The poem “To the Sea” was written by Pushkin in the fall of 1824, when he was already in. This poem was a kind of farewell to the south, the adventures it experienced, and to Byron, the ruler of thoughts, who died on April 19, 1924. It was a farewell to an entire period in the poet’s life, rich in experiences, events, communication and with interesting, spiritually rich people.
It should be noted that Byron left his mark on early work poet, but, returning to Mikhailovskoye, Pushkin felt the need for other creativity. While still in the south, he began working on “Eugene Onegin,” and new plans were already emerging in his mind.
The poem was published in 1925 in the magazine Mnemosyne. In the 13th stanza, after the words “The world is empty...” Pushkin put 3 rows of dots. The magazine's publishers made a note about this:
“This poem was delivered to the publishers by Prince P. A. Vyazemsky in the original and is printed here exactly in the form in which it came from the pen of Pushkin himself. Some lists of it circulating around the city are distorted by absurd additions.”
The poem was written in the cold Mikhailovsky, and when you read it, your imagination pictures the poet standing on a high bank, and below the sea plays with waves and beats against the rocks. Perhaps the idea for the poem was born when the poet was still in Odessa, perhaps the first sketches of a work of wonderful expressiveness were made there.
The elegy is written in iambic tetrameter and pentameter, with cross rhyme in the stanzas, where male and female rhymes alternate.
Farewell, free elements!
IN last time in front of me
You're rolling blue waves
And you shine with proud beauty.Like a friend's mournful murmur,
Like his call at the farewell hour,
Your sad noise, your inviting noise
I heard it for the last time.My soul's desired limit!
How often along your shores
I wandered silent and foggy,
We languish with cherished intentions!I loved your reviews so much
Muffled sounds, abyssal voices,
And silence in evening hour,
And wayward impulses!The humble sail of the fishermen,
Guarded by your whim,
Glides bravely among the swells:
But you jumped, irresistible, -
And a flock of ships are sinking.Couldn't leave it forever
I find the boring, motionless shore
Congratulate you with delight
And guide along your ridges
My poetic escape.You waited, you called... I was chained;
My soul was torn in vain:
Enchanted by powerful passion,
I was left by the shores.What to regret? Wherever now
Have I set out on a careless path?
One item in your desert
It would strike my soul.One rock, a tomb of glory...
There they fell into a cold sleep
Majestic memories:
Napoleon was dying there.There he rested amidst torment.
And after him, like the noise of a storm,
Another genius rushed away from us,
Another ruler of our thoughts.Disappeared, mourned by freedom,
Leaving the world your crown.
Make noise, get excited by bad weather:
He was, O sea, your singer.Your image was marked on it,
He was created by your spirit:
How powerful, deep and gloomy you are,
Like you, indomitable by nothing.>The world is empty... Now where to
Would you take me out, ocean?
The fate of people everywhere is the same:
Where there is a drop of good, there is on guard
Enlightenment or tyrant.Goodbye sea! I won't forget
Your solemn beauty
And I will hear for a long, long time
Your hum in the evening hours.In the forests, in the deserts are silent
I’ll bear it, I’m full of you,
Your rocks, your bays,
And the shine, and the shadow, and the sound of the waves.
Literary scholars call Pushkin’s “The Sea” an elegy. The poem appeared in November 1824. In it, Pushkin reflects on the freedom of the creative spirit, the human personality, comparing it with the free, all-powerful sea element. You can read the text of Pushkin’s poem “To the Sea” on the website.
An unknown romantic hero, standing on a motionless shore, listens to the murmur of the sea waves, looks at the powerful, impetuous unbridled water element. The sea does not obey any laws; the fate of both a flock of large ships and a fishing boat depends on its whim. The sea calls, conquers, attracts the hero with its solemn beauty, plunging into the mysterious abyss of inexplicable freedom. This freedom is given from above, it is not constrained by power, education, or a tyrant. But like Byron's proud romantic hero, Pushkin's lyrical hero remains alone on a deserted shore. He cannot break the shackles of human laws of life. However, no one has the right to deprive a poet of his highest gift - to immerse himself in the element of feelings, akin to the elements of the sea, and give birth to lyrical lines of amazing power of expression.
The poem “To the Sea” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was a kind of result of the southern period of the poet’s work. You can download the work on the website.
Farewell, free elements!
For the last time before me
You're rolling blue waves
And you shine with proud beauty.
