Poem "Three Palms".
Perception, interpretation, evaluation
The poem “Three Palms” was written by M.Yu. Lermontov in 1839. In the same year it was published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. Thematically, the work is related to such poems as “The Arab’s Song over the Horse’s Grave” by V.A. Zhukovsky, “Imitations of the Koran” by A.S. Pushkin. However, Lermontov's work is to a certain extent polemical in relation to the works of his predecessors.
We can attribute the poem to philosophical lyrics, with elements of landscape. Its style is romantic, the genre is indicated by the author himself in the subtitle - “Oriental legend”. Researchers also noted the features of the ballad genre in this work - the dramatic nature of the plot with the general laconicism of the style, the small volume of the poem, the presence of a landscape at the beginning and at the end, the lyricism and musicality of the work, the presence of the tragically insoluble.
Compositionally, we can distinguish three parts in the poem. The first part is the beginning, a description of a wonderful oasis in the desert: “three proud palm trees” with luxurious, succulent leaves, an icy stream. The second part includes the beginning, plot development, climax and denouement. The “proud palms” were dissatisfied with their fate; they began to grumble about God and their own fate:
“Are we born to wither here?
We grew and blossomed uselessly in the desert,
Wavering with the whirlwind and heat of the fire,
Not pleasing to anyone's benevolent gaze?..
Your holy verdict is wrong, O heaven!”
However, according to the poet, one cannot grumble about fate. The palm trees received what their souls so longed for: a “cheerful” caravan came to them. Nature appears here as kind and hospitable towards people:
Palm trees welcome unexpected guests,
And the icy stream generously waters them.
People turn out to be cruel and heartless towards the “pets of centuries.” Not noticing the beauty of powerful, strong trees, they demonstrate their utilitarian, pragmatic attitude towards nature:
But darkness has just fallen to the ground,
The ax clattered on the elastic roots,
And the pets of centuries fell without life!
Their clothes were torn off by small children,
Their bodies were then chopped up,
And they slowly burned them with fire until the morning.
The poet here perceives nature as a living being. The picture of the death of palm trees is terrible, terrible. The world of nature and the world of civilization are tragically opposed in Lermontov. The third part of the poem contrasts sharply with the first:
And now everything is wild and empty all around -
Leaves with a rattling key do not whisper:
In vain he asks the prophet for shade - He is only covered in hot sand and a crested kite, an unsociable steppe,
The prey is tormented and pinched above him.
At the end of the poem, we return again to the place where “three proud palm trees” grew, where the same icy spring flows. Thus, we have a ring composition, the first and third parts of which are antithetical.
The poem has various interpretations in literary criticism. It is generally accepted to analyze the work as an allegorical philosophical parable, the meaning of which is a person’s retribution for grumbling against God and his own fate. The price of this pride, according to Lermontov, is one’s own soul.
Another interpretation connects the image of three beautiful palm trees with the motif of ruined beauty. The same theme is present in M.Yu. Lermontov in the poem “Dispute”, in the ballad “The Sea Princess”. According to the poet, beauty in “Three Palms” was destroyed precisely because it sought to be united with benefit. However, this is in principle impossible and unattainable.
Researchers also noted the religious-Christian symbolism of this poem. Thus, the serene, idyllic landscape at the beginning of the poem reminds us of the Garden of Eden (according to legend, it was located on the site of the Arabian desert). The grumbling of palm trees at one's own fate is nothing more than a sin. The retribution for sin is chaos brought into the world of peace and harmony. The contact of three beautiful palm trees with people is the penetration of evil spirits, demons into the inner world of a person, which ends in the death of his soul.
The poem is written in amphibrach tetrameter. The poet uses various means of artistic expression: epithets (“three proud palm trees”, “luxurious leaves”, “resonant stream”), personification (“The palm trees welcome unexpected guests”), anaphora and comparison (“And the horse sometimes reared up, And jumped like a leopard struck by an arrow,
The poem of the mature period “Three Palms” was written by M. Lermontov in 1838. It was first published in Otechestvennye zapiski in 1839.
In a poem that is a genre ballad, the poet used a number of Pushkin’s images from “Imitation of the Koran”, the same poetic size and stanza. However, in terms of meaning, Lermontov's ballad is polemical in relation to Pushkin's poem. The author fills it with philosophical content, placing it at the forefront question about the meaning of human life.
