To love others is a heavy cross dedicated. Boris Pasternak - Loving others is a heavy cross: Verse. “Loving others is a heavy cross” Boris Pasternak
Composition
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak is a wonderful poet and prose writer of the 20th century. He can be fully called an esthete writer, with a subtle and deep sense of beauty. He was always a connoisseur of natural and pristine beauty, which, of course, was reflected in his work. And, as a striking example of all of the above, I would like to draw special attention to such a poem by Pasternak as “Loving others is a heavy cross...”.
The first thing that catches your eye in this work is the simplicity and lightness of the style. It is very short, consisting of only three quatrains. But this brevity lies one of its greatest virtues. Thus, each word seems to be more valued and has greater weight and meaning. Analyzing the author’s speech, one cannot help but pay attention to the amazing naturalness of the language, simplicity and even some colloquialism. The literary and linguistic bar has been lowered to almost everyday speech, take, for example, such a phrase as “All this is not a big trick.” Although there is also a book style, for example the opening phrase of the work “Loving others is a heavy cross.” And here I would like to note that this phraseological turn contains a clear allusion to biblical motifs, which are so frequent in the works of Boris Pasternak.
How to determine the theme of this poem? It would seem that the work is an appeal of the lyrical hero to his beloved woman, admiration for her beauty:
Loving others is a heavy cross,
And you are beautiful without gyrations,
And your beauty is a secret
It is tantamount to the solution to life.
The question arises - what is the secret of the charm of his beloved? And then the writer gives us the answer: her beauty lies in her naturalness, simplicity (“And you are beautiful without convolutions”). The next quatrain takes us to a deeper semantic level of the work, to thinking about the essence, the nature of beauty in general.
What is beauty according to Pasternak? This is natural beauty, without artificiality, without pomposity and frills. In this poem we again encounter the so-called “theory of simplicity” of the poet, simplicity, which is the basis of life, of all things. And female beauty should not contradict, but organically fit into the overall huge and global picture of universal beauty, which all God’s creatures equally possess. Beauty is the only and main truth in the poet’s world:
In spring the rustling of dreams is heard
And the rustle of news and truths.
You come from a family of such fundamentals.
Your meaning, like air, is selfless.
The last line of this quatrain is especially symbolic. How deeply metaphorical is the expression “selfless air”! Thinking about it, you understand that nature is actually selfless, it gives us the opportunity to breathe and, accordingly, live, without asking for anything in return. Likewise, beauty, according to Pasternak, should be selfless, like air, it is something that belongs to everyone equally.
In this poem, the poet distinguishes two worlds - the world of natural beauty and the world of people, everyday squabbles, “verbal litter” and petty thoughts. The image of spring as a time of rebirth and rebirth is symbolic: “In spring one hears the rustle of dreams and the rustle of news and truths.” And the lyrical heroine herself is like spring, she is “from a family of such foundations,” she is like a fresh breath of wind, she is a guide from one world to another, the world of the beautiful and natural. In this world there is a place only for feelings and truths. It would seem easy to get into it:
It's easy to wake up and see clearly,
Shake out the verbal trash from the heart
And live without getting clogged in the future,
All this is not a big trick.
The key to this new and wonderful life is beauty, but is everyone able to see true beauty in the simple and artless?.. Is each of us able to “wake up and see the light”...
It should be noted the features of the author's presentation of the lyrical hero and lyrical heroine of this poem. They seem to remain behind the scenes, they are unclear and vague. And each of us can involuntarily imagine ourselves and our loved ones in the place of the heroes. Thus, the poem becomes personally significant.
Turning to the composition of the poem, it can be noted that the author chose a size that is quite easy to understand (iamb tetrameter), which once again confirms his intention to emphasize the simplicity and uncomplicatedness of the form, which retreats before the content. This is also proven by the fact that the work is not overloaded with artificially created tropes. Its beauty and charm lies in its naturalness. Although one cannot help but notice the presence of alliteration. “The rustle of dreams”, “the rustle of news and truths” - in these words, the frequent repetition of hissing and whistling sounds creates an atmosphere of peace, silence, tranquility and mystery. After all, you can talk about the main thing only the way Pasternak does it - quietly, in a whisper... After all, this is a secret.
