A. Tvardovsky had a difficult time - the Great Patriotic War, post-war devastation, years of great upheaval, construction of a new world. But no matter how severe the trials, he always remained faithful to the ideals of serving the Motherland. That is why he volunteered for the war and was with his country through thick and thin. The word “homeland” itself contains a great meaning - something native, close, dear.
The theme of the Motherland is opened by the poem “About the Motherland” (1946). The author shows the vast expanses of Russia, its geography, famous places: “the warm sea of Crimea”, “the coast of the Caucasus”, “a fishing village on the Volga”, “the heart of the Urals”, new cities of Siberia and the Far East. The picture of the country gives rise to a feeling of scale, superiority, and pride. But this love for the big country is closely intertwined with the love for the “small homeland.” At first glance, she appears unremarkable. But her modest, simple description is imbued with the sincere love of the lyrical hero. For him, this small, unknown side is the best place on earth. Here are his roots, his heart:
The side is not rich in anything,
And that’s already dear to me,
What's there at random sometime
My soul was born.
He remembers her during the war, in foreign countries. Over the years, it becomes more and more dear. Here he experienced happiness and learned the “sacrament of his native speech.” Through his small homeland, the poet sees a huge country and feels responsibility for it. It is with love for the small homeland, mother, that love for the whole country begins, patriotism is born, which made it possible to win a difficult war. And no matter where life takes you, no matter how it changes, a deep feeling for his small native land is alive in his heart:
But only before and now
My side is dearer to me -
For one reason only,
That you only get one life.
It would seem that the poet is speaking old, familiar words, but they touch the soul with their sincerity, simplicity and sincerity. It is the feeling of love, affection, closeness to one’s native land that gives a person strength and moral support. This is not loud pathos, but a simple truth, which A. Tvardovsky defends.
The theme of the Motherland is present in almost every poem by A. Tvardovsky. In the program poem “I was killed near Rzhev,” the image of the mother turns from concrete to symbolic. He personifies all of Russia. Naive and close to the heart motives of the Motherland are heard in the poem “Vasily Terkin” (the return of a soldier to the Smolensk region), in “The Country of Ant”:
The earth in length and breadth -
All around us.
Sow one bobble
And that one is yours.
The theme of the present and future of Russia becomes the main one in the poem “Beyond the Distance.” The poem was completed in the early 60s. The basis of the plot is the journey of the lyrical hero across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express. The journey lasts ten days. First, the author shows the geography of Russia. At the same time, it receives a historical and philosophical explanation. Therefore, the road takes on a symbolic character. This is a symbol of Russian life. Along with the endless expanses, the author also depicts specific manifestations of her life. The lyrical hero crosses the “middle of his native land” - the Volga, then the Urals, taiga Siberia, and the Far East. These geographical images also take on symbolic overtones. The Volga is traditionally associated with Stepan Razin, barge haulers, and later with the construction of the Volga-Don Canal, which expanded the capabilities of this river. That is why the author affectionately calls it Mother Volga, which absorbs seven thousand rivers. The Urals, the supporting edge of the state, are poetically depicted. This is the main forge of the country. During the war years, it provided the troops with equipment. The description of Siberia allows the author to talk about courageous and strong Siberians. They will never let you down or betray you.
If the description of the Volga, Ural, Siberia is given from the train window, then on the Angara the lyrical hero becomes a direct participant in the events. He composes a hymn to human labor and compares the conquest of the Angara with a battle on the battlefield. Nature resembles a living creature that resists people. The Angara is boiling more and more, but conquest will definitely happen. The author admires the courage of the builders and describes their work as a feat. At the same time, it shows that among the people there are opportunists who went to Siberia for the “big ruble.” The theme of “small homeland” arises again in the poem. The story about Father Ural evokes in the memory of the lyrical hero a picture of childhood. The chapter “Two Forges” shows the Urals and Zagorye, without which the lyrical hero cannot imagine his life. If the Urals are the forge of all Russia, then Zagorye is the forge of the author. Here he touches on the topic of the historical past. At the Taishet station, the lyrical hero meets his childhood friend. The friend’s story shocks the hero, as he survived the terrible times of the cult of personality. Thus, each chapter of the poem is symbolic; it opens the reader one distance after another. The word “distance” itself takes on a different meaning – it is not only a natural phenomenon, but also the future of Russia:
Thank you, Motherland, for the happiness
To be with you on your journey.
Behind a new difficult pass -
Take a breath
Together with you.
…. She is mine - your victory,
She is mine - your sadness...
