Literature refers to works of human thought that are enshrined in the written word and have social significance. Any literary work, depending on HOW the writer depicts reality in it, is classified as one of three literary families: epic, lyric or drama.
Epic (from the Greek “narration”) is a generalized name for works that depict events external to the author.
Lyrics (from the Greek “performed to the lyre”) - a generalized name for works - usually poetic, in which there is no plot, but reflects the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the author (lyrical hero).
Drama (from Greek “action”) - a generalized name for works in which life is shown through conflicts and clashes of heroes. Dramatic works are intended not so much for reading as for dramatization. In drama, it is not the external action that is important, but the experience of a conflict situation. In drama, epic (narration) and lyrics are fused together.
Within each type of literature there are genres- historically established types of works, characterized by certain structural and content features (see table of genres).
| EPOS | LYRICS | DRAMA |
| epic | Oh yeah | tragedy |
| novel | elegy | comedy |
| story | hymn | drama |
| story | sonnet | tragicomedy |
| fairy tale | message | vaudeville |
| fable | epigram | melodrama |
Tragedy (from Greek “goat song”) is a dramatic work with an insurmountable conflict, which depicts an intense struggle of strong characters and passions, ending with the death of the hero.
Comedy (from Greek “funny song”) - a dramatic work with a cheerful, funny plot, usually ridiculing social or everyday vices.
Drama is a literary work in the form of a dialogue with a serious plot, depicting an individual in his dramatic relationship with society.
Vaudeville - a light comedy with singing couplets and dancing.
Farce - a theatrical play of a light, playful nature with external comic effects, designed for coarse tastes.
Oh yeah (from Greek “song”) - a choral, solemn song, a work glorifying, praising some significant event or heroic personality.
Hymn (from Greek “praise”) is a solemn song based on programmatic verses. Initially, hymns were dedicated to the gods. Currently, the anthem is one of the national symbols of the state.
Epigram (from Greek “inscription”) is a short satirical poem of a mocking nature that arose in the 3rd century BC. e.
Elegy - a genre of lyrics dedicated to sad thoughts or a lyric poem imbued with sadness. Belinsky called elegy “a song of sad content.” The word "elegy" is translated as "reed flute" or "plaintive song." Elegy originated in Ancient Greece in the 7th century BC. e.
Message – a poetic letter, an appeal to a specific person, a request, a wish.
Sonnet (from Provence “song”) is a poem of 14 lines, which has a certain rhyme system and strict stylistic laws. The sonnet originated in Italy in the 13th century (the creator was the poet Jacopo da Lentini), in England it appeared in the first half of the 16th century (G. Sarri), and in Russia in the 18th century. The main types of sonnet are Italian (of 2 quatrains and 2 tercets) and English (of 3 quatrains and a final couplet).
Poem (from the Greek “I do, I create”) is a lyric-epic genre, a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot, usually on a historical or legendary theme.
Ballad - lyric-epic genre, plot song with dramatic content.
Epic - a major work of fiction telling about significant historical events. In ancient times - a narrative poem of heroic content. In the literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, the genre of the epic novel appeared - this is a work in which the formation of the characters of the main characters occurs during their participation in historical events.
Novel - a large narrative work of art with a complex plot, in the center of which is the fate of the individual.
Tale - a work of fiction that occupies a middle position between a novel and a short story in terms of volume and complexity of the plot. In ancient times, any narrative work was called a story.
Story - a work of art of small size, based on an episode, an incident from the life of the hero.
Fairy tale - a work about fictional events and characters, usually involving magical, fantastic forces.
Fable is a narrative work in poetic form, small in size, of a moralizing or satirical nature.
?INTRODUCTION
Lyrics is a word that came to us from the Greek language. In the classical sense, this is one of the types of literature, which is based on an image of a person’s spiritual life, the world of his feelings and emotions, thoughts and reflections. A lyrical work implies a poetic narrative that reflects the author’s thoughts about various natural phenomena and life in general.
One of the founders of Russian literary criticism was V.G. Belinsky. And although serious steps were taken in the development of the concept of literary gender back in antiquity (Aristotle), it was Belinsky who owned the scientifically based theory of three literary genders.
There are three types of fiction: epic (from the Greek Epos, narrative), lyrical (the lyre was a musical instrument, accompanied by chanting poetry) and dramatic (from the Greek Drama, action).
An epic is a story about events, the fate of heroes, their actions and adventures, a depiction of the external side of what is happening (even feelings are shown from their external manifestation). The author can directly express his attitude to what is happening.
Drama is a depiction of events and relationships between characters on stage (a special way of writing text). The direct expression of the author's point of view in the text is contained in the stage directions.
Lyrics - experiencing events; depiction of feelings, inner world, emotional state; the feeling becomes the main event.
Each type of literature in turn includes a number of genres.
A genre is a historically established group of works united by common features of content and form. Such groups include novels, stories, poems, elegies, short stories, feuilletons, comedies, etc. In literary studies, the concept of literary type is often introduced; this is a broader concept than genre. In this case, the novel will be considered a type of fiction, and genres will be various types of novels, for example, adventure, detective, psychological, parable novel, dystopian novel, etc.
Examples of genus-species relationships in the literature:
? Gender: dramatic; type: comedy; Genre: sitcom.
? Genus: epic; type: story; genre: fantasy story, etc.
Genres, being historical categories, appear, develop and eventually “leave” from the “active stock” of artists depending on the historical era: ancient lyricists did not know the sonnet; in our time, the ode, born in antiquity and popular in the 17th-18th centuries, has become an archaic genre; Romanticism of the 19th century gave rise to detective literature, etc.
1. Lyric genres
Until the 19th century, lyric poetry was divided into: sonnet, fragment, satire, epigram and epitaph. Let's take a closer look at each of these genres of lyrics.
The sonnet is one of the poetic forms of the Renaissance. A dramatic genre in which its structure and composition are united in meaning, like a struggle of opposites.
A passage is a fragment of a work or an intentionally unfinished poem of philosophical content.
Satire, as a genre, is a lyric-epic work designed to ridicule some phenomenon of reality, or social vices; in essence, it is an evil criticism of public life.
An epigram is a short satirical work. This genre was especially popular among Pushkin’s contemporaries, when an evil epigram served as a weapon of revenge against a rival author; later the epigram was revived by Mayakovsky and Gaft.
An epitaph is a gravestone inscription dedicated to the deceased, often the epitaph is written in poetic form.
Today, there are other ways to classify lyric genres. According to the theme of the poems, the following main genres of lyricism are distinguished: landscape, intimate, philosophical.
Landscape lyrics in most cases reflect the author’s own attitude to nature and the world around him through the prism of his own worldviews and feelings. For landscape poetry, more than for all other varieties, figurative language is important.
Intimate lyrics are a depiction of friendship, love, and in some cases, the personal life of the author. It is similar to love lyrics, and, as a rule, intimate lyrics are a “continuation” of love lyrics.
Philosophical lyrics examine universal questions about the meaning of life and humanism. Its continuation and varieties are “civil lyrics” and “religious lyrics”. If philosophical lyrics examine the eternal themes of the meaning of life, good and evil, the world order and the purpose of our stay on earth, then “civil” poetry is closer to social problems - to history and politics, it describes (certainly in poetic language!) our collective aspirations, love for our homeland , the fight against evil in society.
The theme of “religious lyrics” is understanding one’s faith, church life, relationship with God, religious virtues and sins, repentance.
We will now discuss the features of writing poetry for each of these varieties of the lyrical genre.
Lyrical is a type of literature in which the author’s attention is paid to depicting the inner world, feelings, and experiences. An event in lyric poetry is important only insofar as it evokes an emotional response in the artist’s soul. It is the experience that becomes the main event in the lyrics. Lyrics as a type of literature arose in ancient times. The word "lyric" is of Greek origin, but has no direct translation. In Ancient Greece, poetic works depicting the inner world of feelings and experiences were performed to the accompaniment of the lyre, and this is how the word “lyrics” appeared.
