Question: What new did G. Derzhavin introduce into the language of literature? The role of the philosophical lyrics of G.R. Derzhavin for Russian literature

The global significance of national literatures is traditionally attributed to the nature and degree of influence of these literatures, their outstanding representatives, on other literatures and writers, on the world literary and artistic process. This is undeniable. However, the obvious and generally recognized influence of some national literatures on others or on the world literary and artistic process in general does not exhaust the criteria for the global significance of literature.

The very fact of the existence of any national literature, even the most insignificant in its volume and system of genres, automatically determines it global significance. Without her, to paraphrase famous words one of the heroes of Andrei Platonov, world literature incomplete.

Being a natural and integral part of world literature, national literatures assert their global significance not only and not so much by the outstanding artistic merits of their works, the perfection and originality of their forms, but also novelty of content- depictions of civilizations, things, phenomena, and events still unknown, previously unknown to world literature, both real, which took place in reality, and fantastic, invented, opening new pages, new facets, and often prospects for the life of peoples and countries to the world community, exposing for everyone to see their life with all its poetry- bright, joyful, festive sides, and prose- everyday, ordinary, everyday. It is the poetry and prose of the life of each people that determine the originality of its art, the content of works of national literature, their character and artistic merit. By revealing to the world the poetry and prose of the life of its country, its society and people, literature reveals new, previously unknown to humanity, the sphere of world art. These discoveries become, in the words of A.S. Pushkin, a “diploma for the future” of each national literature and recognition of its global significance.

The global significance of Russian literature XVIII V. determined the discovery of just such a sphere, the object of which was phenomenon of Russian life of that time, and the subject is her poetry And prose. And above all - poetry. It received its most vivid embodiment in the works of G.R. Derzhavina.

1

He drew attention to the pleasant aspects of bureaucratic and secular life in St. Petersburg already in the mid-70s, which is reflected in the poem “Picnics”:

   Leaving worries in the hail
And that’s it, it confuses the minds
In simple friendly coolness
We spend our time...
   We put between friends
Keep the laws of equality;
Wealth, power and rank
Don't exalt yourself at all...
   Discord does not concern us,
We don’t give room for grievances;
But everyone's souls, hearts and eyes
Together, we drink joyfully...
   We have a meeting only for this purpose,
To find sweetness in life;
Desire for love and friendship -
Pick flowers among themselves.
   Who is looking for society, harmony,
Come and have fun with us:
And that is happiness for a person,
When one hour is pleasant.

In 1780, in “Ode to my neighbor, Mr. N” (“To the first neighbor”), Derzhavin directly touches on the poetry of the life of the St. Petersburg nobility:

   Who with luxurious feasts
On the damp Neva Islands,
Between the shady trees
On the ant and on the flowers,
In Persian tents, embroidered with gold,
From Chinese precious clays,
From Viennese pure crystals,
Whom are you nicely treating?
And for whom are you lavishing
Treasures of your treasury?

The music is thundering; choirs are heard
Around your delicious tables;
Mountains of sweets and pineapples
And many other fruits
They seduce the senses and nourish;
Young maidens treat
The wines are brought in succession:
And Aliatiko with Champagne,
And Russian and British beer,
And Moselle with Seltzer water.

In a marble den, cool,
In which the waterfall flows,
On a fragrant bed of roses,
Among the bliss, laziness and coolness,
inflamed with passionate love,
With a young, cheerful, beautiful
And you sit like a gentle nymph.
She sings - you melt with passion:
Then you drown in fun with her,
Then, tired of the fun, you sleep.

V.G. was the first to feel the poetry of Russian life expressed in these lines. Belinsky, considering this ode “one of best works Derzhavin." “There is so much animation and delight in these verses,” he wrote... The spirit (i.e. poetry) is visible in this. A.K.) Russian XVIII century, when splendor, luxury, coolness, feasts seemed to constitute the goal and solution to life.”

Derzhavin's discovery initially went unnoticed. And largely because this ode, although addressed to a specific person - the famous Kursk merchant M.S. Golikov, was written as if for the edification of all rich people who, having “mountains of silver”, on whom “golden rain pours down”, do not think about the future and spend their days at feasts, “among countless pleasures”, “wasting” their “treasures” " The second half of the ode was didactic in nature and ended with emphatically moralizing lines:

As long as the golden hours flow
And the evil sorrows did not come,
Drink, eat and be merry, neighbor!
We have an urgent time to live in this world:
Fun is only pure,
There is no remorse for which.