A. Tvardovsky never separated himself from the fate of his country. The lines from the song can rightly be attributed to him: “... to be sad with you, my land, and to celebrate with you.” Indeed, the word “Motherland” should not be an abstract concept. She is inseparable from us. This is part of our soul, our strength. Preserving its traditions and increasing its wealth depends on us. The responsibility of everyone for their own destiny, for their fatherland, ultimately determines our future.
Undoubtedly, war lyrics occupies a significant place in the work of A.T. Tvardovsky, but the poet’s works also touch on other topics – theme of the motherland, poet and poetry, love etc.
The theme of “small homeland” was one of the dominant themes in Tvardovsky’s lyrics. The poet was born in the village of Zagorye, Smolensk province, who was forever embodied in the famous lines. These are the poems “A Thousand Miles Away”, “I Remember How My Grandfather Died”, “About the Motherland”, “Cruel Memory”, “Behind the Open Window”, etc.
In the poem “About the Motherland,” the poet paints colorful pictures of those famous lands in which he could have been born - Crimea, Volga, Ural, Siberia. Tvardovsky admits that his native side is still dearer to him, albeit unknown, but his own, if only because it was in its vastness that his soul was born:
But only before and now
My side is dearer to me–
For one reason only,
That you only get one life.
Tvardovsky’s theme of the homeland forever merges with the images of the people the poet loves. In the poem “I remember how my grandfather died,” the pain from the loss of my grandfather takes on a philosophical sound - the author talks about death and the memory that a person leaves behind:
I believe that my departure, too,
Appointed for tomorrow or for old age,
Will invite living friends to participate–
And I will not be left alone with death.
In his poems (“Country Ant”, “Vasily Terkin”, “House by the Road”) Tvardovsky declared himself as a a poet of epic proportions. The epic nature of the poet’s talent is also noticeable in his lyrical cycles (“In Memory of Mother”), related to the theme of “small homeland.”
“In Memory of a Mother” includes both the poet’s reflections on the tragic fate of his mother and a philosophical rethinking of the meaning of the mother in the fate of every person. Maria Mitrofanovna was repressed and taken to Siberia in 1930. In his cycle, Tvardovsky captured the grief of the Russian soul for its native places, longing for its former life. It is no coincidence that the cycle often contains notes of folk songs, harmoniously flowing into the poet’s lines. One of the main motives of the cycle was motive of separation. The author philosophically rethinks separation from his mother - not the one dictated by death, but hundreds of small separations that happen when a young soul strives for freedom - into an independent life:
... give us handkerchiefs and socks
Kind hands will lay them down,
And we, fearing delay,
We are eager for the appointed separation.
“In Memory of Mother” also became evidence of the awareness of collectivization and dispossession as a national tragedy.
A large place in Tvardovsky’s lyrics is occupied by traditional dl. 
In Russian literature, the theme of the poet and poetry: “About Existence”, “To Fellow Writers”, “A Word about Words”, “To My Critics”, etc. “Take heart for a difficult task, // Fight, rage and get into trouble"- this is the author’s creative credo. Tvardovsky actively defended the right to his own literary style, to the relevance and timelessness of his works. The poet understands creativity as a discovery, and vanity, everyday routine and fame are perceived by him as pathetic and petty misunderstandings. The most authoritative poet, editor of Novy Mir, Tvardovsky could speak openly with his contemporaries, defending the principle “ without retreating, be yourself". The poet was extremely demanding of himself and his colleagues: “It’s true, it’s not the gods who fire the pots, // But it’s the masters who fire them!” Considering that " a word is also a matter", the poet placed enormous responsibility on those who were given the talent and desire to speak.
Poems about love are few in number in Tvardovsky's works. As a rule, love is understood broadly by the poet: it is a feeling for a woman, and a feeling for one’s native land, it is both friendship and deep affection. The main thing for the author is a feeling of kinship with a loved one (homeland, etc.), a feeling of “elbow”.
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A. Tvardovsky had a difficult time - the Great Patriotic War, post-war devastation, years of great upheaval, construction of a new world. But no matter how severe the trials, he always remained faithful to the ideals of serving the Motherland. That is why he volunteered for the war and was with his country through thick and thin. The word “homeland” itself contains a great meaning - something native, close, dear.
The theme of the Motherland is opened by the poem “About the Motherland” (1946). The author shows the vast expanses of Russia, its geography, famous places: “the warm sea of Crimea”, “the coast of the Caucasus”, “a fishing village on the Volga”, “the heart of the Urals”, new cities of Siberia and the Far East. The picture of the country gives rise to a feeling of scale, superiority, and pride. But this love for the big country is closely intertwined with the love for the “small homeland.” At first glance, she appears unremarkable. But her modest, simple description is imbued with the sincere love of the lyrical hero. For him, this small, unknown side is the best place on earth. Here are his roots, his heart:
The side is not rich in anything,
And that’s already dear to me,
What's there at random sometime
My soul was born.
