Analysis of "Songs about the prophetic Oleg." The Ballad of Alexander Pushkin

Prophetic Oleg, according to various legends, is buried near the Old Ladoga. As local people say, one of the ancient hills is the grave of the famous prince. Why "prophetic"? So he was named for the ingenious quality to foresee the situation. Especially it was manifested in the capture of Constantinople, when, having deployed the sails and placing the ships on the wheels, he reached the appointed goal, it can be said, swiftly. It's not for nothing that the Pushkin ballad "Song of the Wise Oleg" follows the school program after studying the "Tale of Bygone Years" - this makes it possible to compare two similar events described by different sources.

History of creation

Why does Pushkin refer to such distant events at all? The analysis of "Songs about the prophetic Oleg" can not be done without penetrating the poet's goals.

Pushkin's freedom-loving poems served as an excuse for ordering Alexander I to send the poet into exile to the south. He visits many ancient cities, including Kiev. Here the poet was interested in one of the ancient burial mounds. Local residents claimed that this is the grave of Prince Oleg, who died a very mysterious death.

Pushkin studies the works of Karamzin, where he retells the story of "The Tale of Bygone Years" about the death of a glorious ruler. So his "Song of the Wise Oleg" is born. The year of its writing is 1822.

Do not forget that Pushkin was a true connoisseur of history. His works on the "affairs of bygone days" are very numerous. In Oleg, he saw first of all a hero who could unite Rus, raise patriotic feelings.

Legend and story

Any literary work of a historical nature relies, first of all, on historical facts. However, the vision of a writer or a poet can differ from the original: he can bring his own assessment, give life to life, even gloss over them somewhere.

The plot of the ballad of Pushkin is similar to that of the "Tale of Bygone Years". During the next campaign to the Grand Duke, the prophetic Oleg, a magician, a magician, turns. He predicts that the lord will meet death from his beloved horse, with whom he spent many battles.

Immediately Oleg orders to take his faithful friend away, but orders that he be followed by a good care.

Next, we see Oleg already gray-haired. During the feast, he remembers his faithful friend - a horse. He is informed that the animal has died. Oleg decides to visit the place of repose of a faithful friend and ask for forgiveness. The prince comes to the bones of the horse, sad, lamenting. At this time a snake crawls out of the skull and inflicts a deadly bite.

The work ends with Oleg's funeral.

Features of the genre

If we carry out the genre analysis of "Songs about the Wise Oleg", it becomes clear that this is a ballad. By definition, this poetic work, which is based on some historical or other event. Quite often its plot is fantastic.

Another feature of the ballad is the dramatic nature of the events depicted and the unexpected ending. All this was embodied in his work by Pushkin. "The Song of the Wise Oleg" contains many fantastic, beginning with the old wizard, his prophecy and ending with the death of the prince.

The poet himself, once reading about this event, saw in him a story for his future work. He wrote this to Alexander Bestuzhev, noting "a lot of poetic" in the history of the death of the famous prince.

Themes

Consider what the "Song of the Wise Oleg" is on the semantic level. The theme of the work does not fit into any one concept. Pushkin raises various topics:

1. The theme of rock. Whatever the prince does, in order to avoid the predicted fate - it overtakes him. Oleg sends the horse as far as possible. It would seem that everything: the threat is eliminated, but no, the evil fate overtakes him even after the death of the horse. He finds death exactly as it was foretold.
2. The theme of the poet-prophet, the broadcaster of the will of the higher forces. The wizard Pushkin equates himself with himself. Let us prove this. Magus is called "inspired", like the poet himself. In addition, this poet and sorcerer are also related by the fact that they are not subject to the will of the tsar and the prince: "The Magi are not afraid of mighty lords, and they do not need a princely gift." Recall that in exile for freedom-loving poems Pushkin wrote "Song of the Wise Oleg." The theme therefore reflects the feelings and views of the poet.
3. Theme of friendship. Not for nothing at the beginning of the ballad the horse is called "faithful". This reflects the devotion of the animal to its master. It is noteworthy that initially, in drafts, the epithet "quiet" appears. In the final version, it is replaced. Thus, friendship and loyalty are really emphasized. The prince does not forget about the friend betrayed to him, he asks to take care of him, he remembers after many years and is severely distressed by the death of a devoted intelligent animal.

Idea

The analysis of the "Song of the Wise Oleg" is impossible without an ideological sketch. What does Pushkin want to say with his work? First of all, about the predetermination of what is happening to man. No matter how hard we try to push back the evil rock, it will catch up with us anyway.

Yes, Oleg was able to delay the moment of death, removing his horse and not contacting him. However, death still overtakes the prince. Thus, Pushkin tries to reveal a very important philosophical problem, over which great minds thought. Fate and Freedom: How are these concepts related? Is the person himself choosing his fate (Oleg sends the horse away) or is it impossible to deceive fate (the death of the prince), according to Pushkin? "The song about the prophetic Oleg" unequivocally answers: everything that happens to people and is outlined by them from above can not be changed. In this the poet was convinced.

Artistic expressive means

We will analyze the "Songs about the prophetic Oleg", based on the means of expressiveness used. Pushkin gave the legend from the "Tale of Bygone Years" his vision, revived it, made it sparkle with all facets. At the same time, he also transmitted the verbal coloring of Russia in the 10th century.

Even the name itself is poetic. "Song" is a way of glorification, dating back to ancient times. Folklore works that came to us through the centuries come to mind immediately.

To convey the color of the era, special syntactic constructions were used in the speech, the poet's speech abounds with archaisms ("trizna") and archaic turns ("feather grass").

In the text in Pushkin's many well-known epithets, over which he carefully worked (left drafts of the poet). Thus, the original epithet "proud" in application to the old Magus was replaced by "wise". This is true, because Oleg is proud and arrogant, and the magician is calm and grand. We will mention even the most vivid epithets: "glorious chapter of the mound", "inspired magician", "prophetic Oleg". Abundant in the ballad and metaphors: "years lurk in the mist", the personification: "the buckets are noisy."

The poem is written in a smooth and calm amphibrachie, characteristic of lyric-epic works. It unhurriedly narrates about the sad fate of Prince Oleg.