After reading Mayakovsky’s poem “Listen,” it becomes clear that this is a kind of cry from the writer’s soul. And it begins with a request addressed to the reader and other people. In his poem, he asks rhetorical questions, argues with himself, convincing through this that it is necessary to fight the powerlessness, grief and suffering that fill the whole world.
This poem became a kind of impetus for people who had somehow lost faith in themselves and lost their way. Mayakovsky introduces God into the poem, but he is not an imaginary being, but a real person with strong, working hands. It is this God who helps the lyrical hero. Also in the poem there is “they” - people who gave up their attempts to reach the stars. The poet makes a peculiar comparison, shown on the stars, because for some they are something more, called pearls, and for others, the stars mean nothing.
You can notice that the lyrical hero in this poem is very sensitive to the issues of the Earth and the situation with the world - he cares, he is trying to deal with impending problems.
When reading the poem, it is clear that the poet does not scold or teach the people, but speaks from the bottom of his heart - calmly, thereby confessing. With this tone, Mayakovsky wants to prove to the world that what is important for a person is, first of all, a dream and a goal, and then everything else. The stars in this case are the dream that every person should strive for.
In the end, when the lyrical hero achieves his dream - he gets a star, he understands that he is no longer afraid of anything.
This poem also raises the problem that a person has begun to forget why he lives, succumbing to some false ideals, losing himself.
With his work, he pushes the reader to think about the question of the meaning of life, which each person sets for himself independently.
Analysis of the poem Listen! Mayakovsky
In this poem by Mayakovsky, his author’s style is clearly manifested: a special construction of stanzas, an abundance of exclamations, energy...
Here the poet addresses the listener with “You” or the listeners: “Listen!” As often happens, Vladimir Mayakovsky uses a paradox at the heart of the verse: someone lights up the stars. This is stated as an axiom, although the reader understands that the stars glow on their own. However, this paradox deeply touches, because it is metaphorical, it is based on a comparison of a star with a light, a candle (in a church), a lighthouse. There were many legends in ancient times that a certain good deity lights this light, and another extinguishes it. Something gives birth to life, something ends it...
From such a poetic axiom the conclusion follows: who needs what the stars light up? Everything has a reason... Mayakovsky expands the reader’s consciousness, knocks him out of his usual thoughts.
And then the story of the One who needs the stars is drawn. As He runs in the blizzards of midday dust (this is how the hot sun of summer is imagined in this oxymoron) to God himself, afraid that it is too late. The petitioner even cries and kisses the hand of the Creator. (The working hand is “wiry.”) And he asks, asks for at least one star. He swears he won't tolerate rejection. Here the poet uses the phrase “starless torment” to mean hopeless suffering. Then his psychological state changes somewhat. Having apparently received a positive answer, he is outwardly calm - he did everything in his power. But the petitioner is still very worried. And now he tells someone that there will be a Star. Necessarily.
Where is the answer: who needs stars and why? (Mayakovsky makes it clear that he lights from the Demiurge.) Everyone probably answered for himself. And yet, in the poem there is a Petitioner to whom this is really important. But he also speaks to someone on a first-name basis. This interlocutor really needs the light of the stars... someone shouldn’t be scared. Indeed, if it is not pitch dark outside, if there is at least one asterisk (at least a ray of hope in the situation), then it is no longer so scary. You can imagine the image of a woman or child.
In the finale, all the same questions are asked again, but in a slightly different way. After all, a star always lights up (even if it is not visible from Earth), because someone needs it.
It is interesting that the atheist Mayakovsky is essentially talking about faith. The light that the Universe gives to people is equal to psychological hope. That is, the conclusion suggests itself that people need faith.
However, the questions in the poem remain rhetorical.
Analysis of the poem Listen! according to plan
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Most of V. Mayakovsky’s works contain sharp rebellious ideas, but his poetic heritage also contains sensitive, gentle lyrics. This includes the poem “Listen,” studied in 9th grade. We invite you to learn more about it using a short analysis of “Listen” according to the plan.
Brief Analysis
History of creation- the work was written in the fall of 1914, a year after the publication of the first collection “Here!”
Theme of the poem- human life; poetic art.
Composition– The poem is written in the form of a monologue-address of the lyrical hero. The monologue can be divided into semantic parts: rhetorical questions about why the stars are lit, a story about gratitude to God for lighting the stars and lighting the way for those who need it. The work is not divided into stanzas
Genre– an elegy with elements of a message.
