For the common cause, perhaps I will fall. Mikhail Lermontov - from Andrei Chenier For the common cause, maybe I will fall
For a common cause, perhaps I will fall...
When we pronounce the name of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, feelings of regret and bitterness are mixed in with the deep thought and endless admiration that his poetry always awakens, as if from a recent loss. It is unlikely that in all of world literature one can recall another, equally great poet, whose life would have been cut short so early.
In 1837-1838, Lermontov created his self-portrait. He depicted himself in the uniform of the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment: in a Circassian coat, a burka thrown over his shoulder, with a saber on his belt, against the backdrop of the mountains. This is one of the best and most reliable portraits of the poet. /Watercolor. 1837/
Lermontov died before reaching the age of twenty-seven. He died four years after Pushkin. And these four years, during which his best poems and the brilliant novel “Hero of Our Time” were created, constitute a whole stage in the development of our literature.
Lermontov was immediately seen as Pushkin's successor by both admirers and enemies of Pushkin's talent. It was in those days when Pushkin died in a duel, killed by the hand of a despicable rogue, when the poem “The Death of a Poet” began to circulate in many lists throughout St. Petersburg, under which stood a name few people knew at that time: Lermontov.
Video.
(Performed by People's Artist Soviet Union Alexander Alekseevich Ostuzhev. 1937).
The poems were amazing. An unknown author exposed a secret conspiracy around Pushkin, pointed to the inspirers of the vile murder - this is the ruling elite of the country, the executioners of freedom, who surrounded the royal throne in a greedy crowd. Lermontov threatened them with bloody retribution and predicted that they would face the judgment of history. Lermontov called fair punishment “God’s judgment.”
But this allegory did not prevent Pushkin’s killers from guessing the true meaning of the threat. One of them wrote on a copy of the poem: “Appeal to the Revolution” and sent it to the Winter Palace to the Tsar himself.
Nikolai's hatred
I towards Lermontov was even stronger than towards Pushkin. A case arose about “inadmissible verses.” A few days later an order followed - the cornet of the imperial guard Mikhail Lermontov was sent to the Caucasus on an expedition against the highlanders. This is how Lermontov’s national fame began.Like a soldier in battle, he picked up the banner of Russian poetry that had fallen from Pushkin’s hands and took its place.
Until the age of thirteen, Lermontov was brought up in Tarkhany, the Penza estate of his grandmother, then he studied in Moscow - at a boarding school and at the literature department of the university.Independent behavior was the reason for his forced departure from among Moscow students. Lermontov moved to St. Petersburg and entered the cadet school, from which he joined the guard two years later. These are the external facts of his biography.
His youthful notebooks tell about the inner ones.
The year will come, Russia's black year,
When the kings crown falls. This is the beginning of an 1830 poem. It is entitled: “Prediction”, next to the title there is a note :
« It's a dream».
1831 poem "From Andrei Chénier". The French poet Chenier does not have such a poem. It belongs to Lermontov himself. The link in the title is given on purpose to encrypt the meaning. This is not Chenier, this is Lermontov talking about himself:
For a common cause, perhaps I will fall,
Or I will spend my life in exile fruitlessly...
I am not a villain, oh no, fate is my destroyer;
I moved forward with my chest, I sacrificed myself...
The term “common cause” from the Decembrist dictionary. In Latin, “common cause” - “ respublica".
In his dreams, Lermontov sees himself ahead, in the fight for the republic, against tyranny and slavery.
« He belongs entirely to our generation “,” Herzen wrote about Lermontov, talking about the fate of his peers, forced to silence in the dark period of reaction that came after the defeat of the Decembrists.
For the first time, Lermontov wanted to present his work to the public only in 1835. He composed a drama in verse
Commentary on the poem:First published in 1889 in Severny Vestnik (No. 1, p. 12). Probably dates back to 1831.
Included in the circle of poems dedicated to the theme of the poet - a freedom fighter. Motifs of heroic deeds, exile, and death of the poet in the struggle “for a common cause” are characteristic of many poems of 1830 - 1831. These sentiments were the poet’s response to modern phenomena public life - peasant uprisings in Russia, national liberation movement Caucasian peoples, revolutionary events in Europe.
