What is the life experience of Derzhavin. Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin: a short biography. The depiction of personality in the work of Derzhavin
What is first of all remembered at the mention of the name of G.R. Derzhavin? The ceremonial hall in the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and the agitated old poet, who, putting his hand to his ear, listens attentively to a curly-haired young man reciting his poetry at a public exam. Years later, the boy, who became the greatest Russian poet, wrote in the novel "Eugene Onegin":
… Success was the first to inspire us.
Old man Derzhavin noticed us
And, going down into the coffin, he blessed ...
"Father of Russian poets" G.R. Derzhavin was born in 1743 into a poor noble family. The child was so weak and sickly that the parents resorted to an old folk remedy: they smeared it with dough and put it in a cool oven. The firstborn survived, grew up as a lively and intelligent boy, learned to read and write early, became addicted to drawing, easily learned the German language. When he was 11 years old, his father died, and the small estate was seized from the widow by rich neighbors: this is how Derzhavin learned from an early age what injustice is and how the poor, defenseless before the law, can suffer.
Derzhavin dreamed of studying in the Corps of Engineers, but there was a confusion in the papers, and the distressed young man went to serve as a soldier in the Preobrazhensky regiment. Service in the guard demanded money: where could mother get it? However, the mother managed to collect a small amount and, together with the blessing, gave her son an old ruble of Peter's minting, which Derzhavin had kept all his life.
The service took up a lot of time and effort: at night the young man read books and wrote poetry, drawing and music lessons had to be abandoned. In 1762, he took part in a palace coup that enthroned Catherine II. Under the name of Felitsa, she will appear in his odes, praising the virtues of the enlightened monarch.
After ten years of service, Derzhavin, whose poems were read and sung by his regimental comrades, was promoted to officer. In 1772, he could not even think that he would ever become a real privy councilor, which corresponded to the rank of general. In 1773, he already commanded the detachments that pacified the "Pugachevites", and even participated in the secret commission of inquiry on the Emelyan Pugachev case. Four years later, he entered the civil service, got married and took up what he loved - poetry. It must be said that Derzhavin treasured the sovereign's service very much and wrote only when, once again, falling out of favor because of his principledness and honesty, which he demanded from the others, he resigned. And there was a lot of service: Derzhavin managed to be the Olonets and Tambov governors, the cabinet secretary of the empress herself, the president of the Commerce Collegium, the senator, the state treasurer, the minister of justice and the prosecutor general.
Serving at court, Derzhavin had seen enough of the lazy and dishonorable nobles, whom he satirically depicted in the ode "Felitsa" (1782). The name of the title heroine in Latin means "happiness" - that was the name of the good sorceress from "The Tale of Tsarevich Chlorus", which Empress Catherine II wrote for her grandchildren. It is not difficult to guess from whom the fair queen Felitsa was written off. For a whole year, the ode lay in Derzhavin's table, then he gave it to a friend to read, and he shared the magnificent text with friends. A few days later, the ode reached Catherine and she really liked it. She laughed heartily at the satirical portraits of her ministers, presenting each with a copy with underlined lines describing one or another courtier. Thus, the talented poet made himself many enemies at court, but acquired patronage in the person of the empress.
After only two years, Derzhavin was sent into honorary exile due to a conflict with the prosecutor general. On the way to his mother's estate, he spent the night at an inn and for several days wrote lines that suddenly dawned on him while on the way. Ode "God", created in the best traditions of scientific odes by M.V. Lomonosov, praised man and the omnipotence of the human mind.
Numerous resignations, dismissals from state affairs did not make the poet a cunning and cunning courtier and did not teach him anything: when in 1795 he decided to publish the first collected works, the amazed empress, who received a notebook with drawings with his own handwritten as a gift, saw on one of the the first pages are the following lines:
Kings! - I thought you gods are powerful,
No one is the judge over you, -
But you, like me, are similarly passionate
And as mortal as I am.
And you will fall like that
How will a withered leaf fall from the tree!
And you will die like that,
How will your last slave die!
