Pushkin was a passionate, enthusiastic person. He was attracted not only by revolutionary romance, but also by female beauty. Reading the poem “I remember a wonderful moment” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin means experiencing the excitement of beautiful romantic love with him.
Regarding the history of the creation of the poem, written in 1825, the opinions of researchers of the work of the great Russian poet were divided. The official version says that A.P. was the “genius of pure beauty.” Kern. But some literary scholars believe that the work was dedicated to the wife of Emperor Alexander I, Elizaveta Alekseevna, and is of a chamber nature.
Pushkin met Anna Petrovna Kern in 1819. He instantly fell in love with her and for many years kept the image that struck him in his heart. Six years later, while serving his sentence in Mikhailovskoye, Alexander Sergeevich met with Kern again. She was already divorced and led a fairly free lifestyle for the 19th century. But for Pushkin, Anna Petrovna continued to remain a kind of ideal, a model of piety. Unfortunately, for Kern, Alexander Sergeevich was only a fashionable poet. After a fleeting romance, she did not behave properly and, according to Pushkin scholars, forced the poet to dedicate the poem to himself.
The text of Pushkin’s poem “I Remember a Wonderful Moment” is conventionally divided into 3 parts. In the title stanza, the author enthusiastically talks about his first meeting with an amazing woman. Delighted, in love at first sight, the author is perplexed, is this a girl, or a “fleeting vision” that is about to disappear? The main theme of the work is romantic love. Strong, deep, it absorbs Pushkin completely.
The next three stanzas tell the story of the author's exile. This is a difficult time of “languishing hopeless sadness,” parting with former ideals, and confronting the harsh truth of life. Pushkin of the 20s was a passionate fighter who sympathized with revolutionary ideals and wrote anti-government poetry. After the death of the Decembrists, his life seemed to freeze and lose its meaning.
But then Pushkin again meets his former love, which seems to him a gift of fate. Youthful feelings flare up with renewed vigor, the lyrical hero seems to awaken from hibernation, feels the desire to live and create.
The poem is taught in a literature lesson in 8th grade. It is quite easy to learn, since at this age many experience first love and the poet’s words resonate in the heart. You can read the poem online or download it on our website.
I remember a wonderful moment:
You appeared before me,
Like a fleeting vision
Like a genius of pure beauty.
In the languor of hopeless sadness
In the worries of noisy bustle,
A gentle voice sounded to me for a long time
And I dreamed of cute features.
Years passed. The storm is a rebellious gust
Dispelled old dreams
And I forgot your gentle voice,
Your heavenly features.
In the wilderness, in the darkness of imprisonment
My days passed quietly
Without a deity, without inspiration,
No tears, no life, no love.
The soul has awakened:
And then you appeared again,
Like a fleeting vision
Like a genius of pure beauty.
And the heart beats in ecstasy,
And for him they rose again
And deity and inspiration,
And life, and tears, and love.
On this day - July 19, 1825 - the day of Anna Petrovna Kern’s departure from Trigorskoye, Pushkin presented her with the poem “K*”, which is an example of high poetry, a masterpiece of Pushkin's lyricism. Everyone who values Russian poetry knows him. But in the history of literature there are few works that would raise as many questions among researchers, poets, and readers. Who was the real woman who inspired the poet? What connected them? Why did she become the addressee of this poetic message?
The history of the relationship between Pushkin and Anna Kern is very confused and contradictory. Despite the fact that their relationship gave birth to one of the poet’s most famous poems, this novel can hardly be called fateful for both.
The 20-year-old poet first met 19-year-old Anna Kern, the wife of 52-year-old General E. Kern, in 1819 in St. Petersburg, in the house of the president of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Alexei Olenin. Sitting at dinner not far from her, he tried to attract her attention. When Kern got into the carriage, Pushkin went out onto the porch and watched her for a long time.
Their second meeting took place only six long years later. In June 1825, while in Mikhailovsky exile, Pushkin often visited relatives in the village of Trigorskoye, where he met Anna Kern again. In her memoirs, she wrote: “We were sitting at dinner and laughing... suddenly Pushkin came in with a big thick stick in his hands. My aunt, next to whom I was sitting, introduced him to me. He bowed very low, but did not say a word: timidity was visible in his movements. I also couldn’t find anything to say to him, and it took us a while to get acquainted and start talking.”
Kern stayed in Trigorskoye for about a month, meeting with Pushkin almost daily. The unexpected meeting with Kern, after a 6-year break, made an indelible impression on him. In the poet’s soul “an awakening has come” - an awakening from all the difficult experiences endured “in the wilderness, in the darkness of imprisonment” - in many years of exile. But the poet in love clearly did not find the right tone, and, despite Anna Kern’s reciprocal interest, a decisive explanation did not happen between them.