The most important character in lyric poetry is the lyrical hero: it is his inner world that is shown in the lyrical work, on his behalf the lyricist speaks to the reader, and the external world is depicted in terms of the impressions it makes on the lyrical hero. It is very important not to confuse a lyrical hero with an epic one. Pushkin reproduced the inner world of Eugene Onegin in great detail, but this is an epic hero, a participant in the main events of the novel. The lyrical hero of Pushkin's novel is the Narrator, the one who is familiar with Onegin and tells his story, deeply experiencing it. Onegin becomes a lyrical hero only once in the novel - when he writes a letter to Tatyana, just as she becomes a lyrical heroine when she writes a letter to Onegin.
By creating the image of a lyrical hero, a poet can make him personally very close to himself (poems by Lermontov, Fet, Nekrasov, Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, etc.). But sometimes the poet seems to be “hiding” behind the mask of a lyrical hero, completely far from the personality of the poet himself; for example, A. Blok makes the lyrical heroine Ophelia (2 poems entitled “Ophelia’s Song”) or the street actor Harlequin (“I was covered in colorful rags…”), M. Tsvetaev - Hamlet (“At the bottom is she, where is the mud?” ..."), V. Bryusov - Cleopatra ("Cleopatra"), S. Yesenin - a peasant boy from a folk song or fairy tale ("Mother walked through the forest in a bathing suit ..."). So, when discussing a lyrical work, it is more competent to talk about the expression in it of the feelings not of the author, but of the lyrical hero.
Like other types of literature, lyrics include a number of genres. Some of them arose in ancient times, others - in the Middle Ages, some - quite recently, one and a half to two centuries ago, or even in the last century.
LYRIC GENRES:
Ode (Greek “Song”) is a monumental solemn poem glorifying a great event or a great person; There are spiritual odes (arrangements of psalms), moralizing, philosophical, satirical, epistle odes, etc. An ode is tripartite: it must have a theme stated at the beginning of the work; development of the theme and arguments, as a rule, allegorical (second part); the final, didactic (instructive) part. Examples of ancient ancient odes are associated with the names of Horace and Pindar; The ode came to Russia in the 18th century, the odes of M. Lomonosov (“On the day of the accession to the Russian throne of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna”), V. Trediakovsky, A. Sumarokov, G. Derzhavin (“Felitsa”, “God”), A. .Radishcheva (“Liberty”). He paid tribute to the ode of A. Pushkin (“Liberty”). By the middle of the 19th century, ode lost its relevance and gradually became an archaic genre.
Hymn - a poem of praise; also came from ancient poetry, but if in ancient times hymns were composed in honor of gods and heroes, then in later times hymns were written in honor of solemn events, celebrations, often not only of a state, but also of a personal nature (A. Pushkin. “Feasting Students” ).
Elegy (Phrygian “reed flute”) is a genre of lyric poetry dedicated to reflection. Originated in ancient poetry; originally this was the name for crying over the dead. The elegy was based on the life ideal of the ancient Greeks, which was based on the harmony of the world, proportionality and balance of being, incomplete without sadness and contemplation; these categories passed into modern elegy. An elegy can embody both life-affirming ideas and disappointment. Poetry of the 19th century continued to develop elegy in its “pure” form; in the lyrics of the 20th century, elegy is found, rather, as a genre tradition, as a special mood. In modern poetry, an elegy is a plotless poem of a contemplative, philosophical and landscape nature.
A. Blok "From Autumn Elegy":
An epigram (Greek for “inscription”) is a short poem of satirical content. Initially, in ancient times, epigrams were inscriptions on household objects, tombstones and statues. Subsequently, the content of the epigrams changed.
Examples of epigrams:
Yuri Olesha:
Sasha Cherny:
An epistole, or epistle, is a poem, the content of which can be defined as a “letter in verse.” The genre also came from ancient lyrics.
A. Pushkin. Pushchin ("My first friend, my priceless friend...")
V. Mayakovsky. "To Sergei Yesenin"; "Lilichka! (Instead of a letter)"
S. Yesenin. "Letter to Mother"
M. Tsvetaeva. Poems to Blok
A sonnet is a poetic genre of the so-called rigid form: a poem consisting of 14 lines, specially organized into stanzas, possessing strict rhyming principles and stylistic laws. There are several types of sonnet based on their form:
? Italian: consists of two quatrains (quatrains), in which the lines rhyme according to the scheme ABAB or ABBA, and two tercets (tercets) with the rhyme CDС DСD or CDE CDE;
? English: consists of three quatrains and one couplet; the general rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG;
? sometimes French is distinguished: the stanza is similar to Italian, but the terzets have a different rhyme scheme: CCD EED or CCD EDE; he had a significant influence on the development of the next type of sonnet -
? Russian: created by Anton Delvig: the stanza is also similar to the Italian, but the rhyme scheme in tercets is CDD CCD.
The content of the sonnet is also subject to special laws: each stanza is a step in the development of one general thought (thesis, position), therefore the sonnet belongs not so much to narrowly lyrical as to intellectual poetic genres.
This lyrical genre was born in Italy in the 13th century. Its creator was the lawyer Jacopo da Lentini; a hundred years later Petrarch's sonnet masterpieces appeared. The sonnet came to Russia in the 18th century; a little later, it receives serious development in the works of Anton Delvig, Ivan Kozlov, Alexander Pushkin. Poets of the “Silver Age” showed particular interest in the sonnet: K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, I. Annensky, V. Ivanov, I. Bunin, N. Gumilev, A. Blok, O. Mandelstam...
In the art of versification, the sonnet is considered one of the most difficult genres. In the last 2 centuries, poets rarely adhered to any strict rhyme scheme, often offering a mixture of different schemes.
This content dictates the features of the sonnet language:
? vocabulary and intonation should be sublime;
? rhymes - accurate and, if possible, unusual, rare;
? significant words should not be repeated with the same meaning, etc.
A particular challenge - and therefore the pinnacle of poetic technique - is the wreath of sonnets: a cycle of 15 poems, the opening line of each of which is the last line of the previous one, and the last line of the 14th poem is the first line of the first. The fifteenth sonnet consists of the first lines of all 14 sonnets in the cycle. In Russian lyric poetry, the most famous are the wreaths of sonnets by V. Ivanov, M. Voloshin, K. Balmont.
In school literary criticism, this genre of lyricism is called a lyric poem. In classical literary criticism such a genre does not exist. It was introduced into the school curriculum to somewhat simplify the complex system of lyrical genres: if the clear genre features of a work cannot be identified and the poem is not, in the strict sense, an ode, a hymn, an elegy, a sonnet, etc., it will be defined as a lyric poem . In this case, you should pay attention to the individual characteristics of the poem: the specifics of the form, theme, image of the lyrical hero, mood, etc. Thus, lyric poems (in the school understanding) should include poems by Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Blok, etc. Almost all lyric poetry of the 20th century falls under this definition, unless the authors specifically specified the genre of the works.
Satire (Latin “mixture, all sorts of things”) is like a poetic genre: a work whose content is the exposure of social phenomena, human vices or individual people through ridicule. Satire in antiquity in Roman literature (satires of Juvenal, Martial, etc.). The genre received new development in the literature of classicism. The content of satire is characterized by ironic intonation, allegory, Aesopian language, and the technique of “speaking names” is often used. In Russian literature, A. Kantemir, K. Batyushkov (XVIII-XIX centuries) worked in the genre of satire; in the 20th century, Sasha Cherny and others became famous as the author of satires. Many poems from “Poems about America” by V. Mayakovsky can also be called satires ( "Six Nuns", "Black and White", "Skyscraper in Section", etc.).