Poetic size- written in tonic verse, most lines do not rhyme, some are united by the cross rhyme ABAB.
Metaphors – “the stars are lighting up”, “someone calls these spitting pearls”, “blizzards of midday dust”, “bursts into God”.
Epithets – “midday dust”, “wiry hand”, “walks anxious, but calm”.
History of creation
The analyzed poem appeared from the pen of Vladimir Mayakovsky in 1914. The young poet had already published the collection “Nate” and become famous in literary circles. In "Nata!" Only 4 works were included, but they already showed the manner in which the writer continued to work further. “Listen!” showed that Vladimir Vladimirovich can not only rebel, but also indulge in touching thoughts.
Subject
The theme of the poem is defined ambiguously. It depends on how to interpret the images-symbols used by V. Mayakovsky. Some researchers believe that by stars the author meant poetic creativity, while others are of the opinion that stars are human life. There is logic in both positions.
At the center of the poem is a lyrical hero who addresses those around him. The word “listen” attracts attention and intrigues the reader. Next, the hero immediately begins his reasoning about the stars. He believes that since the heavenly bodies are lit, it means someone needs it. The hero is trying to prove the correctness of his assumption.
V. Mayakovsky believes that God lights the stars. The poet succinctly tells how a person comes to the Almighty with a request to illuminate the path. Life without stars seems to him torment. When a person’s heart is illuminated with the hope that the stars will light up again, he feels calm and does not experience fear. In this episode, the image of God attracts attention. The author brings him closer to ordinary people by using an artistic detail: “wiry hand.” If you take this phrase out of context, you might think that this is an ordinary person who works a lot.
Composition
The poem is written in the form of a monologue-address of the lyrical hero. It can be divided into semantic parts: rhetorical questions about why the stars are lit, a story about gratitude to God for lighting the stars and lighting the way for those who need it. The work is not divided into stanzas. The unusual form, characteristic of futuristic literature, allows the author to distinguish the work from the background of philosophical lyrics.
Genre
Analysis of the work proves that the genre is an elegy with elements of appeal. Vladimir Vladimirovich reflects on the eternal problem, while addressing readers. The lines of the work are written in iambic meter. Most of the lines do not rhyme, some are united by the cross rhyme ABAB.
Means of expression
The text is not replete with artistic means, which is due to the form that the author chose to reveal the themes. First of all, the images-symbols of stars, which can be interpreted in different ways, attract attention. Also in the text there is metaphors- “the stars are lighting up”, “someone calls these spitting pearls”, “blizzards of midday dust”, “bursts into God”; epithets- “midday dust”, “wiry hand”, “walks anxious, but calm”. In the tropes, Mayakovsky's individual authorial style is clearly expressed, for example, his tendency to combine the sublime and the mundane in one context: he calls the stars spitting, and the hand of God - sinewy.
Intonation also plays an important role in the work. It seems that the lyrical hero is speaking to the public, talking about his assumptions from the podium. So
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893-1930) is a famous poet of the Silver Age. He joined the futurist movement and was one of its ideological inspirers. In addition to poetry, he worked in prose and dramatic genres, was an artist and even acted in films. But the Many-Wise Litrekon is most impressed by his poems, especially the lyrics, and therefore he again turned his attention to the master’s poem.
In his poems and poems, Mayakovsky portrays a strong personality, independent of the opinions of others. His flashy yellow turtleneck and expressive public speeches reflected the inner world of a man of enormous scale, unprecedented energy and bright personality.
But the eccentric rebel was an unsurpassed lyricist. The lyrical hero of Mayakovsky’s poems is a kind of clumsy romantic, capable of taking his beloved with him “alone, or together with Paris.” And it is not only a feeling of love that prompts the poet to sincerely admire and contemplate. The soulful poem “Listen” is the story of a man who is curious about life. He loves her and is sincerely surprised by her every manifestation.
Date of writing the lyric poem “Listen!” - autumn 1914. At that time, the October Revolution had not yet arrived in Russia. Then Vladimir Mayakovsky was obsessed with futuristic concepts proclaiming the pathos of a bright future. He brings to the fore the cognitive personality. The lyrical hero is interested in everything, everything around him has value for building a beautiful and bright future. Even then, anti-God motifs appeared in Mayakovsky’s poetry. The poet brings human individuality to the fore, or at least equates it with the Creator.
Genre, direction, composition and size
“Listen!” reveals the features of an elegiac message, to which the very beginning of the text refers us (“Listen! After all, if the stars light up, it means someone needs it?”). We can also talk about the presence in the text of elements of the protagonist’s confessional monologue.