The literary model for Lermontov's political lyrics during this period was the poetry of Byron and the Decembrist poems by Pushkin. The title of the poem “From Andrei Chenier” also indicates a connection with Pushkin. Pushkin's elegy "Andrei Chenier"(an excerpt from which, not passed by censorship, was distributed in lists with the inscription “On December 14th” and caused the political process of 1826 - 1828) had a strong influence on Lermontov’s lyrics. A. Chenier himself does not have a poem that would be the direct source of Lermontov’s, although it is likely that Chenier’s poetic experience, perceived through Pushkin, to a certain extent determined the genre nature of Lermontov’s poem, which combined elegiac meditation, political ode and invective.
The history of the creation of the novel " Hot Snow" Conflict between Kuznetsov and Drozdovsky. Memory of the heart. The origins of victory. Liberation of the Motherland. Two commanders. The theme of love in the novel. V. Astafiev. "Hot Snow" is one of the best war novels. The image of a people going to war. A word about the writer Yu. Bondarev. 70th anniversary Battle of Stalingrad dedicated. The meaning of the title of the novel “Hot Snow”. Oxymoron. Time period of the novel.
“Ray Bradbury “Smile”” - Personality. Dandelion wine. Ray Douglas Bradbury. Vandalism. Mona Lisa. Rudyard Kipling. Smile. Canvas by Leonardo da Vinci. Major works. Civilization. The mystery of the Mona Lisa. The crowd howled. Hatred.
“Joseph Brodsky” - Brodsky with his wife. The early period of creativity. Nobel Prize. Brodsky Joseph Alexandrovich. Link. Parents. Mount Hollyoke. Search life path. End of link. Arrest. Joseph Brotsky. Russian television. Poems in literary circles.
“Blaginina” - “Cuckoo”, “Kitten”. Poems read. Elena Aleksandrovna Blaginina. Russian poet, translator. What do you think about the girl. Reading the poem "Kitten". Conversation. Biography and creativity of Elena Aleksandrovna Blaginina. Which poet will we meet today? Elena Alexandrovna came to children's literature in the early 30s. The baggage cashier's daughter. Working on poems.
"White" - First date. Marries Asa Turgeneva. Death of a writer. Goes abroad. Gets close to the Solovyov family. The first poetry collection. Borya Bugaev in childhood. Was born. Last years life. Begins correspondence with A. Blok. Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev. He graduated from the best private gymnasium in Moscow in 1899. Bely meets the Symbolists. Literary genre. Returns to his homeland. Andrey Bely. The beginning of a new period of creativity.
"Konstantin Batyushkov" - Front-line poet. Belinsky. Batyushkov Konstantin Nikolaevich. Creation. Love to motherland. Service. Collection of Batyushkov. Discoveries in literature. The birth of a great poet and prose writer. Hereditary tendency. Philosophy of the poet. Patriotic War 1812.
For a common cause, perhaps I will fallOr I will spend my life in exile fruitlessly;
Perhaps, struck by the evil slander,
Humiliated before the world and you by your enemies,
I will not tear down the crown woven with shame
And I will find an untimely end for myself;
But don't blame the young sufferer,
I pray, do not say a mocking word.
My terrible lot is worthy of your tears,
I have done a lot of evil, but I have suffered more.
Let me be guilty before my proud enemies,
Let them take revenge; in my soul, I swear to heaven,
I am not a villain, oh no, fate is my destroyer;
I walked forward with my chest, I sacrificed myself;
Bored with the bustle of the deceptive light,
Solemnly I could not help but keep my vow;
Although I caused a lot of harm to society,
But I was always faithful to you, my friend, always;
In solitude, among the rebellious crowd,
I loved you all and I loved you so tenderly.
1830-1831
Notes
Included in the circle of poems dedicated to the theme of the poet - a freedom fighter. Motifs of heroic deeds, exile, and death of the poet in the struggle “for a common cause” are characteristic of many of Lermontov’s poems of 1830 - 1831. These sentiments were the poet's response to modern phenomena of social life - peasant uprisings in Russia, the national liberation movement of the Caucasian peoples, revolutionary events in Europe.