Ballad is a lyric-epic plot poem of the fantastic, satirical, historical, fairy-tale, legendary, humorous, etc. character. The ballad originated in ancient times (it is believed that in the early Middle Ages)
etc.................
Lyric genres originate in syncretic forms of art. The personal experiences and feelings of a person come to the fore. Lyrics are the most subjective type of literature. Its range is quite wide. Lyrical works are characterized by laconic expression, extreme concentration of thoughts, feelings and experiences. Through various genres of lyric poetry, the poet embodies what excites, saddens or pleases him.
Features of the lyrics
The term itself comes from the Greek word lyra (a type of musical instrument). Poets of the ancient period performed their works to the accompaniment of the lyre. The lyrics are based on the experiences and thoughts of the main character. He is often identified with the author, which is not entirely true. The character of a hero is often revealed through actions and actions. The author's direct characterization plays an important role. An important place is given to the most often used monologue. Dialogues are rare.
The main means of expression is thought. Some works intertwine lyrics and drama. Lyrical works lack a detailed plot. In some there is an internal conflict of the hero. There are also “role-playing” lyrics. In such works, the author plays the roles of different people.
The genres of lyricism in literature are closely intertwined with other forms of art. Especially with painting and music.
Types of lyrics
How lyrics were formed in Ancient Greece. The greatest flowering occurred in Ancient Rome. Popular ancient poets: Anacreon, Horace, Ovid, Pindar, Sappho. During the Renaissance, Shakespeare and Petrarch stand out. And in the 18th and 19th centuries the world was shocked by the poetry of Goethe, Byron, Pushkin and many others.
Varieties of lyrics as a genre: in terms of expressiveness - meditative or suggestive; by theme - landscape or urban, social or intimate, etc.; by tonality - minor or major, comic or heroic, idyllic or dramatic.
Types of lyrics: verse (poetry), dramatized (role-playing), prose.
Thematic classification
Genres of lyric poetry in literature have several classifications. Most often, such essays are divided by topic.
- Civil. Social and national issues and feelings come to the fore.
- Intimate. Conveys the personal experiences that the main character experiences. It is divided into the following types: love, friendship lyrics, family, erotic.
- Philosophical. It embodies the awareness of the meaning of life, existence, the problem of good and evil.
- Religious. Feelings and experiences about the higher and spiritual.
- Landscape. Conveys the hero's thoughts about natural phenomena.
- Satirical. Exposes human and social vices.
Varieties by genre
The genres of lyrics are diverse. This:
1. Hymn - a lyrical song expressing a festive and elated feeling resulting from some good event or exceptional experience. For example, “Hymn to the Plague” by A. S. Pushkin.
2. Invective. Means a sudden denunciation or satirical ridicule of a real person. This genre is characterized by semantic and structural duality.
3. Madrigal. Initially these were poems depicting rural life. After several centuries, the madrigal undergoes significant transformation. In the 18th and 19th centuries, free form, praising the beauty of a woman and containing a compliment. The genre of intimate poetry is found in Pushkin, Lermontov, Karamzin, Sumarokov and others.
4. Ode - a song of praise. This is a poetic genre that was finally formed in the era of classicism. In Russia, this term was introduced by V. Trediakovsky (1734). Now it is already distantly connected with classical traditions. There is a struggle between conflicting stylistic trends. The solemn odes of Lomonosov (developing a metaphorical style), the anacreontic odes of Sumarokov, and the synthetic odes of Derzhavin are known.
5. Song (song) is one of the forms of verbal and musical art. There are lyrical, epic, lyric-dramatic, lyric-epic. Lyrical songs are not characterized by narrative or presentation. They are characterized by ideological and emotional expression.
6. Epistle (letter in verse). In Russian, this genre variety was extremely popular. The messages were written by Derzhavin, Kantemir, Kostrov, Lomonosov, Petrov, Sumarokov, Trediakovsky, Fonvizin and many others. In the first half of the 19th century they were also in use. They are written by Batyushkov, Zhukovsky, Pushkin, Lermontov.
7. Romance. This is the name of a poem that has the character of a love song.
8. Sonnet is a solid poetic form. It consists of fourteen lines, which, in turn, are divided into two quatrains and two tercets.
9. Poem. It was in the 19th and 20th centuries that this structure became one of the lyrical forms.
10. Elegy is another popular genre of lyric poetry with melancholic content.
11. Epigram - a short poem of a lyrical nature. Characterized by great freedom of content.
12. Epitaph (gravestone inscription).
Genres of Pushkin and Lermontov's lyrics
A. S. Pushkin wrote in different lyrical genres. This:
- Oh yeah. For example, “Liberty” (1817).
- Elegy - “The Sun of Day Has Gone Out” (1820).
- Message - “To Chaadaev” (1818).
- Epigram - “On Alexander!”, “On Vorontsov” (1824).
- Song - “About the prophetic Oleg” (1822).
- Romance - “I am here, Inesilla” (1830).
- Sonnet, satire.
- Lyrical compositions that go beyond traditional genres - “To the Sea”, “Village”, “Anchar” and many others.
Pushkin’s themes are also multifaceted: civic position, the problem of freedom of creativity and many other topics are touched upon in his works.
The various genres of Lermontov's lyrics make up the bulk of his literary heritage. He is a successor to the traditions of civil poetry of the Decembrists and Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Initially, the most favorite genre was the confessional monologue. Then - romance, elegy and many others. But satire and epigram are extremely rare in his work.
Conclusion
Thus, works can be written in various genres. For example, sonnet, madrigal, epigram, romance, elegy, etc. Lyrics are also often classified by topic. For example, civil, intimate, philosophical, religious, etc. It is worth paying attention to the fact that the lyrics are constantly updated and replenished with new genre formations. In poetic practice there are lyric genres borrowed from related art forms. From music: waltz, prelude, march, nocturne, cantata, requiem, etc. From painting: portrait, still life, sketch, bas-relief, etc. In modern literature, there is a synthesis of genres, so lyrical works are divided into groups.
One of the founders of Russian literary criticism was V.G. Belinsky. And although serious steps were taken in antiquity in developing the concept of literary gender (Aristotle), it was Belinsky who owned the scientifically based theory of three literary genera, which you can get acquainted with in detail by reading Belinsky’s article “The Division of Poetry into Genera and Types.”
There are three types of fiction: epic(from Greek Epos, narrative), lyrical(a lyre was a musical instrument, accompanied by chanting poems) and dramatic(from Greek Drama, action).
When presenting this or that subject to the reader (meaning the subject of conversation), the author chooses different approaches to it:
First approach: in detail tell about the object, about the events associated with it, about the circumstances of the existence of this object, etc.; in this case, the author’s position will be more or less detached, the author will act as a kind of chronicler, narrator, or choose one of the characters as the narrator; the main thing in such a work will be the story, narration about the subject, the leading type of speech will be narrative; this kind of literature is called epic;
The second approach: you can tell not so much about the events, but about the impressed, which they produced on the author, about those feelings which they called; image inner world, experiences, impressions and will relate to the lyrical genre of literature; exactly experience becomes the main event of the lyrics;
Third approach: you can depict item in action, show him on stage; present it to the reader and viewer surrounded by other phenomena; this kind of literature is dramatic; In a drama, the author's voice will be heard least often - in stage directions, that is, the author's explanations of the actions and remarks of the characters.
Look at the following table and try to remember its contents:
Types of fiction
| EPOS | DRAMA | LYRICS |
| (Greek - narrative) story about events, the fate of the heroes, their actions and adventures, a depiction of the external side of what is happening (even feelings are shown from their external manifestation). The author can directly express his attitude to what is happening. |
(Greek - action) image events and relationships between characters on the stage(a special way of writing text). The direct expression of the author's point of view in the text is contained in the stage directions. |
(from the name of the musical instrument) experience events; depiction of feelings, inner world, emotional state; the feeling becomes the main event. |
Each type of literature in turn includes a number of genres.
