Oh, memory of the heart! You are stronger
The mind of the sad memory
And often with your sweetness
You captivate me in a distant country.
I remember the voice sweet words,
I remember blue eyes
I remember golden curls
Carelessly curly hair.
My incomparable shepherdess
I remember the whole outfit is simple,
And a sweet, unforgettable image,
Travels everywhere with me.
Guardian of my genius - with love
He was given the joy of separation;
Will I fall asleep? - will lean against the headboard
And will sweeten the sad dream.
Analysis of Batyushkov’s poem “My Genius”
There have been fatal encounters in the life of every poet, and Konstantin Batyushkov is no exception in this matter. In 1813, while visiting friends in St. Petersburg, the poet met Anna Furman and fell madly in love with the girl. The parents of the young lady are not at all averse to marrying their daughter to a very wealthy nobleman, who, moreover, is a member of a prestigious public service. However, Anna Furman does not have reciprocal feelings for her groom. Realizing this, Batyushkov breaks off the engagement, but until the end of his life he keeps in his heart the image of the girl who captivated his imagination.
The poet devotes a whole series of poems to Anna Furman, one of which, entitled “My Genius,” dates back to 1815. This work was written a few months after the dissolution of the engagement, which the poet greatly regrets. It is for this reason that the first lines of the poem are filled with sadness and longing. “Oh, memory of the heart! You are stronger than the mind of the sad memory,” with this phrase the poet wants to emphasize that he is not able to subordinate his love to logic and common sense. Even knowing that the chosen one does not reciprocate, Baratynsky continues to love her and considers her the only one who is worthy of becoming his wife. However, according to the recollections of eyewitnesses, Konstantin Batyushkov could become a completely happy family man and live with his young wife happy life. This is exactly what the poet dreamed of, but he understood that his beloved agreed to the marriage not because of high feelings, but under pressure from her parents. This assumption soon finds confirmation when the poet becomes an unwitting witness to a conversation between Anna Furman and her friend. We are talking about the upcoming wedding, which the bride treats with disdain, believing that marriage will give her only the only consolation - freedom and deliverance from parental instructions. It was then that Batyushkov decides to talk to the bride’s father and casually mentions that he does not have enough money to support his family. This argument turns out to be decisive in the matter of Anna Furman's upcoming marriage, and the wedding is upset. However, the poet is unable to leave St. Petersburg immediately, since due to a deep nervous shock he falls ill and needs special care. It was then that he announced to his friends that his financial affairs had been shaken in order to hide the real reason experiences. But in the fit of another attack of clouding of reason, he still reveals his secret, declaring that he cannot live under the same roof with someone who is ready to tolerate him for the sake of money.
Realizing that way back no, and the relationship with Anna Furman is broken forever, the poet continues to keep her image in his own heart. “I remember the voice of sweet words, I remember blue eyes,” the author notes, recreating bit by bit the portrait of the person closest and dearest to him. However, it is not only Anna Furman’s appearance that attracts the poet. He is sincerely convinced that this extraordinary girl is his genius and guardian angel. It is she who inspires Batyushkov to create and forces him to put his feelings into poetry.
Even after breaking up with Anna Furman, the poet not only continues to love her, but also sincerely believes that meeting her is a gift of fate. The fact that the feelings were deprived of reciprocity does not sadden Batyushkov at all, who is happy simply because he loves himself. And it seems to him that it is this love that saves him from loneliness and life’s hardships, it helps to materialize the image of the chosen one, who at the very difficult moment“he will snuggle up to the headboard and sweeten the sad dream.”
It is noteworthy that Batyushkov carried his feelings for Anna Furman throughout his life, and every year they only became stronger, eventually driving the impressionable poet to the point of insanity.
Konstantin Nikolaevich Batyushkov
Oh, memory of the heart! You are stronger
The mind of the sad memory
And often with your sweetness
You captivate me in a distant country.
I remember the voice of sweet words,
I remember blue eyes
I remember golden curls
Carelessly curly hair.
My incomparable shepherdess
I remember the whole outfit is simple,
And a sweet, unforgettable image,
Travels everywhere with me.
My guardian genius - with love
He was given the joy of separation;
Will I fall asleep? - will lean against the headboard
And will sweeten the sad dream.
