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Analysis of the poem “Sea” (Zhukovsky). Zhukovsky V - Sea (Elegy cheat

05.02.2024

In the genre of elegy there is a special system of values. The eternity of limitless existence presupposes a pantheistic mystery, against the background of which life acquires personal integrity due to its extreme concentration in time and space. Elegiac beauty is the “farewell beauty” of an irrevocable moment, and elegiac experience is a feeling of living sadness about what has disappeared.
The elegy “The Sea” was written by V. A. Zhukovsky in 1822. This poem expresses the sad reflections of the lyrical hero over the mysterious and amazingly picturesque element of water. The “deep secret” is kept in the abyss of the azure sea. It is she who attracts the lyrical hero with both its dramatic tension and its serenity and immobility. The poet is concerned about the relationship between two abysses - sea and heaven. Zhukovsky’s sea is not free, unlike the absolutely free sky. The sea languishes in “earthly captivity”; it can only enjoy the view of the “distant”, “bright” sky. It seems as if two beings, feeling their kinship, spiritually gravitate towards each other. Love for the sky is a high ideal that fills the life of the sea with deep meaning. At the same time, the sea, sky and storm are symbolic images. For Zhukovsky, the sky is a symbol of serenity, peace, and beauty. When the sea defeats hostile clouds, the “sweet shine of the returned heavens,” silence, stillness, triumphs. But the sky also symbolizes the soul flying upward - the desire for unearthly perfection. In turn, the sea is also a symbol of the fickle human soul.
In the poem, only the image of the sea changes and develops. Through the eyes of the lyrical hero, we observe his movement from above. Zhukovsky surprisingly accurately chose the style of the poem: the elegy is a poetic appeal of the lyrical hero to the sea element. Perhaps she reminds him of his own state of mind:
I stand enchanted over your abyss.
You are alive; you breathe; confused love,
You are filled with anxious thoughts...
The movement of the sea is similar to the irreversibility of human life. Therefore, through the prism of the central image of the elegy, the lyrical hero speaks about his own experiences and feelings.
An important feature of the poem is the combination of statics and dynamics. The colorful descriptions that Zhukovsky draws are combined in an elegy with narrative elements: the lyrical subject talks about the sea as a living creature that loves, thinks, fights with dark clouds for the sky:
When the dark clouds gather,
To take away the clear sky from you -
You fight, you howl, you raise waves,
You tear and torment the hostile darkness...
It is important to note that the conflict between the sea and the forces opposing it is resolved by the end of the poem. However, the image of the sea does not achieve complete internal harmony and external serenity:
And the darkness disappears, and the clouds go away;
But, full of his past anxiety,
You raise frightened waves for a long time,
And the sweet shine of the returned skies
It doesn’t bring back silence at all...
The lyrical hero feels the deceptiveness of the motionless sea. It is no coincidence that the last lines of the poem reveal the main idea of the elegy:
You hide confusion in the dead abyss,
You, admiring the sky, tremble for it.
True life consists of eternal movement, eternal struggle. It seems that the lyrical hero sees happiness and joy in the battle for love. You can't calm down, you can't resign yourself. Victory over the “dark clouds” of life can only be achieved through intense struggle. The visible silence and inner drama of the sea reflect the mental state of the lyrical hero.
This poem reveals the romantic theme of the eternal longing for an ideal, the restless desire for a distant dream:
Silent sea, azure sea,
Reveal to me your deep secret:
What moves your vast bosom?
What is your tense chest breathing?
Or pulls you from earthly bondage
Distant, bright sky to yourself?..
In order to show the constant movement of the sea as clearly as possible, Zhukovsky uses many verbs. In almost every line of the poem, the lyrical hero describes the changes in the sea: the sea breathes, filled with “swept away love” and “anxious thoughts.” From the very beginning of the elegy, Zhukovsky makes us understand that the sea has a soul. Spirit, according to Zhukovsky, is the basis of life. The dynamics of the development of the image of the sea occurs in contrast to the static sky. The lyrical hero describes the sparkle of heaven in warm and light colors. The abundance of epithets helps the poet enhance the contrast of light and darkness. In revealing the relationship between the two elements, antithesis is used. The nouns “love”, “life”, “light”, “silence” are contrasted with others: “secret”, “captivity”, “clouds”, “anxiety”, “confusion”.
Slavicisms and archaisms sound special in a romantic context, giving the elegy the color of a high poetic style. Repetitions enhance the melody and musicality of the piece.
The elegy “The Sea” can be divided into two semantic parts. The first part (the beginning of the elegy) is a lyrical appeal to the sea element. We learn that the “silent sea” is filled with anxious thoughts. In the second part, the poet reveals to the reader a “deep secret.” It is important to note that, despite the large volume, the poem is harmonious and proportionate. Rhyme and rhythm give these qualities to a poem. The elegy is written in amphibrach tetrameter. The neutrality of this meter is combined with an undeniable melodiousness, so the lack of rhyme is not noticed. The sound of the elegy resembles the movement and sound of a wave; one can feel the ebb and flow of the sea. If at the beginning it is silent and calm, then the “free element” becomes more and more agitated. When the sky is covered with clouds, the sea, fearing separation from it, “is tormented by a hostile darkness.” The poet uses a syntactic device such as gradation: “You fight, you howl, you raise waves, // You tear and torment the hostile darkness...” This is the culmination of the elegy. Then the sea calms down, but the lyrical hero says that this serenity is deceptive.
The elegy “The Sea” is rightfully considered the manifesto of Zhukovsky the romantic. The main thing in it is the depiction of a person’s feelings, his emotions and experiences. The poet needs to turn to landscape lyricism, or more precisely to the sea element, in order to understand more deeply and clearly the changes in the human soul. The sea is personified in the poem. At the same time, it is a symbol of melancholy and lack of freedom. The sea element is associated with the abyss of the human “I”.

