” ends with 36 rhymed unequally syllabic lines.

The priest Ivan Nasedka ends his polemical treatise “Exposition on the Luthors” with syllabic verses. “Many reproaches,” Prince I. A. Khvorostinin writes in verse. At the end of his life, he creates a polemical poetic treatise directed against heretics - “The preface is set out in a two-line agreement, the edges are spelled out” in 1000 poetic lines.

In the first half of the 17th century. collections of messages written in syllabic verse appear. One of these collections includes poems by the “reference officers” of the Printing House with quite a variety of topics. Syllabic book songs were created in the early 50s of the 17th century. poets of the Nikon school. Among these poets, Herman stands out, showing particular virtuosity in developing an acrostic poem that can be read from right to left and vice versa, from bottom to top and top to bottom. Syllabic verses begin to be used in descriptions of coats of arms, in the “Tsar’s Titular Book” of 1672, in inscriptions on icons, and popular prints.

The work of Simeon of Polotsk and his students Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin played a major role in the development of syllabic poetry.

Simeon of Polotsk(1629-1680). Belarusian by nationality, Simeon of Polotsk received a broad education at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. Having accepted monasticism in 1656, he became a teacher of the “brotherly school” in his native Polotsk. In 1661 the city was temporarily occupied by Polish troops. Polotsk moved to Moscow in 1664. Here he taught the clerks of the secret affairs order the Latin language, for which a special school was created at the Spassky Monastery. In 1667, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich entrusted Simeon of Polotsk with the upbringing of his children - first Alexei, and then Fedor.

Polotsk takes an active part in the fight against the Old Believers. At the church council of 1666, he spoke with the theological treatise “The Rod of Government,” where he polemicized against the “petition” of priest Nikita and priest Lazarus. At the personal request of the king, he travels three times to admonish Habakkuk.

Simeon of Polotsk devoted his activities to the struggle for the spread of education. He actively participates in the debate between supporters of Greek and Latin education, taking the side of the latter, since the defenders of the Greek educational system sought to subordinate the development of enlightenment to the control of the church. Polotsk believed that the main role in the development of education belongs to the school, and, turning to the tsar, urged him to build schools and "acquire" teachers. He is developing a project to create Russia's first higher educational institution - an academy. Shortly before his death, he wrote a draft charter for the future academy. In it, Simeon of Polotsk provided for a very broad study of the sciences - both civil and spiritual.

Great importance Polotsky gave the development of printing: “Nothing expands fame like a seal,” - he wrote. On his initiative and personal petition to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the “Upper” printing house was opened in the Kremlin in 1678.

One of Simeon of Polotsk’s favorite pastimes was "rhyme-making" that is, poetic literary activity, which attracted the attention of many literary historians.

Start literary activity Simeon of Polotsk dates back to the time of his stay at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. In Polotsk, he writes poetry in Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, revealing an extraordinary poetic talent: he creates elegies, a satirical poem directed against the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, epigrams (in their ancient meaning). Arriving in Moscow, Polotsky writes poetry only in Russian. Here his poetic creativity reaches its highest peak. As his student Sylvester Medvedev, Polotsk, notes “Every day, having a pledge to write half a dozen and half a notebook, but his writing is very small and dense.”

Polotsky's syllabic verse was formed under the direct influence of Ukrainian and Polish verse. However, the possibility of using eleven- and thirteen-syllable syllabic verse with the obligatory paired female rhyme in Russian versification was prepared by the long historical development of expressive means organically inherent in the Russian book language. The syllabic verse of Simeon of Polotsk was closely connected with that refined bookish "Slovenian language" which they deliberately contrasted with spoken language.

Polotsky attached great educational and educational significance to his poetic works. Polotsky saw the high calling of a poet in the ability to attract "rumors and hearts" of people. The powerful weapon of poetry, he believed, should be used to spread education, secular culture, and correct moral concepts. In addition, verses should serve as a model for all who write in "Slovenian book language."

Simeon of Polotsk acts as the first court poet, the creator of panegyric solemn poems, which were the prototype of the laudatory ode.

At the center of panegyric verses is the image of an ideal enlightened autocrat. He is the personification and symbol of the Russian state, the living embodiment of its political power and glory. He must devote his life to the good of the state, the good of his subjects, to take care of their "civil needs" and their enlightenment, he is strict and merciful and at the same time an exact executor of existing laws.

The panegyric verses of S. Polotsky have “the character of a complex verbal and architectural structure - a verbal spectacle.” Such, for example, are the panegyric verses “Russian Eagle”. Against the background of the starry sky, the sun, moving through the zodiac, shines brightly with its forty-eight rays; The virtues of Tsar Alexei are inscribed in each of its rays. Against the background of the sun is a crowned double-headed eagle with a scepter and an orb in its claws. The text of the panegyric itself is written in the form of a pillar - a column resting on the base of the prose text.

As I. P. Eremin notes, the poet collected mostly rare things, “curiosities” for his verses, but saw in them only a “sign” "hieroglyphic" truth. He constantly translates concrete images into the language of abstract concepts and logical abstractions. S. Polotsky’s metaphors, fanciful allegories, and chimeric similes are built on such a rethinking.

In his panegyric verses S. Polotsky introduces the names of ancient gods and heroes: "Foyer(Phoebus) golden", "golden-haired Kinfey", "Dievo's bosom"(Zeus), "Dieva Bird"(eagle). They are directly adjacent to the images of Christian mythology and play the role of pure poetic convention, being a means of creating hyperbole. S. Polotsky cultivates figured poems in the form of a heart, a star, a labyrinth.

Features of S. Polotsky's style are a typical manifestation of literary baroque 2. All panegyric verses (800 poems), poems on various occasions of court life were combined by S. Polotsky into a collection, which he called “Rhythmologion” (1679-1680).

