Nikolay a Nekrasov. Literary and historical notes of a young technician. The split in Sovremennik

Composition

The work of N.A. Nekrasov constitutes an entire era in the history of Russian literature. His poetry was an expression of a new time, when the outgoing class of nobles was replaced by raznochintsy in the public life of the country. For the poet, the concepts of the Motherland and the working people - the breadwinner and defender of the Russian land - merged together. Therefore, Nekrasov's patriotism is so organically connected with a protest against the oppressors of the peasants.
In his work, N. Nekrasov continued the traditions of his great predecessors - M. V. Lomonosov, K. F. Ryleev, A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, who considered “civil dignity” to be the highest.

Back in 1848, in one of the poems, the author compares his poetry with the image of a peasant woman. His muse is close to the troubles and suffering of ordinary people. She herself is one of many thousands of the destitute and oppressed:

Yesterday at six o'clock
I went to Sennaya;
They beat a woman with a whip,
A young peasant woman.
Not a sound from her chest
Only the whip whistled, playing,
And I said to the Muse: “Look!
Your own sister."

With this poem, Nekrasov began his journey in poetry, from which he never turned back. In 1856, the second collection of the poet was published, which opened with the poem "The Poet and the Citizen", printed in a larger font. This, as it were, emphasized the role of the verse in the collection.

“A noble and powerful thing. So the motive of his entire muse is buzzing, ”wrote one of the poet’s contemporaries A. Turgenev, having become acquainted with the works of this book.
"The Poet and the Citizen" is the most vivid, clear and definite expression of Nekrasov's civic position, his understanding of the goals and objectives of poetry ... The poem is a dialogue between the Poet and the Citizen, from which it becomes clear that the Citizen sensitively captures the changes taking place in society.

“What time has come,” he says with enthusiasm. The citizen believes that it is the duty of everyone to society not to be indifferent to the fate of their homeland. Moreover, this is the duty of the poet, whom nature and fate have awarded with talent and who must help discover the truth, kindle the hearts of people, lead them on the path of truth.

“Smash the vices boldly,” calls the Citizen of the Poet.

He tries to awaken the indifferently sleeping soul of the Poet, who explains his social passivity by the desire to create "real", "eternal" art, far from the burning issues of our time. Here Nekrasov deals with a very important problem generated by the new era. This is the problem of opposing socially significant poetry to "pure art". The dispute between the heroes of the poem is an ideological one, a dispute about the poet's life position, but it is perceived more broadly: not only a poet, but any citizen, a person in general. A true citizen "as his own, on his body wears all the ulcers of his homeland." The poet should be ashamed

In a time of grief
The beauty of valleys, skies and seas
And sing sweet affection.

Nekrasov's lines became an aphorism:

You may not be a poet
But you have to be a citizen.

Since then, every true artist compares the true value of his work by them. The role of the poet-citizen especially increases during periods of great social storms and social upheavals. Let's look at today. With what passion, despair and hope, with what fury our writers and poets, artists and artists rushed to fight obsolete dogmas for the creation of a renewed, humane society! And even though their views are sometimes diametrically opposed and one cannot agree with everyone, the attempt itself is noble, albeit with difficulty, making mistakes and stumbling, to find the right way to move forward. For them, "citizen dignity" is as high as in the Lomonosov, Pushkin and Nekrasov times.

"The most sincere and beloved" Nekrasov called "Elegy" - one of his last poems. In it, the poet reflects with deep bitterness on the causes of disharmony in society. A life has been lived, a wise, philosophical understanding of being has come to Nekrasov.
But the disenfranchised position of the people, their life, the relationship between the poet and the people still worries the author.

Let the changing fashion tell us
That the theme is the old "suffering of the people"
And that poetry must forget it,
Don't believe me guys!
She doesn't age
he claims.

Answering all those who hesitated and doubted that poetry could somehow seriously affect people's lives, he wrote:

But everyone go to battle! And fate will decide the fight ..

And Nekrasov, until the last moments of his difficult life, remained a warrior, striking at the tsarist autocracy with every line of his works.
Nekrasov's muse, so sensitively responding to someone else's pain and someone else's joy, has not laid down her poetic weapons even today, she is at the forefront of the struggle for a free, happy, spiritually rich person.

Most of Nekrasov's lyrics are devoted to the theme of the suffering of the people. This topic, according to the author in the poem "Elegy", will always be relevant. He understands that the question of restoring social justice will be raised for many more generations and that while the people are “dragging in poverty”, the Muse will be the only companion, support, inspirer. Nekrasov devotes his poetry to the people. He affirms the idea that victory goes to the people only if everyone goes into battle.

Let not every warrior harm the enemy,
But everyone go to battle! And fate will decide the battle ...
I saw a red day: there is no slave in Russia!
And I shed sweet tears in tenderness ...