The poet chooses the form of a ring composition. This design feature is determined by the very beginning and ending of the text:
Listen! After all, if the stars light up, does that mean someone needs it?
“Ladder” is the form chosen by the futurist for his poem “Listen!” Imprecise rhymes are interspersed with exact cross rhymes (according to the ABAB scheme), which reveal themselves after three lines:
So, does anyone want them to exist?<…>in blizzards of midday dust; kisses his sinewy hand,<…>will not endure this starless torment! etc.
In those sections of the text where the rhyme is precise, the rhyme is feminine (the penultimate syllable is stressed).
There is no clear classical poetic meter (it is difficult to establish the presence of iambic, trochee, dactyl, anapest and amphibrachium). The futurist uses his favorite form of accent verse.
Images and symbols
The lyrical hero is in search of the main idea of life, the idea of physical phenomena occurring in nature. And the center of his interest is the stars, namely their origin. According to the main character, a thinking person, everything has a cause and effect.
The consciousness of the main character forms images of the background - he imagines how someone brave, reaching God, asks him to light the stars so that people’s souls will become lighter. That is, before us is the object of lyrical consciousness - the main character, the subjects of his imagination - an active person who turns to God for help.
In addition to these characters, the poem has the form of a message, which means that the work contains a generalized image of the interlocutor, the reader.
Theme and mood
The main theme is determined by the interpretation. By “little spitting” the poet may mean creativity, or perhaps simply the world of physical phenomena.
If stars are works of artistic creativity that the perceiving consciousness needs, be it theater, music, literature, painting, then the creative person (turned to God) creates them for the joy of the viewer (reader, listener).
If by stars we understand the world of physical, natural phenomena, then the theme of the meaning of life and the meaning of beauty in this very life comes to the fore. Stars, like everything beautiful and inspiring, fill human existence with light and warmth, harmony and inspiration, but we do not know the true nature of such things. And the task of the person of the future is to cognize it, develop an inquisitive mind and penetrate under the veil of the secrets of the universe.
main idea
The main idea of the poem is a conscious question about the origin and necessity of the stars in the sky. The poet believes that God lights the stars in the sky, but man’s task is to ask him about it. The anthropomorphic features of God indicate his equality with people: this is indicated by the “wiry hand” of the deity. A person can simply break into the Almighty, ask, touch his “wiry hand,” and the stars will appear.
The main idea is knowledge of the meaning of creativity and the meaning of life, the meaning of all the most amazing natural phenomena and their significance for the individual. The author answers the question of who lights up the stars: God. And why - because a person needs it. Everything that the Creator does, he does for our sake. Observing the starry sky can allow people to find their meaning of existence.
Means of artistic expression
The poem contains both syntactic and lexical means of expression.
The text opens with a rhetorical exclamation (a syntactic means of artistic expression): “Listen!” Then - three rhetorical questions:
After all, if the stars light up, does that mean someone needs it? So, does anyone want them to exist? /So, someone calls these spittoons a pearl?
The text also ends with a rhetorical question, forming a ring composition:
So, is it necessary for at least one star to light up over the rooftops every evening?!”
- “Listen!” is an expanded metaphor of a person’s journey to God and his comprehension of the clarity of existence.
- Metaphors: “in the blizzards of midday dust”, “someone calls these spits a pearl”, “the stars light up”. The metaphor “in the blizzards of midday dust” refers us to the image of a hot, dusty city or desert, where the wind drives columns of dust like snow dunes.
- There are few epithets, but they show vivid images: “midday dust”, “wiry hand”, “starless torment”, “anxious, but calm on the outside”.
- Once there is a comparison of stars with a pearl.
- Among other things, Mayakovsky uses the technique of unity of command (the so-called anaphora): “So, does anyone need this? So, does anyone want them to exist? So, someone calls these spittoons a pearl?” Anaphora enhances the hero’s dynamism and experiences, showing his joy of discovery.
- In addition to anaphora, homogeneous verbal predicates work on the dynamics of action: “bursts into God, is afraid that he is late, cries, kisses his sinewy hand, asks - so that there must be a star! - swears..."
Mayakovsky unusually avoids his favorite neologisms, but the intonation he chose emphasizes the purpose of the poem for reading in public.
The topic of this article is an analysis of Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" The year the work we are interested in was written is 1914.
