In the poem “The Twelve,” Blok wanted to achieve a truthful depiction of the post-revolutionary time with all its contrasts, turmoil, and confusion. In the 12th chapter, the mixture of intonations reaches its apogee: here there are echoes of all the rhythms that sounded in the poem, summarized by a literary, book-style ending. The breath of “The Twelve” seems to absorb the whole world, and a living picture of the era emerges from the apparent chaos.
The first line of the chapter is alarming: “. .They walk into the distance with a sovereign step...” From the poem we know who the detachment of twelve Red Guards consists of. They “would like an ace of diamonds on their back!”, that is, they are bandits. However, they are “walking with a sovereign step.” The phrase brings the power, the state closer to the criminals. But perhaps the author wanted to express the idea that to create a new world state, power, strength, and sovereignty are needed, capable of protecting and strengthening what has already been conquered.
The next line is one of the most controversial in the work: “Who else is there? Come out!” Who are the “twelve” afraid of, who is the nameless one who waves the red flag, who “walks at a quick pace, hiding behind all the houses”? Is it possible to agree with the idea that the Red Guards intuitively sense this presence of Jesus Christ, anxiously throwing unanswered questions into the blackness of the night: “Hey, answer, who’s coming?..” In response to them, “only you burst into long laughter in the snow.” Probably, if we perceive the image of Christ as hostile, then in an ethical sense. Yes, he, indeed, poses a threat to the resurrection of such concepts as sin, conscience, repentance, overthrown by the new morality. And in this regard, the constant refrain “Keep your revolutionary pace!” looks like a spell. The epithet “invisible” in relation to the image of the enemy emphasizes that he does not belong to the material world. The poem does not show who the Red Guards need to fight with, not the bourgeoisie who “has his nose wrapped in his collar,” and not the mangy dog:
Get off, you scoundrel.
I'll tickle you with a bayonet!
The old world is like a mangy dog,
If you fail, I'll beat you up!
It is obvious that the listed images do not give rise to fear in the heroes. And the danger in this context becomes the One who disturbs the souls of the heroes with His commandments. The “Savior” that escaped the lips of one of the “twelve” makes the “comrades” literally shudder: “Petka! Hey, don’t lie!” And again it sounds like a defensive conspiracy: “Take a revolutionary step!” The heroes feel fear of the One whose gaze they constantly feel on themselves, Whom they are afraid to see behind every snowdrift: “Whoever is in the snowdrift, come out!..” Jesus came down to earth to save it from the “twelve”, to try to wake up those who is in spiritual hibernation, to prevent the Holy Faith and Holy Rus' from being trampled. He is the enemy of the Red Guards, and they are so afraid of him throughout the entire action of the poem, shouting to maintain their own spirit:
-Who is walking there at a quick pace?..
-Who's waving the red flag there?..
-Who else is there?
Come out?..
It is out of fear that the heroes fire from their rifles at Holy Rus', and at the end of the poem - at the Lord himself:
Fuck-fuck-fuck!
Fuck-fuck-fuck...
But then the question arises, why does Jesus go “ahead - with a bloody flag,” a symbol of the revolution? True, M. Voloshin said this well: “Is the red flag in the hands of Christ? There is no blasphemous double meaning in this. The bloody flag is the new cross of Christ, a symbol of his current crucifixions."
The figure of Christ was interpreted as a symbol of a revolutionary, a symbol of the future, a pagan Christ, an Old Believer “burner” (the schismatics had the name “Jesus”, not “Jesus”), as a superman, as the embodiment of the Eternal Femininity, as Christ the artist... And Until now, as at the beginning of the century, some want to see Lenin, rather than Christ, at the head, and the feelings of believers are offended by the appearance of Christ “under the bloody flag” ahead of all those who personify the godless revolution. The poet himself cannot exactly explain the role of Jesus: “That Christ goes before them is undoubtedly... the scary thing is that He is with them again... but we need another....” One gets the feeling that Blok was really listening to the “music of the revolution,” trying to hear a revelation in this hum, to record a voice, and awareness of the meaning of what he heard was supposed to come later. In his diaries there are no entries preceding the creation of the poem, but only attempts made after its writing to comprehend and explain the appearance of the image of Christ.
