White night Yuri Zhivago analysis. Materials for the analysis of poem B

« Winter night» analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, characters, issues and other issues are discussed in this article.

B. Pasternak's poem "Winter Night", which is a fusion of philosophical and love lyrics, is included in the “notebook of Yuryev’s writings” in the novel “Doctor Zhivago” and plays the role of an additional connecting element in the compositional structure of the work.

The exact date of creation of the poem is unknown. A number of researchers attribute its writing to the winter of 1946, linking the poem with last love and the poet’s muse, Olga Ivinskaya. Other versions consider it appropriate to talk about 1954-1955, the time when work on the novel was completed. The poem gained fame after the first publication of the novel in the USSR in 1988.

In a poem that combines the features impressionism And symbolism, closely intertwined themes of love and nature. Pasternak synchronizes the life of nature and human feelings: a snowstorm outside the window accompanies a whirlwind of love passion, and fancy snow patterns on the windows turn into patterns of shadows on the ceiling. Landscape sketches form a parallel with the inner world of man.

The basis of the composition works lies antithesis fire and ice, two elements confront and interact with each other. A cold blizzard of universal proportions sweeps everything around, covering the windows with a swarm of snow flakes. But a lonely candle still resists the elements of the surrounding world. IN ring composition The last stanza does not exactly repeat the first. In it, unlike the endless action in the first stanza ( "melo, melo...") absence of repetition and indication of the time of action (February) marks the end, the end of the winter storm. The victory of hope and life is affirmed in the last line: "The candle was burning".

The main idea of ​​the work- a person’s opposition to the storms of life in both the external and internal world. The lyrical hero resists both the merciless blizzard and the inner "heat of temptation". The use of a number of words that have opposite meanings ( "temptation", "angel", "crosswise") allows the poet to show the confusion of the hero’s soul, trying to determine where is good and where is evil. A person can only oppose the cold, hostile world with the love and fire of his soul. Before love, cold and darkness recede, the world becomes homely and recognizable: there are shoes, a night light, a ceiling, and a candle.

Feelings lyrical hero transmitted through image of a candle, carrying the most important semantic load: the candle, as a symbol of hope and quiet happiness, continues to burn on the table, despite the pressure of the outside world, becoming a symbol of the quivering fire of love, warming and illuminating human life. It is no coincidence that the image of a burning candle is cross-cutting in the novel, runs through the entire work and reaches its culmination in the poem by Yuri Zhivago.

Iambic tetrameter and alternation of male (first and third lines) and female (second and fourth lines) rhymes with cross rhyme convey strong emotional coloring poems. Rhythm interruption- shortened second and fourth lines - give the work dynamism and expression.

The poem is full of various means of expression: metaphors (the heat of temptation, tears from the night light), personifications (shadows flew, a snowstorm formed on the table), epithets (illuminated ceiling, snowy, gray haze), refrain (“The candle was burning on the table. The candle was burning."). The poet introduces "Winter Night" replays ("melo, melo...") And inversion (the candle was burning, flakes were flying, shadows were falling). The images of the poem help you feel alliteration sounds “m”, “l”, “s”, “v” and assonance"e".

In one of Pasternak’s most heartfelt poems, man and the Universe, a moment and eternity, merged together, causing the candle flame to burn as a symbol of life and hope.

“Winter Night” B. Pasternak

Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

Like a swarm of midges in summer
Flies into the flames
Flakes flew from the yard
To the window frame.

A snowstorm sculpted on the glass
Circles and arrows.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

To the illuminated ceiling
The shadows were falling
Crossing of arms, crossing of legs,
Crossing fates.

And two shoes fell
With a thud to the floor.
And wax with tears from the night light
It was dripping on my dress.

And everything was lost in the snowy darkness
Gray and white.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Raised two wings like an angel
Crosswise.

It was snowy all month in February,
Every now and then
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

Boris Pasternak is rightfully considered one of the brightest Russian poets and writers of the 20th century. It was he who came up with the idea to combine prose and poetry in one work, which caused a flurry of criticism from his contemporaries, but was appreciated by his descendants.

We are talking, in particular, about the famous novel “Doctor Zhivago”, the last part of which is dedicated to the poems of the main character. The reader learns that Yuri Zhivalo is a subtle lyricist and lover of rhymed phrases in the first chapters of the novel. However, Boris Pasternak tries not to distract readers with lyrical digressions, so he decides to combine all the poems of Yuri Zhivago into a separate collection.

