The creative heritage of Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev is small: it consists of only a few journalistic articles and about 50 translated and 250 original poetic works, quite a few of which are unsuccessful. But some of the creations of this author are real pearls of poetry. The philosophical nature of Tyutchevâs lyrics contributes to the fact that interest in his work does not wane, because it touches on eternal themes. These poems to this day are unique in strength and depth of thought, due to which they are immortal.
Tyutchev, whose philosophical lyrics will be considered in this article, as a poet formed around the turn of the years 1820-1830. The masterpieces of his work belong to this period: âSummer Eveningâ, âInsomniaâ, âLast Cataclysmâ, âVisionâ, âCiceroâ, âAutumn Eveningâ, âSpring Watersâ, etc.
General characteristics of poetry
Imbued with intense passionate thought and at the same time a keen sense of the tragedy of life, Tyutchev's poetry expressed in the literary word all the contradictory nature and complexity of reality. His philosophical views were formed under the influence of the natural philosophical views of F. Schelling. The lyrics of Fedor Ivanovich are saturated with anxiety. Nature, man, the world appear in his creations in the eternal clash of various opposing forces. Man is by nature doomed to an âunequalâ, âhopelessâ battle, a âdesperateâ struggle with rock, life and himself. In particular, the poet gravitated to the image of thunderstorms and storms in the human soul and the world. Landscape images in his later verses are painted with Russian national color, in contrast to the early creations.
Features of philosophical lyrics
Together with E. A. Baratynsky F. I. Tyutchev - the most prominent representative of philosophical lyrics in our country in the 19th century. His artistic method reflects the movement from romanticism to realism, characteristic of the poetry of that time. The talent of Fyodor Ivanovich, a poet who readily appealed to the chaotic forces of being, was in itself something elemental. Tyutchev's philosophical lyrics in their ideological content are characterized not so much by diversity as by great depth. In this case, the last place is occupied by the motive of compassion, which can be found in poems such as "Let's go, Lord, your joy" and "Tears of men."
The uniqueness of Tyutchev's poetry
The limits set by the cognitive capabilities of man, the limitations of human knowledge, a description of nature, merging with it, joyless and gentle recognition of the limitations of love - these are the main motives of Tyutchev's philosophical lyrics. Another topic is the motive of the mystical and chaotic fundamental principle of all living things.
Tyutchev, whose philosophical lyrics are very interesting, is indeed an original and peculiar poet, if not to say, the only one in all literature. Such a refraction reflects all of his poetry. So, for example, the poems âOh, My Soul My Thingâ, âHoly Nightâ, âNight Skyâ, âNight Voicesâ, âMadnessâ, âDay and Nightâ and others represent a unique poetic philosophy of elemental disgrace, chaos and madness. Both echoes of love and descriptions of nature are imbued with this author's consciousness that a mysterious, fatal, terrible, negative essence is hidden behind all this. Therefore, the philosophical reflection of Fyodor Ivanovich is always imbued with sadness, admiration for rock, the consciousness of his limitations.
Periodization of the work of Fedor Ivanovich Tyutchev
The lesson "Tyutchev's Philosophical Lyrics" at school usually begins with the periodization of his work. Speaking of it, we can note the following stages in the development of poetry by this author.
1st period - 20th years. This is the initial period. The poems of Fedor Ivanovich at this time are mostly speculative, conditional. However, already in 1820, the poetry of the author is gradually imbued with philosophical thought. The main theme: the merging of everything together - and philosophy, and nature, and love.
2nd period - 30-40s. At this time, Fedor Ivanovich continues to be a poet of thought. The themes of nature and love are still relevant in his work, but disturbing motives sound in them. They are expressed in different colors and accents, for example, in poems on the theme of pilgrimage ("From edge to edge ...", etc.).
3rd period - 1850-1860. There is a deepening of disturbing motives that develop into a hopeless and gloomy perception of life.
Tyutchev, whose philosophical lyrics were very strong, which many contemporaries admitted, never cared to publish his works. The first large group of his creations was published with the help of I. S. Gagarin in Pushkin's Sovremennik in 1836-37. The next major publication is also connected with Sovremennik, it was in 1854, and the publication was prepared by I. S. Turgenev. 1868 - the last lifetime publication of works. And again Tyutchev is eliminated from his preparation, his son-in-law I. S. Aksakov is engaged in it.
The paradox of Tyutchevâs personality and work
This author never wrote in the genres in which the writers of his time created their works. He loved prose more than poetry. Fedor Ivanovich early praised Leo Tolstoy, was a fan of Turgenev.
Many researchers were interested in the philosophical lyrics of Tyutchev. An essay on this topic was created, for example, by F. Corniglo. In the book "Tyutchev. Poet philosopher", the author takes the statements of Fyodor Ivanovich from letters and builds a system of his views on them. But other, diametrically opposite, opinions can be extracted from the same notes. People who knew Tyutchev quite closely noted that he caused them bewilderment (cf. the statements of I.S. Aksakov, the poetâs son-in-law, and the letters of Annaâs daughter). The personality of Fyodor Ivanovich was characterized by duality: he seeks to be alone, but at the same time is afraid of it. The character of the author reflects, in particular, the philosophical theme in the lyrics of Tyutchev.
