The poets of the Pushkin era are a phenomenon that represents the golden age of Russian poetry and is determined by the framework of 1810-1830. (for reference: the subsequent - the Silver Age - has the borders of 1894-1929). If the Sun gives golden light, then the night Moon is silver, but this is another story, and also quite interesting.
How did such a concept arise - "poets of the Pushkin era"? Near Pushkin worked a lot of brilliant lyrics. But it is logical to introduce poets who were close to the great classic in spirit into this circle, sharing with him philosophical views, social and civic stances, ethical and aesthetic convictions, people who polemicized with the same literary opponents.
Poets of the Pushkin era: list
The compilation of this list of poets must be approached very carefully. If Zhukovsky, Batyushkov and D. Davydov must be included in it, then Lermontov, Polezhaev and Koltsov should already be attributed to the post-Pushkin era, since they already have different problems and pathos in poetry.
However, most often it is believed that poets of the Pushkin era are people who lived and worked at the same time as Pushkin. And it doesn’t matter how close they were spiritually and from a literary point of view to the great poet, it was only decisive that they were engaged in poetry and constantly improved their skills, learning from each other.
So, who are the poets of the Pushkin era? The list, of course, needs to start with creators such as V. A. Zhukovsky (Svetlana, Sea, Lyudmila, Forest Tsar, Evening), K. N. Batyushkov (Dream, “ Message to I. M. Muravyov-Apostol ”,“ My Penates ”,“ Ariost and Tass ”,“ Petrarch ”), P. A. Vyazemsky (“ Imperishable Flower ”,“ Tears of Farewell ”,“ Village Church ”,“ King Peas ” ”,“ Good People ”), D.V. Davydov (“ Praying Mantis ”,“ Borodino Field ”,“ Hussar Confession ”,“ My Song ”,“ Wisdom ”,“ I Love You So ... ”,“ Chizh and Rose "), F. N. Glinka (" On the Pyritic Life of Pushkin "," Essay on the Battle of Borodino "," Job, Free inspiration to the book of Job ”,“ Hurray! We hit three at once ”), M.V. Milonov (“ To Rubellius ”,“ To my sister ”,“ The Fall of Leaves ”,“ Message to the Farmers ”), P. A. Katenin ( “Natasha”, “Killer”, “Leshiy”, “Olga”, “Andromache”) and others who were already established writers, and some were much older and more experienced than Pushkin himself. However, after meeting him, they all felt the powerful impact of it, both human and creative.
The most common and popular theme of Golden Age poetry was friendly messages. The poets of the Pushkin era, Batyushkov and Zhukovsky, whom he considered his teachers, were its ancestors, but then this kind of poetry was perfected and continued by Pushkin himself. Alexander Sergeevich loved Batyushkov and called him “the playful philosopher” and “the Parnassian happy sloth”, as Batyushkov’s verses differed in euphony or, more precisely, musical sound. He was struck by an extraordinary alliteration, where the consonant “c” is repeated: “happiness will rise in spring”; “Prettier is spring”, etc.
Classmates-lyceum students
Then, his classmates-lyceum students and close friends should be included in this list: V.K. Kyukhelbeker (“Griboedov”, “Ode to Byron's death”, “Argivians”, “For 1829”, “The fate of Russian poets”), A. A. Delvig (“A. S. Pushkin”, “Tears of Love”, “Sonnet”, “Epilogue”) and A. D. Illichevsky (“Hope”, “October 19”, “Three Blind People”, “Fun” and reason ”,“ Mason and carpenter ”). By the way, Pushkin called the latter for his sincere charm “a gracious wit,” “friend and foe,” since he really was considered his main rival in poetry.
There were contemporaries on this list who met the great poet at different periods of his life, and, of course, thanks to their own giftedness and talent, they still found their way into the art of literature. These are N. M. Yazykov (“The Storm”, “Spring”, “A. S. Pushkin”, “Trigorskoye”, “Morning”), E. A. Baratynsky (“Achilles”, “Muse”, “Waterfall”) . Their creative paths were now approaching, then diverging from Pushkin.
You can add another group to this list - these are people who had very little talent, but, having experienced the powerful influence and charm of the personality of the genius Pushkin, very easily mastered the themes and ease of his clear and transparent poetic style. These are K. F. Ryleyev (“Ivan Susanin”, “Death of Ermak”, “Dimitry the Pretender”), F. A. Tumansky (“Bird”, “Elegy”, “Homeland”), V. I. Tumansky (“Odessa "," Singer "," Spit "," Reconciliation "), V. G. Teplyakov (" Loneliness "," White Pages "," Ghost "," My Old Woman "), D. P. Oznobishin (" Wreath ", “The Secret of the Prophet”, “Jealous Demon”, “Duma”), A. I. Podolinsky (“Lot”, “Portrait”, “Lesson”, “Star”), etc.