What does the word “ahead” mean - at the head of the detachment or away from it, at a distance? Perhaps such ambiguity in interpretation arose because Blok himself did not know the answer? He blindly surrendered to the elements of inspiration, the elements of time and asked himself: “Why - Him? I don’t know... I look closer and I see that He...” This “I’ll take a closer look” corresponds to the fact that the blizzard, that “You can’t see each other at all / In four steps!” Therefore, He seems to the author either “small, bent,” and then suddenly, after a few words in the diary, he is already “huge...” “The tragedy of the artist” was the impossibility of finding an adequate image to express the thoughts and feelings that overwhelmed him. The antithesis is also significant: “Behind is a hungry dog<...>Ahead is Jesus Christ.” The rhyme is emphasized by syntactic parallelism, which highlights the eternal opposition between Satan and God.
Like any truly great work of art, the poem “The Twelve” will always be interpreted differently, revealing to us more and more of its facets. This is also due to the fact that through specific images and signs of the times the author touched upon the broadest philosophical, historical, moral and ethical problems illuminated by the dawn of the revolution. And the ending of the poem with the crowning image of Jesus Christ leaves us with hope for salvation, for the presence of that miracle that allows us to live on, despite all the tragedies of time.
Analysis of the text of the poem.
Chapter 1Where does the poem begin? What picture is being painted?
In the first stanza the opposition of black and white colors is stated ( Black evening. // White snow). Black - symbolizes the dark, evil principle, chaos, unpredictability of spontaneous impulses in man, in the world, in space. Sometimes Blok's blackness reads like emptiness, lack of spirituality. White is perceived as a contrast to black, but it is also the color of purity, spirituality, the light of the future, a dream. (It is not for nothing that at the end of the work there is an image of Christ in a white aureole, in a snowy scattering of pearls as an exponent of purity, holiness, tragic suffering.) But this boundary of black and white is very unstable, which is emphasized by the fourfold repetition of the word in the first stanza wind. In the second stanza wind mentioned for the fifth time , he is in all God's light, and any the person becomes insecure walker, slips and is about to fall.
What temporal realities help determine the time of action of the poem?
Poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!” indicates early January 1918. On the one hand, it reminds of the political situation, on the other hand, the beginning of January is the time of Christmastide, when evil spirits play tricks on the Orthodox people, play tricks, and play dirty tricks on those who are “without a cross.” The images of wind and blizzard in the poem are not accidental - they always accompany demonic revelry. But the image of the Creator already appears here (Mother Intercessor - by the way, another hidden indication of Christmas; God’s light) and invisibly passes through the entire poem, appearing at the end of the poem in the image of Jesus Christ.
In Chapter 1, Blok depicts the “old world.” Who are its representatives and how are they depicted? Satirical images of an old woman, a bourgeois, a writer-viti, a fellow priest, a lady make us smile contemptuously. Is it only the representatives of the “old world” that the narrator expresses contempt for? Who says, “And we had a meeting...”?(prostitutes). What are they talking about, what are they discussing? This is a satire on the new government (pay attention to the vocabulary, later Mayakovsky will talk about the same thing). The image of the tramp at the end of the chapter evokes our sympathy. And the word “Bread!” Once again emphasizes the unsettled nature of the world - hunger.
At the end of the chapter, the image of EVIL (the trinity - sad, black, holy– why?) This happened historically. Why anger, against whom?(on the butt). Let us turn again to the article: “Why are they making holes in the ancient cathedral? “Because for a hundred years an obese priest has been here, hiccupping, taking bribes and selling vodka.” What should the revolution cleanse Russia of?
Next, the motive of vigilance appears (the chapter ends). When will this motif appear again in the poem?(2 chapters - before the lines about the village, 6 chapters - after the murder of Katka, 10 chapters - as a reproach to Petka for his lack of consciousness, 11 chapters - “The Fierce Enemy will wake up”). It turns out that the first victims of vigilance have already turned out to be, or will turn out to be, not the bourgeoisie at all.
Through whose eyes do we see what is happening? Who evaluates the characters? Who is the hero of the poem? 12 Red Guards? Or someone else?