With these lines, the author calls for the struggle for freedom and happiness. But by 1861 the question of the freedom of the peasants had already been resolved. After the reform on the abolition of serfdom, it was believed that the life of the peasants went along the path of prosperity and freedom. Nekrasov, on the other hand, sees the other side of this aspect, he poses the question as follows: “The people are freed, but are the people happy?” This makes us wonder if the people have gained real freedom?
In the poem "Elegy", written at the end of his life, Nekrasov, as it were, sums up his reasoning on the subject of the appointment of the poet and poetry. Nekrasov devotes the main place in his poetry to describing the life of the people, their difficult fate. He's writing:

I dedicated the lyre to my people.
Perhaps I will die unknown to him,
But I served him - and my heart is calm ...
But still, the author is oppressed by the thought that the people did not respond to his voice, remained deaf to his calls:
But the one about whom I sing in the evening silence
To whom are the dreams of the poet dedicated,
Alas! he does not heed - and does not give an answer ...

He is worried about this circumstance, and therefore he sets himself the task of becoming a "denunciator of the crowd", "its passions and delusions." He is ready to go through a difficult and thorny path, but to fulfill his mission as a poet. Nekrasov writes about this in his poem "Blessed is the gentle poet ...". In it, he shames the lyricists who remain aloof from the most "sick", the most urgent and controversial problems of the peasantry. He ridicules their detachment from the real world, their wandering in the clouds, when such troubles are happening on earth: children are forced to beg, women take on the overwhelming burden of the breadwinner of the family and work from dawn to dusk.
The author claims that in any, even the most difficult times, the poet is not free to ignore what the Russian people are most worried about. A real poet, according to Nekrasov:

Having armed his mouth with satire, he goes through a thorny path
With his punishing lyre.

It is precisely such a poet that will always be remembered, although they will realize later how much he did ...
Poems on the theme of the appointment of the poet and poetry occupy an important place in Nekrasov's lyrics. They once again confirm his boundless devotion to the Russian people, love for him, admiration for his patience and diligence, and at the same time the pain that the author experiences, seeing his inaction, resignation to his cruel fate. All his work is an attempt to “wake up” the spirit of the people, to make them understand how important and good freedom is, and that only with it the life of peasants can become truly happy.

Creativity N.A. Nekrasov is relevant now, as in the 19th century. The civic position of young people should be active, this is what the great Russian poet called for. The origins of N. Nekrasov's work helps to understand the study of his biography.

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Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov

(1821-1878)

Essay on life and work

Citizenship of the lyrics, heightened truthfulness and drama in the depiction of the life of the people

Lesson objectives:

To expand students' knowledge about the life and work of Nekrasov (living conditions - the formation of his personality and talent);

Help students identify the main themes of Nekrasov's lyrics;

Improve the technique of expressive reading;

Cultivate citizenship, patriotism.

After studying the topic, students should

Know:

Biography of N. Nekrasov, conditions for the formation of his personality and talent:

Nekrasov's activities as an editor of the journals Sovremennik and Otechestvennye Zapiski:

The main themes of the lyrics of N. Nekrasov.

Be able to:

Analyze lyrical works;

Theory of Literature: nationality

Equipment:

Portrait of N. Nekrasov;

I. Fogelson "Literature teaches", M., Pr., 1990, p. 116;

N. Nekrasov "Poems and poems", M., 1984

Lesson type: combined

Working methods: analysis of a lyrical work

UPU: poetry by F. Tyutchev and A. Fet

Poetry of A. Pushkin and M. Lermontov

Lesson structure

1. Orgmoment
2. Theme Motivation

Russian lyrics of the first half of the 19th century described with pain and sympathy, indignant and protesting, the sufferings of the people, expressed love and attention to people's life. Remember the “Village” by A. Pushkin, “Motherland” by Lermontov. And this was the greatest conquest of our literature. However, the author's "I" in such poems expressed these feelings as if "from outside" - from the position of the spiritual world of an advanced person, but from a different sociological environment - a nobleman.

The lyrics of Nekrasov took the next step. The poet clearly merged with the people, with their ideas, with the ideal that in the lyrics the man himself from the people became the author's "I" - the urban poor, the soldier recruit, the serf peasant, the peasant woman. It is their voices, their feelings and moods that we feel in Nekrasov, it is they who speak of their pain, suffering, dreams, love, hatred.

My poems! Witnesses alive

For the world of shed tears!

You were born in fatal moments

Soul thunderstorms

And beat on human hearts,

Like waves on a cliff.

(1858)

Creativity N.A. Nekrasov occupies a special place in the history of literature. On the one hand, N. Nekrasov is associated with the traditions of A. Pushkin and M. Lermontov, and on the other hand, he is one of the initiators of a new direction.