Along with panegyric poems, S. Polotsky wrote verses on a wide variety of topics. He combined 2957 verses of various genres (“similarities”, “images”, “proverbs”, “interpretations”, “epitaph”, “images of signing”, “story”, “exhortations”, “denunciations”) in the collection “Vertograd (garden) ) multicolor" (1677-1678). The poet gave this collection the character of an encyclopedic poetic reference book: the verses are arranged by topic in alphabetical order titles. All works, both secular and religious, are of a moralizing nature. The poet considers himself the bearer and custodian of the highest religious and moral values ​​and strives to instill them in the reader.

In verses S. Polotsky raises moral questions, trying to give generalized images "virgins"("Virgo"), "widows"(“Widowhood”), considers issues of marriage, dignity, honor etc. Thus, in the poem “Citizenship” S. Polotsky speaks of the need for every person, including the ruler, to strictly observe the established laws. The poet considers labor to be the basis of society, and a person’s first duty is to work for the good of society. For the first time, the poet outlined a theme that would occupy a prominent place in Russian classic literature - the theme of contrasting the ideal ruler, the enlightened monarch with a tyrant, cruel, self-willed, unmerciful and unjust.

The philosophical question about the meaning of life is raised by S. Polotsky in the poem “Dignity”. The poet sees true bliss not in the pursuit of honors, ranks, nobility, but in a person’s ability to do what he loves.

An important section of S. Polotsky’s poetry is satire—“revelation.” Most of his satirical works are of a generalized moralistic, abstract nature. Such, for example, are the denunciations “Ignorant”, directed against ignoramuses in general; "Sorcery", revealing “women”, “whisperers”.

The best satirical works of S. Polotsky are his poems “Merchant” and “Monk”.

In the satire "Merchant" the poet lists eight mortals “sins of the merchant rank.” These “sins” - deception, lies, false oaths, theft, extortion - reflect the real social practice of the merchants. However, the poem lacks a specific satirical image. The poet limits himself to a simple statement of sins in order to conclude with a moral admonition “the sons of darkness, the fierce ones, put aside the works of darkness,” to avoid future hellish torment.

The satire “The Monk” is based on the opposition of ideal and reality: at the beginning, the poet talks about what a real monk should be, and then moves on to denunciation.

But alas, outrages! Fortunately, the rank was ruined.

Monasticism has turned into disorder in many.

Satirical sketches of drunkenness, gluttony, and moral depravity of monks are given quite vividly:

It’s not only the laity who work their wombs,

All the monks give them water and food.

Having chosen a Lenten life, lead.

I strive for this, to eat, to drink...

Many wine-buys swear vehemently,

They bark, slander, shame, and the honest ones boldly...

In sheep's clothing there are plunderings,

The belly works, the spirit perishes.

S. Polotsky hastens to emphasize that in his satire we're talking about not about all monks, but only about "disorderly" whom he denounces "with tears." The purpose of his satire is moralizing and didactic - to promote the correction of morals, and in conclusion the poet turns to "disorderly" monks with a call to stop “do this evil.”

This moralistic didacticism, the desire to correct the vices of society and thereby strengthen its foundations distinguishes the noble-educational satire of S. Polotsky from the democratic satirical story, where the exposure is socially acute, more specific.

From the poetic works of S. Polotsk, it should be noted the rhymed arrangement of the Psalter in 1678, published in 1680. Set to music by the singing clerk Vasily Titov (he laid the foundations of chamber vocal music), the rhymed Psalter was very popular. From this book, M.V. Lomonosov became acquainted with Russian syllabic poetry.

Thus, the work of S. Polotsky developed in line with the panegyric and didactic poetry of the Baroque with its generality and polysemy of symbolism, allegories, contrast and hyperbolism, and didactic moralizing. The language of S. Polotsky's poetry is purely bookish, emphasizing the difference between poetry and prose.

S. Polotsky uses rhetorical questions, exclamations, and inverse phrases. Closely connected with the traditions of the archaic book language, Semeon of Polotsk paves the way for the development of future classicist poetry.

Sylvester Medvedev(1641 –1691). The students and followers of Simeon of Polotsk were the poets Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin. “A man of great intelligence and scientific acuity,” as his contemporaries characterized him, the “researcher” (editor) of the Printing House, Sylvester Medvedev, emerged as a poet only after the death of his teacher. He wrote “Epitafion” to Simeon of Polotsk and panegyric poems dedicated to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (“Wedding Greetings” and “Lamentation and Consolation” on the occasion of the death of Fyodor) and Princess Sophia (“Signature to the portrait of Princess Sophia”), which the poet actively supported, for which he was executed by order of Peter.

In Epitaphion, Sylvester Medvedev glorifies the merits of “ teachers are nice» , caring for the benefit of his neighbor. Medvedev lists the works of Simeon of Polotsk.

In defense of the church, the Rod created a book,

In her favor, the Crown and Lunch were published.

Supper, Psalter, poems with rhymes,

Vertograd multi-colored with Conversation.

All these books are wise, he is a creative man,

In teaching the Russian race manifestly.

As a poet, Medvedev has little originality. He borrowed a lot from the panegyric poems of his teacher, but, unlike Simeon of Polotsk, he avoided using allegorical and mythological images in his verses.

Karion Istomin (?– 1717). A more talented and prolific student of Simeon of Polotsk was Karion Istomin. He began his poetic work in 1681 with greeting panegyric poems to Princess Sophia. Glorifying in " most honorable maiden, the poet talks about the importance of Wisdom (Sophia means “wisdom” in Greek) in government and in people’s lives.

Just like S. Polotsky, K. Istomin uses poetry as a means of fighting for enlightenment. In 1682, he addressed Princess Sophia with a collection of poems (16 poems), in which he asked her to found an educational institution in Moscow for teaching the liberal sciences: pedagogical, historical and didactic.

