Alexander Blok: homeland in the works of the poet

A prominent representative of the Symbolists, who saw not only the past path of his country, but also the future, was Alexander Alexandrovich Blok. Homeland played an important role in the work of the poet.

Homeland in the work of A. A. Blok

The poet reflected the process of the formation of Russia, affecting in his works not only the historical past of the country, but also its future, the tasks facing it, its purpose.

The image of the Blok Homeland was interested in the years of the First Russian Revolution. However, the heyday of the topic is noted after its completion. The revolutionary experiences of recovery and collapse are reflected in every stanza of the poet's patriotic poems.

The verses of the Bloc about the Motherland are permeated with a sense of boundless love, tenderness, but at the same time they are saturated with pain for the past and present of Russia and hope for a better future.

The poet believed that his country is not only worthy of a better future, it also indicates the path to it. Therefore, he saw in her his comfort, healing:

Love for the Motherland remained the only pure and sincere feeling. It was on her that the poet’s soul wounded by loneliness and misunderstanding of society could lean. Blok himself was aware of this need .

Homeland, her attitude changed, but the change in the nature of feelings did not affect the strength of love that the writer carried through his whole life.

The image of the motherland and Alexander Alexandrovich

Thanks to the works of A.A. Blok, years later we can see Russia from the time of the author: full of movement, life, tearful, but still unique, distinctive. A special vision of historical events affects the poems of the poet, in which the theme of the Motherland occupies an important place.

The bloc created its own unique, unknown to others image of Russia. She became for him not a mother, but a beautiful woman: a lover, girlfriend, bride, wife.

The poet’s early work is characterized by a vision of a poor and dense country, but at the same time unusual and talented.

The homeland in the works of Blok is a wonderful lover who will forgive in any situation. She always understands the poet, because she is a part of the soul, her better half, a manifestation of purity. Blok understood that, in spite of her “shameless and unforgettable” sins, the Motherland remained for him “all the lands more dear”.

How does Blok see Russia? Alexander Alexandrovich’s homeland has charming features that the poet called “robber beauty”: immense expanses, long roads, foggy distances, wind songs, sloppy ruts.

Blok loved his Motherland recklessly, sincerely believing and hoping that "soon the light would overcome darkness."

Consider some of the poems of Alexander Blok in order to most accurately understand such a significant topic for him: "Homeland."

Block. The poem "Gamayun, the bird of things"

It is believed that the theme of the tragic history of Russia first appeared in a poem that belongs to a very young Alexander, “Gamayun, the bird of things”:

The poem was the first loud appeal of the Bloc, combining the love of Russia and the awareness of horror from the past and present. But the author wants to understand the truth no matter how terrible and terrible it is.

The first deliberate and serious embodiment of patriotic thought is considered a work dated 1905, "Autumn will."

The poet turns to the homeland:

The lyrical hero shown by Blok experiences loneliness and is unbearably tragic. Only love for Russia and its nature can help overcome it. The poet admits that the landscapes of his native land are sometimes nondescript and not pleasing to the eye, but it is they who can give peace, happiness and the meaning of life to his tormented soul:

Psalms chanted by a beggar are an echo of a drunken Russia. However, this does not bother the poet. Indeed, it is the true face of Russia, without embellishment and rich pathos, that is an inexhaustible source of its inspiration. It is this Motherland - a dirty, drunk, impoverished man who heals Blok, gives him peace and hope.

Series of works “On the Kulikovo Field”

Blok’s poems about the Motherland, included in the cycle of works “On the Kulikovo Field”, have a deep, passionate meaning. The history of the native country sounds louder than the voice of the poet himself. Due to this, a tense and tragic effect is created, indicating the great past of the country and predicting an equally great future.

Comparing past and future deeds of a great power, the author in the past seeks a force that allows Russia to boldly go to its intended goal and not be afraid of “darkness - night and foreign”.

The "complete silence" in which the country is mired predicts "high and rebellious days," Blok believed. The homeland shown in the works stands at the crossroads of time and space - past, present and future. The historical path of the country is embodied in the lines:

The poem "Well-fed" was a response to the phenomena of the revolution in 1905. These lines express faith in the upcoming changes that both Blok himself and the Homeland expected.