Finishing my reflection, I involuntarily want to paraphrase the author himself: reading other poems is a heavy cross, but this really is “beautiful without convolutions.”
In memory of Evgeny Borisovich Pasternak
Loving others is a heavy cross,
And you are beautiful without gyrations,
And your beauty is a secret
The answer to life is tantamount to .
In spring the rustling of dreams is heard
And the rustle of news and truths.
You come from a family of such fundamentals.
Your meaning, like air, is selfless.
It's easy to wake up and see clearly,
Shake out the verbal trash from the heart
And live without getting clogged in the future.
All this is not a big trick.
1931
Addressed to the poet’s new lover and future second wife, Zinaida Nikolaevna ( Eremeeva-Neuhaus-Pasternak), this poem (hereinafter referred to as LI) largely bears the imprint of her image. As you know, Zinaida Nikolaevna immediately told Pasternak that she did not really understand his early poems; he replied that he was “ready to write easier for [her].” 1
Pasternakovathe lyrics of the early 1930s really showed a new style aimed at unheard of simplicity, and LI, written in a fundamentally “simple” way, develops the idea that truth lies in artless liberation from painful and unnecessary complexity. But, updating, voicing rustle of news, the manner remains recognizable Pasternak's, initially “complex”, and perhaps the main secret of LI is the combination of two opposing techniques.
1. Vocabulary and grammar. Simplicity is realized in LI primarily at the lexical level. There are no foreign words here (like vin gai, vin triste, homo sapiens), nor barbarisms á la Northerner (such as dressing table, cocoa, blinds; the only borrowing secret, - has long been part of the everyday lexicon), nor sought-after terminological rarities, archaisms and dialectisms (such as finish, strong darkness, highway, shoulder blades [peas]), requiring subpage author's explanations. Even words with sublimely spiritual semantics ( cross, secret, solution, foundations, truths, equivalent, see the light) are emphatically elementary, and the vocabulary is deliberately simple ( shake out litter) does not go beyond the conversational norm.
The syntax is also extremely simple, especially compared to early poems. All sentences are simple or complex, but not complex. The peaks of “subordination” are comparative turnover like air and participial phrase without clogging, relating to the repertoire of a simple sentence and expressing precisely the rejection of everything superfluous. Another complication, but again within the boundaries of simple syntax, is the use of infinitives, once in the 1st line, and then four times in the 3rd stanza. This is also an example of combining extremes, not only simplicity and complexity, but also statics and dynamics. 2
The fact is that the text of LI is constructed as a system of static identities. All predicates are nominal: each consists of an omitted connective [ There is], expressing the fact of predication, and the nominal part - a noun or adjective ( cross, beautiful, secret, equivalent, audible, easy, cunning), carrying the semantic predicate itself. Infinitive construction L to celebrate [There is]cross immediately sets a compromise between a dynamic verbal beginning and a static nominal one. The main lyrical verb of the poem acts as the subject, but it also appears in an imperfect form and in the form of an indefinite mood, functionally close to the verbal noun and meaning not an action or event, but the state of the subject.
In the subsequent lines of stanza I, staticity and generality are consolidated, and in stanza II, a dynamic revival begins - spring comes, everything rustles, rustles, and is renewed. However, this coming into motion is packaged in the format of a nominal predicate with a passive, imperfect participial form ( audible), and into fixed, although initially predicate, nouns ( rustle, rustle, news). In the second half of the stanza the movement stops and panchronous movements return truth.
