“When a yellowing field is agitated...” Mikhail Lermontov
When the yellowing field is agitated,
And the fresh forest rustles with the sound of the breeze,
And the raspberry plum is hiding in the garden
Under the sweet shade of the green leaf;When sprinkled with fragrant dew,
On a ruddy evening or morning at the golden hour,
From under a bush I get a silver lily of the valley
Nods his head affably;When the icy spring plays along the ravine
And, plunging my thoughts into some kind of vague dream,
Babbles a mysterious saga to me
About the peaceful land from which he rushes, -Then the anxiety of my soul is humbled,
Then the wrinkles on the forehead disperse, -
And I can comprehend happiness on earth,
And in the sky I see God.
Analysis of Lermontov’s poem “When the yellowing field is agitated...”
Lyrics by Mikhail Lermontov early and late period creativity is significantly different. If in his youth the poet wrote enthusiastic poems, praising the beauty of his native fields, meadows, forests and rivers, then in last years In his life, the author addressed this topic quite rarely. Lermontov was more interested in social and political issues, for which he was recognized as a troublemaker and gained fame as a poet who harmed the tsarist regime with his works.
In 1837, Lermontov was arrested and spent several weeks in a St. Petersburg prison while proceedings were ongoing regarding his poem dedicated to the death of Pushkin. The harsh tone that Lermontov allowed himself in relation to high society, which actually killed Pushkin, caused the displeasure of many officials. As a result, before the degree of revolutionism of the poem “Death of a Poet” was clarified, it was decided to take Lermontov into custody. It was in prison, without ink and paper, that the poet wrote one of his last lyric poems entitled “When the yellowing field is agitated...”. According to eyewitnesses, the poet used charred matches as a pen, and the paper was a food wrapper that an old servant brought him to prison every day. Why is the author quite difficult period in your life decided to turn specifically to the theme of nature?
It should be noted that at the age of 24, Mikhail Lermontov was known as a skeptic and a realist, who perfectly understood that the previous foundations of society had completely outlived their usefulness. However, the poet was also aware of the fact that society itself was not yet ready for change. An example of this was the Decembrist uprising, which was brutally suppressed due to the fact that the people did not support a handful of nobles who spoke out for the abolition of serfdom and the overthrow of the autocracy. Therefore, Lermontov understood perfectly well that during his lifetime in Russia, it was unlikely that anything would change, and the situation would only worsen, deepening the gap between classes. That is why, feeling his powerlessness and the impossibility of changing anything, the poet in the last years of his life was very often in a bad mood. He knew that with his poems he would not be able to inspire the bright minds of his fatherland to repeat the feat of the Decembrists, but he was also unable to come to terms with the surrounding reality.
The poem “When the yellowing field is agitated...”, at first glance, is dedicated to the beauties of his native land, which Lermontov glorifies with his characteristic tenderness and admiration. However the last stanza of this work fully reveals the author's intentions. In it he admits: when communication with nature occurs, “then the anxiety of my soul is humbled, then the wrinkles on my forehead disappear.” And it is the landscapes familiar from childhood that give Lermontov the strength to live, believing that his work is not in vain and will be appreciated by his descendants in the future.
It is noteworthy that the poem “When the yellowing field is agitated” has a very unusual structure. It contains four stanzas that are written in one sentence. This technique, atypical for a poet, creates the feeling that the author wrote this work in one breath, fearing that he would not be able to convey his thoughts and feelings to the readers correctly and as accurately as possible. That’s why I didn’t bother myself with such trifles as breaking phrases into sentences. Moreover, such a structure of the poem gives it a special integrity and melody, which is characteristic of many songs with figurative and vivid content. It is precisely such works that are very often found in Russian folklore, which the poet knew and loved from childhood.
Analysis of the poem
1. The history of the creation of the work.
2. Characteristics of a work of the lyrical genre (type of lyrics, artistic method, genre).
3. Analysis of the content of the work (analysis of the plot, characteristics of the lyrical hero, motives and tonality).
4. Features of the composition of the work.
5. Analysis of funds artistic expression and versification (the presence of tropes and stylistic figures, rhythm, meter, rhyme, stanza).
6. The meaning of the poem for the poet’s entire work.
The poem “When the yellowing field is agitated...” was written by M.Yu. Lermontov in February 1837, when the poet was under arrest in the building of the St. Petersburg General Staff for writing poems on the death of Pushkin. Only the valet who brought lunch was allowed in to see him. The bread was wrapped in gray paper. It was on it (with the help of a match, stove soot and wine) that this poem was written.