The influence of origin and environment on the lyrics of Tyutchev
Fedor Ivanovich was born in the Ovstug estate, located in the Bryansk district, in a family of poor parents. They spoke French at the parental home. The poetâs mother was very pious, so he learned archaic speech early on. The training of the future poet was led by S. E. Raich in Moscow. This man was a professor and a mediocre poet, a member of the Moscow poetry group: Burinsky, Merzlyakov, Milonov. They considered the poet-scientist to be an ideal, and the lyrics in their view are just the fruit of hard work.
Fedor Ivanovich began to write poetry very early. The poet created his early creations in Munich. He sent them to Russia, printed in the almanacs published by Raich. The name of Tyutchev at that time flashed among secondary poets.
Tyutchev's place in the literary process
Fedor Ivanovich is, as it were, outside of literature, since he did not adjoin any literary camps, did not participate in disputes.
The Karamzin era put forward the following opposition: amateur poet - scientist poet. In it, Tyutchev belonged rather to the first.
Unlike the representatives of the Moscow circle, the amateur poet leads a solitary life, he is a sloth, an ignoramus, an epicurean, should not serve anyone. âSlothâ is a man who has chopped off a tradition, with a fundamental orientation towards creative innovation.
Fyodor Ivanovich is often compared with another Russian poet - Afanasy Afanasevich Fet. And this is no coincidence. The philosophical lyrics of Fet and Tyutchev have much in common. Afanasy Afanasevich is an impressionist, his world is a world of momentary impressions: smells, sounds, colors, light, turning into another, into thoughts about being. Tyutchev is also often correlated with Baratynsky because of the common theme (philosophical lyrics), but his world is striving for unambiguity, terminology, which cannot be said about Fedor Ivanovich.
Tyutchevsky world
Any summary picture of the world of Tyutchev, especially created from diaries, letters, or as a result of an analysis of his creative heritage, is conditional. Fedor Ivanovich needs a system in order to get away from it. The horizons of his lyrics expand with the simultaneous projection of several glances.
According to Tynyanov, this author was a short-form poet, unlike his predecessor teachers (Trediakovsky, Bobrov). In fact, Fedor Ivanovich accepts the European tradition of writing short verses selectively and partially, substantially transforming it.
The center of the poet's worldview is the feeling of existence / nonexistence. Both in poetry and in letters, Fedor Ivanovich again and again returns to the question of the fragility of life. The poetâs art system is based on oppositions presence / absence, reality / irreality, space / time.
As we have already noted, Tyutchev is afraid of separation. He hates space, saying that it "devours us." That is why the poet warmly welcomes the railways, for him they are the winners of space.
At the same time, there are many poems by Tyutchev devoted to space. One of them is On the Return Path, created in 1859. In this work, the poet has both a thirst for being and a sense of its fragility, and on the other hand, the idea of ââdestruction. Tyutchev, whose philosophical lyrics are not easy, did not feel completely alive. Fedor Ivanovich compares his personality with a house whose windows are covered with chalk.
Being, therefore, with this author is the basis of everything. But the other side of existence, which is opposite to it, is also important - destruction of oneself, destruction (love, for example, is suicide). In this regard, the poem "Gemini" is interesting, the last line of which is "suicide and love!" - combines these two concepts into an indissoluble whole.
In Tyutchevâs world, the presence of a border is important: a line, a line and scare away, and organize. The idea of ââdestruction as a leitmotif organizes the entire "Denisievsky" cycle, which combines Tyutchev's love and philosophical lyrics.
The concept of "death" for the poet is very multifaceted. His inner rhyme with love Tyutchev. Philosophical lyrics, poems, built on the contrast, in particular, this is the whole world. The world of borders, overlaps. One stanza combines both light and shadow. This is typical, for example, for the beginning of the poem "Spring Water". It says that there is still snow in the fields, but the waters are already noisy.
It is interesting that L. V. Pumplyansky considered Tyutchev a representative of Baudelaire. The aesthetic beauty of death is depicted by the poem "Mal'aria" (translated - "Contaminated Air"). In the system of this work there are negative and positive: a beautiful world (the fragrance of roses, ringing streams, a transparent firmament) is also the world of death.
For Tyutchev, being is a momentary immediate reality that opposes destruction. In this sense, it is at the opposite pole of the concept of âtime,â since all that is past is all that is dead. But there is also a special power - memory (it is not by chance that so many poems are dedicated to it). Philosophical lyrics in the work of Tyutchev reveals this topic in great detail.