An attentive reader in verses dating back to the period in which the poem was created will hear not only disdainful, mocking, familiar intonations. He will understand, upon closer inspection, that behind the external bravado lies a lonely and vulnerable soul. Vladimir Mayakovsky was separated from other poets, as well as from the measured, habitual flow of life, by human decency, which helped him navigate the important problems of the time, as well as by the inner conviction that his moral ideals were correct. Such isolation gave rise to a spiritual protest in him against the environment of ordinary people, in which there was no place for high ideals.
In this article we will analyze Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" You will find out what the author wanted to say with this work, what its features are and the means of expression used in it. Analysis of Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" Let's start with the title - a word repeated, in addition to the title, two more times - at the beginning and at the end of the work.
"Listen!" - cry from the heart
This verse is a cry from the soul of Vladimir Vladimirovich. It begins with an appeal to people: “Listen!” Each of us often interrupts speech with such an exclamation in the hope of being understood and heard. The lyrical hero does not just pronounce this word. He “exhales” it, trying desperately to draw attention to the problem of people living on earth that worries him. This is the poet’s complaint not about “indifferent nature,” but about human indifference. Mayakovsky seems to be arguing with an imaginary opponent, a down-to-earth and narrow-minded person, a tradesman, a layman, convincing him that one should not put up with grief, loneliness, and indifference.
Controversy with the reader
Analysis of Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" shows that the whole structure of speech is exactly what it should be when there is a polemic, a discussion, when the interlocutors do not understand you, and you are feverishly looking for arguments, reasons and hope that they will understand. To do this, you just need to explain it properly, find the most accurate and important expressions. And the lyrical hero finds them. The intensity of emotions and passions that he experiences becomes so strong that they cannot be expressed otherwise than with the capacious polysemantic word “Yes?!”, which is addressed to someone who will support and understand. It contains care, concern, hope, and empathy. If the lyrical hero had no hope of understanding at all, he would not have exhorted and convinced so much...
Last stanza
In the poem, the last stanza begins with the same word as the first (“Listen!”). However, in it the author’s thought develops completely differently - more life-affirming, optimistic. The last sentence is interrogative in form, but it is, in essence, affirmative. Analysis of Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" makes it clear that this is a rhetorical question that does not require an answer.
Rhyme, rhythm and meter
Mayakovsky, arranging his poems on a “ladder”, ensured that every word in the work is weighty and significant. Vladimir Vladimirovich’s rhyme is unusual, it seems to be “internal”. This is not an obvious, not obvious alternation of syllables - blank verse.
And how expressive the rhythm is! Rhythm in Mayakovsky's poetry is one of the most important means of expression. It is born first, and then an image, an idea, a thought arises. Some believe that this poet's poems should be shouted. He has works “for squares”. However, intimate, confidential intonations predominate in his early work. At the same time, one feels that the poet only wants to appear confident, daring, and formidable. But he's not really like that. On the contrary, Mayakovsky is restless and lonely, his soul longs for understanding, love, and friendship. There are no neologisms in this poem, so familiar to the style of this poet. His monologue is tense, excited.
The poet, of course, was well aware of the traditional sizes. For example, he introduces amphibrachium organically. We continue to analyze Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" The same verse size (three syllables) is also present in the work “In the Blizzards of Midday Dust.”
Poetic devices in the work
The poetic techniques used in the work are very expressive. Naturally, fantasy is combined (for example, “breaking into God”) with the author’s observations of the internal state of his lyrical hero. Not only the dynamics of events, but also their emotional intensity is conveyed by a number of verbs: “asks,” “bursts in,” “swears,” “cries.” All these words are very expressive, there is not a single neutral one. The very semantics of such action verbs speaks of the extreme aggravation of feelings characteristic of the lyrical hero.
As the analysis of Mayakovsky’s poem “Listen!” confirms, hyperbole in its second part is in the foreground. The lyrical hero easily and freely explains himself with the entire universe, with the universe. He easily “bursts” into God.
Intonation
The main intonation is not accusatory, angry, but confidential, confessional, uncertain and timid. We can say that often the voices of the author and the lyrical hero completely merge, they cannot be separated. The expressed thoughts and feelings that burst out undoubtedly worry the poet himself. It’s easy to detect alarming notes in them (“he walks anxiously”), confusion.
Detail in the system of means of expression
In the poet's system of expressive means, detail is of great importance. There is only one characteristic of God - this is a “wiry hand”. This epithet is so emotional, alive, sensual, visible that you seem to see the hand, feel the blood pulsating in its veins. “Hand” (an image familiar to Christian consciousness) is absolutely naturally, organically replaced by simply “hand”. In an unusual antithesis, important things are opposed. The poet talks about the Universe, about the stars, about the sky. Stars are “spits” for one person, while for another person they are “pearls.”
