Analysis of the poem by Derzhavin Felitsa school curriculum. Literary analysis of the ode “Felitsa” by Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin

The updated odes of 1779, published anonymously, were noticed only by poetry lovers. In 1782 Derzhavin wrote the ode “Felitsa”. Published early next year in the magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word,” it became a literary sensation, a milestone not only in the history of the ode, but also of Russian poetry.

In terms of genre, it was like a typical laudatory ode. One more, no one famous poet praised Catherine II, but the “praise” was incredibly impudent, not traditional, and not she, but something else turned out to be the content of the ode, and this other resulted in a completely new form.

The innovation and freshness of the form of the ode “Felitsa” were perceived with particular acuteness in that literary atmosphere when the laudable ode, through the efforts of Petrov, Kostrov and other ode-writers, reached the extreme point of decline and satisfied only the tastes of the crowned customer. The general dissatisfaction with the laudable ode to classicism is perfectly expressed by Knyazhnin:

I know that the odes are daring,

Which are already out of fashion,

Very capable of annoying.

They always Catherine,

Crazy chasing the rhyme,

They compared the paradise to Krin;

And, becoming the rank of prophets,

Communicating with God as if with a brother,

Without fear of a pen,

In his borrowed delight,

The universe is turning upside down,

From there to countries rich in gold,

They let loose their paper thunder.

The reason for the exhaustion of odes, according to Knyazhnin, is in the adherence of their authors to the rules and canons of classicism: they demanded imitation of models - and so the ode became sadly imitative and epigone. Moreover, these rules did not allow the poet’s personality to manifest itself in poetry, which is why odes are written by those who “borrow delight.” The success of Derzhavin’s ode lies in its deviation from the rules, from following models; he does not “borrow” delight, but expresses his feelings in an ode dedicated to the empress.

Under the name Felitsa, Derzhavin portrayed Catherine II. The poet uses the name Felitsa, mentioned in the “Tale of Prince Chlorus” written by the empress for her grandson Alexander, which was published in 1781. The content of the tale is didactic. The Kyrgyz Khan kidnapped the Russian Tsarevich Chlorus.

Wanting to test his abilities, the khan gives the prince a task: to find a rose without thorns (a symbol of virtue). Thanks to the help of the Khan's daughter Felitsa (from the Latin felicitos - happiness) and her son Reason, Chlorus finds a rose without thorns on the top of a high mountain. The image of the Tatar nobleman Murza has a double meaning: where the ode goes to a high tone, this is the author’s self; in satirical places - a collective image of Catherine’s nobles.

Derzhavin in “Felitsa” does not create an official, conventional and abstractly ceremonial image of a “monarch”, but draws a warm and heartfelt portrait of a real person - Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, with her habits, activities, and everyday life characteristic of her as a person; he praises Catherine, but his praise is not traditional.

The image of the author (Tatar Murza) appears in the ode - in fact, he depicted not so much Catherine as his attitude towards her, his sense of admiration for her personality, his hopes for her as an enlightened monarch. This personal attitude is also manifested towards her courtiers: he doesn’t really like them, he laughs at their vices and weaknesses - satire intrudes into the ode.

According to the laws of classicism, mixing genres is unacceptable: everyday details and satirical portraits could not appear in the high genre of ode. But Derzhavin does not combine satire and ode - he overcomes genre. And his updated ode can only be formally attributed to this genre: the poet writes simply poems in which he freely talks about everything that tells him his personal experience what worries his mind and soul.

The ode “Felitsa” is associated with the tragic failure of Derzhavin’s plan to become Catherine II’s advisor. A sincere feeling of respect and love for the empress was warmed by the warmth of the living heart of an intelligent and talented poet. Catherine not only loved praise, but also knew how rare it is to hear sincere praise. That is why she immediately, after meeting the ode, thanked the poet by sending him a golden snuffbox, sprinkled with diamonds, with five hundred ducats.

The success excited Derzhavin. Catherine liked the ode, which means that the boldness of addressing it was approved. Moreover, Derzhavin learned that she had decided to meet him. I had to get ready for the show. The opportunity opened up to get closer to the empress.

Derzhavin decided to immediately explain himself to her - he could not, he had no right to miss the opportunity to take the place of an adviser to the monarch. The presentation of his program was to be the ode “Vision of Murza”. The reception was scheduled for May 9, 1783. The poet did not have time to write the program ode, but a prosaic detailed plan for this ode was preserved in his papers.

The poet begins with an interpretation of Catherine II’s promises to be an enlightened monarch: “Your enlightened mind and great heart remove the bonds of slavery from us, elevate our souls, make us understand the preciousness of freedom, which is only characteristic of a rational being such as man.” It recalls the lessons of the Pugachev uprising.

If they listen to him and change their policy, then the monarchs “will be disgusted by tyranny and under their rule human blood will not be shed like a river, corpses will not stick out on stakes and heads on scaffolds, and gallows will not float in rivers.” This was already a direct allusion to the tsarist reprisal against the participants of the Pugachev uprising.

