God forbid I go crazy.
No, the staff and bag are easier;
No, easier work and smoother.
Not that with my mind
I treasured; not so much with him
I was not happy to part:
When would you leave me
In freedom, no matter how frisky I am
Set off into the dark forest!
I would sing in a fiery delirium,
I would forget myself in a daze
Discordant, wonderful dreams.
And I would listen to the waves
And I would look, full of happiness,
To empty skies;
And if I were strong, if I were free,
Like a whirlwind digging through fields,
Breaking forests.
Yes, here's the problem: go crazy,
And you will be terrible as the plague,
They'll just lock you up
They'll put a fool on a chain
And through the bars like an animal
They will come to tease you.
Analysis of the poem “God forbid I go crazy” by Pushkin
History of writing
The poem dates from 1833. But there is an assumption that the work could have been written later, between 1833 - 1835.
Researchers of the poet believe that 3 events could have prompted him to write a poem on the topic of a mentally ill person. One of them is the declaration of his friend and philosopher P. Ya. Chaadaev as crazy by the authorities of the Russian Empire due to the publication of a work in which the author is indignant about Russia’s separation from the “worldwide education of the human race” and spiritual stagnation.
The second possible source of inspiration is considered to be a meeting with the mentally ill poet K. N. Batyushkov in 1830. For Pushkin, Konstantin Nikolaevich became a close friend and Alexander Sergeevich could express his experiences with this work.
Another theory is that the poet was inspired to write the poem by the work of Barry Cornwall, who served for twenty years as an inspector of a lunatic asylum and published many works on the topic of madness. It is believed that in addition to the poem “God forbid I go crazy,” the work of Cornwall inspired Alexander Sergeevich to write (translate) the poems “The Girl from Provence” and “Marcian Column.”
Plot
“God forbid I go crazy” can be divided into three parts.
In the first part, Pushkin points out that being mentally ill is by no means an enviable fate for a person. Better than the hardships and misfortunes of the beggarly people.
Alexander Sergeevich indulges in dreams that it would be nice to live in the forest, captivated by “wonderful dreams.” Next, the writer “lulls” the reader on the waves and in the skies, where, according to the author, there is a lot of happiness. Perhaps Pushkin was in a melancholy mood and negative moments in life pushed the writer to similar thoughts: that it was better to get away from “worldly” problems.
In the third part, the writer realizes all the “charms” of the life of a crazy person: bars, treatment like an animal, the same “smart” community, not at all hospitable guards.
The verse is written in artistic form, full of epithets, exaggerations and anaphors. “God forbid I go crazy” is notable for its unusual manner - five-line verses without rhyme on the fifth lines.
The story is narrated in the first person. This is a lyrical appeal to God, filled with the bitter truth of life about the unfortunate fate of a mentally ill person.
Pushkin's happiness.
In 1833, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin wrote the poem “God forbid I go crazy.” It is believed that the poem reflects the tragic attitude of the poet in those years. Probably, the authors of this version (and their adherents) were misled by the first line of the poem (aka the title) with an appeal to God for help.
Biographies of the poet from the times of Soviet (and post-Soviet) textbooks unanimously stated that the poet’s life was not easy, that he waged a constant struggle against oppression from the tsarist censorship, against opposition to public opinion, against the all-seeing eye of police surveillance, against the disapproving condemnation of ordinary people. , with all kinds of hardships - this caused Pushkin to have dark thoughts that could drive him crazy.
Undoubtedly, life was not easy for the Poet, he was exhausted by material difficulties, the profession of a writer did not bring in much income, his family grew: his two children, plus two unmarried sisters of Natalya Nikolaevna living with the Pushkins, financial assistance to his younger brother Lev, expenses for compulsory attendance at palace balls, fees for rented housing... sometimes there was no money at all and he had to get into new debts - all this kept Pushkin in tension, but not so much that he began to complain about his fate and mental disorders. Alexander Sergeevich was not melancholic or neurasthenic, he was by nature a lover of life and even in adversity he knew how to find the bright side.
Therefore, my view of the poem is more optimistic.
I am sure that the poet did not write about the dark days in his life, but about his happiness, and for some reason everyone forgets that Alexander Sergeevich was happy in his family life.
By 1833, Pushkin already had two children: a one-year-old daughter Masha and his favorite Sasha, born in July, his wife was still an angel for him, his mother-in-law, seeing his love for his wife and children, became kinder to his son-in-law, his friends continued to idolize him, the poet’s poetic gift blossomed.