GENRE is a historically established group of works united by common features of content and form. Such groups include novels, stories, poems, elegies, short stories, feuilletons, comedies, etc. In literary studies, the concept of literary type is often introduced; this is a broader concept than genre. In this case, the novel will be considered a type of fiction, and genres will be various types of novels, for example, adventure, detective, psychological, parable novel, dystopian novel, etc.
Examples of genus-species relationships in the literature:
- Gender: dramatic; type: comedy; Genre: sitcom.
- Genus: epic; type: story; genre: fantasy story, etc.
Genres, being historical categories, appear, develop and eventually “leave” from the “active stock” of artists depending on the historical era: ancient lyricists did not know the sonnet; in our time, the ode, born in antiquity and popular in the 17th-18th centuries, has become an archaic genre; Romanticism of the 19th century gave rise to detective literature, etc.
Consider the following table, which presents the types and genres related to the various types of word art:
Genera, types and genres of artistic literature
| EPOS | DRAMA | LYRICS | |||
| People's | Author's | Folk | Author's | Folk | Author's |
| Myth Poem (epic): Heroic Strogovoinskaya Fabulous- legendary Historical... Fairy tale Bylina Thought Legend Tradition Ballad Parable Small genres: proverbs sayings puzzles nursery rhymes... |
EpicNovel:
Historical Fantastic. Adventurous Psychological R.-parable Utopian Social... Small genres: Tale Story Novella Fable Parable Ballad Lit. fairy tale... |
A game Ritual Folk drama Raek Nativity scene... |
Tragedy Comedy: provisions, characters, masks... Drama: philosophical social historical social-philosophical Vaudeville Farce Tragifarce... |
Song | Oh yeah Hymn Elegy Sonnet Message Madrigal Romance Rondo Epigram... |
Modern literary criticism also highlights fourth, a related genre of literature that combines the features of the epic and lyrical genres: lyric-epic, which refers to poem. And indeed, by telling the reader a story, the poem manifests itself as an epic; Revealing to the reader the depth of feelings, the inner world of the person telling this story, the poem manifests itself as lyricism.
LYRICAL is a type of literature in which the author’s attention is paid to depicting the inner world, feelings, and experiences. An event in lyric poetry is important only insofar as it evokes an emotional response in the artist’s soul. It is the experience that becomes the main event in the lyrics. Lyrics as a type of literature arose in ancient times. The word "lyric" is of Greek origin, but has no direct translation. In Ancient Greece, poetic works depicting the inner world of feelings and experiences were performed to the accompaniment of the lyre, and this is how the word “lyrics” appeared.
The most important character in the lyrics is lyrical hero: it is his inner world that is shown in the lyrical work, on his behalf the lyricist speaks to the reader, and the external world is depicted in terms of the impressions it makes on the lyrical hero. Note! Do not confuse the lyrical hero with the epic one. Pushkin reproduced the inner world of Eugene Onegin in great detail, but this is an epic hero, a participant in the main events of the novel. The lyrical hero of Pushkin's novel is the Narrator, the one who is familiar with Onegin and tells his story, deeply experiencing it. Onegin becomes a lyrical hero only once in the novel - when he writes a letter to Tatyana, just as she becomes a lyrical heroine when she writes a letter to Onegin.
By creating the image of a lyrical hero, a poet can make him personally very close to himself (poems by Lermontov, Fet, Nekrasov, Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, etc.). But sometimes the poet seems to be “hiding” behind the mask of a lyrical hero, completely far from the personality of the poet himself; for example, A. Blok makes the lyrical heroine Ophelia (2 poems entitled “Ophelia’s Song”) or the street actor Harlequin (“I was covered in colorful rags…”), M. Tsvetaev - Hamlet (“At the bottom is she, where is the mud?” ..."), V. Bryusov - Cleopatra ("Cleopatra"), S. Yesenin - a peasant boy from a folk song or fairy tale ("Mother walked through the forest in a bathing suit ..."). So, when discussing a lyrical work, it is more competent to talk about the expression in it of the feelings not of the author, but of the lyrical hero.
Like other types of literature, lyrics include a number of genres. Some of them arose in ancient times, others - in the Middle Ages, some - quite recently, one and a half to two centuries ago, or even in the last century.
Read about some LYRIC GENRES:
Oh yeah(Greek "Song") - a monumental solemn poem glorifying a great event or a great person; There are spiritual odes (arrangements of psalms), moralizing, philosophical, satirical, epistle odes, etc. An ode is tripartite: it must have a theme stated at the beginning of the work; development of the theme and arguments, as a rule, allegorical (second part); the final, didactic (instructive) part. Examples of ancient ancient odes are associated with the names of Horace and Pindar; The ode came to Russia in the 18th century, the odes of M. Lomonosov (“On the day of the accession to the Russian throne of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna”), V. Trediakovsky, A. Sumarokov, G. Derzhavin (“Felitsa”, “God”), A. .Radishcheva (“Liberty”). He paid tribute to the ode of A. Pushkin (“Liberty”). By the middle of the 19th century, ode lost its relevance and gradually became an archaic genre.
Hymn- a poem of laudatory content; also came from ancient poetry, but if in ancient times hymns were composed in honor of gods and heroes, then in later times hymns were written in honor of solemn events, celebrations, often not only of a state, but also of a personal nature (A. Pushkin. “Feasting Students” ).
Elegy(Phrygian "reed flute") - a genre of lyrics dedicated to reflection. Originated in ancient poetry; originally this was the name for crying over the dead. The elegy was based on the life ideal of the ancient Greeks, which was based on the harmony of the world, proportionality and balance of being, incomplete without sadness and contemplation; these categories passed into modern elegy. An elegy can embody both life-affirming ideas and disappointment. Poetry of the 19th century continued to develop elegy in its “pure” form; in the lyrics of the 20th century, elegy is found, rather, as a genre tradition, as a special mood. In modern poetry, an elegy is a plotless poem of a contemplative, philosophical and landscape nature.
A. Pushkin. "To sea"
N. Nekrasov. "Elegy"
A. Akhmatova. "March Elegy"
Read A. Blok's poem "From Autumn Elegy":
Epigram(Greek “inscription”) - a small poem of satirical content. Initially, in ancient times, epigrams were inscriptions on household objects, tombstones and statues. Subsequently, the content of the epigrams changed.
Examples of epigrams:
Yuri Olesha:
Sasha Cherny:
Epistle, or message - a poem, the content of which can be defined as a “letter in verse.” The genre also came from ancient lyrics.
A. Pushkin. Pushchin ("My first friend, my priceless friend...")
V. Mayakovsky. "To Sergei Yesenin"; "Lilichka! (Instead of a letter)"
S. Yesenin. "Letter to Mother"
M. Tsvetaeva. Poems to Blok
Sonnet- this is a poetic genre of the so-called rigid form: a poem consisting of 14 lines, specially organized into stanzas, having strict rhyming principles and stylistic laws. There are several types of sonnet based on their form:
- Italian: consists of two quatrains (quatrains), in which the lines rhyme according to the scheme ABAB or ABBA, and two tercets (tercets) with the rhyme CDС DСD or CDE CDE;
- English: consists of three quatrains and one couplet; the general rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG;
- sometimes French is distinguished: the stanza is similar to Italian, but the terzets have a different rhyme scheme: CCD EED or CCD EDE; he had a significant influence on the development of the next type of sonnet -
- Russian: created by Anton Delvig: the stanza is also similar to the Italian, but the rhyme scheme in tercets is CDD CCD.
