Dead souls lyrical digression about the Russian language. Lyrical digressions in “Dead Souls”

“Lyrical digressions” in N. V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”

“Dead Souls” is a lyric-epic work - a prose poem that combines two principles: epic and lyrical. The first principle is embodied in the author’s plan to paint “all of Rus',” and the second - in the author’s lyrical digressions related to his plan, which form an integral part of the work.

The epic narrative in “Dead Souls” is continually interrupted by lyrical monologues of the author, assessing the character’s behavior or reflecting on life, art, Russia and its people, as well as touching on topics such as youth and old age, the purpose of the writer, which help to learn more about the spiritual world of the writer, about his ideals.

The most important are the lyrical digressions about Russia and the Russian people. Throughout the entire poem, the author’s idea of a positive image of the Russian people is affirmed, which merges with the glorification and celebration of the homeland, which expresses the author’s civic-patriotic position.

Thus, in the fifth chapter, the writer praises the “lively and lively Russian mind”, his extraordinary ability for verbal expressiveness, that “if he rewards a slant with a word, then it will go to his family and posterity, he will take it with him both to the service and to retirement , and to St. Petersburg, and to the ends of the world.” Chichikov was led to such reasoning by his conversation with the peasants, who called Plyushkin “patched” and knew him only because he did not feed his peasants well.

Gogol felt the living soul of the Russian people, their daring, courage, hard work and love for a free life. In this regard, the author’s reasoning, put into Chichikov’s mouth, about serfs in the seventh chapter is of deep significance. What appears here is not a generalized image of Russian men, but specific people with real features, described in detail. This is the carpenter Stepan Probka - “a hero who would be fit for the guard,” who, according to Chichikov’s assumption, walked all over Rus' with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders. This is the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, who studied with a German and decided to get rich instantly by making boots from rotten leather, which fell apart in two weeks. At this point, he abandoned his work, started drinking, blaming everything on the Germans, who did not allow Russian people to live.

Next, Chichikov reflects on the fate of many peasants bought from Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Manilov and Korobochka. But the idea of “the revelry of people’s life” did not coincide so much with the image of Chichikov that the author himself takes the floor and, on his own behalf, continues the story, the story of how Abakum Fyrov walks on the grain pier with barge haulers and merchants, having worked “under one, like Rus', a song.” The image of Abakum Fyrov indicates the love of the Russian people for a free, wild life, festivities and fun, despite the hard life of serfdom, the oppression of landowners and officials.

In the lyrical digressions, the tragic fate of the enslaved people, downtrodden and socially humiliated, is presented, which is reflected in the images of Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minya, the girl Pelageya, who could not distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin’s Proshka and Mavra. Behind these images and pictures of folk life lies the deep and broad soul of the Russian people.

The love for the Russian people, for the homeland, the patriotic and sublime feelings of the writer were expressed in the image of the troika created by Gogol, rushing forward, personifying the mighty and inexhaustible forces of Russia. Here the author thinks about the future of the country: “Rus, where are you rushing?” He looks into the future and does not see it, but as a true patriot he believes that in the future there will be no Manilovs, Sobakeviches, Nozdrevs, Plyushkins, that Russia will rise to greatness and glory.

The image of the road in the lyrical digressions is symbolic. This is the road from the past to the future, the road along which the development of each person and Russia as a whole takes place.

The work ends with a hymn to the Russian people: “Eh! troika! Bird-three, who invented you? You could have been born among a lively people...” Here, lyrical digressions perform a generalizing function: they serve to expand the artistic space and to create a holistic image of Rus'. They reveal the positive ideal of the author - people's Russia, which is opposed to landowner-bureaucratic Rus'.