Inspired by the concept of enlightened absolutism, Derzhavin explained in detail the need to establish contractual relations between the poet and the empress. He claimed that he was free from flattery and that he was committed to always telling only the truth. Using his favorite legend about Alexander the Great, who, trusting his doctor, boldly drank the medicine he offered, rejecting the slander of the courtiers who claimed that the doctor poured poison into his cup, the poet boldly expressed his desire to be such a “doctor” under Catherine.

He convinced her to trust him. The “drink” he offers will be healing, it will ease suffering, and help you see everything in its true light. And then he will sing of the empress’s merits: believe that my song “will encourage you to exploit the virtues and will aggravate your jealousy for them,” he says to Catherine.

The ode plan contains a list of political, public and social events that the Russian empress must implement. They constitute the essence of the program of Russian enlightened absolutism outlined by Derzhavin.

“Vision of Murza” could become one of best works Russian civil poetry. But it didn't. The outlined plan did not receive a poetic embodiment. All Derzhavin’s hopes of becoming an advisor under Catherine collapsed. Introduced to the empress, the poet hoped that they would remain alone and he would have the opportunity to tell her about his plans... Everything turned out differently: Catherine coldly greeted him in front of everyone.

With her arrogant and majestic appearance, she emphasized her dissatisfaction with the daring poet, who dared to satirically depict people close to her. The poet was stunned. All plans and hopes collapsed. There was no point in thinking about Catherine agreeing to bring him closer to her as a “doctor.” Moreover, anxiety crept in - whether he was in danger of falling into disgrace.

Apparently, Fonvizin was right, who in his “Minor” (presented in the past, 1782) portrayed the wise Starodum. His friend Pravdin expressed the wish that he be called to the court “for what a doctor is called to the sick for.” To this Starodum answered sternly and firmly: “It is in vain to call a doctor to the sick without healing. The doctor won’t help you here.”

Instead of “Vision of Murza” Derzhavin wrote “Gratitude to Felitsa”. In the ode, he tried to explain that his “courage” was generated by sincerity, that his “heart is grateful” to the empress and “burns with zeal.” “Explanatory” poems have lost their strength, energy, and fervor of feeling. The main thing about them is obsequious obedience. True, at the end of the ode, the poet carefully and delicately, but still hinted that he was unlikely to soon be able to sing the “god-like princess” again.

Derzhavin was not mistaken in his assumption: “heavenly fire” did not kindle in his soul, and he did not write more poems like “Felitsa.” The desire to be the singer of Felitsa-Catherine meant for Derzhavin the establishment of contractual relations between the poet and the empress.

He would continue to sing Felitsa selflessly, would sincerely glorify her name for centuries, if she, acting as an enlightened monarch, boldly updated legislation and carried out the reforms necessary for the country and people. The plan collapsed. Ode "Felitsa" remained lonely.

True, two more odes were dedicated to Catherine: “Image of Felitsa” (1789) and “Vision of Murza” (new edition of 1791, sharply different from the prose plan of 1783). “The Image of Felitsa” is truly an ode of praise. Derzhavin betrayed himself. It is written in a traditional plan. Uncontrollably extolling the virtues of Catherine in a very long, needlessly drawn-out ode, he demonstratively catered to Felitsa’s taste.

She needed praise, not Derzhavin's personal feelings. Flattery was part of Derzhavin’s plan - he was removed from the post of Tambov governor and put on trial. I had to go to St. Petersburg to seek protection from Catherine. In his autobiographical “Notes,” the poet explains the reason for writing the ode: “There was no other way left but to resort to my talent.

As a result, I wrote... the ode “Image of Felitsa.” The ode was delivered to the empress, she liked it, and the persecution of Derzhavin was stopped. In this ode, Derzhavin the poet was defeated by Derzhavin the official, associated with the court.

History of Russian literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983.

“Felitsa” Gavriil Derzhavin

Godlike Princess
Kirghiz-Kaisak horde!
Whose wisdom is incomparable
Discovered the right tracks
To Tsarevich young Chlorus
Climb that high mountain
Where does a thornless rose grow?
Where virtue lives, -
She captivates my spirit and mind,
Let me find her advice.

Bring it on, Felitsa! instruction:
How to live magnificently and truthfully,
How to tame passions and excitement
And be happy in the world?
Your voice excites me
Your son is accompanying me;
But I am weak to follow them.
Disturbed by the vanity of life,
Today I control myself
And tomorrow I am a slave to whims.

Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Not valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
You shed bliss on mortals;
Like you don't play cards,
Like me, from morning to morning.

You don't like masquerades too much
And you can’t even set foot in the club;
Keeping customs, rituals,
Don't be quixotic with yourself;
You can't saddle the horse of Parnassus,
You don’t enter a gathering of spirits,
You don’t go from the throne to the East;
But walking the path of meekness,
With a charitable soul,
Have a productive day.

And I, having slept until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday,
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows towards the Turks;
Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.

