Mayakovsky’s early lyrics (poems “Port”, “Night”, “Nate!” And others) are considered a large-scale phenomenon in the art of the 20th century. Among his works are plays and poems, critical articles, essays, drawings, satirical works. Mayakovsky’s greatness lies in his creative personality, with the help of which he comprehended the secrets of poetic mastery and the laws of the scene. He skillfully owned the pen of the essayist and the brush of the artist. However, Mayakovsky entered the consciousness of people as an original poet of the era of the social revolution. In his works, he captured the key problems and events of his time.
The spirit of rebellion in the early lyrics of Mayakovsky
In his works, the author combined many means. The voice of that era sounded powerfully in them. This was a period of preparation and fulfillment of the workers 'and peasants' revolution. In the works you can see the epic scope of comparisons, metaphors. Weight and rhythm are combined with journalistic passion. The lyrical hero of Mayakovsky’s early lyrics addresses a mass audience. The author is often called the "tribune." There are many grounds for such a comparison in his works.
So, in the poem “At the top of his voice”, which is considered to be largely final, he calls himself the “throat leader”, “agitator”. Undoubtedly, this has its own truth. However, it would be wrong to reduce the poems of Mayakovsky’s early lyrics only to propaganda and oratory appeals to the public. In the works, love confessions, a good-natured grin, and a caustic irony can be clearly traced. They also have sadness, sadness, philosophical thoughts. Mayakovsky's early lyrics, in short, are universal. It is diverse in terms of genre, multicolored in terms of intonation.
Mayakovsky: the artistic world of the poet's early lyrics
Lunacharsky spoke very accurately about the property of the talent of the author at one time. Hearing the poem "About This", he noted that he knew before, and after listening to it he was finally convinced that Mayakovsky is the finest lyricist, despite the fact that he does not always understand it. In the author, this property was combined with his agitational, oratory abilities. The lyrics are generally seen as an artistic expression of the poet’s inner world. It reflects his condition at one time or another. Reality, the world of objective things are revealed in lyric poems through the experiences of their author. Events and phenomena usually do not receive in the works of a direct, direct image. They are captured in that reaction, in that feeling which they cause in the author. That is exactly what Mayakovsky’s early lyrics are.
Poems could be devoted to a variety of phenomena - love or battles between classes, disputes about the purpose of art or traveling abroad. The narration of events is inextricably linked with the expression of the feelings and thoughts of the author, the disclosure of his own "I". Reflections and experiences do not just give a specific emotional coloring to creativity. The artistic world of Mayakovsky's early lyrics is manifested in his portrayal of life phenomena, political events. The emotional component is also present in propaganda masterpieces. It is no exaggeration to note that lyricism acts as a unifying and all-pervasive force in the poet’s work, it can be seen even in those works that are not lyrical in structure.
Contradictory Author
Despite the presence of lyricism in poetry, Mayakovsky often opposes it in them. This, for example, can be seen in the work "Jubilee", where he talks about the perception of this direction "with hostility." A polemical-hostile reaction, meanwhile, passes through the entire work of the author. In a particularly venomous form, he reacts to love topics. The author’s works show dissatisfaction with traditional opportunities for self-disclosure. The constant search, the desire to expand the boundaries of creativity are the key ideas that Mayakovsky's early lyrics proclaim. Composing any work required room for thought.
Emotional component
Everything that happened in life aroused passionate interest in the author. He had a special perception of events. Whatever happened in life, even at a considerable distance from him, he perceived as his own, vital, deeply personal affair. The exceptional emotional reaction of the author to the phenomena could not fit into traditional lyrical forms. She demanded space for expression. The themes of Mayakovsky's early lyrics are diverse. He writes about life, love, politics, history. All this does not appear in his works as a distant background. Each event in one or another sphere of life is a key object of the work.
Mayakovsky's early lyrics are a completely new direction for the twentieth century. She, unlike her predecessors, widely embraced social and political reality.
Beginning of work
Early enough, Mayakovsky became interested in underground revolutionary activity. Like many other underground workers, he was caught and imprisoned for 11 months in Butyrka prison, in solitary confinement. The fate of the future poet was decided by Stolypin. It was by his order that the prisoner was released. During his detention Mayakovsky read a lot. After his release, he was seized by a passionate desire to work in art. He wanted to create a socialist trend. As a result, Mayakovsky entered the Moscow School of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting. From that moment on, he somewhat cooled to the revolutionary struggle. During the training, he met a group of young poets and artists. They called themselves the creators of the art of the future - futurists. All this in a special way influenced Mayakovsky's early lyrics.
Specificity of works
The features of Mayakovsky's early lyrics consist in a mass of genre formations, an intense rhythm, unexpected comparisons, and spectacular images. The surrounding reality for the author appears as a living organism that hates, loves, suffers. The poet humanizes the real world:
"Sheets of water under her belly were.
A white tooth tore them into the waves.
There was a howl of pipes - as if they were pouring
love and lust with copper pipes. "
The work is striking in a combination of imaginative rows that are not compatible in the traditional plan. This makes a strong impression. Mayakovsky’s early lyrics may or may not please, but she doesn’t leave anyone indifferent.