Anna Furman
There have been fatal encounters in the life of every poet, and Konstantin Batyushkov is no exception in this matter. In 1813, while visiting friends in St. Petersburg, the poet met Anna Furman and fell madly in love with the girl. The parents of the young lady are not at all averse to marrying their daughter to a very wealthy nobleman, who, moreover, is in a prestigious government service. However, Anna Furman does not have reciprocal feelings for her groom. Realizing this, Batyushkov breaks off the engagement, but until the end of his life he keeps in his heart the image of the girl who captivated his imagination.
The poet devotes a whole series of poems to Anna Furman, one of which, entitled “My Genius,” dates back to 1815. This work was written a few months after the dissolution of the engagement, which the poet greatly regrets. It is for this reason that the first lines of the poem are filled with sadness and longing. “Oh, memory of the heart! You are stronger than the mind of the sad memory,” with this phrase the poet wants to emphasize that he is not able to subordinate his love to logic and common sense. Even knowing that the chosen one does not reciprocate, Batyushkov continues to love her and considers her the only one who is worthy of becoming his wife. However, according to the recollections of eyewitnesses, Konstantin Batyushkov could become a completely happy family man and live a happy life with his young wife. This is exactly what the poet dreamed of, but he understood that his beloved agreed to the marriage not because of high feelings, but under pressure from her parents. This assumption soon finds confirmation when the poet becomes an unwitting witness to a conversation between Anna Furman and her friend. We are talking about the upcoming wedding, which the bride treats with disdain, believing that marriage will give her only the only consolation - freedom and deliverance from parental instructions. It was then that Batyushkov decides to talk to the bride’s father and casually mentions that he does not have enough money to support his family. This argument turns out to be decisive in the matter of Anna Furman's upcoming marriage, and the wedding is upset. However, the poet is unable to leave St. Petersburg immediately, since due to a deep nervous shock he falls ill and needs special care. It was then that he announced to his friends that his financial affairs had been shaken in order to hide the true cause of his worries. But in the fit of another attack of clouding of reason, he still reveals his secret, declaring that he cannot live under the same roof with someone who is ready to tolerate him for the sake of money.
Realizing that there is no turning back, and the relationship with Anna Furman is broken forever, the poet continues to keep her image in his own heart. “I remember the voice of sweet words, I remember blue eyes,” notes the author, recreating bit by bit the portrait of the person closest and dearest to him. However, it is not only Anna Furman’s appearance that attracts the poet. He is sincerely convinced that this extraordinary girl is his genius and guardian angel. It is she who inspires Batyushkov to create and forces him to put his feelings into poetry.
Even after parting with Anna Furman, the poet not only continues to love her, but also sincerely believes that meeting her is a gift of fate. The fact that the feelings were deprived of reciprocity does not sadden Batyushkov at all, who is happy simply because he loves himself. And it seems to him that it is this love that saves him from loneliness and life’s hardships, it helps to materialize the image of the chosen one, who at the most difficult moment “will cling to the headboard and sweeten the sad dream.”
It is noteworthy that Batyushkov carried his feelings for Anna Furman throughout his life, and every year they only became stronger, eventually driving the impressionable poet to the point of insanity.
Batyushkov Konstantin Nikolaevich(1787-1855) - poet. V.G. Belinsky, speaking about the significance of Batyushkov in the development of Russian poetry, pointed out: “ Batyushkov contributed a lot and a lot to the fact that Pushkin appeared as he really appeared».
(1804-1857) - Russian composer, founder of the national school of composition.
The poem “My Genius” was written in July - early August 1815 in Kamenets-Podolsky (Bessarabia); sent by E.F. Muravyova in a letter dated 08/11/1815. First published: Collection of exemplary Russian works and translations in verse. St. Petersburg, 1816. Part V. P. 228; See also: Bulletin of Europe. 1816. Part LXXXVIII, No. 15. P. 176-177 (signature: B-v). Reprinted: "Experiments". Part II. P. 46. The poem is placed in Zhukovsky’s Notebook as part of the “Kamenetsk cycle”, where it is equipped with the epigraph Spirto beato quale // Se "quando altrui fai tale? (Blessed spirit, what is // You exist when you make another the same?), taken from F. Petrarch's canzone “Se "l pensier che mi strugge...” (CXXV, verses 77-78). The elegy “My Genius” was set to music by M.I. Glinka.
(1902-1977) - Russian Soviet opera singer (lyric tenor) and opera director, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1950).