The ode to "Sovereigns and Judges" infuriated the Empress - the collection of poems was never published. But throughout Russia, handwritten copies of Derzhavin's notebook were distributed, hundreds of people kept his poems as the greatest treasure.
Under Paul I, Derzhavin practically did not write odes: he quickly became disillusioned with the new emperor and did not want to praise him. Instead, he composed the so-called "light poetry": songs, idylls, messages. After the name of the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, or Anacreon (c. 570 - c. 485 BC), poetry praising freedom and solitude, love, enjoyment of life, was called "Anacreontic lyricism", or "Anacreontica":
... We will refuse to sing the heroes,
And we will begin to sing love ...
("To the lyre")
The best friend of Derzhavin was the disgraced commander A.V. Suvorov. Already ill, he asked the poet what epitaph, that is, a posthumous poem, a friend would write for him. Derzhavin answered without hesitation that the words "Here lies Suvorov" would have been the best epitaph for Suvorov, since this name is already very well known and speaks for itself. This line is indeed inscribed on the commander's grave, and Derzhavin, returning from the funeral, heard a tame bullfinch in a cage whistling a military march. Thus was born one of the best "death poems" in Russian literature, a little ode "Snigir" (1800).
Derzhavin spent the last years of his life at the Zvanka estate, about which he lovingly wrote in the poem “Eugene. Life of Zvanskaya "
According to critics, it was the poetry of the 1800s-1810s that determined Derzhavin's place in Russian literature, which the famous critic V.G. Belinsky called it shortly and simply - "the father of Russian poets."
When Pushkin saw Derzhavin at the Lyceum in 1815, he was already old and very ill. The poems of the young lyceum student awakened in him sincere joy that his successor in the poetic field appears in Russia. He himself has long summed up his work, rightly believing that his poetry gives him the right to respect and the memory of posterity ("Monument", 1795).
Source (abridged): Literature: Grade 8: 2 hours Part 1 / BA Lanin, L. Yu. Ustinova; ed. B.A. Lanina. - M .: Ventana-Graf, 2015
G. R. Derzhavin (1743 - 1816)
Derzhavin began publishing in 1773, however, this was not the beginning of his literary career. The young poet began to write poetry while still in the soldier's service. Preserved two notebooks of that early period of creativity, when he "joined" the "warriors" of normative versification. In his early non-independent experiments, one can trace the influence not only of generally recognized poets of that time, but also of such innovators as Chulkov, Barkov, to which we can later include Derzhavin himself.
The poet's development was preceded by his formation as a literary theorist.
In 1811, he summed up the theoretical part of his work with a number of works, one of which was Discourse on Lyric Poetry or Ode, where he significantly departs from the generally accepted norms of literary-critical essay of that time, not only in form, but also in content.
Criticism of Russian classicism had a predominantly grammatical and linguistic orientation, which did not prevent drawing conclusions about the genres and other features of the works under consideration. The critic must be extremely strict with each individual shade that interferes with the purity of the style. Such pedantry is characteristic of the criticism of Trediakovsky and Lomonosov.
The rationalism of classicism aesthetics was refracted in the educational and pedagogical understanding of the goal facing the normative genre criticism.
The task was extremely simple and at the same time incredibly difficult: educating readers and writers, forming the correct (and only!) Syllable, correct thought and feeling. G. N. Teplov, in his article “On the qualities of a poet, reasoning” writes: “... a poet who does not know below grammatical rules, below rhetorical ones, and when he is still insufficient in his knowledge ... of authors ... who from ancient times are a model of poetry considered, ... is likened to a physicist who does not know mathematics, chemistry and hydraulics. " Such a poet "can never access the knowledge of direct poem." So, not a flight of inspiration, but actually philological erudition, not a flight of feeling, but the judiciousness of the creative process - this is what the classicist critic appreciates in the first place in a writer.
