Analysis of the Bronze Horseman flood episode. Analysis of the poem "The Bronze Horseman" A

Without love for the city, without love for the native country and its history, it was impossible to create such a work in which every line breathes with jubilation, love or admiration. Such is A. S. Pushkin.

The poem describes the largest and most destructive flood in the history of St. Petersburg. The poet himself was in Mikhailovskoye during the flood, and could only know about the devastating disaster from magazines and letters from witnesses of this disaster. And if we remember that in 1824 there were no cameras, let alone video cameras, then one can only admire the authenticity and accuracy with which the poet describes the raging elements.

He began writing the poem in 1833, during his stay in Boldino. The whole poem consists of three parts:

1. Introduction.
2. First part.
3. Second part.

The composition of the poem is based on oppositions:

• The power of nature, which means God over all people - from kings to the last merchant or fisherman.
• The power of kings and others like them is over small people.

It should not be forgotten that by the age of 34, when this poem was being written, Pushkin parted ways with youthful maximalism, and freedom acquired for him a slightly different meaning than simply the overthrow of the autocracy. And although the censors found lines in the poem that threaten the security of the state, there is not even a hint of the overthrow of royal power in it.

The introduction is an enthusiastic ode dedicated to St. Petersburg and its creator -. It uses the archaisms inherent in the ode and sublime words: great thoughts, hail,
midnight countries, beauty and wonder, from swamp blat, porphyry.

This part of the poem is a small digression into the history of St. Petersburg. A.S. Pushkin briefly describes the history of the city. This poem contains words that have become winged, defining the policy of Emperor Peter I:

And he thought:
From here we will threaten the Swede,
Here the city will be founded
To the evil of an arrogant neighbor.
Nature here is destined for us
Cut a window to Europe
Stand with a firm foot by the sea.
Here on their new waves
All flags will visit us,
And let's hang out in the open.

Pushkin was interested Russian history, and in particular, the personality of the first reformer, his transformations, methods of government, attitude towards people, reflected in his decrees. The poet could not help but pay attention to the fact that state reforms, even progressive ones that awakened sleepy Russia, broke fates. ordinary people. Thousands of people were brought to the construction of the city, which the poet admired so much, separating them from their relatives and friends. Others died on the fields of the Swedish and Turkish wars.

In the first chapter, the poem begins with an exposition. In it, the reader gets acquainted with the main character of the poem - Eugene, a poor nobleman who has to serve in order to

to deliver to yourself
And independence and honor;

The solemn style of the ode is replaced by an ordinary narrative. Eugene comes home from work, completely tired, lies down on the bed and dreams of the future. For the plot of the poem, it does not matter at all where Eugene serves, in what rank and how old he is. Because he is one of many. Little man from the crowd.

Eugene has a fiancee, and he imagines how he will marry a girl. Over time, children will appear, then grandchildren, whom they will raise, and who will then bury him. Outside the window, the weather was raging, the rain was pounding on the windows, and Eugene understood that because of the stormy weather, he would not get to the other side.

Through the reflections and dreams of the protagonist, the poet shows what kind of person he is. A petty clerk, a little envious of idle happy people, Mindless, sloths, For whom life is much easier! Simple and honest Eugene dreams of a family and a career.

The next morning, the Neva overflowed its banks and flooded the city. The description of the elements is a worship of the power of nature. The riot of nature from an exposition description at night turns into a defining part of the plot, in which the Neva comes to life and represents a threatening force.

The verses describing the flood are great. In them, the Neva is represented by a revived beast attacking the city. The poet compares her to thieves who climb into windows. To describe the elements, Pushkin used epithets: violent, furious, angry, seething. Poems are saturated with verbs: torn, not having overcome, flooded, raged, swelled, roared.

Eugene himself, fleeing the riot of water, climbed onto the palace lion. Sitting on the king of animals, he worried about the people dear to him - Parasha and her mother, completely unaware of how the water licked his feet.

Not far from him stood Bronze Horseman- a famous monument to Emperor Peter I. The monument stands unshakable, and even the waves of the raging elements cannot shake it.

In this episode, the reader sees the confrontation between the unshakable Bronze Horseman and the little man, who can at any moment fall from a lion into a muddy, seething element.

“Pushkin’s picture of the flood was painted with paints that a poet of the last century, obsessed with the idea of ​​writing the epic poem The Flood, would be ready to buy at the cost of his life ... Here you don’t know what to marvel more at, whether the enormous grandiosity of the description or its almost prosaic simplicity, which together comes to the greatest poetry,” V. Belinsky described the pictures of the flood in this way.