What is the difference between the lyrics of Nekrasov and the lyrics of Tyutchev and Fet, from the representatives of “pure craftsmanship? From the lyrics of Zhukovsky, Delvig?

Let's compare excerpts from the poems of romantic poets with the corresponding t waving lines from the lyrics of Nekrasov. What's new in his poetry? (Fogelson, p. 122)

we find in the lyrics of Nekrasov the novelty of problems, composition, genres, the originality of the author's vision of the world, citizenship.

How was Nekrasov formed as a poet and personality? What do you know about his childhood?

1. Presentation of new material. Creativity N.A. Nekrasov.

I dedicated the lyre to his people

I. Childhood, Yaroslavl gymnasium. The first years of life in St. Petersburg (1821-1840). After his son refused to enter the military service, his father deprived him of his inheritance and maintenance. "Petersburg ordeals" - poverty, failure in university exams, scolding in criticism of Sat. "Dreams and Sounds" (imitative).

II. Rapprochement with V. Belinsky is a turning point in Nekrasov's creative biography.

(Art., "Motherland" (1846)

Sh. Nekrasov - publisher and editor of the Sovremennik magazine (1847-1866) Thematic and genre richness of Nekrasov's work:

1. cycle of lyrical poems;
2. poems about the urban poor (“On the street”, “About the weather ...”)
3. poems about women's lot ("Wedding", "In full swing, village suffering ...");
4. poems about the plight of the people (“Uncompressed lane”, “Arina, the mother of a soldier”, “Listening to the horrors of war”, “Railway”, poems “Peasant children”, “Pedlars”, “Frost, Red nose”);
5. civil lyrics ("The Poet and the Citizen");
6. the theme of Russia, self-consciousness and social purpose of the Russian person (“Sasha”, “Turgenev”);

1. Nekrasov - publisher and editor of the journal "Domestic Notes" (1867-1877)
2. Creativity Nekrasov 1867-1877:

1. the poem "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" (1863-1877);
2. poems about the Decembrists and their wives ("Grandfather", "Russian Women");
3. a poem about bureaucrats, the bourgeoisie and liberal businessmen ("Contemporaries" - satire);
4. poems imbued with elegiac moods (“Three Elegies”, “Morning”, “Despondency”, “Elegy”);
5. poems expressing the poet's faith in the future of Russia, the people ("The Prophet").

Analysis of lyrical works

"Motherland" (1846) - a kind of result of the ideological searches of Nekrasov.

The poems are based on the facts of the poet's biography, but these details of the biography develop into the historical patterns of the fate of the people of serf Russia.

For Nekrasov, there is not even the initial joyful Pushkin experience at the sight of a garden, a house.

Rodina is written in the form of a lyrical monologue. Nekrasov's innovation lies not only in the novelty of the problem, but also in the fact that Nekrasov, destroying genre partitions (includes elements of satire, elegy, landscape of lyrics), he creates a new lyrical poem in form, saturated with social content.

"Poet and Citizen"

(poem "Poet and Citizen", video project of TV channel "Culture")

Issues for discussion:

• What does the citizen call for the poet?
• What is the peculiarity of the composition of the poem?

(a clash of two characters, two types of relation to reality. In terms of genre, this is a philosophical dispute in the form of dramaturgy.

• What is the genre of poetry?
• Why does Nekrasov choose the form of dialogue? (bifurcation of the author)

- What is the motive of the poem?

motive - the main mood of the poet, the feeling that he experienced while writing the poem

The dialogue in the poems could be perceived as a controversy between representatives of "pure art" and revolutionary-democratic.

In poems, Nekrasov expresses his views on the role and purpose of the poet. The content of the poem is a conversation between conditional characters - the Poet and the Citizen. Before us is not a clash of two opponents, but a mutual search for a true answer to the question of the role of the poet and the purpose of poetry in public life. The author expresses the following idea: the role of the artist in the life of society is so significant that it requires from him not only artistic talent, but also civic convictions, an active struggle for these convictions.

The son cannot look calmly

On the mother's mountain,

There will be no worthy citizen

To the Fatherland is cold in soul

You may not be a poet

But you have to be a citizen.

"Elegy" (1874)

(Elegy - a poem in which moods, sad thoughts, sorrow, philosophical reflections are expressed)

What is the situation in Russia; circumstances of Nekrasov's life during the creation of the "Elegy"? (first half of the 70s of the XIX century)

Why did Nekrasov choose the elegy genre?

The poem is dedicated to A.N. Ermakov, a friend of Nekrasov, a communications engineer.

Why is the dedication to Yermakov included in the text? What does this give the reader?

The dedication makes this poem a personal document, a lyrical work dedicated to two social topics: the position of the people and the role of the singer in society, as well as the vocation of each person, his place in society.