Didactics, moral teaching, reminder of the vicissitudes of fate:

But it happens to a rare swimmer
Swim comfortably among the seas, -

pictures of natural disasters:

Petropol was overshadowed by pine trees;
But, struck by a whirlwind, they fell:
Now they lie with their roots up, -

obscured the poetry of Russian life, highlighted in the first stanzas of the ode, and everything depicted there, i.e. the real components of this poetry were perceived exclusively as an example of behavior fraught with God's punishment for unbridled fun, “countless joys,” ostentatious, unjustified wastefulness...

“Ode to Felitsa” is a different matter.

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In May 1783, St. Petersburg was buzzing like a disturbed beehive. And there was a reason...

In the first part of the new magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word”, which has just come out of print, there was published “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisat princess Felitsa” by the then not very famous poet G.R. Derzhavin, which literally blew up the established, measured and well-established life of our northern capital and shocked reading Russia.

“My daughter is now Felitsa Gavrilovna,” Derzhavin wrote to the poet V.V. Kapnist on May 11 - gallops around the city, tail in the air, and everyone wants to have her. The old man puts on glasses, the deaf stretches out his ears, the gourmet takes sips at the Westphalian ham, the lusty one melts with tenderness in the gazebo, the rider whistles at the runner, the ignorant find a source of enlightenment in the Bible, the nobleman approves of moderation, the gouty man walks, the jester grows wiser. In a word, everyone admires her and rejoices.”

What happened? Why did “Ode to Felitsa” attract such attention and receive an unprecedented public response in our country at that time, causing general delight: “...everyone admires it and rejoices”?

What happened was that a genius came to literature, who, as expected, according to V.G. Belinsky, a genius, “opened a new sphere in art to the world...”. He opened it to the delight of the Russians, and so naturally, easily, gracefully that it was simply impossible not to admire his “daughter”, where this discovery received a bright, convincing, and most importantly - visual artistic embodiment.

Before Derzhavin, none of our writers of the 18th century, turning to Russian reality, saw or found any poetry in contemporary Russian life, remaining, starting with A.D. Kantemir, traditionally aimed at combating negative phenomena. But Derzhavin found it, first of all, where no one looked for it, and therefore did not see it: in the life of high-ranking Russia, in the autocratic form of government, in the enlightened absolutism of Catherine II.

In “Ode to Felitsa,” the poetry of Russian life becomes the main subject of the image, presented on a large scale, ceremoniously, and with inspiration.

How beautifully, freely, freely and grandly noble Russia lived!

   And I, having slept until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday,
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows to the Turks;
Then dreaming that I was the Sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.

Or am I at a rich feast,
Where do they give me a holiday?
Where the table glitters with silver and gold,
Where there are thousands of different dishes;
There is a glorious ham of Westphalia,
There are links of Astrakhan fish,
There are pilaf and pies there,
I wash down the waffles with champagne;
And I forget everything in the world
Among wines, sweets and aroma.

Or among a beautiful grove
In the gazebo where the fountain is noisy,
When the sweet-voiced harp rings,
Where the breeze barely breathes
Where everything represents luxury to me,
To the pleasures of thought he catches,
It languishes and revitalizes the blood:
Lying on a velvet sofa,
The young girl feels tender,
I pour love into her heart.

Do you feel a direct echo with “Ode to the First Neighbor”?

   Or in a magnificent train
In Anglinskaya's golden carriage,
With a dog, a jester or a friend,
Or with some beauty
I'm walking under the swing;
I go to taverns to drink mead;
Or, somehow I’ll get bored,
According to my inclination to change,
Having a hat on a bekren,
I'm flying on a fast runner.

Or music and singers
Suddenly with an organ and bagpipes,
Or fist fighters
And I make my spirit happy by dancing;
Or take care of everything
Leaving, I go hunting,
And I am amused by the barking of dogs;
Or over the Neva banks
I amuse myself with horns at night
And the rowing of daring rowers.

Or, sitting at home, I’ll play a prank,
Playing fools with my wife;
Then I get along with her at the dovecote,
Sometimes we frolic in blind man's buff;
Then I’m having fun with her,
Then I look for it in my head;
I like to rummage through books,
I enlighten my mind and heart,
I read Polkan and Bova;
I sleep over the Bible, yawning...

Is it possible to reveal more clearly, more intelligibly and more figuratively than Derzhavin did in the above stanzas the poetry of life of the most noble part of Russia, the poetry of the nobility, which allowed itself everything that could come to a person’s mind. “That’s why,” wrote Y.K., an unrivaled expert on Derzhavin’s work. Grotto, - we completely understand the success of “Felitsa” not only at court, but also in the public. This ode draws us in bright colors Catherine's court and the life of her nobles, full of fantastic luxury, lordly whim and passion for pleasure. This reflected a whole side of Russian society of the 18th century; contemporaries recognized themselves here, saw familiar faces and customs, and could not help but admire the similarity of the masterful painting.”

