History of creation. Ode "Felitsa" (1782), the first poem that made the name of Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin famous. It became a vivid example of a new style in Russian poetry. The subtitle of the poem specifies: “Ode to the wise Kirghiz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by Tatarsky Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and who lives on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic. Own unusual name this work received on behalf of the heroine "Tales of Tsarevich Chlorus", the author of which was Catherine II herself. This name, which in Latin means happiness, is also named in Derzhavin's ode, which glorifies the empress and satirically characterizes her surroundings.
It is known that at first Derzhavin did not want to publish this poem and even hid the authorship, fearing the revenge of the influential nobles, satirically depicted in it. But in 1783 it became widespread and, with the assistance of Princess Dashkova, close empress, it was published in the journal Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word, in which Catherine II herself collaborated. Subsequently, Derzhavin recalled that this poem so touched the empress that Dashkova found her in tears. Catherine II wanted to know who wrote the poem in which she was depicted so accurately. In gratitude to the author, she sent him a golden snuffbox with five hundred chervonets and an expressive inscription on the package: "From Orenburg from the Kirghiz Princess to Murza Derzhavin." From that day on, Derzhavin gained literary fame, which no Russian poet had known before.
Main themes and ideas. The poem "Felitsa", written as a playful sketch of the life of the Empress and her entourage, at the same time raises very important issues. On the one hand, in the ode "Felitsa" a completely traditional image of a "god-like princess" is created, which embodies the poet's idea of the ideal of an enlightened monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:
Give, Felitsa, guidance:
How magnificently and truthfully to live,
How to tame passions excitement
And be happy in the world?
On the other hand, in the poet's verses, the thought sounds not only about the wisdom of power, but also about the negligence of performers who are concerned about their own benefit:
Everywhere temptation and flattery lives,
Luxury oppresses all pashas.
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
In itself, this idea was not new, but behind the images of the nobles drawn in the ode, the features clearly appeared real people:
I circle my thought in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
I turn arrows to the Turks;
That, having dreamed that I am a sultan,
I frighten the universe with a look;
Then suddenly, he was seduced by the outfit.
I'm going to the tailor on the caftan.
In these images, the poet's contemporaries easily recognized the favorite of the Empress Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles offended by him could do away with the author for this. Only the favorable attitude of Catherine saved Derzhavin.
But even to the empress, he dares to give advice: to follow the law, which is subject to both kings and their subjects:
You alone are only decent,
Princess, create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
Strengthen their integrity with a union;
From disagreement - consent
And from ferocious passions happiness
You can only create.
This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded bold, and it was expressed in simple and understandable language.
The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:
Heavenly I ask for strength,
Yes, stretching their sapphire wings,
Invisibly you are kept
From all diseases, evils and boredom;
Yes, your deeds in the offspring sounds,
Like stars in the sky, they will shine.
Artistic originality.
Classicism forbade combining a high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin does not even simply combine them in characterizing different persons depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. Violating the traditions of the genre of laudatory ode, Derzhavin widely introduces into it colloquial vocabulary and even vernacular, but most importantly, he does not draw a ceremonial portrait of the Empress, but depicts her human appearance. That is why everyday scenes, a still life turn out to be in the ode;
Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table.
The “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in everyday life (“Not cherishing your peace, / You read, you write under a veil ...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if accurately written off from nature. Reading the poem "Felitsa", you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the background of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems vivid, memorable and understandable.
Thus, in Felitsa, Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of the ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of "Felitsa" as a mixed ode. Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where they praised government officials, military leaders, solemn events were sung, in a "mixed ode" "a poet can talk about everything." Destroying the genre canons of classicism, with this poem he opens the way for a new poetry - "poetry of the real ™", which received a brilliant development in Pushkin's work.
The value of the work. Derzhavin himself subsequently noted that one of his main merits was that he "dared to proclaim Felitsa's virtues in a funny Russian syllable." As rightly pointed out by the researcher of the poet V.F. Khodasevich, Derzhavin was proud "not that he had discovered the virtues of Catherine, but that he was the first to speak in a "funny Russian style." He understood that his ode was the first artistic embodiment of Russian life, that it was the germ of our novel. And, perhaps, - Khodasevich develops his thought, - had "old Derzhavin" lived at least until the first chapter of Onegin, he would have heard echoes of his ode in it.
- the largest phenomenon in Russian literature of the XVIII century. He is known mainly for his odes, besides which he also left wonderful lyrics. Observing as if external forms classicism, Derzhavin in his odes made a whole poetic revolution: he breaks with the conditional requirements of classicism where they interfere with his poetic work. So, for example, he introduces a satirical element into laudatory odes, moves from a high solemn style to the most simple, sometimes jocular tone; uses simple words, ordinary expressions, not observing the "high calm", which Lomonosov and Sumarokov strictly adhered to.
