Star of Russian symbolism
Konstantin Dmitrievich Balmont (1867 - 1942), whose youth fell at the end of the 19th century - the beginning of the Silver Age of Russian poetry, was doomed by fate itself to fall under the influence of the fashionable current of symbolism and “become ill” with it seriously and for a long time.
The poem is written in the form of a sonnet, a classic 14-line poetic form that originated in Italy in the 13th century and gained worldwide fame during the Renaissance, thanks to Petrarch and Shakespeare. A characteristic feature of this model is the division of the text into two quatrains (quatrains) and two tercets (tercets), within which certain rules apply. They relate primarily to the arrangement of rhymes, as well as the size of the verse, the number of syllables in a line, and even the sequence of theme development.
Russian symbolists, captivated by the beauty and sophistication of verse, who attached great importance to the selection and arrangement of words, sounds and rhymes, liked the sonnet form. At the turn of the century, everyone wrote sonnets - Bryusov, Blok, Annensky, Bely, Voloshin, Igor Severyanin and many others, but Konstantin Balmont surpassed all his brothers both in the number of poems written in this genre and in the skill of their literary execution.
Balmont analysis of the poem “Moonlight”
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K. Balmont's sonnet “Moonlight” was written by the author in 1894.
In it, the author describes the state of sleep. At all times, sleep has had the meaning of a borderline state between life and death, and a person seems to be between worlds. It was in this state that a person could know what was inaccessible to him during the waking period, so the poet dedicated the sonnet to this mysterious state. The lyrical hero connects sleep and night with the full moon - it’s like a sign that soon the soul and body will go there, into the unknown and unknowable, because no one knows what we will dream about today. His soul yearns for these adventures. The metaphor used in describing the moon as “sickle...brilliant and tender” shows how much the author loves and admires the moon and the night. He also used the epithet “pale radiance” to describe the moon, showing its unusual light at night.
In a dream, the lyrical hero travels across the earth, through forests, mountains, and experiences amazing emotions - he wants to cry and greedily inhale the air around him. This happens in moments of joy and delight. And even though all this is only in the hero’s imagination, this does not make everything he sees devoid of attractiveness. when describing, the author uses the comparison “like a sick spirit” to show how sleep affects his emotional state - he seems to be healed, seeing beauty, begins to live again and enjoys life.
Looking at the moon and admiring what he sees, the hero begins to understand what he did not understand at the time when he was awake, some secrets of the world become clear to him - he listens to how “silence speaks.”
Contemplating the moon gives him the feeling of a fairy tale - he compares himself to a “fairytale elf” (simile), and the moonlight is a grid of rays. Looking at the moon, the hero finds peace and tranquility, feels lightness and freshness. All the bustle of the world passes him by - nothing touches or bothers him. Even the world itself seems alien to him, it does not belong to him. Everything is empty, everything passes by. The hero is sleeping. He is happy. To describe this state, the author used the comparisons “I am a cloud, I am the breath of the breeze.”
For some, the moon brings gloomy thoughts, for others they are afraid of it, but for the lyrical hero of the sonnet, the moon is a symbol of peace. Its extraordinary light brings him a feeling of joy and delight. Probably, the night is his favorite time, because at night an amazing dream awaits him, and this wonderful state prepares new adventures for him every day.
The poem is written in iambic pentameter. The structure of the poem is two quatrains and two tercets, like a classic sonnet.
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Moonlight
“Moonlight” was written in 1894 and was published in the first significant collection of selected works by Balmont, “Under the Northern Sky,” which was published the same year in St. Petersburg. In fact, this was not the first publication of the poet’s poems, but the first book that readers liked and received positive reviews. The mood of this collection as a whole is quite sad, it exhibits features of decadence, poetry of decline, devastation and escape from reality into mysterious magical mystical worlds. The young poet is focused on exploring the secrets of his own soul , immersed in illusions, in dreams of access to the subtle planes of existence.
Development of the theme in the composition of the sonnet
The poem about moonlight is also dedicated to observing the flight of sensory sensations and the subsequent thoughts. In the first quatrain, as is supposed to be done in a sonnet, the poet gives the beginning of the theme, namely, he shows the rising of the moon with the onset of night.
But the description of the landscape is completely ignored: there is not the slightest hint that would allow the reader to understand exactly where the hero is and what surrounds him; one can only assume that he is at home and the moon is shining through the window. It is interesting to compare this beginning with the first lines of the poem “Moonlight” by Yakov Polonsky, written half a century earlier: “On a bench, in the transparent shadow of quietly whispering sheets, I hear the night coming, and I hear the roll call of roosters.”
They indicate the same theme, but just a few details - a bench, foliage, roosters crowing - allow us to imagine a very specific rural corner where this poet meets the evening.
An analysis of Balmont's poem shows that it is written in the first person and from the third line the author begins to explore his vague moods. Moonlight acts here as a kind of abstract substance with which the impressionable soul of the poet interacts, receiving, as it were, an impulse of cosmic energy of love for flight in the space of the night sky. Further development of the topic follows the following scheme:
- The second quatrain continues reflections on the rise of dreams above the world and the tempting attraction of the play of human imagination. In this part of the work, there are also disturbing notes - the hero, as if somewhere deep down in his soul, realizes the danger of such exaltation and compares himself to a “sick spirit.” This conflict makes you cry, even if it’s “sweet”.