The first poem attributed to the authorship of the main character is called “Winter Night”. Later it was often published as an independent literary work called “Candle” and was even set to music, adding to the repertoire of such performers as pop queen Alla Pugacheva and ex-leader of the Gorky Park group Nikolai Noskov.

Boris Pasternak worked on the novel Doctor Zhivago for 10 years, from 1945 to 1955. Therefore, today it is no longer possible to establish exactly when exactly the poem “Winter Night” was written. Although some researchers of Pasternak’s work argue that the immortal lines were born during the war, which their author spent in evacuation, living for more than a year in the city of Chistopol. However, given the manner of writing and the maturity of thoughts, critics are inclined to believe that the poem was created shortly before the end of work on the novel, when Boris Pasternak, like the main character, already had a presentiment of his death.

It is the theme of death and life that is the key point of the poem “Winter Night”. It should not be taken literally, but should be read between the lines, since each quatrain is a vivid metaphor, so contrasting and memorable that it gives the poem amazing grace. Considering “Winter Night” in the context of the struggle for survival, one can easily guess that the blizzard, February cold and wind symbolize death. And the candle flame, uneven and barely glowing, is synonymous with life, which leaves not only the terminally ill Doctor Zhivago, but also Boris Pasternak himself.

The version that the poem was written in 1954-55 is also supported by the fact that in 1952 Boris Pasternak experienced his first heart attack, having experienced first-hand what it means to be between life and death. However, it is possible that, possessing the gift of foresight, Pasternak in “Winter Night” predicted not only physical, but also creative death for himself. And he turned out to be right, since after the publication of the novel “Doctor Zhivago” abroad and the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the work, the famous writer was persecuted. They stopped publishing him and expelled him from the USSR Writers' Union. Therefore, the only source of livelihood for parsnips during this period were literary translations, which continued to be in demand and quite highly paid.

The author himself wrote letters several times to the Secretary General of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev, trying to convince the head of state of his political reliability, but this did not help. Moreover, Pasternak’s opponents appealed not to the novel itself as a whole, but to its poetic part, and, in particular, to “Winter Night,” calling the poem an example of decadence, decadence and vulgarity.

Only several decades later, when in 1988 the novel “Doctor Zhivago” was first published in the USSR, the poem “Winter Night” was recognized as one of the most successful and heartfelt works of love poetry written by Boris Pasternak.

Analysis of B. Pasternak’s poem “Winter Night”

The poem "Winter Night" is one of the most famous works B. Pasternak and is better known by the first line “It’s chalk, it’s chalk all over the earth...”.

This poem is part of a poetic cycle that completes B. Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago”. It is dedicated to O. Ivinskaya. The poem was written under the impression of the poet’s meeting with O. Ivinskaya at his dacha in Peredelkino. Even then they realized that they could not live without each other.

This winter of 1945-1946. was a turning point in his fate. Pasternak began work on the novel Doctor Zhivago, which would play a fatal role in his life. At this time, he meets an employee of the editorial office of the magazine " New world» Olga Vsevolodovna Ivinskaya. He was then 56, she was 34 years old. O. Ivinskaya became the poet’s sunset love; for the last 14 years of Pasternak’s life, she was his torment and passion. Now their relationship is only part of the story, but the candle, lit by the power of the poet’s love, burns in spite of all the February snowstorms.

This poem is loved and recognizable also because it has been set to music more than once. This is not surprising, since the work has a unique musicality. It was not without reason that M. Tsvetaeva, admiring Pasternak’s talent, asserted that he came from music. Pasternak brought “all the ineffability” to poetry; when reading his poems, you go “gropingly, at random.”

The musicality of the poem is given by the lines repeated as a refrain: “The candle was burning on the table, the candle was burning.” In the sound shell of the work, one can distinguish alliteration into sonorant consonants [m] and [l], which give the poem additional melodiousness and melody.

The musicality of the poem is also given by its size - iambic tetrameter alternating with bimeter. This form also reflects the features of the key image of the poem - a candle. The lines of the verse, like a candle flame, fluctuate on the paper and create the illusion of movement.

Particularly noteworthy are the features of rhyming. It is cross, and thus, already at the sound and structural level of the poem, the motif of the cross, the crossing of destinies, makes itself felt. It is also important that we are dealing with the crossing of male and female rhyme. This coincidence is by no means accidental. The author shows the reunion of the heroes, the intersection of their destinies not only in the plot of the poem, but also in its structure.

However, if we move directly to the lexical component of the poem, we will pay attention to the fact that the author never literally mentions the two main characters. He seems to be talking about nothing and everything at the same time. We understand the picture of what is happening from hints: shadows, crossing of arms, crossing of legs, two shoes falling, wax dripping onto the dress.