In stanza III, the motif of awakening is picked up again. The text is saturated with verbs, which, while remaining infinitives and subjects, are decisively activated. Firstly, they now appear predominantly in perfective forms, denoting processes directed towards a goal and even one action ( wake up and see the light;shake out). Secondly, infinitives move from the initial position (which be in love occupied in I) in the final - under logical emphasis and rhyme.
But after this burst of activity, which the indefinite mood both restrains and hypostatizes, proclaiming a new program of life 3, calm comes. It is introduced first by two non-personal forms of an imperfect form, projecting into the newly panchronic future the true state that, having been achieved ( live), will only require maintenance ( without clogging). Complete panchronic calm is marked (in the last line of the poem) by the return of an elementary simple sentence with a dropped connective.
The interweaving of simplicity and complexity is also manifested in the way syntactic proliferation is handled by independent clauses, without resorting to hypotaxis - the use of subordinate clauses. 4
The first stanza contains a three-part conjunction (with conjunctions A And AND), with the third sentence being equal in length to the sum of the first and second, giving the classic summation (1+1+2).
Stanza II again consists of three independent sentences, but with a mirror reversal of the length of the parts (2+1+1), and the first is formed by one predicate ( audible) with two homogeneous subjects.
In stanza III, the first sentence already covers three lines: all four infinitives are homogeneous subjects in it, and the nominal predicate is easily(contrasting in meaning to heavy from the initial LI line). This is followed by a one-line summary sentence (3+1 scheme), which in its brevity echoes the simplification of syntax - the rejection of infinitive constructions.
All these expansions and contractions take place strictly within the framework of entire stanzas and lines - without enjambments, which are actually frequent in Pasternak. Special “modest virtuosity” consists precisely in saturating the text with a variety of rhetorical moves, but without rhythmic-syntactic convolutions and tricks. We have already considered some of its aspects: working with simple and complex sentences of different lengths, with homogeneous subjects of the same predicate, with nominal predicates and infinitive subjects, with comparative and participial phrases. Others, in particular the hidden complexity/dynamism of a number of predicates, we touched upon only briefly and now we will dwell on them in more detail.
2. Logic, semantics. As was said, the nominal part of the nominal predicate is a predicate, that is, some correlation of concepts. If the subject is a verb (for example, be in love), two predicates turn out to be connected.
Loving others is a heavy cross This means, translated into the language of logical prose, something like this:
When someone loves a person (woman) of a certain type, it is equivalent to the fact that the lover undertakes to suffer heavily (from this person / such love).
The first predicate is expressed quite directly - by a verb, although in a complex, infinitive form, the second - by the construction Adjective + Noun, that is, syntactically simple, but semantically more complex - due to the internal complexity of the phrase heavy cross, and more compact - due to its idiomatic nature.
In the 2nd line the situation seems to be simplified - the role of the subject is taken over by the personal pronoun You. But at the same time it becomes more complicated, since to a simple nominal predicate beautiful definition joins without convolutions, complex in form (a noun with a preposition) and non-standard in meaning. The formula “to be beautiful without convolutions” connects two very dissimilar predicates with each other and forms a phrase that is much more complex than the usual heavy cross from 1st line . However, this bold turn of phrase was partly prepared: the pretext without explicates the negation implied in the semantics of the word other and announced by the opposing union A. 5
The following sentence is both transparent in its structure and marks a new level of logical complexity. Transparency is ensured by lexical synonymy ( secret - solution) and syntactic symmetry (which is slightly broken only by the “extra” pronoun yours in the subject group):
Subject: charms... secret(noun + disagree. define. in gen. hell.) - Nominal Predicate: [ There is] equivalent(short adj.) - Addition: the solution to life(noun + disagree. define. in gen. hell.).
Transparency is also enhanced by the fact that the link [ There is], still omitted, is spoken out loud here in the form of a full adjective equivalent- a complex word dividing into two roots exactly in the middle.