The literary model for Lermontov's political lyrics during this period was the poetry of Byron and the Decembrist poems of Pushkin. The title of the poem “From Andrei Chenier” also indicates a connection with Pushkin. Pushkin's elegy "Andrei Chenier" (an excerpt from which, not passed by censorship, was distributed in lists with the inscription "On December 14th" and caused the political process of 1826 - 1828) had a strong influence on Lermontov's lyrics. A. Chenier himself does not have a poem that would be the direct source of Lermontov’s, although it is likely that Chenier’s poetic experience, perceived through Pushkin, to a certain extent determined the genre nature of Lermontov’s poem, which combined elegiac meditation, political ode and invective.
- A spiritual personality is aware of his participation in the eternal life of the world and therefore, even in the face of the death of his personal “I”, he accepts life, welcomes and blesses.
Yu.I. Seleznev
Once again I leaf through the book “Dostoevsky” - the main monument to the ascetic life of Yuri Ivanovich Seleznev, and read the quotes chosen by the author from the works of F.M. Dostoevsky as epigraphs to the chapters of the book:
“I SWEAR TO YOU THAT I WILL NOT LOSE HOPE AND WILL KEEP MY SPIRIT AND HEART PURE.”
“DON’T LOSE YOUR LIFE, TAKE CARE OF YOUR SOUL, BELIEVE IN THE TRUTH. BUT SEEK IT CAREFULLY YOUR WHOLE LIFE, OTHERWISE IT’S TERRIBLY EASY TO GET AWAY.”
"THE TRUTH IS CLEAR IN UNHAPPINESS."
"EVERYONE WHO WANTS THE TRUTH IS ALREADY TERRIBLY POWERFUL."
"FROM THE PEOPLE IS THE SALVATION OF Rus'... TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE AND PROTECT ITS HEART."
"THE BEST PEOPLE SHOULD UNITE."
I think this can safely be called the commandments of Yu.I.’s life. Selezneva. The choice of quotes by the author is always not accidental; what is in tune with the soul is chosen. Of course, the programs for Yuri Ivanovich and the words of N.V. Gogol, cited by him in the article “Creative Memory”:
"OTHER THINGS ARE COMING FOR POETRY... JUST IN ITS INfancy SHE SERVED TO CALL THE PEOPLES TO BATTLE... SO SHE WILL NOW HAVE TO CALL MAN TO ANOTHER, HIGHER BATTLE - A BATTLE NOT FOR OUR TEMPORARY FREEDOM, AND OUR PRIVILEGES , BUT FOR THE SOUL..."
It was for the human soul, for its purity and exaltation that Yu I. Seleznev fought. "A WARRIOR POET, A FIGHTER, TRAGICALLY WALKING TOWARDS DISASTER IN THE VERY HEAT OF CHAOS, FOR ONLY BY OWN PARTICIPATION IN THE STRUGGLE CAN YOU DETERMINE, EVEN AT THE COST OF YOUR OWN DEATH, THE OUTCOME OF THIS STRUGGLE" - these words of Yuri Ivanovich about Tyutchev refer entirely to their author himself .
Yes, only your own participation in the struggle can determine its outcome. This is the life credo of Yu.I. Seleznev, this main idea of his life was voiced in the feature film “Lermontov”, when Yuri Ivanovich was no longer among us. They sounded in the mouth of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, the hero of the last, unrealized book by Yu. I. Seleznev. Not only manuscripts, but also human thoughts do not burn, do not disappear, but are passed on like a relay race to others, strengthening their hearts. Yuri Ivanovich’s book about Lermontov has not been written, but many of the provisions of the supposed book, thoughts, hypotheses, statements were included in the film about the great Russian poet. I thank fate for giving me three meetings and a dozen telephone dialogues with Yuri Ivanovich before his life was cut short, before the life of the film “Lermontov” began.
On April 7, 1984, on the stage of the Moscow House of Journalists, I spoke about four years of work on Lermontov’s theme, about the desire to make a film about the great poet. After the evening, a man came up to me and said that there was such a Yu.I. Seleznev, a wonderful literary critic and writer, the author of a book about Dostoevsky, who is now creating a book about Lermontov for ZhZL and that we simply need to meet him. This man was a close friend of Yuri Ivanovich. He called Yu.I in front of me. Seleznev and just as temperamentally as he had just told me about Yuri Ivanovich, he began to talk to him about me and concluded that we should definitely see each other. This is how our correspondence acquaintance took place. That same evening, our persistent “pimp” handed me Yuri Ivanovich’s book “Dostoevsky”.