The poet gives a series of instructions to 11-year-old Peter in the book “Admonition” (1683). True, these instructions come in the name of God:

Study now, study diligently,

In your youth, the wise king was enlightened,

Sing before me, your God, boldly

Bring out justice and truth, a civil case.

The book “Polis” was written in verse, describing the twelve sciences. K. Istomin often creates acrostics (poems in which whole words or phrases are formed from the initial letters of lines), and also uses verses for pedagogical purposes: to teach Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, he compiled a “Small Primer” in 1694, and in 1696 "Big ABC Book", where each letter is accompanied by a small didactic poem.

Thanks to the activities of S. Polotsky and his closest students, syllabic verse begins to be widely used in literature. A new poetic genre is emerging - lyric poetry, the appearance of which is clear evidence of the beginning of personality differentiation. The principles of syllabic versification, developed in the second half of the 17th century, were further developed in the works of syllabic poets of the first third of the 18th century: Pyotr Buslaev, Feofan Prokopovich.

However, the syllabic verse did not completely supplant the pre-syllabic verse, which even outlived it and became entrenched in the later raesh verse, while the syllabic verse was replaced by the syllabic-tonic system of Russian versification, developed by V.K. Trediakovsky and M.V. Lomonosov.

The process of democratization of literature meets with a response from the ruling classes. In court government circles, an artificial normative ceremonial style and elements of Ukrainian baroque are being implanted.

The problem of Baroque in Russian literature. The term "Baroque" was introduced by supporters of classicism in the 18th century. to denote art that is rude, tasteless, “barbaric” and was initially associated only with architecture and the fine arts. This term was introduced into literary criticism in 1888 by G. Wölfflin in his work “Renaissance and Baroque.” He made the first attempt to define the characteristics of Baroque, reducing them to picturesqueness, depth, openness of form, i.e. purely formal characteristics. The modern French researcher Jean Rousset, in his work “Literature of the Baroque Century in France” (1954), reduces the Baroque to the expression of two characteristic motifs: impermanence and decorativeness. In relation to Russian literature, the term “baroque” was introduced by L. V. Pumpyansky.

The Hungarian scholar A. Andyal gave an expansive interpretation of the Baroque in his book “Slavic Baroque.” His point of view was developed by A. A. Morozov, who is inclined to classify all literature of the second half of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries as baroque, seeing in this direction an expression of the national originality of Russian literature. The point of view of A. A. Morozov caused sharp objections from P. N. Berkov, D. S. Likhachev, and Czech researcher S. Mathauzerova.

P. N. Berkov came out with a decisive denial of the existence of Russian baroque and raised the question of the need to consider Russian virsch poetry and drama of the late 17th century. as the emergence of a new classicist movement. S. Mathauzerova came to the conclusion about the existence in Russian literature of the late 17th century. two directions of Baroque: national Russian and borrowed Polish-Ukrainian.

D. S. Likhachev believes that we should talk about the existence of only Russian Baroque, which was initially borrowed from Polish-Ukrainian literature, but then acquired its own specific characteristics.

In the early 60s, I. P. Eremin analyzed in detail the features of the Russian Baroque in the poetry of Simeon of Polotsk. The conclusions and observations of this scientist are important for understanding this problem.

Despite significant differences in views on Baroque in Russian literature, researchers have established the most significant formal features of this style. It is characterized by an aesthetic expression of exaggerated pathos, deliberate pomp, ceremoniality, external emotionality, an excessive accumulation in one work of seemingly incompatible stylistic components of moving forms, allegorical, ornamental plot and language.

It is necessary to distinguish between two different aspects in the content of the term baroque: a) baroque as an artistic method and style that arose and developed in a certain historical era; b) baroque as a type of artistic creativity that manifested itself in different historical periods.

Baroque as a style emerged in Russia in the second half of the 17th century, and served the emerging enlightened absolutism. In its social essence, the Baroque style was an aristocratic phenomenon opposed to democratic literature. Since the transition to baroque in Russian literature comes not from the Renaissance, as in the West, but directly from the Middle Ages, this style was devoid of mystical-pessimistic sentiments and was of an educational nature; its formation proceeded through the secularization of culture, that is, its liberation from the tutelage of the church.

Writers of the Russian Baroque, however, did not completely reject religious views, but presented the world in a complicated way, considered it mysterious and unknowable, although they established cause-and-effect relationships of external phenomena. Moving away from the old medieval religious symbolism, they looked closely at worldly affairs, the living life of earthly man and put forward demands for a “reasonable” approach to reality, despite the recognition of the idea of ​​fate and the will of God in combination with didacticism. Fiction, a system of allegories and symbols, as well as a complex, sometimes sophisticated structure of works were built on this system of views.

The Baroque style in Russian literature of the late 17th and early 18th centuries prepared the way for the emergence of Russian classicism. It received its most vivid embodiment in the style of Virsch poetry, court and school drama.

Formation and development of Russian book poetry. One of the important factors in the history of Russian literature of the 17th century. was the emergence and development of book poetry. The question of its origins and reasons for its occurrence has occupied and occupied many researchers. Even in the last century, two opposing points of view emerged. A. Sobolevsky believed that syllabic poems - verses (from the Latin versus - verse) arose under the influence of Ukrainian and Polish poetry. L.N. Maykop argued that “the first experiments in rhymed verse appeared, so to speak, by themselves and, in any case, not as an imitation of Western European syllabic verse with rhymes.”

A significant contribution to the study of the initial stage of the development of Russian poetry was made by Soviet researchers A. V. Pozdneev, L. I. Timofeev and A. M. Panchenko.

The emergence of book poetry dates back to the first third of the 17th century. and is associated with the strengthening role of cities in the cultural life of the country and the desire of the advanced strata of Russian society to master the achievements of European culture, as well as, according to A. M. Panchenko, the weakening role of folklore. Russian speech verse is based, on the one hand, on the declamatory verse of buffoons, and on the other hand, it uses the experience of Ukrainian-Polish syllabic poetry.