The genre of the work is landscape miniature, with elements of philosophical meditation.
The landscape in this poem is not one fleeting picture of nature, but several poetic pictures interconnected with each other. The poet tells how “the yellowing cornfield worries” at the light sound of the breeze, how the fresh forest rustles thoughtfully, how playfully “the raspberry plum hides in the garden,” how “the icy spring plays along the ravine.” By creating bright, picturesque paintings, Lermontov personifies nature: “the silver lily of the valley nods its head affably,” the “icy spring” babbles a “mysterious saga.”
Further we observe in the work a reverse gradation of color epithets. Bright, rich colors become vague, color turns into light, and then color epithets completely disappear from the text. So, in the first stanza we see “yellowing cornfield”, “raspberry plum”, “green leaf”. Then the nature of the definitions changes somewhat: “ruddy evening”, “golden hour of the morning”, “silver lily of the valley”. In the third stanza, color epithets are replaced by others: “vague dream”, “mysterious saga”, “peaceful land”.
We observe exactly the same gradation in relation to the objectivity of the picture of the surrounding world. If in the first stanza this objectivity is preserved (the field is agitated, the forest is noisy, the plum tree is hiding under a bush), then in the second stanza we have the hero’s individual and personal perception of nature: “the silver lily of the valley nods its head to me in a welcoming manner.” We observe the same phenomenon in the third stanza: “the key... Babbles to me a mysterious saga”).
The principle of reverse gradation underlies the creation of both the artistic time of a work and artistic space. So, the first stanza probably depicts summer. The second stanza speaks of spring (“silver lily of the valley”), the time of day here seems to spread out in its uncertainty: “In the ruddy evening or in the morning the golden hour.” And the third stanza does not contain any indication of the season at all.
The artistic space of the poem proceeds according to the degree of narrowing up to a certain point. In the first stanza we see a fairly wide landscape panorama: field, forest, garden. Then a bush and a lily of the valley remain in the field of view of the lyrical hero. But then again the space expands (as if breaks through) thanks to the key, which rushes from nowhere:
When the icy spring plays along the ravine
And, plunging my thoughts into some kind of vague dream,
Babbles a mysterious saga to me
About the peaceful land from which he rushes.
Here this artistic space becomes endless. This picture is the culmination of the poem.
Then we plunge into the realm of the lyrical hero’s feelings. And here we also see a certain gradation. “The final quatrain contains a reverse movement - from the soul to the universe, but already enlightened and spiritualized. Its four verses are the four stages of this movement: “Then the anxiety of my soul is humbled” - inner world person; “Then the wrinkles on the forehead disappear” - appearance person; “And I can comprehend happiness on earth” - the near world, surrounding a person; “And in the heavens I see God” - the distant world that closes the universe; the poet’s attention moves as if in diverging circles,” writes M.L. Gasparov.
Compositionally, we distinguish two symmetrical parts in the poem. The first part is pictures of nature. The second part is the area of the lyrical hero’s feelings. The composition of the poem is reflected in its metrics.
The poem is written in quatrains. The first stanza is written in iambic hexameter, in the second and third stanzas alternate between hexameter and pentameter, the last stanza again returns to iambic hexameter, but the last line is shortened (iambic tetrameter). Lermontov uses cross and ring (last stanza) rhymes. The poet uses a variety of means of artistic expression: personification (“the silver lily of the valley nods its head affably”), epithets (“on a ruddy evening”, “at the golden hour”, “vague dream”), anaphora (“And I can comprehend happiness on earth, And in in heaven I see God..."). The entire poem represents a period in which there is syntactic parallelism (“Then the anxiety of my soul is humbled, Then the wrinkles on my brow disperse”).
Thus, the beauty and harmony of the surrounding world pacify the excitement of the lyrical hero, the anxiety of his soul, bringing all thoughts and feelings into order. His soul rushes to God, and “how much faith, how much spiritual love is then expressed in our poet, branded an unbelieving denier”! In its meaning, the poem is related to such works by Lermontov as “Prayer”, “In a difficult moment of life...”, “Branch of Palestine”.