We see all this already in the ode “Felitsa”, which made Derzhavin famous (see its full text and analysis on our website).
Derzhavin. Felitsa. Oh yeah
The name "Felitsa", in which Derzhavin personifies Empress Catherine II, is taken from her own fairy tale " About Tsarevich Chlor».
"God-like princess
Kirghiz-Kaisatsky hordes,
Whose wisdom is incomparable
Discovered the right tracks
Tsarevich young Chlor
Climb that high mountain
Where a rose without thorns grows
Where virtue dwells:
Give, find her, advice.
This is how Derzhavin begins his ode. Praising Ekaterina - Felitsa, he talks about her tastes and lifestyle, comparing her with the nobles around her, whom he calls "Murzas". He also calls himself "Murza", hinting at his Tatar origin; - but often this Murza, on whose behalf an ode is written, depicts one of the famous nobles - Potemkin, Orlov, Naryshkin, Vyazemsky; Derzhavin mercilessly ridicules them.
Portrait of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin. Artist V. Borovikovsky, 1811
In contrast to her nobles, Catherine loves simplicity:
“Murzam does not imitate his own,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table.
Don't value your peace
Reading, writing before laying
And all from your pen
Bliss is shed on mortals!
Then follow the portraits of various nobles. Potemkin is beautifully depicted, - "The magnificent prince of Taurida", with his huge state plans, fantastic luxury and rich feasts:
"And I, sleeping until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday
I circle my thought in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
I turn arrows to the Turks,
1. In 1781, it was printed, in a small number of copies, written by Catherine for her five-year-old grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, The Tale of Prince Chlorine. Chlor was the son of a prince, or king of Kyiv, who was kidnapped by the Kirghiz Khan during his father's absence. Wanting to believe the rumor about the boy's abilities, the khan ordered him to find a rose without thorns. The prince went with this assignment. On the way, he met the Khan's daughter, cheerful and amiable. Felitsa. She wanted to go to see off the prince, but her stern husband, Sultan Bruzga, prevented her from doing so, and then she sent her son, Reason, to the child. Continuing the journey, Chlorine was subjected to various temptations, and among other things, he was called into the hut by his Murza Lentyag, who, by the temptations of luxury, tried to divert the prince from an enterprise too difficult. But Reason forcibly drew him further. At last they saw in front of them a steep rocky mountain, on which grows a rose without thorns, or, as one young man explained to Chlorus, virtue. Climbing the mountain with difficulty, the prince plucked this flower and hurried to the khan. Khan sent him along with the rose to Kyiv prince. “This one was so happy about the arrival of the prince and his successes that he forgot all the melancholy and sadness .... Here the fairy tale ends, and whoever knows more will tell another.”
This tale gave Derzhavin the idea to write an ode to Felitsa (the goddess of bliss, as he explained this name): since the empress loved funny jokes, he says, this ode was written in her taste, at the expense of her close associates.
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18. Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously etc. - a hint at the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the "Institution on the provinces", according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces. ()
19. That she renounced and be reputed to be wise. - Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of "Great", "Wise", "Mother of the Fatherland", which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for the development of a draft new code; she did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title of "Great" for her. (
In a desire to please the empress, he took as the basis of his work her own work, shortly before that published in a small edition. Naturally, for a brightly talented poet, this story played more rich colors, in addition, introducing into the history of Russian versification new style and made the poet a celebrity.
Analysis of the ode
"Felitsa" is provided with a subtitle that clarifies the purpose of writing this work. It refers to the appeal to wise princess Tatar Murza, who settled in Moscow, but is on business in St. Petersburg. The reader is also mystified by the fact that the ode was allegedly translated from Arabic. The analysis of the ode "Felitsa" should be started with a name that does not sound native to either Russians or Arabs.
The fact is that this is exactly what Catherine II called her heroine in her fairy tale about Tsarevich Chlorine. Served as the soil for the Italian language (here you can remember someone like Cutugno with the exclamation "Felicita") Latin translates the word "felitsa" (Felitsa - felicitas) as happiness. Thus, from the first line, Derzhavin began to exalt the empress, then he could not resist satire in the descriptions of her environment.
Artistic synthesis
An analysis of the ode "Felitsa" shows the setting for the ordinary, accepted at that time, solemn laudatory ode to the date. Written in the traditional stanza of the ode - ten lines, and, as expected, But before Derzhavin, no one had dared to merge two genres that were opposite in their target orientation - a majestic laudatory ode and a caustic
The first was the ode "Felitsa". Derzhavin, as it were, "stepped back" in his innovation, judging by the exactly fulfilled conditions of the genre, at least in comparison with "Poems for Birth", which are not even separated by a stanza. However, this impression disappears as soon as the reader overcomes the first few stanzas. Still, even the composition of the Felitsa ode is a much broader artistic synthesis.
