Analysis of the ballad "Svetlana"
Zhukovsky is the founder of romanticism in Russian literature. His romanticism is usually called romantic or elegiac. The hero of many of Zhukovsky's works is a dreamer, all of whose thoughts are directed towards an ideal world. From here arises the opposition of “here” - and “there” - being (“There will not be forever here”). Often in Zhukovsky, like other romantics, we meet the motif of a dream. And this is natural, because two worlds are associated with it (the poem “Happiness in a Dream”).
These features of Zhukovsky's romanticism can be seen in the example of the elegy "The Sea" and the ballad "Svetlana". These genres, ballad and elegy, are characteristic of him as a romantic. An elegy is a song of sad content, reflecting reflections on the frailty of everything earthly, the transience of life, and unhappy love. This genre corresponded to the state of mind of a romantic, dissatisfied with reality. And the ballad reflects another part of romantic thinking - an interest in mysticism, in the fantastic.
The elegy "The Sea" also expresses such a feature of the works of romantics as a penchant for symbolism and allegory. In this poem, three main symbolic images stand out: the sea, the sky, the storm. The interaction between them determines the peculiarity of the composition of the poem. Which can be divided into three parts. In the first part of the work, we see the harmony of the sky and the sea, while the first expresses the soul of romance, open to everything beautiful, in the second, that is, the sky, expresses the ideal world. The soul of romance cannot exist without connection with this world. Even the epithets in this poem reflect this connection: the sea is called azure because it reflects the blueness of the sky:
You are pure in the presence of his pure ...
You pour it with radiant azure
Anaphora, in this case the repetition of the pronoun "you" at the beginning of the line, also expresses this connection. It is thanks to this connection that the sea is called calm. The rhythm of the poem conveys the impression of harmony and calmness. The meter chosen by Zhukovsky (a four-foot amphibrach) conveys this measured movement of the waves:
Silent sea, azure sea
I stand enchanted over your abyss.
The image of the sea is also created with the help of assonances and alliterations. The repetition of the vowels "o" and "e" and the sonorous consonants "m" and "l" gives the impression of measured movement. We seem to hear the sound of rolling waves. In the second part of the poem, a new symbolic image appears - a storm. And immediately the mood changes dramatically, it becomes alarming, because the sky is covered with clouds, its connection with the sea is broken, harmony is broken. The storm symbolizes the turmoil of real life, excommunicating the poet from the ideal world, hindering the achievement of harmony. In connection with a change in mood, the nature of alliteration also changes. Now, not sonorous consonants are repeated, but a growling “r”, conveying the drama of what is happening:
You tear and torment the hostile darkness...
In the third part of the poem, the sea triumphs over the storm. But the return of the original harmony does not occur, because everything is riddled with fear that the storm may repeat itself. This internal anxiety is conveyed through a combination of opposing concepts:
You hide confusion in the abyss of the dead,
You, admiring the sky, tremble for him ...
Through symbolic images in this poem, the author shows the fragility of harmony. Real life will always interfere with the achievement of the ideal, but this does not mean that one should not strive for it.
And now let's turn to the ballad "Svetlana" and see how the romantic dual world is manifested in it.
The title itself is significant, it carries light in itself, creates a certain mood. Not at all gloomy. From the very beginning, the author immerses us in the fabulous world of divination, divination, and the very rhythm of the poem corresponds to the given theme.
Once a Epiphany Eve
The girls guessed...
But after the description of funny fortune-telling, sad notes appear in the text:
The moon glows dimly
In the twilight of the fog -
Silent and sad
Dear Svetlana
Next comes the mystical plot of the dream. Zhukovsky uses a move characteristic of ballads - a meeting with the world of the dead. Svetlana was waiting for her fiancé, and in a dream she meets him, but in a very strange way. Then she will realize that it was a meeting with a dead fiance. However, this will not become clear immediately. Gradually, the author whips up an atmosphere of fear. We still do not understand what is happening, together with Svetlana something seems to us, we see someone with "bright eyes" and this "someone" calls the girl on her way. Zhukovsky describes in detail the scene of the race with the dead fiance, all the while exacerbating the feeling of anxiety and fear. A certain number of images also contribute to this: “Suddenly a blizzard is all around ...”, “black crow”, screaming “sadness!”, “dark distance”.