Like a friend's mournful murmur,
Like his call at the farewell hour,
Your sad noise, your inviting noise
I heard it for the last time.
My soul's desired limit!
How often along your shores
I wandered silent and foggy,
We languish with cherished intentions!
I loved your reviews so much
Muffled sounds, abyssal voices,
And silence in the evening hour,
And wayward impulses!
The humble sail of the fishermen,
Guarded by your whim,
Glides bravely among the swells:
But you jumped, irresistible, -
And a flock of ships are sinking.
Couldn't leave it forever
I find the boring, motionless shore
Congratulate you with delight
And guide along your ridges
My poetic escape.
You waited, you called... I was chained;
My soul was torn in vain:
Enchanted by powerful passion,
I was left by the shores.
What to regret? Wherever now
Have I set out on a careless path?
One item in your desert
It would strike my soul.
One rock, a tomb of glory...
There they fell into a cold sleep
Majestic memories:
Napoleon was dying there.
There he rested amidst torment.
And after him, like the noise of a storm,
Another genius rushed away from us,
Another ruler of our thoughts.
Disappeared, mourned by freedom,
Leaving the world your crown.
Make noise, get excited by bad weather:
He was, O sea, your singer.
Your image was marked on it,
He was created by your spirit:
How powerful, deep and gloomy you are,
Like you, indomitable by nothing.
The world is empty... Now where to
Would you take me out, ocean?
The fate of people everywhere is the same:
Where there is a drop of good, there is on guard
Enlightenment or tyrant.
Goodbye sea! I won't forget
Your solemn beauty
And I will hear for a long, long time
Your hum in the evening hours.
In the forests, in the deserts are silent
I’ll bear it, I’m full of you,
Your rocks, your bays,
And the shine, and the shadow, and the sound of the waves.
On October 31 of the outgoing year 2017, an exciting journey across the seas and oceans ended with the participants of the All-Russian competition children's creativity“The boat floats, floats...”, dedicated to the anniversaries of I.K. Aivazovsky and P.S. Nakhimov. One and a half thousand St. Petersburg residents, children and adults, witnessed the exploits of Russian sailors: heroes naval battles and pioneer explorers of new lands. In one of the halls, spectators could meet the valiant admirals: here P. S. Nakhimov is looking intently at you, illuminated by the fire of the Battle of Sinop, G. I. Nevelskoy is bending over a map of Sakhalin, unloading at the pier Peter and Paul Fortress ship of I.F. Kruzenshtern, just returned from the first Russian trip around the world; further - sailing ships under the command of F. F. Bellingshausen and M. P. Lazarev pave the way to the “Ice Continent”, and on opposite wall S. O. Makarov peers sternly into the distance.
The young artists had to thoroughly study the biographies of sailors and become imbued with the spirit of distant travels and sea battles. Otherwise, the snow-white sails would not be so easily and freely filled with wind, and the powerful bulk of cruisers would not be able to cut the raging waves so confidently. How could one not stop in front of the display case, in which the gallant captain salutes next to the sentry guarding St. Andrew’s flag! A little lower - a scuba diver tightly clutches a chest of jewelry with both hands. Of course, this is just a soft toy, but how much work and observation the guys put into these works.
It is impossible to describe all the exhibits of the exhibition (there are 236 of them): for example, “Nicholas of Myra” (fireclay, glazes, enamels, salt; ECC “Kitezhgrad”) certainly deserves special attention spectators. The work was completed by two teenagers (15 and 16 years old) especially for our competition: in a boat held in the hands of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of all travelers, were Admiral Nakhimov and the painter Aivazovsky with his companions. The “Sailboat” panel hanging next to it, made using the wool felting technique, fascinates with its wonderful tints of color. Finally, after defeating eternal ice In the Arctic, together with the icebreakers and ships of the Laptev brothers and O.Yu. Schmidt, you can get to an amazing map of the world made by students of the ceramics studio “On Vasilievsky”. Here the dreams of everyone who dreams of visiting distant countries could well come true. Moreover, for this it was necessary to fulfill only one condition - to place a ceramic token with the image of a boat or anchor on one or another continent.
The second hall, dedicated to the work of I.K. Aivazovsky, greeted visitors with images of the sea elements: a storm, surf near the rocks, stormy waves off the coast, smooth water during complete calm, a mirror reflection of a sunset shining with all the colors. But what is the sea without ships? The guys worked with pleasure and creativity on models of sailing ships and steamships! Clipper model " Scarlet Sails" rightfully took the central place in the hall. It was difficult to distract the little visitors of the exhibition from the paddle steamer “Novichok” with smart passengers on deck - they were so interested in looking at it, but there is nothing to say about the Dragon Ship - just delight!