The poem “When the yellowing field is agitated...” was written by M.Yu. Lermontov in February 1837, when the poet was under arrest in the building of the St. Petersburg General Staff for writing poems on the death of Pushkin. Only the valet who brought lunch was allowed in to see him. The bread was wrapped in gray paper. It was on it (with the help of a match, stove soot and wine) that this poem was written.
The genre of the work is landscape miniature, with elements of philosophical meditation.
The landscape in this poem is not one fleeting picture of nature, but several poetic pictures interconnected with each other. The poet tells how “the yellowing cornfield worries” at the light sound of the breeze, how the fresh forest rustles thoughtfully, how playfully “the raspberry plum hides in the garden,” how “the icy spring plays along the ravine.” Creating bright, picturesque pictures, it personifies nature: “the silver lily of the valley nods its head in a friendly manner,” the “icy spring” babbles a “mysterious saga.”
Further we observe in the work a reverse gradation of color epithets. Bright, rich colors become vague, color turns into light, and then color epithets completely disappear from the text. So, in the first stanza we see “yellowing cornfield”, “raspberry plum”, “green leaf”. Then the nature of the definitions changes somewhat: “ruddy evening”, “golden hour of the morning”, “silver lily of the valley”. In the third stanza, color epithets are replaced by others: “vague dream”, “mysterious saga”, “peaceful land”.
We observe exactly the same gradation in relation to the objectivity of the picture of the surrounding world. If in the first stanza this objectivity is preserved (the field is agitated, the forest is noisy, the plum tree is hiding under a bush), then in the second stanza we have the hero’s individual and personal perception of nature: “the silver lily of the valley nods its head to me in a welcoming manner.” We observe the same phenomenon in the third stanza: “the key... Babbles to me a mysterious saga”).
The principle of reverse gradation underlies the creation of both the artistic time of a work and artistic space. So, the first stanza probably depicts summer. The second stanza speaks of spring (“silver lily of the valley”), the time of day here seems to spread out in its uncertainty: “In the ruddy evening or in the morning the golden hour.” And the third stanza does not contain any indication of the season at all.
The artistic space of the poem proceeds according to the degree of narrowing up to a certain point. In the first stanza we see a fairly wide landscape panorama: field, forest, garden. Then a bush and a lily of the valley remain in the field of view of the lyrical hero. But then again the space expands (as if breaks through) thanks to the key, which rushes from nowhere:
When the icy spring plays along the ravine
And, plunging my thoughts into some kind of vague dream,
Babbles a mysterious saga to me
About the peaceful land from which he rushes.
Here this artistic space becomes endless. This picture is the culmination of the poem.
Then we plunge into the realm of the lyrical hero’s feelings. And here we also see a certain gradation. “The final quatrain contains a reverse movement - from the soul to the universe, but already enlightened and spiritualized. Its four verses are the four stages of this movement: “Then the anxiety of my soul is humbled” - the inner world of man; “Then the wrinkles on the forehead disperse” - the appearance of a person; “And I can comprehend happiness on earth” - the near world surrounding a person; “And in the heavens I see God” - the distant world that closes the universe; the poet’s attention moves as if in diverging circles,” writes M.L. Gasparov.
Compositionally, we distinguish two symmetrical parts in the poem. The first part is pictures of nature. The second part is the area of the lyrical hero’s feelings. The composition of the poem is reflected in its metrics.
The poem is written in quatrains. The first stanza is written in iambic hexameter, in the second and third stanzas alternate between hexameter and pentameter, the last stanza again returns to iambic hexameter, but the last line is shortened (iambic tetrameter). Lermontov uses cross and ring (last stanza) rhymes. The poet uses a variety of means of artistic expression: personification (“the silver lily of the valley nods its head affably”), epithets (“on a ruddy evening”, “at the golden hour”, “vague dream”), anaphora (“And I can comprehend happiness on earth, And in in heaven I see God..."). The entire poem represents a period in which there is syntactic parallelism (“Then the anxiety of my soul is humbled, Then the wrinkles on my brow disperse”).
Thus, the beauty and harmony of the surrounding world pacify the excitement of the lyrical hero, the anxiety of his soul, bringing all thoughts and feelings into order. His soul rushes to God, and “how much faith, how much spiritual love is then expressed in our poet, branded an unbelieving denier.”