Derzhavin, on the other hand, departs from the above-mentioned norms of classicistic criticism. In the already mentioned article "Discourse on lyric poetry or ode", the poet, for example, explains the meaning of the word "ode": "... in modern times ... it is the same as Cantata, Oratorio, Romance, Ballade, Stans even a simple song ”. Here, there is a violation not only of the genre hierarchy, but also of other canons of literature established by the founders of classicism. Further, Derzhavin clarifies concepts such as "inspiration", "highness", "lyrical disorder". The poet writes about the ode: "... an enthusiastic mind does not have time to arrange excessively fast thoughts logically, therefore the ode to the plan does not endure." Derzhavin talks about the “unity of passion” and its “diversity” at the same time, refracting through his understanding, the rule about the unity of place, time, action.
Further, Derzhavin advocates the brevity of the ode and its plausibility, noting that "fictions only adorn the truth." The poet sings a hymn to inspiration, repeating that only it is capable of "... stormy impulses of feelings, lofty divine thoughts, ... lively faces, courageous transfers and other rhetorical decorations, which have already been mentioned." However, a lot of what Derzhavin applied in practice remained unsaid in this article and was recognized only after studying the poetics of the author as a poet.
One of the main features of Derzhavin's poetics is the destruction of the genre hierarchy: the combination of “high” and “low”. Traditionally, the use of low vocabulary was possible only in low genres: fable, epigram, comedy. Often this created lexical disharmony: "Burn this peasant holiday" ("Peasant holiday"). Here there is a mixture of Church Slavonic and grassroots vocabulary.
Metric inaccuracies have often evolved into new dimensions. So, in the poem "Swallow" Derzhavin introduces for the first time the alternation of three-syllable dactyls and three-syllable amphibrachia:
Not a sweet-voiced swallow
Homemade from the stuck
Oh! My sweet, lovely
Flew away - with her joy.
But, perhaps, the most widespread was the so-called "figurative sound writing", i.e. with which the image is created. “The verb of the times of the metal ringing” - the striking of the clock (“On the death of Prince Meshchersky”), “Severny thunders lie in the grave” - the image of the commander Suvorov (“Bullfinch”).
Derzhavin makes extensive use of imprecise rhymes: “creation,” “feathers,” “in darkness,” “in a dream,” etc.
Derzhavin's art and plasticity are at a high level. A specific lyrical hero appears in his poetry (“Invitation to Dinner”). The development of an idea (not a plot) is associated with the poet's orientation towards public rhetorical utterance of the text. So, for example, the spiritual ode “God” is built (note that the main principle of construction is antithetical). The idea in this ode develops as follows: 1) comparison of the greatness of God with the insignificance of man, 2) but there is God in man, and therefore, the previous idea is refuted, 3) man is the center of the universe only thanks to God and the only thing that man should do is to strive to God. A certain opposition is built here: GOD - WORLD - I (you) (we).
However, the poet does not preach pessimism: life acquires a special value: Life is an instant gift from heaven. For Derzhavin, God is a principle that does not exist separately from nature. Thus, the poet adopts deism, developed by Herodotus and Kant. The existence of God is evidenced by: "natural order", that is, order, harmony, human striving for a subjective creative principle: "Your soul, perhaps, longs for ...". The images here are extremely emblematic and symbolic. The poem "Waterfall" (1791) is an example of a similar style. Here the image of a crumbling mountain becomes a symbol of the heroes' short-lived glory: “A mountain is falling like a diamond”. The waterfall itself (Kivach is a waterfall in Karelia) is the personification of the abyss, eternity, in which everything drowns. The image of the clock echoes in a similar way in the poem “On the death of Prince. Meshchersky ”.
A special role in the literature of the 18th century is played by the appeal to historical figures who are an example for a generation. According to the classicists, history is a vicious circle of recurring events, and therefore history hides within itself an abyss of parallels with the present. For Derzhavin, Belisarius is a slandered commander who is compared to “a certain gray-haired man,” that is, most likely, to Rumyantsev, who was unnecessarily removed from service.
The landscape deserves attention. In the 60s of the 18th century, Songs of Ossian, composed by the Scottish poet MacPherson, was published.
Their main heroes were King Fengal and his son Ossian. War and love were the main themes. A dark, colorful landscape stood out against the background of the narrative. Subsequently, such a landscape became known as "Ossian". Derzhavin borrows the gloominess of descriptions and the significance of allegories:
Under the tilted cedar down,
With this terrible beauty of nature,
On a fragile stump that dangles
From the cliff to the pits of water
I see - a certain gray-haired husband
Head bowed on the arm.