Expanded metaphor
In the work, the lyrical hero is precisely the one for whom life is unthinkable without the starry sky. He suffers from misunderstanding, loneliness, rushes about, but does not resign himself. So great is his despair that he simply cannot bear “this starless torment.” The poem is an extended metaphor containing a huge allegorical meaning. We also need, in addition to our daily bread, a dream, a life goal, beauty, spirituality.
Questions that concern the poet
The poet is concerned with philosophical questions about the meaning of life, about good and evil, death and immortality, love and hatred. But in the “star” theme, the mysticism characteristic of the symbolists is alien to him. However, in flights of fantasy, Mayakovsky is in no way inferior to the mystical poets who freely build a bridge to the boundless sky from the firmament of the earth. Analysis of the poem "Listen!" Mayakovsky, briefly presented in this article, proves that his work is no worse than the creations of the Symbolists. Of course, such freedom of thought is the result of an era in which it seemed that everything was under the control of man. Years will pass, Russian cataclysms will turn into normal life, and Vladimir Vladimirovich will no longer be considered only a political poet who gave his lyre to the revolution.
Analysis of Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" According to the plan, schoolchildren are asked to continue today. Now there is no doubt that Vladimir Vladimirovich is one of the greatest and most original poets in Russian literature.
Lesson - literature workshop in 11th grade
Topic: “Analysis of V. Mayakovsky’s poem “Listen!”
Lesson type: A lesson in learning new material, initially consolidating knowledge and developing skills.
Lesson format: traditional lesson
Lesson objectives:
Educational – training in working with text; introduction to the world of V. Mayakovsky’s lyrics, through his work to comprehend the personality of the poet;
Developmental – developing in students the skills of competent and fluent literary speech, the ability to highlight the main thing, analyze, and draw conclusions based on already known material;
Educational – instilling a love for literature and the poetic word, the formation of knowledge and skills that ensure independent development of artistic values.
Technologies: - informational;
Personality-oriented;
Pedagogical cooperation;
Health-saving.
Methods - creative reading;
training: - search;
Analysis and synthesis.
Write on the board:
Mayakovsky is a very talented person, with extreme ease, bordering... on sensitivity. A. Lunacharsky.
Mayakovsky is “a man without convictions. This is the singer of violence. The main motive of his poetry is revenge, the cult of cruelty. And he himself is a man with a hardened soul.” Yu. Karabchevsky
Equipment for the lesson:
The lesson is held in a computer class, slides of photographs of V. Mayakovsky, his family, friends, the texts of his poems, a recording of the reading of poems by the author himself and famous artists are displayed on the screen.
DURING THE CLASSES
“I am a poet. That’s what makes it interesting.”
V.V. Mayakovsky
- Teacher's opening speech. Slide 1.
It is impossible to imagine the 20th century without Mayakovsky. Mayakovsky “colored” an entire era; he was the most famous and talented futurist poet (if it weren’t for Mayakovsky, futurism would not have received such fame). Several generations of Soviet readers were familiar with Mayakovsky primarily as the author of Soviet slogans and posters, “Poems about the Soviet Passport,” poems about Lenin, etc.
In the 30s, J.V. Stalin called Mayakovsky the best and most talented Soviet poet. And the subsequent forcible introduction of Mayakovsky into the consciousness of Soviet people turned him into an official figure. B. Pasternak wrote that “Mayakovsky began to be forcibly introduced, like potatoes under Catherine,” and “this was his second death.” But Mayakovsky does not fit into the definition that Stalin gave him, and as a poet Mayakovsky was much more complex and interesting than many imagined.
The creativity and personality of V. Mayakovsky have always been the subject of heated debate. A lot has been written about Mayakovsky. Opinions about him vary widely. (Reading the note on the board). And Mayakovsky will say about himself: “I am a poet. That’s what makes it interesting.” And today we will look at him through the prism of his poems. And we will present Mayakovsky through his lyrical self.
2. Slide 2. Listening to the poem “Listen!”
3. Explanation of new material.Analysis of V.V. Mayakovsky’s poem “Listen!” Slide 3.
1. Teacher: When was this poem created??
Students: Poem "Listen!" written in 1914.