Why is it important? (In relation to the main character, the author must express his point of view, his concept of life) How?(Pictures depicted in the work, direct author’s assessment or through the image of the narrator). Is there such a narrator in the poem? Who sees a snow-covered city at night, an old woman, a bourgeois, a patrol? Who hears the shots, the screams, the chase, Petrukha’s conversation with his comrades, his confession? Can we talk about the author's perception of what is happening?(Pay attention to the language of the poem: colloquial, coarse vocabulary, and not the language of an educated person - not Blok!) As we analyze the work, let us pay attention to the voice of the hero-narrator. But already here he expresses his opinion (support with examples from the text).
Chapter 2 A completely different poetic rhythm is set. Who are her heroes? How are they depicted (in what color can they be depicted)? What are they talking about? What can we say about them? What feelings do they evoke? These are 12 Red Guards - a night patrol on the streets of Petrograd. They themselves are from the “old world,” Blok gives them a description of criminals:
There is a cigarette in his teeth, he has taken a cap,
You should have an ace of diamonds on your back!
But the poet does not judge them - that’s how it was, this is a difficult legacy of the past.
And what does the exclamation “Eh, eh, without a cross!” mean? at the beginning and end of the chapter? Without a cross - and without what else? Without conscience, without morality, without boundaries - freedom, freedom from everything.
Has Blok addressed the lower classes of society before? (Art. “Factory”. “Rising from the darkness of the cellars”, “Went to attack.”) How did he treat them?(Sympathetically, his hero went through different paths, wanted to feel the same thing that everyone feels). So the feelings, desires (to take revenge on everyone?) and experiences of the urban lower classes were understandable and partly close to the poet.
Here we hear the dialogue of the Red Guard heroes: their speech is cocky, rude, vulgar, illiterate. They are the masters of this city - they have rifles. And the rifles begin to shoot at some obscure enemy. (The image of a “restless” and invisible enemy runs through the entire poem. And in chapter 12, the “comrades” are already shooting at Christ.)
Who is the night patrol shooting at? It is obvious that the enemies of the Red Guards are not representatives of the “old world” - they are too funny and helpless. The heroes “fire” into Holy Rus', renouncing faith and the Savior: “Freedom, freedom. // Eh, eh, without a cross!”
What do these people want?
IN Chapter 3 We find the answer to this question: they want to fan the world fire of revolution. Moreover, they are not afraid of blood – neither their own nor someone else’s. But they turn to the Lord for blessings. For what? Is such a blessing possible? Is this not a desire to shift the burden of responsibility for murders onto the spiritual authorities (and the Soviet ones too)?
IN Chapters 4-7 we see the love story of the Red Guard Petrukha and the “fat-faced” Katka. Who is Katka? Why is she being killed? (And they also say: “Eh, eh, sin! // It will be easier for the soul!” - Will it be easier to kill? And so doubts about the correctness of the punishment overcome.)
The love story, jealousy and reprisal against Katka (whose punishment is completely incommensurate with her guilt) is an insignificant episode for them. Human life has no special value for them (“Lie, carrion, in the snow!”). It is more important for them that Petka stay with them.
What dialogue takes place between the characters? Why is he important to Blok?
The unwitting killer is worried. How is his condition transmitted? Who did he “ruin”? And his comrades show him sympathy. How do they do it? Quite contemptuous: displays of feelings are not welcome. And it will always be like this. Do any of the characters realize WHAT they have done? Would Petrukha be worried if he didn’t love Katka? Hardly. Murder becomes the norm (Murders have already been mentioned: in Chapter 5 “Do you remember, Katya, the officer - // He didn’t escape the knife...”). And how did Petka console himself?(“This is not the time to babysit you! // The burden will be heavier for us, dear comrade!”) The mood of those guarding the city and the new government is quite obvious (from the text): courage, robbery, drunkenness. The motive for murder, mockery of human life, of everything, is growing more and more.
The value system, the spiritual world of the heroes is shown in Chapter 8: boredom, seeds, murder are on the same page. Complete spiritual savagery. Where is the person here? Is this behavior typical or random? What words does the chapter end with? What is it about? Whose soul is the poet talking about? Why do you think so?