And thanks to its internal form, built on the idea of equality, logical equivalence, this word not only verbalizes the connective, but also literally reifies it. Without such verbalization, the equation would look shorter, but would sound heavier, more tongue-tied, in the spirit of early Pasternak, something like *AND
The secret of your charms is the solution to life without effort.
All this simplifying technique does not obscure the fact that we are talking about high philosophical matters, about the essence of beauty and the meaning of life, that a predicate from the logical-mathematical dictionary is introduced into the text ( be equivalent) and that a two-story equation is being built, a kind of syllogism:
If it's a secret Ha (your beauty) is equal to the answer to Y ( life), then therefore X ( your beauty) = Y-y ( life), that is You = life, which was what needed to be proven (and is affirmed in one form or another in LI and other verses of the “Second Birth”).
The second root of a compound word is also important for the semantics of the poem. equivalent: an indication of the strength exuded by the heroine and guaranteeing a saving transition from heaviness at the beginning of stanza I to lightness at the beginning of III. 6
The variation of simple identities continues in the second half of stanza II by introducing a more verbose phrase: be from a family + disagree def. in genus hell. pl. h. ( basics). Philosophical basics(and Pasternak studied philosophy in his youth) are simplified by transferring them to the domestic plane (things are heading towards marriage, and the poet is generally partial to names of kinship), and instead of abstract synonyms (such as number, class, set, category, not uncommon in Pasternak) appears family of foundations, and exactly such, as it should, - unlike those other who were challenged.
The last line of stanza II, comparing meaning beloved with vital necessities, but seemingly devoid of properties by air, continues to develop the apophatic theme of negative virtues without convolutions and closes with an adjective selfless, incorporating the preposition without in the form of a prefix . 7 Structurally, the final two lines of stanza II are relatively simple - there is some syntactic lull before the takeoff coming in stanza III, which will be followed by final calm.The final line is completely freed from predicate complexities in the subject - it becomes a generalized indefinite IN all this, pronominally summing up a series of homogeneous infinitives. And the role of the predicate is again played by the simplest combination Adjective + Noun (such as the initial heavy cross), sounding unpretentious in meaning and colloquial in style.
3. Connotations.The leitmotiv theme of simplicity appears in the characteristic turn of “lightness, non-heaviness, non-difficulty”, sounding silently in a series of “negative” motives, cf.:
refusal of a heavy cross;
redundancy of convolutions;
the frivolous equation of the secret of female charm with the answer to life;
the ephemerality of the rustle of dreams and other spring rustles;
disembodiment/selflessness of air;
involuntary morning awakening;
impliedproblem-free the transition from physical awakening to existential insight;
purely mechanical discarding of litter and subsequent preventive protection against it;
insignificant scale of an already effort-saving trick.
“Lightness” breathes both in the deliberate simplicity of the text and in some of its ambiguity. A clumsy turn without convolutions echo:
ambiguous junction easy to wake up, interpreted by some readers as Verb + Adverbial (like wake up early, instantly, without difficulty), and not as Subject + Predicate (like P to grow up at dawn is not difficult);
ambiguous sequence not a big trick, which can be interpreted as little trick, that is, approval of some small tricks, whereas what is meant is the idea - and even the linguistic formula itself Little wisdom...;
contradiction between refusal from the convolutions and acceptance tricks, at least on a purely verbal level.
However, all these roughnesses organically correspond to the defiantly improvisational style that Pasternak first practiced in complicated tongue-tied forms, and since the 1930s - in the spirit of colloquial freedom from the conventions of written speech. 8
4. Genre.The poem begins with a rhetorical rejection of certain other, which is contrasted with the traditional addressee of the poem in the 2nd person singular. h. This You and its possessive forms yours, is yours will dominate the first two stanzas, but will completely disappear in the generalizing third.The focus on generalization and going beyond narrow personal limits manifests itself already in stanza II: in its first half You is absent, and only typical spring changes appear, and in the second, although You And your meaning come back, but You dissolves in a multitude of correct basics Blurring identity You A fundamentally negative way of characterizing it also contributes: without, bes-, you-, no, not. 9 And in stanza III there is no You in general there are no longer any, just as there are no mentions of love, which is echoed by the predominance of the indefinite mood of verbs. The poem, as it were, enters the expanse of general truths about life, leaving behind declarations of love for a specific woman.