To the question: “Do you like receiving gifts?” - all the young visitors to the exhibition usually answered loudly - “Yes!”, “Do you like to give gifts yourself?” - also “Yes”, but a little quieter. But the guys from the Fontanka-32 studio made with their own hands the panel “Seas and ships for Ivan Aivazovsky on his birthday” - 8 picturesque marine sketches and 6 ceramic reliefs depicting ships. A grand gift! Nearby, Ivan Aivazovsky himself looks at the visitors fervently. All of it is presented here creative path in a comic strip that arrived from the city of Tver - from the first drawing on the wall of a house to the anniversary exhibition in the Russian Museum. Well, numerous funny inhabitants of the seas and oceans were presented at the exhibition in a variety of techniques: gouache, watercolor, grattage, chamotte, paper plastic, helium pens, beading, batik, etc.
So, let's summarize. 234 works were selected for the exhibition out of 1,483 submitted to the competition. Among them: St. Petersburg - 184; Leningrad region– 10 (Otradnoe -1, Roshchino – 3, Kommunar – 4, Sosnovy Bor – 2); Ivanovo – 2; Tver - 7; Tula – 5; Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk – 2; Cherepovets (Vologda region) - 5; Prokhladny (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic) – 1; Mirny – 4, Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk region) – 2; With. Zavyalovo ( Udmurt republic) – 3; Cheboksarsk - 1, Novocheboksarsk ( Chuvash Republic) -2; Jalil village (Republic of Tatarstan) – 2, Enem village (Republic of Adygea) – 1; With. Oktyabrskoye (Republic of North Ossetia Alania) – 5. Two works from Yerevan (Armenia) received the status of guests of the exhibition.
After each excursion around the exhibition, the children could take part in the master classes “Fantasy Ship” (paper plastic), “Jolly Boats” (origami), or “Seascape” (mixed media). A month and a half passed quickly, the pages in the Guest Book ran out, the halls and spacious corridors of the Eastern Pavilion of the Mikhailovsky Castle were empty.
The exhibition is over, long live the exhibition! In December 2018, we will all meet the conquerors of Antarctica at a competitive exhibition "On the Ice Continent"!
The original version of the poem “To the Sea” was written by Pushkin in southern exile, in Odessa. The poet returned to this message in a “new” exile - in Mikhailovsky, in 1824. This poem completed the romantic period of Pushkin's work.
Elegiac motifs are very noticeable in this work. Moreover, as V. A. Grekhnev notes, Pushkin’s elegiac disappointment combines three different life spheres- philosophical, historical and concrete biographical, and the interpenetration of these spheres is preserved in every line of the poem.
At the beginning of the poem, the personal, specific biographical aspect predominates. The poet has an elegiac motive of sadness when parting with the sea:
Farewell, free elements!
For the last time before me
You're rolling blue waves
And you shine with proud beauty.
Like a friend's mournful murmur,
Like his call at the farewell hour,
Your sad noise, your inviting noise
I heard it for the last time.
The sea is capricious and whimsical, just like human impulses. It is unpredictable, just like the secret desires of the soul. The sea can be quiet and peaceful, but it can also be formidable, bringing death to a person:
The humble sail of the fishermen,
Guarded by your whim,
Glides bravely among the swells:
But you jumped, irresistible,
And a flock of ships are sinking.
In the same way, a person dies who surrenders to the power of the elements of passions, crazy desires, impulsive impulses. However, the image of the sea here symbolizes not only peace human soul, but also fate. She also capriciously plays with people, bringing both joy and unexpected death. Pushkin compares love, passion, strong feeling, subordinating all aspirations and actions. However, love often fetters a person’s will and becomes a kind of captivity of the soul and inspiration:
You waited, you called... I was chained;
My soul was torn in vain:
Enchanted by powerful passion,
I was left by the shores...
Here again the author's emotions prevail, and then there is a transition to historical plan. The romantic image of the sea, the free, free element gives birth in the poet’s mind to memories of a hero with an extraordinary fate - Napoleon, who found his death near the sea, on the island of St. Helena:
One item in your desert
It would strike my soul.
One rock, tomb of glory...
There they fell into a cold sleep
Majestic memories:
Napoleon was dying there.
