A complete analysis of the poem “The Poet and the Citizen,” which was written by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, implies a full disclosure of the topic, the history of its creation, as well as an analysis of the images and symbols that the author used.
This famous poet and writer mainly took part in the struggle for the rights of the people. His works are highly valued because when writing them, the author put the rights of the working and peasant class first. The abolition of serfdom and the life of people after the adoption of this reform is the main theme of Nikolai Alekseevich’s works. At that time, this direction was unique, and therefore arouses the genuine interest of the reader.
History of creation
Like most of Nekrasov’s works, the poem “The Poet and the Citizen” is dedicated to the topic of society, where he devotes a special place to the topic of the poet and poetry in our world. The author has been working on this work for a year. Having started writing in 1855, he finished it in 1856.
After being published in Sovremennik, the poem arouses genuine interest and delight among the public, but is received with hostility by the authorities. In their opinion, the poet calls for revolutionary action. This threatened Nekrasov with arrest upon returning to his native lands, but this did not frighten him at all. This issue of the magazine had to be withdrawn from publication so as not to stir up a further scandal.
Brief Analysis
Before reading this analysis, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the poem Poet and Citizen.
History of creation - Work on the work began in 1855, and the poet finished it in 1856. First published as a preface to a collection of poems by Nekrasov.
The theme of the poem is the role of the poet and his work in society.
Composition – The analyzed poem is constructed in the form of a dialogue between a citizen and a poet. During their conversation, the author expresses his thoughts about the key issue. The verse is divided not into stanzas, but into replicas. The author indicates who owns each of them.
Genre : civil poetry.
The meter of the poem is iambic tetrameter, the rhyme pattern is cross ABAB, some lines do not rhyme.
Metaphors - “the sense of duty has not cooled”, “the heart is incorruptible”, “I smash the vices boldly”, “the blues have slipped from the poet’s soul.”
Epithets - “wonderful sounds”, “sleepy melancholy”, “zealous reader”, “wild critic”, satires “ignoble and offensive”, “the heavens argue in the radiance”.
Comparisons - “like free streams of the sea,... love promised me its best blessings,” “hidden itself forever, like light.”
Images and symbols of the poem
In this poem, the two central figures are the poet and the citizen. Thanks to their images, the author conveys a certain meaning and idea.
Citizen - his image shows the idea of revolutionary democracy. He is in a state of struggle, defending the rights of the people. His image personifies conscience, which calls the Poet to struggle and action.
The citizen represents an active position and tries to convey his great idea to the Poet. Comparing the homeland with his own mother, he shows the significance of the problems of his native state. He tries to explain to the Poet that his talent must be used in their difficult struggle. You cannot sit idly by.. It is necessary to use all means for the benefit of the Fatherland.
As for the image of the Poet, here we see the complete opposite of the Citizen. He is a coward, he lacks inner core, activity and perseverance. He tries to justify his indecisive behavior. This is a kind of caricature of those creators who are completely absorbed in their creativity and are completely oblivious to the events that are happening around them. The fact is that they are very selfish and afraid to challenge society.
Literary direction and genre
Nekrasov is a realist poet. The poem “The Poet and the Citizen” belongs to the genre of civil lyrics. It poses a problem: should lyrics always show the author’s civic position?
The poem is written in the form of a dialogue. This refers the reader to Pushkin’s poem “The Poet and the Crowd,” with which Nekrasov argues. In addition, the dialogue between the Poet and the Citizen reveals a conflict, which is simultaneously a conflict between two life positions, active and passive (external), and a conflict in the mind of 35-year-old Nekrasov, who chooses his path as a poet (internal). This poem is a manifesto with which Nekrasov declares his position in life.
Themes and problems of the work
The main problem of this poem is the role of the poet and poetry as such in society. How poetry can influence public opinion, and what power it carries. Nekrasov believes that in such difficult times, the main purpose of the poet is to create for the public and influence the mood of the crowd. After all, most poets were very selfish, and in their works they only glorified their experiences and elements of their personal lives.