The book stunned me, it revealed a new powerful phenomenon in our literature, a talented writer and thinker, a citizen. Spiritual striving for the ideal, positive quest, speech without allegory, moral purity, fearless “ecstasy of battle” - everything was wonderful in this amazing book, and therefore in its author. The necessary desire to see this person appeared: the soul reached out to the soul. Then I “swallowed” the next book by Yu.I. Selezneva - “Feeling and Living Thought” and discovered a new literary critic.
A few days later, on Easter night, Yuri Ivanovich’s friend and I drove up to his house. The owner was impatiently waiting for us, standing at the window, waving to us. We were still leaving the elevator, and Yuri Ivanovich, without waiting for our call, opened the door wide, meeting us on the threshold. Contempt for the prim metropolitan etiquette, reluctance to comply with regulations, but life in truth, according to the aspiration of the soul, love for one’s neighbor - that’s what this impulse contained. Inner power and spiritual delicacy - a smiling Yuri Ivanovich Seleznev greeted us at the door. Until that moment, I had repeatedly asked myself in my mind: what is he like, Seleznev?.. How often the expected does not coincide with the actual. But then it coincided: books and their author. And no wonder: after all, word and deed were one for Yuri Ivanovich Seleznev. So, here he is: a handsome, blue-eyed, friendly, strong, stately knight from a folk epic. A long, strong handshake... “This is exactly how I imagined you...” - I couldn’t resist confessing.
The rapprochement happened instantly. I completely let Yuri Ivanovich into my heart, I would like to think that it was mutual. It was clear how pleased our “pimp” was. He tactfully stepped into the background, did not interrupt our dialogue, and looked from one to the other. We talked about a lot, but two topics dominated: Dostoevsky and Lermontov. Yuri Ivanovich listened attentively to my story about working on the script for a film about Lermontov, about four years of adventures in film circles, about the battle for the right to direct a film about the great poet.
On this Easter night, the conversation turned to Christ and Christianity, about human sacrifice in the name of universal harmony, about heroic deeds. I remember Yuri Ivanovich expressed an interesting thought then:
Just as a cancerous tumor is now irradiated, so Christ appeared as a bright saving ray into the very hell of selfishness, the fiend of hell...
Someone asked the question: “Why didn’t the Pharisees heed the saving speeches?” Yuri Ivanovich rushed from the table into another room and a moment later returned with a book in his hands; He quickly found the place that interested him in the “Gospel of John” and read:
- “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My word. Your father is the devil; and you want to fulfill the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie , says his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies... You don’t listen because you are not from God.”
(Later, this idea of Yuri Ivanovich about “a bright ray aimed at the very fiend of self-interest” was heard in the film “Lermontov”.)
Having retired with the owner in his office, I asked him a question: “At what stage is your work on Lermontov?”
I only have a few things left to read, about forty authors, and I’ll start writing. Apparently this will happen in a couple of months. I have to know everything, right down to what buttons Lermontov had on his uniform during his meeting with Belinsky... Have you read this book?
Yuri Ivanovich handed me a rare book by Nartsov, published in 1914, exploring the family of Martynov, Lermontov’s killer. He drew my attention to the coat of arms of the Martynov family, which featured Masonic symbols: three six-pointed stars and a punishing sword in a hand extended from the cloud.
It’s curious,” said Yuri Ivanovich, “this coat of arms was published only once in the fourteenth year and to this day has never been published in our Lermontov studies books...
That evening I left my script about Lermontov for Yuri Ivanovich to read.
