Analysis of the poem by N. Nekrasov “Motherland”

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov

And here they are again, familiar places,
Where the life of my fathers flowed, barren and empty,
Flowed among feasts, meaningless swagger,
The depravity of dirty and petty tyranny;

Where is the swarm of depressed and trembling slaves
I envied the lives of the last master's dogs,
Where I was destined to see God's light,
Where did I learn to endure and hate,
But hatred is shamefully hidden in my soul,
Where I sometimes visited as a landowner;
Where from my soul, prematurely corrupted,
So early the blessed peace flew away,
And non-childish desires and worries
A languid fire burned the heart until its end...
Memories of the days of youth - famous
Under the great name of luxurious and wonderful, -
Filling my chest with both anger and melancholy,
In all their glory they pass before me...

Here is a dark, dark garden... Whose face is in the distant alley
Flashing between the branches, painfully sad?
I know why you cry, my mother!
Who ruined your life... oh! I know, I know!..
Forever given to the gloomy ignoramus,
You didn’t indulge in unrealistic hope -
The thought of rebelling against fate scared you,
You bore your lot in silence, slave...
But I know: your soul was not dispassionate;
She was proud, stubborn and beautiful,
And everything that you had the strength to endure,
Your dying whisper has forgiven the destroyer!..

And you, who shared with the silent sufferer
And the grief and shame of her terrible fate,
You are also gone, sister of my soul!
From the home of serf mistresses and kings
Driven by shame, you handed over your lot
To the one I didn’t know, didn’t love...
But, my mother's sad fate
Having repeated in the world, you were lying in a coffin
With such a cold and stern smile,
That the executioner himself trembled, crying with a mistake.

Here is a gray, old house... Now it is empty and deaf:
No women, no dogs, no gays, no servants, -
And in the old days?.. But I remember: something was pressing on everyone here,
Here, in small and large, my heart ached sadly.
I ran to the nanny... Oh, nanny! how many times
I shed tears for her at a difficult time in my heart;
At her name, falling into emotion,
How long have I felt reverence for her?..

Her senseless and harmful kindness
A few features came to mind,
And my chest is full of new enmity and anger...
No! in my youth, rebellious and harsh,
There is no memory that pleases the soul;
But everything that has entangled my life since childhood,
An irresistible curse fell upon me,
Everything begins here, in my native land!..

And looking around with disgust,
With joy I see that the dark forest has been cut down -
In the languid summer heat, protection and coolness, -
And the field is scorched, and the herd slumbers idly,
Hanging my head over a dry stream,
And an empty and gloomy house falls on its side,
Where he echoed the clinking of bowls and the voice of rejoicing
The dull and eternal hum of suppressed suffering,
And only the one who crushed everyone,
He breathed freely, and acted, and lived...

Nikolay Nekrasov

Nikolai Nekrasov is rightfully considered one of the most prominent Russian realist poets, who in his works depicted life without any embellishment. Many of his poems reveal the vices of a society still burdened with serfdom, showing a sharp contrast between the lives of landowners and peasants. One of these accusatory works is the poem “Motherland,” written in 1847, when Nekrasov was already a fairly well-known poet and publicist, as well as a fully accomplished and mature person. In this work, the author refers to his childhood memories, inspired by a trip to the family estate of Greshnevo, Yaroslavl province.

"Musician"

After the death of the poet's father, Alexei Sergeevich Nekrasov, in 1862, the estate was inherited by his sons Nikolai and Fedor. The Nekrasovs' manor house in Greshnev has not survived. It burned down in 1864 due to carelessness of a caretaker. In 1872, the poet donated his part of the estate to his younger brother. After the death of N.A. Nekrasov in 1885, Fyodor Alekseevich, burdened with economic concerns in the Karabikha estate, decided to sell the Greshnevskoye estate to the peasant G.T. Titov.

From the Nekrasovs’ Greshnevskaya estate, only one building has survived - the “musician’s room”, in which, according to legend, serf musicians lived. Under the Nekrasovs, it was a one-story stone building, built in the mid-19th century. In the 1870s, the Razdolye tavern was located here; Titov built a second wooden floor. In this form the building has survived to this day; Until 2001, the building housed a museum exposition telling about the Yaroslavl estate of the Nekrasovs.

