Mikhail Lermontov poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd. My Lermontov is covered with a green network of grasses

The themes of Lermontov's poems have always been varied, but lyrics occupied a special place in the work of the great Russian classic. Mikhail Yuryevich, as a teenager, always dreamed of going to the ball and shining at the ball, but when his dream finally came true, he realized how hypocritical all the people around him were. The man quickly lost interest in techniques and pompous conversations that were meaningless and radically different from the surrounding reality.

An analysis of Lermontov’s “How often surrounded by a motley crowd” makes it possible to understand how difficult it was for the poet to be among those who put on friendly masks, but have no heart, pity and conscience. Mikhail Yuryevich himself did not know how to conduct small talk, he never complimented women, and when etiquette required him to carry on a conversation, he became too sarcastic and harsh. Therefore, Lermontov was called a rude and ill-mannered person who despises etiquette.

The poem “How often surrounded by a motley crowd” was written in January 1840, just during this period the writer received a vacation and came to stay in Moscow for several weeks. At this time, winter balls were held one after another, although Mikhail Yuryevich did not want to attend social events, but he could not ignore them. An analysis of Lermontov’s “How often surrounded by a motley crowd” allows us to understand how alien the people around him are to the author. He is among the bustle of colorfully dressed ladies and gentlemen, conducting small talk, and he himself is immersed in thoughts about irrevocably past days.

Mikhail Lermontov kept in his memory memories of his childhood, when he was still happy. The poet’s thoughts take him to the village of Mikhailovskoye, where he lived with his parents. He cherishes that period of carefree childhood, when his mother was alive, and he could spend hours wandering around the garden with a destroyed greenhouse, stirring up fallen yellow leaves and living in a tall manor house. An analysis of Lermontov’s “How often surrounded by a motley crowd” shows how different the idealistic picture drawn by the author’s imagination is from reality, in which he is surrounded by images of soulless people, and one can hear “the whisper of confirmed speeches.”

At social receptions, Mikhail Yuryevich preferred to retire to a secluded place and indulge in dreams there. He personified his dreams with a mysterious stranger, he himself invented her image and found it so charming that he could sit for hours without noticing the bustle and noise of the crowd scurrying around. An analysis of Lermontov’s “How often surrounded by a motley crowd” makes it possible to understand how difficult it was for the poet to restrain his feelings and cover his impulses with an insensitive mask.

Mikhail's moments of solitude would sooner or later end, and one of those present would interrupt his dreams with meaningless chatter. At the moment of returning to the real world of affectation and lies, he really wanted to throw something caustic in the eyes of the hypocrites, to shower them with anger and bitterness, to spoil the fun. The poem “How often surrounded by a motley crowd” ideally characterizes the unpredictable and contradictory inner world of the poet, because it combines both romance and aggression.

The poem “How often surrounded by a motley crowd...”. Perception, interpretation, evaluation

The poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd...” was written by M.Yu. Lermontov in 1840. It was created under the impression of a secular New Year's ball. I.S. Turgenev, who was present at this ball, recalled: “I saw Lermontov at a masquerade in the Noble Assembly, on New Year’s Eve 1840... Internally, Lermontov was probably deeply bored; he was suffocating in the cramped sphere into which fate had pushed him... At the ball... he was given no rest, they constantly pestered him, took him by the hands; one mask was replaced by another, and he almost did not move from his place and listened to their squeak, turning his gloomy eyes on them in turn. It seemed to me then that I caught on his face the beautiful expression of poetic creativity. Perhaps those verses came to his mind:

When they touch my cold hands With the careless courage of city beauties Long-intrepid hands...”

The style of the work is romantic, the main theme is the confrontation between the lyrical hero and the crowd.

The poem is built on a sharp contrast between reality and the poet's ideal. The main images of the real world are a “motley crowd”, “images of soulless people”, “decorously pulled masks”. This crowd is devoid of individuality, people are indistinguishable, all colors and sounds here are muffled:

How often, surrounded by a motley crowd,

When in front of me, as if through a dream,

With the noise of music and dancing,

With the wild whisper of closed speeches, images of soulless people flash,

Decorously pulled masks...

The picture of a masquerade reminds us of a nightmare; time here seems to have frozen, become motionless. To emphasize this, the poet uses a few verbs in the present tense. And outwardly the hero is immersed in this frozen, lifeless element. However, internally he is free, his thoughts are turned to his “old dream”, to what is truly dear and close to him:

And if somehow for a moment I manage to Forget myself, - in memory of recent antiquity I fly as a free, free bird;

And I see myself as a child, and all around me are my native places: a tall manor house and a garden with a destroyed greenhouse.