What happens to two people lost in the darkness of the night: is it sin or is it God's grace. B. Pasternak gives a clear answer. Let's turn to the fourth stanza.

Contrary to the laws of physics, shadows do not fall on the floor, as we are used to, but on the ceiling, and this ceiling is illuminated. Thus, it turns out that two shadows rush to the heavens, illuminated by some kind of God's grace. Love is born in sin, this is indicated by the sound of falling shoes, and the cry of the night light, and the incomprehensible blow on the candle from the corner, and the heat of temptation. But this heat of temptation is like an angel who takes lovers under his wing, gives them wings and allows them to tear themselves away from the sinful earth and fly up to the illuminated ceiling.

It is in these four stanzas (IV to VI), describing the merging of lovers, that the motif of the cross appears. In the context this poem the cross is not a symbol of torment and suffering. Here the cross is like the intersection of two life roads, two destinies into one.

It is obvious that there are two leading images in the work: the image of a candle and the image of a blizzard; in fact, they are antipodes of each other and create two parallel worlds that are not similar to each other.

The poem begins with the image of a snowstorm. Its spatial characteristics are given: it is ubiquitous, its field of activity is the entire universe. Everything is lost in the snowy darkness - it’s dark, impenetrable and frosty outside. The blizzard sculpts its patterns on the window glass, which means it is outside the house, outside it.

The world of a candle is extremely small - it is just a table, the candle is located somewhere inside the house, on the other side of the window frame. The candle carries warmth (“And the heat of temptation // Raised two wings like an angel // Cross-shaped”).

Let's try to follow the author in analyzing the poem.

In the first stanza there is an absolute antithesis: on the one hand, “It was chalk, it was chalk all over the earth to all its limits,” and on the other, “The candle was burning on the table, the candle was burning.”

In the second stanza the situation changes. A certain center appears - the fire of a candle - to which “like a swarm of midges in the summer, flying towards the flame, flakes from the yard flew to the window frame.” And the reader, along with the snow, begins to strive towards this center.

Third stanza: “The snowstorm sculpted circles and arrows on the glass.” And we, as it were, look out the window along with the snowstorm and observe what is happening.

It is worth paying attention to what shapes the blizzard makes on the glass: circles and arrows. What associations arise?

Mugs are like wedding rings - a symbol of the unity of two lovers into a single whole. However, a blizzard draws not only circles, but also arrows, and in biology there is a sign indicating the reunion of a man and a woman.

And then - “there was a blow on the candle from the corner” - the blizzard penetrates into the premises, it helps to flare up the heat of temptation even brighter. Thus, she becomes an accomplice to everything that happens. This opinion is confirmed in the last stanza:

It was snowy all month in February,

Every now and then

The candle was burning on the table,

The candle was burning.

Firstly, in a poem of 8 conjunctions there is not a single adversative; moreover, all eight are represented coordinating conjunction and (if we replace: “But two shoes fell // With a knock on the floor, // And the wax dripped from the night light with tears // On the dress” - the content will change dramatically). And the expression “every now and then” elevates the combination of these phenomena into a pattern. After all, if the action moves to a rainy day autumn evening and the room illuminated by electricity, then the romantic aura will disappear, the holiness of the winter night will dissolve into oblivion.

In other words, two poles intersect: blizzard and flame, cold and warmth, man and woman. The motif of the cross and rebaptism again makes itself felt.

Thus, the poem “Winter Night” is a poem about the extraordinary unity of man and woman, man and nature, that unity that is difficult to convey in prose, and which is so elusive, but so fully expressed in a short poem.

The novel Doctor Zhivago, which was awarded the Nobel Prize, contains poems by the main character, Yuri Zhivago. One of them is “Winter Night”, better known for the lines “It was shallow, it was shallow all over the earth.” According to the author of the novel, Boris Pasternak, poetry should be a link between the depth of prose and the reader, but they also have their own value.

In today’s analysis of the lines, I will try to penetrate into the depths of Pasternak’s poetry and try to find the answer to the question of what the author wanted to say with these verses.

The winter night is represented in the poem as a boundless element, which, by the will of nature, knows no beginning or end. All the limits of the earth are covered with snow and, in contrast to this, a candle burns on the table as a symbol of life. Pasternak sees night as a symbol of death, when all life under the sky freezes or stops. A candle is a symbol of life, because it burns despite the violence of nature.

Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

Pasternak is famous for his philosophical view for life, therefore night-death in the poem is not something terrible, not an old woman with a scythe, but a natural state of nature that gives and takes away.