It should be noted that the poet’s childhood passed under the sign of the eternal tyranny of his father, a retired lieutenant.

Alexey Nekrasov, father of the poet

There were 13 children in the Nekrasov family, and, according to the poet’s recollections, barracks-like order reigned. Nekrasov's mother, the Polish beauty Alexandra Zakrevskaya, married for love without parental blessing and very soon became disillusioned with the unequal union, since her chosen one turned out to be an unbalanced and cruel person. Nikolai Nekrasov grew up in a similar atmosphere of intolerance, from childhood watching his father mock not only the serfs, but also the household members. Therefore, the poet associates his homeland with a gloomy and gloomy house, a dark garden and a constant feeling of injustice. At the same time, the author notes that he “learned to endure and hate,” and also for the first time tried on the guise of a landowner, being ashamed of this in his soul and not having the strength to change his home way of life.

The poet remembers his mother as a very smart, proud and educated woman, who, nevertheless, had to endure humiliation from her tyrant husband all her life. For all her merits, Alexandra Zakrevskaya never thought about rebelling against her own husband. Therefore, “everything that you were strong enough to endure, your dying whisper forgave the destroyer,” the poet writes, addressing his mother.

From the poem “Motherland” it becomes clear that the poet’s father not only brought his legal wife to the grave. The same fate befell the numerous mistresses of the landowner Nekrasov. Therefore, in the cold big house, the only consolation of the future poet was the nanny, to whom he ran away in the most difficult moments of his life. But Nekrasov calls even her kindness “senseless and harmful,” since it poisoned the author’s existence more than the hatred that reigned around. Therefore, the poet notes that in his youth “there are no memories that please the soul.” AND the years spent in his father's house make him feel angry. The poet is convinced that this period of his life became a curse for him, and “it all began here, in my native land.”

That is why the picture of the collapsing family nest, which the author visited many years later, evoked a feeling of joy in Nekrasov. It was as if the poet was burying, together with the old house, the cut-down grove and empty fields, his joyless past, which the author associates with pain, bitterness and the awareness that in his homeland he is almost as powerless as the serfs. This feeling is completely justified, since as a young man the poet was forced to flee from home to St. Petersburg, accompanied by the curses of his father, who threatened to deprive him of his inheritance. As a result, none of the numerous heirs wanted to live on the family estate. Explaining this phenomenon, the poet notes that in the house he still feels “a dull and eternal hum of suppressed suffering.” And the only person who felt truly happy here was his father.

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov should be classified as a very vulnerable person who subtly senses the mood of others and understands their feelings and pain. His poems belong to Russian realistic lyrics; they are filled with the author’s conscientiousness, piercing pain and bitter irony. Nekrasov always wrote about what he saw and felt, without any embellishment. His works describe the life of the common people, revealing all the vices of society, and the analysis of Nekrasov’s poem clearly shows this.

The poem “Motherland” is one of the author’s accusatory works, in which he shows a clear difference between the lives of serfs and rich landowners. Nekrasov can very skillfully combine the hero with his own “I”, so such a collective image is perceived by the reader, and his voice reaches the very heart.

An analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “Motherland” suggests that this work was written by a completely mature and accomplished person, as the poet was at that time. The motive for writing the poem was Nikolai Alekseevich’s trip to his family estate. The author conveyed the surging memories of childhood and the days spent in this house in the lines of verse.

In the work “Motherland,” the poet depicted himself and the history of his family. Analysis of Nekrasov’s poem allows you to follow the author’s mood and understand his feelings. Nikolai Alekseevich’s childhood was spent in constant fear; his father, a retired lieutenant, abused not only the serfs, but also his wife and children. The poet’s mother was a very beautiful, proud and intelligent woman, but all her life she had to submit to a tyrant, and Nekrasov writes about all this. Analysis of the poem allows us to see the author’s bitterness and regret about the meaninglessly lived life of his mother and sister.