Entertainment
In his works, the author creates vivid, memorable images. This is especially clearly seen in such verses as "Port", "Morning", "And could you?" The author boldly combines in one row absolutely diverse concepts. Thanks to the surprisingly accurate reproduction, the use of the strokes of reality seen by Mayakovsky in an unexpected perspective, the lines are remembered, cut into memory. The author shows the "creature of the city", where there is no happiness and joy. The landscape is gloomy and heavy: "scorched quarter", "crooked horses", "kingdom of bazaars". There are "tired trams" along the roads, the sun at sunset seems to the author to be a "leaking eye", the wind appears deplorable and gloomy. The city strangles and fetters the poet, causing disgust in him.
Tragedy
Mayakovsky’s early lyrics are filled with sadness, suffering, and feelings. This is clearly seen in the work "I". The theme of loneliness is manifested with varying strength in his various verses: “Tired of”, “Listen!”, “Giveaway”, etc. In the work “To Your Loved One”, the author addresses his surroundings, his words are filled with pain, mental anguish:
"And to such
like me,
poke where?
Where's the den for me? ”
Love
Even in it, the hero of Mayakovsky does not find salvation. He seeks a comprehensive, enormous feeling - he will not agree to less. Having gained such love, the hero does not cease to be miserable and lonely. His feelings become defiled and humiliated under the influence of possessive relations. So, in the poem "Cloud in pants" beloved rejects the hero, preferring philistine prosperity. A similar motif is seen in the poem "Man." In this work, the beloved was sold to the Lord of All, but the Poet did not get anything. The author concludes that true love has no place in ugly reality.
Motive
The hero of Mayakovsky’s lyrics strives to overcome loneliness. He goes to people, reaches out to them, hopes to find support and sympathy in them. For a human, affectionate word, he is ready to give all his spiritual wealth. But he will face deep disappointment: he is not understood by anyone, nobody needs it. A faceless crowd surrounds him. The lyrical hero has rude features, in some cases he is even cynical. So, in the work “A warm word to some vices”, he “glorifies” the power of money, “mocks” the working people, “welcomes” cheaters and extortionists. This is the expression of his ostentatious cynicism, hiding true pain, tragic irony. The author puts on this mask because of the greatest despair, fatigue from restlessness, martial arts with the philistines, the "huge" evil.
Subjectivity
Mayakovsky's early lyrics are full of social problems. His works laid the foundation for art for the masses. The author’s speech is “roughened”, simplified. The works include real and everyday images. This indicates the lack of communication of the poet with the futurists. In the works of the young author, the principle of materiality, objectivity is implemented. Distracted feelings and concepts turn into tangible, visible, real. Materialization has a militant humanistic character in creativity. The works show what the futurists lacked - social content.
Cultural connection
Mayakovsky passionately preached a new art. He even suggested dropping Pushkin and other classics from the "ship of modernity." However, analyzing the essence of Mayakovsky’s works, one can easily trace the connection with Russian culture, namely with the satire of Nekrasov, Saltykov-Shchedrin. The author followed the classic literary traditions. In particular, the connection with the works of Nekrasov, in which the key place was occupied by the illustration of the capitalist city, is especially pronounced. The humanistic pathos of Mayakovsky’s work is related to Gorky’s literature. Thus, the title of the poem "Man" is indicative in this regard. However, the main thing that brings the author closer to the classics is the citizenship of poetry, its lively response to modern phenomena.
Critical pathos
The poet’s pre-revolutionary lyrics are closely connected with poems and acts as an introduction to them. The works have a motive of protest. The theme "people and poet" is central to the lyrics. World War I was the most important test for many literary and artistic movements. She revealed their true essence, showed a genuine attitude to the interests of the nation, the needs of the people. Responding to the beginning of the war with his poem War and Peace, Mayakovsky sharply assesses its imperialist nature politically. Critical pathos began to intensify in the work of the author. His voice called for revolution, opposed the imperialist massacre. This can be seen in such works as "I and Napoleon", "You!" and others.
The tragedy of human existence
This topic is very clearly described in the lyrics of Mayakovsky. He talks about the existence of man in the conditions of capitalism, and is his ardent opponent. The poet in his works exposes the process of dehumanizing feelings and people themselves, acting as a key property of bourgeois society. The author exposes the falsehood of acmeists, illustrates the ostentatious, decorative nature of their optimism. Verses were directed against the bourgeois world about "well-fed Sytins", poets who tweeted with quails, academic servants, and about a "leper colony" - a capitalist city.
The author says that class society cripples a beautiful and strong man by nature. In his works, he openly expresses hatred of the exploiters and love of the lower classes, enslaved, destitute people, crushed by this system. He stands for the rise of human self-awareness. The capitalist system dooms the people to physical and spiritual extinction. The poet clearly understands this and forms the image of a rebellious hero. The conflict with the environment, which at first existed as disconnected from the crowd, subsequently begins to acquire an increasingly social orientation.
In the course of strengthening socio-political motives in his work, the author is increasingly moving away from the formalism of the Futurists. In this regard, the differences between the pamphlet "You!" and the work "Nate!". The first was written a year and a half after the second. The poem "Nate!" shows the mocking attitude of Mayakovsky to the crowd. It is characterized exclusively by external signs. The pamphlet "To you!" different pronounced political coloring. Here, the author does not expose the layman as such, but those who seek to cash in on war.