At this time (the time of writing the poem on August 15, 1874), the revolutionary movement in the country was in decline. The Paris Commune was destroyed. N. Nekrasov gets sick a lot, he loses his voice, complains about his stomach, then it turns out that he has cancer. There were fewer and fewer friends around. The poet doubts the attitude of young people to their present self. The main question is what is with the people, what is it like and what will happen to it? There are many reasons for reflection.

Therefore, Nekrasov chooses the genre of his poem "Elegy", which is an expression of predominantly sad reflections.

What is personal in this poem?

The "I" of the poet exists in three of the four stanzas of the poem:

in the second, Nekrasov thinks about the essence of his poetry, about his conscience;

in the third - about what he saw and heard in life;

in the fourth - about how inspiration comes to him.

What is Nekrasov in this poem?

This is a person who knows how to think (“Am I looking for an answer not there?)

This is a man who works not for glory, but for the sake of his conscience.

In what does Nekrasov see the essence of his poetry?

The purpose of poetry is to serve the people.The poet glorifies the union of the muse with the people (“And there is no stronger, more beautiful union in the world!”) And confirms with a personal example:

I dedicated the lyre to my people

How did he take the reform of 1861? Has it become easier for the peasant?

Is there a description of nature in the poems?

Nature corresponds to the mood of the poet: thoughtful, sad

What in this poem is universally significant for all eras? for offspring?

We analyzed several poems, and in each of them we heard the uniquely peculiar voice of the poet, felt the peculiarities of his style.

- What is a writer's style?

Style - this is the unity of all means of artistic depiction of life in the work of the writer.

The originality of style depends on his views on life and art, moral and aesthetic ideals, political and artistic convictions, the characteristics of his personality and talent.

Nekrasov has important features:

Image of life with its inherent complexity and inconsistency;

Striving for truth, comprehension of regular (typical) processes and phenomena of reality;

Criticism of an unjust social order;

Expression of advanced social ideals;

Poeticization of the world of the peasant.

(Textbook page. Writer's style)

The main motives of the lyrics:

Appointment of the poet and poetry;

The theme of the people;

The image of a new man, the hero of time;

Russia theme.

IV. Anchoring

What can be said about the childhood and adolescence of the writer?

How was his life in Petersburg?

What role did his acquaintance with Belinsky play in his life?

What can be said about Nekrasov the journalist?

How did the Muse of Nekrasov differ from the Muse of Pushkin, Lermontov?

What is the purpose of a poet in public life?

What does Nekrasov say about the fate of the Russian people and the Russian peasant woman?

How is the image of the Motherland revealed in Nekrasov's poetry?

Only one thing matters -

You love the people, the homeland,

Serve them with heart and soul.

N. Nekrasov

VI. Homework:

Write an essay "I was called to sing of your sufferings, amazing people with patience."

List of used literature:

1. Nekrasov N.A. Collected works. Poetry. Poems.

2. Nekrasov N.A. Who lives well in Rus'. Series "Classics for school". Moscow: Dragonfly-Press, 2005.

3. Korovin V.I. Russian poetry of the nineteenth century. M., 1983.

4. Live pages. N.A. Nekrasov in memoirs, letters, diaries, autobiographical works and documents. M., 1974;

5. Skatov N.N. "ON THE. Nekrasov. The life of wonderful people. ”, M., 1994

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov is a Russian poet-democrat, the author of brilliant samples of civil lyrics, who made poetry a "folk lyre" and a tool in the struggle for the rights of the oppressed people. His poetic muse is the muse of "revenge and sorrow", pain, the struggle against injustice towards the peasantry.

The poet was born on November 28, 1821 in the city of Nemirov (Vinnitsa district of the Podolsk province, now the territory of Ukraine). His parents met in Nemirov - his father served in a regiment stationed in this city, his mother, Elena Zakrevskaya, was one of the best - the most beautiful and educated - brides of the town. Zakrevskaya's parents were not going to give their daughter to an officer Nekrasov, who obviously married for convenience (by the time he met Zakrevskaya, he had gambling debts and a desire to solve the financial issue through a profitable marriage). As a result, Elena marries against the will of her parents, and, of course, the marriage turns out to be unhappy - her unloving husband made her an eternal recluse. The image of the mother, bright and tender, entered Nekrasov's lyrics as an ideal of femininity and kindness (the poem "Mother" 1877, "Knight for an Hour" 1860-62), and the image of the father was transformed into the image of a wild, unbridled and stupid despot.

The literary formation of Nekrasov cannot be separated from the facts of his difficult biography. Soon after the birth of the poet, the family moved to the father's family estate, in Greshnev, Yaroslavl region. The poet had 12 brothers and sisters, most of whom died at an early age. The father was forced to work - the local income for the needs of a large family was not enough - and he began to serve as a police officer in the police. He often took his son with him to work, so from an early age the child witnessed the beating of debts, suffering and prayers, deaths.