As we have established (and even shown with the example of the message “My Penates”), Batyushkov was a man of the romantic era who yearned for the lost classical clarity. The more disharmonious his worldview became, the more harmonious, “classical” - poetic language. That is why stable poetic formulas are repeated so often in his works. For the same reason, Batyushkov reproduced from poem to poem a conventional portrait of his beloved: “golden hair”, blue eyes... It was not a portrait of a real woman - it was beautiful, motionless, non-existent ideal. And the “sweet” sound writing of Batyushkov’s verse, affectionate, flexible, covered the glaze created by him poetic images. But in the depths of this motionless and slightly sleepy form, anxiety lurked, and it could burst out at any moment, disturbing the deceptive peace of Father’s style.
You have already read one of Batyushkov’s most “airy” elegies - “My Genius”, and considered it as one of the samples love lyrics XIX century. Now the time has come to engage in a monographic analysis of the text, to connect the features of the poem with the general picture of the world that Batyushkov creates in his work.
Oh, memory of the heart! You are stronger
The mind of the sad memory
And often with its sweetness
You captivate me in a distant country.
My incomparable shepherdess
I remember the whole outfit is simple,
And the image is sweet, unforgettable
Travels everywhere with me.
Guardian of my genius - with love
He was given the joy of separation:
Will I fall asleep? sticks to the headboard
And will sweeten the sad dream.
The general tone of the poem is tenderness, the overall impression is harmony. But already in the first verse, a clash of two themes, two moods is gradually outlined: the sadness of separation, the memory of which is kept by the mind, and the sweetness of love, which the poet’s heart cannot forget. Each of these themes, each of these moods immediately has its own sound correspondence. The sweet memory of the heart is associated with Father’s favorite sounds - “l”, “n”, “m”. They stretch, envelop the ear, and soothe. And the sad memory of the mind is associated with sharp, exploding, rumbling sounds: “p”, “r”, “ch”. These sounds collide in a line, fight with each other, like the memory of sadness fights with the memory of happy love.
The poet plunges into the depths of the “memory of the heart” in difficult times. It is not for nothing that the first verse opens with a heavy sigh, almost a groan: “Oh, the memory of the heart!..” This is how they cry out to God on the edge of despair: “Oh, God!..” And unbeknownst to himself, Batyushkov falls under the captivating power of the “memory of the heart.” The second stanza speaks of tranquility, of wonderful remembrance. Therefore, throughout the entire stanza - right up to the last line! - not once can you hear the menacingly rolling “r” or the “p” and “ch” resisting pronunciation. The sounds flow in waves, like the golden curls of a beloved. (Here it is, Batyushkov’s favorite conventional portrait of a golden-haired, blue-eyed beauty!) And in the next stanza, Batyushkov “deciphers” this image, reminds the reader of the genre of idyll, in whose shepherd’s clothes his heroine is dressed: “My incomparable shepherdess / I remember the whole outfit is simple.. ."
But here's what you should pay attention to. In the very last verse of this seemingly completely serene stanza, a single “r” sound suddenly appears: “Carelessly.” It does not disrupt the overall “airy” sound of the stanza, but, like a tuning fork, it imperceptibly reconfigures the poem in a different way.
The third stanza is thematically adjacent to the second. It also speaks of the triumph of the “memory of the heart” over the “memory of the mind,” and of love over separation. But the sound design is completely different: THE SHEPHERDESS OF THE UNCOMPARABLE... OUTFIT OF A SIMPLE. And this makes a certain sense. Indeed, in the second stanza, Batyushkov sought to convey the state of bliss that gripped him when remembering his beloved. And in the third, he slowly, gradually, but inexorably comes out of this state, returning in thought to his current sad situation.
...the image is sweet, unforgettable
Travels everywhere with me...
Batyushkov's lyrical hero is a wanderer, he is lonely, his mind does not allow him to forget about it. This means that the sad “memory of the mind” gradually and imperceptibly defeats the sweet “memory of the heart.” And in the fourth stanza, he tells the reader exactly about his current sad state: “My guardian genius is love / He was given separation for joy.” The memory of the heart is only a joy, and separation is a dramatic reality to which the poet undividedly belongs. The sounds “n”, “m”, “l”, “v” fall into the rigid frame of “r”, “t”.
However, is the power of reason undivided? Not either. As it should be in an elegy, the poet’s feelings swing between hope and hopelessness, between sadness and sweetness. And none of the poles can attract the soul completely and irrevocably. The last two verses are again given over to the power of smooth, gentle sound writing. There is a dream during which a person leaves the limits of reason and lives the mysterious life of the heart. But this dream, alas, is sad; the memory of the heart can only sweeten it for a moment. And therefore, in the very center of the last verse, which sounds lengthy and measured, the sound “ch” “explodes”: “sad.” Having described the circle, the sad poem returns to its starting point. And then it fades away, enveloped in sonorant consonants; the last sound of the elegy is “n”: soN...