Chapter 9 differs sharply in rhythm from chapter 8 and it begins with a line from a romance about the Decembrists: “You can’t hear the noise of the city...”. But then a picture of absolute freedom, intoxication with blood is painted. There is just no joy from this. Why does the “old world” appear here again and why does Blok devote so much space to it? The “old world” - the bourgeoisie and the mangy dog as a symbol of this world - is pitiful and homeless. He has no future (no wonder the bourgeoisie is at the crossroads). But the path of the new world is also vague; it is no coincidence that the bourgeois reminds the question). Yes, even a blizzard ( Chapter 10) sweeps away so that “You can’t see each other at all // in four steps!” She seems to warn the short-sighted, clouds their path, deceives those who are without a cross, and mocks them. They are all tied in blood, and not only Katkina’s (Blok seems to foresee rivers of blood).
Chapter 11 again shows the walking patrol. Their step is measured, inevitable. Where are they going? “Into the distance” - where is this? In our time, in the future? What did they bring with them? Have they found their enemy? And the blizzard keeps throwing dust in their eyes days and nights long ». How does this phrase expand the time frame of the poem?
Gorky about the revolution (“Untimely Thoughts”): “Our revolution gave full play to all the bad and brutal instincts that had accumulated under the lead roof of the monarchy, and, at the same time, it threw aside all the intellectual forces of democracy, all the moral energy of the country "
Working with illustrations. Which of the illustrations (Smirnov or Annensky), in your opinion, most accurately reflects Blok’s worldview? Remember in what form the poet represented the revolution. Pay attention to the composition of the drawings, the ratio of the sizes of the images; the globe on a bayonet, an eclipse of the sun, faces and figures of heroes, etc.
The last one Chapter 12.
So, how do the characters make you feel? But who made them like this? Who is to blame for their immorality? Let us turn again to Blok’s article (p. 221, sins of the fathers). Those. The bloc understands and accepts the revolution (in this case, the mission of these soldiers) as a kind of punishment (retribution) to the ruling classes for their criminal neglect of their state duty in relation to their own people. For the centuries-old slavery of the people, there had to be a reckoning someday. One can recall here the words of the Indian writer Premchand, who was born in the same year as Blok: “Man has by nature high moral principles. Under the pressure of circumstances and the lies that reign in the world, he loses them.” Of course, this is an attempt to understand, not justify, immorality . Why does Jesus Christ suddenly (and is it “suddenly”?) appear ahead of the Red Guards?
It is curious that both ardent supporters of Blok's poem and its ardent opponents were unanimous in their rejection of this image in the last stanza. Why?
Some - who saw the “glorification” of the revolution in the poem - believed that Christ was alien to the revolution and its ideals. Hence the lines “A sailor walks ahead.”
Others thought it blasphemous that Blok put Christ ahead of the murderers. (Voloshin said that they were pursuing him. That could also be the case.)
Blok himself, responding to Gumilyov’s attacks, wrote: “I also don’t like the end of “12.” I wish this ending had been different... But the more I looked, the more clearly I saw Christ. And then I wrote down to myself: unfortunately, Christ”... And later: “It’s scary that He is with them again”
Let's try to figure out what this image in the poem was supposed to symbolize.
Remember: initially Christianity was the religion of the disadvantaged, striving for a better fate (how is it in the poem?). Perhaps Blok is afraid of a repetition of the historical process that ended in a whirlwind of revolutions, bringing so much grief. But Blok didn’t find another one. Perhaps Christ, at the end of the poem, picks up the red flag and finds himself among those who do not need Him, because He does not have the right to leave this weak, imperfect creature - man - alone with this world of evil, which He Himself created. They are also children of God. If He is with them, it means that there is hope that the darkness and turmoil in human souls will give way to a world of light and goodness... The struggle between God and the Devil is eternal. Maybe that’s why a poem that begins with black light still ends with white.