1831 - Nikolai Nekrasov was sent to study at a gymnasium in Yaroslavl. The boy was capable, but he managed to ruin relations with the team - he was sharp, sharp on the tongue, composed ironic poems about classmates. After the 5th grade, he stopped studying (it is believed that the father stopped paying for education, not seeing the need for education for a not too diligent son).

1837 - 16-year-old Nekrasov begins an independent life in St. Petersburg. Against the will of his father, who saw him as a modest official, Nikolai tries to enter the university at the Faculty of Philology. I did not pass the exams, but with persistence for 3 years I stormed the faculty, attending classes as a volunteer. At this time, his father refused to support him financially, so he had to live in terrible poverty, sometimes with overnight stays in homeless shelters, in constant hunger.

The first money was earned as a tutor - Nekrasov serves as a teacher in a wealthy family, while writing fairy tales and editing alphabets for children's publications.

1840 - Nekrasov earns as a playwright and critic - the St. Petersburg theater puts on several of his plays, and the Literary Gazette publishes several articles. Having saved up money, Nekrasov in the same year published at his own expense a collection of poems “Dreams and Sounds”, which fell under such a barrage of criticism that the poet bought almost the entire print run and burned it.

1840s: Nekrasov meets Vissarion Belinsky (who shortly before that mercilessly criticized his first poems) and begins a fruitful collaboration with the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine.

1846: the improved financial situation allowed Nekrasov to become a publisher himself - their Zapiski leaves and buys the Sovremennik magazine, in which young and talented writers and critics who left Zapiski after Nekrasov begin to publish. Tsarist censorship closely monitors the content of the magazine, which has gained high popularity, so in 1866 it was closed.

1866: Nekrasov buys out the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine, where he previously worked, and intends to bring it to the same level of popularity that he managed to bring Sovremennik to. Since that time, he has published more actively himself.

The following works come out:

• "Sasha" (1855. A poem about a thinking woman. Sasha is close to the people and loves them. She is at a crossroads in life, thinks a lot about life when she meets a young socialist. Agarin tells Sasha about the social world order, inequality and struggle, he positively A few years pass and Agarin lost faith that the people can be controlled and given freedom, he can only philosophize on how to give the peasants freedom and what they will do with it. at this time she is engaged in albeit small, but real things - she provides medical assistance to the peasants).
• “Who should live well in Rus'” (1860 - 1877. An epic peasant poem denouncing the inability of the autocracy to provide the people with true freedom, despite the abolition of serfdom. The poem paints pictures of people's life and is vividly filled with people's speech).
• "Pedlars" (1861).
• "Frost, Red Nose" (1863. A poem praising the fortitude of a Russian peasant woman capable of hard work, loyalty, selflessness, fulfillment of duty).
• "Russian Women" (1871-71. A poem dedicated to the courage of the Decembrists who followed their husbands into exile. Contains 2 parts "Princess Volkonskaya" and "Princess Trubetskaya". Two heroines decide to follow the exiled husbands. Princesses who are unknown hungry impoverished existence, hard work, give up their former life... They demonstrate not only the love and mutual assistance inherent in all the guardians of the hearth by default, but also open opposition to power).

Poems:

• "Railway"
• "Knight for an Hour"
• "Uncompressed Band"
• "Prophet",
• cycles of poems about peasant children,
• cycles of poems about urban beggars,
• "Panaevsky cycle" - poems dedicated to the common-law wife

1875 - the poet falls seriously ill, but, struggling with pain, finds the strength to write.

1877: the last works are the satirical poem "Contemporaries" and the cycle of poems "Last Songs".

The poet died on December 27, 1877 in St. Petersburg and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. Despite the terrible frost, thousands of admirers came to see the poet on his last journey.

Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov was born in the family of an officer on November 28 (December 10), 1821. Two years after the birth of his son, his father retired and settled on his estate in the village of Greshnevo. Childhood years left heavy memories in the soul of the poet. And this was primarily due to the despotic nature of his father, Alexei Sergeevich. For several years Nekrasov studied at the Yaroslavl gymnasium. In 1838, following the will of his father, he left for St. Petersburg to enter the Noble Regiment: the retired major wanted to see his son as an officer. But, once in St. Petersburg, Nekrasov violates his father's will and tries to enter the university. The punishment was very severe: the father refused his son financial assistance, and Nekrasov had to earn his own living. The difficulty lay in the fact that Nekrasov's preparation was not enough to enter the university. The dream of the future poet to become a student never came true.

