Poem 12 block old and new world. The image of the “old world” in A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve. As in A. A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve”. the brokenness of the old world is revealed

Old and new world. “Cursed days” - this is how I. A. Bunin, who lived in exile, described the events of 1918. Alexander Blok had a different opinion. He saw the revolution as a turning point in the life of Russia, which entailed the collapse of old moral principles and the emergence of a new worldview.

Absorbed by the idea of becoming new, better life in the country, in January 1918, Blok wrote one of his most striking works - the poem “The Twelve,” which embodied the unstoppable power of the revolution, sweeping away the remnants of the former life along its path.

The image of the old and new world in the poem was created by the author in some special form, full of hidden philosophical meaning. Each image that appears before the reader symbolizes the social face of a social class or the ideological coloring of an ongoing historical event.

The old world is symbolized by several images shown in a mockingly contemptuous light. The image of a bourgeoisie at a crossroads, with his nose buried in his collar, symbolizes the once powerful, but now helpless in the face of new power, the bourgeoisie.

Under the image of the writer lies a creative intelligentsia who did not accept the revolution. “Russia is dead!” - says the writer, and his words reflected the opinions of many representatives of this social group, who saw the death of their country in the events taking place.

The church, which has lost its former power, is also symbolically shown. The author presents to our gaze the image of a priest walking stealthily, “with his side behind the snowdrift,” who in former times “walked forward with his belly, and his belly shone like a cross at the people.” Now the “comrade priest” is deprived of both the cross and his former arrogance.

The lady in karakul is a symbol of secular noble society:

Here is a lady in karakul who turned up to another:

We cried and cried...

Slipped and - bam - stretched out!

This episode, in my opinion, expressed Blok’s opinion about the weak character and inability of the pampered aristocracy to a new life.

All of the above images show that the old world has been defeated, only pitiful shadows of its former greatness remain.

The bourgeois stands there like a hungry dog,

It stands silent, like a question.

And the old world is like a rootless dog,

Stands behind him with his tail between his legs.

The new world received a completely different artistic embodiment in the poem. Its main representatives are twelve Red Army soldiers. The image of this detachment, in my opinion, is a reflection of the real face of the revolution. “I need an ace of diamonds on my back!”, “Lock the floors, now there will be robberies!”, “I’ll slash with a knife, slash!” - such lines found in the poem speak, in my opinion, more about anarchy than about the struggle of the proletariat for a better life. In the conversations of the Red Army soldiers there are never exclamations like: “We are ours, we will build a new world!” One can only discern deep contempt and hatred for everything “old.”

The scale of the revolution is emphasized by images of the raging forces of nature: a raging blizzard, swirling snow, a black sky. The wind is especially widely symbolized by the elemental power of ongoing events:

Wind, wind!

The man is not standing on his feet.

Wind, wind -

All over God's world!

And finally, one of the main ones in the poem “The Twelve” is the image of Christ. The existence of this image in the poem can be interpreted in different ways. Personally, I believe that it symbolizes the “god of slaves”, leading the former slaves of the old world and blessing them to fight their oppressors. The name of Jesus Christ is spelled incorrectly in the poem. In my opinion, the author did this to emphasize that what is meant here is not the god of the old world, but the god of the new, working Russia.

In general, it can be said about the work that Blok managed to create in a small poem a rather impressive picture of life, giving an idea of the events of those years in revolutionary Russia and their ideological orientation. The masterfully constructed composition, uniquely selected images and symbols rightfully make the poem “The Twelve” one of the best works in the work of Alexander Blok.

As in A. A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve”. Is the brokenness of the old world revealed?

Contemporaries of the poet Alexander Aleksandrovich Blok and later researchers of his work, again and again turning to the poem “The Twelve,” asked the constant rhetorical question: “How could a person, brought up in the spirit of the noble traditions of the 19th century, dedicate a poem to those who, in a violent, barbaric way, eradicates traditions? Such bewilderment is quite understandable, because during the revolution and after it, the creative intelligentsia was universally perceived as the artistic conductor of the ideas of the “bourgeoisie and kulaks.” And the revolution itself, as conceived by its theorists and practitioners in their “minimum program,” was supposed to lead to the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, which implied a completely unambiguous attitude towards all other segments of the population. So why did the symbolist poet Alexander Blok glorify this revolution in his poem? In fact, Blok laid down the answer to this question in the poem “The Twelve” itself. He tries to convey the music of the revolution that the poet hears to the reader through poetry. Blok said: “With all your body, with all your heart, with all your consciousness - listen to the Revolution.” The revolution, according to Blok, is wonderful! Despite the horror and chaos that has gripped the country, all this is the essence of a cleansing that Russia simply needs to go through. And if you look at the poem through the prism of such a perception of events, then it will no longer seem strange that Blok so enthusiastically described the brokenness of the old world in “The Twelve.” The symbol of the triumph of the new world is given to the reader immediately, without any preliminary preparation: A rope will be stretched from building to building.