Spear and sword and great shield,
The wall of the fatherland of everything
And a helmet entwined with a dodder,
They lie in the moss at his feet: ...
Sits and, staring at the waters.
In deep thought argues:
“Isn't the life of men for us
Does this waterfall represent?
He is also the blessing of his jets
It gives water to the haughty, meek, and evil. etc.
So, God for Derzhavin is “the source of life,” not only spiritual life, but also life in the state, to which the poet has repeatedly addressed in his poems and odes not only as a citizen, but also as a “singer”, and a similar combination for classicism impossible.
As already mentioned, the ode of the 18th century does not tolerate stylistic confusion. However, let us turn to a comparative analysis of the vocabulary and style of the works of the classic of the genre, M.V. Lomonosov, and G.R.Derzhavin. In his "Ode to the Ascent ..." Lomonosov uses mainly sublime vocabulary: "seed beads", "porphyry", "marshmallow", "soul", "zrak", "paradise" and a pathetic style:
When she took the throne
As the Most High gave her a crown,
I returned you to Russia,
The war ended;
Priya kissed you:
I'm full of those victories, she said
For whom the current flows.
("On the day of the ascension ..., 1747")
Here are some excerpts from Derzhavin's "Felitsa": "godlike", "I smoke tobacco", "I drink coffee", "I am amused by barking dogs", "I play the fool with my wife."
Both poets give instructions to the ruler. Lomonosov describes the ideal queen: "This gentle voice is decent to divine lips, monarch."
Derzhavin, comparing and describing the author and Murza, again uses the antithesis, showing what a monarch should not be, at the same time asking Felitsa for guidance: "Give, Felitsa, guidance on how to live magnificently and truthfully." Lomonosov feels the superiority of the empress over herself and poetry:
Be silent, fiery sounds, and stop the light from swaying:
Here in the world Elisabeth has deigned to expand science ...
Behold the universe in silence ...
Lomonosov is a poet of the state subordinate to "Felitsa", who only praises her dignity. He silences even the “fiery sounds of poetry”.
Derzhavin, referring to Catherine (Felitsa - lat. Felix - happy), according to Belinsky, “combines the pathetic element with the comic ... which is nothing more than the ability to imagine life in its truth.” Not to mention that that the entire work is permeated with satirical allusions to high-ranking officials.
You read, write in front of the deposit
You don't play cards like this
Like me, from morning to morning ...
You don't like masquerades too much
And you can't even step into the bed;
Keeping customs, rituals,
You don't donkishot yourself;
You saddle a Parnassian horse,
You cannot enter the spirits in the assembly
Do not go from the throne to the East; ....
The monologue is formally pronounced by one person, the murza, but is this essentially so? The image of the murza is changing. When Felitsa is opposed to Murza, as a rule, there is a satire or a caustic allusion to many real facts "encrypted" in this poem. However, in pathetic moments, the image of the murza is as close as possible to the author's:
You just won't offend one
You don't offend anyone
You see the tomfoolery through your fingers
Only one cannot stand evil.
In satirical places, the image of the murza is a collective image of vicious servants:
Or music and singers
By organ and bagpipes all of a sudden,
Or fist fighters
And with a dance I amuse my spirit;
Or, take care of all matters
Leaving, I go hunting
And amuse myself with barking dogs
Or over the Neva banks
I amuse my horns at night
And rowing of daring rowers ...
Obviously, Lomonosov's “I” is extremely generalized in any genre, while Derzhavin's meaning of the lyric “I” varies on the basis of the theme.
The theme of classicism almost always presupposed an appeal to the great personality individually and to society as a whole, but even in this Derzhavin cannot be considered a direct follower of the leading figures of classicism; being devoid of servility, he stands out sharply from the general series of poets of this era that are in many ways similar.
The word in his works loses the flatness that was characteristic of the poetry of the 18th century, it acquires new tangible forms, becomes significant.