- In the first of the terzettos, the sad motif recedes, and the poet’s mind experiences only pure delight from the soul’s emergence to a subtle level from communication with the silence of the Universe. Whether this happens in a dream or in reality is not clear. Most likely, somewhere on the edge, when a person falls asleep, plunging into dreams, and at that moment realizes the boundlessness of his subconscious.
- The final tercet of the sonnet already describes a state of sleep, extraordinary lightness, peace, detachment from all one’s worries and from the problems of loved ones.
In general, the work leaves the feeling that the lyrical hero loves the moon more than the sun, and is grateful to it for its radiance in the darkness of the night, which brings peace, allows you to restore strength and be filled with new emotions and inspiration for life and creativity.
Features of poetic language
The literary style of Konstantin Balmont is characterized by a rich variety of expressive means, masterfully creating elegant musical verse. His mastery of the poetic word was recognized by everyone, even those who were not fans of his work. In the early poem “Moonlight” some techniques for creating imagery can be identified:
- epithets - brilliant, gentle, serene - colorful definitions that decorate the poem;
- comparisons - “like an elf” and “as if a sick spirit”;
- interesting metaphors - expressions in a figurative sense and in large quantities. For example, “I’m rushing in my dreams”, “a grid of rays”, “I’m breathing with the Moon”, “I’m a cloud”;
- selection of words that sets a specific ri; this chain of homogeneous members of the sentence seems to draw a line of movement upward, to take off, to lift off the ground.
Thus, a brief analysis of Balmont’s poem “Moonlight” demonstrates the undoubted poetic gift of the young poet, who was destined to take his honorable place in the history of Russian literature. And although this example of typical symbolist poetry may lack the living sincerity and realism inherent in the best traditions of Russian poetry, the desire for a philosophical understanding of the life of the soul and subconscious of a person evokes some empathy in the reader and pushes him to his own thoughts about eternal values.
Despite the desire to move away from socially significant topics into the world of creative individualism and pure aesthetics, characteristic of the bourgeois consciousness of the decadent, Konstantin Balmont remains closely connected with Russian and European reality of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, with its confusion in the face of pressing social problems, with premonitions of future ones inevitable historical global changes.
Moonlight - poems by Konstantin Balmont
When the moon sparkles in the darkness of the night with Its sickle, brilliant and tender, My soul strives for another world, Captivated by everything distant, everything boundless.
To the forests, to the mountains, to the snow-white peaks I rush in my dreams; as if the spirit were sick, I am awake over the serene world, And I cry sweetly, and I breathe - the moon.
I drink in this pale radiance, Like an elf, I swing in a grid of rays, I listen to how the silence speaks.
The suffering of my dear people is far away, The whole earth with its struggle is alien to me, I am a cloud, I am the breath of the breeze.
Analysis of Balmont's poem "Moonlight"
It is believed that sleep is a kind of transitional state between wakefulness and death, when a person is simultaneously in two worlds at once. It is at this moment that the boundaries of the universe expand and certain secrets are revealed. The border line between the two worlds is very fragile, so people cannot always remember what they saw in a dream. But it was precisely this state that the poet Konstantin Balmont loved so much, who in 1894 wrote the amazingly beautiful sonnet “Moonlight”.
This poem very accurately conveys the inner state of the author, who associates night and sleep with the full moon. Its appearance in the sky is a kind of conventional sign that notifies that the most delightful and romantic period of the day is beginning. The author admits that it was at this time that his “soul strives for another world, captivated by everything distant, everything boundless.”
In a dream, Konstantin Balmont, like many of us, travels, admiring forests and rivers. They exist only in his imagination, but this does not lose their realism and attractiveness. The poet's soul strives for these transcendental distances, which can give a feeling of true happiness. “I am awake over a serene world, and I cry sweetly, and I breathe - the moon,” notes Balmont.
The magic of moonlight is so attractive that under its influence the author forgets about everything earthly and material. All everyday worries fade into the background, and the poet admits that there is nothing more precious to him than “this pale radiance,” which is associated with fairy-tale elves and silver threads entangled in the leaves of trees. “I listen to how silence speaks,” the author admits and enjoys the amazing state of peace that sleep gives him.
For some, moonlight acts like a dope, causing anxiety and even attacks of aggression. However, the poet, on the contrary, experiences peace and internally rejoices in the fact that even in relation to close people he becomes absolutely indifferent. “The whole earth with its struggle is alien to me,” the author emphasizes. This releases inner strength and makes it possible to live on without looking back at the past. Therefore, it is not surprising that under the influence of moonlight Balmont ceases to feel like a person in the literal sense of the word. “I am a cloud, I am the breath of the breeze,” the poet is convinced, for whom such mental and physical lightness is the most desirable state.
When the moon sparkles in the darkness of the night with Its sickle, brilliant and tender, My soul strives for another world, Captivated by everything distant, everything boundless.
To the forests, to the mountains, to the snow-white peaks I rush in my dreams; as if the spirit were sick, I am awake over the serene world, And I cry sweetly, and I breathe - the moon.
I drink in this pale radiance, Like an elf, I swing in a grid of rays, I listen to how the silence speaks.
The suffering of my dear people is far away, The whole earth with its struggle is alien to me, I am a cloud, I am the breath of the breeze.