The verse also tells that the father brought to the grave not only his wife, but also countless mistresses, who were serf girls. Nekrasov says that during this time he learned not only to hate, but also to endure. He talks about it angrily but understands that he is unable to change anything. Analysis of Nekrasov's poem shows how ashamed he is of being a landowner, because owning people is a great sin.

At the end of the poem, irony can be traced; the poet is pleased with the picture of the crumbling family estate, the warped old house. An analysis of Nekrasov’s poem makes it clear that the author wants to bury serfdom along with the family nest. He understands that this can no longer continue, but at the same time he is powerless to change anything.

The poem is filled with pain, bitterness and longing. As a child, the poet was as powerless as those who envied the life of the master's dogs. Childhood has passed, but the feeling of powerlessness remains. No matter how much the author would like to forever erase from his heart the memories of a poor mother, a kind nanny and a father who smothered everyone with his presence, he cannot do this. In the same way, he wants all people to have equal rights, there is no slavery, but, unfortunately, there are no significant changes.

And here they are again, familiar places,
Where the life of my fathers flowed, barren and empty,
Flowed among feasts, meaningless swagger,
The depravity of dirty and petty tyranny;
Where is the swarm of depressed and trembling slaves
I envied the lives of the last master's dogs,
Where I was destined to see God's light,
Where did I learn to endure and hate,
But hatred is shamefully hidden in my soul,
Where I sometimes visited as a landowner;
Where from my soul, prematurely corrupted,
So early the blessed peace flew away,
And non-childish desires and worries
A languid fire burned the heart until its end...
Memories of the days of youth - famous
Under the great name of luxurious and wonderful, -
Filling my chest with both anger and melancholy,
In all their glory they pass before me...

Here is a dark, dark garden... Whose face is in the distant alley
Flashing between the branches, painfully sad?
I know why you cry, my mother!
Who ruined your life... oh! I know, I know!..
Forever given to the gloomy ignoramus,
You didn’t indulge in unrealistic hope -
The thought of rebelling against fate scared you,
You bore your lot in silence, slave...
But I know: your soul was not dispassionate;
She was proud, stubborn and beautiful,
And everything that you had the strength to endure,
Your dying whisper has forgiven the destroyer!..

And you, who shared with the silent sufferer
And the grief and shame of her terrible fate,
You are also gone, sister of my soul!
From the home of serf mistresses and kings
Driven by shame, you handed over your lot
To the one I didn’t know, didn’t love...
But, my mother's sad fate
Having repeated in the world, you were lying in a coffin
With such a cold and stern smile,
That the executioner himself trembled, crying with a mistake.

Here is a gray, old house... Now it is empty and deaf:
No women, no dogs, no gays, no servants, -
And in the old days?.. But I remember: something was pressing on everyone here,
Here, in small and large, my heart ached sadly.
I ran to the nanny... Oh, nanny! how many times
I shed tears for her at a difficult time in my heart;
At her name, falling into emotion,
How long have I felt reverence for her?..

Her senseless and harmful kindness
A few features came to mind,
And my chest is full of new enmity and anger...
No! in my youth, rebellious and harsh,
There is no memory that pleases the soul;
But everything that has entangled my life since childhood,
An irresistible curse fell upon me, -
Everything begins here, in my native land!..

And looking around with disgust,
With joy I see that the dark forest has been cut down -
In the languid summer heat, protection and coolness, -
And the field is scorched, and the herd slumbers idly,
Hanging my head over a dry stream,
And an empty and gloomy house falls on its side,
Where he echoed the clinking of bowls and the voice of rejoicing
The dull and eternal hum of suppressed suffering,
And only the one who crushed everyone,
He breathed freely, and acted, and lived...

Analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “Motherland”

It should be noted that the poet’s childhood passed under the sign of the eternal tyranny of his father, a retired lieutenant. There were 13 children in the Nekrasov family, and, according to the poet’s recollections, barracks-like order reigned. Nekrasov's mother, the Polish beauty Alexandra Zakrevskaya, married for love without parental blessing and very soon became disillusioned with the unequal union, since her chosen one turned out to be an unbalanced and cruel person. Nikolai Nekrasov grew up in a similar atmosphere of intolerance, from childhood watching his father mock not only the serfs, but also the household members. Therefore, the poet associates his homeland with a gloomy and gloomy house, a dark garden and a constant feeling of injustice. At the same time, the author notes that he “learned to endure and hate,” and also for the first time tried on the guise of a landowner, being ashamed of this in his soul and not having the strength to change his home way of life.