Bibliography
- 1) Derzhavin's texts were quoted from the book: G.R.Derzhavin Selected Poems; S.-Petersburg. ; edited by P. Blodd; 1913
- 2) Russian literary criticism of the 18th century. Collection of texts M., Sov. Russia, 1978
- 3) V.A.Nedzvetsky. Russian literary criticism of the 18th-19th centuries Course of lectures. M., Publishing house of Moscow State University, 1994
- 4) Zapadov A.V., Derzhavin, M., 1958
- 5) Brief literary encyclopedia, M., Sov. Encyclopedia, 1964
The poet Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich was born on July 3 (July 14), 1743 in the Kazan province into a family of impoverished nobles. He spent his childhood in the family estate in the village of Sokury. Since 1759 Derzhavin studied at the Kazan gymnasium.
In 1762, the future poet entered the service in the Preobrazhensky regiment as an ordinary guardsman. In 1772 he was promoted to ensign, receiving the first officer's rank. In 1773 - 1775, Derzhavin, as part of the regiment, participated in suppressing the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev.
Public service
In 1777, Derzhavin entered the government service in the Government Senate with the rank of state councilor. In 1784 - 1788 he held the post of the ruler of Olonets and then Tambov governorship. Even in a short biography of Derzhavin, it is worth mentioning that he was actively involved in improving the economy of the region, contributed to the formation of provincial administrative, judicial and financial institutions.
In 1791 Derzhavin was appointed cabinet secretary of Catherine II. Since 1793, the poet has served as the Empress's Privy Councilor. In 1795 Derzhavin received the post of President of the Commerce Collegium. From 1802 to 1803 he served as Minister of Justice.
last years of life
In 1803 Derzhavin retired and settled in his estate Zvanka in the Novgorod province. The poet devotes the last years of his life to literary activity. In 1813 Derzhavin, whose biography even during this period was full of trips, went to Ukraine with a visit to V.V. Kapnist. In 1815, he attended the exam at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, listening to the works of the young Alexander Pushkin.
On July 8 (July 20), 1816, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin died on his estate. The poet was buried in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Varlaam-Khutynsky monastery near Veliky Novgorod.
Creation
The work of Gabriel Derzhavin is considered the pinnacle of Russian classicism. The first works of the poet appeared during his military service. In 1773 Derzhavin made his debut in the journal Starina and Novizna with a translation of an excerpt from Iroiz, or Vivlida's Letters to Kavnus from the works of Ovid. In 1774, the works "Ode to Greatness" and "Ode to Nobility" were published.
In 1776 the first collection of the poet's poems "Odes translated and composed at Mount Chitalagoe" was published.
Since 1779, Derzhavin departed from the traditions laid down by Sumarokov and Lomonosov, and worked on philosophical lyrics. In 1782, the ode "Felitsa" was published, dedicated to Empress Catherine II, which brought the poet wide literary fame. Soon other famous works of Derzhavin appeared - "The Grandee", "Eugene. Life of Zvanskaya "," On the death of Prince Meshchersky "," God "," Dobrynya "," Waterfall "," Herod and Mariamna ", etc.
In 1808, a collection of Derzhavin's works in four volumes was published.
Chronological table
Other biography options
- The Derzhavin family originates from the son of the Tatar Murza Bagrim, who bore the name Derzhava.
- The first wife of G.R.Derzhavin was Catherine Bastidon - the daughter of the Portuguese Bastidon, the former valet of Peter III.
- Derzhavin studied German from the age of seven, read in the original Klopstock, Gellert, Kleist, Haller, Hagedorn, which significantly affected his literary work.
- Derzhavin's poem "Thunder of Victory, Thunder Out!", Written in 1791, became the first unofficial anthem of Russia.
- For excellence in public service, Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich was awarded the order
Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816) - Russian literary and statesman of the 18th century.
His name is found more than once in the works of A.S. Pushkin, and this is no coincidence. Derzhavin's legacy, his personality a huge influence on the worldview and work of Pushkin. We know the words of the outstanding Russian critic V.G.Belinsky that the study of Pushkin should begin with Derzhavin.