This lyrical genre was born in Italy in the 13th century. Its creator was the lawyer Jacopo da Lentini; a hundred years later Petrarch's sonnet masterpieces appeared. The sonnet came to Russia in the 18th century; a little later, it receives serious development in the works of Anton Delvig, Ivan Kozlov, Alexander Pushkin. Poets of the “Silver Age” showed particular interest in the sonnet: K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, I. Annensky, V. Ivanov, I. Bunin, N. Gumilev, A. Blok, O. Mandelstam...
In the art of versification, the sonnet is considered one of the most difficult genres.
In the last 2 centuries, poets rarely adhered to any strict rhyme scheme, often offering a mixture of different schemes.
- Such content dictates features of sonnet language:
- vocabulary and intonation should be sublime;
- rhymes - accurate and, if possible, unusual, rare;
- significant words should not be repeated with the same meaning, etc.
A particular difficulty - and therefore the pinnacle of poetic technique - is represented by wreath of sonnets: a cycle of 15 poems, the opening line of each being the last line of the previous one, and the last line of the 14th poem being the first line of the first. The fifteenth sonnet consists of the first lines of all 14 sonnets in the cycle. In Russian lyric poetry, the most famous are the wreaths of sonnets by V. Ivanov, M. Voloshin, K. Balmont.
Read “Sonnet” by A. Pushkin and see how the sonnet form is understood:
| Text | Stanza | Rhyme | Contents(topic) |
| 1 The stern Dante did not despise the sonnet; 2 In him Petrarch poured out the heat of love; 3 The creator of Macbeth 1 loved his game; 4 Camoes 2 clothed them with sorrowful thoughts. |
quatrain 1 | A B A B |
History of the sonnet genre in the past, themes and tasks of the classic sonnet |
| 5 And today it captivates the poet: 6 Wordsworth 3 chose him as his instrument, 7 When away from the vain world 8 He paints an ideal of nature. |
quatrain 2 | A B A IN |
The meaning of the sonnet in European poetry contemporary to Pushkin, expanding the range of topics |
| 9 Under the shadow of the distant mountains of Tauris 10 Lithuanian singer 4 in the size of his cramped 11 He instantly concluded his dreams. |
terzetto 1 | C C B |
Development of the theme of quatrain 2 |
| 12 Our virgins did not know him yet, 13 How Delvig forgot for him 14 Hexameters 5 sacred chants. |
terzetto 2 | D B D |
The meaning of the sonnet in Russian poetry contemporary to Pushkin |
In school literary criticism, this genre of lyricism is called lyric poem. In classical literary criticism such a genre does not exist. It was introduced into the school curriculum to somewhat simplify the complex system of lyrical genres: if the clear genre features of a work cannot be identified and the poem is not, in the strict sense, an ode, a hymn, an elegy, a sonnet, etc., it will be defined as a lyric poem . In this case, you should pay attention to the individual characteristics of the poem: the specifics of the form, theme, image of the lyrical hero, mood, etc. Thus, lyric poems (in the school understanding) should include poems by Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Blok, etc. Almost all lyric poetry of the 20th century falls under this definition, unless the authors specifically specified the genre of the works.
Satire(Latin “mixture, all sorts of things”) - as a poetic genre: a work whose content is the denunciation of social phenomena, human vices or individual people - through ridicule. Satire in antiquity in Roman literature (satires of Juvenal, Martial, etc.). The genre received new development in the literature of classicism. The content of satire is characterized by ironic intonation, allegory, Aesopian language, and the technique of “speaking names” is often used. In Russian literature, A. Kantemir, K. Batyushkov (XVIII-XIX centuries) worked in the genre of satire; in the 20th century, Sasha Cherny and others became famous as the author of satires. Many poems from “Poems about America” by V. Mayakovsky can also be called satires ( "Six Nuns", "Black and White", "Skyscraper in Section", etc.).
Ballad- lyric-epic plot poem of the fantastic, satirical, historical, fairy-tale, legendary, humorous, etc. character. The ballad arose in ancient times (presumably in the early Middle Ages) as a folk ritual dance and song genre, and this determines its genre features: strict rhythm, plot (in ancient ballads they told about heroes and gods), the presence of repetitions (entire lines or individual words were repeated as an independent stanza), called refrain. In the 18th century, the ballad became one of the most beloved poetic genres in Romantic literature. Ballads were created by F. Schiller ("Cup", "Glove"), I. Goethe ("The Forest Tsar"), V. Zhukovsky ("Lyudmila", "Svetlana"), A. Pushkin ("Anchar", "Groom") , M. Lermontov ("Borodino", "Three Palms"); At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, the ballad was revived again and became very popular, especially in the revolutionary era, during the period of revolutionary romance. Among the poets of the 20th century, ballads were written by A. Blok ("Love" ("The Queen Lived on a High Mountain..."), N. Gumilev ("Captains", "Barbarians"), A. Akhmatova ("The Gray-Eyed King"), M. Svetlov (“Grenada”), etc.
Note! A work can combine the characteristics of some genres: a message with elements of elegy (A. Pushkin, “To *** (“I remember a wonderful moment ...”)), a lyrical poem of elegiac content (A. Blok. “Motherland”), an epigram-message, etc. .d.
- The creator of Macbeth is William Shakespeare (tragedy "Macbeth").
- Portuguese poet Luis de Camões (1524-1580).
- Wordsworth - English romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850).
- The singer of Lithuania is the Polish romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855).
- See the material on topic No. 12.
- V.A. Zhukovsky. Poems: "Svetlana"; "Sea"; "Evening"; "Unspeakable"
- A.S. Pushkin. Poems: "Village", "Demons", "Winter Evening", "Pushchina" ("My first friend, my priceless friend...", "Winter Road", "To Chaadaev", "In the depths of the Siberian ores...", "Anchar ", "The flying ridge of clouds is thinning...", "The Prisoner", "Conversation between a bookseller and a poet", "The Poet and the Crowd", "Autumn", "...I visited again...", "Am I wandering along the noisy streets...", " A vain gift, an accidental gift...", "October 19" (1825), "On the hills of Georgia", "I loved you...", "To ***" ("I remember a wonderful moment..."), "Madonna" , “Echo”, “Prophet”, “To the Poet”, “To the Sea”, “From Pindemonti” (“I value loud rights inexpensively...”), “I have erected a monument to myself...”
- M.Yu. Lermontov. Poems: “The Death of a Poet”, “Poet”, “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd...”, “Thought”, “Both boring and sad...”, “Prayer” (“I, Mother of God, now with prayer...”) , “We parted, but your portrait...”, “I will not humiliate myself before you...”, “Motherland”, “Farewell, unwashed Russia...”, “When the yellowing field is agitated...”, “No, I’m not Byron, I’m different ...", "Leaf", "Three Palms", "From Under a Mysterious, Cold Half Mask...", "Captive Knight", "Neighbor", "Testament", "Clouds", "Cliff", "Borodino", "Clouds heavenly, eternal pages...", "Prisoner", "Prophet", "I go out alone on the road..."