The second chapter describes the consequences of the flood, and how Eugene's life turned out. Once

fed up with destruction
And weary with impudent violence,
Neva pulled back

within its shores, Eugene, preoccupied with the fate of his beloved, found a boatman who agreed to ferry him to the other side. Here Pushkin again compares the river with a gang of villains. The river has not yet completely calmed down, the boat bounces on the waves, but this does not bother Evgeny.

Arriving on the street where his Parasha lived, he discovered that neither the house nor the gate was in the same place. It struck the unfortunate man so deeply young man that he lost his mind. Parasha and her mother were the only ones dear people for him. Having lost them, he lost the meaning of life. The little man was also too weak to withstand the misfortune that befell him.

He did not return to his home, and a few days later the owner rented his apartment to the "poor poet." Eugene wandered around the city for days on end, not seeing anything in front of him. Sometimes, out of pity, people gave him a piece of bread;

But one day, passing by the Copper Peter, Eugene threatened him with his fist. And it seemed to him that the expression of the emperor's face changed, and he himself heard behind him the clatter of the hooves of a galloping horseman. After this event, Eugene tried to walk past the monument with his head down. Of course, neither mystically nor really, the rider did not leave his seat. With this episode, the poet shows how upset the psyche of his hero was.

One fine day, the lifeless body of Eugene was found on a small, deserted island. Thus ended the young man's life. This is where the poem ends.

Standing on the balcony, Alexander the first bitterly admits:

"With the element of God
Kings cannot be controlled."

The Bronze Horseman, personifying Tsar Peter, is opposed to the little man. By this Pushkin himself wants to show that many things are subject to tsars. They can command peoples, make them build a city, influence other countries. Little people cannot always arrange their own destiny the way they want. But over the forces of nature, over the elements of God, neither kings nor ordinary people have power.

Not powerful. But unlike small people living in dilapidated houses and basements, the kings are better protected. Alexander I stands on the balcony of a palace built by little people. The Bronze Horseman is set on a stone, which was also brought here by ordinary peasants. Tsars command, but the most defenseless little people move history and build cities.

The theme of relationships is revealed in the poem "The Bronze Horseman" common man and power. The technique of symbolic opposition of Peter I (the great reformer of Russia, the founder of St. Petersburg) and the Bronze Horseman - a monument to Peter I (the personification of autocracy, senseless and cruel power) is used. Thus, the poet emphasizes the idea that the undivided power of one, even outstanding person cannot be fair. The great deeds of Peter were committed for the benefit of the state, but were often cruel to the people, to the individual: On the shore of the desert waves He stood, thoughts of great zeros, And looked into the distance.

Before him the River rushed wide; the poor boat was striving for it alone. Along the mossy, marshy shores of Cherneli huts here and there. Shelter of a wretched Chukhonian; And the forest, unknown to the rays In the mist of the hidden sun. Noisy all around.

Pushkin, recognizing the greatness of Peter, defends the right of every person to personal happiness.

The clash of the "little man" - the poor official Yevgeny - with the unlimited power of the state ends with the defeat of Yevgeny: And suddenly he started to run headlong. It seemed to Him that a formidable king. Instantly on fire with anger. His face turned softly... And he runs across the empty square and hears behind him - As if thunder rumbles - Heavy-voiced galloping On the shocked pavement, And, illuminated by the pale moon. Stretch out your hand above. Behind him rushes the Bronze Horseman On a galloping horse; And all night the poor madman.

Wherever he turned his feet, Behind him everywhere the Bronze Horseman With a heavy stomp galloped. The author sympathizes with the hero, but understands that the rebellion of a loner against the "powerful ruler of fate" is insane and hopeless.

• Artistic features of the poem.

The Bronze Horseman is one of Pushkin's most perfect poetic works. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. The uniqueness of this work lies in the fact that the author overcame the genre canons of a historical poem.

Peter does not appear in the poem as a historical character (he is an "idol" - a statue), nothing is said about the time of his reign. The poet does not refer to the origins of this era, but to its results - to the present: On the porch With a raised paw, as if alive. Guard lions stood, And right in the dark height Above the fenced rock Idol with outstretched hand Sat on a bronze horse. The conflict reflected in the poem is supported stylistically.