There was no satire on “Catherine’s close associates,” as is still commonly believed among us, in “Ode to Felitsa.” Moreover, Derzhavin was offended not by those from whom he painted a generalized portrait of Murza, thereby allegedly offending the “powers of the world”, causing the fire of their indignation, but by those whom he left without attention. Those reading the “Ode,” noted one of Derzhavin’s younger contemporaries, famous critic ON THE. Polevoy, “they looked for hints about the noblest nobles, reinterpreted them; others, hearing how these hints forced speak about the people” depicted by the poet, “they were annoyed why he didn’t hint at them... (my discharge. - A.K.).” What kind of satire are we talking about here?

The “laziness and bliss, whimsicality, love of pomp, voluptuousness” that distinguished “Catherine’s close associates,” touched upon by Derzhavin, began to be perceived as satire much later, already in the 19th century, evidence of which we find in the same N.A. Polevoy. In 1832, in an article about Derzhavin’s works, he wrote: “Contemporaries could admire in “Felitsa” the subtle praise of Catherine, clever fiction and living portraits of nobles and contemporaries... But we, for whom all this (i.e. the poetry of that life . - A.K.) disappeared, who saw, read and learned so much after this,” continuing, like Derzhavin’s contemporaries, to be “amazed” at his creation, however, we perceive it differently, as a work of “noble, proud, playful.” , caustic, rich in words...". Subsequently, the “noble” and “proud” in the perception of “Ode” faded into the background, and the “joking” and “sarcastic” came to the fore, on the basis of which it began to be classified as satire. However, in Derzhavin’s time, especially in the first months after its appearance in print, “Ode to Felitsa” was the subject of universal admiration, admiration and joy, with the exception perhaps only of those whom Derzhavin, in the words of N.A. Polevoy, was not “branded”, and who is why annoyed without seeing yourself in collective image Derzhavinsky Murza...

And how infinitely kind, modest, fair, hardworking and caring the Monarch was!

   Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Without valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
Shedding bliss to mortals...

You alone are only decent,
Princess! to create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From disagreement to agreement
And from fierce passions happiness
You can only create.
So the helmsman, sailing through the show-off,
Catching the roaring wind under sail,
Knows how to steer a ship.

You just won’t offend the only one,
Don't insult anyone
You see through your fingers the tomfoolery
The only thing you cannot tolerate is evil;
You correct misdeeds with leniency,
Like a wolf, you don’t crush people,
You know exactly their price...

You think sensibly about merit,
You give honor to the worthy...

There are rumors about your actions,
That you are not the least bit proud;
Kind in business and in jokes,
Pleasant in friendship and firm;
Why are you indifferent in adversity...
They also say it’s not false,
It's like it's always possible
You should tell the truth.

It's also unheard of,
Worthy of you alone
It’s like you’re bold to the people
About everything, and show it and at hand,
And you allow me to know and think,
And you don’t forbid about yourself
To speak both true and false;
As if to the crocodiles themselves,
All your mercy to Zoilas,
You are always inclined to forgive.

Pleasant rivers of tears flow
From the depths of my soul.
ABOUT! when people are happy
There must be their destiny,
Where is the meek angel, the peaceful angel,
Hidden in the porphyry lightness,
A scepter was sent down from heaven to wear!...

It is believed that the image of the Kyrgyz-Kaisat princess is embellished and caustic, created clearly for educational purposes: Catherine II really was not like that, but ideally should be, which is what Derzhavin instructed her to do. However, there was no embellishment, much less caustic, in the image of Felitsa. Derzhavin was in admiration for the empress, “as she, in his own words, was in the first days of her reign,” and simply highlighted everything positive, everything attractive in her personality and activities, which objectively consisted of the poetry of the autocratic form of government, enlightened absolutism as such.

Everything that he supposedly attributed to Catherine, in fact, is not “smart,” in the words of N.A. Polevoy is a fiction,” but actually took place in the life, character and behavior of Catherine “in the first days of her reign,” under the impression of which Derzhavin continued to be in the early 80s, when he created the ode, and which is easily confirmed by the relevant facts. Of course, even then, no less, if not more, other facts were known that did not decorate the empress, but the poet focused on the attractive aspects of her life and reign, for which he had full copyright. Moreover, such a selection corresponded to his intention - to show the pleasant, eye-pleasing aspects of contemporary Russian reality.

Here it would be useful to note that in his work Derzhavin never invented anything. He always came from real events, from what he himself saw and felt, which he noted in the “Notes” compiled by him in 1805 for a collection of his poems at the request of his longtime friend, Metropolitan Evgeny Bolkhovitinov. “His book,” Derzhavin wrote about himself in the third person, “can be for posterity a monument to the deeds, customs and morals of his time, and<...>all his works are nothing like a picture of Catherine’s century.”