On a winter night, snow flakes fly to the window - even death does not mind being close to life, seeing its beauty and energy. Life-candle burns, despite the howling of the wind, despite the deceptive patterns of frost on the glass, despite the darkness throughout the world. In this environment, a candle burns, illuminating the house, giving warmth to lovers and maintaining hope that every night sooner or later turns into day.

Life and death are separated by walls and window glass, from where the night looks at the candle and sees life. Tears in the form of wax, dripping from the night light, symbolize the author’s sadness over his passing life. Perhaps, at the time of writing poetry, Pasternak sees himself in this house with a candle - he examines the night drawings on the window glass and remembers the heat of temptation, which raises its wings in a cross shape, like an angel.

There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Crosswise.

Returning to the novel, we remember how Yuri Zhivago was left alone in Varykino, where he spends winter nights and days alone. There is time for creativity, the whole world is hidden behind a veil of snow, and only a candle helps not to go crazy from longing for Lara. Perhaps there was such a moment in the life of the author of the novel; perhaps it was then that the lines were written.

The candle burned at times throughout February - we see this in the last quatrain. At times a candle burns, at times poetry is written, at times the author returns to life and finds refuge in memories and work.

The poem has a difficult fate. It first saw the light in Russia in 1988, when the novel was published. Before this, the lines could only be read in samizdat. The novel in general and the poems in particular were recognized by the authorities as an example of decadence; Pasternak himself was banned from publication and expelled from the Writers' Union. Soviet power Nobel Prize was not a pointer.

Today, “Winter Night” is an example of Russian lyricism, which has taken an honorable place on the pedestal of poetry. The lines are imbued with depth, are easy to read and quickly remembered, becoming one of Pasternak’s favorite poems among the people.

Unfortunately, the exact time of writing is unknown, since Yuri Zhivago’s poetry was published as a separate collection after the publication of the novel, and Doctor Zhivago itself was written over 10 years. The date at the bottom is 1948, but this is only one version.

Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

Like a swarm of midges in summer
Flies into the flames
Flakes flew from the yard
To the window frame.

A snowstorm sculpted on the glass
Circles and arrows.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

To the illuminated ceiling
The shadows were falling
Crossing of arms, crossing of legs,
Crossing fates.

And two shoes fell
With a thud to the floor.
And wax with tears from the night light
It was dripping on my dress.

And everything was lost in the snowy darkness
Gray and white.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Raised two wings like an angel
Crosswise.

It was snowy all month in February,
Every now and then
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.

The interesting features of the works are revealed by their “Winter Night”, which is distinguished by its great depth of meaning. You will be convinced of this by reading this article. The author's photo is presented below.

Winter night... What appeared before your mind's eye when you said these words? Perhaps peace and quiet, cozy, light snow and a scattering of stars across the black sky? Or perhaps you imagined a blizzard outside the window, a dance of nature spirits, a whirlwind of snow flakes and the only quiet haven in this place - a house with a candle burning on the table?..

Time of creation of the work

The poem was written in 1946. The war ended quite recently. It would seem that nothing threatens the resulting calm. However, the storms of global upheaval have not yet subsided and, perhaps, will never subside. Where to look for salvation? What can help a person not to get lost in the whirlpool of passions, to preserve the fragile Boris Pasternak gives the answer in this work: the home is an abode of peace and hope. However, this answer is ambiguous, as our analysis shows. Pasternak's poem "Winter Night" is much more complex. To prove this, let's look at it in more detail.

Taking the antithesis

Let's return to the poem that interests us and try to understand what the author wanted to tell the reader, what thoughts Pasternak expressed in an orderly series of rhyming lines. This work is a poem of doubt, flight, departure. It is no coincidence that it is built entirely on the device of antithesis (contrast). From stanza to stanza the repeated words “the candle was burning...” follow as a refrain. As you know, a candle is a symbol of hope, purity, solitude, and quiet happiness. This light, which is the center of the Universe for the lyrical hero, is easy to extinguish. One light breath is enough for this. And now the “heat of temptation” raises “crosswise” “two wings”, like an angel.

Fire, heat is a symbol of passions and emotions. However, this is the “heat of temptation.” But the fire of a candle is the torch of a solitary, quiet life. The author depicted in the work one element in two forms, diametrically opposed. However, the basis of the work is still the antithesis of ice and fire. This is confirmed by his further analysis.

Pasternak's poem "Winter Night" in the first stanza has the following contrast: "chalk all over the earth" and "the candle was burning." The first two lines of the poem plunge us into winter, a blizzard, and a swarm of snow flakes. The cold element is the queen of “the whole earth,” the whole world, to which everything is subordinated. And only a lonely candle bravely resists this snow queen, who is furious and outraged by this.

