Russian literature was originally inherent in the spirit of high patriotism and fiery citizenship. The theme of the Motherland, the unity of its fate with its personal fate, an active public position and consciousness are traced in the works of most of our poets and writers. Even the first monuments of literature - "The Tale of Bygone Years", "The Word of Igor's Campaign", "Ipatiev Chronicle" - are imbued with ideas of serving their land, protecting it from encroachments from the outside, and defending its interests. Further, through the prose of Tolstoy, the poetry of Pushkin and Ryleev, Nekrasov and Blok, Anna Akhmatova, a special hero entered our literature - a citizen who consciously sacrifices himself, his personal feelings and addictions in the name of the common good.
“You are obliged to be a citizen” - the famous line of the Nekrasov verse, which has become winged, accurately characterizes the civic lyrics of the great Akhmatova. “I had a voice ...”, “Not with those I ...” and many of her other works on this subject reflect not only the poet’s great love for her Fatherland, but also her conscious sacrifice, her firm readiness to share the fate of the people, her compatriots, everything their joys, hardships and sufferings. Each poem by Akhmatova is a kind of page from a lyrical diary, a story about time and about herself, a poetic portrait of the era. Without thinking of herself outside the Motherland, she flatly refused to leave the country in the first wave of emigration, when many representatives of Russian culture, frightened by the revolutionary terror and death of their dear world of noble Russia, hurriedly left its borders. And later, steadily enduring the horror and ruin of the war, the chaos of
Stalin’s repressions, the arrest of her son and the monstrous lines at the Leningrad “Crosses”, she did not for a moment doubt the correctness of the decision once made. And during the years of World War II, this proud, brave, courageous woman was also “with her people”.
Anna Andreevna called herself the daughter of Leningrad. It was her city - the city of Pushkin and white nights, amazing architecture and a special cultural and creative mood, a city of inspiration and poetic muses. And therefore, the blockade of Leningrad, which the poetess experienced on herself, responds with such pain in her heart, gives rise to a passionate protest against the enemy and an ardent call to defend her native land, the Russian language is a symbol of culture, history, spiritual life of the people, embodied in a small, but surprising capacious content of the poem "Courage".
The analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Courage” is simple and complex at the same time. There is no confusing symbolism, vague imagery, experiments in the field of style. Hammered rhythm, strict solemnity of the verse, carefully verified vocabulary. Under his lines could walk the soldiers who from the parade on Red Square went to the front. And at the same time, the poem has a huge energy reserve, an amazing force of influence on readers and listeners. An analysis of Akhmatova’s poem reveals his high civic pathetics. Speaking on behalf of the entire Soviet people, the poetess uses the plural pronouns of the second and third person “we”, “us” (“we know”, “will not leave us”). Verbs are in the same grammatical forms. Thus, a generalized image of a people-defender is born, in a single impulse ready to sacrifice himself for the freedom of his native land.
The analysis of Akhmatova’s poem, revealing the figurative structure of the work, allows to highlight its ideological and semantic center. It lies in the name itself - in the word "courage".
This is a keyword in lyrical miniature. The heroes of the poem, including the author, are presented to us by people who are aware of the mortal danger hanging over them, over the Motherland, over the whole world. With a feeling of deep dignity, they are ready to fulfill their duty, and they will not be stopped by any possible death (“do not be afraid to lie under bullets”), or the severity of military life. For the sake of future generations, so that the great Russian language remains free, so that Russian speech can be heard in all corners of the country - for this you can endure everything, endure everything and win! Here it is, true courage and heroism worthy of respect and admiration!
An analysis of Akhmatova’s poem makes it possible to grasp not only the “imperative of the moment”, the call to defend the country, but also a kind of message into the future for those generations that will replace the current ones. Indeed, she calls on the “Russian word” not only to transmit to descendants, but to preserve it forever, that is, forever, forever. So that the Russian people would never kneel down, that they would not allow themselves to be turned into slaves, to destroy their language and genetic memory, which is hidden in it.
In fact, written in February of the distant 42nd year, the poem "Courage" will always be relevant - as the covenant of future generations to come, the covenant to save life, freedom, peace.