3

Supporters of the satirical nature of the “Ode to Felitsa”, in confirmation of their correctness, refer to the words of Derzhavin’s Murza: “That’s how I am, Felitsa!” - and to Derzhavin’s own “Explanations” dating back to 1809, which says that the ode “was written at the expense of her (the Empress. - A.K.) neighbors, although without any slander, but rather with mockery and prank.”

Indeed, at first glance, Murza’s self-assessment directly indicates the accusatory, satirical nature of his story about how he spends his time, “transforming everyday life into a holiday,” what he does with his leisure time, pleases and amuses himself, indulges his whims, etc. , thereby seeming to condemn the “customs and morals” of the St. Petersburg nobility. Yes, such a conclusion suggests itself if we put into the concept of “debauchery” our modern content, which began to take shape back in the 19th century, gradually turning into a synonym for the concepts “base vice”, “ moral decay", "promiscuity", etc. In this case, the expression: “...I am depraved!” means: “I am a vicious, morally corrupt person,” etc. And if we approach the meaning of the word “debauchery”, which Derzhavin uses, formally, without correlating its content with what Murza told us about his life, it can really be perceived as self-condemnation and self-exposure, and “Ode to Felitsa” can be interpreted like satire. True, with one “but” - as a satire not on the nobles surrounding Catherine, but on all of humanity, “the whole world.” After all, this is what Murza says, if you don’t cut him off mid-sentence:

That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved!

whence, given the above-mentioned content of the concept of “depravity,” it follows that all of humanity, which he thus condemns, is “depraved.”

The fact is that the concept of “light” in the meaning “ secular society», « elite”, was formed in our country only in the 19th century, and in the 18th century. it meant “God’s light” - i.e. everything living on Earth, including, and first of all, people. Let us remember the question from D.I. Fonvizin, asked by him in his famous “Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka”:

Tell me, Shumilov: why was this light created?...
Why were the bear, owl, and frog created?
Why were both Vanka and Petrushka created?
What are you created for?...

In all the answers to this question - both Shumilov, and Vanka, and Petrushka - there is talk mainly about such “God's creatures” as servants, masters, boyars, judges, shepherds, etc. - i.e. about people:

Creator of all creation, to his own praise,
He sent us around the world like dolls on a table.
Others frolic, laugh, dance, jump,
Others frown, feel sad, yearn, and cry.
This is how the light turns!...

There is no reason to believe that Derzhavin uses the concept of “light” in the meaning of “high society”, “secular society”, referring exclusively to the St. Petersburg nobility, just as there is no reason to believe that he wrote a satire on all of humanity, on "the whole world"

Let's see which of Murza's long list of entertainments and amusements fits our idea of ​​debauchery. Perhaps there is only one “joy”:

Lying on a velvet sofa,
The young girl feels tender,
I pour love into her heart.

That's all. The rest has nothing to do with debauchery in the meaning that is given to this word now.

What did Derzhavin himself consider “debauchery”? There is a direct indication of this in the ode itself:

Today I control myself
And tomorrow I am a slave to whims.

“Debauchery” in his eyes is slavish indulgence of one’s whims. And whims are a weakness, to one degree or another, characteristic of every person, and therefore of all people, “the whole world.” Derzhavin did not condemn the vices of nobles in his ode, but presented in a humorous tone, according to his own “Explanation,” “all human weaknesses,” moreover, “relatively innocent,” as Y.K. noted. Grotto. And the words:

That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved!
But the whole world looks like me, -

in reality meant: “I am a sinner, Mother Empress, weak, like all people: I like to sleep, smoke, drink coffee, indulge in fruitless (Manilovsky, as we would say now) dreams of military exploits and power over the “universe,” I like to dress up, feast, have fun, have fun, amuse myself with “young maidens,” music, singers, fist fights, hunting, various “pranks,” etc. and so on. Where is the depravity, where is the denunciation, where is the satire? Murza's "self-exposure" is more like a tribute traditional ostentatious self-deprecation, which, as they say, more than pride; self-abasement, which has long been characteristic of the “subjects” of the Russian tsars, who habitually wrote about themselves, addressing the sovereign: “Your lowest and most obedient slave...”.

As for Derzhavin’s words about the “mockery” of Catherine’s “neighbors,” it is not difficult to convince yourself of their “justice” by re-reading Murza’s story quoted above. Already in the second stanza you will feel that the poet is not “mocking” the “depraved” behavior of the nobles, but on the contrary, he nice to talk about all their activities, amusements and pleasures, those “weaknesses” that he himself, if he had the opportunity, would indulge in with great pleasure. After all, of all of the above, very little was available to Derzhavin himself at that time: tobacco, coffee, “chimeras,” domestic “pranks” - “playing the fool with his wife,” blind man’s buff, matchmaking, breeding pigeons, reading books, and even the fact that he called “her (wife. - A.K.) I’m looking for it in my head.” And that's it...