Soon our second, perhaps the most important, meeting with Yuri Ivanovich took place. He talked about his impression of the script, expressed his thoughts about Lermontov in general, discovered new things for me, and unobtrusively directed me. Now many people note that Yuri Ivanovich was in a hurry to live, did not allow himself to chat about the unimportant, but only about the most important thing. It was the same this time. But along with this emotional striving towards the goal, I will forever remember the form in which Yuri Ivanovich spoke to me, the author sitting in front of him: not a shadow of mentoring, generous tact, goodwill, camaraderie. He spoke, I took notes on the thoughts that interested me. Now I deeply regret that I didn’t write everything down. It is possible that Yuri Ivanovich generously shared with me the materials collected for his book that day. He talked about how important it is to make a worthy film about Lermontov. At home I transcribed my notes.
I present the recording without literary processing, in the form in which it went into the notebook.
1. Don’t make Lermontov evil...
2. The main idea of the film should be more clearly revealed: CONSCIOUS SELF-SACRIFICATION OF THE RUSSIAN GENIUS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE FORCES OF EVIL.
3. Lermontov thinks about the whole of Russia, the Universe. In every phrase of Lermontov the whole world sounds: “I SUDDENLY FOUND MYSELF, IN MYSELF ALONE I FOUND SALVATION FOR A WHOLE PEOPLE...” Speaking about himself, Lermontov speaks about the whole world.
4. “Personality begins not with self-affirmation, but with SELF-GIVING.” Word and deed are one and inseparable. Prove in practice what you dare to assert. A mission confirmed by fate. Pushkin would not have become Pushkin if he had not accepted martyrdom for his beliefs. With his death, what he created flared up and was illuminated with a new light. This is the law: PROVE IT WITH YOUR LIFE. He was not killed for his wife; for knowledge of the root causes of evil and the ability to resist evil. What is the significance of my life on earth if it did not serve the people, humanity, the creation of harmony, in the image and likeness of the highest harmony, the echo of which people hear in their souls. The torch of truth will not go out. Pushkin carried it for all of us in Rus', and we did not let it drop. If they knock me down, another person will rise up in Russia.
5. The film must rush towards its ideological outcome, finale: from the birth of Lermontov to... Eternity!
6. Lermontov should not be afraid of death, he despises it. The approaching death is not scary for him “and for us, the spectators,” he is above death. "HE WHO IS NEAR THE HEAVEN IS NOT DESTROYED BY EARTHLY THINGS."
He laughs in the face of death (eyewitnesses noted that he stood smiling at gunpoint). Lermontov's feat of life: self-sacrifice in the name of Good, Freedom, "Truth in the heart of man." SOUL, UNIVERSAL HARMONY.
7. In response to my remark “you need to have security guards”, Yuri Ivanovich smiled sadly and said:
We need to act... After all, someone has to. Don't we live at home? Not in Russia?.. Are we really going to be afraid? We must calmly do the work of our conscience. Tell the people the truth. People will hear and think: “So, you can say it and live like him. After all, he could... And why am I worse?! I’ll say it too!
8. You can’t fall into didacticism. When Lermontov “quotes himself,” he should do it with irony: they say, “I once wrote...”.
9. Mongo-Stolypin, a relative of Lermontov, a lazy man, a socialite, “Pechorin, reclining on the carpets...” Is he unconscious - or conscious? - Twice brought Lermontov under fire: in a duel with de Brant and Martynov. According to the rules of honor, M.Yu. was brought “honestly”. to the fatal barrier.
After the murder of Lermontov, he kept the secret of his death all his life. He was mercifully retired and just as mercifully sent abroad.
"Friends" brought Lermontov to a duel. "Friends" shot point blank. Everything here is a mystery. And L.’s murder must be left a mystery.
10. It is a known fact that the mountaineers in the Caucasus did not touch Lermontov; they pointed him out to their comrades in battle so that they would not shoot at the poet.
11. The key to the image of Martynov in the nickname Monkey is an imitator, a playwright who imitates Lermontov, who wrote graphomaniac poetry and prose on topics that Lermontov touched upon in his work. Lermontov - Martynov. Mozart and Salieri, God and the devil, truth and lies, the universal “I,” responsibility for the sins of the whole world, the universal conscience and the petty, demonic “I.” Martynov kills the truth both in himself and in another person.
12. Yuri Ivanovich convincingly proved that the poems “Farewell Unwashed Russia” were not written by Lermontov. But despite the absence of an autograph, they stubbornly try to attribute them to Lermontov. (If Yuri Ivanovich had known that three years after his death, Moscow film critics, who swarmed upon the barely born film and stuck 27 poisonous stings into it, long before its release, would begin to reproach the film for the absence of “unwashed Russia” and mock words of the heroes about love for the Fatherland, calling them “Easter” and “lofty.”)