The introduction, the episodes associated with the "idol on a bronze horse", are sustained in the tradition of an ode - the most state genre: And he thought; From here we will threaten the Swede. Here the city will be founded To spite the arrogant neighbor. Here we are destined by nature to cut a window into Europe. Stand with a firm foot by the sea. Here on their new waves All the flags will visit us, And we will drink in the open. Where we are talking about Eugene, prosaic prevails: “Marry?

To me? why not? It is hard, of course; But well, I'm young and healthy. Ready to work day and night; Somehow I will arrange for myself a humble and simple shelter And in it I will calm Parasha. Maybe a year or two will pass - I will get a place, I will entrust our family to Parasha And the upbringing of the children ... And we will live, and so we will both reach the coffin Hand in hand, And our grandchildren will bury us ... "

• The main conflict of the poem.

The main conflict of the poem is the conflict between the state and the individual. It is embodied, first of all, in the figurative system: the opposition of Peter and Eugene. The image of Peter is central in the poem. Pushkin gives in The Bronze Horseman his interpretation of personality and state activities Peter.

The author depicts two faces of the emperor: in the introduction, Peter is a man and a statesman: On the shore of desert waves He stood, full of great thoughts, And looked into the distance. He is guided by the idea of ​​the good of the Fatherland, and not by arbitrariness. He understands the historical pattern and appears as a decisive, active, wise ruler. In the main part of the poem, Peter is a monument to the first Russian emperor, symbolizing autocratic power, ready to suppress any protest: Terrible is he in the surrounding darkness! What a thought!

What power is hidden in it! The conflict of history and personality is revealed through the depiction of the fate of an ordinary person. Although researchers do not include Evgeny in the gallery of "little people", nevertheless, we find some typical features of such heroes in this image. The confrontation between man and power, personality and state is an eternal problem, the unambiguous solution of which Pushkin considers impossible. In the poem, the empire is represented not only by Peter, its creator, the embodiment of its titanic will, but also by St. Petersburg.

Unforgettable stanzas about Petersburg best of all make it possible to understand what Pushkin loves in Peter's Creation. All the magic of this northern Petersburg beauty lies in the reconciliation of two opposite principles: I love your cruel winters, Still air and frost. Sledge running along the Neva wide. Girls' faces are brighter than roses, And the brilliance, and the noise, and the talk of the balls, And at the hour of the idle feast The hiss of foamy glasses And the blue flame of punch. I love the warlike liveliness of the Amusing Fields of Mars. Infantry troops and horses Monotonous beauty, In their harmoniously unsteady formation Patchwork of these victorious banners. The radiance of these copper caps.

Shot through and through in battle. I love you, military capital. Your stronghold smoke and thunder. When the full-night queen Grants a son to the royal house. Either Russia triumphs over the enemy again, Or, having broken its blue ice, the Neva carries it to the seas And, smelling spring days, rejoices. Almost all epithets are paired, balancing each other. Cast iron gratings are cut through with a light pattern, the masses of deserted streets are "clear", the needle of the fortress is "bright".

• Heroes of the poem.

In The Bronze Horseman, there are not two heroes (Peter and Eugene - the state and the individual), but three - this is the element of the raging Neva, their common enemy, the image of which is devoted to most of the poem. Russian life and Russian statehood is a continuous and painful overcoming of chaos by the beginning of reason and will. This is the meaning of empire for Pushkin. And Eugene, the unfortunate victim of the struggle between the two principles of Russian life, is not a person, but just a layman, dying under the hoof of the horse of the empire or in the waves of revolution. Eugene is devoid of individuality: At that time, young Eugene came home from the guests ...

We will call our hero by this name. It sounds nice; with him for a long time My pen is also friendly. We don't need his name. Although in past times It may have shone And under the pen of Karamzin It sounded in native legends; But now it is forgotten by light and rumor. Our hero lives in Kolomna; serves somewhere, Is shy of the nobles and does not grieve Nor about the deceased relatives. Not about the forgotten antiquity. Peter I becomes for him that "significant person" who appears in the life of any "little man" to destroy his happiness.

The grandeur, the national scale of the image of Peter and the insignificance, the limitation of the circle of Eugene's personal concerns are emphasized compositionally. Peter's monologue in the introduction (And he thought: “From now on we will threaten the Swede ...”) is opposed to Eugene’s “thoughts” (“What was he thinking about / That he was poor ...”).