He remembers her during the war, in foreign countries. Over the years, it becomes more and more dear. Here he experienced happiness and learned the “sacrament of his native speech.” Through his small homeland, the poet sees a huge country and feels responsibility for it. It is with love for the small homeland, mother, that love for the whole country begins, patriotism is born, which made it possible to win a difficult war. And no matter where life takes you, no matter how it changes, a deep feeling for his small native land is alive in his heart:
But only before and now
My side is dearer to me -
For one reason only,
That you only get one life.
It would seem that the poet is speaking old, familiar words, but they touch the soul with their sincerity, simplicity and sincerity. It is the feeling of love, affection, closeness to one’s native land that gives a person strength and moral support. This is not loud pathos, but a simple truth, which A. Tvardovsky defends.
The theme of the Motherland is present in almost every poem by A. Tvardovsky. In the programmatic poem “I was killed near Rzhev,” the image of the mother turns from concrete to symbolic. He personifies all of Russia. Naive and close to the heart motives of the Motherland are heard in the poem “Vasily Terkin” (the return of a soldier to the Smolensk region), in “The Country of Ant”:
The earth in length and breadth -
All around us.
Sow one bobble
And that one is yours.
The theme of the present and future of Russia becomes the main one in the poem “Beyond the Distance.” The poem was completed in the early 60s. The plot is based on the journey of the lyrical hero across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express. The journey lasts ten days. First, the author shows the geography of Russia. At the same time, it receives a historical and philosophical explanation. Therefore, the road takes on a symbolic character. This is a symbol of Russian life. Along with the endless expanses, the author also depicts specific manifestations of her life. The lyrical hero crosses the “middle of his native land” - the Volga, then the Urals, taiga Siberia, and the Far East. These geographical images also take on symbolic overtones. The Volga is traditionally associated with Stepan Razin, barge haulers, and later with the construction of the Volga-Don Canal, which expanded the capabilities of this river. That is why the author affectionately calls it Mother Volga, which absorbs seven thousand rivers. The Urals, the supporting edge of the state, are poetically depicted. This is the main forge of the country. During the war years, it provided the troops with equipment. The description of Siberia allows the author to talk about courageous and strong Siberians. They will never let you down or betray you.
If the description of the Volga, the Urals, and Siberia is given from the train window, then on the Angara the lyrical hero becomes a direct participant in the events. He composes a hymn to human labor and compares the conquest of the Angara with a battle on the battlefield. Nature resembles a living creature that resists people. The Angara is boiling more and more, but conquest will definitely happen. The author admires the courage of the builders and describes their work as a feat. At the same time, it shows that among the people there are opportunists who went to Siberia for the “big ruble.” The theme of “small homeland” arises again in the poem. The story about Father Ural evokes in the memory of the lyrical hero a picture of childhood. The chapter “Two Forges” shows the Urals and Zagorye, without which the lyrical hero cannot imagine his life. If the Urals are the forge of all Russia, then Zagorye is the forge of the author. Here he touches on the topic of the historical past. At the Taishet station, the lyrical hero meets his childhood friend. The friend’s story shocks the hero, as he survived the terrible times of the cult of personality. Thus, each chapter of the poem is symbolic, it opens the reader one distance after another. The word “distance” itself takes on a different meaning – it is not only a natural phenomenon, but also the future of Russia:
Thank you, Motherland, for the happiness
To be with you on your journey.
Behind a new difficult pass -
Take a breath
Together with you.
…. She is mine - your victory,
She is mine - your sadness...
A. Tvardovsky never separated himself from the fate of his country. The lines from the song can rightly be attributed to him: “... to be sad with you, my land, and to celebrate with you.” Indeed, the word “Motherland” should not be an abstract concept. She is inseparable from us. This is part of our soul, our strength. Preserving its traditions and increasing its wealth depends on us. The responsibility of everyone for their own destiny, for their fatherland, ultimately determines our future.