- N.A. Nekrasov. Poems: “I don’t like your irony...”, “Knight for an hour”, “I will soon die...”, “Prophet”, “Poet and Citizen”, “Troika”, “Elegy”, “Zine” (“You are still on you have the right to life..."); other poems of your choice
- F.I. Tyutchev. Poems: “Autumn Evening”, “Silentium”, “Not what you think, nature...”, “The earth still looks sad...”, “How good you are, O night sea...”, “I met you...”, “ Whatever life teaches us...", "Fountain", "These poor villages...", "Human tears, oh human tears...", "You can't understand Russia with your mind...", "I remember the golden time...", "What are you talking about howling, the night wind?”, “The gray shadows have shifted...”, “How sweetly the dark green garden slumbers...”; other poems of your choice
- A.A.Fet. Poems: “I came to you with greetings...”, “It’s still a May night...”, “Whisper, timid breathing...”, “This morning, this joy...”, “Sevastopol rural cemetery”, “A wavy cloud...”, “Learn they have - at the oak, at the birch...", "To the poets", "Autumn", "What a night, how clean the air...", "Village", "Swallows", "On the railway", "Fantasy", "The night was shining . The garden was full of the moon..."; other poems of your choice
- I.A.Bunin. Poems: "The Last Bumblebee", "Evening", "Childhood", "It's Still Cold and Cheese...", "And Flowers, and Bumblebees, and Grass...", "The Word", "The Knight at the Crossroads", "The Bird Has a Nest" …", "Twilight"
- A.A.Blok. Poems: “I enter dark temples...”, “Stranger”, “Solveig”, “You are like the echo of a forgotten hymn...”, “The earthly heart grows cold again...”, “Oh, spring without end and without end...”, “ About valor, about exploits, about glory...", "On the Railway", the cycles "On the Kulikovo Field" and "Carmen", "Rus", "Motherland", "Russia", "Morning in the Kremlin", "Oh, I I want to live crazy..."; other poems of your choice
- A.A.Akhmatova. Poems: “Song of the last meeting”, “You know, I’m languishing in captivity...”, “Before spring there are days like this...”, “Tear-stained autumn, like a widow...”, “I learned to live simply, wisely...”, “Native land "; “I have no use for Odic armies...”, “I am not with those who abandoned the earth...”, “Courage”; other poems of your choice
- S.A. Yesenin. Poems: “Go you, my dear Rus'...”, “Don’t wander, don’t crush in the crimson bushes...”, “I don’t regret, I don’t call, I don’t cry...”, “Now we are leaving little by little...”, “Letter to mother,” “ The golden grove dissuaded me...", "I left my home...", "Kachalov's dog", "Soviet Rus'", "The hewn horns began to sing...", "Uncomfortable liquid moonlight...", "The feather grass is sleeping...", "Goodbye. , my friend, goodbye..."; other poems of your choice
- V.V. Mayakovsky. Poems: “Could you?”, “Listen!”, “Here!”, “To you!”, “Violin and a little nervously”, “Mom and the evening killed by the Germans”, “Cheap sale”, “Good attitude towards horses ", "Left March", "About rubbish", "To Sergei Yesenin", "Anniversary", "Letter to Tatyana Yakovleva"; other poems of your choice
- 10-15 poems each (of your choice): M. Tsvetaeva, B. Pasternak, N. Gumilyov.
- A. Tvardovsky. Poems: “I was killed near Rzhev...”, “I know, it’s not my fault...”, “The whole point is in one single covenant...”, “In memory of the mother,” “To the bitter grievances of one’s own person...”; other poems of your choice
- I. Brodsky. Poems: “I entered instead of a wild beast ...”, “Letters to a Roman friend”, “To Urania”, “Stanzas”, “You will ride in the darkness ...”, “To the death of Zhukov”, “From nowhere with love ...”, “Notes of a fern "
Try to read all the literary works that are named in the work in a book, and not in electronic form!
When completing tasks for work 7, pay special attention to theoretical materials, since completing the tasks of this work by intuition means dooming yourself to mistakes.
Do not forget to draw up a metrical diagram for each poetic passage you analyze, checking it many times.
The key to success when performing this complex work is attention and accuracy.
Recommended reading for work 7:
- Kvyatkovsky I.A. Poetic dictionary. - M., 1966.
- Literary encyclopedic dictionary. - M., 1987.
- Literary criticism: Reference materials. - M., 1988.
- Lotman Yu.M. Analysis of poetic text. - L.: Education, 1972.
- Gasparov M. Modern Russian verse. Metrics and rhythm. - M.: Nauka, 1974.
- Zhirmunsky V.M. Theory of verse. - L.: Science, 1975.
- Poetic structure of Russian lyrics. Sat. - L.: Science, 1973.
- Skripov G.S. About Russian versification. A manual for students. - M.: Education, 1979.
- Dictionary of literary terms. - M., 1974.
- Encyclopedic dictionary of a young literary critic. - M., 1987.
Lyrics are a literary genre in which the poet’s feelings, thoughts, and moods, caused by the phenomena of life that excited him, are directly reproduced. L.I. Timofeev notes that “lyrics are a reflection of the entire diversity of reality in the mirror of the human soul, in all the subtlest nuances of the human psyche and in the fullness of speech expression that corresponds to them” *.
* (L. I. Timofeev. Fundamentals of Literary Theory, p. 108.)
Unlike all other literary genres, lyrics are primarily and most oriented towards the emotional perception of the reader. And this brings it closer to another area of art - music, which is also a figurative expression of human experiences and specifically affects human feelings. Even the very name of the literary genre (“lyre” - a musical instrument in ancient Greece) emphasizes its connection with music. This synthesis of words and music has survived to this day and has led to the identification of related genres, such as lyrical-vocal and musical-dramatic.
The genetic connection of poetry with music is manifested in its subordination to rhythm and many other specific features of this art (up to the development of leitmotifs or compositional forms such as rondo or ballad). The musicality of poetry is recognized by both poets and composers. The development of lyrics has always been largely connected with the development of music.
A specific feature of the lyrics is the subjective reflection of experiences in images.
Subjective perception of reality manifests itself in poetry in different ways. An obvious exaggeration is the attempt of some literary scholars to reduce the content of any lyrical work only to the “self-expression” of the poet, only to the disclosure of his “I”, considered, moreover, in a narrow biographical plan. Even in the most intimate poems, such as, for example, “I loved you” by Pushkin, not only the author’s feelings are expressed, but also what is close, what is deeply understandable and dear to readers. In other words, through the concrete, uniquely individual experience of the poet, the general, essential, characteristic is conveyed, which constitutes the specificity of the figurative reproduction of life.
In many of the best works, the artist typifies those experiences that are either a concentration of his emotions, or become, as it were, their projection for transmission to a fictional character who is endowed with qualities that are not directly characteristic of the poet. In this regard, an important question arises about the lyrical hero. The introduction of this concept into literary criticism is justified by the theorists’ desire to distinguish between the author’s “I” and the typified “I” of a fictional character, whose feelings and thoughts are expressed in the work in the first person.
Even N.G. Chernyshevsky, in the article “Poems of Countess Rostopchina,” argued that “one should not assume that each “I” that expresses its feelings in a lyrical play is necessarily the “I” of the author himself, by whom the play was written” *.
* (N. G. Chernyshevsky. Poll. collection soch., vol. 3, pp. 455-456.)
Considering poems like Pushkin’s “Black Shawl,” one can only talk about a lyrical hero, who was created by the creative imagination of the author and who uniquely expresses the feelings and thoughts that excited him.
The concept of a lyrical hero should also not be interpreted too broadly, associating it with the image of the narrator in the epic. The lyrical hero is only one of the possibilities for expressing the poet’s personality in a work. Soviet critic L. Ginzburg rightly asserts that “in lyric poetry, the author’s consciousness can be expressed in a variety of forms - from a personified lyrical hero to an abstract image of a poet included in classical genres, and, on the other hand, to all sorts of “objective” plots and characters , objects that encrypt the lyrical subject precisely so that he continues to shine through them" *.
* (L. Ginzburg. About the lyrics. M.-L., 1964, p. 6.)
This “encryption of the lyrical subject” is especially characteristic of epigrams and madrigals, in which specific characters are depicted, and the author’s subjective attitude towards them is manifested precisely in the assessment of certain of their qualities, deliberately exaggerated, and most importantly, one-sidedly selected and isolated from others, characterizing the appearance of the prototype person .
At the same time, we must recognize the conventions of distinguishing between the image of a lyrical hero and the image of a poet. Even N.V. Gogol rightly wrote that any work reflects, to a greater or lesser extent, the personality of the author himself. However, in poems like Pushkin’s “Monument”, the poet directly expresses his thoughts, feelings, thoughts about poetic work, the meaning of creativity, and the connection between literature and life. The poetic declaration expressed in the work completely coincides with the views of the author himself. Before us stands the image of a poet with his worries, anxieties, sympathies, and his philosophical thoughts.