Then Svetlana's fiancé suddenly disappears somewhere, she is left alone in terrible places, sees a hut, opens the door and in front of her is a coffin. But, in the end, Svetlana is saved by her prayer.
For Zhukovsky, the theme of faith is very important; it sounds not only in this ballad. “My guide was faithful,” says the Traveler. And it is she who points the way to many heroes of the poet. So it is with the ballad Svetlana.
The dream turns out to be only a reflection of Svetlana's fears. Awakening follows, and everything changes at once. The world is flooded with light again, the girl meets her fiancé, who returns to her alive and well.
In conclusion, we can say that the world of Zhukovsky as a whole is bright and kind. The poet can immerse the reader in an atmosphere of fear, but then he still gives hope and allows him to return to something bright.
Composition
The name of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, friend and teacher of AS. Pushkin, entered Russian literature as the author of a number of ballads. He resurrected in ballads images of the feudal Middle Ages and folk traditions full of naive faith. For the first time, the definition of a ballad as a genre was given by V.G. Belinsky He defined its originality in this way: “In a ballad, the poet takes some fantastic and folk legend or invents an event of this kind himself, but the main thing in it is not the event, but the feeling that it excites, the thought that it leads the reader to. » Most of Zhukovsky's ballads are translations. The poet himself wrote about the specifics of the talent of a poet-translator: "Translator: in prose there is a slave, in poetry - a rival"
Zhukovsky's first ballad was "Lyudmila" (1808), which is a free translation of the ballad of the German poet Burger "Lenora". Using the plot of the German poet, Zhukovsky gave a different national flavor, transferring the action to Moscow Rus' of the 16th-17th centuries, gave the heroine the Russian name Lyudmila, introduced song turns and folklore features inherent in the Russian people.
The next ballad "Svetlana", written in 1812, is also based on the plot of Burger's "Lenora". But in "Svetlana" the national flavor is already enhanced, which is created by the details of everyday life and pictures of Russian nature. Therefore, "Svetlana" was perceived by readers as a truly folk, Russian work. It was built on a broad and stable folk basis: here are divination, signs, ritual songs, and folk legends about the evil dead, and the motives of Russian folk tales.
The plot of the ballad "Svetlana" resembles in many ways the plot of "Lyudmila". Sad Svetlana is guessing at the Epiphany evening at the mirror about her sweetheart. She is sad about her fiancé, about whom there has been no news for a long time:
The year has flown by - no news:
He does not write to me
Oh! and they only have a red light,
They only breathe in the heart ...
Svetlana looks in the mirror and hears the voice of her beloved, who calls her to get married in the church. On the way to the church, she sees in the dark a black coffin in the open gate. Finally the sleigh pulls up to the hut. The horses and the groom disappear. The heroine, crossing herself, enters the house and sees the coffin. A dead man rises from it and pulls his hands towards her. But Svetlana is saved by a wonderful dove that covers her from a terrible ghost:
Startled, unfolded
He is light wings;
To the dead on the chest fluttered ...
All devoid of strength
Moaned, gnashed
He's scary with his teeth
And sparkled at the girl
Terrible eyes...
Svetlana recognizes her beloved in this terrible ghost and wakes up. It was a terrible, terrible dream. At the end of the ballad, a living fiance appears. The heroes unite and play a wedding. Everything ends well. The optimistic sound of the ballad is at odds with the ending of "Lyudmila", in which the dead groom drags the bride into the kingdom of shadows. Fantastic events - the appearance of a dead bridegroom on the way to his "abode", the revival of a dead man - reflect the struggle between good and evil. In this case, good wins:
Best friend to us in this life
Faith in providence.
The blessing of the maker of the law:
Here misfortune is a false dream;
Happiness is an awakening.