You can have different attitudes towards what Blok showed in the poem, towards its characters, and their world. You can agree or disagree with the author, but you cannot help but admit that the poem “The Twelve” is a great work about one of the most terrible eras in the history of Russia, for the revolution is a merciless battle between God and the Devil for the human soul. The poem “12” is an honest attempt to understand your country, your people. Not to CONDEMN or JUSTIFY, but to UNDERSTAND. It’s probably not for nothing that I came across the words of V. Solovyov (in many ways Blok’s teacher) about morality: “The highest morality requires some freedom for immorality.” (I would accept Blok for this highest morality). By the way, Blok fulfilled the dream of many of his predecessors, showing the people as the main driving force of history. What came of it?
Analysis of the poem "The Twelve"
The meaning of the poem is metaphysical. Shortly before October, the poet defined what was happening in Russia as a “vortex of atoms of the cosmic revolution.” But in “The Twelve,” after October, Blok, who was still justifying the revolution, also wrote about the threatening power of the elements. Even in the summer, Blok, who believed in the wisdom and tranquility of the revolutionary people, spoke in a poem about the elements that played out “in all of God’s world,” and about the elements of rebellious passions, about people for whom the absolute freedom was, as for Pushkin’s Aleko, will for oneself.
The element is a symbolic image of the poem. She personifies universal cataclysms; the twelve apostles of the revolutionary idea promise to fan a “world fire”, a blizzard breaks out, “the snow curls like a funnel”, a “blizzard is dusty” in the alleys. The element of passions is also growing. Urban life also takes on the character of spontaneity: the reckless driver “rushes at a gallop,” he “flies, screams, yells,” “Vanka and Katka are flying” on the reckless driver, etc.
However, the October events of 1917 were no longer perceived only as the embodiment of whirlwinds and elements. In parallel with this essentially anarchic motif in “The Twelve,” the motif of universal expediency, rationality, and a higher principle embodied in the image of Christ also develops. In 1904-1905 Blok, carried away by the fight against the old world, wanting to “be tougher” and “hate a lot,” assured that he would not go “to be healed by Christ” and would never accept Him. In the poem, he outlined a different perspective for the heroes - the future faith in Christ's commandments. On July 27, 1918, Blok noted in his diary: “People say that everything about what is happening is due to the fall of religion...”
Both the contemplators of the revolution and its apostles - the twelve fighters - turn to God's principle. So, the old woman does not understand the purpose of the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, She does not understand the Bolsheviks (“Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive them into the coffin!”), but she believes in the Mother of God (“Oh, Mother Intercessor!”) . The fighters go through the path from freedom “without a cross” to freedom with Christ, and this metamorphosis occurs against their will, without their faith in Christ, as a manifestation of a higher, metaphysical order.
The freedom to violate Christ's commandments, namely to kill and fornicate, is transformed into the element of permissiveness. In the blood of the twelve watchmen there is a “world fire”; the atheists are ready to shed blood, be it Katka who betrayed her lover or a bourgeois.
The love affair plays a key role in revealing the theme of wasted blood during the period of historical retribution, the theme of non-acceptance of violence. An intimate conflict develops into a social conflict. The watchmen perceive Vanka’s love treachery, his walk “with a stranger’s girl” as evil, directed not only against Petrukha, but also against them: “My, try, kiss!” They view Katka's murder as revolutionary retribution.
The episode with the murder of the “fool” and “cholera” Katka is ideologically and “compositionally directly related to the appearance in the finale of the poem of the image of Christ as the embodiment of the idea of forgiving sinners, that is, murderers. The watchmen and Christ in the poem are both antipodes and those who are destined to find each other. Jesus, “unharmed by the bullet,” is not with twelve fighters. He is ahead of them. He, with a bloody red flag, personifies not only Blok’s faith in the holiness of the tasks of the revolution, not only his justification of the “holy malice” of the revolutionary people, but also the idea of Christ’s atonement for the next bloody sin of people, and the idea of forgiveness, and the hope that those who have crossed through blood they will still come to His covenants, to the ideals of love, and finally, to the eternal values in which revolutionary Russia and the poet himself believed - the brotherhood of equality, etc. The watchmen seem to have to walk the path of the Apostle Paul.
Christ is not with the old world, which in the poem is associated with a rootless, hungry dog that wanders behind the twelve. Blok perceived the old government as immoral and not responsible to the people.