During the period of the Russian people’s struggle against the Polish intervention, due to the strengthening of the emotional and journalistic element in literature, the first attempts to provide examples of poetic speech appeared. In Abraham Palitsyn's "Tale" we often encounter a rhymed organization of narrative speech. The Chronicle Book, attributed to Katyrev-Rostovsky, ends with rhymed verses. As L.I. Timofeev notes, the verse in these works is entirely based on the means of verbal expressiveness and does not refer to any elements of musicality. However, the speech structure of the verse provided some opportunity to convey the internal state of a person, his individual experiences. The verse was not yet rhythmically ordered: the number of syllables in a line varied freely, no attention was paid to the alternation of stresses, rhyme was used mainly verbal, masculine, feminine, dactylic and hyperdactylic. These so-called pre-syllabic verses are beginning to gain increasing popularity.

However, along with pre-syllabic verses, already in the first third of the 17th century. syllabic verses appear. They are established primarily in the genre of messages. Thus, in 1622, Prince S.I. Shakhovskoy’s “Message to a certain friend is very useful about the divine scriptures” ends with 36 rhymed unequally syllabic lines.

The priest Ivan Nasedka ends his polemical treatise “Exposition on the Luthors” with syllabic verses. “Many reproaches,” Prince I. A. Khvorostinin writes in verse. At the end of his life, he creates a polemical poetic treatise directed against heretics - “The preface is set out in a two-line agreement, the edges are spelled out” in 1000 poetic lines.

In the first half of the 17th century. collections of messages written in syllabic verse appear. One of these collections includes poems by the “reference officers” of the Printing House with quite a variety of topics. Syllabic book songs were created in the early 50s of the 17th century. poets of the Nikon school. Among these poets, Herman stands out, showing particular virtuosity in developing an acrostic poem that can be read from right to left and vice versa, from bottom to top and top to bottom. Syllabic verses begin to be used in descriptions of coats of arms, in the “Tsar’s Titular Book” of 1672, in inscriptions on icons, and popular prints.

The work of Simeon of Polotsk and his students Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin played a major role in the development of syllabic poetry.

Simeon of Polotsk(1629-1680). Belarusian by nationality, Simeon of Polotsk received a broad education at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. Having accepted monasticism in 1656, he became a teacher of the “brotherly school” in his native Polotsk. In 1661 the city was temporarily occupied by Polish troops. Polotsk moved to Moscow in 1664. Here he taught the clerks of the secret affairs order the Latin language, for which a special school was created at the Spassky Monastery. In 1667, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich entrusted Simeon of Polotsk with the upbringing of his children - first Alexei, and then Fedor.

Polotsk takes an active part in the fight against the Old Believers. At the church council of 1666, he spoke with the theological treatise “The Rod of Government,” where he polemicized against the “petition” of priest Nikita and priest Lazarus. At the personal request of the king, he travels three times to admonish Habakkuk.

Simeon of Polotsk devoted his activities to the struggle for the spread of education. He actively participates in the debate between supporters of Greek and Latin education, taking the side of the latter, since the defenders of the Greek educational system sought to subordinate the development of enlightenment to the control of the church. Polotsk believed that the main role in the development of education belongs to the school, and, turning to the tsar, urged him to build schools and "acquire" teachers. He is developing a project to create Russia's first higher educational institution - an academy. Shortly before his death, he wrote a draft charter for the future academy. In it, Simeon of Polotsk provided for a very broad study of the sciences - both civil and spiritual.

Polotsk attached great importance to the development of printing: “Nothing expands fame like a seal,” - he wrote. On his initiative and personal petition to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the “Upper” printing house was opened in the Kremlin in 1678.

One of Simeon of Polotsk’s favorite pastimes was "rhyme-making" that is, poetic literary activity, which attracted the attention of many literary historians.

The beginning of the literary activity of Simeon of Polotsk dates back to his stay at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. In Polotsk, he writes poetry in Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, revealing an extraordinary poetic talent: he creates elegies, a satirical poem directed against the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, epigrams (in their ancient meaning). Arriving in Moscow, Polotsky writes poetry only in Russian. Here his poetic creativity reaches its highest peak. As his student Sylvester Medvedev, Polotsk, notes “Every day, having a pledge to write half a dozen and half a notebook, but his writing is very small and dense.”

Polotsky's syllabic verse was formed under the direct influence of Ukrainian and Polish verse. However, the possibility of using eleven- and thirteen-syllable syllabic verse with the obligatory paired female rhyme in Russian versification was prepared by the long historical development of expressive means organically inherent in the Russian book language. The syllabic verse of Simeon of Polotsk was closely connected with that refined bookish "Slovenian language" which they deliberately contrasted with spoken language.

Polotsky attached great educational and educational significance to his poetic works. Polotsky saw the high calling of a poet in the ability to attract "rumors and hearts" of people. The powerful weapon of poetry, he believed, should be used to spread education, secular culture, and correct moral concepts. In addition, verses should serve as a model for all who write in "Slovenian book language."

Simeon of Polotsk acts as the first court poet, the creator of panegyric solemn poems, which were the prototype of the laudatory ode.

At the center of panegyric verses is the image of an ideal enlightened autocrat. He is the personification and symbol of the Russian state, the living embodiment of its political power and glory. He must devote his life to the good of the state, the good of his subjects, to take care of their "civil needs" and their enlightenment, he is strict and merciful and at the same time an exact executor of existing laws.

The panegyric verses of S. Polotsky have “the character of a complex verbal and architectural structure - a verbal spectacle.” Such, for example, are the panegyric verses “Russian Eagle”. Against the background of the starry sky, the sun, moving through the zodiac, shines brightly with its forty-eight rays; The virtues of Tsar Alexei are inscribed in each of its rays. Against the background of the sun is a crowned double-headed eagle with a scepter and an orb in its claws. The text of the panegyric itself is written in the form of a pillar - a column resting on the base of the prose text.