Why a quarter of a century later, after the ode was published, Derzhavin decided that it was a “mockery” is a special question. One might assume that this is just a tribute to public sentiment early XIX V. with their moderate criticism of certain phenomena in life Russia XVIII c., including the favoritism of Catherine’s time, the universally recognized “singer of Felitsa” hastened to dissociate himself from this, to distance himself from Catherine’s “close” circle, her favorites. After all, in this ode he does not condemn anyone or anything, he does not mock anyone or anything. That's why only one person was offended by him - his direct superior, Prosecutor General Prince A.A. Vyazemsky, whose “weakness”, known only to very few - he loved to be read aloud to him, and often fell asleep listening to such reading - Derzhavin, as they say, made it public. It was precisely this that the poet meant when he said: “Yawning and sleeping over the Bible”... Yawning and sleeping over the Bible is not good, and therefore it’s a shame that everyone found out about it... And it was Vyazemsky who turned out to be the only one, as the poet himself noted , his persecutor. The rest, including all of Catherine’s “neighbors” who were hurt and “branded” by him, read the ode, “admired and rejoiced at it.” And this is understandable.

It was in the “weaknesses” that distinguished the “customs and morals” of our nobles, who “transformed everyday life into a holiday,” that poetry of Russian life that era. Having reflected it in “Ode to Felitsa,” Derzhavin not only “opened a new sphere in art to the world,” he also overnight made a revolution in artistic consciousness Russians. It turned out that in Russian reality not everything is as bad and unattractive as our poets who addressed it have constantly repeated since the time of A.D. Cantemira. It also has its own charms, its own fun, its own joys, bright, festive and the good side, in a word - own poetry, which was also expressed in beautiful, easy-to-remember verses. This caused general delight, shocked, according to Derzhavin himself, his contemporaries: “...everyone admires it and rejoices,” giving us the opportunity today to admire this poetry - the poetry of the life of noble Russia in the 18th century, the poetry of the autocratic form of government, enlightened absolutism, confirming the correctness of V.G. Belinsky: “...the poetry of Derzhavin<...>there is a wonderful monument to the glorious reign of Catherine II."

4

But Derzhavin did not stop there. He found poetry in himself nobility as a noticeable component of Russian life, in the class dignity of a dignitary, called to selflessly, selflessly, faithfully serve the sovereign and the Fatherland:

He embraces the royal throne with his heart,
He listens to the needs of the people with his soul
And he keeps the truth between them;
He serves his fatherland faithfully,
He sacredly honors the monarch’s will,
And he doesn’t worry about himself at all.

He does not seek honor through guile.
Those who take bribes are not seduced by wealth,
He does not yearn in vain to wear the dignity;
But he only strives to glorify himself,
That he loves to do good
And it can bring happiness.

Obedient to God's law,
Sensitive, generous,
Not proud, not mean and not cowardly,
Stricter with yourself than with others,
I am not jealous of cunning actions,
It only follows the straight path.

Not idle, not lazy, but precise:
In business he is both quick and blameless...
       "To the Great Boyar and Governor Reshemysl."

He found poetry in patronage, patronage strongmen of the world sciences and art, admiring those who “lived for the benefit of the people,”

By whom virtues are honored,
Who is his birth and rank and his life
I tried to glorify the same,
To do good to your neighbor,
Leave the temple of sciences to posterity...
       "For the recovery of the patron."

Derzhavin found poetry in Russian hospitality:

Sit down, dear guest! here on the downy
Relax on the soft sofa;
In this thin, pearl-colored canopy,
And fall asleep in the mirrors around you;
We took a little nap after dinner,
It's nice to snore for an hour;
Golden grasshopper, sulfur midge
They can't fly here.
       "For a guest."

And in our eternal cordiality and hospitality:

Sheksninsk golden sterlet,
Kaymak and borscht are already standing;
In a glass of wine, punch, sparkling
Now with ice, now with sparks, they beckon;
Incense flows from the incense burners,
The fruits among the baskets are laughing,
The servants do not dare to breathe,
There's a table around waiting for you;
The hostess is stately and young
Ready to lend a hand.
       "Invitation to dinner."

Nobody expressed poetry better than Derzhavin Russian feast- abundant treats, decorated with the rich gifts of nature of our fatherland.

The role and significance of G.R. Derzhavin in the formation of Russian literary language have more than once become the subject of deep and comprehensive study.

Derzhavin is an original figure, personifying an independent phenomenon in the development of literature, literary language and style.

