It would seem that Mayakovsky’s poem “Nate” is just four stanzas, nineteen lines of text, but a full analysis of a work of art can be made from them. Let's find out how to do it all right.
Looking back
Today, when the works of Vladimir Vladimirovich are rightfully considered classical and are included in the school curriculum, we have the right to analyze his texts not only as literary scholars, but also as psychologists.
In 1913, when the poem Nate was written, Mayakovsky celebrated only his twentieth birthday. His soul, like that of any talented young man, requires action, a reappraisal of values by society, seeks to give everyone their due, at least in verse. The poet calls himself wild, wild, which in reality should be considered not so much as physical aggression, but as verbal, directed against injustice. It is thanks to these qualities that the poet will be appreciated by the new government - not ideal, but new, and therefore sung by Mayakovsky.
The emptiness of the aristocracy
The poet is convinced: creativity is perceived by the layer of pseudo-aristocracy as a food product. They do not want to perceive the deepest meaning and have one intention - to entertain themselves by listening to rhymed phrases. The author decides to speak directly, without any hint, and does so throughout all the years of work, this is also evident from the analysis of Mayakovsky’s poem “Nate”.
In the future, he will call himself a “proletarian poet”, he will praise the development of technology and the movement of society towards a brighter future, while at the same time fighting those whose consciousness remains in imperial Russia. Already in early creativity, this struggle takes on a pronounced character.
Words and syllable
Mayakovsky’s poems are a cry, these are words spoken in shout. He says he’s hammering nails with a hammer: it’s not just that the whole stanzas of his works make up one-word lines, shifted by tabs in order to perceive the reader's rhythm and size.
In the analysis of Mayakovsky’s poem “Nate”, mention the choice of words: “shells of things”, “rough hun”, “flabby fat”. Is such vocabulary typical of a poet? Why do you think he chose these words, and not any other?
Pay attention to the phonetic component, rhymes. Mayakovsky often resorts to alliteration - repeating the same sets of consonants in different words. Moreover, the poet’s manner of rhyming can be arranged in a separate, invented way. The whole stanza, in his opinion, should look unified, and the words in it should be all interconnected not only by meaning, but also by phonetics.
Literary techniques
Epithets and metaphors, exaggeration and understatement, aggressive sarcasm, which takes the form of accusations, are characteristic of the work of the author as a whole. The analysis of Mayakovsky’s poem “Nate” provides examples of an uncompromising attitude towards the listener: “your flabby fat ...”, “you ... pile up, dirty ...”, “I’ll spit in your face ...”.
The purpose of such an appeal is not to offend, but to give thought, to tear a person out of the cozy world of consumption of the aesthetics of creativity and to show the true meaning of poetry: to raise problems, then to solve them; to focus public attention on sore spots, thus stepping on an old non-healing callus.
Poet's defense
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the role of the poet acquired an entertaining character. If at the time of Pushkin, whose work was loved and appreciated by Mayakovsky, the poet in the public mind held a somewhat privileged position, then on the eve of the revolution he became an instrument of entertainment for the kabatsk audience. The poet decides to abandon attempts to revive the prestige of his profession "from a third party" and directly declares to people listening to him about injustice. It should be mentioned in his work on the analysis of Mayakovsky’s poem “Nate”.
Effects
It is also worth studying a fragment of the poet's biography. How was the poem studied by society accepted? How did the authorities react, and was there any reaction at all? Did the work promote the promotion of Mayakovsky’s work to the masses and why?
Teachers love it when pupils and students go beyond the bounds of compulsory and recommended literature, turning to additional sources. Therefore, it will not be out of place to show interest in performing the analysis of “Nate” by Mayakovsky, and the teacher will note this by raising his mark or by closing his eyes to minor flaws. Intention is in itself commendable, especially if the students are usually not enthusiastic in class.
Conclusion
No matter how radical the proletarian poet’s approach to persuading the masses and promoting his point of view on resonant issues, the fact remains: his work had a noticeable impact on the formation of both the image of the new government and the futuristic trend in literature. The poem “Nate” by Mayakovsky is one of the first calls to the formation of an important figure in Russian culture, and every student should read his works (at least the most famous).