The poet calls on creators to pay attention to the problems that are happening around them in their state. And the fact that talent must be directed to solving global problems, thereby trying to help the people's grief.
You could judge more correctly: You may not be a poet, But you must be a citizen. What is a citizen? A worthy son of the Fatherland.
Nekrasov considers it impossible to waste his talent on writing completely useless texts that do not bring any benefit to the people. He is trying to convey the importance of their work to the civilian population. First of all, he tries to prove this to himself, because, like many other authors, he sometimes loses confidence in his abilities and ceases to see the meaning and importance of his work. When a person faces difficulties, he loses confidence in his abilities. Therefore, calling on creative people to create for the people, he shows himself how important his work is for the people and the homeland.
The problems that Nekrasov touches on in his work primarily show all the instability and hostility that is happening in his country. Ordinary people have been driven into such a framework that they silently do their work, and continue to live in poverty, bordering on poverty, but are afraid to express their opinions openly. People live in constant fear of the power of rulers. As for the gentlemen, they are not at all interested in the problems of the people, and they are also not going to do anything to improve their lives.
The main problems of the poem can be identified as follows:
- Complete indifference of gentlemen to the problems of the population.
- Lack of social equality of the population.
- The lack of opportunity for ordinary people to improve their living conditions, for the reason that they are completely deprived of any rights.
- Incorrect behavior of creative people in relation to their talent.
- The main responsibilities of creative people, which they chose to forget, putting their own interests first.
Themes and mood
- The main theme of the poem is defining the role of the poet and poetry in society. The author insists that the creator must subtly understand his time and do what is necessary for the era. The citizen calls on the interlocutor to look around and understand that at the moment the people need a voice that will voice their needs and demands. He compares Pushkin's talent and what the Poet from the poem is endowed with, and comes to the conclusion that they are different because time has changed. What is needed now is not the beauty of the syllable, but the strength of the voice.
- Another topic is the fate of the people. Most sweet-voiced singers are indifferent to her, but a true poet must protect the interests of ordinary people and draw public attention to their sorrows. While the government flexes its muscles and boasts, the people suffer under the yoke of autocracy, and there is only one person capable of conveying this truth to the highest ranks - a poet.
- Another topic is civic consciousness. Every person must find within himself a citizen who cares about the fate of the country. Only in this way will the people form an active and conscious society that will defend their interests before the authorities. Nekrasov sets his own example, because the conversation between the Citizen and the Poet takes place inside him every time righteous indignation forces him to take up the pen.
The mood of a poem is a motivation for action. While the poet lies and is lazy, no one will do his work. If at first he thinks that poetry is something that can help the people, then in the end his opinion changes. The citizen, by the force of his ardor, convinces him.
Means of artistic expression
Thanks to the large number of epithets that the author uses, the poem conveys the true meaning in the best possible way. A large number of metaphors also give the text greater brightness and expressiveness.
The use of rhetorical exclamations, which are found in the dialogue between the Poet and the Citizen, helps the reader to understand the main idea.
The combination of all these means of artistic expression makes the text bright, emotional, capable of reaching the most hardened souls and hearts.
Literary traditions and continuity
When Nekrasov heard rumors about the government’s outrages in the field of culture, public opinion, and literature, he replied that Russian writers had seen “censorship storms even worse.” And Nekrasov adopts democratic values, civic consciousness and a sense of responsibility of a creative person to society, country, time and his own talent from his older brothers in writing - Pushkin (just remember his famous “Conversation of a Bookseller with a Poet”) and Lermontov (“Journalist, Reader and Writer” "). Analysis of the poem “The Poet and the Citizen” makes it possible to trace how much Alexey Nikolaevich developed and deepened the great poetic traditions.
The meaning of the work
The main meaning of the work is that the author calls for the awakening of the entire people, as well as creators who are too carried away by chanting nature and their own lives. He pushes people to fight for their beliefs, and not sit somewhere on the sidelines, letting everything take its course.