Gabriel Romanovich is known as an innovator in versification, an outstanding statesman; a man who sought not glory, but truth. Derzhavin contributed to the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment, asserted high civic ideals: honest service to the Fatherland and the people, upholding truth and justice.
Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin is a Russian poet and statesman.
This message is dedicated to the biography of Derzhavin, his legacy.
Life path of G.R.Derzhavin
G.R.Derzhavin was born on July 3, 1743 into an ordinary noble family. His childhood and youth were spent near Kazan. Lack of money did not allow Derzhavin to receive a good education, and in 1762 he entered the military service as a private. In the same year, together with the Preobrazhensky regiment participated in the palace coup that brought Catherine II to power.
Due to poverty, lack of patronage, and common origin, Derzhavin received his first officer's rank only in 1772, and the following year his first poems were published.
In 1777 Derzhavin retired and devoted himself to civil and literary activities. In 1782 he published Ode to Felitsa dedicated to Catherine II, which contributed to Derzhavin's rapid career.
In the civil service, Gavriil Romanovich held various positions:
- Olonets and then Tambov governor;
- secretary of Catherine II;
- president of the commercial board;
- Minister of Justice.
In 1803, G.R.Derzhavin was forced to resign and took up literary activity. G.R.Derzhavin died on July 8, 1816.
In 1815, the famous meeting between Derzhavin and Pushkin took place. It happened at a public examination at the Lyceum. Young Pushkin read his poems "Memories of Tsarskoe Selo". Gabriel Romanovich was delighted with the talent of the young man, and in this meeting they see great symbolic significance, signifying literary continuity and the brilliant future of Russian poetry.
Everywhere he sought justice distinguished by directness, honesty and love of truth, which, of course, caused conflicts and discontent with Derzhavin.
Creative heritage
Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin went down in the history of Russia as a talented writer, poet, subtly feeling the richness of the Russian language. Its high state positions and poetic gift he used to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment, improvement of morals.
Derzhavin strove to exalt the Russian people, believed in the great future of Russia and sang the glorious victories of the past. At the same time, he saw the shortcomings of the present: the arrogance of nobles interested only in personal enrichment; indifference to the needs of the people and the lawlessness of officials. All this he denounced in his satirical works.
G.R.Derzhavin is a representative of Russian classicism with its cult of reason and civic consciousness. He pinned great hopes on the enlightened monarchy, which for him was personified by Catherine II. In Ode to Felitsa, Derzhavin opposed the just ruler to the ignorant court nobility. However, personal acquaintance with Catherine II and serving as a secretary under her changed the poet's ideas about the empress.
Derzhavin is a recognized innovator in Russian literature. His vital principles, artistic talent, courage and decisiveness in everything allowed him to open new ways in the development of poetry, to lay down new traditions. He looked for other means of poetic expressiveness, mixed in his odes "high" and "low" styles, different genres. His poems are distinguished by the lightness and prostate of the style, the realism in the depiction of life. For the first time in Russian poetry, Derzhavin introduced a colorful description of nature into poetry.
The monument to G.R.Derzhavin in Kazan was erected in 1847.
The memory of G.R.Derzhavin will survive for centuries. His literary and state activities contributed to the development of Russia, paved the way for the further development of Russian literature and poetry. His poetic language was natural and lively, and personality has become the embodiment of the ideal of an enlightened person, caring for the Motherland, duty and honor.
The topic of our lesson is the life and work of Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin.
Topic: Russian literatureXviiicentury
Lesson: G.R. Derzhavin. Life and art
The people of the 18th century built their destiny in accordance with what life should be like. They found all these ideas in books.
Peter the Great built his life in accordance with the concept of the father of the people, which was presented in the classicist drama. Derzhavin built his life in accordance with the idea that the books showed.
Derzhavin has memoirs written by him, which are both his autobiography and a pamphlet (teaching). He considered his life to be a kind of model. Derzhavin considered his mistakes instructive. The real events of the poet's life were bright, filled with ups and downs.