The 19th century gave us many female names and many love stories. Not all of them had a happy ending, but to almost all of them we owe the fact that either magnificent poetry, or music, or paintings were born. On May 29, on the birthday of the Russian lyric poet, whom A.S. Pushkin compared with Petrarch, Konstantin Nikolaevich Batyushkov, I would like to remember just such a love story. The President of the Academy of Arts and Director of the Public Library, Alexei Nikolaevich Olenin, had five children and one pupil, Yubim G.R. Derzhavina - Anna Fedorovna Furman. First, the translator of Homer, the poet N.I. Gnedich, and then the poet K.N. Batyushkov fell in love with her. And he dedicated one of his most famous poems to her...
Kiprensky O. A. Portrait of Anna Fedorovna Furman 1816
(Russian Museum, St. Petersburg)
MY GENIUS
Oh, memory of the heart! You are stronger
The mind of the sad memory
And often with its sweetness
You captivate me in a distant land.
I remember the voice of sweet words,
I remember blue eyes
I remember golden curls
Carelessly curly hair.
My incomparable shepherdess
I remember the whole outfit is simple,
And the image is sweet, unforgettable
Travels everywhere with me.
Guardian of my genius - with love
He was given the joy of separation:
Will I fall asleep? sticks to the headboard
And will sweeten the sad dream.
(1815)
In all the portraits she looks like a dreamer, a romantic person. “Blue eyes”, golden curls, a melancholy look, what else does a poet need for inspiration? In 1809, Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich hopelessly fell in love with Anna Fedorovna, an eighteen-year-old girl. But Anna remained indifferent to his advances and made this clear to him. And how could a person who did not have the appearance of a prince count on reciprocity: Gnedich was missing one eye, and his face was disfigured by smallpox. The girl, brought up among beauty, wanted to have a different kind of husband next to her. Gnedich's friend, K.N. Batyushkov understood all this and wrote to him: " Anna Fedorovna is really good, and let her burn incense! You won't gain anything with this. Don't fly around the candle - you'll get burned. But whatever you want..." Having written this, Batyushkov did not even think that he would soon fall into the same networks.
O.A. Kiprensky Portrait of K.N. Batyushkov 1815
(State historical museum, Moscow)
To Batyushkov
The philosopher is frisky and drinking,
Parnassian happy sloth
The pampered darling harits,
Confidant of the dear Aonides,
Mail on a golden-stringed harp
Has the singer of joy fallen silent?
Is it possible that you too, young dreamer,
Finally broke up with Phoebus?
A.S. Pushkin
The year 1812 made Batyushkov a warrior - he himself, voluntarily went to war, was an adjutant of the legendary General Raevsky, and was seriously wounded. In 1814, he returned to St. Petersburg and, of course, immediately met people close to him. And this is the family of the Olenins and Ekaterina Muravyova. It was at this time that he falls in love with Anna Furman and makes an attempt to become her husband. A new cycle of poems has appeared. Hopes grow stronger that the poet, whose inspired images touch and excite, will gain strength for creativity. It was at this time that young Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, having read Batyushkov’s poems, said with admiration: “ Italian sounds! What kind of miracle worker is this Batyushkov?"The girl is persuaded to reciprocate both in the Olenin family and Batyushkov's relatives, but she again remains indifferent to the courtship. Icy character, search for freedom... Batyushkov at this time writes surprisingly lyrical poems dedicated to his beloved...
O.A. Kiprensky. K. N. Batyushkov 1815
ELEGY
Under a new burden of sorrow!
Like a wanderer thrown from the depths of the furious waves,
To the shore wild and flinty
He gets up and with horror sees the broken boat,
Roaring shafts and serpentine lightning,
Surrounding the leaden sky;
With a trembling hand he questions the darkness,
He slides his foot over the abysses,
And the wild wind blows
His voice of prayer, sobs and groans... -
On the brink of death, I call for salvation
You, the last friend of the heart!
Sweet support, hope, consolation
In the midst of eternal sorrows and illness!
My guardian angel, left to me by God!..
I hid your image in my soul as a guarantee
All the beautiful things... and the goodness of the Creator.
With your name I flew under the banner of battle
Seek either destruction or a glorious crown.