Another romantic hero in the poem is the poet Byron. Napoleon and Byron... It is not without reason that Pushkin links these two images together. Byron wrote a lot about Napoleon, he was very interested in the personality of the commander.
Thus, the motif of sadness that appears at the beginning of the poem passes through the poet’s historical excursion: Pushkin remembers the death of Napoleon, the death of Byron. Then this motive, through personal experiences, reaches an extra-plot, extra-personal, philosophical level:
The world is empty... Now where to go
Would you take me out, ocean?
The fate of people everywhere is the same:
Where there is good, it is already on guard
Or enlightenment, or a tyrant.
It is noteworthy that the poet equates tyranny with enlightenment. However, here “enlightenment” means “culture”, the world of civilization, which has deprived a person of freedom and naturalness of mental movements. In the poet’s understanding, civilization is a “tyrant” that forcibly interferes with the free flow of human life. The opposition of civilized man to the natural world has always been characteristic of Pushkin’s work (The Prisoner and the Cherkeshenka, Aleko and the Old Gypsy, Onegin and Tatyana). In this poem, the motive of nature is only guessed at: it acts as an alternative to “enlightenment” and tyranny, that a pipe dream, about which the poet asks the ocean.
The poem ends in Pushkin's life-affirming way. Saying goodbye to the sea, the poet promises to keep the image of a free element in his soul, to correspond to the ideal of a natural, natural person:
In the forests, in the deserts are silent
I’ll bear it, I’m full of you,
Your rocks, your bays,
The composition of the poem is subordinated to the main idea, the idea of freedom. The first part is a description of the sea. Here Pushkin uses expressive epithets (“blue waves”, “proudly beautiful”), comparisons and anaphora (“Like a friend’s mournful murmur, Like his call at the farewell hour, Your sad noise, Your calling noise I heard for the last time”), periphrases (“Farewell, free element!”, “The desired limit of my soul!”), metaphors (“I was chained”), non-union (“How I loved your reviews, dull sounds, abyss voices”), inversion (“I stayed on the shores I..."). Appeals are also used here (“free element” “The desired limit of my soul”), thanks to which the impression of “a conversation with the sea” is created. The poet uses both common vocabulary and Slavicisms (“glas”, “fishermen”, “breg”, “in vain”).
The beginning of the first part is characterized by a simple syntax - simple sentences, which include comparisons, homogeneous members, participial phrases. At the end of the first part there is already complex sentences, allied compounds and non-union compounds. The complication of syntax here reflects the deepening of the main theme of the work.
The phonetic structure of the poem is also remarkable. Already in the first part we encounter alliteration (repetition by the author of consonant sounds) and assonance (repetition of vowels):
Farewell, free elements!
For the last time before me
You're rolling blue waves
And you shine with proud beauty.
In the second part of the poem, Pushkin develops the theme of a freedom-loving personality whose soul is like the sea element. Here images of Napoleon and Byron appear. The second part begins with rhetorical questions (“What should I regret? Where would I direct my careless path now?”). There are also precise, expressive epithets (“careless path”, “solemn beauty”), anaphors (“Like you, powerful, deep and gloomy, Like you, we cannot be tamed by anything”), periphrases (“tomb of glory”, “He was , O sea, your singer”), appeal (“O sea”), comparison (“the noise of a storm”), inversion (“He was created by your spirit”). In addition to commonly used vocabulary, the poet uses words of high style (“repose”, “ruler of our thoughts”, “crown”) and Slavicisms (“cold”, “mighty”).
In the second part of the poem, alliteration and assonance are also found: the hissing “sh”, “sh>>”, “ch”, the drawn-out vowels “u” and “o”, and the sonorous “r” are often repeated here. As N.L. Stepanov notes, the roll call of these sounds resembles the monotonous, mournful murmur of the sea.
Researchers have repeatedly noted a violation of grammatical norms in the poet’s address to the sea. “You were waiting, you were calling...” - Pushkin refers “to the sea”, using the masculine gender, although the noun “sea” is neuter. A convincing explanation for this is given by E. Maimin. The researcher notes that the sea is associated in the poet’s mind with a friend “and is felt as a friend,” therefore the “incorrect” use of words is internally justified.