As I. P. Eremin notes, the poet collected mostly rare things, “curiosities” for his verses, but saw in them only a “sign” "hieroglyphic" truth. He constantly translates concrete images into the language of abstract concepts and logical abstractions. S. Polotsky’s metaphors, fanciful allegories, and chimeric similes are built on such a rethinking.

In his panegyric verses S. Polotsky introduces the names of ancient gods and heroes: "Foyer(Phoebus) golden", "golden-haired Kinfey", "Dievo's bosom"(Zeus), "Dieva Bird"(eagle). They are directly adjacent to the images of Christian mythology and play the role of pure poetic convention, being a means of creating hyperbole. S. Polotsky cultivates figured poems in the form of a heart, a star, a labyrinth.

Features of S. Polotsky's style are a typical manifestation of literary baroque 2. All panegyric verses (800 poems), poems on various occasions of court life were combined by S. Polotsky into a collection, which he called “Rhythmologion” (1679-1680).

Along with panegyric poems, S. Polotsky wrote verses on a wide variety of topics. He combined 2957 verses of various genres (“similarities”, “images”, “proverbs”, “interpretations”, “epitaph”, “images of signing”, “story”, “exhortations”, “denunciations”) in the collection “Vertograd (garden) ) multicolor" (1677-1678). The poet gave this collection the character of an encyclopedic poetic reference book: the verses are arranged by topic in alphabetical order of title. All works, both secular and religious, are of a moralizing nature. The poet considers himself the bearer and custodian of the highest religious and moral values ​​and strives to instill them in the reader.

In verses S. Polotsky raises moral questions, trying to give generalized images "virgins"("Virgo"), "widows"(“Widowhood”), considers issues of marriage, dignity, honor etc. Thus, in the poem “Citizenship” S. Polotsky speaks of the need for every person, including the ruler, to strictly observe the established laws. The poet considers labor to be the basis of society, and a person’s first duty is to work for the good of society. For the first time, the poet outlined a theme that would occupy a prominent place in Russian classic literature - the theme of contrasting the ideal ruler, the enlightened monarch with a tyrant, cruel, self-willed, unmerciful and unjust.

The philosophical question about the meaning of life is raised by S. Polotsky in the poem “Dignity”. The poet sees true bliss not in the pursuit of honors, ranks, nobility, but in a person’s ability to do what he loves.

An important section of S. Polotsky’s poetry is satire—“revelation.” Most of his satirical works are of a generalized moralistic, abstract nature. Such, for example, are the denunciations “Ignorant”, directed against ignoramuses in general; "Sorcery", revealing “women”, “whisperers”.

The best satirical works of S. Polotsky are his poems “Merchant” and “Monk”.

In the satire "Merchant" the poet lists eight mortals “sins of the merchant rank.” These “sins” - deception, lies, false oaths, theft, extortion - reflect the real social practice of the merchants. However, the poem lacks a specific satirical image. The poet limits himself to a simple statement of sins in order to conclude with a moral admonition “the sons of darkness, the fierce ones, put aside the works of darkness,” to avoid future hellish torment.

The satire “The Monk” is based on the opposition of ideal and reality: at the beginning, the poet talks about what a real monk should be, and then moves on to denunciation.

But alas, outrages! Fortunately, the rank was ruined.

Monasticism has turned into disorder in many.

Satirical sketches of drunkenness, gluttony, and moral depravity of monks are given quite vividly:

It’s not only the laity who work their wombs,

All the monks give them water and food.

Having chosen a Lenten life, lead.

I strive for this, to eat, to drink...

Many wine-buys swear vehemently,

They bark, slander, shame, and the honest ones boldly...

In sheep's clothing there are plunderings,

The belly works, the spirit perishes.

S. Polotsky hastens to emphasize that in his satire we are not talking about all monks, but only about "disorderly" whom he denounces "with tears." The purpose of his satire is moralizing and didactic - to promote the correction of morals, and in conclusion the poet turns to "disorderly" monks with a call to stop “do this evil.”

This moralistic didacticism, the desire to correct the vices of society and thereby strengthen its foundations distinguishes the noble-educational satire of S. Polotsky from the democratic satirical story, where the exposure is socially acute, more specific.

From the poetic works of S. Polotsk, it should be noted the rhymed arrangement of the Psalter in 1678, published in 1680. Set to music by the singing clerk Vasily Titov (he laid the foundations of chamber vocal music), the rhymed Psalter was very popular. From this book, M.V. Lomonosov became acquainted with Russian syllabic poetry.

Thus, the work of S. Polotsky developed in line with the panegyric and didactic poetry of the Baroque with its generality and polysemy of symbolism, allegories, contrast and hyperbolism, and didactic moralizing. The language of S. Polotsky's poetry is purely bookish, emphasizing the difference between poetry and prose.

S. Polotsky uses rhetorical questions, exclamations, and inverse phrases. Closely connected with the traditions of the archaic book language, Semeon of Polotsk paves the way for the development of future classicist poetry.

Sylvester Medvedev(1641 –1691). The students and followers of Simeon of Polotsk were the poets Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin. “A man of great intelligence and scientific acuity,” as his contemporaries characterized him, the “researcher” (editor) of the Printing House, Sylvester Medvedev, emerged as a poet only after the death of his teacher. He wrote “Epitafion” to Simeon of Polotsk and panegyric poems dedicated to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (“Wedding Greetings” and “Lamentation and Consolation” on the occasion of the death of Fyodor) and Princess Sophia (“Signature to the portrait of Princess Sophia”), which the poet actively supported, for which he was executed by order of Peter.

In Epitaphion, Sylvester Medvedev glorifies the merits of “ teachers are nice» , caring for the benefit of his neighbor. Medvedev lists the works of Simeon of Polotsk.