In terrible moments, the purest hearts of tribute
I brought you on the Fields of Mars:
Both in peace and in war, in all lands of the earth
Your image followed me with love;
He became inseparable from the sad wanderer.
How often in silence, completely occupied with you,
In the forests where Zhuvizi stands proud over the river,
And Seina pours silver crystal over the flowers,
How often, among a crowd both noisy and careless,
In the capital of luxury, among lovely wives,
I forgot the singing of the magical sirens
And I thought about you only in heartfelt grief.
I repeated the cute name
In the cool groves of Albion
And he taught the echo to call the beautiful
In the flowering pastures of Richmont.
Places are charming and in their wildness,
O stones of Sweden, deserts of the Scandinavians,
An ancient monastery of virtues and morals!
You heard the vow and the voice of my love,
You often nourished the wanderer's thoughtfulness,
When the ruddy morning light reflected
And the distant rocks of the granite shores,
And the villages of the plowmen, and the booths of the fishermen
Through the thin morning mists
On the mirror waters of the desert Trolletana.
Always fulfilled only by you,
With what joy I set foot on the shores of my homeland!
“Here there will be,” I said, “peace for my soul,
The end of work, the end of the wandering life."
Oh, how I was deceived in my dreams!
How happiness betrayed me insidiously again
In love and friendship... in everything,
What sweetly flattered my heart,
What has always been a secret hope!
There is an end to wanderings - never to sorrows!
In your presence there is suffering and torment
I learned new things with my heart.
They are worse than separation
The most terrible thing! I saw, I read
In your silence, in your intermittent conversation,
In your sad gaze,
In this secret sorrow of downcast eyes,
In your smile and in your very gaiety
Traces of heartache...
And yet, Batyushkov’s pleas, his torment and the persuasion of his loved ones did their job - Anna Fedorovna gives her consent to marry the poet. But... but she honestly tells the groom that she does not love him and that her heart does not belong to him. Batyushkov nobly refuses marriage and becomes a deeply unhappy person; he will carry the tragedy of unrequited love throughout his life. And his future life would be tragic - he would go crazy in the thirty-fourth year of his life, having lived after that for more than thirty years.
Once, in a moment of enlightenment, he said about himself to the poet Vyazemsky: “I looks like a man who has not reached his goal, but he was carrying on his head a beautiful vessel filled with something. The vessel fell off the head, fell and broke into pieces. Go find out now what was in it" However, before all this, Batyushkov managed to do a lot for the Russian language and literature. Pushkin called him a happy associate of Lomonosov... But, alas, best poet pre-Pushkin period, he published only one small book, “Experiments in Poetry and Prose,” in 1817 at the expense of his friend N.I. Gnedich.
Unknown artist Portrait of the poet K.N. Batyushkov 1850
PARTING
Hussar, leaning on his saber,
He stood in deep sorrow;
Separating from my sweetheart for a long time,
Sighing, he said:
"Don't cry, beauty! With tears
You can't help the evil one!
I swear on my honor and mustache
Love cannot be changed!
The power of love is invincible!
She is my faithful shield in the war;
Damask steel in hand, and Lila in the heart, -
Why should I be afraid?
Don't cry, beauty! Tears
You can't help the evil one!
And if I cheat... with a mustache
I swear, I will be punished!
Then my faithful horse stumbles,
Flying into the enemy camp like an arrow,
The scolded bridle is torn
And the stirrup under your feet!
Let the damask steel in your hand in a big way
It will break like a rotten rod,
And I, turning pale with fear,
I will appear before you!"
But the faithful horse did not stumble
Below our rider is dashing;
Bulat did not break in battles, -
And the honor of the hussar is with him!
And he forgot love and tears
My dear shepherdess
And plucked roses of happiness in a foreign land
With a different beauty.
But what did the shepherdess do?
I gave my heart to someone else.
Love for beauties is a toy,
And their oaths are words!
It's all here, friends! breathes treason,
Now there is no loyalty anywhere!
Cupid, laughing, writes all the vows
An arrow on the water.
Anna Fedorovna, in 1822, married businessman Wilhelm-Adolph Oom and went to live in Dorpat. Soon her husband was appointed to serve as a teacher and supervisor at the Educational School of the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. But already in 1827 he died, and A.F. Oom took the position of chief matron of the Orphanage (Nikolaev Orphan Institute) in St. Petersburg. Contemporaries spoke of her as a “charming and highly moral person”... But did she remember the poor poet and his love?..