On the rope there is a poster: “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”

This triumph is a fait accompli. It is no longer called into question by ironic intonation or any absurd epithet. And already to him, this fact, firmly standing on the feet of proletarian freedom - not the one that “ends where the freedom of another begins,” but all-permissive and anarchic - is contrasted with the silhouettes of the old world beating in death convulsions: An old woman, like a chicken, Somehow she jumped over the snowdrift.

Oh, Mother Intercessor! - Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive you into a coffin!..

And who is this? -Long hair And he says in a low voice: - Traitors! Russia is dead! -

The writer must be Vitia...

There the lady in karakul turned up to another: We were already crying, crying...

Slipped and - bam - stretched out!..

Human images, symbolizing the old world breaking down before our eyes, are absurd and comical. They, like dolls from the “Theater of the Absurd”, who are unceremoniously pulled by the strings, forced to perform various body movements and utter nonsense in distorted voices, fill the emptiness of a soap bubble, and their faces reflected on the iridescent convex surface cause only a bitter smile: And there is the long-haired one - To the side - behind the snowdrift...

Why are you sad these days, Comrade Pop? Do you remember how it used to be that the belly walked forward and the belly shone with a cross at the people?..

Alexander Blok, as a true genius of symbolism, with one simple phrase demonstrated the bottomless abyss that opened up between opposing worlds. It is “comrade priest” that is a symbol of the antagonism of the old and the new, their complete incompatibility and the most severe ugliness in random combinations, without evoking a drop of pity.

The totality of social and moral values in the souls and minds of the Red Guards, through whose mouths Blok voices the sentiments of the new world, corresponds to ideas about the relationship between the goal and the means to achieve it. If we are going to destroy the old world, then it will be cruel, blasphemous and to the ground: Revolutionary, keep your step! The restless enemy never sleeps! Comrade, hold the rifle, don’t be afraid! Let's fire a bullet into Holy Rus' - Into the barn, In the hut, In the fat-ass!..

The murder of “fat-faced Katka,” who has “Kerenki in her stocking” and who is doing who knows what in the tavern with Vanyusha, is not perceived at all as a crime, but, on the contrary, as an act aimed at strengthening the new world. Some moral hesitation of Petrusha, who doubted the righteousness of what he had done, soon, thanks to the admonitions of the other eleven, turns into a phase of absolute confidence in the fidelity of the path that they have chosen for themselves. There is no turning back: Eh, eh! It's not a sin to have fun! Lock the floors, Now there will be robberies! Unlock the cellars - the bastard is playing today!..

The ending of the poem puts a final and final point in the conflict between the old and the new. The appearance of Jesus Christ under the bloody banner of the revolution, leading the orderly march of the twelve revolutionary apostles, became the last nail in the coffin of the old world, the final and unconditional brokenness of which was symbolically depicted in his poem by Alexander Blok.

Of course, only History can give an objective assessment of any socio-political events. Too much water must flow before it becomes completely clear which of the two opposing sides was closest to the truth, which of the two evils was the least for the country. Almost a century has passed since the revolution took place, but there has never been a consensus on this matter and there is not to this day. Moreover, it is impossible to find an answer to the question: “Who is right?” in the poem “The Twelve”. Blok did not set himself the task of branding the “bourgeoisie” with shame and erecting a literary monument to the proletarians of all countries, united in a single and passionate impulse. He outlined the most difficult problem for him and his contemporaries, and for everyone who lived before him and will live after him, the problem of choice: either rot along with the decaying remains of the old bourgeois society, or burn out like a spark in the merciless fire of the revolution.

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://www.coolsoch.ru/

“Cursed days” - this is how I.A., who lived in exile, described the events of 1918. Bunin. Alexander Blok had a different opinion. He saw the revolution as a turning point in life Russian Federation , which entails the collapse of old moral foundations and the emergence of a new worldview.

Absorbed by the idea of establishing a new, better life in the country, Blok in January 1918 describes one of his most striking works is the poem “The Twelve,” which embodies the unstoppable power of the revolution, sweeping away the remnants of the former life in its path.

The image of the old and new world in the poem was created by the author in some special form, full of hidden philosophical meaning. Each image in the poem that appears before the reader symbolizes the social face of a social class or the ideological coloring of an ongoing historical event.

The old world is symbolized by several images shown in a mockingly contemptuous light. The image of a bourgeois at a crossroads, with his nose buried in his collar, symbolizes the once powerful and At the moment the bourgeoisie, helpless in the face of the new force.

The church, which has lost its former power, is also symbolically shown. The author presents to our gaze the image of a priest walking stealthily, “with his side behind the snowdrift,” who in former times “walked forward with his belly, and his belly shone like a cross at the people.” Now “comrade priest” has neither a cross nor his former arrogance.