In 1833, Pushkin had a new surge of inspiration - the second “Boldino autumn”. Only a person inspired by happiness could write in a short time many works that have become textbooks for us. More than 20 poems alone were written, among them the magnificent “Autumn” (October has already arrived, the grove is already shaking itself). In the same 1833, Pushkin wrote two fairy tales: “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” and “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights”, and in three days he created almost the entire “Bronze Horseman” (notes on the manuscript on October 29, 30 and 31 – 5 hours 5 minutes), wrote the main text of "The History of Pugachev", composed "Songs of the Western Slavs", wrote the poem "Angelo". Associated with 1833 are “Dubrovsky” (chapter 19) and “The Queen of Spades” (finished by 1834). In the same year, Pushkin began writing “Thoughts on the Road” - about Radishchev and his “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”; by the end of 1833, the first entries in the “Diary” appeared (surviving notebook No. 2).
Life made the poet happy. There are still four years until the terrible year 1837, but who knew about it! Pushkin’s special joy is his family, his source of inspiration and relaxation, his outlet, his paradise, his happiness!
Pushkin searched for his happiness all his life. Having numerous love affairs, a large number of lovers (Natalya Nikolaevna was one hundred and thirteenth), he believed that he never knew happiness. He wanted to marry, but only to one who would combine important (in his understanding of happiness) qualities: beauty, youth, intelligence and spiritual purity. He was lucky; he found such qualities in Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova.
From Pushkin’s letter to his wife: “I had to marry you, because I would have been unhappy all my life without you.”
Pushkin sought his happiness for two years. Seeing Natalya Goncharova, he fell in love with her once and for all. Four months later, having confirmed his feelings, he proposed marriage to her, but Natalya was only 16, and the proposal was rejected. Pushkin wrote to Natalie’s mother: “I fell in love with her, my head was spinning, I proposed, your answer, with all its uncertainty, drove me crazy for a moment.”
Two years later, another try. This time consent was received. In a letter to Pleshcheev, Pushkin reports that he received a “pretty little letter” from Natalya, in which she “promises to marry me without a dowry.” The long-awaited marriage to his beloved girl and future changes in his personal life pleasantly excited Pushkin and aroused in him a thirst for life and activity!
For the sake of family happiness, Pushkin mortgaged the Kistenevo estate (and 200 souls of serfs) that he inherited from his father, for which he received 38 thousand rubles, 17 thousand of which went to furnishing a personal nest on the 2nd floor in an apartment in the Khitrovo building on Arbat - for the happiness of his beloved woman don't mind the money!
On February 18, 1831, Pushkin became a married man. He writes to his friends in delight: “I am married and happy, my only wish is that nothing in my life changes - I can’t wait for anything better. This state is so new to me that it seems that I have been reborn.”
If before his marriage, in a letter to Vyazemsky, Pushkin wrote: “Is it true that Baratynsky is getting married? I’m afraid for his mind,” then, having fallen in love with Natalya, he himself was “ready to go crazy.” But this is while he was pursuing his chosen one!
Being in family happiness, he realized that going crazy (even from happiness) means losing it! But Pushkin could not allow such a loss: anything, even “staff and bag,” “labor and hunger,” even other hardships and trials, but not the loss of happiness. And happiness for Pushkin is the love of Natalya Nikolaevna and the children, that is, his family! He wrote to Pletnev about this: “My desire is that nothing in my life changes - I can’t wait for anything better.”
He was not afraid for his mind (“It’s not that I valued my mind/I”); he was afraid of losing what was dear to him.
A person who has gone mad is also in a state of happiness, but in an idyllic and unconscious state, and does not understand his state. But Pushkin wanted to feel his happiness, feel it, touch it, plunge into it headlong and blissfully live in it!
Life outside the walls of the house was different: Natalya Nikolaevna’s beauty caused mixed opinions. Some admired it, for example, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich and his wife, while others spread evil gossip, such as Idalia Poletika and Countess Nesselrode. Pushkin was proud of his “wife”, doted on her, admired, patronized, cared for, instructed and consoled.
When leaving on business, he bombarded her with letters in which he admitted how bored and sick he was without his family and never tired of declaring his love: “Take care of yourself, my angel!”
Pushkin passionately wanted to surround Natalya Nikolaevna with things worthy of her beauty and inner purity, but the constant lack of money weighed on his soul, oh, if only these tormenting thoughts “... left me / In the wild, how quickly I would / Set off into the dark forest!”
Free, light, joyful, playful...!
Then his happiness would be even fuller and deeper: “I would sing in fiery delirium, / I would lose myself in the mist of / Discordant, wonderful dreams. / And I would listen to the waves, / And I would look, full of happiness ... / "
These figurative enumerations represent being in a state of Love, and not escaping from harsh reality into a fantasy world.
