"Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." Lermontov, "Farewell, unwashed Russia": history of creation, analysis of the poem

Poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." Lermontov wrote in the last year of his untimely interrupted life. At the very time of the heyday of literary talent. These simple eight lines are almost the most recognizable passage among the poet's rich literary heritage. And it's not even in a particular sense, beauty or perfection of the syllable of the poem. Just these two verses for decades were part of the compulsory school curriculum and memorized by each new generation of students by heart.

What did the poet want to say with this octave? What circumstances prompted him to write a poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..."? How deep is the meaning hidden in a few, at first sight, simple lines?

Historical Background

It is almost impossible to correctly understand a work if we consider it outside the context of the historical background. In particular, this statement is applicable to poetry. After all, a three-dimensional work such as a novel or a story allows you to draw this very background that influences our perception, and a short verse often serves as a kind of expression of emotions caused by the environment and needs clarification.

The poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." (Lermontov), which will be analyzed, dates back to 1841. At this time, the half-century war in the Caucasus was in full swing. Russia sought to annex these mountain territories and strengthen the border, and the freedom-loving Highlanders tried their best to preserve their freedom.

At that time, the transfer of a soldier or officer to the parts operating in the Caucasus was synonymous with a one-way ticket. Especially, if the following order followed the man, in which he was encouraged to use the above brave man in the hottest points of the battles.

The writer's personality

By 1841, Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov had already turned 26 years old (he did not live up to his birthday this year). He already earned a reputation as a poet, but as a man in society he was not loved. And this attitude, I must admit, was well deserved. The writer consciously tried to acquire the reputation of a joker and a rake. And his jokes were rather tart and bold than good-natured. Lermontov's verses and his personal qualities of the noisy, frequented secular salons were so strikingly inconsistent with each other that most readers considered the experiences reflected in poetry to be a continuous play of a rich imagination. Only beautiful words that do not have the closest relationship to him.

However, according to the testimony of his few friends, Mikhail wore a mask in public, and on paper he poured out the hidden songs that were suffering from the callousness of the surrounding world of the soul.

But the fact that the one who wrote "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." was a real patriot, no one doubted. Love for the Motherland was expressed not only in sublime rhymes, but also in military matters. When the time came to participate in the fighting, Mikhail Yuryevich did not disgrace the honor of his ancient noble family. For the sake of justice, it should be noted that Mikhail's military career did not deceive him at all. He even tried to resign in order to be able to do literary work without distractions, but did not dare to disappoint the grandmother who raised him, who dreamed of seeing a single grandson as a successful soldier.

Circumstances of life

In 1837, for the poem "The Death of the Poet," Lermontov was convicted and sent to the first exile to the Caucasus. Thanks to the petition of Grandmother Elizabeth Alexeyevna Arsenieva, who had connections at the court, he stayed there for a short time - only a few months. And this stay was for the poet rather a treasury of pleasant impressions, rather than a real danger.

In early 1840, Lermontov got involved in a duel, for which he was sentenced to second exile in the war zone. This time the order was attached to the order of the emperor on the need to constantly engage the convicted person in the first line of the offensive.

In connection with these events, the poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." was written. Lermontov expressed in it his attitude to the then existing order. He throws daring remarks, in which the inexpressible bitterness is evident from the fact that arbitrariness is committed on his beloved Fatherland, and all the people servilely support the established order.

This poem, no doubt, was written impromptu, in one fell swoop. In it, the author splashed out all his indignation and his desire to leave behind the pain from the unfair injustice. He expresses the hope of finding tranquility away from the Motherland, in the vast expanses of the Caucasus.

Literally every phrase in these two verses contains a serious semantic load. It is worth taking a little time to understand the importance of the images used by Lermontov for people who lived at the end of the turbulent 19th century. Only in this case the power and beauty contained in the eight-verse under consideration will appear before you in all its splendor.

"Goodbye"

The word "farewell" does not raise any special questions at first. The author goes to the war zone, and this treatment is quite appropriate. However, even in this, at first glance, absolutely obvious and indisputable concept, there is something more. In fact, the poet aspires not only to his beloved homeland, but to the existing social order that is unacceptable to him.