Or am I at a rich feast,
Where do they give me a holiday?
Where the table glitters with silver and gold,
Where are thousands of different dishes:
There's a nice Westphalian ham,
There are links of Astrakhan fish,
There are pilaf and pies there,
I wash down the waffles with champagne;
And I forget everything in the world
Among wines, sweets and aroma.

Or among a beautiful grove
In the gazebo where the fountain is noisy,
When the sweet-voiced harp rings,
Where the breeze barely breathes
Where everything represents luxury to me,
To the pleasures of thought he catches,
It languishes and revitalizes the blood;
Lying on a velvet sofa,
The young girl feels tender,
I pour love into her heart.

Or in a magnificent train
In an English carriage, golden,
With a dog, a jester or a friend,
Or with some beauty
I'm walking under the swing;
I go to taverns to drink mead;
Or, somehow I’ll get bored,
According to my inclination to change,
With my hat on one side,
I'm flying on a fast runner.

Or music and singers,
Suddenly with an organ and bagpipes,
Or fist fighters
And I make my spirit happy by dancing;
Or, taking care of all matters
I leave and go hunting
And I am amused by the barking of dogs;
Or over the Neva banks
I amuse myself with horns at night
And the rowing of daring rowers.

Or, sitting at home, I’ll play a prank,
Playing fools with my wife;
Then I get along with her at the dovecote,
Sometimes we frolic in blind man's buff;
Then I’m having fun with her,
Then I look for it in my head;
I like to rummage through books,
I enlighten my mind and heart,
I read Polkan and Bova;
Over the Bible, yawning, I sleep.

That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved!
But the whole world looks like me.
Who knows how much wisdom,
But every person is a lie.
We do not walk the paths of light,
We run debauchery after dreams.
Between a lazy person and a grumbler,
Between vanity and vice
Did anyone accidentally find it?
The path of virtue is straight.

I found it, but why not be mistaken?
To us, weak mortals, on this path,
Where does reason itself stumble
And one must follow passions;
Where are the learned ignoramuses for us?
Like the darkness of travelers, their eyelids are dark?
Seduction and flattery live everywhere,
Pasha oppresses everyone with luxury.-
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?

You alone are only decent,
Princess! to create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From disagreement to agreement
And from fierce passions happiness
You can only create.
So the helmsman, sailing through the show-off,
Catching the roaring wind under sail,
Knows how to steer a ship.

You just won’t offend the only one,
Don't insult anyone
You see through your fingers the tomfoolery
The only thing you cannot tolerate is evil;
You correct misdeeds with leniency,
Like a wolf, you don’t crush people,
You know right away their price.
They are subject to the will of kings, -
But God is more just,
Living in their laws.

You think sensibly about merit,
You give honor to the worthy,
You don't consider him a prophet,
Who can only weave rhymes,
What crazy fun is this?
Honor and glory to the good caliphs.
You condescend to the lyrical mode:
Poetry is dear to you,
Pleasant, sweet, useful,
Like delicious lemonade in summer.

There are rumors about your actions,
That you are not at all proud;
Kind in business and in jokes,
Pleasant in friendship and firm;
Why are you indifferent to adversity?
And in glory she is so generous,
That she renounced and was considered wise.
They also say it’s not false,
It's like it's always possible
You should tell the truth.

It's also unheard of,
Worthy of you alone
It’s like you’re bold to the people
About everything, and show it and at hand,
And you allow me to know and think,
And you don’t forbid about yourself
To speak both true and false;
As if to the crocodiles themselves,
All your mercies to Zoilas,
You are always inclined to forgive.

Pleasant rivers of tears flow
From the depths of my soul.
ABOUT! when people are happy
There must be their destiny,
Where is the meek angel, the peaceful angel,
Hidden in the porphyry lightness,
A scepter was sent down from heaven to wear!
There you can whisper in conversations
And, without fear of execution, at dinners
Don't drink to the health of kings.

There with the name Felitsa you can
Scrape out the typo in the line,
Or a portrait carelessly
Drop it on the ground.

They are not fried in ice baths,
They don’t click on the nobles’ mustaches;
Princes don't cluck like hens,
Favorites don't want to laugh at them
And they don’t stain their faces with soot.

You know, Felitsa! are right
And men and kings;
When you enlighten morals,
You don't fool people like that;
In your rest from business
You write lessons in fairy tales
And you repeat to Chlorus in the alphabet:
"Don't do anything bad,
And the evil satyr himself
You will make a despicable liar.”

You are ashamed to be considered great,
To be scary and unloved;
The bear is decently wild
Tearing animals and shedding their blood.
Without extreme distress in the heat of the moment
Does that person need lancets?
Who could do without them?
And how nice it is to be a tyrant,
Tamerlane, great in atrocity,
Who is great in goodness, like God?

