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: 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 concerned about their own benefit: This idea in itself was not new , but behind the images of the nobles drawn in the ode, features clearly appeared real people: In these images, the poet's contemporaries easily recognized the favorite of the Empress Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, Naryshkin. Drawing their vividly 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 he even dares to give advice to the empress: to follow the law to which both tsars and their subjects are subject: 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: 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 appear in the ode, the still life “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. 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.
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 her 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 traditional ode for classicism, where they praised government officials, military leaders, sang of the solemn event, 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.
In 1782, not very famous poet Derzhavin wrote an ode dedicated to the "Kirghiz-Kaisak princess Felitsa." The ode was called "To Felice". The difficult life taught the poet a lot, he knew how to be careful. The ode glorified the simplicity and humanity of the treatment of the people of Empress Catherine II and the wisdom of her reign. But at the same time, in ordinary, and even rude, colloquial language, she told about luxurious amusements, about the idleness of Felitsa's servants and courtiers, about "murzas" who were by no means worthy of their ruler. In the murzas, Catherine's favorites were transparently guessed, and Derzhavin, wishing that the ode would fall into the hands of the empress as soon as possible, was at the same time afraid of this. How will the autocrat look at his bold trick: a mockery of her favorites! But in the end, the ode ended up on the table of Catherine, and she was delighted with her. Far-sighted and intelligent, she understood that courtiers should be put in their place from time to time and hints of an ode are a great reason for this. Catherine II herself was a writer (Felitsa is one of her literary pseudonyms), which is why she immediately appreciated the artistic merits of the work. The memoirists write that, having called the poet to her, the empress generously rewarded him: she presented him with a golden snuffbox filled with golden chervonets.
Fame came to Derzhavin. The new literary magazine Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word, which was edited by the Empress's friend Princess Dashkova and published by Catherine herself, opened with an ode to Felitsa. They started talking about Derzhavin, he became a celebrity. Was it only the successful and bold dedication of the ode to the empress? Of course not! The reading public and fellow writers were struck by the very form of the work. The poetic speech of the "high" odic genre sounded without exaltation and tension. Lively, figurative, mocking speech of a person who understands well how real life. The empress, of course, was spoken of commendably, but also not pompously. And, perhaps, for the first time in the history of Russian poetry as about a simple woman, not a celestial:
Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table.
Strengthening the impression of simplicity and naturalness, Derzhavin ventures on bold comparisons:
Like you don't play cards
Like me, from morning to morning.
And, moreover, he is frivolous, introducing into the ode indecent, according to the secular standards of that time, details and scenes. Here is how, for example, a Murza courtier, an idler and an atheist, spends his day:
Or, sitting at home, I'll show you
Playing fools with my wife;
Then I get along with her on the dovecote,
Sometimes we frolic in blindfolds,
Then I have fun in a pile with her,
I look for it in my head;
Then I like to rummage through books,
I enlighten my mind and heart:
I read Polkan and Bova,
Over the Bible, yawning, I sleep.
The work was filled with cheerful, and often caustic allusions. To Potemkin, who loves to eat well and drink well ("I drink champagne waffles / And I forget everything in the world"). On Orlov, who boasts of magnificent departures ("a magnificent train in an English carriage, golden"). On Naryshkin, who is ready to give up all his affairs for the sake of hunting (“I take care of all matters / Leaving, I go hunting / And amuse myself with the barking of dogs”), etc. In the genre of a solemn laudatory ode, this has never been written before. The poet E. I. Kostrov expressed a general opinion and at the same time slight annoyance about a successful rival. In his poetic "Letter to the creator of an ode composed in praise of Felitsa, princess of Kirghizkaysatskaya" there are lines:
Frankly, it is clear that out of fashion
Soaring odes have already hatched;
You knew how to exalt yourself among us with simplicity.
The Empress drew Derzhavin close to her. Remembering the "fighting" qualities of his nature and incorruptible honesty, she sent him to various audits, ending, as a rule, with noisy indignation of those being checked. The poet was appointed governor of Olonets, then Tambov province. But he did not hold out for a long time: he dealt with local officials too zealously and imperiously. In Tambov, things went so far that in 1789 the governor of the region, Gudovich, filed a complaint with the empress against the "arbitrariness" of the governor, who did not consider anyone or anything. The case was referred to the Senate Court. Derzhavin was dismissed from his post and, until the end of the trial, he was ordered to live in Moscow, as they would say now, under a written undertaking not to leave the country.
And although the poet was acquitted, he was left without a position and without the favor of the empress. Once again, one could count only on oneself: on enterprise, talent and luck. And don't be discouraged. In the autobiographical “Notes” compiled at the end of his life, in which the poet speaks of himself in the third person, he admits: “There was no other way but to resort to his talent; on the date of September, that is, on the day of the coronation of the empress, handed her over to the court<...>The Empress, having read it, ordered her favorite (meaning Zubov, Catherine's favorite, - L. D.) the next day to invite the author to dine with him and always take him into her conversation.
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 united "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 her 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 traditional ode 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.
