The old and new world in A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve.”

OLD AND NEW WORLD IN THE POEM “TWELVE”

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Alexander Alexandrovich Blok created the poem “The Twelve” shortly after the October Revolution, in January 1918. Thus, the work became a direct spontaneous response to the changes taking place in Russian society and reflected the author’s first, emotional impressions of the revolution. Despite the fact that the poem was written in a very short time, “The Twelve” is an unusually integral work of art, striking in its harmony and musicality. Having finished the poem, Blok himself exclaimed: “Today I am a genius!”

The main conflict of the poem lies in the confrontation between the old, outgoing world of Tsarist Russia, and the new order caused by the revolution. The image of the old world is depicted satirically and consists of portraits of passers-by whom twelve Red Army soldiers meet on the streets of the city. These characters complain about the revolution, fearing it. The new order is alien to them.

- Oh, Mother Intercessor!

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

Before us is a writer whispering in fear:

- Traitors!

- Russia is dead!

Here comes “comrade priest”, next to “the lady in karakul”. These characters are depicted with a certain amount of irony. Pop recalls how satisfying and calm his life used to be:

Do you remember how it used to be

He walked forward with his belly,

And the cross shone

Belly on the people?

On the one hand, the heroes symbolizing the passing past are drawn by the author with irony. They are cowardly, pathetic, insignificant. Looking at them, the old world seems

not worth regretting. However, the old woman, looking at the poster, does not think about the victory of the revolution, she is not worried about her fate, but about the poor and hungry children.

The author does not feel sorry for the old world. The image of a bourgeois becomes a symbol of a bygone era. The bourgeois is compared to a hungry dog ​​with its tail between its legs in fear. The poet does not accept his cowardice and indecision. Such a world is doomed to disappear. The new world is depicted by Blok in more detail. It is symbolized by a detachment of twelve Red Army soldiers. Undoubtedly

they represent a serious force, uncontrollable and powerful. Neither wind nor snow can stop them.

The wind is blowing, the snow is fluttering.

Twelve people are walking.

Representatives of the new order, the new government, the creators of a new life - yesterday's workers and peasants, possibly convicts. Most of these people do not know fear, sympathy, regret, or moral hesitation. They are ready to fight for their future with arms in hand, without thinking about the random victims of such a struggle.

Such unlimited freedom, permissiveness, lack of moral boundaries and the presence of weapons that can be used at any moment without hesitation leads to murder.

Where is Katka? - Dead, dead!

Shot in the head!

However, there is a place for humanity among the Red Army soldiers. A. A. Blok sympathizes with Petrukha, who killed his unfaithful mistress Katka. His regrets are sincere and empathetic.

However, very soon Petrukha recovered from his act and was again ready to fight for revolutionary ideals. Not accepting the outdated old way of life, Blok does not idealize the revolutionary present.

Achieving a new order at any cost, the lack of moral guidelines is in no way welcomed by the poet. It seems that the present consists of uncertainty, disorder, chaos, and people are lost in this whirlpool. It is no coincidence that twelve Red Army soldiers are constantly surrounded by wind and blizzard, night and darkness. ... go without a name. saint

All twelve are off into the distance.

Ready for anything

No regrets...

The symbolism of color also emphasizes the author’s perception of current events. Twelve Red Army soldiers are accompanied by black and red colors, darkness and blood, evil and

murder. It seems that there is no light in this darkness. Despite the rather gloomy mood of the work, at the end of the poem there is hope for a better future, hope that in the new world there will be a place for humanity, spirituality, and morality. These concepts are associated with the bright image of Jesus Christ, which, however, is still far away.

The poem “The Twelve” is a masterpiece of A. A. Blok’s work. With extraordinary power, the poet conveyed the atmosphere of destruction and chaos that engulfed revolutionary Russia. This is one of the most powerful works in Russian literature, reflecting the author’s direct view of the changes taking place in society. “The Twelve” is a kind of poetic diary, a document of the era that conveys the poet’s feelings and experiences.