Teacher: Let's try to imagine the historical situation during the creation of the poem. Russia 1914. The worst is yet to come: the First World War, the revolution, and the arrival of the Bolsheviks... Young Mayakovsky, captivated by futurism and poetry, looking hopefully to the future, is trying to understand what is the meaning of life? It was a time when the country was actively developing, and its inhabitants believed in their strength and in the future. The development of industry, urbanization, and the gradual change from old to new also influenced people’s consciousness. This optimistic mood is felt in the poem. In the poems of this period, the attentive reader will see not only familiar, mocking, disdainful intonations, but also, looking closely, will understand that behind the external bravado there is a vulnerable, lonely soul. The integrity of the poet’s character, human decency, which helped to navigate the main problems of the time, and the inner conviction in the correctness of his moral ideals separated V.M. from other poets, from the usual flow of life. This isolation gave rise to a spiritual protest against the philistine environment, where there were no high spiritual ideals. But he dreamed about them. This is not a complaint about “indifferent nature,” this is a complaint about human indifference. The poet seems to be arguing with an imaginary opponent, a narrow-minded and down-to-earth person, a layman, a tradesman, convincing him that one cannot put up with indifference, loneliness, and grief.
2.Teacher: What is the meaning of the name? How many times is the word “Listen!” repeated?
Students: The poem begins with a request addressed to people: “Listen!” With such an exclamation, each of us very often interrupts his speech, hoping to be heard and understood.
The lyrical hero of the poem not only pronounces, but “exhales” this word, desperately trying to draw the attention of people living on Earth to the problem that worries him. Some people think that the poems of V.M. you have to scream, tearing your vocal cords. He has poems for "squares". But in the early poems the intonations of trust and intimacy predominate. One feels that the poet only wants to seem formidable, daring, and self-confident. But in reality he is not like that. On the contrary, M. is lonely and restless, and his soul longs for friendship, love, and understanding. The poem "Listen!" - the cry of the poet’s soul.
3.Teacher: What is the main intonation of the poem?
Students: The intonation of the poem is not angry, accusatory, but confessional, confidential, timid and uncertain. The whole structure of speech in the poem “Listen!” exactly the kind that happens when there is a heated discussion, polemic, when you are not understood, and you are feverishly looking for arguments, convincing arguments and hoping: they will understand, they will understand. You just need to explain it properly, find the most important and precise expressions. And the lyrical hero finds them.
The intensity of passions and emotions experienced by our hero becomes so strong that they cannot be expressed otherwise except with this ambiguous, capacious word - “Yes?!”, addressed to someone who will understand and support. It contains concern, care, empathy, and hope.....
If the lyrical hero had no hope of understanding at all, he would not have convinced, would not have exhorted, would not have worried... The last stanza of the poem begins in the same way as the first, with the same word. But the author’s thought in it develops in a completely different way, more optimistic, life-affirming compared to how it is expressed in the first stanza. The last sentence is interrogative. But, in essence, it is affirmative. After all, this is a rhetorical question, no answer is required.
We can say that the voices of the author and his hero often merge completely and it is impossible to separate them. The expressed thoughts and the splashed out, bursting out feelings of the hero undoubtedly excite the poet himself. It is easy to detect notes of anxiety (“walking anxiously”) and confusion in them.
4.Teacher: What is the composition of the poem? How many parts can be distinguished in a poem?
Students: Compositionally, the poem consists of three parts, different in form, rhythm, and emotional impact. In the first part, the poet addresses the readers, identifies the problem: “So, does anyone need this?” From the first line one can feel the presence of higher powers that “light up” the stars. Mayakovsky raises the problem of God, predestination, because “pearls” do not appear on their own over the roofs of houses, but by the will of someone who is higher than all people.
The second part shows an emotional picture of how the lyrical hero “rushes into God” and asks him in despair:
So that there must be a star! -
Swears -
Can't bear this starless torment!
Having received a “star” from God, that is, a dream, the hero finds peace and tranquility. He is no longer afraid of anything, and his life is no longer empty and meaningless. This part is a kind of prayer addressed to God. Moreover, God here is not a spiritualized supreme essence, but a very real person with sinewy hands and, as it seemed to me, kind eyes. However, this is where the description of God ends; we learn nothing more about him. Just one detail that Mayakovsky singled out - hands - and how much they can tell! God is always ready to give a saving helping hand, you just need to really want it.
The third part of the poem sounds like a conclusion, like a statement, despite two question marks, to which an exclamation mark is added, which was not there at the beginning of the work. The lyrical hero, who has found his star, no longer asks, but states:
This means it is necessary
So that every evening
Over the rooftops
Did at least one star light up?!