The main images of the lyrical hero’s “old dream” are “native places”, “sleeping pond”, “tall manor house”, “dark alley”, green grass, a fading ray of sun. This dream is like a “blooming island among the seas.” Researchers noted here a situation where dreams were constrained by the surrounding hostile elements. This is precisely how strong the hero’s impulse for freedom is, his desire to overcome this constraint, to break out of hostile captivity. This impulse is captured in the final lines of the work:

When, having come to my senses, I recognize the deception and the noise of the human crowd frightens away my dream,

An uninvited guest for the holiday,

Oh, how I want to confuse their gaiety And boldly throw an iron verse, drenched in bitterness and anger, into their eyes!..

Compositionally, we can distinguish three parts in the poem. The first part is a description of the masquerade (the first two stanzas). The second part is the lyrical hero’s appeal to his sweet dream. And the third part (last stanza) is his return to reality. Thus, we have a ring composition here.

The poem is written using a combination of iambic hexameter and iambic tetrameter. The poet uses various means of artistic expression: epithets (“with a motley crowd”, “with a wild whisper”, “azure fire”, “with a pink smile”), metaphor (“I caress an ancient dream in my soul”, “And boldly throw them in the eyes iron verse, Doused with bitterness and anger! At the phonetic level, we note alliteration and assonance (“With eyes full of azure fire”).

Thus, the poem contains various motives. This is a romantic conflict between dreams and reality, a conflict in the soul of the lyrical hero, a tragic split in his consciousness (which was then characteristic of the lyrical hero Blok). We can consider this work in the context of the poet’s lyrical reflections on his place in the world, on loneliness, lack of mutual understanding and happiness - the poems “Cliff”, “Leaf”, “I go out alone on the road...”, “And boring and sad...” .

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How often, surrounded by a motley crowd (Lermontov)

“How often, surrounded by a motley crowd”

How often, surrounded by a motley crowd,
When in front of me, as if through a dream,
With the noise of music and dancing,
With the wild whisper of closed speeches,
Images of soulless people flash by,
Decorously pulled masks,

When they touch my cold hands
With the careless courage of city beauties
Long-time fearless hands, -
Externally immersed in their splendor and vanity,
I caress in my soul an ancient dream,
Holy sounds of the lost years.

And if somehow for a moment I succeed
Forget yourself - in memory of recent times
I fly as a free, free bird;
And I see myself as a child; and all around
All native places: tall manor house
And a garden with a destroyed greenhouse;

The sleeping pond is covered with a green network of grasses,
And beyond the pond the village is smoking - and they get up
In the distance there are fogs over the fields.
I enter a dark alley; through the bushes
The evening ray looks and the yellow sheets
They make noise under timid steps.

And a strange melancholy is already pressing in my chest:
I think about her, I cry and love her,
I love my creation dreams
With eyes full of azure fire,
With a smile as pink as a young day
The first light appears behind the grove.

So the omnipotent lord of the wondrous kingdom -
I sat alone for long hours,
And their memory is still alive
Under a storm of painful doubts and passions,
Like a fresh island, harmless among the seas
Blooms in their damp desert.

When, having come to my senses, I recognize the deception,
And the noise of the human crowd will frighten away my dream,
An uninvited guest for the holiday,
Oh, how I want to confuse their gaiety,
And boldly throw an iron verse into their eyes,
Doused with bitterness and anger!..

M.Yu. Lermontov

“How often surrounded by a motley crowd”- a creative work in poetic form, created in 1840 by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.

This poem is rated by many critics as one of Lermontov’s most significant poems, close to “The Death of a Poet” in its mood and emotional pathos. According to contemporaries, this poem was written after Lermontov visited a masquerade on the night of January 1-2, 1840. The publication led to new persecution of the poet, who had recently been “forgiven.” The theme of the masquerade is symbolic. Comparing the poem with “Masquerade”, it is easy to understand that ridicule of specific features of life is nothing more than the poet emphasizing all the falseness of secular society. The imaginary past, bright dreams compete in the poet’s mind with a ghostly reality, saturated with lies and “mask”. And this dirt of reality evokes nothing but contempt in Lermontov’s soul.

Literature

  • Collection “Lermontov “Lyrics”” edited by E. D. Volzhina.
  • Collection “Lermontov “Selected Poems””, edited in 1982.