Fairy tale "Felice"
It is interesting to consider what motives inspired Derzhavin to compose this "fan fiction", what served as the fundamental basis and whether this topic was worthy of continuation. Apparently, worthy, and very much. Catherine II wrote her fairy tale for her grandson, so far small, but in the future the great Alexander I. In the Empress's fairy tale, we are talking about the Kiev prince Chlor, who was visited by the Kirghiz Khan to check whether the prince is really as smart and dexterous as they say about him.
The boy agreed to pass the test and find the rarest flower - a rose without thorns - and set off. On the way, having responded to the invitation of Murza Lentyag (a telling name), the prince tries to resist the temptations of that luxury and idleness with which Lentyag tempts him. Fortunately, this Kirghiz khan had a very good daughter, who was called Felice, and an even better grandson, who was called Reason. Felitsa sent her son with the prince, who went out with the help of Reason to the goal of his path.
Bridge between fairy tale and ode
Before them was a steep mountain, without paths and stairs. Apparently, the prince himself was quite stubborn, because, despite the enormous work and trials, he nevertheless climbed to the top, where he adorned his life with a rose without thorns, that is, with virtue. An analysis of the ode "Felitsa" shows that, as in any fairy tale, the images here are conditionally allegorical, but in Derzhavin at the beginning of the ode they stand very firmly, and all odic beginnings classic designs, where climbing Parnassus and communicating with the muses will certainly fade next to the seemingly simple images of a children's fairy tale.
Even the portrait of Catherine (Felitsa) is given in a completely new manner, which is completely different from the traditional laudatory description. Usually in the odes, the honored character appears in the inexpressive image of the goddess, walking along the solemn booming rhymes of the verse with heavy rhythmic shortness of breath. Here the poet is inspired, and - most importantly - equipped with poetic skill. Poems are not lame and are not inflated with excessive pathos. The plan of the ode "Felitsa" is such that Catherine appears before the reader as a smart, but simple and active Kyrgyz-Kaisat princess. It plays well on the harmony of the construction of this image and the contrast - the image of Murza, vicious and lazy, which Derzhavin uses throughout the ode. Hence the unprecedented genre diversity that distinguishes the ode "Felitsa".
Derzhavin and the Empress
The position of the singer here also changes in relation to the subject of chanting, if we consider not only all previous Russian literature, but even the poems of Derzhavin himself. Sometimes a certain god-likeness of the queen still slips in the ode, but with all this and with the general respect that the Felitsa ode demonstrates, the content also shows a certain shortness of the relationship, not familiarity, but the warmth of almost family intimacy.
But in satirical lines, Derzhavin can sometimes be understood ambiguously. The collective features of the image of Murza ridicule all of Catherine's nobles in turn, and it is here that the poet does not forget himself. Auto-irony is all the more rare in the poetry of those years. The author's "I" is not devoid of lyrics, but it is clearly made clear that "This is Felitsa, I am depraved!", "Today I rule over myself, and tomorrow I am a slave to whims." The appearance of such an author's "I" in the ode is a fact of great artistic significance. Lomonosov also began odes with "I", but as a loyal slave, while Derzhavin's author is concrete and alive.
Narrative from the author
Naturally, the composition of the ode "Felitsa" would not have sustained a full-fledged author's individuality. Derzhavin most often gives under the author's "I" a conventional image of a singer, which is usually always present in odes, just as in satires. But there is a difference: in the ode the poet plays only sacred delight, and in satire only indignation. Derzhavin combined "one-stringed" genres by creating a living human poet, with an absolutely concrete life, with a variety of feelings and experiences, with the "multi-stringed" music of verse.
An analysis of the ode "Felitsa" certainly notes not only delight, but also anger, blasphemy and praise in one bottle. Along the way, he manages to dissemble, ironically. That is, he behaves throughout the entire work as a completely normal and living person. And it should be noted that this individual personality has undoubted features of the nationality. In an ode! And now such a case would be unprecedented if someone in our time wrote odic poetry.
About genres
Ode "Felitsa", the content of which is so rich in contradictions, as if warm sunbeams warmed by light colloquial speech from the reality of everyday life, light, simple, sometimes playful, which directly contradicts the laws of this genre. Moreover, there was a genre revolution, almost a revolution.
It must be clarified that Russian classicism did not know poetry as "simply poetry." All poetry was strictly divided into genres and types, sharply demarcated, and these boundaries were unshakable. Ode, satire, elegy and other types of poetic creativity could not mix with each other.