I. Introduction………………………………………………………3
II. Understanding and description of the Great Patriotic War in the works of A.T. Tvardovsky.………………………5
1. Biographical information…………………………………..5
2. The theme of war in the poetic works of A.T. Tvardovsky………………………………………………………7
3. “Vasily Terkin” - a poem about a soldier………………………13
III. Conclusion…………………………………………………….14
IV. List of references…………………………17
I. In any turbulent time in Russia, poets and writers reacted sensitively to the hardships of historical times. Likewise, the Great Patriotic War could not help but stir up creative people. They empathized with the defenders of the Fatherland, trying to inspire them to new feats of arms, and sang heroes. The war left a significant layer of military essays, sketches and reports, that is, during this period the journalistic genre flourished. But poetry also played an important role in any wartime, since poetry could tune up a soldier and raise his morale. Writers and poets were present at the front, so they could get the most vivid impression of people's military life. It must be said that the traditions of describing military actions in Russian classics were quite powerful. Many writers have tried to comprehend war as a social and universal phenomenon. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind on this occasion is Tolstoy’s extensive thoughts on the pages of War and Peace and Sevastopol Stories. The writer noted the inhumanity of this phenomenon as a whole, but pointed out the justice of the Patriotic War.
“Every Soviet writer is ready to devote all his strength, all his experience and talent, all his blood, if necessary, to the cause of the holy people’s war against the enemies of our Motherland!” - these words were spoken at a rally on the first day of the war and were justified by deeds and life.
The Great Patriotic War was a difficult test that befell the Russian people. The literature of that time could not remain aloof from this event.
The total number of front-line writers has reached more than two thousand. It is impossible to find any historical analogy to such a massive participation of writers in the direct literary combat work that Soviet wordsmiths launched in the days of the fight against Hitlerism.
More than three hundred writers did not return from the battlefields, among them E. Petrov, Yu. Krymov, A. Gaidar, V. Stavsky, M. Jalil... Fascism also laid a hand on the future of Soviet literature, snatching dozens of young writers and people from its ranks talented, bright - V. Kubanev, M. Kulchitsky, N. Mayorov, G. Suvorov, P. Kogan, N. Otrada, V. Shulchev and many others.
And, what is especially important, the Great Patriotic War, despite the immeasurable sacrifices, became a school of spiritual and moral growth for the Soviet people. The Patriotic War brought to the crest all the truly beautiful things that were brought up in Soviet people.
The importance and effectiveness of the words of writers during the war is also evidenced by the fact that works of prose, poetry and drama took a prominent place in newspapers. Along with primary political material, reports from the Sovinformburo and other messages of national importance, on the pages of Pravda, Izvestia, Red Star, Red Fleet, Komsomolskaya Pravda we see not only songs, poems, journalistic articles, but and stories, novellas, poems, plays.
In those days, M. Sholokhov, and
A. Fadeev. A. Platonov, K. Simonov, B. Gorbatov, V. Grossman,
B. Polevoy, E. Petrov, L. Sobolev. P. Pavlenko, I. Ehrenburg, S. Mikhalkov, A. Zharov, A. Kalinin and many others. The literature was openly propaganda in nature, giving “the people a monstrous charge of hatred towards the enemy.”
In Tvardovsky’s lyrics, military themes occupy one of the main places. As already mentioned, many poets wanted to show their attitude and the attitude of the people to the ongoing tragedy. Tvardovsky was no exception to the general rule. He wrote a short poem that fully reveals the author’s thoughts about such a phenomenon as war:
War - there is no crueler word.
War - there is no sadder word.
War - there is no holier word
In the melancholy and glory of these years.
II. Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky was born on June 8 (21 n.s.) in the village of Zagorye, Smolensk province, in the family of a blacksmith, a literate and even well-read man, in whose house books were not uncommon. The first acquaintance with Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Nekrasov took place at home, when these books were read aloud on winter evenings. He started writing poetry very early. He studied at a rural school. At the age of fourteen, the future poet began sending small notes to Smolensk newspapers, some of which were published. Then he dared to send poetry. Isakovsky, who worked in the editorial office of the Rabochy Put newspaper, accepted the young poet, helped him not only get published, but also develop as a poet, and influenced him with his poetry.
After graduating from a rural school, the young poet came to Smolensk, but could not get a job not only to study, but also to work, because he did not have any specialty. I had to exist “on a pittance of literary earnings and knock on the doors of editorial offices.” When Svetlov published Tvardovsky’s poems in the Moscow magazine “October,” he came to Moscow, but “it turned out about the same as with Smolensk.”
In the winter of 1930 he returned to Smolensk again, where he spent six years. “It is to these years that I owe my poetic birth,” Tvardovsky later said. At this time, he entered the Pedagogical Institute, but left the third year and completed his studies at the Moscow Institute of History, Philosophy and Literature (MIFLI), where he entered in the fall of 1936.
Tvardovsky’s works were published in 1931 - 1933, but he himself believed that it was only with the poem about collectivization “The Country of Ant” (1936) that he began as a writer. The poem was a success among readers and critics. The publication of this book changed the poet’s life: he moved to Moscow, graduated from MIFLI in 1939, and published a book of poems “Rural Chronicle”.