There is another reason for which the author asked God “not to let him go crazy” - he was afraid for his loved ones. After all, if hypothetically he goes crazy and “... is locked up, / They put a fool on a chain / And through the bars like an animal / They come to tease you,” then, seeing this joyless and terrible picture, his loved ones (wife, children, relatives, friends) will lose their own happiness. The sight of a hunted madman will forever deprive them of peace and joy. Pushkin did not want them to suffer. Not for yourself - I’m scared for them! Therefore, a request coming from the depths of the soul::
God forbid I go crazy.
No, the staff and bag are easier;
No, easier work and smoother.
Not that with my mind
I treasured; not so much with him
I was not happy to part:
When would you leave me
In freedom, no matter how frisky I am
Set off into the dark forest!
I would sing in a fiery delirium,
I would forget myself in a daze
Discordant, wonderful dreams.
And I would listen to the waves
And I would look, full of happiness,
To empty skies;
And if I were strong, if I were free,
Like a whirlwind digging through fields,
Breaking forests.
Yes, here's the problem: go crazy,
And you will be terrible as the plague,
They'll just lock you up
They'll put a fool on a chain
And through the bars like an animal
They will come to tease you.
1833
Ill. - Hood. Popova I.N. "A.S. Pushkin in the family circle." oil on canvas, 1987.
Reviews
Mita, or maybe Pushkin was afraid of “losing his mind”, like Bezobrazov, who took up arms against the tsar because he took his wife with his power on his wedding night? Bezobrazov was exiled by the sovereign to the Caucasus, and the poet wrote in his diary that Bezobrazov seemed to have “gone crazy.” Perhaps Pushkin was afraid of “losing his mind,” like Chaadaev, who published “Philosophical Letter” in the fall of 1836 and earned lifelong seclusion from the same sovereign in his own house and assigned him, the “crazy” philosopher, supposedly a doctor?
"Yes, here's the problem: go crazy,
And you will be terrible as the plague,
They'll just lock you up
They'll put a fool on a chain
And through the bars like an animal
They will come to tease you."
God forbid I go crazy. No, the staff and bag are easier; No, easier work and smoother. It’s not that I value my mind; It’s not that I wasn’t glad to part with him: If they had left me free, how quickly I would have set off into the dark forest! I would sing in fiery delirium, I would lose myself in a cloud of discordant, wonderful dreams. And I would listen to the waves, And I would look, full of happiness, into the empty skies; And I would be strong, free, Like a whirlwind digging up fields, Breaking down forests. But here’s the problem: go crazy, and you’ll be as terrible as the plague, They’ll just lock you up, They’ll put you on a fool’s chain, And they’ll come through the bars to tease you like an animal.
Date of creation: October-November 1833
Analysis of Pushkin’s poem “God forbid I go crazy...”
The poem “God forbid I go crazy...” still does not have an exact dating. Literary scholars often refer to the period between 1830 and 1835. Researchers of Pushkin's lyrics mention several events that could serve as a reason for writing the work. Let's look at just a couple of key versions. First, Alexander Sergeevich was greatly impressed by his visit to the mentally ill Batyushkov, a poet whom in his youth he considered one of his mentors. The second is that while in Boldin, Pushkin became closely acquainted with the work of the English author Barry Cornwall, who served as an inspector of a mental home for twenty years and devoted many works to the topic of madness. Among them are the poems “The Girl from Provence” and “Marcian Column”.
The text under consideration can, with a certain degree of convention, be divided into three parts. The first stanza reflects the emotional state of a person who is afraid of going crazy. The probable loss of reason for him is a terrible misfortune, worse than wandering in poverty through cities and villages, than hunger. At the same time, he understands that not everyone has such a negative attitude towards madness - there are people who consider it a blessing. The following are two sides of mental illness: romantic and realistic. In an ideal world, a mentally unhealthy person has unlimited freedom. His perception of reality is radically different from how normal people perceive it. This conflict leads to negative consequences. Society wants to isolate itself from the madman. In real life, and not in an ideal world, crazy people often find themselves locked up, as Pushkin says closer to the end of the poem:
...They'll just lock you up
They'll put a fool on a chain
And through the bars like an animal
They will come to tease you.
Followers of romanticism were inclined to perceive madness as a state close to poetic inspiration. Alexander Sergeevich in his work “God forbid I go crazy...” argues with them. For a madman, complete unity with nature is natural. He doesn't see it as something special or amazing. The poet dissolves in nature, wanting to receive inspiration. For him, this merger is of great value. “Discordant dreams”, in the power of which a madman resides, are alien to the system. As for the poet, he puts the received impressions into a certain form, subordinating them to the chosen images, rhymes, and rhythms.