Vasily Zhukovsky
Sea

I stand enchanted over your abyss.
You are alive; you breathe; confused love,
You are filled with anxious thoughts.
Silent sea, azure sea,
Reveal to me your deep secret.
What moves your vast bosom?
What is your tense chest breathing?
Or pulls you from earthly bondage
Distant, bright sky to yourself?..
Mysterious, sweet, full of life,
You are pure in his pure presence:
You flow with its luminous azure,
You burn with evening and morning light,
You caress his golden clouds
And you joyfully sparkle with its stars.
When the dark clouds gather,
To take away the clear sky from you -
You fight, you howl, you raise waves,
You tear and torment the hostile darkness...
And the darkness disappears, and the clouds go away,
But, full of his past anxiety,
You raise frightened waves for a long time,
And the sweet shine of the returned skies
It doesn’t give you back silence at all;
Deceiving your immobility appearance:
You hide confusion in the dead abyss,
You, admiring the sky, tremble for it.

The elegy was written in 1822 and was a breath of fresh air for the Russian reading community. Romantic works determined people’s attitude to life, so we can say that the elegy had a national, educational significance and that Zhukovsky was the conductor of all the innovations and wonders of romanticism in Russia. His lyrics of 1815-1824 imply the predominance of religious motifs (the sea in this work reaches out to the sky, that is, to God). Sorrow and suffering are interpreted as integral attributes of earthly existence (“When dark clouds gather…” - the sea has come to terms with this phenomenon and, during trials, strives upward and trusts in God), and the hope for reward after death is associated with the ideals of sacrifice and self-denial.

In Zhukovsky’s work, the sea is personified and becomes the interlocutor of the lyrical hero. Reflecting on the hardships of the sea, the hero lifts the veil of secrets of his own soul to the reader. The lyrical hero is concerned about the relationship between two abysses (sea and heaven), that is, the relationship between people and God. Using the technique of metaphor, Zhukovsky reflects on philosophical topics about the life of the sea, in fact, meaning people and their lives. For the poet, it is indisputable: people are inextricably linked with God, and to a large extent dependent on him. The sea languishes in “earthly captivity” and has the opportunity only to strive for it with its soul; according to Zhukovsky, this is the path of every believer - the desire for reunification with God, for the high ideal of the afterlife. In this elegy, the lyrical hero is also the author of the work, so all the poet’s feelings and emotions can be transferred to the lyrical hero.

In romanticism there is and is a special attitude towards nature, awe of it. This can be seen in the poem “The Sea”. For Zhukovsky, the natural world is a mystery, and the purpose of the poem is to unravel it. All romantics, including Zhukovsky, agreed that in nature, and only in it, the divine principle dissolves; through communication with it one can come into contact with the afterlife, that is, with one’s ideal, with the limit of one’s dreams; Having penetrated into the depths of nature, you can learn the secret of existence. The image of nature, like the image of heaven, is a reflection of God in the earthly world.

The general mood of the entire poem can be called sad, but Zhukovsky does not spare the sea or people, he tries to convey to them his own understanding of life, which came to him with experience. The poet, like the lyrical hero, bows and trembles before the power of nature. He penetrated into its depths, understood the secret of the universe, but it gave him nothing but disappointment, deep and ineradicable.