Literary critic M. V. Alpatov claims that all critics who wrote about The Bronze Horseman see in it an image of two opposing principles, to which each of them gave his own interpretation. However, M. V. Alpatov believes that the Bronze Horseman is based on a much more complex multi-stage system of images. It consists of the following characters: Peter with his "companions" Alexander, the Bronze Horseman and St. Petersburg. An element that some critics tried in vain to identify with the image of the people.

People. Evgeny. The poet who, without speaking openly, is invariably present as one of the actors. Poem in the assessment of critics and literary critics. “The will of the hero and the uprising of the primitive elements in nature is a flood raging at the foot of the Bronze Horseman; the will of the hero and the same uprising of the primitive elements in the human heart - a challenge thrown in the face of the hero by one of the countless doomed to death by this will - this is the meaning of the poem ”(Dn. Merezhkovsky).

“Pushkin managed to see in the St. Petersburg flood and in the unfortunate fate of the poor official a significant event and reveal in it a range of ideas that go far beyond the described incidents. In this regard, it is natural that Pushkin's poem reflected the poet's experiences associated with the events of the December uprising, as well as with a number of broader problems of Russian and world history and, in particular, the romantic theme of the individual in his relation to society, nature and fate "( M. V. Alpatov). “Pushkin does not reveal in more detail the threat of Yevgeny.

We still don’t know what exactly the madman wants to say with his “You already!”. Does this mean that the "small", "insignificant" will be able to "*already" avenge their enslavement, humiliation by the "hero"? Or that a voiceless, weak-willed Russia will “already” raise its hand against its rulers, who are hard forcing them to test their fatal will? There is no answer ... The important thing is that small and insignificant, the one who recently humbly confessed that “God could give him more mind”, whose dreams did not go beyond a modest wish: “I will ask for a place”, suddenly felt himself equal to the Bronze Horseman, found in oneself the strength and courage to threaten the “power of the semi-world” ”(V.Ya. Bryusov). “We understand with a confused soul that it is not arbitrariness, but a rational will, personified in this Bronze Horseman, who, in an unshakable height, with outstretched hand, as if admiring the city ...

And it seems to us that, in the midst of the chaos and darkness of this destruction, a creative “let it be!” comes from his brass lips, and an outstretched hand proudly commands the enraged elements to subside ... And with a humble heart we recognize the triumph of the general over the particular, without abandoning our sympathy for the suffering of this private...

In this article, we will try to analyze the pressing issues that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin reveals in his work. Also below will be indicated the history of the creation of a bronze monument built in honor of the poem, and its summary. "The Bronze Horseman" today is not only the pride of Russia, but, oddly enough, to today is on the list of the best works of world literature.

Problems touched upon by Pushkin in his work

The world-famous poem "The Bronze Horseman", written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in 1833, carries main problem XX century - the relationship between people and the state. The questions that he reveals in his work affect the power and the person.

What life circumstances prompted Alexander Sergeevich to write this work

The brilliant idea to write this poem came to Pushkin only after he became an absentee witness of the St. Petersburg flood on November 7, 1824. This flood was perceived by mankind as a kind of collapse and a step towards the abyss. The emotions that overwhelmed Petersburg at that moment could not but leave their imprint in the imagination of Alexander Sergeevich, and even then a brilliant idea flashed through his head to write a work dedicated to the event. But, ironically, the poem was written only nine years later. After the work gained popularity, the world learned its summary. "The Bronze Horseman", according to many connoisseurs and admirers of the poet's work, is considered one of his best creations.

Parsing the work into parts

To begin with, it is necessary to determine in the famous poem at least the exposition, plot, climax, denouement, and only then describe the summary. "The Bronze Horseman" includes an exposition part, which features the protagonist Eugene, as well as the glorification of the "great thoughts" of Peter the Great and the city of Petrov. The plot can be safely attributed to the description of the flood, the climax is the news of the death of the bride, but the denouement, in turn, is the madness and death of Eugene.