The idea of uniting Christ and the Red Guards in the poem as fellow travelers in a harmonious world was not accidental; it was something that Blok had suffered through. He believed in the affinity of revolutionary and Christian truths. He believed that if there were true clergy in Russia, they would come to the same thought.
speak? What does Blok understand about the revolution that others did not see? What do you look at differently than Blok?
So what goal does the poet set for himself when depicting the “music of the revolution”?
On the one hand, Blok understands and accepts its pattern, on the other hand, he saw her cruel face and largely foresaw its disastrous consequences. Welcoming the revolution as a way to radically change life for the better, the poet romantically imagined its forces as more reasonable and humane than they actually turned out to be. He understood and accepted the revolution as a kind of punishment (retribution).
But the fate of a real poet is inseparable from the fate of his country. Blok dreamed of realizing his old dream, of spiritual harmony. But deep disappointment awaited him. Therefore, the poet's voice falls silent.
On May 4, 1919, he writes: “But I can no longer really work while the new noose of the police state hangs around my neck.” Everything returned to where it came from (as in his poem “Night. Street. Lantern. Pharmacy...”). Maybe Blok wanted to destroy the poem, knowing that thousands of people listened to his words, believed him and would follow him. But his note is still known (April 1, 1920): “That is why I do not renounce what was written then, because it was written in accordance with the elements...”.
Disappointment in his ideal, a feeling of powerlessness in the face of a future catastrophe, which Blok already felt, led to his creative death - after the poem “12” and “Scythians” he fell silent forever (1918). Perhaps, as G. Ivanov suggested, “Blok paid with his life for the creation of the Twelve.”
Homework. Answer one of the questions in writing:
1) How is the revolutionary era reflected in the poem?
2) Why does the image of Jesus Christ appear at the end of the poem?
In the twentieth century, Russia went through many trials: coups d'état, regime changes, revolution after revolution... Troubled times dictated their conditions and demanded changes in social and political life. The “ruler of thoughts” - literature - took on the solution to many pressing issues. The talented treated the revolution differently. Some did not accept it and left their native lands, while others stayed and longed for change for the better. Alexander Blok insisted that it is necessary to listen to the revolution with all your heart and consciousness; for him it is “music that those who have ears should hear.”
The history of the creation of the poem "The Twelve". Recognition of a poet, critic
The work was written after the February one, and Blok himself admits that the poem took shape very quickly for him, because he wrote it in anticipation of change. First he wrote individual stanzas, and then collected them into a single composition, and in the end he was amazed at how little was crossed out in it. It is curious that the poem grew from just a few words (“I’ll slash, slash with a knife”), after which 8 stanzas instantly appeared. It was a blizzard January day, and the poet carried this mood throughout his entire work. Blok’s poem might not have survived to this day, since the author, in his dying delirium, demanded that his wife Lyubov Mendeleevna burn his brainchild, but she did not. Alexander Alexandrovich instantly turned into an enemy of the people and poets, for which Nikolai Gumilyov sentenced him: service to the Antichrist, secondary and execution of the sovereign.
Events take place in winter in Petrograd. A blizzard blows through which screams and squeals can be heard. A detachment of twelve Red Army soldiers, the so-called fighters against the old world, are moving through the city at night, shooting mercilessly and destroying everything in their path. One of them, the sensual Vanka, kills his friend Katka and subsequently experiences her death, but his comrades order him to gather his strength: “Now is not the time to babysit you.” The squad warns citizens about the upcoming robbery: they will eradicate everything that reminds them of the old world. They forget about God, walk “without the name of a saint,” and remind the praying Petka that he already has “the blood of a girl,” which means he should not expect God’s help. However, in the last, twelfth chapter He appears: “In a white corolla of roses Ahead is Jesus Christ.” Who it is - the savior or the destroyer - Blok does not give an answer, so the meaning of the ending of the poem “The Twelve” is interpreted differently.