Traditionally, one of the striking features of Derzhavin’s style is the presence of numerous justified, as well as unjustified, inversions that make his language difficult to understand. So, S.T. Aksakov, in his memoirs about Derzhavin, notes that at times Derzhavin “handled the language without any respect,” in particular, “he bent syntax to his knees.” Historians of the Russian literary language have written a lot about this. (Kovalevskaya, Meshchersky). Inversions are not so much an archaic feature of Derzhavin’s style as a special characteristic of his creative manner. Derzhavin’s inversion syntax reflects the special, poetically nonlinear bend of his thought:

Isn't it you in this terrible picture?

Are you introducing yourself to me now?

The chimera is entangled in a web,

From a man to a fierce beast!

("Chariot")

However, Y.K. Grot noted that in connection with this, the pages of his works are filled with harmonious speech, imprinted with the original simplicity and character of the purely Russian language, close to the folk one.

In addition, Derzhavin is considered a stylistic innovator - he created the so-called “funny Russian syllable”, which looks very original against the backdrop of the struggle between the “old” and “new syllable” at the beginning of the 19th century. According to V.A. Zapadov, Derzhavin called his odes written in this syllable “mixed odes.” However, the researcher considers the most successful name for Derzhavin’s stylistics to be the definition of M.N. Muravyova - “confusion.”

The confusion included a mixture of not only high and calm, but also Russian and foreign, clerical and common, all-Russian and dialect, etc.

Derzhavin was the first to introduce broad Russian phraseology into his works. This enrichment of language is characteristic not only of its tragedies, folk dramas, comic operas, but also odes, lyrical poems, and friendly messages.

For example, the expression “Regardless of faces” was taken from the Bible, and became popular only after the publication of the poem “To Rulers and Judges.”

In “Ode to Felitsa,” Derzhavin’s free appeal to Russian folk phraseology is remarkable. He writes: “Where does old age not wander around the world? Does merit find bread for itself?”; “You can’t even set foot in the club”; “like a wolf you don’t crush people”, etc.

At the same time, the vocabulary of poems often contains foreign borrowings that go back to living European languages: masquerade, klob, lemonade, waffles, champagne, etc. These words mainly name objects of the then noble life.

It should be noted that Derzhavin’s relationship with the grammar of the language was quite complex. Contemporaries were surprised at the absurdities of certain forms and structures of his speech; Pushkin said that some of Derzhavin’s poems looked like a bad translation from a good original.

The nature of Derzhavin’s grammar was best defined by Y.K. Groth, who believed that his works deserved to be studied, presented important point in the history of literary speech, that is, the moment of the formation of an unconventional, living literary language, anticipating the possibility of the emergence of an individual artistic style of an individual writer.

Derzhavin handles language autocratically: he was not afraid of mistakes in grammar and syntax, just to embody his idea in a vivid image, in this way achieving his goal more accurately than if he was chasing purity of speech. His language, for all the appearance of its waywardness, is an expressive, strong and plastic language, it breaks down grammar for the sake of semantic precision.

For the same purpose, Derzhavin creates new words, not all of them have taken root, but some have entered the Russian language. Thus, in “Felitsa” he used a word derived from the name of the hero of Cervantes’s novel “Don Quixote”: “quixoticism”, and it firmly entered the Russian language.

According to A.V. Chicherin, it was Derzhavin who enriched the language of Russian poetry with the widest palette of color adjectives. Derzhavin especially willingly creates complex adjectives and complex participles, forming them with the help of various suffixes: ship-killing shame, sudden fire, high-ranking happiness, leafy top, fire-feathered helmet, deliciously ripe fruits, cheerfully playful Erata, sun-eyed sturgeon, etc. This is especially true, as indicated above, of epithets denoting color. It was after Derzhavin that the era of complex adjectives, especially color ones, began.

A few words, according to Y.K. Grotto, Derzhavin used instead foreign languages: straightness (vs. horizon), tikhgrom (vs. pianoforte / piano), braiding. garland. Derzhavin’s mining became an ironic doublet of Russian mining.

Derzhavin played an outstanding role in the history of the Russian language. Many poets of the first decades of the 18th century relied on his achievements. Derzhavin opened wide road for the development of the Russian literary language.

Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816) is another outstanding figure in Russian literature of the 18th century. His poetry completes the classicist tradition and at the same time opens up new paths, preparing the emergence of Pushkin’s “poetry of reality.” According to Belinsky, Derzhavin’s poetry “was the first step in the transition from rhetoric to life.”

Derzhavin became famous in 1783, when he created the ode “Felitsa”, glorifying Catherine II. Although it was written with the intention of a solemn ode, the destruction of this genre is already clearly noticeable here. Subsequently, the author himself will define this genre - “mixed ode”. Classicism forbade combining high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But in Derzhavin’s ode praising the empress, a satirical portrait of the vicious “Murza” (nobleman) is created, and the “god-like” Felitsa is shown in an everyday manner (“You often walk on foot...”), depicted in simple words, without any pomp. This does not reduce her image, but makes it more real, humane, as if copied from life.