In this light, the meaning of the word is of particular interest other in the 1st line. I never thought about it before referential sense, but thinking about it now, I would attribute it to the poet’s first wife, Evgenia Vladimirovna Lurie-Pasternak. 10 E if this is true, then the expression other sounds, on the one hand, like a euphemism softening awkwardness (they say, it’s not about her alone), and on the other hand, like a rude, Soviet-type dismissive gesture ( Others are unaware...). But in light of the generalizing rhetoric of LI as a whole, which in the finale moves away from mentions of the poem’s addressee, my first reaction seems more adequate: it’s not only about Evgenia Vladimirovna at the beginning, not only about Zinaida Nikolaevna in the middle, and not even about love at all at the end .
It can be said that LI oscillates between the poet’s two favorite genres of lyrical discourse: poems about “You” - declarations of love, whether to a woman or a Christmas tree, in the format: * You [are] so-and-so... 11, and poems about “This” - definitions of some more abstract entities in the format: *This is [is] such and such. 12 In comparison with both groups of texts, LI is extremely balanced, free from exclamations, cumbersome enumeration and enjambment, very judicious and axiomatic in the presentation of his system of equations. And by connecting the infinitive series to this in the finale, it also typically gravitates towards the third Pasternak's format: action program in infinitives. 13
5. Phonetics.In developing Pasternak's themes of the unity of the universe, varied by diverse manifestations of contact, the most important place is occupied by alliteration and paronomasy, which clearly demonstrate the phonetic similarity, almost the identity of different words, and therefore the corresponding objects. It is only natural that in a poem, the leitmotif of which is the equating of different entities according to the principle “this is the same as that” 14, such a technique would find rich application. And indeed, the LI dictionary as a whole, and often individual lines, form a kind of sound continuum, where individual words resonate in various ways and seem to flow into each other. But at the same time, the poem retains an aura of transparent clarity, so different from the improvisational chaos of the poet’s early poems (cf. the characteristic line AND the chaos of the thickets splashes).
Let us sketch, for example, a picture of the alliterations of stanza I:
1st line: three T, two drums And 15 ;
2nd: two And, two R , two h ;
3rd: three T, all three drums - e, including two after R ;
4th: two ra at the beginning of words , two h, three And, of which two are drums, three n.
In the future, this trend continues, only the orchestration focuses on other leading sounds: the consonant With and vowel O in stanza II and on consonants With, R And t and vowel e in III.
But the obvious repetitions of individual sounds do not give an idea of the resulting powerful system of alliterative connections between words throughout the entire space of the text. Here are some impressive chains:
ST: cross - charms - rustle - news - truths - disinterested - shake - cunning;
SN: beautiful - spring - dreams - news - basics - wake up - verbal;
RE: cross - beautiful - charms - secret - to see the light - henceforth.
The chains, as is easy to see, intersect and even overlap, sometimes forming powerful clusters, for example, CRST: cross - secret - selfless. The main network of echoes consists of more sparse overlays, with one or two common sounds, sometimes in different orders, and sometimes with voicing/stunning, so that the feeling is created not of a catchy equation, but of a kind of blurred unity.
An example would be a series of combinations h followed by a variable consonant ( c, d, n, d, r, s): And sound Ilin - ra zg adke - zhi zn and - in building uh - about sp eat - and z s hearts, after which for the first and only time in the poem h finally appears separately, without an accompanying consonant: n e for quarreling.
And the previous combination h with the sound closest to it With(V from the heart) sounds like it sums up the rich system of parallels between these combinations h+ consonant and numerous combinations With+ consonant.