Nekrasov became a literary day laborer: he wrote articles for newspapers and magazines, poems for the occasion, vaudeville for the theater, feuilletons - everything that was in great demand. It gave little money, obviously not enough to live on. Much later, in their memoirs, his contemporaries would draw a portrait of the young Nekrasov that they remembered, “shuddering in deep autumn in a light coat and unreliable boots, even in a straw hat from a push market.” The difficult years of his youth then affected the health of the writer. But the need to earn his own living turned out to be the strongest impulse to the writing field. Much later, in his autobiographical notes, he recalled the first years of his life in the capital in the following way: “It’s incomprehensible to the mind how much I worked, I think I won’t exaggerate if I say that in a few years I completed up to two hundred printed sheets of journal work.” Nekrasov writes mostly prose: stories, stories, feuilletons. His dramatic experiments, primarily vaudeville, also belong to the same years.

The romantic soul of the young man, all his romantic impulses, echoed in a collection of poetry with the characteristic title "Dreams and Sounds". It came out in 1840, but did not bring the young author the expected fame. Belinsky wrote a negative review of it, and this was a verdict for the young author. “You see from his poems,” Belinsky argued, “that he has both a soul and a feeling, but at the same time you see that they remained in the author, and only abstract thoughts, commonplaces, correctness, smoothness passed into the verses. , and boredom. Nekrasov bought up most of the publication and destroyed it.

Two more years passed, and the poet and the critic met. During these two years, Nekrasov has changed. I.I. Panaev, the future co-editor of the Sovremennik magazine, believed that Belinsky was attracted to Nekrasov's "sharp, somewhat hardened mind." He fell in love with the poet "for the suffering that he experienced so early, seeking a piece of daily bread, and for that bold practical look beyond his years, which he took out of his hard-working and suffering life - and which Belinsky always envied painfully." Belinsky's influence was enormous. One of the poet's contemporaries, P.V. Annenkov wrote: “In 1843, I saw how Belinsky set to work on him, revealing to him the essence of his own nature and its strength, and how the poet dutifully listened to him, saying: “Belinsky makes me from a literary vagabond into a nobleman.”

But the point is not only in the writer's own searches, his own development. Beginning in 1843, Nekrasov also acted as a publisher, he played a very important role in uniting the writers of the Gogol school. Nekrasov initiated the publication of several almanacs, the most famous of which is "Physiology of Petersburg" (1844-1845), "almost the best of all the almanacs that have ever been published," according to Belinsky. Four articles by Belinsky, an essay and a poem by Nekrasov, works by Grigorovich, Panaev, Grebenka, Dahl (Lugansky), and others were published in two parts of the almanac. But Nekrasov achieves even greater success both as a publisher and as the author of another almanac published by him - “The Petersburg Collection "(1846). Belinsky and Herzen, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Odoevsky took part in the collection. Nekrasov placed a number of poems in it, including the immediately famous "On the Road".

The "unprecedented success" (to use Belinsky's words) of the publications undertaken by Nekrasov inspired the writer to implement a new idea - to publish a magazine. From 1847 to 1866, Nekrasov edited the Sovremennik magazine, whose importance in the history of Russian literature can hardly be overestimated. On its pages appeared the works of Herzen ("Who is to blame?", "The Thieving Magpie"), I. Goncharov ("Ordinary History"), stories from the series "Notes of a Hunter" by I. Turgenev, stories by L. Tolstoy, articles by Belinsky. Under the auspices of Sovremennik, the first collection of Tyutchev's poems is published, first as an appendix to the magazine, then as a separate publication. During these years, Nekrasov also acts as a prose writer, novelist, author of the novels "Three Countries of the World" and "Dead Lake" (written in collaboration with A.Ya. Panaeva), "The Thin Man", and a number of stories.

In 1856, Nekrasov's health deteriorated sharply, and he was forced to transfer the editing of the magazine to Chernyshevsky and go abroad. In the same year, the second collection of Nekrasov's poems was published, which had a tremendous success.

1860s belong to the most intense and intense years of creative and editorial activity of Nekrasov. New co-editors come to Sovremennik - M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, M.A. Antonovich and others. The journal is engaged in a fierce polemic with the reactionary and liberal Russky Vestnik and Otechestvennye Zapiski. During these years, Nekrasov wrote the poems "Pedlars" (1861), "Railway" (1864), "Frost, Red Nose" (1863), work began on the epic poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'."

The ban on Sovremennik in 1866 forced Nekrasov to give up his editorial work for a while. But a year and a half later, he managed to negotiate with the owner of the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine, A.A. Kraevsky about transferring the editorial board of this journal into his hands. During the years of editing Otechestvennye Zapiski, Nekrasov attracted talented critics and prose writers to the magazine. In the 70s. he creates the poems “Russian Women” (1871-1872), “Contemporaries” (1875), chapters from the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (“Last Child”, “Peasant Woman”, “Feast for the Whole World”).

In 1877, Nekrasov's last lifetime collection of poems was published. At the end of this year, Nekrasov died.