The philosophical meaning of the poem has a clear religious connotation, and the entire poetic parable is saturated biblical symbolism. The number of palm trees symbolizes the three components of the human soul: reason, feelings and will. The spring acts as a symbol of the spirit that connects a person with the source of life - God. The oasis symbolizes paradise; It is no coincidence that the poet places the action of the ballad in "steppes of Arabian land": This is where, according to legend, the Garden of Eden was located. Epithet "proud" in relation to palm trees symbolizes human pride and the presence of original sin. "Dark Hands" And "black eyes" Arabs, chaos and disorder ( "discordant sounds", "with a shout and a whistle", "blasting up the sand") indicate evil spirits. The complete rupture of the human soul with God and its takeover by evil spirits is expressed by the line: “The jugs filled with water with a sound”. The human soul perishes from "axe" Moors, and the caravan follows the next victim to the west, the direction opposite to where God resides. Revealing the meaning of a person’s life, Lermontov calls for being more attentive to one’s soul. Pride and refusal to be humble and accept what is predetermined by God can lead to tragic consequences - the destruction of both soul and body.
In the poem, Lermontov raises and problem of the relationship between man and nature: people do not appreciate what nature gives them. They seek to destroy it for the sake of momentary desires or gain, without thinking about the consequences. Condemning people for their consumerist attitude towards the world around them, the poet warns that defenseless nature can still take revenge on the offenders, and this revenge will be as ruthless and cruel as the actions of people who consider themselves kings of nature.
The poem has ring composition based on taking the antithesis life and death in the first and last stanzas. The first stanza vividly paints an idyllic picture of a magical oasis in the vast desert. In the last stanza the oasis turns into "gray and cold" ash, the stream carries hot sand, and the desert again becomes lifeless, promising the travelers inevitable death. With the help of such an organization of the poem, Lermontov emphasizes the whole tragedy of man in a catastrophic situation.
The work is narrative in nature clear storyline. The main characters of the poem are "three proud palms". Those who don't want to live "no use" and dissatisfied with their fate, they begin to grumble against the Creator: “Your wrong, oh heaven, holy sentence!”. God heard their discontent, and miraculously a rich caravan appeared near the palm trees. Its inhabitants quenched their thirst "icy water" from the stream, rested in the gracious shade of friendly palm trees, and in the evening, without regret, they cut down the trees: “The ax clattered on the elastic roots, // And the pets of centuries fell without life!”. The proud palm trees were punished for not being content with their lot, but for daring "to grumble against God".
The ballad consists of 10 six-line stanzas written tetrameter amphibrachium, a three-syllable foot with stress on the second syllable. The poem is distinguished by an acute conflict plot, a clear composition, rhythmic organization of the verse, lyrical richness and vivid imagery. Lermontov uses unusually widely various means of expression: epithets (a sonorous stream, luxurious leaves, proud palm trees, barren soil, terry head), metaphors (the sand was spinning like a pillar, the chest was flaming), comparisons(People - "little children", caravan “walked, swaying, like a shuttle at sea”), personifications (the spring was breaking through, the leaves were whispering with the thundering stream, the palm trees were welcoming unexpected guests). Personifications allow you to see in images "proud palms" people who are dissatisfied with their lives. When describing the cutting of palm trees, it was used alliteration sound "r".
In the poem “Three Palms,” Lermontov managed to combine a vivid rendering of the beauty of eastern nature in all its colors and the most important philosophical questions that have worried more than one generation.
- “Motherland”, analysis of Lermontov’s poem, essay
- “Sail”, analysis of Lermontov’s poem
In the sandy steppes of Arabian land
Three proud palm trees grew high.
A spring between them from barren soil,
Murmuring, it made its way through a cold wave,
Kept under the shade of green leaves
From the sultry rays and flying sands.
And many years passed silently...
But a tired wanderer from a foreign land
Burning chest to the icy moisture
I have not yet bowed down under the green tabernacle,
And they began to dry out from the sultry rays
Luxurious leaves and a sonorous stream.
And the three palm trees began to murmur against God:
“Are we born to wither here?
We grew and blossomed uselessly in the desert,
Wavering with the whirlwind and heat of the fire,
Not pleasing to anyone's benevolent gaze?..
Your holy verdict is wrong, O heaven!”
And they just fell silent - blue in the distance
The golden sand was already spinning like a column,
There were discordant sounds of bells,
The carpeted packs were full of carpets,
And he walked, swaying like a shuttle at sea,
Camel after camel, blasting the sand.
Dangling, hanging between hard humps
Patterned floors of camping tents,
Their dark hands sometimes raised,
And the black eyes sparkled from there...
And, leaning towards the bow,
The Arab was hot on the black horse.