That is why the picture of the collapsing family nest, which the author visited many years later, evoked a feeling of joy in Nekrasov. The poet seems to be burying, together with the old house, the cut-down grove and empty fields, his joyless past, which the author associates with pain, bitterness and the awareness that in his homeland he is almost as powerless as the serfs. This feeling is completely justified, since as a young man the poet was forced to flee from home to St. Petersburg, accompanied by the curses of his father, who threatened to deprive him of his inheritance. As a result, none of the numerous heirs wanted to live on the family estate. Explaining this phenomenon, the poet notes that in the house he still feels “a dull and eternal hum of suppressed suffering.” And the only person who felt truly happy here was his father.

Analysis of Nekrasov's poem Rodina according to plan

1. History of creation. The poem "Motherland" (1846) was written by N. Nekrasov under the influence of memories of his joyless childhood. The immediate reason is the poet's visit to his family estate in adulthood.

2. Genre of the work- an elegy with elements of civil lyrics.

3. Main theme poems are a denunciation of despotism. The work describes the difficult fate of the poet himself. The lyrical hero returns to his native place after many years. Instead of the usual feeling of joy, he is overwhelmed by very difficult memories and philosophical reflections about social injustice.

From the very beginning, Nekrasov poses the problem of the relationship between “quivering slaves” and landowners. His childhood years passed in this unhealthy atmosphere. The poet regrets that memories of this time fill him with “anger and melancholy.” Nekrasov had to feel especially acutely the horror of despotism also because his father was a very cruel man who kept the whole family in constant fear.

In essence, the serf system extended to all inhabitants of the estate. The lyrical hero remembers his poor mother, whose life was ruined by her harsh husband. She silently endured all the humiliation and suffering, forgiving them to the “gloomy ignoramus.” The poet's sister was forced to quickly marry an unloved person, just to leave the hated house. Unfortunately, this did not save her from premature death.

The poet, already in early childhood, felt the constant tension that reigned in the house and found solace in his nanny. But even the memories of this kind woman do not bring him joy. The lyrical hero “with joy” perceives the picture of the destruction of the old manor’s house. The destruction of the family nest brings him satisfaction, because only in this way will the last traces of the hated tyrant disappear.

4. Composition ring poems. It begins with a description of the native places of the lyrical hero. In the center are his memories. The ending of the work returns the reader to the present time.

5. Poem size- iambic hexameter with adjacent rhyme.

6. Expressive means the work is very rich: epithets (“senseless”, “blessed”, “luxurious”), metaphors (“a swarm of slaves”, “tormenting fire”, “the hum of suppressed suffering”), personification (“memories of days... pass”, "dying whisper... forgiven").

7. Main idea poems. "Motherland" was not published for a long time due to censorship reasons. There is clearly a hint of Tsarist Russia in it. Deliverance from despotism will be possible only after the death of the owner (the king) and the destruction of his house (autocracy).

N.A. Nekrasov lived and worked at a turning point for Russia - the 60-70s. 19th century. At this time, serfdom had finally become obsolete, and changes were brewing throughout society. Nekrasov's poetry expressed the thoughts, feelings and hopes of progressive people and called for the struggle for the rights of the oppressed peasantry. But despite his hatred of the tsarist system, the poet loved Russia with deep, filial love, and therefore the image of the motherland is constantly found in his poems. “You are poor, you are abundant, you are powerful, you are powerless, Mother Rus'!” - with these words Nekrasov addressed the Motherland in his work.