Copycats
This list included imitators and epigones of Pushkin, who were literally subdued by the poetic talent of the great genius (P. A. Pletnev, M. D. Delaryu, V. N. Shchastny, A. A. Shishkov, E. F. Rosen) .
In general, all the names mentioned are poets of the Pushkin era. Davydov, however, an older contemporary of Pushkin, has a place of honor in this list. Pushkin highly appreciated his poetic works, and he learned from him famously to "twist" poems.
Gusar Davydov had a unique and very original poetic voice. He put on a literary mask of a bold and reckless, witty, dashing and cheerful poet-reveler, a poet-grunt, who never hesitated to break the usual secular etiquette and decency, while he preferred the simplicity and directness of words to the cutesy mannerism, from which he was bored .
Hussar poet
Indeed, by no means angels were poets of the Pushkin era. Davydov Denis Vasilievich among valiant friends was ready for any feats, and between fights indulged in "free revelry." He did not tolerate careerists and servants, any treasury and drill. He always, even in moments of short rest, did not forget about the Fatherland and military duty to it. His poetry is unique in its own way, it originated in battles, campaigns and breaks between battles, and he was proud of it.
Very peculiar poets of the Pushkin era. Davydov Denis Vasilievich tried on the mask of the dashing hussar poet and riotous, so then he didn’t take her off anymore, as if he had grown together with her.
In his lyrics sounded "hussar" songs, satirical verses and love elegies, he created a new type of hero - a warrior-patriot, freedom-loving, active, with an open soul.
Vyazemsky - poet of the Pushkin era
In continuation of the topic, it is worth noting that Pushkin loved and respected Vyazemsky very much. It seemed to him that by nature a sharp and correct sense of modernity was laid in him. He was an unusually erudite man of encyclopedic knowledge.
In addition, Vyazemsky is an adherent and theorist of Russian romanticism. But in his writings, he liked to go into arguments that gave the works some dryness and slightly muffled the emotional-romantic mood. His poetic culture was very similar to Pushkinskaya. Vyazemsky considered himself the heir of the 18th century, a fan of French philosophers such as Voltaire, who represented the brilliant Age of Enlightenment.
Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky was formed as a poet thanks to his love of enlightenment and reason, he was attracted to liberalism, he was a freethinker, striving for useful civil and state activities. However, in his work he was conservative and most of all gravitated towards the traditional forms of poetry - a freedom-loving ode, a friendly message, a melancholy elegy, fables, parables, epigrams, satire and didactics.
A. A. Delvig
One of the poets of the Pushkin era is Anton Antonovich Delvig, who, unlike Vyazemsky, clothed his romanticism in classical genres. He used antique, ancient Roman and ancient Greek, poetic sizes and chose the idyll genre for his poetry. For example, the action of one plot takes place in cool silence under the canopy of trees at a sparkling source. His lyrical heroes are solid creatures that do not change their feelings and desires. One of his best poems is called “Idyll”. Here he talks about the beautiful love of two young people, which they have preserved for each other forever. In his lyrical sketches, he was able to convey the whole sublimity, depth and nobility of these tender feelings. Nature herself and the gods sympathized with them, and even when the heroes died, higher powers protected the flame of their love.
When reading Delvig’s works, it may seem that he is a belated classicist who appeared in romantic times (this suggests his style, size and genre, taken precisely from the classicists). But you should not rank him among them. Delvig is a true romantic, yearning for the long-lost antiquity, in that conventional world of classical harmony and harmony.
He is disappointed in modern society, where there has long been no true love and friendship, where a person feels discord with society, with himself and is afraid of the future. Delvig introduced the sorrow at the end of the Golden Age into the idyllic genre that is unusual for this genre.
Pushkin agreed with Delvig on this issue, he also understood that harmonious and beautiful would die sooner or later, but would return later, only in a completely different guise. Sorrows and tragedies, despondency and sadness, like everything beautiful, are temporary guests in this world and, alas, do not have power forever.
The magnificent crown of the so-called Golden Age is represented by poets of the Pushkin era. Delvig is another invaluable decoration.