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“The Old World” in the poem by A.A. Block "Twelve"

A. A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve” can be considered as the culmination of his entire work. The motive of the author’s irony in relation to the modern “uterine” world and its “inhabitants” permeates the entire work. The modern bourgeois, whose interests are concentrated only around profit, was so hated by Blok that he, by his own admission, reached “some kind of pathological disgust.” And in the revolution the poet saw a cleansing force capable of giving the world a new breath, freeing it from the power of people who are far from spiritual aspirations, from the ideals of justice and humanity, living only with a thirst for material wealth and guided by their petty passions. This attitude directly echoes the Gospel parable about the rich man who cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The first chapter is an exposition of the poem, showing the background of the city and its motley population. Blok, in the spirit of a folk joke, describes the inhabitants of Petrograd who do not understand what is happening: The old woman, like a chicken, somehow wove through a snowdrift. - Oh, Mother Intercessor! - Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive you into a coffin!

That. that the figures of the “old world” have not human, but animal characteristics, gives rise not only to the heroes of the poem, but also to the readers, an attitude of pity.

Next, a hero is presented, the author’s attitude towards whom is more harsh, this can be felt from the emphatically harsh images of nature that accompany him: The wind is biting! The frost isn't far behind! And the bourgeois at the crossroads hid his nose in his collar.

The October whirlwind seems to have torn off the mask from the eloquent writer, and the author, without recognizing him, asks: “Who is this?” The image of the “formidable accuser” is pathetic; he mutters threats that cause not horror, but laughter. The sublime “vitia” turns into an angry, contemptuous, derogatory nickname. Precise, biting words branded everyone who tried to hide their empty life and disgust towards the people's sorrows behind empty chatter.

And there’s the long-sleeved one - on the side behind - a snowdrift... Why are you sad today, Comrade priest? Do you remember how it used to be that the belly walked forward, and the belly shone with a cross at the people?.. There, a lady in karakul turned up to another: - We were already crying, crying... She slipped and - bam - she was stretched out!

After the almost popular, cheerful picture of heaven, the author’s song sounds mockingly and sympathetically:

Ay, ay!

Pull, lift!

Along with the satire of the “old world”, caused by its inconsistency, the narrowness and primitiveness of the outlook of its representatives, the author also makes a more serious accusation against this world of cruelty. The “terrible world” took away Petka’s beloved, and he takes revenge for this. If you look objectively at the actions of the twelve Red Guards, then, apart from killing Katka, they do not commit any other actions during the entire time of the poem. Nowhere is there any mention of any lofty goal that would motivate them. The author's intention is gradually revealed: love is a more understandable and close concept for a person than any political idea. Therefore, the whole horror of the “old world” is that love is killed in it, it is worth nothing here.

Even more terrible is that the symbol of the “old world” for the heroes-“comrades” is “Holy Rus'”, endowed with “bodily” attributes (“fat-assed”), the “Old World” in the poem is also likened to the “beggar”, “hungry” and “cold” "to the dog. Sometimes researchers point to the image of the “dog” in the poem as the personification of the forces of evil (remember Goethe’s poodle-Mephistopheles). But why is the “beggar”, “hungry” and “rootless” dog for revolutionary “badness” located next to the rejected class-alien “bourgeois”? Perhaps because he, like the “old world”, which is not yet ready to give up, poses a threat:

... Bares his teeth - the wolf is hungry - Tail tucked - does not lag behind - Cold dog - rootless dog... - Hey, answer, who is coming?