Felitsa glory, glory to God,
Who pacified the battle;
Which is poor and wretched
Covered, clothed and fed;
Which with a radiant eye
Clowns, cowards, ungrateful
And he gives his light to the righteous;
Equally enlightens all mortals,
He comforts the sick, heals,
He does good only for good.

who gave freedom
Jump into foreign regions,
Allowed his people
Seek silver and gold;
Who allows water
And it doesn’t prohibit cutting down the forest;
Orders to weave, and spin, and sew;
Untying the mind and hands,
Tells you to love trading, science
And find happiness at home;

Whose law, right hand
They give both mercy and judgment.-
Prophecy, wise Felitsa!
Where is a rogue different from the honest?
Where does old age not wander around the world?
Does merit find bread for itself?
Where revenge does not drive anyone?
Where do conscience and truth live?
Where do virtues shine? -
Isn't it yours at the throne?

But where does your throne shine in the world?
Where, branch of heaven, do you bloom?
In Baghdad? Smyrna? Cashmere? -
Listen, wherever you live, -
I appreciate my praises to you,
Don’t think about hats or beshmetya
For them I wanted from you.
Feel the good pleasure
This is the wealth of the soul,
Which Croesus did not collect.

I ask the great prophet
May I touch the dust of your feet,
Yes, your words are the sweetest current
And I will enjoy the sight!
I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,
They keep you invisibly
From all illnesses, evils and boredom;
May the sounds of your deeds be heard in posterity,
Like the stars in the sky, they will shine.

Analysis of Derzhavin’s poem “Felitsa”

In 1781, “The Tale of Prince Chlorus” appeared in print, which Empress Catherine II composed for her grandson, the future Emperor Alexander I. This instructive work influenced not only little Alexander Pavlovich, but also Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin (1743–1816). It inspired the poet to create an ode to the empress, which he called “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz princess Felitsa, written by the Tatar Murza, who had long settled in Moscow, and lived on his business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic 1782."

The poem was first published in 1783 in the magazine Sobesednik. The poet did not leave a signature under the work, but like the entire text of the ode, the title is full of hints. For example, the “Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess” means Catherine II, who was the mistress of the Kyrgyz lands. And under Murza is the poet himself, who considered himself a descendant of the Tatar prince Bagrim.

The ode contains many allusions to various events, people and sayings related to the reign of Catherine II. Take, for example, the name given to it by the author. Felitsa is the heroine of The Tale of Prince Chlorus. Like the empress, she has a husband who prevents her from realizing her good intentions. In addition, Felitsa, according to Derzhavin’s explanation, is the ancient Roman goddess of bliss, and it was with this word that many contemporaries characterized the reign of Catherine II, who favored the sciences, arts and held rather free views on the social structure.

These and other numerous virtues of the empress are praised by Gabriel Romanovich. In the first stanzas of the ode, the poet walks through the empress’s entourage. The author allegorically describes the unworthy behavior of the courtiers, speaking as if about himself:
With my hat on one side,
I'm flying on a fast runner.

In this passage we are talking about Count Alexei Orlov, who is eager for fast races.

Another fragment speaks of the idle Prince Potemkin, soaring in the clouds:
And I, having slept until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday,
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras.

Against the background of these playmakers, the figure of the wise, active and fair empress acquires an aura of virtue. The author rewards her with the epithets “generous”, “kind in business and jokes”, “pleasant in friendship”, “wise”, metaphors “branch of heaven”, “meek angel”, etc.

The poet mentions the political successes of Catherine II. Using the metaphor of “Dividing Chaos into spheres orderly,” he points to the establishment of the province in 1775 and the annexation of new territories to Russian Empire. The author compares the reign of the empress with the reign of her predecessors:
There are no clownish weddings there,
They are not fried in ice baths,
They don’t click on the mustaches of nobles...

Here the poet hints at the reign of Anna Ioannovna and Peter I.

Gabriel Romanovich also admires the queen’s modesty. In lines:
You are ashamed to be considered great,
To be scary, unloved...

indicates Catherine II’s renunciation of the titles “Great” and “Wise”, which were offered to her by the Senate nobles in 1767.

As an artist, the poet is especially captivated by the empress’s attitude towards freedom of expression. The author is fascinated by the queen’s love for poetry (“Poetry is dear to you, Pleasant, sweet, useful...”), the opportunity she affirmed to think and speak out as you wish, to travel, organize enterprises, etc.

Catherine II herself highly appreciated the poet’s skill. She liked the ode “Felitsa” so much that the Empress presented Derzhavin with a richly decorated snuff box, which she herself sent to her entourage. Contemporaries also reacted very favorably to the poem. Many reviews noted not only the truthfulness and lack of flattery in the lines of the ode, but also its elegant composition and poetic style. As the Russian philologist J. K. Grot wrote in his commentary, this ode gave rise to a new style. “Felitsa” is devoid of pompous expressions and does not contain a list of gods, as was previously customary.

Indeed, the language of the ode is simple but exquisite. The author uses epithets, metaphors, pictorial comparisons (“like stars in the sky”). The composition is strict but harmonious. Each stanza consists of ten lines. First comes a quatrain with a cross rhyme of the form abab, then a couplet cc, followed by a quatrain with a ring rhyme of the form deed. Meter: iambic tetrameter.

Although the poem contains quite a few expressions that are outdated today, and many of the hints may be incomprehensible, it is still easy to read.