This is a kind of gesture, almost bordering on despair. Boiling in the poet's chest a feeling of indignation splashes outward with a short "Farewell!". Let him be defeated by the system, but not broken by the spirit.

"Unwashed Russia"

The first and absolutely legitimate question that arises in everyone, even slightly familiar with the work of Mikhail Yurievich, is this: why does the poet use the phrase "unwashed Russia"? Lermontov does not mean here the physical impurity of his fellow citizens.

First, Lermontov's poems testify that it was simply unthinkable for him to humiliate ordinary Russian people. Love and respect for them permeate all of his work. The poet defiantly defies the way of life of the nobility, but the life of simple peasants he absorbs as organically as the harsh beauty of Russian nature.

And secondly, historically it so happened that from time immemorial in Russia in honor was the maintenance of cleanliness. In the most impoverished villages there were baths, and peasants washed there at least once a week. What can not be said about the "enlightened" Europe, where the refined noble ladies of the bath took - at best - two or three times a year. And their knights used gallons of perfume and cologne to smash the stench of unwashed body.

So, by the expression "farewell, unwashed Russia" Lermontov, whose verse, according to the customs of that time, had to scatter over the noble salons without even being published, just wanted to express its disdain for the state system. It was an insulting remark, which, by the way, could only offend a Russian person.

"Country of slaves"

Even a superficial analysis of the poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." does not give grounds for believing that under the word "slaves" the author somehow implies serfs. No, here he points to the slavish obedience of the upper class. On, in fact, the lack of rights of each of them in the face of the powerful of this world.

«Country of gentlemen»

The word "gentlemen" here carries a clear negative connotation. It is akin to the notion of "tyrants" - those who commit violence exclusively at their own discretion. The displeasure of the young poet can be understood. The duel for which he was convicted was just childish. When opponent Lermontov, who was the initiator of the duel, firing, missed, Michael just discharged his pistol in the shot - he was not going to harm Ernest de Barant, who called him.

However, the punishment had to be borne by Michael, because Ernest de Barant was the son of the French ambassador, and his participation in the unseemly incident was simply hushed up. Perhaps, therefore, the poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ...", the history of creation of which is closely connected with a not quite fair court, is saturated with such bitterness.

"And you, blue uniforms ..."

The blue uniforms in the Russian Empire were worn by representatives of the gendarmerie, which were not particularly popular among the common people or among the military. And the poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." and does not paint them as a force that maintains order, but as accomplices of the existing royal arbitrariness.

"And you, their devoted people"

A people loyal to the security department? Yes, never this was not! Here Lermontov speaks not so much of the people as people, but of the state structure as a whole. The author believes that Russia has lagged behind the neighboring powers in Europe in terms of the level of development of the state apparatus. And this situation is possible only because the people as a whole resignedly support the existing order.

"Perhaps behind the wall of the Caucasus I will hide"

The desire to hide from anything in the war zone may seem not entirely logical. However, for Lermontov the Caucasus was a truly special place. For the first time he visited him, being still a small boy, and he carried bright impressions from this period through his whole life.

During the first link, Mikhail traveled more than he fought. He admired the majestic nature and felt very comfortable far from secular squabbles. Remembering these circumstances, it is easier to understand the poet's desire to hide in the Caucasus.

"... from your Pasha"

But the word "Pasha" looks somewhat inorganic in the application to representatives of power in the Russian Empire. Why Lermontov uses the title of commanders of the Ottoman Empire to describe the Russian gendarmes?

Some editorial offices put the word "kings" or even "leaders" in this place. However, it is difficult to agree that it was these options that Lermontov originally used. "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." is a verse in which the author opposes a concrete existing order in which the tsar played a key role. But the king, like the leader, there can be only one in the country. To use such titles in the plural in this case would be simply illiterate.

Contemporaries of Mikhail Yurievich such a phrase would uniquely cut a rumor. Imagine that in the news the announcer says something like: "And today the presidents of our country ...". Approximately this way the phrase "hide from the kings" would sound for readers in the XIX century.