On the morning before Anna's departure, Pushkin gave her a present - the first chapter of Eugene Onegin, which had just been published. Between the uncut pages lay a piece of paper with a poem written at night...
I remember a wonderful moment:
You appeared before me,
Like a fleeting vision
Like a genius of pure beauty.
In the languor of hopeless sadness
In the worries of noisy bustle,
And I dreamed of cute features.
Years passed. The storm is a rebellious gust
Dispelled old dreams
Your heavenly features.
In the wilderness, in the darkness of imprisonment
My days passed quietly
Without a deity, without inspiration,
No tears, no life, no love.
The soul has awakened:
And then you appeared again,
Like a fleeting vision
Like a genius of pure beauty.
And the heart beats in ecstasy,
And for him they rose again
And deity and inspiration,
And life, and tears, and love.
From the memoirs of Anna Kern we know how she begged the poet for a sheet of paper with these verses. When the woman was about to hide it in her box, the poet suddenly frantically snatched it from her hands and did not want to give it back for a long time. Kern begged forcibly. “What flashed through his head then, I don’t know,” she wrote in her memoirs. By all appearances, it turns out that we should be grateful to Anna Petrovna for preserving this masterpiece for Russian literature.
15 years later, composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka wrote a romance based on these words and dedicated it to the woman with whom he was in love - Anna Kern's daughter Catherine.
For Pushkin, Anna Kern was truly a “fleeting vision.” In the wilderness, on her aunt’s Pskov estate, the beautiful Kern captivated not only Pushkin, but also her neighboring landowners. In one of his many letters, the poet wrote to her: “Frivolity is always cruel... Farewell, divine, I’m furious and falling at your feet.” Two years later, Anna Kern no longer aroused any feelings in Pushkin. The “genius of pure beauty” disappeared, and the “harlot of Babylon” appeared - that’s what Pushkin called her in a letter to a friend.
We will not analyze why Pushkin’s love for Kern turned out to be just a “wonderful moment,” which he prophetically announced in poetry. Whether Anna Petrovna herself was to blame for this, whether the poet or some external circumstances were to blame - the question remains open in special research.
Anna Kern: Life in the name of love Sysoev Vladimir Ivanovich
"GENIUS OF PURE BEAUTY"
"GENIUS OF PURE BEAUTY"
“The next day I was supposed to leave for Riga with my sister Anna Nikolaevna Wulf. He came in the morning and, as a farewell, he brought me a copy of the second chapter of “Onegin” (30), in uncut sheets, between which I found a four-fold sheet of paper with verses:
I remember a wonderful moment;
You appeared before me,
Like a fleeting vision
Like a genius of pure beauty.
In the languor of hopeless sadness,
In the worries of noisy bustle,
And I dreamed of cute features.
Years passed. The storm is a rebellious gust
Dispelled old dreams
Your heavenly features.
In the wilderness, in the darkness of imprisonment
My days passed quietly
Without a deity, without inspiration,
No tears, no life, no love.
The soul has awakened:
And then you appeared again,
Like a fleeting vision
Like a genius of pure beauty.
And the heart beats in ecstasy,
And for him they rose again
And deity and inspiration,
And life, and tears, and love!
When I was about to hide the poetic gift in the box, he looked at me for a long time, then frantically snatched it away and did not want to return it; I forcibly begged them again; I don’t know what flashed through his head then.”
What feelings did the poet possess then? Embarrassment? Excitement? Maybe doubt or even remorse?
Was this poem the result of a momentary infatuation—or a poetic epiphany? Great is the secret of genius... Just a harmonious combination of a few words, and when they sound, a light female image, full of enchanting charm, immediately appears in our imagination, as if materializing out of thin air... A poetic love letter to eternity...
Many literary scholars have subjected this poem to the most thorough analysis. Disputes about various options for its interpretation, which began at the dawn of the 20th century, are still ongoing and will probably continue.
Some researchers of Pushkin’s work consider this poem to be simply a mischievous joke by the poet, who decided to create a masterpiece of love lyrics from the cliches of Russian romantic poetry of the first third of the 19th century. Indeed, out of one hundred and three of his words, more than sixty are well-worn platitudes (“tender voice”, “rebellious impulse”, “divinity”, “heavenly features”, “inspiration”, “heart beats in ecstasy”, etc.). Let's not take this view of a masterpiece seriously.
According to the majority of Pushkinists, the expression “genius of pure beauty” is an open quote from V. A. Zhukovsky’s poem “Lalla-Ruk”:
Oh! Doesn't live with us
A genius of pure beauty;
Only occasionally does he visit
Us from heavenly heights;
He is hasty, like a dream,
Like an airy morning dream;
And in holy remembrance
He is not separated from his heart!