Derzhavin's poetry is multifaceted. It contains satirical or “angry”, as he himself called them, odes, the most famous of which was the poem “To Rulers and Judges” (arrangement of Psalm 81 of the Psalter). The need for everyone to be subject to the same law higher truth and justice and the inevitability of punishment for those “evil” rulers who do not obey him - that’s the main idea Derzhavin's ode. Its accusatory power was such that contemporaries perceived this poem as a revolutionary proclamation.

But in Derzhavin’s poetry there are also poems addressed to privacy person. Here, another new quality of Derzhavin’s creativity is manifested with the greatest force - autobiography, the creation of an image of the poet, concrete, visual, although not yet lyrically in-depth, as in Zhukovsky’s poetry. This new phenomenon for Russian poetry is clearly visible in his anacreontic odes - small, elegant poems in which, often in a humorous form, the poet talks about himself, his friends and lovers (“Crown of Immortality”, “Russian Girls”).

Philosophical odes occupy a large place in Derzhavin’s poetry, among which the most famous was the ode “God,” which was translated into many European and Oriental languages ​​during the poet’s lifetime. Sounds clear here main topic creativity of Derzhavin: self-awareness of the individual in the face of the universe. For him, man is by nature contradictory: he not only “commands thunder with his mind,” but also “decays into dust with his body.” “I am a king - I am a slave - I am a worm - I am God!” - this is the range human personality. If Lomonosov, in his spiritual odes, wants to penetrate beyond the unknown, then Derzhavin wants to accept God and Man in their natural reality, “to talk about God in the simplicity of the heart.” If Lomonosov's man is a creator and researcher, a titanium discoverer, then in Derzhavin's ode - man comprehends the mystery of his nature and in this way discovers for himself the whole external God's peace and the Creator himself.

Connected with this is a special awareness of one’s purpose in Derzhavin’s poetry. It was he who for the first time in Russian literature developed the theme of creativity, poetry, its role and meaning in human life. Among the poems on this topic are “The Key,” “The Swan,” “The Vision of Murza,” and the most famous, “Monument” (1795). This poem is a free translation of the ode “To Melpomene” by the ancient Roman poet Horace, dedicated to summing up his poetic creativity and evaluating it. It laid the foundation for the tradition of understanding the theme of the poet and poetry in Russian literature (“I erected a monument to myself, not made by hands...” by A.S. Pushkin). Based on the translation of “Monument” made by Lomonosov, Derzhavin puts forward his own criteria for assessing poetic creativity and, in his own way, asserts the right to immortality. The power of poetry for him turns out to be more powerful than the laws of nature (“harder than metals”, not subject to whirlwinds, thunder, time) and higher than the glory of the “earthly gods” - kings. The poet connects his immortality with the “race of the Slavs,” emphasizing national character of your creativity.

Despite the fact that the basis of Gavrila Derzhavin’s work is Russian classicism, it significantly went beyond its limits. Derzhavin's poems are characterized by a combination of “high” and “low” elements, a mixture of solemn ode with satire, colloquial expressions along with Church Slavonic vocabulary. A romantic approach to reality also creeps into the poet’s works. In other words, Derzhavin’s work expressed the entire development path of Russian literature of this era - from classicism, through sentimentalism and romanticism to realism.

The poet considers truth to be the basis of art, which artists and poets are obliged to convey to the reader. The task of art is to imitate nature, that is, objective reality. But this does not apply to the base and rough sides of life - poetry, as Derzhavin believes, should be “pleasant.” It should also be useful - this explains the numerous moral teachings, satires and morals with which the poet’s work is replete.

Derzhavin, of course, could not lay claim to the role of a spiritual people’s leader and encroach on the foundations of autocracy, but in many of his works he expresses precisely the people’s point of view, which was already a breakthrough for Russian literature of the 18th century. Thus, the impressions of Pugachev’s peasant war were reflected in all the poet’s most important poems - from “Chitalagai Odes” to “Nobleman” - in them he is on the side of the people, condemning their torment by landowners and nobles.

Since 1779, Derzhavin’s work has become more and more original - he follows his own path in poetry. Derzhavin’s merit to Russian poetry is the introduction of the “funny Russian style” into literature: a combination of high style with vernacular, satire and lyricism.

Derzhavin expands the themes of poetry, bringing it closer to life. He begins to look at the world and nature through the eyes of an ordinary earthly person. The poet depicts nature not abstractly, as was done before him, but as a living reality. If before Derzhavin nature was described in the most general outline: streams, birds, flowers, sheep, then details, colors, sounds already appear in the poet’s poems - he works with words, like an artist with a brush.