The image of Svetlana is opposed by Zhukovsky to both Lenore Burger and Lyudmila. Sad Svetlana, unlike the desperate Lyudmila, does not grumble at her fate, does not call the Creator to the judgment, does not pray for the “comforter angel” to quench her sadness. Therefore, the dark forces have no power to destroy her pure soul. Relentless fate gives way to good Providence. The ballad logic is destroyed, the happy, fabulous ending refutes the traditional scheme. The bright soul of the heroine turns out to be stronger than the darkness of the night, faith and love are rewarded. The author's attitude to what happened to Svetlana is expressed in the words:
ABOUT! do not know these terrible dreams
You are my Svetlana...
Be, the creator, cover her!
Svetlana in Zhukovsky's ballad amazes us with the purity of her inner world. Purity, meekness, obedience to providence, fidelity, piety - these are the distinguishing features of this character. The very name of the heroine sets the theme of light in the poem, opposing ballad darkness and defeating it. To depict his heroine, the poet used folk colors,
Svetlana is one of the most important poetic images for Zhukovsky, linking together his fate and work. The name of Svetlana became for Zhukovsky and his friends a symbolic designation of a special worldview and attitude, a “bright” faith, designed to illuminate with its presence the gloomy essence of life. It turned out to be a kind of talisman that protects against evil forces. The image of Svetlana inspired the famous Russian artist K. Bryullov to create the painting "Svetlana's Divination". Pushkin repeatedly recalled "Svetlana", took epigraphs from her poems, compared his Tatyana with the heroine of a ballad.
High poetic skill, romantic national flavor of the ballad attracted the interest of readers, and it was recognized by contemporaries as the best work of Zhukovsky, who was called Svetlana's singer. An analysis of Zhukovsky's literary heritage shows the high artistic value of his poetry and makes it possible to understand how great the significance of this poet is for Russian poetry and literature. The words of A.S. Pushkin, who said about Zhukovsky almost two hundred years ago:
His poetry captivating sweetness
Centuries of envious distance will pass ...
"Svetlana" is the most famous work of Zhukovsky, this is a translation-arrangement of the ballad of the German poet Burger "Leonora". The plot of "Svetlana" is based on the traditional old motif of folk historical and lyrical songs: a girl is waiting for a groom from the war. Events unfold in such a way that happiness depends on the heroine herself. Zhukovsky uses a typical situation of a "terrible" ballad: Svetlana rushes along a fantastic road to the world dark forces. The plot of the work “breaks out” from reality (fortune-telling of girls on “Epiphany evening”) into the sphere of the miraculous, where evil spirits do their dirty deeds. The road to the forest, to the power of the night is the road from life to death. However, Svetlana does not die, and her fiancé does not die, but returns after a long separation. The ballad has a happy ending: the wedding feast awaits the heroes. This ending is reminiscent of a Russian folk tale.
The main character in the ballad is endowed with the best features of the national character - fidelity, sensitivity, meekness, simplicity. Svetlana combines external beauty with internal. The girl is "sweet", "beautiful". She is young, open to love, but unthinking. For a whole year, without receiving news from the groom, the heroine is faithfully waiting for him. She is capable of deep feeling:
The year has flown by - there is no news;
He does not write to me;
Oh! and they only have a red light,
They only breathe in the heart ...
The girl is sad and yearning in separation from her beloved. She is emotional, pure, direct and sincere:
How can my girlfriends sing?
Dear friend far away...
The world of folk culture influenced the spiritual development of Svetlana. It is no coincidence that the author began the ballad with a description of Russian rituals and customs associated with the church feast of Epiphany, with a wedding in God's temple. This is how the poet explains the folk origins of Svetlana's feelings: hope and duty in the heroine's heart are stronger than doubts.
The girl's folk ideas are combined with religious ones, with a deep faith in God and fate. The name of the main character is formed from the word "bright" and is associated with the expression "God's light", which penetrated into her pure soul. Svetlana hopes for God's help and constantly turns to God for spiritual support:
Assuage my sadness
Comforting angel.