And the horse reared up at times,
And he jumped like a leopard struck by an arrow;
And white clothes have beautiful folds
The faris curled in disarray over the shoulders;
And, screaming and whistling, rushing along the sand,
He threw and caught a spear while galloping.
Here a caravan approaches the palm trees, noisily,
In the shadow of their cheerful camp stretched.
The jugs sounded filled with water,
And, proudly nodding his terry head,
Palm trees welcome unexpected guests,
And the icy stream generously waters them.
But darkness has just fallen to the ground,
The ax clattered on the elastic roots,
And the pets of centuries fell without life!
Little children tore off their clothes,
Their bodies were then chopped up,
And they slowly burned them with fire until the morning.
When the fog rushed to the west,
The caravan made its regular journey,
And then sad on barren soil
All that was visible was gray and cold ashes.
And the sun burned the dry remains,
And then the wind blew them away into the steppe.
And now everything is wild and empty all around -
Leaves with a rattling key do not whisper.
In vain does he ask the prophet for a shadow -
Only the hot sand carries it away
Yes, the crested kite, the steppe unsociable,
The prey is tormented and pinched above him.
Reading M. Yu. Lermontov’s poem “Three Palms,” you involuntarily think: have I brought much benefit to the world, or maybe I belong to the people who want to warm themselves by the fire of someone else’s misfortune? Lermontov created real masterpieces. For example, his landscape lyrics. How vividly he knew how to convey the beauty of nature in all its colors, with all its moods! Many of the poet’s works are filled with sadness and tragedy, and the author saw the cause of this tragedy in the unjust structure of the world. An example is his poem “Three Palms”.
The poem “Three Palms” surprises with its colorfulness and strength. It also made a great impression on the outstanding Russian critic V. G. Belinsky. “What imagery! - so you see everything in front of you, and once you see it, you will never forget it! A marvelous picture - everything sparkles with the brightness of oriental colors! What picturesqueness, musicality, strength and strength in every verse...,” he wrote.
In Syria, this poem by Lermontov has been translated into Arabic, and children in schools learn it by heart.
The action takes place against the backdrop of beautiful oriental nature.
Three palm trees
(Eastern legend)
In the sandy steppes of Arabian land
Three proud palm trees grew high.
A spring between them from barren soil,
Murmuring, it made its way through a cold wave,
Kept under the shade of green leaves,
From the sultry rays and flying sands.
And many years passed silently;
But a tired wanderer from a foreign land
Burning chest to the icy moisture
I have not yet bowed down under the green tabernacle,
And they began to dry out from the sultry rays
Luxurious leaves and a sonorous stream.
And the three palm trees began to murmur against God:
“Are we born to wither here?
We grew and blossomed uselessly in the desert,
Wavering with the whirlwind and heat of the fire,
Not pleasing to anyone's benevolent gaze?..
Yours is wrong, oh heaven, holy sentence!”........
Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov, real name Shverubovich (1875-1948) - leading actor of Stanislavsky's troupe, one of the first People's Artists of the USSR (1936).
The Kazan Drama Theater, one of the oldest in Russia, bears his name.
Thanks to the outstanding merits of his voice and artistry, Kachalov left a noticeable mark in such a special type of activity as the performance of works of poetry (Sergei Yesenin, Eduard Bagritsky, etc.) and prose (L. N. Tolstoy) in concerts, on the radio, in gramophone recordings records.
The personality of Mikhail Lermontov is mysterious, and his work is so deep and meaningful that it seems as if these works were created by a very mature, wise man.
At the time when M. Yu. Lermontov wrote “Three Palms,” he was only twenty-four years old. But this work is not only a brilliant example of landscape lyricism, here the poet reveals himself as a wonderful storyteller and thinker. Let's try to prove this by using the methods of literary analysis applicable to the poem and retelling its brief content.
"Three Palms"
Lermontov thought intensely about the main questions of human life, about the strength of passions and the power of the spirit. With his vivid, dynamic narrative, whether lyric or prose, the poet drew the reader into the orbit of his thoughts. That is why we do not remain indifferent to his heroes and events described in the master’s works. This fully applies to the poem, which is sometimes called the ballad “Three Palms”.
What is the subtext?
What and who are three palm trees in the ballad of the same name created by M. Yu. Lermontov? Of course, these are not just three slender trees growing in the desert. They are both the personification of human suffering and quest, and an allegory of the rebellious spirit, and a symbol of the tragic contradictions of this world. The work is multi-layered. Peeling off layer by layer, we will come to the innermost idea of the author.