In this poem we can highlight the third part. The poet plunges into philosophical thoughts about human fate, and then again turns to the image of the sea. And the feeling of hopelessness here is balanced by this appeal. The third part uses appeals (“Now where would you take Me, ocean?”, “Farewell, sea!”), epithets (“silent deserts,” “solemn beauty”), polyunion (“Both shine and shadow, and the talk of the waves"), a rhetorical question(“Now where would you take Me, ocean?”). Pushkin uses high vocabulary (“tyrant”, “good”).
In addition, there are also alliterations and assonances:
In the forests, in the deserts are silent
I’ll bear it, I’m full of you,
Your rocks, your bays,
And the shine, and the shadow, and the sound of the waves.
Pushkin's poems, including "To the Sea", aroused Belinsky's admiration. Analyzing the poet’s romantic “plays,” the critic wrote: “Look and listen attentively to this verse, to this turn of thought, to this play of feeling: in everything you will find pure poetry, impeccable art, complete artistry, without the slightest admixture of prose, like the old strong wine, without the slightest admixture of water." I think this assessment is still valid today.
Farewell, free elements!
For the last time before me
You're rolling blue waves
And you shine with proud beauty.
Like a friend's mournful murmur,
Like his call at the farewell hour,
Your sad noise, your inviting noise
I heard it for the last time.
My soul's desired limit!
How often along your shores
I wandered silent and foggy,
We languish with cherished intentions!
I loved your reviews so much
Muffled sounds, abyssal voices
And silence in the evening hour,
And wayward impulses!
The humble sail of the fishermen,
Guarded by your whim,
Glides bravely among the swells:
But you jumped, irresistible,
And a flock of ships are sinking.
Couldn't leave it forever
I find the boring, motionless shore
Congratulate you with delight
And guide along your ridges
My poetic escape!
You waited, you called... I was chained;
My soul was torn in vain:
Enchanted by powerful passion,
I was left by the shores...
What is there to regret? Wherever now
Have I set out on a careless path?
One item in your desert
It would strike my soul.
One rock, a tomb of glory...
There they fell into a cold sleep
Majestic memories:
Napoleon was dying there.
There he rested amidst torment.
And after him, like the noise of a storm,
Another genius rushed away from us,
Another ruler of our thoughts.
Disappeared, mourned by freedom,
Leaving the world your crown.
Make noise, get excited by bad weather:
He was, O sea, your singer.
Your image was marked on it,
He was created by your spirit:
How powerful, deep and gloomy you are,
Like you, indomitable by nothing.
The world is empty... Now where to
Would you take me out, ocean?
The fate of people everywhere is the same:
Where there is a drop of good, there is on guard
Enlightenment or tyrant.
Goodbye sea! I won't forget
Your solemn beauty
And I will hear for a long, long time
Your hum in the evening hours.
In the forests, in the deserts are silent
I’ll bear it, I’m full of you,
Your rocks, your bays,
And the shine, and the shadow, and the sound of the waves.
Pushkin, 1824
Farewell to the sea is associated with Pushkin’s departure from Odessa, where he lived for a year, to a new exile - to Mikhailovskoye. The original edition was written in Odessa, and stanzas about Napoleon and Byron were written in Mikhailovsky. The thirteenth stanza, central in significance, could not appear in print during Pushkin’s lifetime. In 1825 it was printed as follows:
The world is empty...
This line was followed by a gap corresponding to three lines, and below the text there was a sly note: “ In this place the author put three and a half lines of dots. This poem was delivered to the publishers by the book. P. A. Vyazemsky in the original and here printed exactly in the form in which it came from the pen of Pushkin himself. Some lists of it circulating around the city are distorted by absurd additions. Publishers" Two months later, in the first collection " Poems by Alexander Pushkin", this stanza appeared in a slightly expanded form:
The world is empty... Now where to
Would you take me out, ocean?
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
Failed to leave forever // I have a boring, motionless shore- Pushkin was planning to escape from Odessa by sea to Europe.
Enchanted by powerful passion- meaning the feeling for gr. Elizaveta Ksaverevna Vorontsova (1790-1880).
One rock, tomb of glory- island of St. Helena, where Napoleon was imprisoned from 1815 and where he died in 1821.
Another genius rushed away from us... // Disappeared, mourned by freedom- Byron died on April 7/19, 1824 in Greece, where he arrived in the summer of 1823 to participate in the national liberation struggle of the Greeks.
Where there is a drop of good, there is on guard // Enlightenment or tyrant- the convergence of enlightenment and tyranny as negative phenomena reflects the idea, characteristic of the romantics, of the destructiveness of civilization for morality, for the good of man.