In the most tense moment, having seen a coffin in a dream in a hut, Svetlana finds the strength to do the most important thing:
She fell to dust before the icon.
I prayed to the Savior;
And, with his cross in his hand,
Under the saints in the corner
Robko hid.
As a reward for true faith, for meekness and patience, God saves the girl. Svetlana does not die in separation from her beloved, but finds happiness on earth. Zhukovsky believed that even the death of the groom could not destroy love. The poet was convinced that loving souls are united beyond the limits of earthly existence. His heroine has the same faith. She does not grumble at Providence, but timidly asks:
The secret darkness of the days to come,
What do you promise my soul
Joy or sadness?
A kind of fabulous "double" of the heroine - "snow-white dove". This is the very “comforter angel” to whom Svetlana turned before divination and begged: “Assuage my sorrow.” This is the good messenger of heaven, "with bright eyes." The epithet gives an idea of the purity, holiness of the angel. He keeps Svetlana. Saves her from the dead:
Quietly blowing, flew in,
To her percy quietly sat down,
Embraced them with wings.
"Dove" is an affectionate, gentle name. This is a symbol of love. Love saves Svetlana, and the author speaks of the dove with increasing tenderness: "but the white dove does not sleep." Good opposes evil and conquers it:
Startled, unfolded
He is light wings;
To the dead on the chest fluttered ...
The image of Svetlana's fiance also corresponds to romantic ideas. He is handsome, daring, kind. The girl's lover is capable of an all-consuming feeling:
... still the same
In the experience of separation;
The same love in his eyes
Those are pleasant looks;
Those on sweet lips
Sweet conversations.
The repetition in these lines emphasizes the main qualities that the author values in his characters - faith and loyalty.
In the ballad "Svetlana" good wins, folk-religious principles triumph. Zhukovsky revealed in his work the character of a Russian girl, open and cordial, pure, rejoicing in life. Svetlana is worthy of happiness, because in her "soul is like a clear day ..."
The heroine has become one of the most beloved characters in Russian literature. Like Liza from the story by N.M. Karamzin, like Tatyana Larina from the novel by A.S. Pushkin.
Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky fell in love with readers with the originality and nationality of his works. His poems are saturated with Russian traditions and the magic of beliefs.
The ballad "Svetlana" was written by Vasily Andreevich in 1812. He found inspiration in the work of Burger "Leonora"
The main theme of the poem
The ballad tells us about the most secret mystery among the girls of that time - Christmas divination for the betrothed.
Zhukovsky skillfully paints with his lines a picture of awe, excitement and expectation of a miracle. But the joyful mood turns into anxiety and superstitious fear. The heroine of the poem, Svetlana, exhausted in the unrequited expectation of the groom, decides to lift the veil of secrecy and look into the future. But instead of the desired wedding bells, only the cry of a raven is heard above her. Fear and horror attack the girl, showing her chilling visions: an old abandoned house, a coffin, a risen dead man. Only sincere faith and prayer help the girl wake up from a nightmare. And with the rays of the sun she is met by her betrothed, alive and healthy. The ballad ends on a positive note, with a wedding and a denial of superstitious fears and fears.
The main character of the work appears before the reader as a girl with a very pure and bright heart. Her prayer and love help overcome fears and doubts. The "prophecy" she saw can shake anyone, but the girl is strong in her faith.
Zhukovsky created the standard of the Russian bride, loved by many.
Structural analysis of the poem
The ballad impresses with its compositional structure. It is built so realistically that you do not immediately understand the difference between reality and a dream. The transition to the nightmare is so smooth that only the sharp cock's cry mentioned at the end of the poem "awakens" the reader.
Interjections, rhetorical exclamations and questions create a special mood. The ballad seems lively, energetic and very dynamic.
Zhukovsky very accurately draws the world of a nightmare for the reader. A detailed description of what is happening, the surrounding landscape, and even such trifles as the cry of a raven creates a sense of the reality of what is happening. The author spiritualizes nature, giving its phenomena a sacred meaning: the cries of a raven, the joyful song of a rooster.