The Russian writer Lermontov's life changed with age from wild enthusiasm to mortal melancholy and sadness. In his early works he praised the beauty of nature, its meadows, rivers and forests, but in recent years he was of little interest in this topic, he was more concerned with political and social issues. During this time, he gained fame as a troublemaker poet who decisively and harshly denounced the tsarist autocracy. So the poem “When the yellowing field is worried” conveys some strange mood of the author. What was happening in the poet’s life at this time?
Analysis of Lermontov’s poem “When the yellowing field is agitated”
When you read Lermontov's poems, you gradually immerse yourself in his beautiful and amazing poetic world, but for some reason permeated with hopeless melancholy. It would seem that what could be so hopeless and sad in unusually accurate sketches of living nature? After all, he writes that the field is already turning yellow, reminiscent of the end of summer, that the raspberry plum is already ripening in the garden, the forest is rustling, and even nods its head to the poet.
An analysis of Lermontov’s poem “When the yellowing field is agitated” suggests that Lermontov is fascinated by pure and serene nature, plunging into a blessed magical sleep. But not everything is so calm in the poet’s soul; he is very alarmed and even angry.
Theme of loneliness
What is the reason for his tragic discord with life? Maybe it was because of his obnoxious personality or the caustic wit he often spouted. Or is it his orphan fate that is to blame for everything, because the poet lost his parental affection very early? You can also blame his fate for the fact that it did not give him loyal and kind like-minded friends or did not give him a meeting with his beloved woman who could cool his hot head, care for and love him the way Lermontov was.
“When the yellowing field is agitated” describes how the icy spring whispers about a peaceful land. But where is it? The poet is anxious everywhere, a feeling of loneliness and hopelessness washes over him. And most likely, this was due to external circumstances, which, alas, do not always depend on the person himself. However, at that time, in Lermontov’s circle, fear of persecution was the norm.
Peace and Harmony
An analysis of Lermontov’s poem “When the yellowing field is agitated” opens the curtain on the fact that the sweet contemplation of nature that the poet saw worsened his already depressing state. However, this impeccable world of natural beauty gives a dream of harmony with it, with people and with the entire world around it.
What does the poet think about when he writes lines that no longer regrets the past, but nevertheless does not expect anything from the future? At the very end of the work there is a quatrain in which the poet seems to gain insight anew, but this insight can be interpreted in different ways.
An analysis of Lermontov’s poem “When the Yellowing Field is Worried” also implies that the poet was destined to live in a society of people alien to him, where lies and falsehood are the priority, and this leads to complete boredom. The poet, born in this unjust world, simply suffocated in an atmosphere of gossip, intrigue and condemnation. This is why his fate is so tragic.
Lermontov, “When the yellowing field is worried”
This beautiful poem was written by the author in 1837. But at this time the poet was arrested and during the investigation he was imprisoned in a St. Petersburg prison. And all because of the proceedings regarding his poem “Death of a Poet,” which was dedicated
Stunned by this news, the poet allowed himself to express himself harshly about secular society and openly blamed it for the death of the great genius. The officials, of course, could not stand such mocking behavior, in their opinion, so it was decided to take Lermontov into custody. In prison, without paper or ink, using food wrappers and burnt matches, he writes the poem “When the Yellowing Field is Worried.” The theme of nature was probably not chosen by him by chance, because he, too, could have a presentiment that he, too, had only so much time left to stay in this world.
Saving natural beauty
At that time, Lermontov was only 24 years old, he was a skeptic and a realist, and already at this age he well understood that the current foundations of society had already completely outlived themselves. This was also indicated by the fact of the Decembrist uprising.
Soon Lermontov began to understand that he would not be able to change anything in Russia, sooner or later it would lead to a revolutionary conflict. Because of this, Lermontov was in a depressing state and in a bad mood in the last years of his life.
The poet also realized that with his poems he would not inspire bright human minds to the feat of the Decembrists, however, he also did not want to put up with what was happening around him.
This work of his is in itself very original and represents some kind of final internal monologue of the soul about the highest values, that everything passes, and this too will all pass. All we have to do is wait...
The formation of landscape lyrics in Russian poetry is firmly connected with the name of M. Yu. Lermontov. The poet grew up near Penza, and the sight of modest Russian fields always evoked in his soul a painful feeling of melancholy and hopelessness. That is why all his landscape lyrics are imbued with motives of loneliness. An analysis of the poem “When the yellowing field is agitated” will show all the charm of the form and content of M. Yu. Lermontov’s poetry and will reveal the depths of his soul.