In defense of the church, the Rod created a book,

In her favor, the Crown and Lunch were published.

Supper, Psalter, poems with rhymes,

Vertograd multi-colored with Conversation.

All these books are wise, he is a creative man,

In teaching the Russian race manifestly.

As a poet, Medvedev has little originality. He borrowed a lot from the panegyric poems of his teacher, but, unlike Simeon of Polotsk, he avoided using allegorical and mythological images in his verses.

Karion Istomin (?– 1717). A more talented and prolific student of Simeon of Polotsk was Karion Istomin. He began his poetic work in 1681 with greeting panegyric poems to Princess Sophia. Glorifying in " most honorable maiden, the poet talks about the importance of Wisdom (Sophia means “wisdom” in Greek) in government and in people’s lives.

Just like S. Polotsky, K. Istomin uses poetry as a means of fighting for enlightenment. In 1682, he addressed Princess Sophia with a collection of poems (16 poems), in which he asked her to found an educational institution in Moscow for teaching the liberal sciences: pedagogical, historical and didactic.

The poet gives a series of instructions to 11-year-old Peter in the book “Admonition” (1683). True, these instructions come in the name of God:

Study now, study diligently,

In your youth, the wise king was enlightened,

Sing before me, your God, boldly

Bring out justice and truth, a civil case.

The book “Polis” was written in verse, describing the twelve sciences. K. Istomin often creates acrostics (poems in which whole words or phrases are formed from the initial letters of lines), and also uses verses for pedagogical purposes: to teach Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, he compiled a “Small Primer” in 1694, and in 1696 "Big ABC Book", where each letter is accompanied by a small didactic poem.

Thanks to the activities of S. Polotsky and his closest students, syllabic verse begins to be widely used in literature. A new poetic genre is emerging - lyric poetry, the appearance of which is clear evidence of the beginning of personality differentiation. The principles of syllabic versification, developed in the second half of the 17th century, were further developed in the works of syllabic poets of the first third of the 18th century: Pyotr Buslaev, Feofan Prokopovich.

However, the syllabic verse did not completely supplant the pre-syllabic verse, which even outlived it and became entrenched in the later raesh verse, while the syllabic verse was replaced by the syllabic-tonic system of Russian versification, developed by V.K. Trediakovsky and M.V. Lomonosov.

One of the important factors in the history of Russian literature of the 17th century. was the emergence and development of book poetry. The question of its origins and reasons for its occurrence has occupied and occupied many researchers. Even in the last century, two opposing points of view emerged. A. Sobolevsky believed that syllabic poems - verses (from Latin versus - verse) arose under the influence of Ukrainian and Polish poetry. L.N. Maikov argued that “the first experiments in rhymed verse appeared, so to speak, by themselves and, in any case, not as an imitation of Western European syllabic verse with rhymes.”

A significant contribution to the study of the initial stage of the development of Russian poetry was made by Soviet researchers A. V. Pozdneev, L. I. Timofeev and A. M. Panchenko.

The emergence of book poetry dates back to the first third of the 17th century. and is associated with the strengthening role of cities in the cultural life of the country and the desire of the advanced strata of Russian society to master the achievements of European culture, as well as, according to A. M. Panchenko, the weakening role of folklore. Russian speech verse is based, on the one hand, on the declamatory verse of buffoons, and on the other hand, it uses the experience of Ukrainian-Polish syllabic poetry.

During the period of the Russian people’s struggle against the Polish intervention, due to the strengthening of the emotional and journalistic element in literature, the first attempts to provide examples of poetic speech appeared. In Abraham Palitsyn's "Legend" we often encounter a rhymed organization of narrative speech. The Chronicle Book, attributed to Katyrev-Rostovsky, ends with rhymed verses. As L.I. Timofeev notes, the verse in these works is entirely based on the means of verbal expressiveness and does not refer to any elements of musicality. However, the speech structure of the verse provided some opportunity to convey the internal state of a person, his individual experiences. The verse was not yet rhythmically ordered: the number of syllables in a line varied freely, no attention was paid to the alternation of stresses, rhyme was used mainly verbal, masculine, feminine, dactylic and hyperdactylic. These so-called pre-syllabic verses are beginning to gain increasing popularity.

However, along with pre-syllabic verses, already in the first third of the 17th century. syllabic verses appear. They are established primarily in the genre of messages. Thus, in 1622, Prince S.I. Shakhovskoy concluded his “Message to a certain friend, very useful about the divine scriptures” with 36 rhymed, unequally syllabic lines.

The priest Ivan Nasedka ends his polemical treatise “Exposition of the Nalyutora” with syllabic verses. “Many reproaches,” Prince I. A. Khvorostinin writes denunciations in verse. At the end of his life, he creates a polemical poetic treatise directed against heretics - “The preface is set out in two-line agreement, the edges are spelled out” in 1000 poetic lines.

In the first half of the 17th century. collections of messages written in syllabic verse appear. One of these collections includes poems by the Printing House “reference officers” with a fairly diverse subject matter. Syllabic book songs were created in the early 50s of the 17th century. poets of the Nikon school. Among these poets, Herman stands out, showing particular virtuosity in developing an acrostic poem that can be read from right to left and vice versa, from bottom to top and top to bottom. Syllabic verses begin to be used in descriptions of coats of arms, in the “Tsar's Titular Book” of 1672, in inscriptions on icons, and popular prints.

The work of Simeon of Polotsk and his students Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin played a major role in the development of syllabic poetry.

Simeon of Polotsk(1629–1680) Belarusian by nationality, Simeon of Polotsk received a broad education at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. Having accepted monasticism in 1656, he became a teacher of the “brotherly school” in his native Polotsk. In 1661 the city was temporarily occupied by Polish troops. Polotsk moved to Moscow in 1664. Here he taught the clerks of the secret affairs order the Latin language, for which a special school was created at the Spassky Monastery. In 1667, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich entrusted Simeon of Polotsk with the upbringing of his children - first Alexei, and then Fyodor.