Summary of the poem "The Bronze Horseman", A.S. Pushkin

"Bronze Horseman". Summary ”- it would be great if this kind of book existed and benefited all teenagers modern world. But, unfortunately, they do not exist, and in the 21st century, all school material of this kind should be processed by children in the shortest possible time on their own. That is why, in order to simplify this task, we propose a smooth transition to brief description plot of the poem "The Bronze Horseman". A summary of the chapters will not be indicated in this section, below we will analyze the main events that occurred in the poem. So, let's begin. At the beginning of the poem, Pushkin tells readers about Peter, who stands on the banks of the Neva and dreams of building a city that will certainly serve the people in the future as a window to the desired Europe. A hundred years later, this idea was destined to come true, and now a beautiful city has risen in the place of the void. Further, the work is about a petty official named Eugene, who returns home every day and tries to sleep, thinking about his current situation, because once his family did not need help, because the noble family of officials had a good profit, but now it’s the other way around . In addition, his thoughts are constantly filled with his beloved, whose name is Parasha, he dreams of marrying her as soon as possible and building a strong inseparable family.

Sweet dreams make him fall asleep, and closer to the morning his sleep is disturbed by the raging Neva, which is out of control, soon all of St. Petersburg was flooded. Many people died, Pushkin compares the river flows with soldiers who destroyed everything in their path. Soon the river returns to its banks, and Eugene gets a chance to swim across to the other side of the city, to his beloved. He runs to the boatman and asks him for help. Once on the other side, a petty official cannot recognize the former places, now they look like ruins and resemble a battlefield strewn human bodies. Eugene, forgetting about everything, hurries to the house of his beloved, but does not find it, realizing that his bride is not alive. The official loses his mind, tormenting himself with wild laughter. The next day, when nature returned to its former state, all people seemed to have forgotten what had happened, and only Eugene could not breathe calmly. Over the next years, he will constantly hear the sound of the storm, he will become a hermit. Only once, waking up early in the morning, he remembers everything that happened to him for recent times, and goes outside, where he sees a house with monuments at the entrance. Walking a little near them, the poor fellow noticed anger on the muzzle of one of the marble lions and rushed to run away, hearing the incredible clatter of horses behind him. After that, he hid from the incomprehensible noise in his ears for a long time, rushing around the city from side to side. After a while, passers-by saw him take off his cap, thus asking for forgiveness in front of the formidable monument. A little later, he was found dead on a small island and immediately "buried for God's sake."

Monument "The Bronze Horseman"

Below we will focus on the description of the monument of world significance. The work about which this article in question, is famous all over the world not only for its genius, simplicity, some kind of philosophy of life. In addition, the Bronze Horseman is not at all a summary. It, oddly enough, is an integral part of St. Petersburg. This is a monument that was erected in the center of the city and is dedicated to the considered poem and Peter the Great. Outwardly, the bronze block looks like a rock with a bewitching rider. The place where the memorial monument is located was chosen on the occasion of the fact that the Senate is located nearby - a symbol of all tsarist Russia. The author of this masterpiece is Etienne-Maurice Falcone, a porcelain factory worker who, against the wishes of Catherine II, decided to install his work of art near the Neva. Falcone received a rather modest fee for the work done, other secular sculptors at that time asked twice as much. In the process of work, the sculptor received many different proposals for the future monument, but Etienne-Maurice was persistent and eventually erected what he had previously conceived. Here is what he wrote to I. I. Betsky about this: “Could you imagine that the sculptor chosen to create such a significant monument was deprived of the ability to think, and that someone else’s head, and not his own, controlled the movements of his hands?”

Having analyzed the summary of the "Bronze Horseman" and familiarized himself with the history of the monument, I propose to talk about something interesting. It turns out that in addition to the fact that the poem was used for sculptural art, the Russian composer R. M. Glier, taking advantage of the events in the work of Alexander Sergeevich, created his own ballet of the same name, a fragment of which became the St. Petersburg anthem.

The writing

The poem was written by A.S. Pushkin in 1833 and is one of the most profound, daring and artistically perfect works of the poet. The author, with unprecedented strength and courage, shows the contradictions of social life in all their nakedness, without trying to artificially reconcile them where they are irreconcilable in reality itself. In The Bronze Horseman, two forces are opposed in a generalized figurative form: the state, personified in the image of Peter I (and then in the symbolic image of a revived monument, the Bronze Horseman), and a simple person with his personal, private interests and experiences.

In the poem, inspired verses glorify the "great thoughts" of Peter, his creation - "the city of Petrov", "the beauty and wonder of the full-night countries", new capital of the Russian state, built at the mouth of the Neva, “under the sea”, “on mossy, swampy shores”, for military-strategic reasons (“we will threaten the Swede from here”), economic (“here, along their new waves, all flags will visit us") and to establish cultural ties with Europe ("nature here we are destined to cut a window into Europe").