He is only in pure moments
Being comes to us
And brings revelations
Beneficial to hearts.
For Zhukovsky, this phrase was associated with a number of symbolic images - a ghostly heavenly vision, “hasty, like a dream,” with symbols of hope and sleep, with the theme of “pure moments of being,” the tearing of the heart from the “dark region of the earth,” with the theme of inspiration and revelations of the soul.
But Pushkin probably did not know this poem. Written for the holiday given in Berlin on January 15, 1821 by the Prussian King Frederick on the occasion of the arrival from Russia of his daughter Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, it appeared in print only in 1828. Zhukovsky did not send it to Pushkin.
However, all the images symbolically concentrated in the phrase “genius of pure beauty” again appear in Zhukovsky’s poem “I used to be a young Muse” (1823), but in a different expressive atmosphere - expectations of the “giver of chants”, longing for pure genius beauty - when his star twinkles.
I used to be a young Muse
Met in the sublunary side,
And Inspiration flew
From heaven, uninvited, to me;
Pointed to everything earthly
It is a life-giving ray -
And for me at that time it was
Life and Poetry are one.
But the giver of chants
Haven't visited me for a long time;
His longed return
Should I wait until again?
Or forever my loss
And the harp will not sound forever?
But everything that is from wonderful times,
When he was available to me,
Everything from the dear dark, clear
I saved the days gone by -
Flowers of a secluded dream
And life's best flowers, -
I place it on your sacred altar,
O Genius of pure beauty!
Zhukovsky provided the symbolism associated with the “genius of pure beauty” with his own commentary. It is based on the concept of beauty. “The beautiful... has neither name nor image; it visits us in the best moments of life”; “it appears to us only in minutes, solely to speak to us, to revive us, to elevate our soul”; “Only that which is not there is beautiful”... The beautiful is associated with sadness, with the desire “for something better, secret, distant, that connects with it and that exists for you somewhere. And this desire is one of the most inexpressible proofs of the immortality of the soul.”
But, most likely, as the famous philologist Academician V.V. Vinogradov first noted in the 1930s, the image of the “genius of pure beauty” arose in Pushkin’s poetic imagination at that time not so much in direct connection with Zhukovsky’s poem “Lalla-Ruk” or “I am a young Muse, it happened,” as much as under the impression of his article “Raphael’s Madonna (From a letter about the Dresden Gallery),” published in the “Polar Star for 1824” and reproducing the legend widespread at that time about the creation of the famous painting “The Sistine Madonna”: “They say that Raphael, having stretched his canvas for this painting, did not know for a long time what would be on it: inspiration did not come. One day he fell asleep thinking about the Madonna, and surely some angel woke him up. He jumped up: she is here, shouting, he pointed to the canvas and drew the first drawing. And in fact, this is not a painting, but a vision: the longer you look, the more vividly you are convinced that something unnatural is happening before you... Here the soul of the painter... with amazing simplicity and ease, conveyed to the canvas the miracle that took place in its interior... I... clearly began to feel that the soul was spreading... It was where it can only be in the best moments of life.
The genius of pure beauty was with her:
He is only in pure moments
Genesis flies to us
And brings us visions
Inaccessible to dreams.
...And it certainly comes to mind that this picture was born in a moment of miracle: the curtain opened, and the secret of heaven was revealed to the eyes of man... Everything, even the very air, turns into a pure angel in the presence of this heavenly, passing maiden.”
The almanac “Polar Star” with Zhukovsky’s article was brought to Mikhailovskoye by A. A. Delvig in April 1825, shortly before Anna Kern arrived in Trigorskoye, and after reading this article, the image of the Madonna firmly established itself in Pushkin’s poetic imagination.
“But the moral and mystical basis of this symbolism was alien to Pushkin,” says Vinogradov. – In the poem “I Remember a Wonderful Moment,” Pushkin used the symbolism of Zhukovsky, bringing it down from heaven to earth, depriving it of a religious and mystical basis...
Pushkin, merging the image of his beloved woman with the image of poetry and preserving most of Zhukovsky’s symbols, except for religious and mystical ones
Your heavenly features...
My days passed quietly
Without a deity, without inspiration...
And for him they rose again
Both deity and inspiration...
builds from this material not only a work of a new rhythmic and figurative composition, but also a different semantic resolution, alien to Zhukovsky’s ideological and symbolic concept.”
We must not forget that Vinogradov made such a statement in 1934. This was a period of widespread anti-religious propaganda and the triumph of the materialistic view of the development of human society. For another half a century, Soviet literary scholars did not touch upon the religious theme in the works of A. S. Pushkin.