In his heartfelt speech about Nekrasov, Dostoevsky accurately and succinctly defined the pathos of his poetry: “It was a wounded heart, once for a lifetime, and this wound that did not close was the source of all his poetry, all this man’s passionate to torment love for everything that suffers from violence, from the cruelty of unbridled will that oppresses our Russian woman, our child in a Russian family, our commoner in his bitter, so often, share of him ... ”, - F.M. said about Nekrasov. Dostoevsky. In these words, indeed, is a kind of key to understanding the artistic world of Nekrasov's poetry, to the sound of his most intimate themes - the theme of the fate of the people, the future of the people, the theme of the purpose of poetry and the role of the artist.

1. The first years in St. Petersburg
2. “Who should live well in Rus'”: Nekrasov’s last major work

Nikolai Nekrasov is known to modern readers as the "most peasant" poet in Russia: it was he who was one of the first to speak about the tragedy of serfdom and explored the spiritual world of the Russian peasantry. Nikolai Nekrasov was also a successful publicist and publisher: his Sovremennik became a legendary magazine of its time.

“Everything that, having entangled my life from childhood, an irresistible curse fell on me ...”

Nikolai Nekrasov was born on December 10 (November 28 according to the old style) in 1821 in the small town of Nemirov, Vinnitsa district, Podolsk province. His father Alexei Nekrasov came from a family of once wealthy Yaroslavl nobles, he was an army officer, and his mother Elena Zakrevskaya was the daughter of a possessor from the Kherson province. Parents were against the marriage of a beautiful and educated girl with a poor military man at that time, so the young people got married in 1817 without their blessing.

However, the couple's family life was not happy: the father of the future poet turned out to be a harsh and despotic man, including in relation to his soft and shy wife, whom he called a "recluse". The painful atmosphere that reigned in the family influenced Nekrasov's work: metaphorical images of parents often appeared in his works. Fyodor Dostoevsky said: “It was a heart wounded at the very beginning of life; and this wound that never healed was the beginning and source of all his passionate, suffering poetry for the rest of his life..

Konstantin Makovsky. Portrait of Nikolai Nekrasov. 1856. State Tretyakov Gallery

Nicholas Ge. Portrait of Nikolai Nekrasov. 1872. State Russian Museum

Nikolai's early childhood was spent in his father's family estate - the village of Greshnevo, Yaroslavl province, where the family moved after the resignation of Alexei Nekrasov from the army. The boy developed a particularly close relationship with his mother: she was his best friend and first teacher, instilled in him a love for the Russian language and the literary word.

Things in the family estate were very neglected, it even came to litigation, and Nekrasov's father took on the duties of a police officer. When leaving on business, he often took his son with him, so from an early age the boy had a chance to see pictures that were not intended for children's eyes: knocking out debts and arrears from peasants, cruel reprisals, all kinds of manifestations of grief and poverty. In his own poems, Nekrasov recalled the early years of his life as follows:

The first years in St. Petersburg

In 1832, Nekrasov turned 11 years old, and he entered the gymnasium, where he studied until the fifth grade. Studying was difficult for him, relations with the gymnasium authorities did not go well - in particular, because of the caustic satirical poems that he began to compose at the age of 16. Therefore, in 1837, Nekrasov went to St. Petersburg, where, according to the wishes of his father, he was supposed to enter the military service.

In St. Petersburg, young Nekrasov, through his friend at the gymnasium, met several students, after which he realized that education interested him more than military affairs. Despite the demands of his father and the threats to leave him without material support, Nekrasov began to prepare for the entrance exams to the university, but failed them, after which he became a volunteer at the Faculty of Philology.

Nekrasov Sr. fulfilled his ultimatum and left his rebellious son without financial assistance. All of Nekrasov's free time from studies was spent looking for work and a roof over his head: it got to the point that he could not afford to have lunch. For some time he rented a room, but in the end he could not pay for it and ended up on the street, and then ended up in a beggar's shelter. It was there that Nekrasov discovered a new opportunity for earning money - he wrote petitions and complaints for a small fee.

Over time, Nekrasov's affairs began to improve, and the stage of dire need was passed. By the early 1840s, he made a living by composing poems and fairy tales, which later appeared in the form of popular prints, published small articles in the Literary Gazette and the Literary Supplement to the Russian Invalid, gave private lessons and composed plays for Alexandrinsky Theater under the pseudonym Perepelsky.

In 1840, at the expense of his own savings, Nekrasov published his first collection of poetry, Dreams and Sounds, which consisted of romantic ballads, which traced the influence of the poetry of Vasily Zhukovsky and Vladimir Benediktov. Zhukovsky himself, having familiarized himself with the collection, called only two poems not bad, while he recommended printing the rest under a pseudonym and argued this as follows: “Subsequently you will write better, and you will be ashamed of these verses”. Nekrasov heeded the advice and released a collection under the initials N.N.