Even Zhukovsky’s contemporaries understood his significance for Russian literature, and V.G. Belinsky wrote about his romantic works and about himself: “The public’s ears were already blocked from the solemn odes, and they became deaf to them. Everyone was waiting for something new. Then Zhukovsky appeared.”

Http://zhukovskiy.lit-info.ru/review/zhukovskiy/012/1121.htm

Vasily Zhukovsky
Sea

An elegy is a poem that comes from deep feelings that surround the poet. It is usually heartfelt and very personal. His sentimental thoughts are sad, if, rather, not full of deep sorrow. The poem “The Sea” (elegy by V. A. Zhukovsky) fully meets these requirements.

Masha Protasova

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was an illegitimate child, which subsequently did not allow him to marry his beloved. Her mother was so against the misalliance that she would prefer her daughter’s death to her union with this man. This is how Masha looked in the eyes of Vasily Andreevich - young, tender and beautiful.

She was smart, sensitive, and deeply religious. She was so poetic that everything around her turned into poetry. Could Zhukovsky not fall in love? Of course not. Could he not suffer, knowing that happiness was unattainable? Of course not. He wooed Mashenka twice, but both times he received a categorical refusal. A friend advised me to marry Masha by taking her away. But her mother’s obedience and religiosity did not allow the girl to agree to such a marriage. They both deeply loved each other and suffered, but the girl followed her sister to Dorpat. Now this is the city of Tartu. Mashenka vowed to maintain friendship with Vasily Andreevich all her life, which turned out to be short. And Vasily Andreevich loved his beautiful muse, his beautiful guardian angel so deeply and strongly that he never married.

He carried his bitter happiness throughout his life. A girl in Dorpat married an unworthy man who only seemed decent in society, continuing to love Vasily Andreevich. The husband, being very jealous, did not allow Mashenka to meet with Zhukovsky. They both resigned to fate. They were separated by In 1822, the elegy “The Sea” was written. The story of the creation of the poem is essentially dramatic.

Elegy

Let us begin the analysis of the elegy “The Sea” as an image of specific human feelings. Conventionally, the 28 stanzas of the poem can be divided into seven unequal parts, in which both the lyrical hero himself and the one about which he constantly thinks will be present. Reflections on love, conveyed metaphorically, through the image of the water element, constitute the theme of the elegy. In the first quatrain, the poet conveys his own state with a metaphor about confused love and anxious thoughts, using the image of the sea. In the second six-line, also through the image of the element of water, the lyrical hero, questioning the sea, talks to his beloved.

He asks what it's like for her in captivity. Affectionately and tenderly asks you to open up to him. In the third six-line, spiritualizing the sea, the poet recalls the days of happiness with his beloved, when both in the morning and in the evening everything was radiantly illuminated by her, everything was caressed and brought joy. In the next quatrain, he metaphorically talks about how a person behaves when his dream is taken away from him. How he is tormented and fights with all his might.

This is how the analysis of the poem “Sea” continues. The elegy in its penultimate six-line speaks of the deceptive peace that comes after struggling with adversity. This is also a metaphor. It seems that all worries are going away, but this appearance is deceiving. The final two stanzas speak of inner turmoil, hidden deep, but making one tremble. Love with its doubts, fear, and hope is the theme of the elegy “The Sea” by Zhukovsky.

Nature as a prototype of Mary

The calm, raging, calming, stormy in its depths are entirely and completely connected in Zhukovsky with the image of Mary, so close to him and so distant. The theme and idea of Zhukovsky’s elegy “The Sea” are closely intertwined. Fascinated by the water element, he is forever devoted to the charms of Mary and Mashenka. Asking the sea, he asks the young girl to trust him with her deep secret. He asks her, metaphorically turning himself into the sky, if she is drawn to him, distant, bright.

The poet reassures his beloved by saying that his thoughts are high and pure, but let her caress him and sparkle joyfully. He believes that if something prevents them from meeting, then Masha will violently, like the element of water, protest and rush about. But then the obstacles disappear, like clouds and darkness leaving the sea, but Masha is still excited for a long time. She cannot come to her senses, and her calm appearance is deceptive. She is still afraid and, admiring the sky, that is, the poet, trembles for him, for their love. This is an in-depth analysis of the elegy “The Sea”, if you know the circumstances of the poet’s love.