The lady in karakul is a symbol of secular noble society. She tells the other that they were “crying and crying” and slipped and fell. This moment, in my opinion, expressed Blok’s opinion about the weak character and unadaptability of the pampered aristocracy to the new life.

The image of Christ in “The Twelve” is also associated with Blok’s fascination with historical parallels, or more precisely, with erroneous historical views, similar in form to those already mentioned in connection with “Scythians.” Blok reasoned something like this: with victory...

Blok greeted the revolution with enthusiasm and rapture. In the article “Intellectuals and Revolution,” published shortly after the October Revolution, Blok exclaimed: “What is planned? Remake everything... With your whole body, with your whole heart, with your whole mind - listen to the Revolution.” In January 1918...

“The Twelve” is a poem of revolution. Not only and not so much a poem describing the general atmosphere reigning in a dying country after the October revolution, but a poem of a revolution in the dying soul of the poet himself. This poem is a mockery of the “revolution”, Blok...

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok, who glorified patriotic feelings and sentiments with his poetry, created the most delightful image of a Beautiful Lady, received great recognition during his lifetime and had great success among the fairer sex, who...

“Cursed days” - this is how I.A., who lived in exile, described the events of 1918. Bunin. Alexander Blok had a different opinion. In the revolution, he saw a turning point in the life of Russia, which entails the collapse of the old moral...

New!
A.A. Blok really wanted to connect with the revolution, this fateful event for the country, the possibility of renewing the whole world, its spiritual cleansing. Sincere belief in the salvific value of the “world fire” of the revolution was reflected, first of all, in the poem “The Twelve”....

Poem "Twelve"- a poem-response to the accomplished revolution - differs in style from other works of the poet: it clearly shows folklore basis, ditty rhythm, use of proverbs and elements of urban romance.

The main principle of the construction of “The Twelve” is contrast. Black wind, white snow, red flag - the color scheme varies within three colors. The poem is polyphonic: it contains many intonations and points of view. The images of the poem acquire particular symbolism: 12 Red Guards are opposed to the old world in the image "a rootless dog»:

The bourgeois stands there like a hungry dog,
It stands silent, like a question.
And the old world is like a rootless dog,
Stands behind him with his tail between his legs.

The old world is presented in the poem satirically, although satire in general is not characteristic of the poet. Images of the “past” acquire a generalizing meaning; they are outlined with only one or two strokes - Vitia, a lady in karakul, a priest whose belly used to shine like a cross at the people.

Opposed to the old world is the new world, the world of revolution. Revolution, according to Blok, is an element, a wind." all over the world", this is mainly a destructive force, whose representatives go " no saint name».

The image in the title of the poem is multifaceted - 12. This is a real detail: in 1918 the patrol consisted of 12 people; and the symbol is the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, the apostles, into whom the Red Guards turn in the course of the revolutionary action. Transformation is a child flax: for example, the gait of the heroes from an impetuous waddling movement turns into a sovereign gait.

Ahead - with a bloody flag,
And invisible behind the blizzard,
And unharmed by a bullet,
Gently walking above the storm,
Snow scattering of pearls,
In a white corolla of roses -
Ahead is Jesus Christ.

Another equally interesting image of the “Twelve” is the image of Christ. A. Blok himself did not give an exact answer as to why this image, far from the revolution, appears in the poem, which gave rise to multiple interpretations. Thus, Christ is seen as embodiment of justice; How symbol of the greatness and holiness of an epoch-making event; How symbol of a new era and etc.

The image of a blizzard in the poem is multifaceted. Firstly, a blizzard is a raging, uncontrollable, “primitive” element, which is how the poet imagined the revolution: “ Wind! Wind! A man can't stand on his feet" Secondly, the image of a blizzard also appears in some of the author’s poems, where a blizzard becomes a symbol of death, going to “nowhere” and “never.” Let us remember the poem “The Dead Man Goes to Sleep”: “ The dead man goes to bed // On a white bed. // Easily spinning in the window // Calm snowstorm" Thirdly, a blizzard as a symbol of God's providence and fate is traditional for Russian classical literature (Pushkin's "Blizzard" and "The Captain's Daughter").

The poem is also interesting in terms of its system of aesthetic principles. “The Twelve” is not pure symbolism; the scope of aesthetics in the poem is expanded: symbolic images are combined with satirical denunciation, the pathos of contempt for the “past” - for the old world is combined with the dream of a new Russia, purified and revived.

The poem “The Twelve,” written in 1918, still remains enigmatic and mysterious due to the multiplicity of interpretations and diversity of images, which provides great opportunities for researching the work.

Happy Literature Study!

website, when copying material in full or in part, a link to the source is required.