The lines “in the silent sadness of hopeless”, “in the distance, in the darkness of imprisonment” are very consonant with “Eda” by E. A. Baratynsky; Pushkin borrowed some rhymes from himself - from Tatyana’s letter to Onegin:
And at this very moment
Isn’t it you, sweet vision...
And there is nothing surprising here - Pushkin’s work is full of literary reminiscences and even direct quotes; however, using the lines he liked, the poet transformed them beyond recognition.
According to the outstanding Russian philologist and Pushkin scholar B.V. Tomashevsky, this poem, despite the fact that it paints an idealized female image, is undoubtedly associated with A.P. Kern. “It’s not for nothing that in the very title “K***” it is addressed to the beloved woman, even if depicted in a generalized image of an ideal woman.”
This is also indicated by the list of poems compiled by Pushkin himself from 1816-1827 (it was preserved among his papers), which the poet did not include in the 1826 edition, but intended to include in his two-volume collection of poems (it was published in 1829). The poem “I remember a wonderful moment...” here has the title “To A.P. K[ern], directly indicating the one to whom it is dedicated.
Doctor of Philological Sciences N.L. Stepanov outlined the interpretation of this work that was formed in Pushkin’s times and has become a textbook: “Pushkin, as always, is extremely accurate in his poems. But, conveying the factual side of his meetings with Kern, he creates a work that also reveals the inner world of the poet himself. In the silence of Mikhailovsky solitude, a meeting with A.P. Kern evoked in the exiled poet memories of the recent storms of his life, and regret about the lost freedom, and the joy of a meeting that transformed his monotonous everyday life, and, above all, the joy of poetic creativity.”
Another researcher, E. A. Maimin, especially noted the musicality of the poem: “It’s like a musical composition, given both by real events in Pushkin’s life and by the ideal image of the “genius of pure beauty,” borrowed from Zhukovsky’s poetry. A certain ideality in solving the theme does not, however, negate the living spontaneity in the sound of the poem and in its perception. This feeling of living spontaneity comes not so much from the plot as from the captivating, one-of-a-kind music of the words. There is a lot of music in the poem: melodious, lasting in time, lingering music of the verse, music of feeling. And as in music, what appears in the poem is not a direct, not objectively tangible image of the beloved - but the image of love itself. The poem is based on musical variations of a limited range of images-motives: a wonderful moment - a genius of pure beauty - a deity - inspiration. By themselves, these images do not contain anything immediate, concrete. All this is from the world of abstract and lofty concepts. But in the overall musical design of the poem they become living concepts, living images.”
Professor B.P. Gorodetsky in his academic publication “Pushkin’s Lyrics” wrote: “The mystery of this poem is that everything we know about the personality of A.P. Kern and Pushkin’s attitude towards her, despite all the enormous reverence of the woman who turned out to be able to evoke in the soul of the poet a feeling that has become the basis of an inexpressibly beautiful work of art, does not in any way and in no way bring us closer to comprehending that secret of art that makes this poem typical of a great many similar situations and capable of ennobling and enveloping feelings with beauty millions of people...
The sudden and short-term appearance of a “fleeting vision” in the image of a “genius of pure beauty,” flashing among the darkness of imprisonment, when the poet’s days dragged on “without tears, without life, without love,” could resurrect in his soul “both deity and inspiration, / And life, and tears, and love” only in the case when all this had already been experienced by him earlier. This kind of experience took place during the first period of Pushkin’s exile - it was they who created that spiritual experience of his, without which the subsequent appearance of “Farewell” and such stunning penetrations into the depths of the human spirit as “The Spell” and “For the Shores of the Fatherland” would have been unthinkable distant." They also created that spiritual experience, without which the poem “I Remember a Wonderful Moment” could not have appeared.
All this should not be understood too simplistically, in the sense that for the creation of the poem, the real image of A.P. Kern and Pushkin’s relationship to her were of little significance. Without them, of course, there would be no poem. But the poem in the form in which it exists would not have existed even if the meeting with A.P. Kern had not been preceded by Pushkin’s past and the whole difficult experience of his exile. The real image of A.P. Kern seemed to resurrect the poet’s soul again, revealing to him the beauty of not only the irretrievably gone past, but also the present, which is directly and precisely stated in the poem:
The soul has awakened.
That is why the problem of the poem “I Remember a Wonderful Moment” should be solved, as if turning it the other way: it was not a chance meeting with A.P. Kern that awakened the poet’s soul and made the past come to life in new glory, but, on the contrary, that process of revival and restoration of spiritual the poet’s strength, which began somewhat earlier, completely determined all the main characteristic features and internal content of the poem caused by the meeting with A.P. Kern.”