During the Great Patriotic War, the poem “Vasily Terkin” (1941 - 45) was created - a vivid embodiment of the Russian character and national patriotic feeling. According to Tvardovsky, “Terkin was... my lyrics, my journalism, a song and a teaching, an anecdote and a saying, a heart-to-heart conversation and a remark to the occasion.”
Almost simultaneously with “Terkin” and the poems of “Front-line Chronicle”, the poet began the poem “House by the Road” (1946), completed after the war.
In 1950 - 60 the poem “Beyond the Distance is Distance” was written and in 1967 - 1969 - the poem “By the Right of Memory”, which tells the truth about the fate of the poet’s father, who became a victim of collectivization, banned by censorship, published only in 1987.
Along with poetry, Tvardovsky always wrote prose. In 1947, a book about the past war was published under the general title “Motherland and Foreign Land.”
He also showed himself as a deep, insightful critic: the books “Articles and Notes on Literature” (1961), “The Poetry of Mikhail Isakovsky” (1969), articles on the work of S. Marshak, I. Bunin (1965).
For many years, Tvardovsky was the editor-in-chief of the New World magazine, courageously defending the right to publish every talented work that came to the editorial office. His help and support were reflected in the creative biographies of such writers as Abramov, Bykov, Aitmatov, Zalygin, Troepolsky, Molsaev, Solzhenitsyn and others.
In 1939, the poet was drafted into the Red Army and participated in the liberation of Western Belarus. With the outbreak of the war with Finland, already in the rank of officer, he was in the position of special correspondent for a military newspaper.
In June 1941, Alexander Tvardovsky began working in the editorial office of the newspaper of the Southwestern Front “Red Army”. He writes poems, essays, feuilletons, articles, songs, notes. Unfortunately, the notebook with Tvardovsky’s notes about the first months of work disappeared. But there remained lines that captured the first days of the war - the most terrible and sorrowful period of the Great Patriotic War.
It was a great sadness
How we wandered east.
They walked thin, they walked barefoot
To unknown lands,
What is it, where is it, Russia,
What is your line?
Many people besides Tvardovsky spoke about the sanctity of the Patriotic War. But what does it (holiness) mean for the people? The fact is that the people were aware of their great debt to future generations, felt involved in the historical process that was taking place in Russia at that time, and tried to turn it to the benefit of their country.
Each person, fighting for the freedom of his homeland, also fought for that small piece of land on which he himself grew up. In Tvardovsky’s lyrics there is an image of his small homeland, “native side” - the Smolensk region, which was captured by the enemy:
The wind blew or something
From those sad fields, -
What's wrong with her, as I think about it,
By my side!
General anxiety gives rise to specific subjects and appeals, for example, Tvardovsky has a poem “To the Partisans of the Smolensk Region,” which calls for punishing the formidable enemy who has come. The poet raises the morale of the soldiers, declaring: “No, your enemy will not boast of rear silence!” There are no specific images of partisans in the poems; they are all generalized, called “cheerful people” and even “vigilant revenge.” The poet is convinced that victory is close, as he says in the finale. But it is not only the partisans who will bring victory to Russia. In Tvardovsky’s lyrics there is an image of a tank, which means much more to the poet than just a tracked vehicle. His poem is known, which is called “Tank”:
And, as if the first route
Opening behind you,
Clad and shod in steel,
The tank goes into battle with the original one.
In these lines you can hear some epic motifs: the heroes in Rus' also had such enormous power that they could lay the “first route” with one finger, and the words “dressed” and “shod” also clearly indicate the similarity of the tank with the hero. Thus, the tank is a symbol of Russia’s imminent victory in the war.
And yet, not all of Tvardovsky’s war lyrics consist of generalized images and lengthy reflections. The poet also wrote several front-line sketches in which specific people talk about their military life. Such poems include, for example, “The Tankman’s Tale.” At the center of this poem is the figure of a boy who helped discover a camouflaged enemy artillery crew. This work talks about childhood at the front, and, most importantly, emphasizes the need for everyone to participate in the military everyday life of the country. The following picture appears in the reader’s mind’s eye:
Well, no fight awaits. -
Get in here, buddy! –
The boy is standing - mines, bullets whistling,
And only the shirt with a bubble...
This picture is imprinted in the tanker’s memory forever, and although he does not know the boy’s name, he is sure that he will recognize him among thousands of faces. The poet emphasizes the unity of the people - everyone remembers well their comrade in arms, with whom they fought together against a common enemy. And, in fact, all the people themselves want to help the soldiers during everyday war. The above can be characterized as follows: a strong connection between the front and the rear. In fact, this theme runs like a red thread through all the poet’s war lyrics. Among his poems there is an appeal to a distant bride (“Song”), a message to Ukraine with its “golden land” and memories of a “fragile foal”, a humorous story from the words of an old woman about a rooster that was not given into the hands of the enemy.