Part one

The poem seems to have been written in one breath, so quickly, so heartfeltly, that it did not even need to be divided into stanzas. The poem “The Sea” is an elegy in the full sense of the word, since it is sad and very personal. Everything that I wanted, but could not be expressed otherwise, the poet wrote in metaphors in “The Sea.” The elegy is dramatic if it is viewed as the natural world animated by the poet. The way Zhukovsky began to relate to nature became a harbinger of romanticism in Russian poetry. It will be completely animated by the great F. Tyutchev. He will find in her freedom, love, and language. But “The Sea” starts it. The elegy tells about the poet's observation of the charm of the azure calm sea, which is ready to conduct a dialogue with the distant bright sky. The poet asks him whether the sea wants to get closer to the sky, which is just as huge, but, unlike the earth, holds tightly in its embrace, light and airy, not burdensome.

Part two

The bright sky fills the sea with azure and makes it glow with light. Golden clouds caress the sea. The elegy tells how joyfully the night stars are reflected in the sea. If the sky is the soul of a person, then the sea is his secret, unknown and invisible world. The soul rises to heaven to know bliss. But its second part - the water part - despite the apparent serenity and peace, is always worried.

Part three

Rough seas can turn into a storm. And then - everyone, beware. Storm clouds cannot take away the clear sky from the sea. It will fight fiercely, turn gray and leaden, but it will defend its peace and quiet and put an end to the darkness.

Part four

The work “The Sea” is a two-faced elegy. The poet, after the storm and storm, analyzes what he saw. He sees how the clouds and darkness dissipate, the sky again shines with azure, but the sea has remembered the bad weather for a long time, everything is bubbling and seething inside it.

The waves continue to swell for a long time. Even at first glance, the sea, calmed down in inner turmoil, is afraid of losing the sky with its sweet shine.

Conclusion

The poem was written in 1822, but published much later, seven years later, when Maria Protasova was no longer alive.

She died in childbirth. The acute pain passed, and the personal disappeared under the waves of the sea. The elegy, written by an amphibrachium, conveys the rocking of the waves. It does not have the usual rhyme for a poem. This is what gives the work grandeur and solemnity. They emphasize that a person under any circumstances must remain a person. When he is gone, the skies will still shine and the waves of the sea will still beat on the shore.

Man has always been attracted by the image of the sea: the element prompted reflection, beckoned with its secrets, and called to adventure. It occupies a special place in the art of romanticism, when the rebel hero compares himself with a raging water element. One of the first Russian writers to draw a parallel between the sea and man, and even personify the elements, was V. A. Zhukovsky.

His famous elegy “The Sea” by V.A. Zhukovsky created it in 1822 - during the mature period of his work. By this time, the poet no longer turns to the motives of sentimentalism, but develops a romantic ideology. The poem “The Sea” occupies a central place in the author’s work; it becomes the standard of Russian romanticism.

The poem “Sea” is dedicated to Maria Protasova. Zhukovsky had tender feelings for this girl, but could not marry her. The fact is that Masha’s mother E. A. Protasova was the writer’s cousin; she considered the relationship between her daughter and her cousin to be too close to give permission for marriage. The pain from this disappointment was reflected in the entire work of the poet.

Genre and size

The work was written in a special style characteristic of that time. The genre of the poem “The Sea” by Zhukovsky is elegy. Poets of the Romantic era often turned to it. Literally, “elegy” is translated as “complaint.” Interestingly, this genre has retained its characteristics since antiquity. The elegy has a philosophical character; it expresses melancholy and lyrical reflection. All this is typical for the poem “Sea”.

In addition to content, this genre also implies technical features. Authors often choose the average volume of the work, which allows them to create a detailed statement, a three-syllable size that gives melodiousness. Zhukovsky's tools are interesting. He writes his elegy in blank verse, that is, while maintaining meter and rhythm, there is no rhyme. The size of the poem “The Sea” is amphibrach tetrameter. All these characteristic properties make the work sensual, deeply permeated with poetic sadness.

Direction

It is impossible to overestimate the role of elegy for romanticism. Like no other genre, in this genre a romantic poet could fully express his emotions, talk about his suffering, his mental pain. V.A., who developed the tendencies of romanticism in his work. Zhukovsky did not shy away from this genre. His first elegy, “The Rural Cemetery,” was written back in 1802; it is a translation of Gray’s poem. This arrangement allowed sentimentalists to consider Zhukovsky their successor, but already in it one can see the motives of appeal and resistance belonging to romanticism.

A completely different author appears to the reader in the elegy of 1822. Having created his own special interpretation of the image of the sea, Zhukovsky becomes the founder of a new tradition in Russian literature. Since then, poets have often turned to the motif of this element: Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev. The very idea of the closeness of man and nature is very close to the era of romanticism. It is known that A.S. Pushkin highly valued “The Sea,” and two years later he himself wrote a poem with the same title.

