Question by Tayla: Information on Alexander Pushkin?
hey everyone i have an english oral on alexander puskin where i am supposed to take the role of him and talk about my poerty and how my life influenced i’m pretty behind so if anyone has any good information based on this please add a comment
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Answer by Blake
Some of Pushkin’s most celebrated lyrics are his poems dealing with the theme of
love. «Я помню чувдное мгновенье» (1825) was written with Анна Петровна Керн in mind.
Pushkin met her in 1819 in Petersburg, and then after his Southern exile, he became reacquainted
with her in 1825. She serves as a beautiful source of inspiration, but he then forgets about her in
the midst of the storms of life and languishes in exile, «Без божества, без вдохновенья, Без
слёз, без жизни, без любви». Her reappearance brings about a spiritual awakening, «И
божество, и вдохновенье, И жизнь, и слёзы, и любовь» are resurrected for him. Although the
poem on a literal level refers to a specific woman, on a figurative level it may acquire a more
universal meaning as we consider the reappearance in our lives of any source of beauty and
inspiration. Significantly, Pushkin links divinity and inspiration in this poem.
«Ты и вы» (1828) explores the divide between our feelings and the words we utter. Our
words may hide or mask or only cryptically express what we actually feel. In «Я вас любил»
(1829), which is one of the most beloved of all Russian poems, Pushkin sets forth the idea that
genuine love is characterized by the absolute absence of any form of egoism. «Мадона» (1830)
is addressed to Pushkin’s fiancée Наталья Николаевна Гончарова. In a letter to her he notes
that he would stand for hours in front of a painting of the Mother of God that was ascribed to
Raphael and that was being sold in Petersburg. In the poem he mentions his dream of having a
picture of Mary and Christ in his home, but then suggests that his dream has been realized
through her as his own Madonna. Pushkin thus links here purity and love.
Some of Pushkin’s most stirring poems are thus that address philosophical questions.
In «Воспоминание» (1828) he notes the pangs of conscience and oppressive thoughts that beset
him at night as he reflects on past mistakes that he reads on the scroll that memory unfolds
before him. Despite the pain and loathing he experiences, he nonetheless declares: «Но строк
печальных не смываю». Pushkin seems to suggest that remorse can have beneficial effects and
that we need not necessarily strive to eliminate the memory of the sad lines in our life’s story
A key theme in Pushkin’s poetry is the role of the poet. «Пророк» (1826) is a reworking
of the call of the prophet Isaiah, as outlined in Isaiah 6. In the midst of the desert, a seraph
appears unto the future prophet and transforms his sight by endowing him with prophetic eyes
that possess the clarity of an eagle’s vision. The seraph then transforms the prophet’s hearing and
enables him to hear everything in the heavens, on the earth, and in the seas. The prophet’s tongue
must also be transformed, and the seraph removes his idle and deceitful tongue and replaces it
with a new tongue possessing the wisdom of a serpent. The heart must also be changed, and the
seraph employs a burning coal as an emblem of purification. With the process of transformation
completed, «Как труп в пустыне я лежал, / И Бога глас ко мне воззвал:/ «Восстань, пророк,
и виждь, и внемли,/ Исполнись волею Моей,/ И, обходя моря и земли,/ Глаголом жги
сердца людей». The final line is one of the most oft-repeated lines in Russian poetry. The word
is designed to enflame people’s hearts. Pushkin humbly acknowledges, though, that the word is
not his. It has been given to him as an act of divine inspiration.
Pushkin is often considered to be the father of Russian literature. One reason for that
designation is that he has created so many character types that have influenced other writers. For
example, Eugene Onegin is considered “a superfluous character.” Tatyana is often viewed as the
prototype of meek but ultimately strong feminine characters. In «Моцарт и Сальери» Sal’ieri is
an envious character who feels obligated to reintroduce a sense of justice into the world, and he
thus is an important forerunner of Raskolnikov. Sal’eri has come to the conclusion that not only
is there not justice on the earth, «Но правды нет—и выше» (1). He has devoted his entire life to
music and composition, but he nonetheless remains a craftsman rather than a genuine artist. His
approach to composing is mechanical and scientific.
In summary, then, Pushkin has created characters through whom are posed some of the
most pressing questions about human existence, and they are questions that continue to engage
the Russian people in profoundly meaningful ways.
I’ve got more should you be interested, email me at [email protected]
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