The war ended, but nevertheless, Tvardovsky’s war lyrics found their continuation in the post-war period.
A person who has gone through a war and emerged from it alive inevitably feels guilty before the fallen. The poem “Cruel Memory” is about this. Memory is the impossibility of forgetting and getting rid of the enormous pain that the war brought to people. Its cruelty lies precisely in the fact that it is impossible to live and enjoy life in the same way as before the war, feeling guilty: “But with the same joy I do not dare look at the fields and meadows.”
The war left deep, noticeable marks in people's lives. The poet has a sketch on this topic:
Full of people in the aisle
Standing sideways with knapsacks.
And about the dashing Marines
A drunken invalid sings.
And even in the poet’s later lyrics, the theme of war sounds as acute as before. The poem “I know, it’s not my fault...” again touches on the theme of guilt towards those who did not return from the battlefield, but with even greater drama.
I know it's not my fault
The fact that others did not come from the war,
The fact that they - some older, some younger -
We stayed there, and it’s not about the same thing,
That I could, but failed to save them, -
This is not about that, but still, still, still...
The final words mean reticence. Although Tvardovsky understands that there is objectively no guilt (indeed, he completely fulfilled his duty, going through the entire war as a war correspondent), he still feels it. This guilt expresses the idea of an unpaid debt to the fallen defenders of Russia.
The feeling of obligation of the living to the fallen, the impossibility of forgetting everything that happened - are the main motives of A. Tvardovsky’s war lyrics. “I’m alive, I came back from the war alive and well. But how many I am missing... how many people managed to read me and, perhaps, love me, but they are no longer alive. It was part of me,” the poet wrote.
“I was killed near Rzhev” is a poem written in the first person. This form seemed to Tvardovsky most consistent with the idea of the poem - the unity of the living and the fallen. The dead soldier sees himself as only “a part of the national whole,” and he is concerned, like everyone whose “eyes have grown dark,” about everything that happened later, after him. The timid hope that “the word of the holy oath will be fulfilled” grows into a strong faith: the “fortress of the enemy’s land” has finally been trampled, the long-awaited Victory Day has arrived.
He was decorated from shoulder to shoulder,
But is there such a reward?
What did he do, what did he do, what did he suffer? -
Probably not. And don't!
“I was killed near Rzhev...” is the most striking of the poems, a true masterpiece of the poet’s creativity. The unusual form of the work is a monologue of a dead soldier. In his words one can feel the tragedy, the desire to live and see a time of peace:
I am where the blind roots are
They look for food in the darkness.
I am where with a cloud of dust
Rye is growing on the hill.
But the dead soldier is not only sad about himself. He is worried about what will happen to the new generation, whether it will be able to preserve all the great wartime gains. Despite his own death, he says: “I bequeath you to be happy in that life.”
The poem “I know, it’s not my fault...” is laconic and poignant. It is structured as a lyrical monologue, where the mood fluctuates between two feelings: on the one hand, the author convinces himself of his complete innocence before those who fell on the fields of the Great Patriotic War, on the other hand, in the last line that repentant feeling of guilt, which is characteristic of all conscientious people, comes through to people. Repeating the particle “yet” three times, expressing doubt, brings to the surface a far hidden feeling of pain that does not subside over time. “I” - alive and “others” - dead - this is the main conflict of the poem, which was never resolved in the finale. The ellipsis also means that the internal monologue has not stopped, that more than once the lyrical hero will have this painful conversation with himself. The poem is distinguished by lexical simplicity and the absence of any visual effects.
The poem “Vasily Terkin” in terms of genre is a free chronicle narrative (“A book about a fighter, without beginning, without end...”), which covers the entire history of the war - from the tragic retreat to Victory. The chapters of the poem are related to various events of the war: “At a halt”, “Before the battle”, “Crossing”, “Garmon”, “On the offensive”, “On the Dnieper”.
The poem is based on the image of the main character - private Vasily Terkin. It doesn't have a real prototype. This is a collective image that combines the typical features of the spiritual appearance and character of an ordinary Russian soldier.
Terkin - who is he?
Let's be honest:
Just a guy himself
He's ordinary.
However, the guy is no matter where,
A guy like that
Every company always has
And in every platoon.