This is the overflow h V With begins in the rhyme of stanza I, where And h vilin rhymes with equals With Ilen, despite the two preceding the rhyming word h-words : ra h you bastard h neither, but based on beautiful With on And prele With you With ecret; it is also effectively presented at the beginning of stanza III: in a pair wake up - see the light, where in a similar morphological and phonetic context With(n ) seems to go into h (R ).
A special layer of “weaving of words” forms a sound that is pulled through the entire text n , interesting in terms of semantic interpretation. Abundant use of consonant n due to a number of factors:
its role as a suffix of adjectives ( beautiful, verbal, equal- 16 ) , which in short forms puts it in the outcome of the word ( audible) and therefore sometimes to rhyme ( equivalent, selfless);
its role as the main consonant of a negative particle ( not clogging, not big) and the adversative pronoun ( other);
to its presence in a considerable number of full-valued words ( convolutions, life, spring, news, truths, dreams, foundations, wake up).
All together this promotes crystallization around n semantic halo, associating “equating adjective" (= function of nominal predicates) with negativity and with cluster " without convolutions - life - spring - news - dreams/awakening - basics - truths - clearness».
It is worth emphasizing that against the background of Pasternak’s early poems, this paronomastics looks rather modest. It is carried out quite carefully and is largely offset by the simplicity and transparency of other aspects of the structure.
6. Rhyming.At first glance, the rhyme structure of LI is more or less simple. Before us are three quatrains of 4 st. iambic with cross rhyme MF. The rhymes are sometimes precise ( dreams/foundations;see the light/henceforth), sometimes not quite ( cross/secret), often deep and rich ([ shoro ]X dreams/[after all]X basics; shake out /cunning).
Deviations from this simplicity are also largely traditional for Pasternak and consist in giving different rhyme pairs similarities to each other, which increases the unity of the rhyme repertoire.
The rhymes of stanza I are weakly subject to this (except perhaps s/z presented in all four): they set an almost complete initial difference between the pairs, but will retroactively be involved in the process of mutual fertilization.
The rhymes of stanza II are united by common sounds With And n, and With is inherited from most of the rhymes of stanza I, and n- from her even rhymes; in addition, even rhymes ( true/selfless) inherit T from odd rhymes of stanza I ( cross/secret); are inherited from stanza I and grammatical relationships within even rhymes convolutions/equivalent And true/selfless(noun female, gender, plural) / briefly adj. husband. R. units h. in them. pad.), which works for the overall symmetry of structures and maintains proportion the secret of beauty = the answer to life.
In stanza III, the common part of all rhyming words forms a cluster h /With, R, t, which picks up the rhyming material of certain rhymes from previous stanzas (cf. see the light/henceforth With cross/secret, A shake out /cunning With true/selfless).
The single block on which these rhyming roll calls are put is the rhyme on And in the even - and, therefore, final - lines of all stanzas and on e in the odd lines of stanzas I and II. Rhymes on O in the odd lines of the second stanza, thus, there is a compositional turn to the side, with a return to the original scheme at the end e-e-e-e, according to the principle of thesis - antithesis - synthesis . Synthesis consists of the enrichment of final rhymes, especially even ones, outlined above, with sound material from previous stanzas. Another detail that attracts attention in the rhymes of the last stanza is the consistent softening T, inherited from previous stanzas: the poem ends with a chord of four rhymes with [- t ]. 17
Long, unsettled chains of imprecise rhymes are a known trait Pasternak's versification. 18 They can form continuous sequences or alternate with other rhymes. There are numerous cases when the same vowel (or consonant) is included in several rhyme series, forming a series of different, but “consonant” rhymes, for example:
play - tear - epigraph - love ;
reasons - reason - lawns - horizon ;
chorale - molokan - picked up - to the clouds ;
across the face - striping - towards the end - kissing ;
paternal - protecting - boiling - (to) thicker .
