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4.1
Average rating: 4.1
Total ratings received: 49.
The optimistic miniature “Sparrow” is one of the few works from Turgenev’s “Poems in Prose” cycle written in such a key. A brief analysis of “Sparrow” will tell its story according to plan and reveal all the features of the work. It can be used both as main and additional material for a literature lesson in 7th grade.
The material was prepared jointly with a teacher of the highest category, Kuchmina Nadezhda Vladimirovna.
Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 27 years.
Brief Analysis
Before reading this analysis, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the poem Sparrow.
History of creation - this work was written in April 1878. It was first published during the writer’s lifetime in the magazine “Russian Messenger” for 1882.
The theme of the poem is the selfless and sacrificial love of a parent for his child.
The composition is three-part: Turgenev creates an exposition, tells a story and ends it with a conclusion-ending.
Genre : prose poem.
The verse size is blank verse.
Epithets - “young sparrow”, “barely sprouted wings”, “old black-breasted sparrow”, “desperate pitiful squeak”, “toothed open mouth”, “small body”, “safe branch”, “love impulse”.
Metaphors - “the wind shook strongly,” “the voice grew wild and hoarse,” “the force threw it off.”
Comparison – “fell like a stone.”
The history of the creation of a prose poem
Ivan Sergeevich turned to prose poems only in the last years of his life. This is a philosophy of thoughts and feelings, this is a summing up of the work done throughout life, this is working on mistakes, this is an appeal to descendants.
As soon as the author had the right moment, he immediately wrote down such unusual poems. Moreover, he wrote on anything, on any piece of paper, as soon as inspiration came. Most of the prose poems were written on small pieces of paper, which he then neatly and carefully folded in his dark briefcase. This is how materials were collected.
The date of writing of Turgenev’s prose poem “Sparrow” is 1878, and the first listener is Mikhail Matveevich Stasyulevich, editor of the journal “Bulletin of Europe” and a friend of the author. After listening to an interesting sketch, Mikhail Matveevich was surprised by the depth of the plot of such a small poem, its expressiveness and deep meaning. Then a friend suggested that the already famous author publish his creations. But the writer was against it, because he believed that many of his prose poems were still of a personal and even intimate nature.
Later, Stasyulevich was able to convince Ivan Sergeevich to put his notes in order and submit them for publication, to print. Therefore, very soon, in 1882, in the New Year’s Eve issue of one of the popular and in-demand magazines at that time, “Bulletin of Europe,” the poem “Sparrow” was published along with other essays. In total, Turgenev selected 51 works for publication.
The rest of the part, which revealed some moments from the life of the author himself, was published a little later. The date of their publication is said to be approximately 1930-1931. Thus, thirty-one more of Turgenev’s prose poems became known to the reading world. These poetic miniatures were greeted with great enthusiasm and were so loved by the reader that they were translated into other languages.
I was returning from hunting and walking along the garden alley. The dog ran ahead of me.
Suddenly she slowed down her steps and began to sneak, as if sensing game in front of her.
I looked along the alley and saw a young sparrow with yellowness around its beak and down on its head. He fell from the nest (the wind strongly shook the birch trees of the alley) and sat motionless, helplessly spreading his barely sprouted wings.
My dog was slowly approaching him, when suddenly, falling from a nearby tree, an old black-breasted sparrow fell like a stone in front of her muzzle - and all disheveled, distorted, with a desperate and pitiful squeak, he jumped a couple of times in the direction of the toothy open mouth.
He rushed to save, he shielded his brainchild... but his whole small body trembled with horror, his voice grew wild and hoarse, he froze, he sacrificed himself!
What a huge monster the dog must have seemed to him! And yet he could not sit on his high, safe branch... A force stronger than his will threw him out of there.
My Trezor stopped, backed away... Apparently, he recognized this power.
I hastened to call the embarrassed dog away and left in awe.
Yes; do not laugh. I was in awe of that little heroic bird, of her loving impulse.
Love, I thought, is stronger than death and the fear of death. Only by her, only by love does life hold and move.
Turgenev's plot is quite simple and ordinary. The main character returns home from hunting. He walks along a small and neat alley, where his dog discovers a small, just tiny chick lying right on the path. It becomes clear that this bird fell out of its nest, and since the chick is very stupid, then, accordingly, he himself cannot return to his nest.
The hero begins to examine this chick, which has barely fledged. But for a dog driven by instinct, this chick is game. And her hunting habits require her to react accordingly. And here the author witnesses a real heroic act. An adult sparrow, which had previously been sitting on a branch and simply watching, rushes at the dog bravely and courageously, risking its life.
An adult bird protects its baby from an attacking hunting dog. He squeaks desperately, pitifully, with no intention of giving up. Of course, his size is completely small compared to the dog, but his desire to save his own child was so strong that the sparrow wins this unequal fight. And the dog, sensing the strength and will of the little bird, begins to retreat embarrassed and guilty. Apparently, the dog nevertheless sensed from the sparrow his enormous desire to live on his own and save his young, which is why it was not physical strength that won, but moral strength.