The image of Terkin has folklore roots, it is “a hero, a fathom in the shoulders”, “a merry fellow”, “an experienced man”. Behind the illusion of simplicity, buffoonery, and mischief lie moral sensitivity and a sense of filial duty to the Motherland, the ability to accomplish a feat at any moment without phrases or poses.
The feat of a soldier in war is shown by Tvardovsky as everyday and hard military labor and battle, and moving to new positions, and spending the night in a trench or right on the ground, “shading himself from black death only with his own back...”. And the hero who accomplishes this feat is an ordinary, simple soldier:
A man of simple origin,
That in battle he is no stranger to danger...
Sometimes serious, sometimes funny,
... He comes - a saint and a sinner...
In the image of Terkin, Tvardovsky portrays the best traits of the Russian character - courage, perseverance, resourcefulness, optimism and great devotion to his native land.
Our dear mother earth,
In days of trouble and in days of victory
There is no one brighter and more beautiful than you,
And there is nothing more desirable to the heart...
It is in the defense of the Motherland, life on earth that the justice of the people's Patriotic War lies: “The battle is holy and just, mortal combat is not for the sake of glory - for the sake of life on earth.”
And the last thing that can be said: all of Tvardovsky’s poetry is service to a high duty, which includes eternal service to the military theme.
III. As critics have repeatedly noted, Tvardovsky was the first of the poets to touch upon the topic of the responsibility of the living to the fallen, that high responsibility without which life generally loses its meaning, for what is it like for a person to endure all the hardships of life if he knows that his descendants will not in any way appreciate what he and his generation have done and not only will they be consigned to oblivion, but they may even trample all their conquests, as, alas, has happened more than once in the centuries-old history of mankind... No, the dying must at least a moment before death see, even if mentally, those “who from our hands the banner picked it up on the run,” as the poet put it back in 1946 (“I was killed near Rzhev”). “What else is it like even for a dead person?”
Years passed, the war moved further into the past, but the pain from the feeling of loss did not go away. The more beautiful life became, the more acutely the poet felt the need to remind of those who paid for it with their blood. Significant dates and events often served Tvardovsky as an occasion to once again force the reader to remember those who died defending the future of their people. In 1957, the country celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the Great October Revolution. Among the many works that appeared for the anniversary, Tvardovsky’s poem “That blood that was not shed in vain” stands apart. The blood of millions, shed in “this forty-year period,” rises before his gaze as a fiery dawn,
Knocks on our hearts, controls us,
Without letting go for an hour,
May our victims be in holy memory
She never left us along the way.
So that we, listening to the praise,
And on the holiday of current victories
Do not forget that with this blood
Our yesterday's trail is smoking.
The “holy” memory of the dead constantly knocks on the poet’s heart. And even Gagarin’s flight into space evoked special and rather unexpected associations for Tvardovsky. In the February 1962 book of the New World, his poem “To the Cosmonaut” was published, the essence of which is this: no matter how heroic of heroes you are, Gagarin, do not forget about those guys who died in their “plywood jalopies” in 1941 year “near Yelnya, Vyazma and Moscow itself” and know:
They are proud, they are involved
Special glory gained in battle,
And that one, harsh and voiceless,
Wouldn't trade it for yours.
Of course, the poet had no intention of somehow belittling with these words the feat of the “scout of the universe” - on the contrary, placing him next to those who, at the cost of their lives, saved their native country from fascism, the author gives him the greatest honor:
... the blood is the same, and you are siblings,
And the younger brother is not in debt to the elders.
There were a great many of those front-line soldiers, both those who died and those who survived; the names of most of them are known only to a narrow circle of fellow soldiers and relatives.
Celebrating Victory Day, we must not forget “what that suffering cost us,” forget “which and how many sons we missed, crying under the thunder of the victorious batteries.” That very evening Tvardovsky thought and wrote about the dead:
There are so many of them in the world,
What did they read about you, poet...
List of used literature
1. Shansky N. M. “On the lyrics of A. T. Tvardovsky,” RYASh No. 3, 1980
2. Paperny Z. “Poetic word in Tvardovsky”, Questions of Literature No. 7, 1979
3. Kondratovich A. “Lessons of Tvardovsky”, Young Guard No. 2, 1979
4. Tvardovsky A.T. Collection of works, Detgiz, 1978.
5. History of Russian Soviet literature. Publishing house "Prosveshchenie", Moscow - 1983, with revision.
6. Soviet literature: Reference materials. Moscow "Enlightenment", 1989
A. Tvardovsky had a difficult time - the Great Patriotic War, post-war devastation, years of great upheaval, construction of a new world. But no matter how severe the trials, he always remained faithful to the ideals of serving the Motherland. That is why he volunteered for the war and was with his country through thick and thin. The word “homeland” itself contains a great meaning - something native, close, dear.