Gavriil Romanovich was born into a family of small local nobles on the Sokura family estate near Kazan on July 14, 1743, where he spent his childhood. He lost his father early, a retired major Roman Nikolaevich. The takeoff in Derzhavin's life always ended in a fall. He sought an officer's rank and was put on trial; twice became governor, after which she fell into disgrace. He was a minister under Alexander I, which ended with his final resignation. Derzhavin lost a fortune during the Pugachev riot, but won about 40 thousand rubles in a card game. At the end of his life, when the vice-chancellor, a former minister, a favorite of three kings at once, finally left the service and settled in his village, the poet's real life began. The people of that time did not have such a role in the scripts that were played by his predecessors. Poets could only play the role of courtiers, and not individual, formed poets. Before Derzhavin, Russian literature did not know the role of a poet who does not participate in court life, who is immersed in the little things of his existence. None of his contemporaries imagined that there was a place just for a poet, and not for a courtier, mentor or adviser. Derzhavin himself created this role for himself and played it himself in this huge performance.
Derzhavin placed mind and reason above all else. He always followed the classic pattern. He is a writer who has always personally addressed the subject and expressed his attitude, preached. Derzhavin always focused on the trinity of time, place and action. All these signs of classicism are associated with the fact that it was in the era of Derzhavin that what happened several centuries earlier in Europe took place. Derzhavin can also be considered a poet of the Russian Renaissance. In medieval Europe, the personality of a person first became interested in the person himself, and respect for a person began to be considered as the main thing. Respect for God has given way to man. Man is above all with his small human details, everyday experiences, with some kind of everyday things. He finds himself in the center of art's attention, and this makes the classicist Derzhavin a poet of the Russian Renaissance.
Derzhavin's life was his work, and the poet's poems were only a means. Over time, it turned out that it was creativity that was the main thing in the life of the poet. All its results and conclusions remained on paper. Derzhavin summed up certain results of his stormy career in several lines of verse:
"The Rule of Living"
"Console with a bow of the proud man, Slap a grumpy slap in the face, Grease the gates with grease, Shut the dog's mouth with bread, - I bet that all four will be silent."
All his life Derzhavin lacked the ability to get along with people. These rules of life, which he deduced at the very end, could not help him at that time. He lived far from the capital. Everything he wrote, he addressed to people, not to himself. Derzhavin constantly turned to someone from the outside, to some reader who was very far away. These were messages to the empress, favorites, noblemen. Behind a specific addressee, to whom the classic text was supposed to be intended, one senses a different addressee. The author could turn to God, to the king, to the hero. Derzhavin always spoke on his own behalf, but behind what he said, there was a lively human feeling. Derzhavin could have been in the service for no more than two years, because he constantly entered into conflicts with officials. He filled up the empress with letters with a request to save 800 thousand rubles. But the empress got used to stealing and long ago resigned herself, not seeing something particularly shameful in stealing. She herself gave houses to her favorites, did not particularly follow the royal treasury. Derzhavin constantly tried to achieve justice, which annoyed his patrons every time. The poems that were born during the poet's retirement each time became more and more important and interesting. Derzhavin for us is the first poet whom we can read without explanation or commentary. Of course, Derzhavin contains words that we may not understand.
“I am the connection of worlds that exist everywhere,
I am an extreme degree of substances ... "
“The verb of the tenses! metal ringing! Your terrible voice confuses me; Calls me, calls your moan, Calls - and brings me closer to the grave. As soon as I saw this light, Death gnashes with its teeth, As lightning, scythe gleams, And my days, like cereals, cuts "
("On the death of Prince Meshchersky")
“The river of times in its striving Carries away all the affairs of people And drowns in the abyss of oblivion Peoples, kingdoms and kings. And if anything remains Through the sounds of the lyre and the trumpet, Then eternity will be devoured by the throat And the common fate will not go away. "
("The river of times in its striving ...")
Derzhavin wrote long texts that are difficult to remember. But individual lines are remembered. Other authors very often used Derzhavin lines for the titles of their books. Derzhavin created something that did not exist before him. He considered it his destiny to see what others did not feel and to be able to convey it. The author often wrote about death. One of his first odes is the ode To the Death of Prince Meshchersky. Derzhavin wrote about the frailty of human existence. Derzhavin often provoked his reader.