The book "Dreams and Sounds" was not particularly successful with either readers or critics, although Nikolai Polevoy spoke very favorably about the beginning poet, and Vissarion Belinsky called his poems "come out of the soul." Nekrasov himself was upset by his first poetic experience and decided to try himself in prose. He wrote his early stories and novels in a realistic manner: the plots were based on events and phenomena in which the author himself was a participant or witness, and some characters had prototypes in reality. Later, Nekrasov also turned to satirical genres: he created the vaudevilles “This is what it means to fall in love with an actress” and “Feoktist Onufrievich Bob”, the story “Makar Osipovich Random” and other works.

Publishing activities of Nekrasov: Sovremennik and Whistle

Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of Nikolai Nekrasov. 1877. State Tretyakov Gallery

Nikolai Nekrasov and Ivan Panaev. Caricature by Nikolai Stepanov, "Illustrated Almanac". 1848. Photo: vm.ru

Alexey Naumov. Nikolai Nekrasov and Ivan Panaev at the patient Vissarion Belinsky. 1881

From the mid-1840s, Nekrasov began to actively engage in publishing activities. With his participation, the almanacs "Physiology of Petersburg", "Articles in Poetry without Pictures", "April 1", "Petersburg Collection" were published, and the latter was especially successful: Dostoevsky's novel "Poor People" was first published in it.

At the end of 1846, Nekrasov, together with his friend, journalist and writer Ivan Panaev, rented the Sovremennik magazine from the publisher Pyotr Pletnev.

Young authors, who had previously published mainly in Otechestvennye Zapiski, willingly switched to Nekrasov's publication. It was Sovremennik that made it possible to reveal the talent of such writers as Ivan Goncharov, Ivan Turgenev, Alexander Herzen, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. Nekrasov himself was not only the editor of the magazine, but also one of its regular contributors. His poems, prose, literary criticism, journalistic articles were published on the pages of Sovremennik.

The period from 1848 to 1855 became a difficult time for Russian journalism and literature due to a sharp tightening of censorship. To fill in the gaps that arose in the content of the magazine due to censorship bans, Nekrasov began to publish in it chapters from the adventure novels Dead Lake and Three Countries of the World, which he wrote in collaboration with his common-law wife Avdotya Panaeva (she was hiding under the pseudonym N .N. Stanitsky).

In the mid-1850s, the demands of censorship softened, but the Sovremennik faced a new problem: class contradictions split the authors into two groups with opposing beliefs. Representatives of the liberal nobility advocated realism and the aesthetic principle in literature, supporters of democracy adhered to a satirical direction. The confrontation, of course, splashed out on the pages of the magazine, so Nekrasov, together with Nikolai Dobrolyubov, founded an appendix to Sovremennik - the satirical publication Whistle. It published humorous novels and stories, satirical poems, pamphlets and caricatures.

At various times, Ivan Panaev, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, and Nikolai Nekrasov published their works on the pages of the Whistle. Photo: russkiymir.ru

After the closure of Sovremennik, Nekrasov began publishing the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine, which he rented from the publisher Andrei Kraevsky. At the same time, the poet worked on one of his most ambitious works - the peasant poem "Who should live well in Rus'".

The idea for the poem appeared to Nekrasov as early as the late 1850s, but he wrote the first part after the abolition of serfdom, around 1863. The basis of the work was not only the literary experiences of the poet's predecessors, but also his own impressions and memories. According to the author's idea, the poem was to become a kind of epic, demonstrating the life of the Russian people from different points of view. At the same time, Nekrasov purposefully used for writing it not a “high calm”, but a simple colloquial language close to folk songs and legends, replete with colloquial expressions and sayings.

Work on the poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'" took Nekrasov almost 14 years. But even during this period, he did not have time to fully realize his plan: a serious illness prevented him, which chained the writer to bed. Initially, the work was supposed to consist of seven or eight parts. The route of the heroes' journey, looking for "who lives cheerfully, freely in Rus'", lay across the whole country, to St. Petersburg itself, where they were to meet with an official, merchant, minister and tsar. However, Nekrasov understood that he would not have time to complete the work, so he reduced the fourth part of the story - "A Feast for the Whole World" - to an open ending.

During the life of Nekrasov, only three fragments of the poem were published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski - the first part with a prologue, which does not have its own name, "Last Child" and "Peasant Woman". "A Feast for the Whole World" was published only three years after the death of the author, and even then with significant censorship cuts.

Nekrasov died on January 8, 1878 (December 27, 1877 according to the old style). Several thousand people came to say goodbye to him, who accompanied the coffin of the writer from home to the Novodevichy cemetery in St. Petersburg. This was the first time that a Russian writer was given national honors.