N. M. Languages
The poetry of Nikolai Mikhailovich Yazykov, who wrote about the pathos of romantic freedom of man, was completely different in tone. He believed in it unrestrained and therefore joyfully and carelessly perceived life. Languages - a poet of the Pushkin era, who loved life and always rejoiced at its seething in all manifestations. This attitude did not depend on any philosophical or political views, it was reckless. Languages did not analyze and did not try to understand. His lyrics were aimed at the nature of man as a sovereign and free being. In some of his creations, a certain gloom and sadness still slip, but this is very rare, such cases are literally isolated. These states of the soul are not frightening, not exhausting, and are overcome quite easily.
The author’s poetic speech expressed a very clear and enthusiastic state, high spirits and great love of life. Hence its central genres - hymns and praises. Languages can be any genre, whether it is an elegy or song, romance or message, to transform into a hymn or praise. And delight and joy will definitely prevail in them.
In order to learn how to clearly express this romantic freedom as a delight of the soul, Yazykov turned to Pushkin, who helped bring his poetic style to perfection. Yazykov’s poems poured without barriers, the words literally clung to each other, having mastered the poetic period, he could extend his work without end. An example is the message “D. V. Davydov. "
E. A. Baratynsky
If contemporaries reproached Yazykov for the scarcity of thoughts, then in another poet, Baratynsky, readers were not satisfied with their excess.
When starting the work of Yevgeny Abramovich Baratynsky, first of all, it should be noted that after Pushkin this is the deepest poet of his generation, who came to literature after Zhukovsky and Batyushkov. Elegy and poems predominate in his poetry. He entered Russian poetry as an excellent elegiac poet.
The poets of the Pushkin era were very different in their creative ideas. Baratynsky was very different from his fellow writers Zhukovsky and Batyushkov, who always hoped for the best. Zhukovsky was convinced that eternal happiness awaits people in the afterlife and that it is there that they will find peace, tranquility and love. But Batyushkov after his “little philosophy”, in which he pointed out that a man was born for a quiet secluded life and love, once crashed and immediately began to seek salvation in religion.
But Baratynsky was disappointed in everything, he did not believe in the harmony of peace on earth, much less in heaven, and also doubted the possibility of happiness "here" and "there." In his opinion, a man is bifurcated and torn from the very beginning and therefore cannot find harmony with his soul or the world around him. He believed that such is the law of world order.
Baratynsky thinks very interestingly that the human body is mortal and attached to the earth, and the soul is constantly torn into the sky, and it is immortal. But often the soul does not withstand all earthly experiences and dies before the body, and the body, as it were, becomes deprived of reason and feelings, and therefore meaningless. He also thought that man was given passions, thanks to which he lives tightly and fully, but life itself is squeezed into a very narrow time frame of fate.
All these contradictions can neither disappear, nor be canceled, nor reconciled, since this is the law of being. Baratynsky is a skeptic, he is not so worried about the feeling of disappointment that arises with all this, like just thinking about him. He talks about life as the inevitable suffering for a person that accompanies him from birth to death.
In the work of Baratynsky contemporaries saw a talented poet, first of all, of the Pushkin school. But later his criticism did not understand his work. But Russian symbolists, he began to be perceived as a major and independent lyric philosopher, who tried to translate something deep and difficult to convey in the poetic lines.
Quantities
In the Pushkin era, poets did not always work in an atmosphere of peace and harmony. Their literary discussions often took place sharply, bitterly and uncompromisingly, polemical attacks in discussions very often wounded the pride of opponents.
As you can see, there were certain difficulties in literary life, but at the same time, the poetry of the so-called Pushkin era rapidly developed and reached a high culture. And of course, she owes this primarily to A.S. Pushkin, who deeply, on a brilliant level, comprehended the Russian mechanism for creating poetry and brought the words of poetry to an incomprehensible perfection.
In the Pushkin era, poets opened the golden age of Russian literature to us, which has remained an unsurpassed period of the sparkling creative flight of Russian muse. And now we have the opportunity to enjoy their magnificent labors.
Conclusion
Of course, not only Pushkin was inherent in mastery of the language of Russian poetry, but he was the Sun in the sky, which attracted to itself, like our planetary system, other bright and sparkling, clearly visible poetic planets, each of which had the ability to attract more smaller satellites.
Poets of the Pushkin era are the magnificent foundation of all Russian poetry. They must be acquainted with their work and, if possible, studied. Unfortunately, this galaxy of poets, nurtured by Pushkin’s time, is really very large, and there is no way to talk about each. All of them became the main decoration of the bohemian world of poetry.