“How often, surrounded by a motley crowd...” Mikhail Lermontov

How often, surrounded by a motley crowd,
When in front of me, as if through a dream,

With the noise of music and dancing,

With the wild whisper of closed speeches,
Images of soulless people flash by,

Decorously pulled masks,

When they touch my cold hands
With the careless courage of city beauties

Hands that have long been indefatigable, -

Externally immersed in their splendor and vanity,
I caress in my soul an ancient dream,

Holy sounds of the lost years.

And if somehow for a moment I succeed
Forget yourself - in memory of recent times

I fly as a free, free bird;

And I see myself as a child; and all around
All native places: tall manor house

And a garden with a destroyed greenhouse;

The sleeping pond is covered with a green network of grasses,
And beyond the pond the village is smoking - and they get up

In the distance there are fogs over the fields.

I enter a dark alley; through the bushes
The evening ray looks and the yellow sheets

They make noise under timid steps.

And a strange melancholy is already pressing in my chest:
I think about her, I cry and love her,

I love my creation dreams

With eyes full of azure fire,
With a smile as pink as a young day

The first light appears behind the grove.

So the omnipotent lord of the wondrous kingdom -
I sat alone for long hours,

And their memory is still alive

Under a storm of painful doubts and passions,
Like a fresh island, harmless among the seas

Blooms in their damp desert.

When, having come to my senses, I recognize the deception,
And the noise of the human crowd will frighten away my dream,

An uninvited guest for the holiday,

Oh, how I want to confuse their gaiety,
And boldly throw an iron verse into their eyes,

Doused with bitterness and anger!..

Analysis of Lermontov’s poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd...”

As a teenager, Mikhail Lermontov dreamed of shining in secular society. However, over time, he realized that the people with whom he had to communicate at various balls and receptions were characterized by amazing hypocrisy. Very soon the young poet became bored with empty and pompous conversations that had nothing to do with reality, and he began to avoid communicating with those whom he considered “double bottom people.”

One should also take into account the fact that Lermontov himself was by nature a rather secretive person; he did not know how to maintain small talk at the proper level and reward women with flattering compliments. When etiquette required this, the poet became harsh and mocking, which is why he very soon gained fame as an ill-mannered rude man who despised etiquette. What was the poet thinking about at these moments? He tried to express his thoughts and observations in the poem “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd...”, which he wrote in January 1840. At this time, Lermontov, having received another vacation, came to Moscow for several weeks and found himself in the thick of social events, when traditional winter balls followed literally one after another. He could not ignore them, but he clearly did not enjoy the need to be present at every such event.

Observing the entertainment of the “motley crowd,” the author emphasizes that at this moment, “outwardly plunging into their splendor and bustle, I caress an ancient dream in my soul.” What is Lermontov dreaming about at this moment? His thoughts take him to the distant past, when he was still just a child and lived with his parents in the village of Mikhailovskoye, not far from the town of Tarkhany. Lermontov remembers this period of childhood, when the poet’s mother was still alive, with particular warmth. He sees “a tall manor house and a garden with a destroyed greenhouse,” which he loved to wander around, listening to the rustle of fallen yellow leaves under his feet.

However, the idealistic picture that the poet paints in his imagination does not fit at all with the reality around him, when “with the wild whisper of closed speeches, images of soulless people flash.” Therefore, at balls and social receptions, Lermontov prefers to retire in order to indulge in dreams in which peace and harmony reign. Moreover, the poet personifies his dreams with a mysterious stranger, who is depicted to him in the image of a young girl “with eyes full of azure fire, with a pink smile, like the first glow of a young day behind the grove.” This image captivated the author so much that he found a special charm in solitude and “sat alone for long hours,” not paying attention to the noise and bustle of the crowd.

But sooner or later the moment came when one of those present destroyed the poet’s dreams, forcing him to return to the real world, completely false, full of lies and affectation. And then Lermontov had only one desire - “to confuse their gaiety and boldly throw into their eyes an iron verse, drenched in bitterness and anger.”

This work, filled with both romance and aggression, perfectly characterizes Lermontov’s inner world, contradictory and unpredictable. Over the 28 years of his life, the poet was never able to learn to live in harmony not only with the people around him, but also with himself. Therefore, his later poems are filled with bitterness, resentment and regret that the author never managed to experience the feeling of all-consuming happiness. The poet was dissatisfied with his own fate, but he was even more angry at the actions of representatives of high society, whom Lermontov considered empty and worthless people, living only to indulge in passions and vices. And the poet splashed out this feeling of irritation not only in public, but also in his poems, thus protecting himself from human indifference and the meaninglessness of existence.