Ode "Felitsa"(1782) - the first poem that made the name of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin famous, becoming an example of a new style in Russian poetry.

The ode received its name from the name of the heroine of “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” the author of which was Catherine herself, and with this name, which translated from Latin means happiness, she is also named in Derzhavin’s ode, glorifying the empress and satirically characterizing her environment.

The history of this poem is very interesting and revealing. It was written a year before publication, but Derzhavin himself did not want to publish it and even hid the authorship. And suddenly, in 1783, news spread around St. Petersburg: an anonymous ode appeared “ Felitsa", where the vices of famous nobles close to Catherine II, to whom the ode was dedicated, were depicted in a comic form. The residents of St. Petersburg were quite surprised by the courage of the unknown author. They tried to get the ode, read it, and rewrite it. Princess Dashkova, a close associate of the Empress, decided to publish the ode, Krichem, in the very magazine where Catherine II herself collaborated.

The next day, Dashkova found the Empress in tears, and in her hands was a magazine with Derzhavin’s ode. The Empress asked who wrote the poem, in which, as she herself said, he portrayed her so accurately that he moved her to tears. This is how Derzhavin tells the story.

IN " Felice“Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of “Felitsa” as a “mixed ode.” Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where government officials and military leaders were praised, and a solemn event was glorified, in a “mixed ode,” “the poet can talk about everything.”

Reading the poem " Felitsa“, you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people, boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems bright, memorable and understandable not only for the people of his time. And now we can read with interest the poems of this wonderful poet, separated from us by a huge distance of two and a half centuries.

Classicism forbade combining high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin doesn’t even just combine them in the characterization of different persons depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in an ordinary way (“You often walk on foot...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if exactly copied from life.

But not everyone liked this poem as much as the empress. It puzzled and alarmed many of Derzhavin’s contemporaries. What was so unusual and even dangerous about him?

On the one hand, in the ode “Felitsa” a completely traditional image of a “god-like princess” is created, which embodies the poet’s idea of ​​​​the ideal of the eminent monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:

Give me some advice, Felitsa:

How to live magnificently and truthfully,

And be happy in the world?

On the other hand, the poet’s poems convey the idea not only of the wisdom of power, but also of the carelessness of performers concerned with their own profit:

Seduction and flattery live everywhere,

Luxury oppresses everyone.

Where does virtue live?

Where does a rose without thorns grow?

This idea in itself was not new, but behind the images of the nobles depicted in the ode, the features of real people clearly emerged:

My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:

Then I steal captivity from the Persians,

Then I direct arrows to the Turks:

Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,

I terrify the universe with my gaze;

Then suddenly, I was seduced by the outfit,

I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.

In these images, the poet’s contemporaries easily recognized the empress’s favorite Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, and Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles he offended could deal with the author for this. Only Catherine’s favorable attitude saved Derzhavin.

But even to the empress he dares to give advice: to follow the law to which both kings and their subjects are subject:

You alone are only decent,

Princess, create light from darkness;

Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,

The union will strengthen their integrity;

From disagreement to agreement

You can only create.

This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded boldly and it was expressed in simple and straightforward language.

The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:

I ask for heavenly strength,

They keep you invisibly

Listen to Derzhavin’s ode “Felitsa”

Ode "Felitsa"

_____________________________________
1. The ode was first published in the magazine “Interlocutor”, 1783, part 1, page 5, without a signature, under the title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz princess Felitsa, written by the Tatar Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and lives on his business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic 1782." (go back)

Commentary by J. Grot
1. In 1781, the Tale of Prince Chlorus, written by Catherine for her five-year-old grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, was published in a small number of copies. Chlorus was the son of the prince, or king of Kyiv, who was kidnapped by the Kirghiz khan during his father’s absence. Wanting to believe the rumor about the boy’s abilities, the khan ordered him to find a rose without thorns. The prince set off on this errand. On the way, he met the khan’s daughter, the cheerful and amiable Felitsa. She wanted to go to see off the prince, but her stern husband, Sultan Grumpy, prevented her from doing so, and then she sent her son, Reason, to the child. Continuing his journey, Chlorus was subjected to various temptations, and among other things, he was invited to his hut by Murza Lazy, who, with the temptations of luxury, tried to dissuade the prince from an undertaking that was too difficult. But Reason forcibly carried him further. Finally, they saw in front of them a steep rocky mountain, on which grows a rose without thorns, or, as one young man explained to Chlorus, virtue. Having climbed the mountain with difficulty, the prince picked this flower and hurried to the khan. The Khan sent him along with the rose to the Kyiv prince. “This one was so happy about the arrival of the prince and his successes that he forgot all the melancholy and sadness.... Here the fairy tale will end, and whoever knows more will tell another.”

This fairy tale gave Derzhavin the idea to write an ode to Felitsa (the goddess of bliss, according to his explanation of this name): since the empress loved funny jokes, he says, this ode was written in her taste, at the expense of her entourage.