In depicting a person, the poet approaches a living portrait, which was the first step on the path to realism.

Derzhavin expands the boundaries of ode. In “Felitsa” the scheme established by Lomonosov is violated - this is already a plot poem, and not a set of statements by the author in connection with a solemn event. Derzhavin’s most famous odes - “Felitsa”, “God”, “Vision of Murza”, “Image of Felitsa”, “Waterfall” - are plot works, into which the poet introduces his thoughts and feelings.

Derzhavin's poems introduce the image of the author into poetry, introduce the reader to the personality of the poet - this is another of his discoveries. The works represent not an abstract, but a concrete person. The poet in Derzhavin's works is an incorruptible fighter for the truth.

Derzhavin’s poetic language is of great importance for the subsequent development of Russian literature. The poet had an excellent sense of folk speech. The poet's poems always contain rhetoric and oratorical intonations - he teaches, demands, instructs, and is indignant. Many of Derzhavin’s expressions became popular:

“Where there was a table of food, there is a coffin,” “I am a king, I am a slave, I am a worm, I am a god,” “The smoke of the Fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us,” etc.

The poet’s main merit was the introduction of “ordinary human words” into poetry, which was incredibly unexpected and new. The subject of poetry becomes ordinary human affairs and concerns.

Derzhavin's works had an influence on almost all poets of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, contributing to the advent of a new milestone in the development of Russian poetry.

Derzhavin accomplished a genuine literary revolution in Russian poetry. He was a bold experimenter in language and literature. Derzhavin was the first to speak in a “funny Russian style” - clear, lively and simple; he introduced faces, plots, turns and expressions of folk poetry into speech, thereby making an invaluable contribution to the development of the Russian language. Derzhavin mixed the public with the personal in his solemn ode, expanding it with timeless philosophical generalizations. Thanks to these and many other points, Derzhavin’s work became the harbinger of a new literary era. Contemporary writers admired the author of "Felitsa". Derzhavin boldly breaks the boundaries of traditional genres and styles, creates new traditions, anticipating the “variegated chapters” of Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” and other complex genre formations of the 19th century. “The first living verb of young Russian poetry” was called by V. G. Belinsky. In the 20th century interest in Derzhavin’s work does not wane: Mandelstam, under the influence of Derzhavin’s “Slate Ode,” wrote his “slate ode,” and Brodsky created the poem “On the Death of Zhukov” with direct reminiscences from Derzhavin.

Derzhavin begins by imitating exemplary Russian poets, primarily M. V. Lomonosov and A. P. Sumarokov. Based on Russian poetic tradition, Derzhavin treats it very freely, allowing a mixture of different genres, and as a result finds his way into poetry. Real fame came to the poet in 1873 with the appearance of the famous ode "Felitsa", addressed to Catherine. Here, subtle praise of the empress was combined with sharp satirical attacks against her “murzas” - favorites, courtiers. The poet was not afraid to offend even the all-powerful Potemkin. Literary success ode was great: “Felitsa’s singer” is recognized as the greatest poet of our time. At the same time, “Felitsa” brought upon Derzhavin the hatred of the “Murzas” who ridiculed him, which forced the empress to send the daring poet into honorable exile. Derzhavin's odes are varied in theme and style. Striving to cleanse Russian statehood from “litter” prompted the poet to create satirical works that denounced the “evil princes of the world.” Such is the ode “Nobleman,” whose sharp attacks approach the pathos of Radishchev’s “Liberty.” The heroics of the time found expression in victorious patriotic poems. Suvorov's victories were reflected in a number of odes to the capture of Izmail, to the capture of Warsaw, to the transition Alpine mountains"and others. Derzhavin's Suvorov is a folk hero, an epic knight-hero, fearless in battle, generous to the vanquished. In Derzhavin's poems, descriptions of real life and landscape appear; picturesque pictures of nature are presented, for example, in "Autumn during the Siege of Ochakov", the life of peasants and “rural fun” - in the message “Eugene. Life of Zvanskaya." In spiritual and philosophical odes, the poet strives to understand God and his place in the Universe (ode "God"), reflects on death ("On the Death of Prince Meshchersky", "Slate Ode"), calls for the "highest court" ("To the Rulers and judges"). Derzhavin sums up his work in the poem “Monument” - a free adaptation of Horace’s ode: the poet considered his main merit to be the ability to “speak the truth to kings with a smile.” Derzhavin’s poetry is autobiographical: here the image of the author appears, details of Derzhavin’s biography arise. genre restrictions of classicism, creating new type lyric poem, the poet “ignited the brilliant dawn of new Russian poetry” (Belinsky). It is no coincidence that the poet himself bequeathed his “decrepit lyre” in verse to the young romantic poet V. A. Zhukovsky.