The motive of memory in the lyrics of Tyutchev
The poet has a painful attitude towards the memory, which is characterized by many imperatives: âRemember!â, âRemember!â and others. It can revive the past, but it does not become more real from this. In the letters, the poet repeatedly mentions that he does not like to remember, because he feels that memory is unreal. Upon returning to Russia from Germany after twenty years of absence, he met his old friends, and this clash of knowledge and vision with memories was painful for the poet.
For Tyutchev, the world of memory is double: it is terrible and poetic at the same time (since the real in the past is not so real in the present).
The things that are motionless, the more distinctly a groan is heard, the hum of time. Like life, death flows. The present is fragile, but there is no past, because it is only a shadow. But even today you can look at the shadow of the departed. Thus, the real is in the shadows. Being cannot exist without a shadow, Tyutchev believes. Philosophical lyrics, poems dedicated to being (in particular, âThe Last Cataclysmâ) are also the most important motive for life and death, not only human, but also the whole world. Tyutchev predicts that someday the end of nature will come, the earth will be covered by waters in which "God's face" is displayed.
Space and landscape in the work of the poet
Fyodor Ivanovich has space near time, but it is precisely time in spatial meaning. This is only a constant narrowing and expansion. There is another - household (horizontal). It should be overcome as negative, anti-human, Tyutchev believes. Philosophical lyrics analyze space on the other hand. Upwardly directed to infinity is always positively evaluated. But even more important is the downward direction, since there is the depth of infinity.
Tyutchevâs landscape-philosophical lyrics have their own characteristics. In the landscape, the poet clearly contrasts mountains and plains. Flat space is scary and terrible. The poet is happy that there are still mountains in the world ("On the way back"), the theme of their musicality occupies a special place in the landscape of this author.
The motive of the road in the work of Fedor Ivanovich Tyutchev
Philosophical lyrics of F. I. Tyutchev includes this motive. In the poem "The Wanderer" a road appears, and not at all metaphorical, in the work "I Lutheran love worship" it is identified with one moment: being at some point on the road is the only one.
For Tyutchev, all kinds of meetings, dates are life, and separation is death. The road signifies departure. Although it connects these two points, it detaches from the first, therefore it is marked negatively.
The philosophical system in the work of Tyutchev
As you can see, the Tyutchevsky world is rather complicated. However, this does not make him unsystematic. On the contrary, it is based on a deep semantic unity, which is understood as a combination and diversity. This is reflected in many works. So, in the poem "Wanderer" there is the idea of ââconnectedness (wanderer and Zeus) and the unity of diversity. A world moving for a traveler is immovable for Zeus. It is rich in diversity and represents the unity of the united, where the contrasts are one. In a number of other verses, however, this merging is evaluated negatively, has signs of a devastated, dead world. That which means fullness, wealth, is at the same time devastation.
So, the philosophical lyrics of F. I. Tyutchev is characterized by the fact that the main words are sometimes opposite in value and semantics. For each key concept, this poet has a number of meanings. Any work of Fyodor Ivanovich is built precisely as a darkening of thought, and not its clarification. The concept can mean both death and life.
Prophecy
The theme of prophecy is important in the work of Tyutchev. But she is revealed in a special way. But these are not the predictions of the Pushkin or Biblical seer - they are the prophecies of the Pythia. There must be a mediator between her and people, in other words a priest. The poet takes a sliding position: he is either a priest or a pythian. Tyutchev sometimes gives prophecies interpretations, but they, like the priestly ones, are far from unambiguous, and not completely clear. The reader must think independently, interpret (as in antiquity).
Peace and Poetry
For Fedor Ivanovich, the world is a mystery, and poetry is a double mystery. It is sinful, because, according to the author, doubles the sinfulness of the earth. You can solve the riddle, but you still need to be able to do it. The realities of the poet are emblems (that is, they are unambiguously interpreted), and not symbols (multi-valued). Although it should be noted the multiplicity of the meaning itself. Tyutchev suggests that the world itself is a mystery, it makes sense, meaning. The world is set by someone. But by whom? Letâs take Tyutchevâs poem "Not What You Think, Nature ...". It shows that in nature there is a sense. The world is talking to us, but not everyone hears it. Genesis is the Word spoken by someone for someone. And people cannot understand this unearthly language and remain deaf-mute ("Nature is the sphinx ...", written in 1869, and others).
Tyutchev's philosophical lyrics were briefly reviewed in this article. When writing it, the observations of Yuri Lotman , a famous literary critic, were used. You can turn to his works and supplement your knowledge by noting some other features of Tyutchevâs philosophical lyrics that were not considered in this article. Other sources can be used to study the work of Fedor Ivanovich, for example, the book by Irina Ilyinichna Kovtunova, "Essays on the Language of Russian Poets," in which you can find a chapter on the work of Tyutchev. Or turn to the book published in 1962, "Life and Work of Tyutchev," written by Cyril Vasilyevich Pigarev. We tried, albeit briefly, but as much as possible to comprehensively cover a given topic.