But these state considerations of Peter turn out to be the cause of the death of an innocent Eugene, a simple, ordinary person. He is not a hero, but he knows how and wants to work (“... young and healthy, ready to work day and night”). He dared during the flood: "boldly" sails in a boat along the "barely resigned" Neva to find out about the fate of his bride. Despite poverty, independence and honor are dearest of all to Eugene. He dreams of simple human happiness: to marry his beloved girl and live modestly by his work.

The flood, shown in the poem as a rebellion of the conquered, conquered elements against Peter, ruins his life: Parasha dies, and Eugene goes crazy. The tragic fate of Yevgeny and the poet's deep sympathy for him are expressed in The Bronze Horseman with tremendous power and poetry.

And in the scene of the collision of the mad Eugene with the Bronze Horseman, his fiery, gloomy protest, the vicious threat to the “miraculous builder” on behalf of the victims of this construction, the poet’s language becomes as highly pathetic as in the solemn “Introduction” to the poem. The Bronze Horseman ends with a mean, restrained, deliberately prosaic message about the death of Yevgeny:

■...Flood
■ There, playing, skidded
■The house is dilapidated...
■His last spring
■Svezli on a barge.
■It was empty
■And all destroyed.
■At the threshold
■ Found my madman,
■ And then his cold corpse
■ Buried for God's sake.
Pushkin does not provide any epilogue that returns us to the original theme of the majestic Petersburg - an epilogue that reconciles us with the historically justified tragedy of Yevgeny. The contradiction between the full recognition of the correctness of Peter I, who cannot take into account in his state “great thoughts” and affairs with the interests of an individual, who demands that his interests be taken into account - this obvious contradiction remains unresolved in the poem ...

Pushkin was quite right and showed great courage, not being afraid to openly demonstrate this contradiction. After all, it does not lie in his thoughts, not in his inability to resolve it, but in life itself. This is a contradiction between the good of the state and the happiness of the individual, a contradiction that is inevitable in one form or another as long as the state exists, that is, until class society has completely disappeared from the world.

Artistically, The Bronze Horseman is a marvel of art. In an extremely limited volume (there are only 481 verses in the poem), many bright, lively and highly poetic pictures are contained.

Such are the individual images in the "Introduction" that make up the majestic image of Petersburg; saturated with strength and dynamics, from a number of private pictures, the emerging description of the flood; an image of the insane Yevgeny, amazing in its poetry and brightness. What distinguishes The Bronze Horseman from other Pushkin's poems is the extraordinary flexibility and variety of his verse, sometimes solemn and slightly archaic, sometimes extremely simple, colloquial, but always poetic.

A special character is given to the poem by the use of techniques of almost musical structure of images: repetition with some variations of the same words and expressions (guard lions over the porch of the house, the image of the monument to Peter, "an idol on a bronze horse ..."); carrying through the whole poem in different changes of the same thematic motif - rain and wind, the Neva (in its countless aspects, etc.), not to mention the famous sound writing of this amazing poem.

Other writings on this work

The poem "The Bronze Horseman" is a story about the tragic fate of a simple inhabitant of St. Petersburg, who lost his beloved girl during the flood, and with her - all the dreams and hopes for a future life.

In The Bronze Horseman, Pushkin raises the theme of the "little man" and the theme of the role of Peter I in the fate of Russia. The main conflict of the work is the confrontation between personality and power. For a general acquaintance with the work, we suggest reading the online summary of The Bronze Horseman, made by an experienced teacher of literature.

main characters

Evgeny- a poor official who dreams of a family, a calm, measured life. He goes crazy, unable to come to terms with the death of his girlfriend during the flood.

Peter I- the image of the monument to the tsar that comes to life in the imagination of Eugene.

Other characters

Parasha- Beloved Eugene, who dies during a flood in St. Petersburg.

Foreword

Introduction

Peter I once stood on the deserted banks of the Neva, thinking about the time when a city would be founded here:

“Nature here is destined for us
Cut a window to Europe."

After a hundred years, in a place where before there was nothing but the "darkness of forests" and swampy swamps, "a young city ascended magnificently, proudly." "Young City" eclipsed the beauty, wealth and power of Moscow itself. The author confesses his love for the city, "Peter's creation", and believes that created by the will of the ruler, it will stand "unshakable like Russia" for many centuries, and the defeated element of the Finnish waves will forget about its former greatness and will not disturb "Peter's eternal sleep" .