But, in addition to lyrical digressions glorifying Russia and its people, the poem also contains reflections of the lyrical hero on philosophical topics, for example, about youth and old age, the vocation and purpose of a true writer, about his fate, which are somehow connected with the image of the road in the work . So, in the sixth chapter, Gogol exclaims: “Take with you on the journey, emerging from the soft youthful years into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later!..” Thus, the author wanted to say that all the best things in life are connected precisely with youth and one should not forget about it, as the landowners described in the novel did when they became “dead souls.” They do not live, but exist. Gogol calls for preserving a living soul, freshness and fullness of feelings and remaining like that for as long as possible.

Sometimes, reflecting on the transience of life, on changing ideals, the author himself appears as a traveler: “Before, long ago, in the summer of my youth... it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and I look indifferently at her vulgar appearance; It’s unpleasant to my chilled gaze, it’s not funny to me... and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. O my youth! Oh my freshness!”

To recreate the completeness of the author’s image, it is necessary to talk about lyrical digressions in which Gogol talks about two types of writers. One of them “never once changed the sublime structure of his lyre, did not descend from its top to his poor, insignificant brothers, and the other dared to call out everything that is every minute before the eyes and which indifferent eyes do not see.” The lot of a real writer, who dared to truthfully recreate a reality hidden from the eyes of the people, is such that, unlike a romantic writer, absorbed in his unearthly and sublime images, he is not destined to achieve fame and experience the joyful feelings of being recognized and sung. Gogol comes to the conclusion that the unrecognized realist writer, satirist writer will remain without participation, that “his field is harsh, and he bitterly feels his loneliness.”

The author also talks about “connoisseurs of literature” who have their own idea of the purpose of a writer (“It’s better to present to us the beautiful and fascinating”), which confirms his conclusion about the fate of two types of writers.

So, lyrical digressions occupy a significant place in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”. They are remarkable from a poetic point of view. In them one can discern the beginnings of a new literary style, which would later find a vibrant life in Turgenev’s prose and especially in the works of Chekhov.

“Dead Souls” is a lyric-epic work - a prose poem that combines two principles: epic and lyrical. The first principle is embodied in the author’s plan to paint “all of Rus',” and the second – in the author’s lyrical digressions related to his plan, which form an integral part of the work.

The epic narrative in “Dead Souls” is continually interrupted by lyrical monologues of the author, assessing the character’s behavior or reflecting on life, art, RF and its people, as well as touching on topics such as youth and old age, the purpose of the writer, which help to learn more about the spiritual world of the writer, about his ideals.

The most important are lyrical digressions about RF and the Russian people. Throughout the entire poem, the author’s idea of a positive image of the Russian people is affirmed, which merges with the glorification and celebration of the homeland, which expresses the author’s civic-patriotic position.

In lyrical digressions, Gogol turns to the people and his homeland, expresses his thoughts in them, to the events, phenomena and heroes depicted in the poem, or reflects on life in general, on youth, on human virtues. In total, the poem contains over twenty lyrical digressions.

Many digressions, although sharply contrasting with the comic narrative tone of the poem, are always closely related to its ideological content.
Along with small digressions, such as, for example, the reflection that “everyone has his own enthusiasm” (in the chapter about Manilov) or “The world is not so wonderfully arranged...” (in the chapter about Korobochka), the poem contains more extensive digressions, representing complete arguments or poems in prose.

The first include, for example, the interpretation of “the ability to address” (in the second chapter) and the shortcomings of public meetings in Russia (in the tenth chapter); to the second - a reflection on the power and accuracy of the Russian word (at the end of the fifth chapter). Lyrical passages dedicated to the homeland and people are marked with special strength of feeling. Gogol’s appeal is imbued with ardent love for his native country: “Rus! Rus! I see you from my wonderful, beautiful distance...” (in the eleventh chapter). The vast expanses of Rus' captivate and enchant the author, and he is full of pride in his wonderful homeland, with which he has a strong connection..