In LI, such a free, sometimes to the point of disorder, impulse is disciplined within the framework of a regular three-stanza composition, but the effect of free flow increases from stanza to stanza. Rhymes on And form a single imprecise chain: convolutions - equivalent - truths - disinterested - shake out - cunning; the first pair is connected to the second And Andn, and the second and third - and, with, t. Moreover, this chain also accumulates some elements from the first rhymes on e and thus partly hybridizes, at the level of consonants, with a parallel chain: cross - secret - see the light - henceforth.
1. Anagrams?Anagrammatic interpretations of Pasternak’s poems were proposed more than once: in some lines the surname was read Bryusov, in others - Bach, Thirdly - Scriabin, fourthly - the name Elena(Grapes), especially since Pasternak also has an acrostic poem MARINE TSVETAEVA. I paid tribute to this in the analysis of Neuhaus’s “Ballad”, trying to discern anagrams of the name in the text Harry. There I quickly pointed out the possibility of a similar encryption in the “Second Ballad” (dedicated, in conjunction with the first, to Z. N. Neuhaus) named Zina- in lines with appropriate rhymes and alliterations ( birch and aspen - back - canvas - two sons - life long night...). 19
“I really liked both poems,” admitted Zinaida Nikolaevna. 20 It is possible that in the slightly later LI addressed to her, Pasternak used partly the same allusive rhyme (on And) and put it in the strongest structural position. Some arguments in favor of this have, in fact, already been outlined above - when considering alliterative games with h , With And n and their combinations with other consonants. I'll add that in the line AND live without getting dirty in the future, there is a verb next to it live(referring to the solution to life) and sequence of syllables NOT FOR, that is, with permutation, ZINA.
Unfortunately, these fascinating guesses contradict the obvious shift of attention in the final stanza of LI from individuals to general truths, and are generally unprovable. Now, if we could find real evidence - let’s say that in the home circle the poem was called nothing less than “Zina”!.. This would be the key to everyone.
LITERATURE
Broitman S. N. 2007.Poetics of Boris Pasternak's book “My Sister is Life.” M.: Progress-Tradition.
Gasparov M. L. 1997.Poem by B. Pasternak // Aka . Selected works. T. 3. About verse. M.: Languages of Russian culture. pp. 502-523.
Zholkovsky A.K. 2011.Poetics of Pasternak. Invariants, structures, intertexts. M.: UFO.
Pasternak B. L. 2004. Full composition of writings. In 11 volumes / Comp. And
In Pasternak’s life there were three women who were able to win his heart. A poem is dedicated to two of the lovers, the analysis of which is presented in the article. It is studied in 11th grade. We invite you to familiarize yourself with a brief analysis of “Loving others is a heavy cross” according to plan.
Brief Analysis
History of creation- the work was written in the fall of 1931, two years after meeting Zinaida Neuhaus.
Theme of the poem- Love; qualities of a woman that deserve love.
Composition– The poem was created in the form of a monologue-address to a loved one. It is laconic, but, nevertheless, is divided into semantic parts: the hero’s attempt to unravel the mystery of his beloved’s special beauty, brief reflections on the ability to live without “dirty” in the heart.
Genre- elegy.
Poetic size– written in iambic tetrameter, cross rhyme ABAB.
Metaphors – “to love others is a heavy cross”, “your charm is tantamount to the secret of life”, “the rustle of dreams”, “the rustle of news and truths”, “shake out verbal rubbish from the heart.”
Epithets – “you are beautiful”, “the meaning... is selfless”, “not a big trick”.
Comparison – “your meaning is like air.”
History of creation
The history of the creation of the poem should be found in the biography of Pasternak. The poet's first wife was Evgenia Lurie. The woman was an artist, so she did not like and did not want to deal with everyday life. Boris Leonidovich had to take care of household chores himself. For the sake of his beloved wife, he learned to cook and do laundry, but it didn’t last long.