Listen: shame on you! It's time to get up! You know yourself what time has come; In whom the sense of duty has not cooled, in whom the heart is incorruptibly straight, in whom there is talent, strength, accuracy, he should not sleep now...
Nekrasov encourages people to do any deed for the benefit of the fatherland, because otherwise it does not carry any meaning. A true patriot, who was not indifferent to the fate of his homeland, could not sit still, watching the people's grief.
Means of expression
To reveal the theme and realize the idea of the work, the author uses means of expression. They help the author to place emphasis in the text and figuratively convey key thoughts.
Metaphors predominate in the text : “the sense of duty has not cooled,” “the heart is incorruptible,” “I smash the vices boldly,” “the blues have slipped from the poet’s soul.” The picture is complemented by epithets - “wonderful sounds”, “sleepy melancholy”, “zealous reader”, “wild critic”, satires “ignoble and offensive”, “heaven argues in the radiance” and comparisons - “like free streams of the sea... love promised I have my best blessings,” “hidden forever like light.”
Since the author reproduces an emotional conversation, intonation plays a significant role. Some stanzas use alliteration, for example, “s”, “g”, “z”: “Blessed is the chattering poet, And pitiful is the silent citizen!”
Previous
Analysis of poems “Conversation between a bookseller and a poet” analysis of Pushkin’s poem according to plan briefly - year, topic
Next
Analysis of the poems “The Desert Sower of Freedom” analysis of Pushkin’s poem according to the plan briefly - year, theme, history of creation, idea
Essays
Nekrasov wrote his work “The Poet and the Citizen” in 1855. Nekrasov “The Poet and the Citizen” built a poem on dialogue. In the work there is a conversation between the poet and an ordinary citizen. When you read it, it seems that in this work the author depicted the internal struggle that took place in the writer’s soul. Perhaps at some point Nekrasov doubted his creativity and what he did and what he wrote about. And he wrote precisely about the truth of life, about the life of ordinary people, while the former sharpness of his works began to lose relevance, poetry that would delight the ears of educated people became fashionable. He put his thoughts on paper.
Nekrasov Poet and citizen poem
The work “The Poet and the Citizen” by Nekrasov and his analysis begins with reproaches. The citizen reproaches the writer for not writing again, moping again, to which the poet tells him that his work is not as beautiful as, for example, the work of Pushkin, who knew how to write beautifully and whose works the author admires, therefore only when reading Pushkin’s lines “The sleepy melancholy has left the poet’s soul.” The poet does not want to write because he is not that talented, although the citizen claims the opposite. He says that his talent may not be so great, but “I accept your poems more alive with my heart.” Yes, the poet is not Pushkin, but his talent is obvious and the citizen openly declares this “it’s a shame to sleep with your talent.” And he also says that in difficult times, “it is even more shameful in times of grief to sing the beauty of the valleys” and “to delight the ears of lazy people and drown out the roar of storms.” Therefore, his work, and here we should mean the work of Nekrasov himself, who in his works revealed the ulcers of modern society, is most welcome. People don't need love poetry at a time when they really need support.
Poet and citizen Nekrasov analysis
Analyzing Nekrasov’s poem “The Poet and the Citizen,” we see a call, a manifesto. The citizen calls on you to become useful to your Motherland, not to follow the lead of the rich, but to become useful to society, not to be cold towards your Fatherland, not afraid to go through thick and thin for your beliefs. Having read the work “The Poet and the Citizen” by Nekrasov and analyzing the poem, we see that a representative of ordinary people in the person of a citizen calls the poet “the chosen one of heaven,” but the poet still doubts, to which the citizen declares, “You may not be a poet. But you have to be a citizen.” This means that even for poets, the interests of society should not be alien, so there is no need to be afraid of condemnation, and whatever the truth, it will still be better, therefore, the chosen path of the poet is correct and his role is invaluable for society. And Nekrasov, no matter what, remained true to his thoughts and views.
Save it to your wall so you don’t lose it!