The theme of the Motherland is opened by the poem “About the Motherland” (1946). The author shows the vast expanses of Russia, its geography, famous places: “the warm sea of Crimea”, “the coast of the Caucasus”, “a fishing village on the Volga”, “the heart of the Urals”, new cities of Siberia and the Far East. The picture of the country gives rise to a feeling of scale, superiority, and pride. But this love for the big country is closely intertwined with the love for the “small homeland.” At first glance, she appears unremarkable. But her modest, simple description is imbued with the sincere love of the lyrical hero. For him, this small, unknown side is the best place on earth. Here are his roots, his heart:
The side is not rich in anything,
And that’s already dear to me,
What's there at random sometime
My soul was born.
He remembers her during the war, in foreign countries. Over the years, it becomes more and more dear. Here he experienced happiness and learned the “sacrament of his native speech.” Through his small homeland, the poet sees a huge country and feels responsibility for it. It is with love for the small homeland, mother, that love for the whole country begins, patriotism is born, which made it possible to win a difficult war. And no matter where life takes you, no matter how it changes, a deep feeling for his small native land is alive in his heart:
But only before and now
My side is dearer to me -
For one reason only,
That you only get one life.
It would seem that the poet is speaking old, familiar words, but they touch the soul with their sincerity, simplicity and sincerity. It is the feeling of love, affection, closeness to one’s native land that gives a person strength and moral support. This is not loud pathos, but a simple truth, which A. Tvardovsky defends.
The theme of the Motherland is present in almost every poem by A. Tvardovsky. In the program poem “I was killed near Rzhev,” the image of the mother turns from concrete to symbolic. He personifies all of Russia. Naive and close to the heart motives of the Motherland are heard in the poem “Vasily Terkin” (the return of a soldier to the Smolensk region), in “The Country of Ant”:
The earth in length and breadth -
All around us.
Sow one bobble
And that one is yours.
The theme of the present and future of Russia becomes the main one in the poem “Beyond the Distance.” The poem was completed in the early 60s. The plot is based on the journey of the lyrical hero across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express. The journey lasts ten days. First, the author shows the geography of Russia. At the same time, it receives a historical and philosophical explanation. Therefore, the road takes on a symbolic character. This is a symbol of Russian life. Along with the endless expanses, the author also depicts specific manifestations of her life. The lyrical hero crosses the “middle of his native land” - the Volga, then the Urals, taiga Siberia, and the Far East. These geographical images also take on symbolic overtones. The Volga is traditionally associated with Stepan Razin, barge haulers, and later with the construction of the Volga-Don Canal, which expanded the capabilities of this river. That is why the author affectionately calls it Mother Volga, which absorbs seven thousand rivers. The Urals, the supporting edge of the state, are poetically depicted. This is the main forge of the country. During the war years, it provided the troops with equipment. The description of Siberia allows the author to talk about courageous and strong Siberians. They will never let you down or betray you.
If the description of the Volga, the Urals, and Siberia is given from the train window, then on the Angara the lyrical hero becomes a direct participant in the events. He composes a hymn to human labor and compares the conquest of the Angara with a battle on the battlefield. Nature resembles a living creature that resists people. The Angara is boiling more and more, but conquest will definitely happen. The author admires the courage of the builders and describes their work as a feat. At the same time, it shows that among the people there are opportunists who went to Siberia for the “big ruble.” The theme of “small homeland” arises again in the poem. The story about Father Ural evokes in the memory of the lyrical hero a picture of childhood. The chapter “Two Forges” shows the Urals and Zagorye, without which the lyrical hero cannot imagine his life. If the Urals are the forge of all Russia, then Zagorje is the forge of the author. Here he touches on the topic of the historical past. At the Taishet station, the lyrical hero meets his childhood friend. The friend’s story shocks the hero, as he survived the terrible times of the cult of personality. Thus, each chapter of the poem is symbolic, it opens the reader one distance after another. The word “distance” itself takes on a different meaning - it is not only a natural phenomenon, but also the future of Russia:
Thank you, Motherland, for the happiness
To be with you on your journey.
Behind a new difficult pass -
Take a breath
Together with you.
…. She is mine - your victory,
She is mine - your sadness...
A. Tvardovsky never separated himself from the fate of his country. The lines from the song can rightly be attributed to him: “... to be sad with you, my land, and to celebrate with you.” Indeed, the word “Motherland” should not be an abstract concept. She is inseparable from us. This is part of our soul, our strength. Preserving its traditions and increasing its wealth depends on us. The responsibility of everyone for their own destiny, for their fatherland, ultimately determines our future.