Already in the first chapter, before the mention of the “twelve”, against the background of caricatured figures of an old woman, a bourgeois, a writer-viti, a priest, the call is heard: “Comrade! Look / Look both ways!” In the second chapter, the image of a “restless enemy” appears for the first time (“The restless enemy does not sleep!”) and again the appeal to the “comrade” is heard: “Hold the rifle, don’t be afraid!” In the sixth chapter the formula “The restless enemy never sleeps” is repeated, and in the tenth it sounds threatening: “The restless enemy is close!” The motive of anxiety and fear manifests itself most strongly in the eleventh chapter of the poem. In a blizzard, the Red Army soldiers are blind, the red flag obscures their eyes, the image of the “enemy” is mentioned twice: Their steel rifles On the invisible enemy,... In the back streets, Where the blizzard alone gathers dust,.. Yes, in the downy snowdrifts - You can’t drag your boot... It hits your eyes Red flag.

And although snatches of revolutionary songs and the anthem “Varshavyanka” are heard, the expectation of danger does not leave the heroes:

A measured step is heard. Now the Fierce Enemy will wake up... And the blizzard throws dust in their eyes Days and Nights All Over... Forward, forward, Working People!

However, do the heroes really see their enemy in the “old world”? The Red Army men's fear of this unknown enemy grows throughout the poem. But at the same time, the heroes are shown full of courage, they have “anger boiling in their chests,” they are ready to mock the “old world” (“Eh, eh! / It’s not a sin to have fun!”). And the characters of the “old world” are presented as victims (“I’ll cut with a knife / I’ll slash, slash”). That is, it is obvious that they cannot act as an enemy. On the contrary, retribution to the “terrible world” comes from those whom it itself gave birth to.

Blok accepted the revolution, but not from a Marxist position (as a struggle between the oppressors and the oppressed), but from a religious and philosophical one, believing that the world was mired in sin and deserved retribution. The main revolution, according to Blok, should take place not from the outside, but from within people. “World fire in blood” is a symbol of spiritual rebirth. From this point of view, the revolution is the Apocalypse, the Last Judgment, accompanied by the second coming of Christ. And the dirty deed of the “twelve”, their revenge on the bourgeoisie, the settling of personal scores, is an instrument in the hands of Divine justice. And they themselves will be buried under the rubble of this “old world”.

The old and new world in the poem “Twelve. The old and new world in poem A

Contents of the essay:

“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 ​​establishing a 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 old 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 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 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 “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 "cried and cried" and slipped and fell. This episode, in my opinion, expressed Blok’s opinion about the weak character and unadaptability 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 like a hungry dog, stands silent, like a question. And the old world, like a rootless dog, stands behind it with its tail between its legs. In this quatrain, the author emphasizes the insignificance of the old world, comparing it with the image of a rootless dog. The new world has 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 elemental power of ongoing events is especially widely symbolized by the wind: 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 presence 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 Christ in the poem is spelled incorrectly. 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 staged composition, uniquely selected images and symbols rightfully make the poem “The Twelve” one of the best works in the work of Alexander Blok.

The old and new world in A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve.”

“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 the life of Russia, which entailed the collapse of old moral principles and the emergence of a new worldview. Absorbed by the idea of ​​establishing a 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 old 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 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 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 “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 "cried and cried" and slipped and fell. This episode, in my opinion, expressed Blok’s opinion about the weak character and unadaptability 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 like a hungry dog, stands silent, like a question. And the old world, like a rootless dog, stands behind it with its tail between its legs. In this quatrain, the author emphasizes the insignificance of the old world, comparing it with the image of a rootless dog. The new world has 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 elemental power of ongoing events is especially widely symbolized by the wind: 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 presence 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 Christ in the poem is spelled incorrectly. 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 staged composition, uniquely selected images and symbols rightfully make the poem “The Twelve” one of the best works in the work of Alexander Blok.

... So they walk with a sovereign step,
Behind is a hungry dog, Ahead - with a bloody flag, And invisible behind the blizzard, And unharmed by a bullet, With a gentle tread above the blizzard, snow pearls, In a white corolla of roses - Ahead - Jesus Christ.
“Today I am a genius,” said the outstanding Russian poet A. A. Blok, having completed work on his great poem “The Twelve.”