2. The poet called Catherine the Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess because he had villages in the then Orenburg region, adjacent to the Kyrgyz horde, subject to the empress. Now these estates are located in the Buzulutsky district of the Samara province.

Comment by V.A. Zapadov

3. Your son is accompanying me. – In Catherine’s fairy tale, Felitsa gave her son Reason as a guide to Prince Chlorus.

4. Without imitating your Murzas - that is, courtiers, nobles. The word “Murza” is used by Derzhavin in two ways. When Murza speaks about Felitsa, then Murza means the author of the ode. When he speaks as if about himself, then Murza is a collective image of a nobleman-court.

5. Read and write before the levy. – Derzhavin is referring to the empress’s legislative activities. Lectern (obsolete, colloquial), more precisely “lectern” (church) - a high table with a sloping top, on which icons or books are placed in the church. Here it is used in the sense of “table”, “desk”.

6. You can’t saddle a parnasque horse. – Catherine did not know how to write poetry. Arias and poems for her literary works it was written by secretaries of state Elagin, Khrapovitsky and others. The Parnassian horse is Pegasus.

7. You do not enter the meeting of spirits, you do not go from the throne to the East - that is, you do not attend Masonic lodges and meetings. Catherine called the Freemasons a “sect of spirits” (Khrapovitsky’s Diary. M., 1902, p. 31). "Vostok" were sometimes called Masonic lodges(Grotto, 2, 709–710).
Freemasons in the 80s. XVIII century - members of organizations (“lodges”) that professed mystical and moralistic teachings and were in opposition to Catherine’s government. Freemasonry was divided into different movements. A number of leaders of the French Revolution of 1789 belonged to one of them, Illuminism.
In Russia, the so-called “Moscow Martinists” (the largest of them in the 1780s were N.I. Novikov, a remarkable Russian educator, writer and book publisher, his publishing assistants I.V. Lopukhin, S.I. Gamaleya etc.) were especially hostile towards the empress. They considered her an usurper of the throne and wanted to see the “legitimate sovereign” on the throne - the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, the son of Emperor Peter III, who was dethroned by Catherine. Paul, while it was beneficial for him, was very sympathetic to the “Martinists” (according to some evidence, he even adhered to their teachings). The Freemasons became especially active in the mid-1780s, and Catherine composed three comedies: “The Siberian Shaman,” “The Deceiver,” and “The Seduced,” and wrote “The Secret of the Anti-Ridiculous Society,” a parody of the Masonic charter. But she managed to defeat Moscow Freemasonry only in 1789–1793. through police measures.

8. And I, having slept until noon, etc. - “Refers to the whimsical disposition of Prince Potemkin, like all three of the following couplets, who was either getting ready for war, or practicing in outfits, feasts and all kinds of luxuries” (Ob. D., 598).

9. Zug - a team of four or six horses in pairs. The right to ride in a convoy was a privilege of the highest nobility.

10. I'm flying on a fast runner. – This also applies to Potemkin, but “more to gr. Al. Gr. Orlov, who was a hunter before horse racing” (Ob. D., 598). At the Orlov stud farms, several new breeds of horses were bred, of which the most famous breed is the famous “Orlov trotters”.

11. Or fist fighters - also applies to A.G. Orlov.

12. And amused by the barking of dogs - refers to P.I. Panin, who loved hound hunting (Ob. D., 598).

13. I amuse myself with horns at night, etc. - “Refers to Semyon Kirillovich Naryshkin, who was then a huntsman, who was the first to start horn music” (Ob. D., 598). Horn music is an orchestra consisting of serf musicians, in which only one note can be extracted from each horn, and all together are like one instrument. Walks of noble nobles along the Neva, accompanied by a horn orchestra, were a common occurrence in the 18th century.

14. Or, sitting at home, I will play a prank. - “This verse generally refers to the ancient customs and amusements of Russians” (Ob. D., 958).

15. I read Polkan and Bova. - “Refers to the book. Vyazemsky, who loved to read novels (which the author, serving on his team, often read in front of him, and it happened that both of them dozed and did not understand anything) - Polkan and Bova and famous old Russian stories" (Ob. D., 599 ). Derzhavin is referring to the translated novel about Bova, which later turned into a Russian fairy tale.

16. But every person is a lie - a quote from the Psalter, from Psalm 115.

17. Between a lazy person and a grouch. Lazy and Grumpy are characters from the fairy tale about Prince Chlorus. “As much as is known,” she meant by the first book. Potemkin, and under another book. Vyazemsky, because the first, as stated above, led a lazy and luxurious life, and the second often grumbled when money was demanded from him, as the manager of the treasury” (Ob. D., 599).

18. Dividing Chaos into harmonious spheres, etc. - a hint at the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the “Establishment on the Provinces,” according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces.

19. That she renounced and was considered wise. – Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of “Great”, “Wise”, “Mother of the Fatherland”, which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for developing a draft of a new code; She did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title “Great” for her.