5.Teacher: Describe the lyrical hero of the poem.How do you see the lyrical hero of the work?
Students: The lyrical hero of the poem “Listen!” and there is that “someone” for whom life on Earth is unthinkable without the starry sky. He rushes about, suffers from loneliness and misunderstanding, but does not resign himself to it. His despair is so great that he simply cannot bear “this starless torment.” In the poem, three “acting” persons can be distinguished: the lyrical hero, God and “someone”. These “someones” are people, all of humanity, to whom the poet is addressing. Everyone has a different attitude towards “stars”: for some they are “spits”, for others they are “pearls”, but there is no doubt that their light is necessary.
The lyrical hero of the poem not only pronounces, but, I would say, “exhales” this word, desperately trying to draw the attention of people living on Earth to the problem that worries him. This is not a complaint about “indifferent nature,” this is a complaint about human indifference. The poet seems to be arguing with an imaginary opponent, a narrow-minded and down-to-earth person, a layman, a tradesman, convincing him that one cannot put up with indifference, loneliness, and grief. After all, people are born for happiness.
6.Teacher: Look at what the lyrical hero does to see God.
Students: Lyrical heropoems "Listen!" and there is that “someone” for whom life on Earth is unthinkable without the starry sky. He rushes about, suffers from loneliness and misunderstanding, but does not resign himself to it.
And, straining
In the blizzards of midday dust,
Rushing to God
Afraid he's late
Crying...
The despair is so great that he simply cannot bear “this starless torment.”
7.Teacher: Why does God have a sinewy hand and why is nothing visible other than this detail?
Disciples: The face is not visible, because God cannot be seen by a mere mortal. A sinewy hand is the hand of a worker. The Lord created everything in 6 days.V.M. is of great importance in the system of visual and expressive means. has detail. The portrait description of God consists of only one single detail - he has a “wiry hand.” The epithet “veiny” is so alive, emotional, visible, sensual that you seem to see this hand, feel the pulsating blood in its veins.
8. Teacher: What are the linguistic features of the work?
Students: Every word in the poem is expressive, emotional, expressive. All the pictures described literally appear before our eyes: a “visit” to God, stars in the sky, roofs of houses... The poem seems to be spiritualized, it is airy and sincere, close to the reader. Perhaps due to the fact that Mayakovsky does not use any pronouns other than “someone,” you seem to feel like you are in the place of the lyrical hero, you feel the wind of “midday dust,” tears in your eyes and inner anxiety. The poem is very rhythmic, which is characteristic of Mayakovsky. A play on words, a transition from one to another, accents achieved through the use of punctuation marks - all this creates a unique emotional mood, an internal tear.The entire structure of speech in the poem “Listen!” exactly the kind that happens when there is a heated discussion, polemic, when you are not understood, and you are feverishly looking for arguments, convincing arguments and hoping: they will understand, they will understand. You just need to explain it properly, find the most important and precise expressions. And the lyrical hero finds them.
9. Teacher: What features of Mayakovsky’s rhyme can be seen in this poem?
Students: By arranging the poems in a “ladder” pattern, he ensured that every word became meaningful and weighty. Rhyme V.M. - extraordinary, it is, as it were, “internal”, the alternation of syllables is not obvious, not obvious - it is blank verse. And how expressive is the rhythm of his poems! It seems to me that rhythm in Mayakovsky’s poetry is the most important thing; first it is born, and then a thought, an idea, an image. And the use of his famous ladder helps the reader to correctly place all the accents that seem most important to the poet. And then... Further, it seems to me, in a very unusual antithesis, in words of antonyms (they are antonyms only in V.M., in our familiar, commonly used vocabulary they are far from antonyms) very important things are contrasted. We are talking about the sky, about the stars, about the Universe. But for one, stars are “spittle,” and for another, they are “pearls.”
10.Teacher: What visual and expressive means can be identified in this work?
Students: The first two sentences are interrogative, then the third is interrogative and exclamatory at the same time. The intensity of passions and emotions experienced by our hero is so strong that they cannot be expressed otherwise except with this ambiguous, capacious word - “Yes?!”, addressed to someone who will understand and support. It contains concern, and care, and empathy, and participation, and love... I’m not alone, someone else thinks the same way as me, feels the same way, is rooting for this world, the sky, the Universe with all my soul, with everything heart. If the lyrical hero had no hope of understanding at all, he would not convince, would not exhort, would not worry. The last stanza of the poem (there are three in total) begins in the same way as the first, with the same word. But the author’s thought in it develops in a completely different way, more optimistic, life-affirming compared to how it is expressed in the first stanza. The last sentence is interrogative. But, in essence, it is affirmative. After all, this is a rhetorical question, no answer is required.