Literary critic A. I. Beletsky, more than 50 years ago, first timidly expressed the idea that the main character of this poem is not a woman at all, but a poetic inspiration. “Completely secondary,” he wrote, “seems to us the question of the name of a real woman, who was then elevated to the heights of a poetic creation, where her real features disappeared, and she herself became a generalization, a rhythmically ordered verbal expression of a certain general aesthetic idea... The theme of love in this The poem is clearly subordinated to another, philosophical and psychological theme, and its main theme is the theme of the different states of the poet’s inner world in the relationship of this world with reality.”
Professor M.V. Stroganov went the furthest in identifying the image of Madonna and the “genius of pure beauty” in this poem with the personality of Anna Kern: “The poem “I remember a wonderful moment...” was written, obviously, on one night - from July 18 to 19 1825, after a joint walk between Pushkin, Kern and the Wulfs in Mikhailovskoye and on the eve of Kern’s departure to Riga. During the walk, Pushkin, according to Kern’s recollections, spoke about their “first meeting at the Olenins’, spoke enthusiastically about it, and at the end of the conversation said:<…>. You looked like such an innocent girl...” All this is included in that memory of the “wonderful moment” to which the first stanza of the poem is dedicated: both the first meeting itself and the image of Kern – “an innocent girl” (virginal). But this word - virginal - means in French the Mother of God, the Immaculate Virgin. This is how an involuntary comparison occurs: “like a genius of pure beauty.” And the next day in the morning Pushkin brought Kern a poem... The morning turned out to be wiser than the evening. Something confused Pushkin about Kern when he conveyed his poems to her. Apparently, he doubted: could she be this ideal example? Will she appear to them? - And I wanted to take away the poems. It was not possible to pick them up, and Kern (precisely because she was not that kind of woman) published them in Delvig’s almanac. All subsequent “obscene” correspondence between Pushkin and Kern can, obviously, be considered as psychological revenge on the addressee of the poem for his excessive haste and sublimity of the message.”
Literary critic S. A. Fomichev, who examined this poem from a religious and philosophical point of view in the 1980s, saw in it a reflection of episodes not so much of the poet’s real biography, but rather of an internal biography, “three successive states of the soul.” It was from this time that a clearly expressed philosophical view of this work emerged. Doctor of Philological Sciences V.P. Grekh-nev, based on the metaphysical ideas of the Pushkin era, which interpreted man as a “small universe”, organized according to the law of the entire universe: a three-hypostatic, God-like being in the unity of the earthly shell (“body”), “ soul" and "divine spirit", saw in Pushkin's "wonderful moment" a "comprehensive concept of being" and, in general, "the whole of Pushkin." Nevertheless, both researchers recognized the “living conditionality of the lyrical beginning of the poem as a real source of inspiration” in the person of A.P. Kern.
Professor Yu. N. Chumakov turned not to the content of the poem, but to its form, specifically to the spatio-temporal development of the plot. He argued that “the meaning of a poem is inseparable from the form of its expression...” and that “form” as such “itself... acts as content...”. According to L. A. Perfileva, the author of the latest commentary on this poem, Chumakov “saw in the poem the timeless and endless cosmic rotation of the independent Pushkin Universe, created by the inspiration and creative will of the poet.”
Another researcher of Pushkin’s poetic heritage, S. N. Broitman, identified in this poem “the linear infinity of semantic perspective.” The same L.A. Perfilyeva, having carefully studied his article, stated: “Having identified “two systems of meaning, two plot-shaped series,” he also admits their “probable multiplicity”; The researcher assumes “providence” (31) as an important component of the plot.”
Now let's get acquainted with the rather original point of view of L.A. Perfileva herself, which is also based on a metaphysical approach to the consideration of this and many other works of Pushkin.