Polotsk takes an active part in the fight against the Old Believers. At the church council of 1666, he spoke with the theological treatise “The Rod of Government,” where he polemicized against the “petition” of priest Nikita and priest Lazarus. At the personal request of the king, he travels three times to admonish Habakkuk.

Simeon of Polotsk devoted his activities to the struggle for the spread of education. He actively participates in the debate between supporters of Greek and Latin education, taking the side of the latter, since the defenders of the Greek educational system sought to subordinate the development of enlightenment to the control of the church. Polotsk believed that the main role in the development of education belongs to the school, and, turning to the tsar, urged him to build schools and "acquire" teachers. He is developing a project to create the first higher educational institution in Russia - an academy. Shortly before his death, he wrote a draft charter for the future academy. In it, Simeon of Polotsk provided for a very broad study of the sciences - both civil and spiritual.

Polotsk attached great importance to the development of printing: “Nothing expands fame like a seal,”— he wrote. On his initiative and personal petition to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the “Upper” printing house was opened in the Kremlin in 1678.

One of Simeon of Polotsk’s favorite pastimes was "rhyme-making", that is, poetic literary activity, which attracted the attention of many literary historians.

The beginning of the literary activity of Simeon of Polotsk dates back to his stay at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. In Polotsk, he writes poetry in Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, revealing an extraordinary poetic talent: he creates elegies, a satirical poem directed against the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, epigrams (in their ancient meaning). Arriving in Moscow, Polotsky writes poetry only in Russian. Here his poetic creativity reaches its highest peak. As his student Sylvester Medvedev notes, Polotsk “Every day, having a pledge to write in half a dozen and half a notebook, but his writing is stupidly small and dense.”

Polotsky's syllabic verse was formed under the direct influence of Ukrainian and Polish verse. However, the possibility of using eleven- and thirteen-syllable syllabic verse with the obligatory paired female rhyme in Russian versification was prepared by the long historical development of expressive means organically inherent in the Russian book language. The syllabic verse of Simeon of Polotsk was closely connected with that refined bookish "Slovenian language" which they deliberately contrasted with spoken language.

Polotsky attached great educational and educational significance to his poetic works. Polotsky saw the high calling of a poet in the ability to attract "rumors and hearts" of people. The powerful weapon of poetry, he believed, should be used to spread education, secular culture, and correct moral concepts. In addition, verses should serve as a model for all who write in "Slovenian book language."

Simeon of Polotsk acts as the first court poet, the creator of panegyric solemn poems, which were the prototype of the laudatory ode.

At the center of panegyric verses is the image of an ideal enlightened autocrat. He is the personification and symbol of the Russian state, the living embodiment of its political power and glory. He must devote his life to the good of the state, the good of his subjects, to take care of their "civil needs" and their enlightenment, he is strict and merciful and at the same time an exact executor of existing laws.

S. Polotsky’s panegyric verses have “the character of a complex verbal-architectural structure – a verbal spectacle.” Such, for example, are the panegyric verses “Russian Eagle”. Against the background of the starry sky, the sun, moving through the zodiac, shines brightly with its forty-eight rays; The virtues of Tsar Alexei are inscribed in each of its rays. Against the background of the sun is a crowned double-headed eagle with a scepter and an orb in its claws. The text of the eulogy itself is written in the form of a pillar - a column resting on the base of the prose text.

As I. P. Eremin notes, the poet collected mostly rare things, “curiosities” for his verses, but saw in them only a “sign” "hieroglyph" truth. He constantly translates concrete images into the language of abstract concepts and logical abstractions. S. Polotsky’s metaphors, fanciful allegories, and chimeric similes are built on such a rethinking.

In his panegyric verses S. Polotsky introduces the names of ancient gods and heroes: "Foyer(Phoebus) golden", "golden-haired Kinfey", "Dievo's bosom"(Zeus), "Daeva Bird"(eagle). They are directly adjacent to the images of Christian mythology and play the role of pure poetic convention, being a means of creating hyperbole. S. Polotsky cultivates figured poems in the form of a heart, a star, a labyrinth.

Features of S. Polotsky's style are a typical manifestation of literary baroque. All panegyric verses (800 poems), poems on various occasions of court life were combined by S. Polotsky into a collection, which he called “Rhymelogion” (1679–1680).

Along with panegyric poems, S. Polotsky wrote verses on a wide variety of topics. He combined 2957 verses of various genres ("similarities", "images", "proverbs", "interpretations", "epitaph", "images of signing", "story", "exhortations", "accusations") in the collection "Vertograd (garden) ) multicolor" (1677–1678). The poet gave this collection the character of an encyclopedic poetic reference book: the verses are arranged by topic in alphabetical order of title. All works, both secular and religious, are of a moralizing nature. The poet considers himself the bearer and custodian of the highest religious and moral values ​​and strives to instill them in the reader.

In verses S. Polotsky raises moral questions, trying to give generalized images "virgins"("Virgo"), "widows"(“Widowhood”), considers issues of marriage, dignity, bear etc. Thus, in the poem “Citizenship” S. Polotsky speaks of the need for every person, including the ruler, to strictly observe the established laws. The poet considers labor to be the basis of society, and a person’s first duty is to work for the good of society. For the first time, the poet outlined a theme that would occupy a prominent place in Russian classic literature - the theme of contrasting the ideal ruler, the enlightened monarch with a tyrant, cruel, self-willed, unmerciful and unjust.

The philosophical question about the meaning of life is raised by S. Polotsky in the poem “Dignity”. The poet sees true bliss not in the pursuit of honors, ranks, nobility, but in a person’s ability to do what he loves.

An important section of S. Polotsky’s poetry is satire—“exposure.” Most of his satirical works are of a generalized moralistic, abstract nature. Such, for example, are the denunciations “Ignorant”, directed against ignoramuses in general; "Sorcery", revealing "women", "whisperers".