Gradation - a series of verbs: “bursts”, “cries”, “asks”, “swears”
Epithet - sinewy hand
Antithesis. It seems to me that in a very unusual antithesis, in antonymous words (they are antonyms only in V.M., in our usual, commonly used vocabulary they are far from antonyms) very important things are contrasted. We are talking about the sky, about the stars, about the Universe. But for one, stars are “spit”, and for another, “pearls”.
Anaphora - repetition of the word “means” Rhetorical question
The final stage of the lesson
Conclusion
What is the meaning of life for each of us? Why, why did we come into this world? People from ancient times to the present day have been trying to find answers to such philosophical questions. They are complex in that they cannot be answered unambiguously; you cannot tell a person: do this, and this is the meaning of your life. Everyone chooses their own path, their goal and their dreams.
Mayakovsky's poem "Listen!" dedicated precisely to the topic of the meaning of human life. But the poet does not talk about what we need to dream about and what to strive for, but about the fact that each of us should have a dream for which it is worth living. Mayakovsky calls this goal, the meaning of life, faith in the future a “star”, lit by “someone” and needed by “someone”.
“Listen!” - a unique appeal to people, but not loud and pathetic, as is usually the case with Mayakovsky. This is a request to stop for a moment, rise briefly above the world of “midday dust” and look at the sky, at the stars, think about how our every step on earth is justified and who came up with all this.
The main idea of the poem is that a star should light up in every person's life. Without an idea, without a goal, it is impossible to exist in this world, “starless torment” begins, when everything you do is meaningless, empty. It is not enough for a person to simply live. Greeting every morning with a smile, moving towards something bigger and better, giving love and joy to others - this is a life marked by the “stars”. Mayakovsky in his lyrical creation reveals himself as a person with a sincere soul, with a kind heart, who wants everyone to find a place in life sooner or later. In my opinion, this is the greatest of lyricists, and the poem “Listen!” is a true masterpiece of Russian and world poetry.
Much has been written by many people about the search for the meaning of life and the fact that it is impossible to live without a goal. But only Mayakovsky talks about this in simple, accessible words. He compared the dream to the stars - similar metaphors had been used before him. But only Vladimir Vladimirovich managed to do it in such a way that you immediately want to raise your eyes upward, to find that star that shines exclusively for you.
Mayakovsky’s “pearl” was the idea of a new society, a new person, a future in which everyone will find their own happiness. And, I believe that the poet followed his star all his life so that decades later his poems remain unique masterpieces of world poetry.
Mayakovsky's lyrics raised deep moral problems, in which good and evil, beautiful and ugly, earthly and sublime, momentary and eternal are mixed. He managed to leave his gift of a poet to people, and spent his life, in the words of R. Yakobson, “to make the poetry he created a treasure of the people.”
Lesson summary
Homework
Exercise 1.
Write a syncwine about Mayakovsky.
Topic noun
Adjective, adjective – to a given noun
Verb, verb, verb - to a given noun
Four word phrase
One final word (sentence) defining the emotional attitude to everything said
Task 2. Answer the questions. The answer must be given in the form of a word or combination of words.
B1 Indicate the name of the avant-garde movement in poetry of the early twentieth century, one of the leaders of which was V.V. Mayakovsky and whose principles were partly reflected in the poem “Listen!”
B2 Name the type of composition characterized by a final return to the original thought or image (see the twice repeated appeal of the lyrical hero in the above poem).
B3 What is the name of the type of trope, a means of artistic expression based on the transfer of the properties of one object or phenomenon to another (“in blizzards of midday dust”)?
B4 Indicate the term that denotes the repetition of a word or group of words at the beginning of adjacent lines (“ Means – does anyone need this? / Means - it's necessary…").
B5 The poem ends with a question addressed to man and humanity. What is the name of a type of question that does not require an answer and is often a hidden statement?
Give a coherent answer to the question in 5–10 sentences.
C1 How do you understand the main idea of the poem “Listen!”?
C2 What feelings are filled with the poet’s lyrical confession and what gives it special expressiveness?
C3 In which works of Russian classics do the heroes reflect on the connection between man and the universe and in what ways are these works consonant with the poem by V.V. Mayakovsky “Listen!”
The song “Listen!” performed by E. Kamburova. Slide 5