Literally throughout the history of the Turks for the Russian people were implacable enemies. And the identification with this nationality is still used for offensive nicknames. The verse "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." was written at a time when Turkey for Russian society was firmly associated with a tough despotic state. Therefore, representatives of the top gendarmes were sometimes called Pashas, to emphasize the attitude of ordinary people towards them. Apparently, it was this meaning that the great Russian poet invested in his poem.

"All-seeing" and "hearing"

The ill-starred duel between Mikhail Lermontov and Ernest de Barant was, of course, exclusively private in character. A quarrel between the young people took place in the house of a certain Countess Laval, who gave the ball. The duel took place two days later on all unwritten rules - in a secluded place and in the presence of seconds from both sides.

Despite the fact that this encounter did not have any unpleasant consequences, less than three weeks had passed since Lermontov was taken into custody. He was charged with an article about "failure to report". Neither the seconds, nor his opponent to the answer were not involved.

The reason for the beginning of the investigation was not any specific denunciation of one of the direct participants, but rumors of a duel that had spread among the young officers. Therefore, the poet applies the epithets "all-seeing" and "hearers", characterizing the work of the security department.

However, some editions of the poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." give a diametrically opposite reading of the last two lines. In them the author complains about "not seeing the eye" and "not hearing ears", speaking about blindness and partiality of legal proceedings.

Well, this theory has a right to exist. But where so many variations? In the end, Lermontov's poems are not works of a thousand years ago, which archaeologists have to restore in bitterness. And at the time of writing this poem the author was already sufficiently famous that his creation in the blink of an eye would scatter among the intelligentsia, thereby leaving a trace in tens and hundreds of copies. Such discrepancies caused many to doubt even that this verse was written by Lermontov in general. "Farewell, unwashed Russia ..." was subjected to a crushing attack of critics.

Doubts in authorship

The main argument, which leads doubters that the author of this poem is Mikhail Lermontov, is the time of publication of the work. Since the death of the poet managed to pass almost half a century - 46 years. And the earliest copy of surviving manuscripts to this day dates back to the early 1970s, the year before last. And this implies a gap of three decades between writing the original and a copy.

There is also no sketch or rough draft made by Mikhail Yurevich himself. True, Bartnev (a historian who revealed to the world an unknown poem) in a personal letter refers to the existence of the original written by Lermontov's pen, but in addition to it, no one has ever seen this document.

Even more puzzling among literary critics is the character of the poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ...". An analysis of the author's attitude to the country he leaves does not leave doubts, not just in disappointment, but even, in some way, in disregard of the Motherland, something that Lermontov never showed before.

But, somewhat besieging fans of spectacular revelations, it is worth noting that Lermontov throws his famous "Farewell!" Not to the Motherland, but to an imperfect state apparatus. And all literary critics and biographers of the poet agree with this.

Another argument used by critics is a comparative analysis of two verses: "Motherland" and "Farewell, unwashed Russia ...". They were written presumably with a difference of several months. However, one is imbued with reverence for Fatherland, and the second is full of epithets unflattering for the same Motherland.

Could the poet's mood have changed so sharply? Is not it so? Notchki bitterness of solitude is inherent in most of Lermontov's works. They, also expressed more expressively, we find in the poem "Farewell, unwashed Russia ...". Here there is no disregard for the native land, which critics persist in trying to point out. Here there is pain from the fact that the poet would like to see his country prosperous and progressive, but forced to reconcile with the fact that these aspirations will be strangled by the existing regime.

But, in the end, everyone decides personally for themselves, what to believe in. Arguments are sufficient for both one and the other. And whoever was the author of this poem in fact, it is firmly rooted in Russian literature and clearly can tell a lot about the situation prevailing in the middle of the XIX century.

And for the admirers of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov's works there are enough works whose author, no doubt, is the poet. By the way, the same one whom during his lifetime he was called the successor of Pushkin! His literary heritage, undoubtedly, can be compared with alluvial deposits of precious stones in the treasury of Russian literature.