The best satirical works of S. Polotsky are his poems “Merchant” and “Monk”.

In the satire "Merchant" the poet lists eight mortals "sins of the merchant rank." These “sins” - deception, lies, false oaths, theft, extortion - reflect the real social practice of the merchants. However, the poem lacks a specific satirical image. The poet limits himself to a simple statement of sins in order to conclude with a moral admonition "the fierce sons of darkness put aside the works of darkness" to avoid future hellish torment.

The satire "Monk" is based on the opposition of ideal and reality: at the beginning, the poet talks about what a real monk should be, and then moves on to denunciation.

But alas, outrages! Fortunately, the rank was ruined.

Monasticism has turned into disorder in many.

Satirical sketches of drunkenness, gluttony, and moral depravity of monks are given quite vividly:

It’s not only the laity who work their wombs,

All the monks give them water and food.

Having chosen a Lenten life, lead.

I strive for this, in order to eat, threads...

Many wine-buys swear vehemently,

They bark, slander, shame, and the honest ones boldly...

In the clothes of sheep there are predatory foods.

The belly works, the spirit perishes.

S. Polotsky hastens to emphasize that in his satire we are not talking about all monks, but only about "disorderly" whom he denounces "with tears." The purpose of his satire is moral and didactic - to promote the correction of morals, and in conclusion the poet turns to "disorderly" monks with a call to stop "do this evil."

This moralistic didacticism, the desire to correct the vices of society and thereby strengthen its foundations distinguishes the noble-educational satire of S. Polotsky from the democratic satirical story, where the exposure is socially acute, more specific.

From the poetic works of S. Polotsk, it should be noted the rhymed arrangement of the Psalter in 1678, published in 1680. Set to music by the singing clerk Vasily Titov (he laid the foundations of chamber vocal music), the rhymed Psalter was very popular. From this book, M.V. Lomonosov became acquainted with Russian syllabic poetry.

Thus, the work of S. Polotsky developed in line with the panegyric and didactic poetry of the Baroque with its generality and polysemy of symbolism, allegories, contrast and hyperbolism, and didactic moralizing. The language of S. Polotsky's poetry is purely bookish, emphasizing the difference between poetry and prose.

S. Polotsky uses rhetorical questions, exclamations, and inverse phrases. Closely connected with the traditions of the archaic book language, Simeon of Polotsk paves the way for the development of future classicist poetry.

Sylvester Medvedev (1641 – 1691). The students and followers of Simeon of Polotsk were the poets Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin. “A man of great intelligence and scientific acuity,” as his contemporaries characterized him, the “researcher” (editor) of the Printing House, Sylvester Medvedev, emerged as a poet only after the death of his teacher. His pen includes “Epitafion” to Simeon of Polotsk and panegyric poems dedicated to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (“Wedding Greetings” and “Lamentation and Consolation” on the occasion of the death of Fyodor) and Princess Sophia (“Signature to the portrait of Princess Sophia”), which the poet actively supported, for which he was executed by order of Peter.

In "Epitathion" Sylvester Medvedev glorifies the merits of "the teacher is nice" caring for the benefit of his neighbor. Medvedev lists the works of Simeon of Polotsk.

In the protected church there is a book, the Rod created,

In her favor, Venya, and Lunch was published.

Supper, Psalter, poems with rhymes,

Vertograd multi-colored with Conversation .

All these books are wise, he is a creative man,

In teaching the Russian race manifestly.

As a poet, Medvedev has little originality. He borrowed a lot from the panegyric poems of his teacher, but, unlike Simeon of Polotsk, he avoided using allegorical and mythological images in his verses.

Karion Istomin (? – 1717). A more talented and prolific student of Simeon of Polotsk was Karion Istomin. He began his poetic work in 1681 with greeting panegyric poems to Princess Sophia. Glorifying "to the most honorable maiden, the poet talks about the importance of Wisdom (Sophia means “wisdom” in Greek) in government and in people’s lives.

Just like S. Polotsky, K. Istomin uses poetry as a means of fighting for enlightenment. In 1682, he addressed Princess Sophia with a collection of poems (16 poems), in which he asked her to found an educational institution in Moscow for teaching the liberal sciences: pedagogical, historical and didactic.

The poet gives a series of instructions to eleven-year-old Peter in the book “Admonition” (1683). True, these instructions come in the name of God:

Study now, study diligently,

In your youth the wise king became enlightened.

Sing before me, your God, boldly

Bring out justice and truth, a civil case.

The book "Polis" was written in verse, describing the twelve sciences. K. Istomin often creates acrostics (poems in which whole words or phrases are formed from the initial letters of lines), and also uses verses for pedagogical purposes: to teach Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, he compiled a “Small Primer” in 1694, and in 16% g. "Big ABC Book", where each letter is supplied with a small didactic poem.

Thanks to the activities of Simeon of Polotsk and his closest students, syllabic verse begins to be widely used in literature. A new poetic genre is emerging—lyric poetry, the appearance of which is clear evidence of the beginning of personality differentiation. The principles of syllabic versification, developed in the second half of the 17th century, were further developed in the works of syllabic poets of the first third of the 18th century: Pyotr Buslaev, Feofan Prokopovich.

Cm.: Bylinin V.K., Ilyushin A.A. The beginning of Russian poetry // Virshe poetry of the first half of the 17th century. M., 1989.

Eremin I. P. Lectures and articles on the history of ancient Russian literature. P. 285.

Cm.: Sazonova L. I. Poetry of Russian Baroque. M., 1991.

“Rod” – “Rod of Government”; “Crown” – “Crown of Catholic Faith”; “Lunch” – “Spiritual Dinner”, “Evenings” – “Spiritual Supper”, “Rhymed Psalter”, “Multi-color Vertofad”.