In the lyrical digression “How strange, and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful is the word: road!” Gogol lovingly paints pictures of Russian nature. Wonderful ideas and poetic dreams are born in his soul when looking at his native paintings.
Gogol admires the sharp mind of the Russian man and the accuracy of his words: “The short-lived word of a Frenchman will flash and scatter like a light dandy; the German will intricately come up with his own, not accessible to everyone, clever and thin word; but there is no word that would be so sweeping, lively, would burst out from under the very heart, would teem and vibrate as much as a well-spoken Russian word.”
Gogol’s lyrical appeal to Rus', rushing forward like a brisk and unstoppable troika, which closes the first volume of the poem, sounds solemnly: “The bell rings with a wonderful ringing; The air, torn into pieces, thunders and becomes the wind; “everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and give way to it.”

In addition to those indicated, there are many other places in the poem imbued with deep patriotism. Often Gogol puts his thoughts into the mouth of one of his heroes. Such lyrical digressions included, for example, Chichikov’s reflection on the lists of “dead souls” he bought. In this reflection, Gogol reflected his sympathy for the Russian people, who were then languishing under the yoke of serfdom.
The special significance of the lyrical digressions in the poem is that they balance individual places in the poem: the eerie present that Gogol saw in life is contrasted with the wonderful future of Russia.
The abundance of lyrical passages helps to understand why Gogol called his work not a story or a novel, but a poem.

Happy is the traveler who, after a long, boring road with its cold, slush, dirt, sleep-deprived station guards, jangling bells, repairs, squabbles, coachmen, blacksmiths and all sorts of road scoundrels, finally sees a familiar roof with lights rushing towards him, and familiar people appear before him rooms, the joyful cry of people running out to meet them, the noise and running of children and soothing quiet speeches, interrupted by flaming kisses, powerful to destroy everything sad from memory. Happy is the family man who has such a corner, but woe to the bachelor!

Happy is the writer who, past boring, disgusting characters, striking with their sad reality, approaches characters that demonstrate the high dignity of a person who, from the great pool of daily rotating images, has chosen only a few exceptions, who has never changed the sublime structure of his lyre, has not descended from the top to his poor, insignificant brothers, and, without touching the ground, he plunged entirely into his own exalted and far removed images. His wonderful destiny is doubly enviable: he is among them, as in his own family; and yet his glory spreads far and loudly. He smoked people's eyes with intoxicating smoke; he wonderfully flattered them, hiding the sad things in life, showing them a wonderful person. Everyone rushes after him, applauding, and rushes after his solemn chariot. They call him a great world poet, soaring high above all other geniuses of the world, like an eagle soaring above other high-flying ones. At his very name, young, ardent hearts are already filled with trembling, reciprocal tears sparkle in everyone’s eyes... There is no one equal to him in strength - he is a god! But this is not the fate, and the fate of the writer is different, who dared to call out everything that is every minute before the eyes and what indifferent eyes do not see - all the terrible, stunning mud of little things that entangle our lives, all the depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters with which ours teems. an earthly, sometimes bitter and boring road, and with the strong power of an inexorable chisel, who dared to expose them prominently and brightly to the eyes of the people! He cannot gather popular applause, he cannot bear the grateful tears and unanimous delight of the souls excited by him; a sixteen-year-old girl with a dizzy head and heroic enthusiasm will not fly towards him; he will not forget himself in the sweet charm of the sounds he emitted; he cannot, finally, escape from the modern court, the hypocritically insensitive modern court, which will call the creatures he cherished insignificant and base, will assign him a despicable corner among the writers who insult humanity, will give him the qualities of the heroes he depicted, will take away his heart, both the soul and the divine flame of talent. For the modern court does not recognize that glass that looks at the sun and conveys the movements of unnoticed insects is equally wonderful; for the modern court does not recognize that a lot of spiritual depth is needed in order to illuminate a picture taken from a despicable life and elevate it to the pearl of creation; for the modern court does not recognize that high, enthusiastic laughter is worthy to stand next to high lyrical movement and that there is a whole abyss between it and the antics of a buffoon! The modern court does not recognize this and will turn everything into reproach and reproach for the unrecognized writer; without division, without answer, without participation, like a familyless traveler, he will remain alone in the middle of the road. His field is harsh, and he will bitterly feel his loneliness.