In other poems, the image of the poet comes closer to the image of the narrator. In Nekrasov's "Reflections at the Front Entrance" all events are conveyed through the perception of the author, who acts as an eyewitness to the ominous injustice and cruel heartlessness of those in power, their disdainful attitude towards the hardships and needs of the people. The poet's image is revealed through his emotional attitude to the events depicted.
In many lyrical poems, the image of the poet appears along with the central characters in a real everyday situation (for example, in the poems “Schoolboy” by Nekrasov or “To Comrade Nette - a Steamship and a Man” by Mayakovsky).
In a lyrical poem, images-characters can also be reproduced, appearing quite objectively, regardless of the author. Such, for example, is the image of Katyusha in Isakovsky’s song of the same name. However, the feelings of these image-characters are colored by the likes and dislikes of the poet himself. In satirical poems, these author's emotions are expressed in the form of the artist's direct condemnation of the negative phenomena of reality.
The problem of plot in lyrics is very complex. Some researchers classify all or almost all lyric poems as plotless works due to the fact that they do not directly convey the development of events. Others consider this issue too broadly, without taking into account the specifics of the genus.
Of course, landscape poems do not have a plot. This also applies to those lyrical works that only describe certain emotional states (epitaphs, madrigals, etc.).
A peculiar, so-called lyrical plot can be discussed in relation to works that depict the complex development of the growth of feelings. In this sense, we can talk, for example, about A. S. Pushkin’s poem “I Loved You,” which reveals the history of the relationship between the lyrical hero and his beloved.
One can quite definitely talk about the plot in connection with the characteristics of those poems in which, in the form of memories or in the form of a response, events from the lives of the heroes, the history of their relationships, changes in their destinies are reflected.
In the 19th century the process of rapprochement between lyric poetry and epic prose began, which determined the widespread use of elements of an epic plot even in such traditional lyrical genres as epistle or elegy.
In some poems the composition is directly determined by the plot, in others it is subordinated to the development of the central image. This image, which appears directly at first, can then be replaced by a metaphor, as, for example, in the poem “Ogonyok” by Isakovsky.
Often the compositional integrity of a work is achieved with the help of a repetition ring (sometimes modified) of the first lines (stanzas) at the beginning and at the end.
Classification of lyrical works
The classification of lyrical works by type and variety is very complex. A variety of lyrical poems expressing the most varied shades of feelings, moods, experiences; the more definite dependence of the genre on the features of composition and language, as well as on rhythm and stanza, than in works of other types - all this complicates systematization and makes it very difficult to differentiate according to any single principle.
There were different principles for the genre differentiation of lyrics.
In antiquity, and then in the era of classicism, they sought to clearly differentiate genres by form and content. The rationalistic views of the classicists determined the establishment of certain genre canons. Subsequently, many traditional types of lyric poetry did not receive their development (eclogue, epithalamus, pastoral), others changed their character, acquiring a different social meaning (elegy, message, epigram).
In poetry from the second half of the 19th century. The distinctions between surviving species have become very arbitrary. The message, for example, often acquired the characteristics of an elegy or an ode.
The classification based on the differentiation of poems by stanza has almost become obsolete. All that remains of it in modern European poetry is the selection of sonnets, and in eastern poetry - octets, ghazals, rubais and some other stable strophic forms.
The most common classification now is based on the thematic principle. In accordance with it, lyrics are distinguished into patriotic (for example, “Poems about the Soviet “Passport” by Mayakovsky), socio-political (” Communist Marseillaise” by Bedny), historical ( “Borodino” by Lermontov), philosophical ( “Man” by Mezhelaitis), intimate, (“Lines of Love” by Shchipachev), landscape (“Spring Thunderstorm” by Tyutchev).
Of course, this distinction is very arbitrary, and therefore the same poem can be classified as different types. Thus, “Borodino” by Lermontov is both a historical and patriotic work. F. I. Tyutchev’s landscape poems express his philosophical ideas (for example, in “Fountain”). “Poems about the Soviet Passport” by Mayakovsky, usually classified as patriotic lyrics, can with no less justification be considered both as an example of a socio-political and as an example of an intimate poem. In this regard, when determining the type, it is necessary to take into account the relationship of various leitmotifs in a lyrical work, determining which of them plays a dominant role.
At the same time, lyrical poems continue to appear in modern poetry, corresponding to a greater or lesser extent to such traditional genre forms as an epigram, message, elegy, and ode.
Oh yeah
In modern literary criticism, an ode is usually defined as a lyric poem glorifying an important historical event or a prominent historical figure.
The origins of the ode are in ancient poetry. However, in ancient Greece, this name meant not only songs of praise, but also works of various contents, performed to the accompaniment of a musical instrument. The further development of this genre was particularly influenced by the “epinikia” (odes of praise) of the ancient Greek poet Pindar (518-442 BC), glorifying the heroes - winners of competitions in a solemn form, rich in exquisite paths and figures. The odes of Pindar and Horace were considered as models by classicists who developed the main criteria for this genre. Already in the work of the founder of classicism in France, F. Malherbe (1555-1628), the ode emerged as the “highest” genre, most accurately and fully reflecting the principles of this literary movement. The ode served to praise the absolute monarchy and its adherents, glorifying the victories of kings and generals. The solemn sublimity of the content determined the originality of the composition and the peculiarities of the language.
Poets resorted to numerous tropes (especially metaphors and periphrases) and rhetorical figures in their odes. Words from the living spoken language, and even more so from vernacular and vulgarisms, were expelled from the odes as alien to its sublime nature. The mandatory requirements for the ode included accuracy of strophic construction (the ten-line stanza was the most common), purity of the rhythmic structure (inadmissibility of pyrrhics), sonority of rhymes, inadmissibility of hyphenation, etc.
The theory and practice of French classicists had a strong influence on the development of this genre in the literature of other European countries until the end of the 18th century.
Odes were intended to be delivered in a solemn, festive atmosphere, which brought them closer to the performances of orators.
In Russian poetry, solemn odes were created by M. V. Lomonosov, G. R. Derzhavin and other classicists. Lomonosov's "Ode on the Day of the Accession to the All-Russian Throne of Her Majesty the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in 1747" by Lomonosov, which has become a textbook example, is a classic example of works of this genre. “Lomonosov’s ode,” wrote Yu. Tynyanov, “can be called oratorical not because or not only because it is thought of as being pronounced, but mainly because the oratorical moment became decisive, constructive for it. Oratorical principles of greatest impact and verbal development subordinated and transformed all the elements of the word...".
The outstanding Russian poet G.R. Derzhavin, adhering to these classicist principles in his “Discussion “On Lyric Poetry or Ode”, significantly expanded the narrow boundaries of this genre in his creative practice. Thus, in Derzhavin’s “Felitsa” there are colloquialisms that are unacceptable according to the laws of the genre, depiction of everyday details, irony and even a satirical element.
Subsequently, both the content and form of the ode evolved. In the works of progressive poets of the 19th century. criticism of tyrants was combined with glorification of freedom. Such are the ode “Liberty” by Radishchev, the poem of the same name by Pushkin, and a number of works by Decembrist poets. The creation of odes was turned to especially often during the years of the rise of the revolutionary movement. However, this largely rhetorical, traditional genre did not correspond to the basic principles of progressive romanticism and critical realism. In the second half of the 19th century. ode gives way to hymns, cantatas, oratorios and other types of lyrical-vocal genre. In this one cannot help but notice a return to the origins of odic poetry, organically connected with music at the dawn of its development.