Who won?

The work is reminiscent of Pushkin’s “Demons” in the confrontation between the spirits of existence and nature, the incessant wild dance and candles, symbolizing lonely human soul. However, this is a completely different result. If Pushkin’s demons, depicted in the image of the elements, break the resistance of a lost traveler by overturning his cart, then here a beacon of hope, a small light cannot completely defeat external forces. The last stanza is a repetition of the first: “it was snowy all month” and “the candle burned.”

The main idea of ​​the work

Let's continue our analysis. Pasternak's poem "Winter Night" is characterized by the fact that the last two lines of these stanzas coincide, but not the first. Note that in the first stanza there is no sense of time - action merges with infinity. This is emphasized by the repetition of the word "melo". The poem “Winter Night” begins with the next line: “It’s shallow, it’s shallow all over the earth...”. Analyzing it, we note that in the last stanza, unlike the first, clear time boundaries are set (“in February”). In addition, the word “chalk” is no longer repeated. This means that the winter storm is not endless, it has an end.

“The candle was burning” as the final line affirms the victory of hope and life. This struggle, sometimes unjustified, everyday, ends with the victory of a pure source of light, which bravely defended the right to life. The main idea of ​​the work is precisely the confrontation with various life storms of both the internal and external world. The ring composition, as well as the emotional coloring of the poem, serve to reveal it. If you look closely at the work and listen to the sound of the words, you can understand that it is very colorful and bright.

The poetic size of "Winter Night", its features

Pasternak's poem "Winter Night" is written in "ancient, antediluvian" (Khodasevich's words) iambic, reflecting most of all a strong emotional coloring. What's wrong with this, it would seem? traditional... But pay attention to the 2nd and 4th lines of each stanza. You can notice that they are shortened - only 2 feet. In the 1st and 3rd lines, moreover, a masculine rhyme is used, and in the 2nd and 4th, a feminine one.

Of course, this is not accidental. The colors in the poet’s palette, which add brightness to the emotional mood of the work, are the techniques used. The lines were shortened and the antithesis of ice and fire was highlighted. She becomes noticeable and attracts attention.

Alliteration technique

However, there is no rudeness or cruelty here. This is facilitated by the use of alliteration (repetition of “e”, “l”). This technique gives lightness and sonority to the blizzard. We hear the crystal clinking of ice floes, but at the same time we feel lifeless. This also plays into antithesis - a technique that makes so expressive poem Pasternak "Winter Night".

Analysis of the description of the external world

Antithesis is also used in the description of the external world, which is colorless, cruel, and fussy. “Everything was lost” in the snowy darkness. In this world it is easy to disappear, to disappear. He will easily absorb everything unusual and alien to him. And when describing the world in which a candle reigns, the author uses words denoting homely, simple things - these are “two shoes”, “ceiling”, “tears”, “wax”, “dress”, “night light”, etc. Here cozy and nice, but even here echoes of another world can still be heard, there is a place for doubt and struggle.

The inner world of the lyrical hero

The external world of this poem is thus quite clearly outlined. If you analyze the nouns used in the work, they almost all relate to its description. On the contrary, it is quite difficult to imagine inner world the lyrical hero of this work. Almost nothing is said about it, it is given only in separate strokes. The reader can only guess about the feelings possessing the lyrical hero. “Winter Night” presented in this article by B. L. Pasternak will help you with this. Penetration into spiritual world the lyrical hero makes us reflect and think. Like any other lyrical work Boris Pasternak, "Winter Night" is characterized by powerful philosophical potential.

"The Heat of Temptation"

“The heat of temptation,” doubts took possession of the soul of the lyrical hero. This heat is insidious, which for some reason is compared to an angel. Temptation, as you know, is the prerogative of Satan, and an angel is a symbol of purity and purity. Again, vice is assigned a symbol of purity - the word “cruciform”. This is an indicator of the confusion of the soul of the lyrical hero, who cannot understand where is good and where is evil. The only guideline, the only straw for him is a symbolic “candle”, which serves as a bastion of hope and faith. It depends on the hero himself whether it will go out or shine. It is precisely this thought that Pasternak’s poem “Winter Night” ultimately suggests.

Let’s finish our analysis here, since we have described the main features of the work. We hope this information was useful to you. It is possible to describe the poem “Winter Night” by Pasternak for a very long time and in detail. A full analysis of it reveals some other features. However, we have noted the most important thing and invite the reader to reflect on the work for himself.