Image of Jesus
The appearance of Christ in the finale is an unexpected phenomenon, since Holy Rus' has already been shot at several times and the cross has been removed. A hundred years have passed since the poem was written, and literary scholars are still considering this issue and putting forward several guesses. Jesus leads a detachment of Red Guards and leads them into a new world - criminals have become saints. Other researchers believe that these are the apostles, marching in a revolutionary step under the leadership of Peter. Mikhail Voloshin assures that the image of Christ in the poem “The Twelve” was introduced for a different purpose: he does not save the detachment, but, on the contrary, tries to hide from it. Pavel Florensky drew attention to the changes in the name Jesus - in Blok it is “Jesus”, but one should not be naive and assume that the typo was made by accident. The detachment is led by the Antichrist, who is also omnipotent, invulnerable “and invisible behind the blizzard.”
Composition of the poem
“Twelve” is a response to the music of the revolution that Blok heard, and the musicality of the work is achieved by a clear rhythm. The poem is not similar to the previous works of Alexander Alexandrovich, and the poet seems to be in search of a new form, which he successfully succeeds in. The tradition of the march would later be continued in his work by the futurist Vladimir Mayakovsky. The poem consists of twelve parts of different shapes, which are interconnected and form a single whole. If you analyze the poem "The Twelve", you can identify ellipses between the stanzas that were inserted by the editors after publication - obviously, the censors considered it necessary to omit some places. At certain points, the narrative part fades into the background, and the actions are described in dialogues and monologues. The rhyme is inconsistent, and in some episodes there is none at all; often the action is interrupted by shooting - “fuck-tah-tah!”
Features of language in the poem "The Twelve"
The most brilliant symbolist of the twentieth century, Alexander Blok, reached a turning point in his work. The poet, who had previously written poems about women and love, began to become interested in new topics, and the onset of the revolution finally convinced him to rethink the motives of his work. very unusual - Blok wrote it in a fit of expectations, passions and collected urban folklore, not ignoring even vernacular and abusive language. The phrase “Mignon ate chocolate” belongs to Lyubov Mendeleeva. Blok’s prostitute Katya is “fat-faced,” the lantern is “electric,” the cadets are “cadets,” and Rus' is “fat-assed.” The author perfectly conveyed the flavor of street life, but by conducting a full analysis of the poem “The Twelve”, catchphrases can also be identified. Stanza "...Wind, wind - all over God's world!" soon became a proverb.
This mysterious number is twelve...
Delving deeper into the history of the poem, one can identify some contradictory points. In the history of world culture, there are some numbers, the peculiarity of which was noticed by ancient people: they brought good luck to some, misfortune to others. The number 12 is the personification of cosmic order and is found in European, Chinese, Vedic and pagan cultures. Since Christianity has been preached in Russia since the tenth century, Christians are interested in the sacred meaning of this number. So, 12 is the number of Jesus' apostles, 12 fruits of the spirit, 12 tribes of Israel; at the base of the Holy City there were 12 gates and stones, which is also very symbolic. Everyone also knows that this figure is often found not only in religion, but also in everyday human life. Day and night last 12 hours, 12 months a year. In Ancient Greece and Rome, this is exactly the number of main gods that sat on Olympus.
Twelve is a truly unusual and mysterious number, but Alexander Blok himself warned that the poem is very symbolic, and any symbol and hint can be interpreted in different ways. Perhaps the meaning of this number in the poem is very realistic, since at the time of the revolution the Red Guard patrols actually numbered 12 people.
Two worlds in the work
The confrontation between the past and the new is the main theme of the poem "The Twelve". Blok saw in the revolution “deliverance from the spiritual swamp” and firmly believed that sooner or later this should happen. The old world with its foundations was not destined to exist for long - for the sake of change, society is ready to make sacrifices. The poem begins with a snowstorm, which is an image of a revolution. "Wind, wind - all over God's world!" - against this wind of change, which seems to have swept not only Russia, but the whole world, not everyone can resist. Twelve Red Army soldiers walk through a snowstorm, not afraid of anything. The old world is powerless before the coming new one, and the harbingers of revolution are just as uncontrollable and unstoppable.
Democracy or anarchy?