In his “eastern legend” he placed it in an oasis where a spring emerges from the ground. The first stanza of the ballad is dedicated to this landscape sketch. In this tiny living world in the middle of a barren and sultry desert, there is a kind of idyll, built on harmony: a spring nourishes and refreshes the roots of three trees ascending to the sky, and dense foliage, in turn, shelters the weak spring from the scorching rays of the sun and the hot wind. Years go by and nothing changes. Suddenly the palm trees begin to grumble, expressing dissatisfaction with the fact that their life is worthless and boring. Immediately a multi-voiced caravan appears in the distance, people with shouts and laughter approach the oasis, having reached it, they shamelessly take advantage of all the benefits that nature has in store for them: they get plenty of water, cut down palm trees to make a fire, and at dawn they leave the place, continuing their journey . Then the wind will scatter the ashes of the burned palm trees, and the unprotected spring will dry up under the unbearably hot rays of the sun. This is the summary.
Three palm trees as a symbol of rebellion against the Divine will
It is no coincidence that from the first lines Lermontov assigns them the epithet “proud”. From a biblical point of view, pride is a grave vice and sin. Indeed, the palm trees were not satisfied with the good fate that God had determined for them, they were indignant: there is no one who could appreciate their beauty and greatness, therefore, life is in vain! God directed events along a different path, which turned into death for the palm trees. Even the retelling of the ballad, which fits into the summary, does not hide the tragedy of the situation. Lermontov likened it to a three-part human being, consisting of body, soul and spirit, in which all three parts rebelled, and therefore not even a trace remained of the oasis (the prototype of a harmonious person), and only the unsociable kite sometimes kills and torments its prey in the place where was intended to celebrate life.
Ecological pathos of the poem “Three Palms”
The main characters of the work found themselves in fatal opposition: the trees hospitably received their guests, intending not only to show off, but also to bestow what they had. The oasis gave people rest, freshness, moisture, shelter in the middle of the wild desert. But evening came, people were frozen and chopped up palm trees for firewood to keep warm. They acted naturally, but ungratefully and thoughtlessly, they destroyed what should have been preserved. This question is relevant not only because today people often do the same. The environmental problem is closely related to the moral problem. The barbaric actions of the caravanners are an indirect consequence of the murmuring of palm trees before God: the poet shows what happens when absurd self-will violates the primordial order of things.
Artistic techniques
The plot of the ballad is very dynamic; it intrigues the reader, like an entertaining story. “Three Palms” is generally a very elegant poetic work in terms of form. Let us pay attention to what epithets the author chooses to emphasize the conflict of the ballad. Tall palm trees appear before us in the luxury of thick, succulent leaves, the stream is sonorous, cool and generous, and the cheerful caravan is replete with colorful clothes, packs, tents, and sparkling eyes. The author skillfully creates a tension of anxiety as the travelers approach the oasis, where they will be favorably greeted by three palm trees. Analysis of the speech structure of the verse emphasizes this feeling; verbs and nouns dominate in the description of the caravan. The sand “spun like a pillar,” the floors of the tents “hung, dangling,” the Arab “hot” the horse, which “reared up and jumped like a leopard,” the folds of clothes “twirled in disorder,” and the young man “with a scream and a whistle” threw and caught spear on the fly. The peace and tranquility of the paradise is hopelessly destroyed.
A tale of murder
Using personification, Lermontov turns the sketch of the travelers' camp into such a dramatic story about feelings and death that the heart clench. From the very beginning, palm trees appear to us as living beings. They, like people, grumble, fall silent, then greet the newcomers favorably, nodding their “terry heads,” and when axes pound on their roots, they fall lifeless. The author likens the trunks to chopped up bodies subjected to the torture of slow burning, and the foliage to clothes that were torn off and stolen by small children. After this, a lifeless and static picture of death and desolation appears before us.
Sound recording of verse
The alliteration and intonation accents are strikingly accurate. Pauses, questions, exclamations, embarrassment and reflection, conveyed by ellipsis, allow you to see and hear what is happening, to experience it emotionally. The abundance is consistent with the story of the tranquil life of palm trees, and the appearance of hissing sounds foreshadows the invasion of disharmony that is about to occur. The poem is written in amphibrachic trimeter, which in measure corresponds to the genre declared by the author - “oriental legend” or, in other words, a parable.
Finally
These are some of the analysis points of this work, the main conclusions and a summary. Lermontov, without a doubt, dedicated “Three Palms” to his favorite theme of loneliness and dissatisfaction of the soul, yearning for something more significant that surrounds it in everyday life. That is why a vivid feeling is born in our hearts that the author does not agree with God’s verdict, although he understands its regularity and justice.