Abstracting from the personality of A.P. Kern as the inspirer of the poet and addressee of this poem and in general from biographical realities and based on the fact that the main quotes of Pushkin’s poem are borrowed from the poetry of V.A. Zhukovsky, who has the image of “Lalla-Ruk” (however, like other images of his romantic works) appears as an unearthly and immaterial substance: “ghost”, “vision”, “dream”, “sweet dream”, the researcher claims that Pushkin "genius of pure beauty" appears in his metaphysical reality as a “messenger of Heaven” as a mysterious intermediary between the poet’s author’s “I” and some otherworldly, higher entity - “deity”. She believes that the author’s “I” in the poem refers to the poet’s Soul. A "fleeting vision" To the poet's soul "genius of pure beauty"- this is the “moment of Truth”, the divine Revelation, which with an instant flash illuminates and permeates the Soul with the grace of the divine Spirit. IN "languishing hopeless sadness" Perfilyeva sees the torment of the soul’s presence in the bodily shell, in the phrase “A gentle voice sounded to me for a long time”– archetypal, primary memory of the soul about Heaven. The next two stanzas “depict Being as such, marked by soul-wearying duration.” Between the fourth and fifth stanzas, providence or the “Divine Verb” is invisibly revealed, as a result of which “The soul has awakened.” It is here, in the interval of these stanzas, that “an invisible point is placed, creating the internal symmetry of the cyclically closed composition of the poem. At the same time, it is a turning point, a return point, from which the “space-time” of Pushkin’s small Universe suddenly turns, starting to flow towards itself, returning from earthly reality to the heavenly ideal. The Awakened Soul regains the ability to perceive deities. And this is the act of her second birth - a return to the divine fundamental principle - “Resurrection”.<…>This is the discovery of Truth and the return to Paradise...
The intensification of the sound of the last stanza of the poem marks the fullness of Being, the triumph of the restored harmony of the “small universe” - the body, soul and spirit of man in general or personally of the poet-author himself, that is, “the whole of Pushkin.”
Summing up her analysis of Pushkin’s work, Perfilyeva suggests that it, “regardless of the role that A.P. Kern played in its creation, can be considered in the context of Pushkin’s philosophical lyrics, along with such poems as “The Poet” (which, according to the author of the article, is dedicated to the nature of inspiration), “Prophet” (dedicated to the providentiality of poetic creativity) and “I have erected a monument to myself not made by hands...” (dedicated to the incorruptibility of spiritual heritage). Among them, “I remember a wonderful moment...” is indeed, as already noted, a poem about “the whole fullness of Being” and about the dialectics of the human soul; and about “man in general”, as a Small Universe, organized according to the laws of the universe.”
It seems that foreseeing the possibility of the emergence of such a purely philosophical interpretation of Pushkin’s lines, the already mentioned N. L. Stepanov wrote: “In such an interpretation, Pushkin’s poem is deprived of its vital concreteness, that sensory-emotional principle that so enriches Pushkin’s images, gives them an earthly, realistic character . After all, if you abandon these specific biographical associations, the biographical subtext of the poem, then Pushkin’s images will lose their vital content and turn into conventionally romantic symbols, meaning only the theme of the poet’s creative inspiration. We can then replace Pushkin with Zhukovsky with his abstract symbol of the “genius of pure beauty.” This will deplete the realism of the poet’s poem; it will lose those colors and shades that are so important for Pushkin’s lyrics. The strength and pathos of Pushkin’s creativity lies in the fusion, in the unity of the abstract and the real.”
But even using the most complex literary and philosophical constructions, it is difficult to dispute the statement of N. I. Chernyaev, made 75 years after the creation of this masterpiece: “With his message “K***” Pushkin immortalized her (A. P. Kern. - V.S.) just as Petrarch immortalized Laura, and Dante immortalized Beatrice. Centuries will pass, and when many historical events and historical figures will be forgotten, the personality and fate of Kern, as the inspiration of Pushkin’s muse, will arouse great interest, cause controversy, speculation and be reproduced by novelists, playwrights, and painters.”
From the book by Wolf Messing. The drama of the life of a great hypnotist author Dimova Nadezhda100 thousand - on a blank piece of paper The next day came, and our hero found himself again before the gaze of the highest. This time the owner was not alone: sitting next to him was a plump little man with a long, gristly nose and wearing pince-nez. “Well, Wolf, let’s continue.” I heard you're good at
From the book Secrets of the Mint. Essays on the history of counterfeiting from ancient times to the present day author Polish GNLONELY “GENIUS” In one of the art galleries in the USA you can see an essentially unremarkable painting. A family sits at the table: husband, wife and daughter, and next to the table you can see the face of a servant boy. The family is drinking tea decorously, and the husband is holding a cup in his right hand, Moscow style, like a saucer. U