Blok wrote this epoch-making work in a matter of days. Apparently, so much feeling had accumulated in his sensitive heart that it could no longer help but spill out with all the power of the author’s poetic talent. Blok himself admitted that his creation was born as if by inspiration, in a single inspired impulse. Much of it initially defied even the author’s comprehension. Various images of the poem, in particular, the image of Jesus Christ, were unclear to the poet: “...Neither Christ, nor Antichrist, someone else.” The image of Jesus Christ was rethought by him throughout his entire subsequent life, right up to his death. Dying, Blok asked to destroy his work, because at that moment he came to the conclusion that this poem was anti-Christian. So, if even the author himself, a brilliant poet and thinker, was not able to fully comprehend all the meanings and images of the poem “The Twelve,” then can his readers, critics, us, his descendants, be able to do this?

As soon as it was published, the poem caused a lot of the most controversial responses. Some of Blok's contemporaries, such as the writer I. A. Bunin, gave a negative assessment of the work. Many accused Blok of apostasy from Christian ideas, believing that he “went over to the side of the twelve.” The Russian poet and art critic M. A. Voloshin expressed the opinion that the twelve walking do not see Christ, but latently feel his presence and seek to destroy the faith embodied in him. The Russian religious philosopher N.A. Berdyaev called the poem “The Twelve” “the result of Blok’s demonism,” considering it the author’s mistake.

Be that as it may, Blok’s poem did not leave anyone indifferent, as it still does today, ninety years later.

Like B. L. Pasternak in “Doctor Zhivago”, M. Gorky in “Klim Samgin”, M. A. Sholokhov in “Quiet Don”, A. A. Blok in his work sought to capture a turning point in the history of Russia, to trace the destinies individual individuals who, by the will of fate, found themselves in a historical meat grinder.

A recognized master of symbolism, Blok was able to show a large-scale picture of a changing world using specific details and images. One of the central symbols of the poem “The Twelve” is, of course, a snowstorm as the embodiment of a revolutionary element:

Black evening.
White snow. Wind, wind! The man is not standing on his feet. Wind, wind All over God's world!
The patrol, consisting of twelve people, symbolizes the rebellious people; the old, destroyed world is personified by the images of the bourgeoisie, a hungry dog ​​that trails after the patrol. Blok paints a terrible, piercing picture of the collision of old and new, the ruthless rejection of each other by representatives of different worlds. The poet shows the instability of all things before the force of the elements:

The wind curls
white snow. There is ice under the snow. Slippery, hard, Every walker Slides - oh, poor thing!
The poet does not evaluate any of the warring parties. The defeated bourgeoisie are pitiful, disgusting and wretched, but the cruel, semi-literate Red Army soldiers also do not evoke the reader’s sympathy.

Any cardinal changes, no matter how bright they lead, come at the cost of enormous losses, at the cost of rivers of human blood and suffering. It is this idea that Blok carries through his entire work. Twelve walking people sow death and chaos around them, but they have a certain goal, they believe that they are walking the right path, and nothing can make them turn away from their chosen path, no matter how difficult and bloody it turns out to be. The corrupt girl Katya also has no place in her new life, so she dies. However, no matter what “black anger” boils in the chests of the Red Army soldiers, there is also room in them for remorse and regret for the deceased Katka. Thus, Blok, demonstrating people seemingly ossified in anger and hatred, still admits that humane impulses are not alien to them. Rereading the poem again and again, we still cannot decide who they are, these twelve armed people marching through the streets. What power, what principle do they embody, what do they bring to the world, good or evil? Many modern researchers pay attention to the sequence: behind the mangy dog, as a symbol of the past, in the center are twelve Red Army soldiers who

...they walk without the name of the saint.
All twelve go into the distance. They are ready for anything, They don’t regret anything... Their steel rifles are against an invisible enemy...
They “walk with a sovereign step,” not knowing that they are following the invisible Jesus:

Ahead - with a bloody flag,
And invisible behind the blizzard, And unharmed by a bullet, With a gentle tread above the blizzard, A scattering of snow pearls, In a white corolla of roses - Ahead - Jesus Christ.
If the blizzard is, according to Blok, the embodiment of revolution, then the invisible twelve Jesus is on another level, “above the blizzard.” This is the highest goal that people should strive for, but the tragedy is that they are not yet able to discern it. There is too much anger, baseness, dirt in human hearts; humanistic ideas are not able to penetrate their ossified minds. And this is probably the most terrible observation of the author of the poem.