History of the creation of the work
Any poem cannot be fully understood without knowing the history of its creation. When A.S. Pushkin died in 1837, Lermontov began to be strangled by hatred of the high society and the killers of the great poet. He writes the poem “The Death of a Poet,” for which he is imprisoned. While in prison, the poet really misses his native open spaces and writes “When the yellowing field is worried.” We analyze the poem briefly in this article. In prison, Lermontov had neither paper nor a pen, and he wrote down lines with burnt matches and coal on food wrappers that were brought to him. This is how the well-known poem was born. These lines brought relief to the poet’s soul. After his imprisonment, he will face house arrest and exile to the Caucasus.
Determining the genre of a work
We will continue our analysis of the poem “When the yellowing field is agitated” by determining its genre. In general, M. Yu. Lermontov is considered a romantic poet. This means that his lyrical hero is lonely, detached and does not find a place for himself in the world of people.
At first glance, the work can be classified as an ordinary landscape lyric. The first stanzas contain the anaphora “when”, they describe nature.
But the last stanza changes everything: it says that a person is happy only when he sees calm nature in front of him. This is where the main idea of the poem lies: nature gives impetus to thinking on philosophical topics. That is why a number of researchers attribute the work to philosophical lyrics. After all, the lyrical hero here enters into a dialogue with nature as with God’s plan and finds himself, finds God.
The composition of the poem and its main theme
We will continue our analysis of the verse “When the yellowing field is agitated” by considering its composition and themes. A poem is a period, that is, a sentence that expresses a multifaceted and complex thought. The first and third stanzas are complex sentences, and the second is a simple sentence with a participial phrase and homogeneous members.
These stanzas describe different nature: cornfield, forest and garden. They delight the hero, forcing him to think.
The main idea and theme of the work, without which an analysis of the poem “When the yellowing field is agitated” is impossible, lie in the final - fourth - stanza. Observing nature and uniting with it gives a person the opportunity to get closer to God. It was while in prison that M. Yu. Lermontov realized the happiness of freedom, the beauty of seeing a world without borders.
Written analysis of the poem “When the yellowing field is agitated”: meter and rhyme
The work was created on the basis of iambic in different feet (the poet mainly uses iambic hexameter). Pyrrhichia are present, which creates the uneven rhythm of the verse. This happens because Lermontov uses quite long words, some iambic stresses are dropped.
The hero is not static: in the first stanza he rushed through familiar places, in the second he bent down, in the third he flew away to a peaceful land. In the fourth stanza, the lyrical hero changes the trajectory of his movement, mentally rushing upward, to God. This last stanza is written in iambic tetrameter and is shortened. The author uses this technique because thought brought the work to its logical conclusion.
The first stanzas are written in cross rhyme, the last - in a ring. Female and male rhymes alternate throughout the verse.
Analysis of the poem “When the yellowing field is agitated”: artistic means
One can only be amazed at what an amazing picture of nature appeared before Lermontov’s eyes when he was imprisoned in a St. Petersburg prison. The entire poem is imbued with epithets. In the first stanza it is “yellowing field”, “sweet shadow”, in the second “ruddy evening”, “fragrant dew”, “silver lily of the valley”. It is noticeable that the colors have become duller and softer.
The third stanza already draws us into the inner world of the hero and his experiences; he heard the key’s story about peaceful lands. The most striking epithet here would be the combination “vague dream.” Nature has faded into the background, becoming conventional.
The fourth stanza, different from the others, uses the metaphors “wrinkles on the brow disperse,” “anxiety is subdued.” Here the author also used syntactic parallelism (first and last lines).
Throughout the poem, Lermontov uses personification; he enlivens the nature around him.
The meaning of the poem for the poet’s work
The poem “When the yellowing field is agitated” took a special place in the entire creative heritage of M. Yu. Lermontov. It refers to landscape and at the same time to philosophical lyrics (opinions vary). It is this work that many researchers consider to be an example of Lermontov’s poetry as a landscape romantic lyricist.
Analysis of classic poems is very useful for schoolchildren. This is an important skill that allows you to identify a lot of new things in a work that were not noticed during simple reading. To begin with, the student must draw up a plan for analyzing the poem “When the Yellowing Field is Worried,” this greatly simplifies the work. In addition to terminological nuances, the student can include his opinion about the work in the analysis. It is better to frame it as the end of the analysis.