By delimiting a dream from reality with epithets, Zhukovsky solves several problems at once: describing the reality surrounding the heroine, conveying the mood and state of mind of Svetlana.
Conclusion
The romantic plot, attachment to national traditions and a special style make this work close to folklore. It is thanks to this that "Svetlana" has been resonating in the hearts of readers for more than 200 years.
One of the best examples of early Russian romanticism is considered to be Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky's ballad "Svetlana". The work is a reflection of the national mentality, it contains a variety of folklore elements: signs, fortune-telling, folk tales and ritual songs. We offer for review brief analysis"Svetlana" according to a plan that will be useful to students in grade 9 in preparing for a lesson in literature and the exam.
Brief analysis
History of creation The poem was written in 1812. It is based on the work of the German poet August Burger "Lenora", but Zhukovsky managed to convey the folk flavor so skillfully that the Russian version differs in many ways from the German original.
Theme of the poem- A terrible dream during the Christmas divination, and the morning awakening, which brought relief and joy. Also in the work, the author reveals the themes of fate, happiness, fidelity, doubts and emotional experiences.
Composition- The composition of the ballad is built on antithesis - the opposition of fantasy and reality, life and death, day and night. The main feature of the composition is Svetlana's mystical dream.
Genre- Ballad.
Poetic size- Trochee with cross rhyme.
Metaphors – « dead silence”, “the light is the evil judge”.
epithets – « cute", "stately", "secret».
Comparisons – « rush, as if on wings", "there is a soul in it, like a clear day».
Avatars – « the chest aches heavily, ”the cricket cried plaintively».
Hyperbolas– « darkness of people in the temple", "from their hooves a blizzard rose under their feet».
History of creation
At the beginning of his career, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky imitated English and German poets in many ways. He sincerely believed that Russian writers have a lot to learn from their Western colleagues, and did not hesitate to learn from their experience. However, in his works, Zhukovsky always took into account the peculiarities of the Russian mentality. As a result, even the reworked works were distinguished by their amazing originality and bore little resemblance to the original sources.
One example of such imitation was the ballad "Svetlana", which is based on the work of the famous German poet Burger "Lenora". Having rewritten the original source in his own way, in 1812 Zhukovsky gave Russian readers a beautiful ballad that opens the door to the world of fairy tales, mysticism, legends and legends.
The question involuntarily arises, to whom such a mystical and mysterious work, written by Zhukovsky with great love, is dedicated? Vasily Andreevich dedicated his ballad to his own niece and goddaughter A. Protasova. It was a kind of wedding gift to a girl who married the poet's best friend, A. Voeikov.
Subject
In the center of the ballad's narrative is a Christmas divination for a betrothed, which in the old days was very popular among unmarried girls.
The poet masterfully depicts the trepidation and anxious expectation of the main character's miracle. Exhausted in anticipation of the groom, Svetlana decides to lift the veil of secrecy over the future. But instead of such long-awaited wedding bells, terrible visions arise before her eyes: a memorial service for the deceased, an abandoned house, a coffin with a dead man.
And only faith and sincere prayer help Svetlana free herself from the bonds of a nightmare. The ballad has a happy ending in the form of a wedding and a complete denial of superstitious fears. So Zhukovsky expressed the main idea of \u200b\u200bthe work - true love and unshakable faith can eliminate any fears and doubts. With their help, you can overcome all life's problems and hardships, it is faith and love that give strength, fill the soul of a person with confidence and inner harmony.
Composition
The composition of the work is based on such an artistic device as antithesis. The ballad depicts the struggle between love and death, night and day, reality and fantasy. Thanks to this technique, Zhukovsky managed to demonstrate the contradictions of the inner world of a person, the interaction of his soul and the reality of the surrounding world.
The composition "Svetlana" is distinguished by harmony and ease of perception. The plot is based on a mystical dream of a lyrical hero - a girl named Svetlana. This is the main feature of the composition of the ballad.
- exposition- a description of the Christmas divination of Russian girls.