20. You allow me to know and think. – In Catherine II’s “Instructions,” which she compiled for the Commission to develop a draft of a new code and which was a compilation from the writings of Montesquieu and other enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century, there are indeed a number of articles, a brief summary of which is this stanza. However, it was not for nothing that Pushkin called the “Nakaz” “hypocritical”: a huge number of “cases” of people arrested by the Secret Expedition precisely on charges of “speaking” “indecent”, “diarrhea” and other words addressed to the empress, heir to the throne, Prince . Potemkin, etc. Almost all of these people were cruelly tortured by the “whip fighter” Sheshkovsky and severely punished by secret courts.

21. There you can whisper in conversations, etc. and the next stanza is a depiction of the cruel laws and morals at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. As Derzhavin notes (Ob. D., 599–600), there were laws according to which two people whispering to each other were considered attackers against the empress or the state; Those who did not drink a large glass of wine, “offered for the queen’s health,” and who accidentally dropped a coin with her image were suspected of malicious intent and ended up in the Secret Chancellery. A typo, correction, scraping, or mistake in the imperial title entailed punishment with lashes, as well as moving the title from one line to another. At court, rude clownish “amusements” were widespread, such as the famous wedding of Prince Golitsyn, who was a jester at court, for which an “ice house” was built; titled jesters sat in baskets and clucked chickens, etc.

22. You write teachings in fairy tales. – Catherine II wrote for her grandson, in addition to “The Tale of Prince Chlorus”, “The Tale of Prince Fevey”.

23. Don't do anything bad. - “Instruction” to Chlorus, translated into verse by Derzhavin, is in the appendix to the “Russian alphabet for teaching youth to read, printed for public schools by the highest command” (St. Petersburg, 1781), which was also composed by Catherine for her grandchildren.

24. Lancets means - i.e. bloodshed.

25. Tamerlane (Timur, Timurleng) - Central Asian commander and conqueror (1336–1405), distinguished by extreme cruelty.

26. Which pacified the abuse, etc. - “This verse refers to the time of peace, at the end of the first Turkish war (1768–1774 - V.Z.) in Russia, which flourished, when many philanthropic institutions were made by the empress, like then: orphanage, hospitals and others.”

27. Which granted freedom, etc. - Derzhavin lists some laws issued by Catherine II, which were beneficial to the noble landowners and merchants: she confirmed the permission given by Peter III to the nobles to travel abroad; allowed landowners to develop ore deposits on their property for their own benefit; lifted the ban on cutting down forest on their lands without government control; “allowed free navigation on the seas and rivers for trade,” etc.

Derzhavin’s ode “Felitsa” made a strong impression at the court of Catherine II, primarily due to the admiration of the empress herself, but the empress’s attitude only gave way to the work, and the ode took its well-deserved place in Russian poetry thanks to its merits.

The idea for the ode was prompted by “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” written by the Empress to her grandson Alexander and published in 1781. Derzhavin used the names and motifs of this tale to write an ode, poignant in content and instructive in purpose, in which he went beyond the traditional praise of a person in power. Having written the work in 1782, Derzhavin did not dare to make it public, but the ode fell into the hands of Princess E.R. Dashkova, director of the Academy of Sciences. Dashkova, without his knowledge, published an ode in the magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word” entitled “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by some Tatar Murza, who had long settled in Moscow, and lived on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic in 1782.” This is followed by the addition that the ode was composed in Russian and its author is unknown.

The ode is built on contrast: it contrasts Princess Felitsa, by whose name Derzhavin means Empress Catherine II herself, and her depraved and lazy subject, Murza. The allegorical images in the ode were too transparent, and contemporaries easily recognized who was behind them and for what purpose they were used. It was convenient for Derzhavin, without falling into primitive flattery, to sing the virtues of the empress when addressing the Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess; this gave him greater freedom to express his thoughts. Calling himself a Murza, the poet uses a subtle technique: on the one hand, Derzhavin has the right to do this, because his family comes from the Tatar Murza Bagrim, on the other hand, the poet means Catherine’s nobles who surrounded her throne. Thus, Derzhavin’s Murza in “Felitsa” is a collective portrait of the court nobles - “Murzas”: idle, “transforming everyday life into a holiday,” spending their lives in feasts and luxury “among wines, sweets and aroma,” in entertainment and laziness. Describing the uselessness of nobles, Derzhavin draws a conclusion regarding general morals that need correction, as if suggesting to his ruler what needs to be changed in the state:

That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved!

But the whole world looks like me,

Who knows how much wisdom,

But every person is a lie.

The next, larger part of the ode is devoted to a description of the virtues of Catherine II, but here Derzhavin’s doxology aims to give advice, indicate correct behavior in governance and relations with subjects, extolling simplicity, hard work, justice, virtue, sanity and other qualities of the queen. At the end of the ode, Derzhavin proclaims perfect image government and life of the state,

Whose law, right hand

They give both mercy and judgment.

Prophetic, wise Felitsa!

Where is a rogue different from the honest?

Where does old age not wander around the world?

Does merit find bread for itself?

Where revenge does not drive anyone?

Where do conscience and truth live?

Where do virtues shine? —

Isn't it yours at the throne?