Composition

The elegy “The Sea” can be divided into three parts.

First, a dialogue takes place between the lyrical hero and the sea; the author contemplates the “silent” sea, is fascinated by it, but feels that this visible peace holds a certain secret.
The second part describes a storm, to which the lyrical hero gives a very interesting explanation. It is caused by the fact that “dark clouds” violate the idyll of sea and sky.
The final part - the author again returns to the description of the calm elements that loop the poem. However, now he already knows what secret is kept in the abyss of the waters.

It is interesting that the sea itself remains calm throughout the entire work; the storm is imagined by the author. But it is precisely this method of reasoning that allows the poet to make the composition three-part, which gives dynamism to the work and convincingness to the author’s conclusion.

Heroes and their characteristics

The main character of the elegy is the sea. Let's consider in what ways the poet draws the image of the sea. It is not enough to say that the element is personified, it is anthropomorphic. The sea is alive, it breathes, but most importantly, it has all the psychological qualities of a person. It is in love with the clear sky when it is reflected in its waters - the sea is happy and serene. But sometimes this idyll is disrupted by clouds that hide the sky from admiring the waters. The surface of the water reacts sharply to separation from the sky: it resists, tries to resist the “hostile darkness” in order to regain its happiness.

After imagining this picture, the lyrical hero of the poem guessed what secret the sea was hiding. Now he feels his kinship with him - he understood the sea, and the sea understood him. Perhaps he is experiencing the same tragedy, which is why he stands over the abyss... All this brings the characters together: both are inclined to contemplation, they feel the same pain for both.

Themes

The main theme of the elegy “The Sea” is the impossibility of love. And this reveals the autobiographical nature inherent in most of the poet’s lyrics. He could not marry his beloved - M.A. Protasova. The young people did not dare to get married without their mother’s blessing and remained good friends. Thus, the allegory in the elegy is more optimistic than the fate of the writer himself, because the separating force only temporarily invades the union of heaven and the abyss of water, but he is not given the opportunity to enter into a marriage with his beloved. Perhaps the image of the sea turned out to be so psychological because the author transferred his own experiences to it.
The motive of struggle follows from the above discussed topic. The confrontation between the sea and the clouds is the culmination of the poem. But even having won, it will never be calm: the sea is doomed to always be afraid that the darkness may at any moment again try to take away its happiness.
In addition, the work contains the theme of loneliness. It’s not for nothing that the lyrical hero turns to the sea - he is lonely, he rejoices that the element is happy in admiring the sky, but at the same time he also feels the anxiety of the element. The watery abyss is worried about its light azure, afraid of losing it again and being left alone, perhaps forever.

Idea

Zhukovsky’s poem reflects the main idea of romanticism - the kinship of man and nature. The poet calls on her to learn both contemplation and resistance, and the meaning of the poem “The Sea” is that you need to fight for your happiness. As an example, a person is given an element that triumphs over darkness. Unfortunately, the sea will never be serene as before, but it is together with the sky again! Perhaps the author of the poem himself would like to just as boldly and firmly overcome all the obstacles standing in the way of the desired marriage.

Artistic media

The paths of the poem “Sea” work to create unique author’s images. The elegy is rich in various artistic means.

The role of epithets in the work is significant. With the help of them, the author in the first part of Zhukovsky conveys the calmness of the elements: “silent”, “azure”. This is followed by personifications that endow the sea with a feeling soul: “you breathe,” “your tense chest breathes.” In the climactic and final parts, the state of the sea will be conveyed by verbs conveying movement or state of mind, which gives the image psychologism: “you are pouring,” “splashing,” “howling,” “beating,” “heaving,” “admiring, trembling.” This state is also characterized by the epithet “scared”, which refers to waves.

The opposing force has characteristic epithets: “dark” (clouds), “hostile” (haze).

The epithets also convey the joy of the meeting of sky and sea; it is no coincidence that the “brilliance of the returned heavens” is precisely “sweet.”

There are poems and figures of speech in the text. To begin with, I would like to note that the elegy contains speech patterns characteristic of romanticism: “tense chest”, “sweet life”.

There are no antitheses in the text: the opposing forces have corresponding epithets (clear skies - dark clouds).

In the first part, such a figure of speech as a rhetorical question is repeatedly encountered: “What moves your immense womb?”

The ellipsis at the end of the climactic part allows the author to break off the narrative on the most dramatic note and return to the dialogue with the mysteriously calm sea.

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