But still, Jesus did not leave the Red Army soldiers, and this allows us to hope that people are not abandoned by God and there is hope that they will see him.

Poem "Twelve"

- a poem in response to the accomplished revolution - differs in style from other works of the poet: it clearly shows
a folklore basis, a ditty rhythm, the 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 contrasted with the old world in the image of
a “rootless dog
”:

The bourgeois stands like a hungry dog, stands silent, like a question. And the old world, like a rootless dog, stands behind it with its tail between its legs.

The old world is presented 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, the lady in karakul, the 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, “ in the whole world.

“, this is mainly a destructive force, whose representatives go “
without the name of a saint
.”

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. The transformation is detailed: for example, the gait of the heroes from an impetuous waddle turns into a powerful gait.

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

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 the embodiment of justice;

as
a symbol of the greatness and holiness of an epoch-making event
;
as a symbol of a new era
, 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 Sleep // On a White Bed.”
// It’s easy to spin 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!

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One of the most significant works of literature of the twentieth century is the work of A. Blok “”. In terms of genre, this poem can be classified as lyrical-dramatic. The creative work consists of twelve chapters.

In the first chapter we are introduced to a detachment of Red Army soldiers. It consisted of twelve people who gathered together and set out to decide their destiny. One winter evening, when a storm triumphs outside the window and a cold wind pierces through, the actions of the first chapter take place.

After describing the inclement weather, the author moves on to creating figures of the old, obsolete world. An old woman is wailing in front of us. We hear a negative attitude towards both the revolution and the Bolsheviks. Then the reader gets acquainted with the person of the bourgeois and the writer “Vitya”. They communicate in a low voice, because gone are the days when you could freely express your thoughts.

In the words of the writer one can feel bitterness and despair, complete rejection of the new government.

The “comrade priest” is also an interesting person. Of course, for a church person such a nickname is a real humiliation. The author combines two societies here – both the new (in the word “comrade”) and the old.

The next person, “the lady in astrakhan fur,” completes the description of the old world.

The created images were representatives of that old, outgoing world. And they were all residents of the previous society, but had absolutely nothing in common with each other. They have different roles, different positions. The only thing that became common was the fear of the coming of a new world and a new government.

A. Blok is trying to show readers how much the change of power knocks the inhabitants of the old world off their support and from their solid path. The author accepted the revolution as a necessary procedure that, sooner or later, had to happen in Russia. He repeatedly notes that it will bring painful changes, because in essence, it cannot be an idyll. A large part of society will definitely take advantage of the disordered state in Russia and try to grab a tasty morsel for themselves.

In the poem “The Twelve” we meet the image of a dog. He is cold and hungry. Based on the fact that Blok was an extraordinary symbolist, I think the image of the animal represents the old world. He constantly trails behind a detachment of twelve heroes, he pursues them. The image of the dog also appears in the last chapters. The Red Army soldiers are ready to drive him away with a bayonet, to drive him away. In the terms of the poem, the hungry dog ​​is more than once openly compared with the old world, which has long since become obsolete. But the dog can still bare his teeth. This means that the old world still feels its strength and may object. Only now the squad of heroes bravely moves forward, not paying attention to obstacles. There is a new world ahead, Jesus is waiting ahead of them. It is a symbol of faith and holiness of the idea. At the end of the poem, the old dog evokes only pity in the reader. He is incapable of anything else.