- tie Svetlana looks in the mirror alone and falls asleep. The appearance of the groom, who insistently asks her to get married.
- Development of events- a swift road through a snowstorm and a blizzard to the church, in which a memorial service is held for the deceased. In an instant, everything disappears, and Svetlana finds herself in a hut, where she sees the coffin with the dead.
- climax- Svetlana recognizes her lover in the deceased and wakes up in horror.
- denouement- the awakening of Svetlana, her meeting with the groom.
- Epilogue- the author sincerely wishes the girl happiness.
Genre
When determining genre, Zhukovsky's work is often confused with a poem, but it is written in the ballad genre, since it is presented in a melodic style, and the lyrical hero finds himself in the midst of mysterious, mystical events.
The special lyricism and melodiousness of the ballad will come in the size of the poem - trochee. This sound effect is further enhanced by the cross rhyme.
means of expression
The ballad is distinguished by a wide variety of means of artistic expression. So the author uses metaphors(“dead silence”, “light is the evil judge”), epithets("cute", "stately", "secret"), comparisons(“they rush as if on wings”, “there is a soul in it, like a clear day”), personifications(“chest aches heavily”, “the cricket cried plaintively”), hyperbole(“the darkness of people in the temple”, “from their hooves a blizzard rose under their feet”).
Poem Test
Analysis Rating
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Vasily Zhukovsky is known by many as the one who stood in the forefront among Russian poets who preferred to compose lines that would be the most simple and understandable for the reader. Why do we say this when we analyze the ballad "Svetlana" by Zhukovsky? Because this poem is written in this spirit, despite the fact that in those days the poets preferred to write in more complex forms, believing that such works would have greater depth.
It is worth noting that for a correct assessment of Zhukovsky's talent, one must look at his works not only from the position of a modern reader, but also from the position of his contemporaries. The 19th century, as you know, was marked by the era of sentimentalism - many wrote in this spirit, including Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. The ballad "Svetlana", which we are now analyzing, combines the folk genre and sentimentalism, and is an attempt by the poet to create a Russian folk ballad.
History of writing and idea of the author
The basis of the plot of "Svetlana" was an appeal to the work of Burger. This is a German poet, one of whose works Zhukovsky chose as a support in writing a new ballad. It is interesting that Vasily Andreevich always thought that the Russians should not disregard the work of the West, and even take it as a basis, however, one must do one's work, looking at everything through the prism of understanding the Russian character and folk customs.
The peculiarity of the genre in which Zhukovsky wrote required the author to turn to fairy tales, legends and science fiction. A thorough analysis of the ballad "Svetlana" gives us a clear understanding that this work is not like any other, seemingly similar, and this makes the reader thoughtfully and respectfully treat Zhukovsky's unique idea even more.
The image of the main character and other details of the analysis
Starting to read the ballad, the reader is initially in fear of what is happening. However, the ending is joyful and happy - one can only be glad for the main characters, because their life is happy in the end, which cannot be said about the dramatic ending of such ballads, as can be seen in Lyudmila, for example, or The Forest Tsar.
So, the ballad "Svetlana" begins with the fact that the author presents the reader with a modest, silent and sad girl. To make the image of the girl, the main character, more vivid, Zhukovsky plunged into sentimental poetry. Svetlana is in grief because she is separated from her beloved. However, we do not see that she scolds life and complains about fate. No, Svetlana calms down, praying. What did Zhukovsky want to show by this?
The analysis of the ballad "Svetlana" would be incomplete without considering the image of the main character, because the fact that she is religious, submissive to fate and meek shows the type of Russian people and the people as a whole, and this is the main idea of the work. We have already mentioned that the work is characterized by a romantic-sentimental style, and one of the ways that the author uses to enhance perception within this style is a diminutive form, and, in general, of course, the work can be called optimistic.
Having made an analysis of the ballad "Svetlana" by Zhukovsky, we did not set out to retell the plot, for this you can refer to summary works. Our goal was to emphasize the style, genre and main idea and also pay attention to the origins of the ballad. You can find hundreds of literature articles on our literature blog.