From the book Directing Lessons by K. S. Stanislavsky author Gorchakov Nikolay MikhailovichA PLAY ABOUT GENIUS The last time I met with Konstantin Sergeevich, as the director of a new production, was while working on M. A. Bulgakov’s play “Molière.” M. A. Bulgakov wrote this play and gave it to the theater in 1931. The theater began work on it in 1934. The play tells about
From the book Daily Life of Russian Special Forces author Degtyareva Irina VladimirovnaIn clear water, Police Colonel Alexey Vladimirovich Kuzmin served in the SOBR of the RUBOP in the Moscow region from 1995 to 2002, and was a squad commander. In 2002, Kuzmin headed the riot police in air and water transport. In 2004, Vladimir Alekseevich was appointed head
From the book 100 great originals and eccentrics authorOriginal geniuses Geniuses who go beyond the ordinary often look like eccentrics and originals. Cesare Lombroso, who has already been discussed, made a radical conclusion: “There is no doubt that between a man who is mad during a seizure and a man of genius,
From the book of Revelation author Klimov Grigory Petrovich From the book by Vernadsky author Balandin Rudolf KonstantinovichGenes and geniuses Why are some people endowed with a sharp mind, subtle intuition, and inspiration? Is this a special gift, inherited from ancestors in much the same way as grandfather’s nose and mother’s eyes are inherited? The result of hard work? A game of chance that elevates someone above others, like
From the book Works author Lutsky Semyon Abramovich“Creators of the arts and geniuses of science...” Creators of the arts and geniuses of science, Chosen Ones among the earthly tribes, You have lived through the due torment, The Pantheon is in the memory of the people... But there is another... He is terrible between the houses. I walked there, depressed and embarrassed... The path to immortality, it is paved with ends And
From the book Light Burden author Kissin Samuil Viktorovich“Burning with pure love for the Groom...” Burning with pure love for the Groom, A host of girlfriends shines with an eternal robe. - I will bow to your head, My earthly unforgotten friend. The breeze - my breath - blows more quietly around my beloved brow. Maybe Edmond will hear in his sleep the One who lives for him, just like
From the book Our Beloved Pushkin author Egorova Elena NikolaevnaThe image of the “genius of pure beauty” The meeting with Anna, the awakened tender feeling for her, inspired the poet to write a poem that crowned his many years of creative search on the topic of the revival of the soul under the influence of the phenomenon of beauty and love. He went to this from a young age, writing poetry
From the book “Shelter of Thoughtful Dryads” [Pushkin Estates and Parks] author Egorova Elena Nikolaevna From the book They say that they have been here... Celebrities in Chelyabinsk author God Ekaterina VladimirovnaFrom child prodigies to genius, the future composer was born on April 11, 1891 in Ukraine, in the village of Sontsovka, Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Krasnoye, Donetsk region). His father Sergei Alekseevich was an agronomist from the small landed nobility, and his mother Maria Grigorievna (née
From the book Artists in the Mirror of Medicine author Neumayr AntonPSYCHOPATHIC TRAITS IN THE GENIUS OF GOYA The literature on Goya is extremely extensive in scope, but it only covers well issues related exclusively to the aesthetics of his work and his contribution to the history of art. Biographies of the artist more or less
From the book Bach author Vetlugina Anna MikhailovnaChapter first. WHERE GENIUS GROW The history of the Bach family is closely connected with Thuringia. This area in the center of Germany is incredibly culturally rich and diverse. “Where else in Germany can you find so much goodness in such a tiny area?” - said
From the book by Sophia Loren author Nadezhdin Nikolay Yakovlevich79. Geniuses joke In Altman's film there are a huge number of characters, but there are many fewer actors. The fact is that fashion figures, like many actors, do not play in this film. They don't have roles - they act as... themselves. In cinema, this is called a “cameo” - appearance
From the book by Henry Miller. Full length portrait. by Brassaï“An autobiography is a pure novel.” At first, Miller’s free handling of facts confused me, even shocked me. And not just me. Hen Van Gelre, a Dutch writer and passionate admirer of Miller's work, has published Henry Miller International for many years.
I remember a wonderful moment: You appeared before me, Like a fleeting vision, Like a genius of pure beauty. In the languor of hopeless sadness In the worries of noisy bustle, A gentle voice sounded to me for a long time And I dreamed of sweet features. Years passed. The rebellious gust of storms scattered my former dreams, And I forgot your tender voice, your heavenly features. In the wilderness, in the darkness of confinement, my days dragged on quietly, without deity, without inspiration, without tears, without life, without love. The soul has awakened: And now you have appeared again, Like a fleeting vision, Like a genius of pure beauty. And the heart beats in ecstasy, And for him the deity, and inspiration, And life, and tears, and love have risen again.
The poem is addressed to Anna Kern, whom Pushkin met long before his forced seclusion in St. Petersburg in 1819. She made an indelible impression on the poet. The next time Pushkin and Kern saw each other was only in 1825, when she was visiting the estate of her aunt Praskovya Osipova; Osipova was Pushkin’s neighbor and a good friend of his. It is believed that the new meeting inspired Pushkin to create an epoch-making poem.