In 1929, the poet met Zinaida Neuhaus, the wife of his pianist friend Heinrich Neuhaus. Pasternak immediately liked the modest, pretty woman. Once he read his poems to her, instead of praise or criticism, Zinaida said that she did not understand anything from what she read. The author liked this sincerity and simplicity. He promised to write more clearly. The love relationship between Pasternak and Neuhaus developed, she left her husband and became the poet's new muse. In 1931, the analyzed poem appeared.
Subject
The poem develops the theme of love, popular in literature. The poet’s life circumstances leave an imprint on the lines of the work, so you need to read the poems in the context of Pasternak’s biography. The lyrical hero of the work completely merges with the author.
In the first line, Pasternak hints at a relationship with Evgenia Lurie, whom it really was not easy to love, since the woman was hot-tempered and capricious. Next, the lyrical hero turns to his beloved. He considers its advantage to be “lack of convolutions,” that is, not too high intelligence. The poet believes that this is what gives a woman her charm. Such a representative of the fairer sex is more feminine and can be an excellent housewife.
The author believes that the beloved lives not so much with her mind as with her feelings, which is why she can hear dreams, news and truths. She is as natural as air. In the last stanza, the poet admits that next to such a woman it is easy for him to change. He realized that it is very easy to “shake the verbal rubbish out of the heart” and prevent new contamination.
Composition
The poem is created in the form of a monologue-address to a loved one. It can be divided into semantic parts: the hero’s attempt to unravel the mystery of his beloved’s special beauty, brief reflections on the ability to live without “dirty” in the heart. Formally, the work consists of three quatrains.
Genre
The genre of the poem is elegy, as the author reflects on an eternal problem; in the first line one feels sadness, apparently because he felt this “heavy cross” on himself. There are also signs of a message in the work. The poetic meter is iambic tetrameter. The author uses ABAB cross rhyme.
Means of expression
To reveal the theme and create the image of an ideal woman, Pasternak uses artistic means. Plays the main role metaphor: “to love others is a heavy cross”, “your charm is tantamount to the secret of life”, “the rustle of dreams”, “the rustle of news and truths”, “to shake out verbal rubbish from the heart”.
Much less in the text epithets: “you are beautiful”, “the meaning... is selfless”, “not a big trick”. Comparison just one thing: “your meaning is like air.”
All the people and all the events in your life came into it because you attracted them. Now you have to choose what to do with them.
As soon as you completely concentrate the power and energy of your mind on what you love, prosperity will fill your life and all your desires will come true easily and simply.
If you stay in place and don’t move forward, everything fades and loses its meaning. Both in work, in relationships, and in life.
Since your mind has not comprehended great truths -
It's funny to worry about petty intrigues.
Since God in heaven is always great -
Be calm and cheerful, appreciate this moment.
Fear is your best friend and your worst enemy. It's like fire. You control the fire - and you can cook with it. You lose control over it, and it will burn everything around and kill you.
If in the morning you hug something other than your pillow,
And everyone can wish for pleasant dreams at night.
And you brew two mugs of coffee in the morning -
You have found everything in life, all you have to do is hold on to it!!!
One day someone will need you like air, and someone will need you like air.
Love is the stimulus for life, its meaning, its content. Without love, you lose the taste of life, the taste of desires, the taste of passion. Loving is both difficult and easy, both bitter and sweet. But it is so necessary!
You see, we quarrel all the time. We can't be together, right?
- Do you like cherries?
- Yes.
- Do you spit out the bones when you eat it?
- Well, yes.
- It’s the same in life. Learn to spit out the seeds and love cherries at the same time!
“Thank you? – Thank you. For the pain? – For the pain – even more important.
Forgive the offender? - Forgive me. He is weak. And in fear. You are stronger. Accept the bereaved? - Accept. All his sorrows and worries.
Raise someone who has fallen? - Raise it. He is your brother. One of many. Bless? - Bless. And those who curse? - Them too.
Love a cruel world? - Be in love. Only Love can save him..."