The ending of Turgenev's poem is not sad or tragic, as one might expect. The hero of the work calls the dog back and leaves with it in a good mood. He is convinced that love can conquer everything in the world and overcome any barriers and obstacles.
Composition
Turgenev creates a traditional three-part composition. First comes the beginning - a leisurely plot that tells about how a hunter and his dog return home. The climax of the action is swift - here the dog Trezor is about to grab the chick, but the old sparrow is already shielding him with his body.
It is important to note that the work does not show the dog as something evil; after all, grabbing prey is its instinct. No, Trezor is in a certain sense the embodiment of fate, such a comparison is quite appropriate in this case.
Finally, the denouement - and it is very optimistic: the big dog retreats in front of the little sparrow, stunned by his heroism. Together with the hunter, they leave the scene, in awe of the bird and the power that made it forget about the instinct of self-preservation.
The plot of the poem
The plot of the work is quite simple. Let us briefly outline it through analysis. Turgenev's "Sparrow" begins as follows. Returning from hunting, the main character walks along the alley. Here he sees a chick that has fallen out of the nest.
This chick is still very weakly fledged. The main character's dog smells game. She wants to pounce on the chick. It seems that Turgenev (“Sparrow”) is preparing a tragic ending for us. wouldn't be as interesting if that were the case. The author uses an unexpected plot device - suddenly an adult sparrow falls from a branch. He selflessly begins to protect his child.
In this work, the author very touchingly and accurately describes the state of a bird that is ready to sacrifice itself to save a loved one. The disheveled sparrow decides to attack the big dog, eating pitifully and desperately. To the protagonist's surprise, his dog sheepishly retreats.
Means of expression
To convey emotional intensity, Turgenev uses a variety of artistic means. These are mainly bright, emotionally charged epithets - “young sparrow”, “barely sprouted wings”, “old black-breasted sparrow”, “desperate pathetic squeak”, “toothed open mouth”, “small body”, “safe branch”, “loving impulse."
Metaphors also add expressiveness to the work - “the wind shook strongly,” “the voice grew wild and hoarse,” “the force threw it off.”
and
comparison – “fell like a stone.”
Ideological and artistic analysis of Ivan Turgenev’s poem “Sparrow”
I.S. Turgenev is the founder of a special genre in Russian literature. It is named simply, even too simply for what it is - a prose poem. This is how he united seemingly two opposites, the genius of the pen and the word.
A feature of the genre is the comparison of the prose form of short sketches and poetic speech, the philosophical and romantic direction of the writer’s thoughts. This unity allows you to create unique, written out, clarified, where required, images. The prose poem “Sparrow” sounds like a hymn to love and selflessness for the sake of the life of a loved one.
The sketch of a real picture about the wisdom of human perception of reality is built, oddly enough, on images of animals and the relationships between them. The main characters are the hunting dog Trezor, whose instincts should be stronger than humanity, and the sparrow, who desperately rushed to the attack to save what was most dear to her. Animals exhibit behavior that is often inaccessible to humans.
The narration is told in the first person. The hunter tells a story that he happened to observe one day. The plot is simple, but the deep meaning embedded in literally every sentence compensates for the volume of what the writer said. The structure of this work is as follows: first there is an exposition, the hero introduces us to the essence of the matter, then the rapid development of events, and then the moral - the conclusion that the hero made from what happened before his eyes. Thus, the work was created not only for spiritual satisfaction or additional information, but also for the benefit of the reader, reflection. The writer teaches while entertaining. In some ways, prose poems are reminiscent of fables, in which compositionally the moral is also located after the completion of the plot.
I.S. Turgenev’s attention to detail conveys the importance of a particular event for the author. Extensive descriptions of the main characters, as for a small work, are needed for better perception, because something doesn’t happen in a literary work for nothing, everything has a meaning, but it needs to be seen and unraveled, and maybe even felt by the soul.
The confusion of speech, excitement, feelings, and then admiration are reflected in the form of the recording, which consists of intermittent phrases when the dog began to approach the chick. Thoughts and surprise are conveyed by ellipses and repetitions of words. And closeness to the reader, influence on him is achieved through the construction “I thought” - the writer lets him into his thoughts, shares them, and addresses the reader.
Many phrases can be considered aphorisms, you can think about them for a long time: “a force stronger than his will threw him out of there” - here it is, the power of love and devotion, here is the ability to cherish and appreciate. “Love, I thought, is stronger than death and the fear of death. Only by it, only by love does life hold and move” - and this is truly so!
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Subject
The main theme of the work is unconditional parental love. At the center of the story is a little sparrow, ready to sacrifice his own life to save his offspring. By depicting a tiny bird, the author wanted to convey to readers the idea that the feeling of love is inherent in all living beings.
Another theme touched upon in the poem is the theme of respect for nature. The author was delighted with the courage of the sparrow, which challenged a large predator. With this example, the writer showed that even the smallest and weakest representatives of the animal world are capable of experiencing real feelings. Therefore, a person must treat all living beings with respect.
Read on the topic: Analysis of other poems by Turgenev: history of creation, theme, genre, epithets, metaphors