The narrator begins a story about a difficult time, the memory of which is still fresh.

Part one

Late on a rainy evening in November, a hero named Eugene returned home from his guests.

"Our hero
Lives in Kolomna; serves somewhere
It shy of the noble and does not grieve
Not about the deceased relatives,
Not about the forgotten antiquity.

Heavy thoughts about poverty, about his life, in which he still has to earn "independence and honor", do not let him fall asleep. In addition, due to bad weather, the water in the Neva was rising and, most likely, had already washed away the bridges - now Yevgeny will not be able to see his beloved girl Parasha, who lives “near the bay”, on the other side for several days. Eugene dreamed about life with Parasha, about their joint future, and finally fell asleep.

The next day was terrible.

The Neva swelled and roared,
And suddenly, like a wild beast,
Rushed to the city."

The squares turned into lakes, and "streets flowed into them like wide rivers." Water destroyed houses and carried away people, fragments of dwellings, bridges - everything that was on the way.

On a marble lion near one of the new rich houses of the city, Eugene sat motionless amid the general chaos. He did not see or hear either the wind or the rain beating on his face - he was worried about the fate of his beloved. The young man in despair looked intently to where, “like mountains, waves rose from the indignant depth, a storm howled, debris rushed” - to where Parasha lived with her mother. It seemed to the hero that he saw both the unpainted fence and their dilapidated shack.

Eugene sat, unable to move. There was water everywhere around him, and in front of him was an “idol on a bronze horse” facing him with his back. The monument to Peter I towered over the raging Neva.

Part two

Finally, the water began to recede. Eugene, "still dying in hope, fear and longing," having hired a carrier, sails to his beloved. Coming ashore, the hero runs to the house where Parasha lived, he does not believe his eyes, walks again and again around the place where the girl lived, and does not find her at home - he is washed away by the Neva. “Full of gloomy care”, Eugene speaks loudly to himself, and then laughs.

The next day came, the Neva calmed down, the city returned to former life. Residents went to work, trade resumed.

Only Eugene could not bear the death of his beloved, his "confused mind" could not stand the shock. Busy with gloomy thoughts, he wandered around the city without returning home. So a week passed, then a month. The young man slept where he could, fed on alms. Sometimes, children threw stones after him, he was whipped by coachmen when, not understanding the road, he almost fell under the wheels of wagons. Inner anxiety was eating him up.

And so he is his unhappy age
Dragged, neither beast nor man,
Neither this nor that, nor the inhabitant of the world,
Not a dead ghost…”

One day at the end of summer, while spending the night near the Neva pier, Eugene was agitated by the advancing bad weather. It was raining, the wind was howling, the Neva was seething. Remembering the horror of the flood, the hero began to roam the streets. With fear, he suddenly stopped - he found himself near the house where he was fleeing from the raging river on the night of Parasha's death. On the porch of a large new house, statues of lions were still sitting, and nearby stood Peter on a bronze horse. Eugene recognized the place where the "flood played", and the lions, and the one "by whose will the city was founded under the sea" . It is Petra who considers the culprit of his grief.

Clenching his teeth, clenching his fingers, trembling with overflowing anger, he looked into Peter's eyes and whispered with a threat: “You already! ..” And suddenly he rushed away: it seemed to the hero that the king’s face flared with anger and the rider began to turn in his direction. All night long Eugene fled from the imaginary pursuit of Peter - wherever he turned, everywhere he heard the clatter of horse hooves of the revived "bronze horseman".

Since then, whenever Eugene found himself near the monument, he humbly lowered his eyes, took off his cap and pressed his hand to his heart, "as if pacifying his torment."

The hero could not survive the loss and recover. The dead "madman" Yevgeny was found in the spring at the threshold of a dilapidated shack, which the flood brought to a deserted island near the seaside. Here, on the island, he was buried.

Conclusion

Telling the story of Yevgeny, the author brings us to the conclusion that the contradictions between the authorities and small people do not disappear and are not resolved - they are always tragically interconnected. Pushkin for the first time in Russian literature showed the insolubility between state interests and the interests of the common man. That is why the images of the main characters in the image of the author are ambiguous: we see Peter - the reformer and Peter the autocrat, Eugene - a petty official and a rebel who was indignant at the actions of the tsar himself.

After reading the retelling of The Bronze Horseman, the reader is ready to perceive the unique Pushkin images and language of the poem.

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