And for a long time it was determined for me by the wonderful power to walk hand in hand with my strange heroes, to survey the whole enormously rushing life, to survey it through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown to it tears! And the time is still far off when, in another key, a menacing blizzard of inspiration will rise from the head, clothed in holy horror and brilliance, and in confused trepidation they will sense the majestic thunder of other speeches...

The book “Dead Souls” by Gogol can rightfully be called a poem. This right is given by the special poetry, musicality, and expressiveness of the language of the work, saturated with such figurative comparisons and metaphors that can only be found in poetic speech. And most importantly, the constant presence of the author makes this work lyrical-epic.

The entire artistic canvas of “Dead Souls” is permeated with lyrical digressions. It is lyrical digressions that determine the ideological, compositional and genre originality of Gogol’s poem, its poetic beginning associated with the image of the author. As the plot develops, new lyrical digressions appear, each of which clarifies the idea of the previous one, develops new ideas, and increasingly clarifies the author's intention.

It is noteworthy that “dead souls” are unevenly filled with lyrical digressions. Until the fifth chapter there are only minor lyrical insertions, and only at the end of this chapter the author places the first major lyrical digression about the “myriad number of churches” and how “the Russian people express themselves strongly.” This author’s reasoning suggests the following thought: here not only the apt Russian word is glorified, but also God’s word, which spiritualizes it. It seems that both the motif of the church, which appears for the first time in the poem precisely in this chapter, and the noted parallel between the folk language and God’s word, indicate that it is in the lyrical digressions of the poem that some spiritual instruction of the writer is concentrated.

On the other hand, the widest range of the author’s moods is expressed in lyrical digressions. Admiration for the accuracy of the Russian word and the liveliness of the Russian mind at the end of chapter 5 is replaced by a sad and elegiac reflection on the passing of youth and maturity, on the “loss of living movement” (the beginning of the sixth chapter). At the end of this digression, Gogol directly addresses the reader: “Take with you on the journey, emerging from the soft youthful years into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later! The old age coming ahead is terrible, terrible, and nothing gives back and back!

A complex range of feelings is expressed in a lyrical digression at the beginning of the next seventh chapter. Comparing the fates of two writers, the author speaks with bitterness about the moral and aesthetic deafness of the “modern court”, which does not recognize that “glasses that look at the sun and convey the movements of unnoticed insects are equally wonderful”, that “high enthusiastic laughter is worthy to stand next to the high lyrical movement "

Here the author proclaims a new ethical system, later supported by the natural school - the ethics of love-hate: love for the bright side of national life, for living souls, presupposes hatred for the negative sides of existence, for dead souls. The author understands perfectly well what he is dooming himself to by taking the path of “exposing the crowd, its passions and delusions” - to persecution and persecution from false patriots, to rejection by his compatriots - but he courageously chooses precisely this path.

Such an ethical system forces the artist to perceive literature as a tool for correcting human vices, primarily through the cleansing power of laughter, “high, enthusiastic laughter”; the modern court does not understand that this laughter “is worthy to stand next to the lofty lyrical movement and that there is a whole abyss between it and the antics of a buffoon.”

At the end of this retreat, the author’s mood changes sharply: he becomes an exalted prophet, a “formidable blizzard of inspiration” opens before his gaze, which “will rise from the chapter clothed in holy horror and splendor,” and then his readers “will feel in embarrassed trepidation the majestic thunder of other speeches "

An author who cares for Russia, who sees in his literary work the path to improving morals, instructing fellow citizens, and eradicating vice, shows us images of living souls, a people who carry within themselves a living principle. In a lyrical digression at the beginning of the seventh chapter, the peasants bought by Chichikov from Sobakevich, Korobochka, and Plyushkin come to life before our eyes. The author, as if intercepting the internal monologue of his hero, speaks of them as if they were alive, showing the truly living soul of the dead or runaway peasants.