Here, the traditional categories of classicism are completely broken after the organic fusion of ode and satire. This applies not only to Felitsa, Derzhavin did this both earlier and later. For example, the ode "To death is half an elegy. Genres become polyphonic with light hand Derzhavin.
Success
A colossal success went to this ode immediately after its publication: "Everyone who can read Russian has found it in the hands of" - according to a contemporary. At first, Derzhavin was wary of widely publishing the ode, he tried to hide the authorship (probably, the depicted and very recognizable nobles were vindictive), but then Princess Dashkova appeared and published "Felitsa" in the magazine "Interlocutor", where Catherine II herself did not hesitate to cooperate.
The empress liked the ode very much, she even wept with delight, ordered the authorship to be immediately exposed, and when this happened, she sent Derzhavin a golden snuffbox with a dedicatory inscription and five hundred chervonets in it. It was after this that real fame came to the poet.
Ode "Felitsa" (1782) is the first poem that made the name of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin famous, becoming an example of a new style in Russian poetry.
The ode got its name from the name of the heroine "Tales of Tsarevich Chlorine", the author of which was Catherine II herself. By this name, which in Latin means happiness, she is also named in Derzhavin's ode, which glorifies the empress and satirically characterizes her surroundings.
The history of this poem is very interesting and revealing. It was written a year before publication, but Derzhavin himself did not want to print it and even hid the authorship. And suddenly, in 1783, news spread around St. Petersburg: an anonymous ode “Felitsa” appeared, where the vices of famous nobles close to Catherine II, to whom the ode was dedicated, were deduced in a comic form. Petersburg residents were quite surprised by the courage of the unknown author. They tried to get the ode, read it, rewrite it. Princess Dashkova, close to the Empress, decided to publish an ode, and in the very magazine where Catherine II herself collaborated.
The next day, Dashkova found the Empress all in tears, and in her hands was a magazine with Derzhavin's ode. The Empress asked who wrote the poem, in which, as she herself said, she portrayed her so accurately that she was moved to tears. This is how Derzhavin tells this story.
Indeed, violating the traditions of the genre of laudatory ode, Derzhavin widely introduces colloquial vocabulary and even vernacular into it, but most importantly, he does not draw a ceremonial portrait of the empress, but depicts her human appearance. That is why everyday scenes, a still life turn out to be in the ode:
Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table.
Classicism forbade the combination of high ode and satire, which belonged to low genres, in one work. But Derzhavin does not even just combine them in the characterization of different persons, bred in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. The “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in an ordinary way (“You often walk on foot ...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make it more real, humane, as if accurately written off from nature.
But not everyone liked this poem as much as the Empress. It puzzled and alarmed many of Derzhavin's contemporaries. What was so unusual and even dangerous about him?
On the one hand, in the ode "Felitsa" a completely traditional image of a "god-like princess" is created, which embodies the poet's idea of the ideal of the Right Reverend Monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:
Give, Felitsa, guidance:
How magnificently and truthfully to live,
How to tame passions excitement
And be happy in the world?
On the other hand, in the poet's verses, the thought sounds not only about the wisdom of power, but also about the negligence of performers who are concerned about their own benefit:
Everywhere temptation and flattery lives,
Luxury oppresses all pashas.
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
In itself, this idea was not new, but behind the images of the nobles drawn in the ode, the features of real people clearly appeared:
I circle my thought in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
I turn arrows to the Turks;
That, having dreamed that I am a sultan,
I frighten the universe with a look;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm going to the tailor on the caftan.
In these images, the poet's contemporaries easily recognized the favorite of the Empress Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles offended by him could do away with the author for this. Only the favorable attitude of Catherine saved Derzhavin.
But even to the empress, he dares to give advice: to follow the law, which is subject to both kings and their subjects:
You alone are only decent,
Princess, create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
Strengthen their integrity with a union;
From disagreement to agreement
And from ferocious passions happiness
You can only create.
This favorite idea of Derzhavin sounded bold and was expressed in simple and understandable language.
The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:
Heavenly I ask for strength,
Yes, their outstretched safir wings,
Invisibly you are kept
From all diseases, evils and boredom;
Yes, your deeds in the offspring sounds,
Like stars in the sky, they will shine.
Thus, in Felitsa, Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of the ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of "Felitsa" as a "mixed ode". Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the ode traditional for classicism, where statesmen, military leaders were praised, a solemn event was sung, in a "mixed ode", "a poet can talk about everything."
Reading the poem "Felitsa", you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems vivid, memorable and understandable not only for people of his time. And now we can read with interest the poems of this remarkable poet, separated from us by a huge distance of two and a half centuries.