In Soviet poetry, “Ode to the Revolution” was created by V.V. Mayakovsky. Other poets also turned to creating works of this genre. Serious changes in the specifics of the ode that occurred during this period are expressed in a significant reduction in volume, in the updating of vocabulary, and in a more limited use of tropes and figures.
Elegy
Elegy has also undergone a significant evolution in the history of world poetry. It originates from an ancient vocal genre - a plaintive song (the term itself comes from the name of the ancient Greek instrument that accompanied this song).
However, later the term “elegy” began to designate works of various fields of art: in music - small instrumental works of a sad, mournful nature, in poetry - short lyrical poems expressing sadness. This genre became widespread among sentimentalists. Gray's "Elegy Written in a Rural Cemetery" had a strong impact not only on English poetry, but also on the work of German, French and Russian poets, in particular V. A. Zhukovsky.
The genre of elegy was addressed by I. Goethe, F. Schiller, A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, who filled these poems with deep philosophical thoughts, sincere, excited feelings and experiences. Such, for example, is the elegy of A. S. Pushkin “The faded joy of crazy years...” (1830), imbued with the sadness of days gone by and heavy forebodings.
Some works of N. A. Nekrasov and others are close to the genre of elegy (some works of N. A. Nekrasov and others. However, in the poetry of critical realism it gradually loses its specific specific features. The content of even the most mournful lyrical poems of these poets is not limited to only regret about personal losses, they reflect social contradictions. The elegy also acquires a social character. Such is, for example, the poem “In Memory of Dobrolyubov” by Nekrasov. In it, bitterness about the untimely death of a young talented friend results in the poet’s civil grief about the loss of one of the best sons of the Motherland.
In the literature of socialist realism, this genre in its classical form hardly develops. Very close in content to the elegy is the poem by V.V. Mayakovsky “To Comrade Nette - the Steamship and the Man.” It is filled with thoughts about the fate of a friend who died in the fight against enemies for Soviet power, and at the same time, it is imbued with optimism, faith in the immortality of heroes who gave their lives to the people. All this sharply contradicts the sad emotional mood that determined the specificity of this type.
During the era of the Great Patriotic War, intimate lyrics clearly showed those features that allow many of the poems to be classified as elegies (“With you and without you” by Simonov, “I was killed near Rzhev” by Tvardovsky, etc.). “Sadness, sadness, the bitterness of loss, a heart-squeezing feeling of pity - this is their emotional content,” writes modern researcher Kuzmichev. “But not only sadness or a bitter feeling determines their tone... The great truth of feeling in them is associated with deep anxiety for the fate of the fatherland " * . The poems of Y. Smelyakov, N. Zabolotsky, M. Svetlov, written in the post-war years, are also characterized by optimism and an indissoluble connection between the personal and the public.
* (I. Kuzmichev. Genres of Russian literature of the war years. Gorky, 1962, p. 166.)
Message
An epistle is a poem written in the form of an address, most often to a well-known person directly named by his own name. In it, poets express their thoughts and feelings caused by the events of the political, scientific, and literary struggle. In accordance with this, the main types of messages are distinguished: political ("To Chaadaev" by Pushkin), scientific (Lomonosov's message to Shuvalov "On the Benefits of Glass"), literary ("Epistole on Poetry" by Sumarokov). Also very common are humorous and satirical messages that are very close to epigrams and madrigals, but more extensive than them. (“Message to my servants” by Fonvizin). Poems of this genre are usually distinguished by their sincerity and wit.
The very form of address provides an opportunity to directly express views expressed to close friends and like-minded people. For all its specific “attachment” even to certain historical figures, each poetic message has a generalizing character. Many of them are so saturated with theoretical positions and polemics on scientific problems that they come close to treatises. This led to the classification of the message by some literary scholars as didactic poetry or journalism.
The emergence of the poetic message as an independent type of lyricism dates back to the time when Horace and Ovid appeared in Roman poetry with works of this genre. Poets of later literary eras (Voltaire, Rousseau, Goethe, etc.) also readily turned to him.
The flourishing of the message in Russian poetry is associated with the work of A. S. Pushkin and the Decembrist poets, who gave it an acute socio-political orientation, an agitational and propaganda character, and at the same time exceptional emotional intensity, a simple and elegant form. "Message to Siberia" by A. S. Pushkin and the response of the Decembrist A. I. Odoevsky ("The fiery sounds of prophetic strings...") belong to the masterpieces of this genre.
Researchers of Russian lyric poetry note a decline in interest in the message in the literature of the second half of the 19th century, believing that later poets used it mainly for the purpose of stylization. However, in Soviet poetry this genre received intensive development, acquiring a distinct concreteness and journalistic quality ("Message to the Proletarian Poets" by Mayakovsky, "Open Letter" by Simonov, etc.).
Epigram
In its volume, and most importantly in its content, the epigram differs sharply from odes, elegies and epistles. This is what is now called laconic satirical or humorous poems directed against a specific person or event. These works are distinguished by their unique composition. They usually consist of two parts - a premise that conveys the signs of the person or event mentioned in the poem, and a short final joke (French point), which, with its surprise, accuracy, and aphorism, determines the meaning of the epigram. Such, for example, is the famous epigram of A. S. Pushkin to Count M. S. Vorontsov (1824):
Half my lord, half merchant, Half sage, half ignorant, Half scoundrel, but there is hope That will be complete at last.
The epigram has a complex, centuries-old history. In ancient Greek poetry, this was the name given to inscriptions on monuments to the dead or on any objects (the word “epigram” itself in ancient Greek means “inscription”).
Ancient epigrams were distinguished by a special rhythm: the first line was a hexameter, the second - a pentameter. Subsequently, epigrams in ancient poetry began to be called any poems corresponding to this poetic form (elegiac distich). The so-called anthological epigrams, which are short poems of a philosophical nature, written in elegiac distich, originate from them. They were also created in Russian poetry of the 19th century. An example of an anthological epigram is a poem by A. S. Pushkin, addressed to N. I. Gnedich, the translator of Homer’s Iliad:
I hear the silenced sound of the divine Hellenic speech, I feel the shadow of the Great Elder with a confused soul *.
* (A. S. Pushkin, Poly. collection soch., vol. 3, p. 183.)
Another type of epigram - satirical - received more intensive development. Researchers consider the founders of this genre to be the Roman poets Martial and Catullus, creators of caustic and witty poems with unexpected endings. Many French and German poets of the 18th-19th centuries turned to this genre, including J. Lafontaine, I. Goethe, F. Schiller.
The heyday of this genre in Russian poetry dates back to the first third of the 19th century. Became widespread since the end of the 17th century. in our literature, varieties of epigrams - everyday, political, literary - during this period became a sharp weapon in the struggle of progressive poets against the reactionary phenomena of Russian reality. This is A. S. Pushkin’s sharply accusatory epigram on Tsar Alexander I.
In the middle and second half of the 19th century. The role of the epigram in the literary and political struggle in Russia begins to weaken in connection with the emergence and development of those satirical and journalistic genres (feuilletons, pamphlets, etc.), which made it possible to more definitely and purposefully expose the enemies of freedom. However, even during this period, witty epigrams were created by N. A. Nekrasov, N. P. Ogarev, M. Mikhailov and other representatives of revolutionary democracy. In the last decades of the 19th century. the epigram is “shredded”, responding only to minor everyday issues or insignificant phenomena of literary life.
The revival of the epigram in Russian poetry is associated with the work of poets of socialist realism. Even in the pre-October years, D. Bedny successfully used this genre to expose representatives of autocratic-bourgeois Russia. In Soviet poetry, the epigram was successfully developed by V. V. Mayakovsky, S. Ya. Marshak, M. Svetlov. A. Bezymensky, S. Smirnov, E. Krotky and other satirists turn to this genre.
In the literature of recent years, there has been a close convergence of the epigram with the caption of a friendly cartoon and with the so-called short fable.