The main theme of the poem is love. Pushkin presents a capacious sketch of his life between the first meeting with the heroine and the present moment, indirectly mentioning the main events that happened to the biographical lyrical hero: exile to the south of the country, a period of bitter disappointment in life, in which works of art were created, imbued with feelings of genuine pessimism (“ Demon”, “Desert Sower of Freedom”), depressed mood during the period of new exile to the family estate of Mikhailovskoye. However, suddenly the resurrection of the soul occurs, the miracle of the revival of life, caused by the appearance of the divine image of the muse, which brings with it the former joy of creativity and creation, which is revealed to the author from a new perspective. It is at the moment of spiritual awakening that the lyrical hero meets the heroine again: “The soul has awakened: And now you have appeared again...”.
The image of the heroine is significantly generalized and maximally poeticized; it differs significantly from the image that appears on the pages of Pushkin’s letters to Riga and friends, created during the period of forced time spent in Mikhailovsky. At the same time, the use of an equal sign is unjustified, as is the identification of the “genius of pure beauty” with the real biographical Anna Kern. The impossibility of recognizing the narrow biographical background of the poetic message is indicated by the thematic and compositional similarity with another love poetic text called “To Her,” created by Pushkin in 1817.
Here it is important to remember the idea of inspiration. Love for a poet is also valuable in the sense of giving creative inspiration and the desire to create. The title stanza describes the first meeting of the poet and his beloved. Pushkin characterizes this moment with very bright, expressive epithets (“wonderful moment”, “fleeting vision”, “genius of pure beauty”). Love for a poet is a deep, sincere, magical feeling that completely captivates him. The next three stanzas of the poem describe the next stage in the poet’s life - his exile. A difficult time in Pushkin’s life, full of life’s trials and experiences. This is the time of “languishing hopeless sadness” in the poet’s soul. Parting with his youthful ideals, the stage of growing up (“Dispelled old dreams”). Perhaps the poet also had moments of despair (“Without a deity, without inspiration”). The author’s exile is also mentioned (“In the wilderness, in the darkness of imprisonment ...”). The poet’s life seemed to freeze, to lose its meaning. Genre - message.
Genius of pure beauty
Genius of pure beauty
From the poem “Lalla ruk” (1821) by the poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky (17\"83-1852):
Oh! doesn't live with us
A genius of pure beauty;
Only occasionally does he visit
Us with heavenly beauty;
He is hasty, like a dream,
Like an airy morning dream;
But in holy remembrance
He is not separated from his heart.
Four years later, Pushkin uses this expression in his poem “I Remember a Wonderful Moment...” (1825), thanks to which the words “genius of pure beauty” will become popular. In his lifetime publications, the poet invariably highlighted this line from Zhukovsky in italics, which, according to the customs of that time, meant that we were talking about a quote. But later this practice was abandoned, and as a result this expression began to be considered Pushkin’s poetic discovery.
Allegorically: about the embodiment of the ideal of female beauty.
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.
Synonyms:
See what “Genius of pure beauty” is in other dictionaries:
Princess, madonna, goddess, queen, queen, woman Dictionary of Russian synonyms. genius of pure beauty noun, number of synonyms: 6 goddess (346) ... Synonym dictionary
I remember a wonderful moment, You appeared before me, Like a fleeting vision, Like a genius of pure beauty. A. S. Pushkin. K A. Kern... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)
- (Latin genius, from gignere to give birth, to produce). 1) the power of heaven creates in science or art something out of the ordinary, makes new discoveries, points out new paths. 2) a person who has such power. 3) according to the ancient concept. Romans... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
genius- I, M. genie f., German. Genius, floor. geniusz lat. genius. 1. According to the religious beliefs of the ancient Romans, God is the patron saint of man, city, country; spirit of good and evil. Sl. 18. The Romans brought incense, flowers and honey to their Angel or according to their Genius... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
GENIUS, genius, husband. (lat. genius) (book). 1. Highest creative ability in scientific or artistic activity. Scientific genius of Lenin. 2. A person who has a similar ability. Darwin was a genius. 3. In Roman mythology, the lowest deity,... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
- ... Wikipedia
- (1799 1837) Russian poet, writer. Aphorisms, quotes Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich. Biography It is not difficult to despise the court of people, but it is impossible to despise your own court. Slander, even without evidence, leaves eternal traces. Critics... ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms
In the strict sense, the use in a literary work of an artistic image or a phrase from another work, designed for the reader to recognize the image (A. S. Pushkin’s line “Like a genius of pure beauty” is borrowed from ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Cm … Synonym dictionary
Books
- My Pushkin..., Kern Anna Petrovna. “The genius of pure beauty…” and “our Babylonian harlot”, “Darling! Lovely! Divine!” and “ah, vile!” - paradoxically, all these epithets were addressed by A. Pushkin to the same person -...