What appears here is not a generalized image of Russian men, but specific people with real features, described in detail. This is the carpenter Stepan Probka - “a hero who would be fit for the guard”, who, perhaps, went all over Rus' “with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders.” This is Abakum Fyrov, who walks on the grain pier with barge haulers and merchants, having worked to the tune of “one endless song, like Rus'.” The image of Abakum indicates the love of the Russian people for a free, wild life, festivities and fun, despite the forced serf life and hard work.

In the plot part of the poem we see other examples of people who are enslaved, downtrodden and socially humiliated. Suffice it to recall the vivid images of Uncle Mitya and Uncle Miny with their bustle and confusion, the girl Pelageya, who cannot distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin’s Proshka and Mavra.

But in the lyrical digressions we find the author’s dream about the ideal of a person, what he can and should be. In the final 11th chapter, a lyrical and philosophical reflection on Russia and the vocation of the writer, whose “head was overshadowed by a menacing cloud, heavy with the coming rains,” gives way to a panegyric for the road, a hymn to the movement - the source of “wonderful ideas, poetic dreams,” “wonderful impressions.”

Thus, two of the most important themes of the author’s reflections – the theme of Russia and the theme of the road – merge in a lyrical digression that ends the first volume of the poem. “Rus'-troika,” “all inspired by God,” appears in it as the vision of the author, who seeks to understand the meaning of its movement; “Rus, where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer."

The image of Russia created in this final lyrical digression, and the author’s rhetorical question addressed to her, echoes Pushkin’s image of Russia - a “proud horse” - created in the poem “The Bronze Horseman”, and with the rhetorical question sounding there: “And in what a fire! Where are you galloping, proud horse, / And where will you land your hooves?”

Both Pushkin and Gogol passionately desired to understand the meaning and purpose of Russia's historical movement. Both in “The Bronze Horseman” and in “Dead Souls” the artistic result of the thoughts of each of the writers was the image of an uncontrollably rushing country, directed towards the future, not obeying its “riders”: the formidable Peter, who “raised Russia on its hind legs”, stopping its spontaneous movement, and the “sky-smokers,” whose immobility stands in stark contrast to the country’s “terrifying movement.”

The high lyrical pathos of the author, whose thoughts are directed to the future, in his thoughts about Russia, its path and destiny, expressed the most important idea of the entire poem. The author reminds us of what is hidden behind the “mud of little things that entangle our lives” depicted in volume 1, behind the “cold, fragmented everyday characters that teem with our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring path.”

It is not for nothing that in the conclusion of volume 1 he speaks of the “wonderful, beautiful distance” from which he looks at Russia. This is an epic distance that attracts him with its “secret power”, the distance of the “mighty space” of Rus' and the distance of historical time: “What does this vast expanse prophesy? Isn’t it here, in you, that a boundless thought will be born, when you yourself are endless? Shouldn’t a hero be here when there is a place where he can turn around and walk?”

The heroes depicted in the story of Chichikov’s “adventures” are devoid of such qualities; they are not heroes, but ordinary people with their weaknesses and vices. In the poetic image of Russia, created by the author in lyrical digressions, there is no place for them: they seem to diminish, disappear, just as “dots, icons, low cities stick out inconspicuously among the plains.”

Only the author himself, endowed with knowledge of true Rus', “terrible strength” and “unnatural power” received by him from the Russian land, becomes the only true hero of volume 1 of the poem. He appears in lyrical digressions as a prophet, bringing the light of knowledge to people: “Who, if not the author, should tell the holy truth?”

But, as it has been said, there are no prophets in their own country. The author’s voice, sounded from the pages of the lyrical digressions of the poem “Dead Souls,” was heard by few of his contemporaries, and even less was understood by them. Gogol later tried to convey his ideas in the artistic and journalistic book “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”, and in the “Author’s Confession”, and - most importantly - in subsequent volumes of the poem. But all his attempts to reach the minds and hearts of his contemporaries were in vain. Who knows, maybe only now the time has come to discover Gogol’s real word, and it’s up to us to do this.