13. Yuri Ivanovich expressed an interesting hypothesis about the company that revolved around Lermontov for the last two years of his life, called the “circle of sixteen” in Lermontov studies. He said that he was just developing this topic, exploring the threads running through the Jesuit order...
All the “circle members” are young scions of families close to the emperor. What could Lermontov have in common with this “golden youth”?
In 1840, during Lermontov’s exile to the Caucasus, members of the “circle of sixteen” left St. Petersburg at the same time as the poet. In 1841, while M.Yu. was on vacation. “sixteen” followed the poet to St. Petersburg and surrounded him in the capital. When Lermontov was again exiled to the Caucasus and he ended up in Pyatigorsk, many “circle members” again found themselves near Lermontov. Several of them were present at the murder of Lermontov. Then they falsified the generality of the testimony and everyone, as one, kept the secret about the true events at the foot of Mashuk all their lives. What kind of “circle” is this?
Maybe this is a kind of organization to liquidate M.Yu. Lermontov?..
14. “I will not return from the Caucasus...” Lermontov repeated this ten times, different people. He knew he wouldn't come back...
15. “IF YOU CAN’T BUY IT, KILL IT!” - the cry of the dark forces, the slanderers from the Nesselrode gang. (Nesselrode and K (- near Pushkin, then they - near Lermontov.)
Third and last meeting was short-lived. On a sunny May day, I stopped by Yuri Ivanovich to listen to his opinion about my story and poems. The owner was, as usual, handsome and cheerful; It seemed that our contacts would now be constant and long-term; there was no sign of a quick farewell forever. Yuri Ivanovich said that one must free oneself from concentrating on personal poetic experiences and strive to realize oneself as a part of the entire people. Again he spoke about the need to confirm with your life the truth of what you wrote. From this meeting, Yuri Ivanovich’s dedicatory inscription remained on his book “Feeling and Living Thought.” Let me quote these words that are dear to me: “To Nikolai Burlyaev - with respect for talent and deep sympathy for the person - for collaboration. Cordially Yuri Seleznev. 22.V.84.”
Filming began a few months after the death of Yuri Ivanovich, but I felt his constant, invisible presence. Many thoughts of Yu.S. Seleznev were embodied in the film "Lermontov". Today I am happy to reveal what until now was known to me alone - the film “Lermontov” is dedicated to the memory of Yuri Ivanovich Seleznev. And yet, poems were dedicated to his memory. Please do not judge their poetic merit strictly; they are written from the heart. Quite consciously, the starting point was Lermontov’s “On the Death of a Poet.” Despite the fact that Yuri Ivanovich met his death within the four walls of someone else’s home, in my mind he fell on the battlefield, for every moment of his spiritual existence was another Borodin of his warrior-thought. Yuri Ivanovich Seleznev was a man of an enlightened soul. His fearlessness is born of knowledge of a simple truth: a person’s good, spiritual deeds are not subject to decay. They are immortal.
Russia's bright warrior died
On the battlefield with slander.
Eternally honored with glory,
Having accomplished his earthly feat.
You were a singer of the people's soul
Since ancient times, wise, daring,
Invincible and free...
You fell for the honor of your native country.
The crown of thorns stung the man;
The chosen one walked forward proudly;
Ready to sacrifice yourself
For the Light, for the Truth, for the People.
He was pure with a Slavic soul,
The Scythian face is beautiful and bright;
Captivating your neighbors with beauty,
He was great in words and deeds.
Saving Rus' before the evil horde,
The bell ringer came out under the arrows:
He carried his heart without thinking
Altar to the bright Motherland.
You were all Truth and Freedom;
Your incorruptible voice could
Become an echo of the Russian people...
But the enemy dealt with you.
You were the forerunner of a turning point.
You walked fearlessly against your enemies.
"Is there really a master in a bright house?
Will you be afraid of spiders?"
You will be remembered with love,
He laid down his life for love.
You protected with your blood
Poets' righteous blood.