Block. The poem "Russia"

The theme of the Motherland is reflected in the work "Russia." Here, a mysterious, unpredictable and at the same time beautiful Russia appears before readers. The country seems to the poet a fabulous and even witching land:

The intertwining worlds (the real and the world of sleep) help the poet mentally transfer readers to the old, old days, when Russia was full of witch and witchcraft charms.

The lyrical hero is recklessly in love with the country, therefore, reverence for it. He sees it not just unusual, but mysterious, charmingly ancient. But Russia appears before him not only fabulous, but also a beggar, suffering and sad.

The work “Deaf Born in the Years” is dedicated to Z. N. Gippius and is imbued with anticipation of future changes.

Blok understood that the modern generation is doomed, therefore, called on him to rethink life, to renew.

Russia's doom lies in untapped potential. She, possessing incredible wealth, is terribly poor and frighteningly wretched.

Homeland as the central leitmotif of the work

The poem "Russia" is striking in its sincerity and honesty: in no line, in any word did the author lie in the way he sees and feels his native country.

It is thanks to his honesty that the image of the impoverished Homeland appears before the readers, which is directed “Into the Distance”.

In the poem one can feel the influence of a lyrical digression about the three-bird from the poem “Dead Souls” by N. V. Gogol.

The “troika” of the Bloc develops into an ominous sign of dramatic confrontation between the people and the intelligentsia. The image of the Motherland is embodied in a powerful and unbridled element: a blizzard, wind, snowstorm.

We see that Blok is trying to comprehend the significance of Russia, to understand the value, the need for such a complex historical path.

Blok believed that due to hidden strength and power, Russia would emerge from poverty.

The poet describes his love for the motherland, his admiration for the beauty of nature, thoughts about the fate of his country. The block uses the motive of the road through the whole poem. At first we see the impoverished Russia, but then it appears to us in the image of a country that is wide and powerful. We believe that the author is right, because you should always hope for the best.

The block shows us poor, but beautiful Russia. This contradiction manifests itself even in the epithets used by the poet, for example, “robber beauty”.

Two sphinxes in the work of A.A. Blok

Nikolai Gumilyov very beautifully wrote about the poetry of A. Blok: “Before the Bloc are two sphinxes that make him sing and cry with their unresolved riddles: Russia and his own soul. The first is Nekrasovsky, the second is Lermontovsky. And often, very often, the Block shows us them, merged into one, organically inseparable. ”

Gumilyov’s words are indestructible truth. They can be proved by the poem "Russia". It is strongly influenced by the first sphinx, Nekrasovsky. After all, Blok, like Nekrasov, shows us Russia from two opposite sides: the powerful and at the same time powerless and wretched.

Blok believed in the power of Russia. However, in contrast to the Nekrasov precepts, Alexander Alexandrovich loved the Motherland only with sadness, not endowing his feeling with anger. Blokovskaya Russia is endowed with human features, the poet endows her with the image of her beloved woman. Here the influence of the second sphinx - Lermontov’s is manifested. But their resemblance is not complete. Blok expressed more intimate, personal feelings, endowed with noble thoughtfulness, while in Lermontov’s poems hussar arrogance was sometimes heard.

Is Russia worth pity?

The poet says that he does not know how and can not spare the Motherland. But why? Maybe due to the fact that, in his opinion, nothing can blur the “beautiful features” of Russia, except for concern. Or maybe the reason is pity?

The poet loves the motherland. That is the reason for the lack of pity for her. This feeling would kill the pride of Russia, would degrade its dignity. If we correlate a large country with a single person, we get a good example of the relationship of pity and humiliation. The man whom they regretted, having said how poor and miserable he is, loses not only his dignity, but sometimes his desire to live, as he begins to understand his own worthlessness.

All difficulties must be conquered with his head held high, not expecting sympathy. Perhaps this is exactly what A. A. Blok wants to show us.

The great historical merit of the poet lies in the fact that he connected the past with the present, which we see in many of his poems.

Homeland has become a connecting theme in many works of A. Blok. It is closely connected with various motives of his poems: love, retaliation, revolution, the past and the future.

So wrote Vladimir Orlov and, it seems, he was completely right.