It is not surprising that after such a wise and passionate appeal, the empress distinguished Derzhavin, giving him an expensive gift and bringing him closer to her. Catherine II was so impressed by the faithfulness of Derzhavin’s characteristics of her nobles that she sent them lists of odes, noting on the copies which passage from the text related to the addressee. Derzhavin, in addition to poetic recognition, gained a reputation as an honest subject-citizen.

Derzhavin's ode produces a strong impact on the reader and listener with its structure, sonority of language, precision of expressions and phrases, and energetic rhythm, based on the poet's iambic tetrameter. Derzhavin achieved an amazing unity of seemingly mutually exclusive registers of poetic speech: solemnity of style and conversational intonation in addresses. The ode seems to flow forward thanks to a cascade of anaphors and syntactic parallelisms, as, for example, in the sixth stanza, in which the threefold beginning of the lines “where-where-where” is also replaced by the threefold “there-there-there”. Finally, everyday descriptions real life so detailed that when reading, you become, as it were, a witness of that time.

“Felitsa” by G.R. Derzhavin

History of creation. Ode “Felitsa” (1782), the first poem that made the name of Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin famous. It became a striking example of a new style in Russian poetry. The subtitle of the poem specifies: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by the Tatar Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and lives on his business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic." This work received its unusual name from the name of the heroine of “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” the author of which was Catherine II herself. She is also named by this name, which means happiness in Latin, in Derzhavin’s ode, glorifying the empress and satirically characterizing her environment.

It is known that at first Derzhavin did not want to publish this poem and even hid the authorship, fearing the revenge of the influential nobles satirically depicted in it. But in 1783 it received widespread and with the assistance of Princess Dashkova, a close associate of the Empress, it was published in the magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word,” in which Catherine II herself collaborated. Subsequently, Derzhavin recalled that this poem touched the empress so much that Dashkova found her in tears. Catherine II wanted to know who wrote the poem in which she was so accurately depicted. In gratitude to the author, she sent him a golden snuff box with five hundred chervonets and an expressive inscription on the package: “From Orenburg from the Kirghiz Princess to Murza Derzhavin.” From that day on, Derzhavin came to literary fame, which no Russian poet had known before.

Main themes and ideas. The poem "Felitsa", written as a humorous sketch from the life of the empress and her entourage, at the same time raises very important problems. On the one hand, in the ode “Felitsa” a completely traditional image of a “god-like princess” is created, which embodies the poet’s idea of ​​​​the ideal of an enlightened monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:

Give me some advice, Felitsa:
How to live magnificently and truthfully,
How to tame passions and excitement
And be happy in the world?

On the other hand, the poet’s poems convey the idea not only of the wisdom of power, but also of the carelessness of performers concerned with their own profit:

Seduction and flattery live everywhere,
Luxury oppresses everyone.
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?

This idea in itself was not new, but behind the images of the nobles depicted in the ode, the features of real people clearly emerged:

My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows towards the Turks;
Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, I was seduced by the outfit.
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.

In these images, the poet’s contemporaries easily recognized the empress’s favorite Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, and Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles he offended could deal with the author for this. Only Catherine’s favorable attitude saved Derzhavin.

But even to the empress he dares to give advice: to follow the law to which both kings and their subjects are subject:

You alone are only decent,
Princess, create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From disagreement to agreement
And from fierce passions happiness
You can only create.

This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded bold, and it was expressed in simple and understandable language.

The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:

I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,
They keep you invisibly
From all illnesses, evils and boredom;
May the sounds of your deeds be heard in posterity,
Like the stars in the sky, they will shine.

Artistic originality. Classicism forbade combining high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin not only combines them in characterizing different persons depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. Breaking the traditions of the laudatory ode genre, Derzhavin widely introduces colloquial vocabulary and even vernacular into it, but most importantly, he does not draw ceremonial portrait the empress, but depicts her human appearance. That is why the ode contains everyday scenes and still life;

Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table.

“God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in everyday life (“Without valuing your peace, / You read, write under the cover...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if exactly copied from life. Reading the poem “Felitsa”, you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people, boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems bright, memorable and understandable.

Thus, in “Felitsa” Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of “Felitsa” as a mixed ode. Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where government officials and military leaders were praised, and solemn events were glorified, in a “mixed ode” “the poet can talk about everything.” Destroying the genre canons of classicism, with this poem he opens the way for new poetry - “real poetry™”, which received brilliant development in the work of Pushkin.

The meaning of the work. Derzhavin himself subsequently noted that one of his main merits was that he “dared to proclaim Felitsa’s virtues in a funny Russian style.” As the researcher of the poet’s work V.F. rightly points out. Khodasevich, Derzhavin was proud “not that he discovered Catherine’s virtues, but that he was the first to speak in a “funny Russian style.” He understood that his ode was the first artistic embodiment Russian life, that she is the embryo of our romance. And, perhaps,” Khodasevich develops his thought, “if “old man Derzhavin” had lived at least to the first chapter of “Onegin,” he would have heard echoes of his ode in it.”