One of the first poets who turned his gaze to the hypostasis of Derzhavin was Pushkin. Alexander Sergeevich himself recalls how he treated Derzhavin in his youth:
“I saw Derzhavin only once in my life, but I will never forget it. It was in 1815, at a public examination at the Lyceum. When we learned that Derzhavin would come to us, we all got excited. Delvig went out on the stairs to wait for him and kiss his hand that wrote "Waterfall" ... Derzhavin was very old. He was in a uniform and in velvet boots. Our exam tired him very much. He sat with his head on his hand. His face was meaningless, his eyes were dull, his lips were drooping: a portrait his (where he is represented in a cap and a dressing gown) is very similar. He dozed until the exam in Russian literature began. Then he perked up, his eyes sparkled; he was completely transformed. Of course, his poems were read, his poems were analyzed, minute by minute They praised his poems. He listened with extraordinary liveliness. Finally they called me. I read "Memories in Tsarskoe Selo", standing two steps from Derzhavin. I cannot describe the state of my soul: when I got to the verse where I mention the name of Derzhavin, my adolescent voice rang out, and with my heart beat with delightful delight ... I don't remember how I finished my reading, I don't remember where I ran away. Derzhavin was delighted; he demanded me, wanted to hug me ... They looked for me, but they did not find me ... "At the graduation party, Pushkin read poetry, and after reading the text, Derzhavin rushed to hug the young poet. In his novel in verse" Eugene Onegin "Pushkin wrote : “Old man Derzhavin noticed us and , descending into the coffin, blessed ... ".
There is a perception that poets are at odds and compete with each other. They are not friends in life, they have always remained and remain rivals, trying to surpass each other. The sequence and connection of generations is associated with repulsion, sometimes irreconcilable. Derzhavin blessed Pushkin, but Pushkin never imitated Derzhavin. Lomonosov argued with the statements of Feofan Prokopovich. Theophan argued with ancient authors. Derzhavin's place in literature is determined not by what he blessed Pushkin, but by what he did in spite of his predecessors.
“I am the connection of worlds that exist everywhere, I am the extreme degree of substance; I am the focus of the living, the Devil is the chief of the deity; I decay with my body in dust, I command thunder with my mind, I am a king - I am a slave - I am a worm - I am a god! But, being I am so wonderful, did the Cleavage occur? - unknown; And I couldn't be myself. I am your creation, the creator! I am a creature of Your wisdom, the Source of life, the blessing giver, the Soul of my soul and the king! Thy truth was necessary, So that the mortal abyss would pass My immortal being; So that my spirit clothed in mortality And that through death I return, Father! - into your immortality "(ode" God ")
Derzhavin never had anything to do with the exact sciences. But he also questioned the act of the Divine creation of the world and man. “But I could not be myself…” (ode to “God”). In Lomonosov, the poet and the scientist were combined. Poetry for Lomonosov was not a goal, but only a means. For Derzhavin, poetry served as a means of career growth, but gradually it became a goal and meaning for him.
Lomonosov in his poems tries to develop his scientific views.
On October 7, 1803, he was dismissed and removed from all government posts (“dismissed from all affairs”). In retirement he settled in his estate Zvanka in the Novgorod province. In the last years of his life he was engaged in literary activity. Derzhavin died in 1816 at his home on the Zvanka estate. Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin and his second wife Daria Alekseevna (died in 1842) were buried in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Varlaam-Khutynsky monastery near Veliky Novgorod. (G.R.Derzhavin had no children from either his first or second marriage.)
1. Makogonenko G.P.Russian education and literary trends of the 18th century. // Russian literature. L., 1959.
2. Lebedeva O.B. History of Russian Literature of the 18th Century M.: 2000
3. History of Russian literature of the 18th century: textbook for universities / Pavel Alexandrovich Orlov. - Moscow: Higher School, 1991.
1. Analyze the poetry of G. Derzhavin.
3. * Make a crossword puzzle on the topic: “The life and work of G.R. Derzhavin ".