“Motherland” is one of the poet’s most heartfelt works on this topic. The poem, written in 1846, shows the mood of a young man with an honest and kind soul, looking around with intelligent and attentive eyes. As can be seen from the content, the lyrical hero was born and raised in the family of a landowner who was not distinguished by a friendly attitude towards his serfs:

And here they are again, familiar places,

Where is the life of my fathers, barren and empty,

Flowed among feasts, meaningless swagger,

The depravity of dirty and petty tyranny;

Where is the swarm of depressed and trembling slaves

He envied the lives of the last master's dogs.

The young man's childhood years were spent in conditions of lordly permissiveness both over the peasants and over family members: the mother and sister of the lyrical hero. In the first lines, the author’s position in relation to everything that happened in his native estate clearly sounds. He accuses the “fathers” of their “tyranny”, “debauchery”, “swaggering”; he sees in this the root of evil, the cause of all the troubles occurring both in this estate and in millions of others throughout Russia. In general, the poem can be characterized as a negative memory of his father’s house:

No! in my youth, rebellious and harsh,

There is no memory that pleases my soul.

A significant role is assigned to female images. The young man’s mother, sister and nanny are shown as strong personalities, but completely subordinate to the master’s will:

I know why you cry, my mother!

Who ruined your life... oh! I know, I know!..

Forever given to a gloomy ignoramus...

Reading the poem, we understand the contradictory character of the lyrical hero: he simultaneously loves his native village and hates it. He admires her: “And here they are again, familiar places”, “Everything began here, in my native land!..”; and at the same time, “casting his gaze around with disgust,” and his chest “is full of enmity and new anger...”. These contradictions also reflect the opinion of Nekrasov himself: both he and his lyrical hero love the Motherland, love Russia, its fields and meadows, but cannot tolerate the existing system, when some have the right to humiliate and exploit others. But the lyrical hero also admits to his unworthy life: in his youth he was unable to resist the environment. But it was his childhood memories that awakened in him the desire to change his surroundings, to make people’s lives better:

But everything that entangled my life from the first years,

An irresistible curse fell upon me, -

Everything begins here, in my native land!..

The lyrical hero reveals to the reader the bitter truth, which is that the era of permissiveness gave birth to people like his father. They could do whatever they wanted with others, regardless of age and gender. By and large, for such a master it was indifferent who he oppressed: slaves, servants, women, family members or yard dogs. This is especially clearly expressed in the last lines of the poem:

And only the one who crushed everyone,

He breathed freely, and acted, and lived...

All the feelings of the lyrical hero in the poem are conveyed very emotionally. Nekrasov achieved this by skillfully selecting the right words and using poetic techniques. In the first stanza, he denounces the serfdom, not afraid to use words and expressions such as “depravity,” “tyranny,” “swagger,” “life... bodiless and empty,” “quivering slaves.” Despite some rudeness of these words, the reader clearly and realistically sees the life of landowners. The lyrical hero expresses his anger and indignation, remembering the behavior of the landowner: “And my chest is full of enmity and new anger...”, “And with disgust, casting my gaze around, / With joy I see that the dark forest has been cut down.” But in his emotions there is a place for tenderness and sadness: “There is no memory that pleases the soul.” With particular warmth he addresses the image of his mother and sister:

But, my mother's sad fate

Having repeated in the world, you were lying in a coffin

With such a cold and stern smile,

That the executioner himself trembled, crying with a mistake.

You are also gone, sister of my soul!

But, perhaps, the most emotional in the poem “Motherland” is the first, initial stanza, in which expressiveness (expression of feelings, emotionality) is achieved with the help of bright, realistic, even pathetic words and expressions. Also in this stanza, the author used the technique of opposition: “life... flowed among the feasts”, “swarm... of tremulous slaves.”

At the end of the poem, the lyrical hero gloatingly describes a collapsing house, a dozing herd and scorched fields. Moreover, he doesn’t regret it at all. He hopes that together with the house that has fallen to one side, the felled forest, and the owner who has “crushed everyone with himself,” gone into oblivion, the terrible time of oppression and sadness will pass away.

Despite the negative tone of the poem, after reading it, you begin to believe in the best, in the fact that the old and obsolete is dying off, giving way to the new and better. Nekrasov believed in this and hoped for this in his poems about Russia, and as much as he hated the serfdom that was destroying the country, he loved his Motherland just as much.