Twelve Red Army soldiers are the main images of the poem "The Twelve". They are irreconcilable with the old foundations - they go, and they don’t care about anything. They are a reflection of the true face of the revolution, which sweeps away everything in its path, just like a blizzard. The Red Guards warn residents to lock the “floors” and unlock the cellars, since “there will be robberies today.” Such outcries symbolize anarchy, but not the struggle of the proletariat for a better life. They despise the old world, but what can they offer in return? While destroying, they are not ready to create. They don’t say: “We will build our new world, we will create it!” Analysis of the poem "The Twelve" will allow us to see the death of the country in the events taking place. The uselessness of the revolution is confirmed by the old woman, who, seeing the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, is amazed at why it is needed. From such a huge piece of cloth one could sew foot wraps for the children, because in these hungry and cold times, when “everyone is naked and barefoot,” the state needs to take care of the well-being of the people.
Even the church is deprived of its former power. Alexander Blok portrays a priest, who, if earlier he “walked forward on his belly” and shone with a cross, is now, just like everyone else, subjugated by the Red Guards, and they address him as “comrade priest.” The new government does not need the church and faith, and the Red Guards are calling to shoot at Holy Rus' with a rifle.
Sacrifices for what?
For the revolution, the life of one person means nothing against the backdrop of a worldwide blizzard. When one of the twelve Red Army soldiers named Petka accidentally kills his girlfriend Katya, he begins to wail, not believing what is happening. In the eyes of the eleven others, this looks like weakness, because it is not the place to relax at such an important moment when the fate of Russia is being decided.
Katya is a symbol of all human vices, an anti-heroine who walks with cadets and goes to bed with everyone. She “wore gray leggings, ate Minion chocolate” and, in general, was an atypical representative of a Russian woman. Perhaps Blok's poem was written to confirm that people like Katya really must be sacrificed for the sake of the revolution.
Chaos or harmony: which will win?
The old world is insignificant and it can no longer exist. It's about to collapse. The author compares him to the image of a rootless dog who stands behind the bourgeoisie with his tail between his legs. The struggle does not last long: the dark future has already passed, but is there any light in sight? What awaits the people after this snowstorm? The Red Guards promise even greater destruction, because a future built on blood cannot be considered bright. When analyzing the poem “The Twelve,” one cannot help but notice that at the end the storm calms down, and the revolutionary people move into the future with a “sovereign step”, accompanied by someone wearing a “white crown of roses.” This is Jesus Christ. His sudden appearance promises salvation and hope that the horrors of destruction will be removed, and that the people will have the strength to overcome everything in a revived Russia. It seems that harmony will soon be reborn from chaos. For the sake of a happy life, they are ready to kill and die themselves.
Disappointment with change
The revolution of Alexander Blok can be compared to an element that, although it purifies the world, does not yet have the ability to create. The old is destroyed, but the new, built on blood, is no better. Once upon a time, Alexander Blok waited for the revolution, believed in it, said: “Those who are filled with music will hear the sigh of the universal soul, if not today, then tomorrow”; later, disillusioned with the changes taking place, he stopped hearing the “music of the revolution.” We can conclude that nothing new can be built through destruction - it is much better to preserve and improve what has been built up bit by bit over many centuries.
“The Twelve” (1918) is Blok’s direct response to the October Revolution. Having completed the poem, the author wrote in his diary: “Today I am a genius.”
This work differs sharply in style and language from his previous works. "The Twelve" is a metaphysical poem. In accordance with his perception of the revolution as an unstoppable element, the poet makes a blizzard with a neutral symbolic image of “The Twelve”: “Wind, wind | All over God's world." There is a "blizzard of dust" on the streets of St. Petersburg. The blizzard also permeates the existence of people (the reckless driver “rushes at a gallop”, on the reckless driver “Vanka and Katka are flying”, etc.). The spontaneous uncontrollability of the plans is visible in the promises of the twelve bearers of the new idea: “We are woe to all the bourgeoisie | We will fan the world fire.”
The element of passion rages in man, flaring up uncontrollably. The theme of revolution appears in the poem with the appearance of a detachment of guards. In their steps one can hear the music of the emerging world. The collective image of the twelve is quite contradictory. On the one hand, these are former tramps in crumpled caps and fancy coats, “bastards,” masters of the streets who “don’t feel sorry for anything.” On the other hand, this is a patrol that establishes order, moving at a “sovereign step.” Behind, in the past, remains the hungry dog of the old world: in the future - heaven on earth, the image of which is now understood in a new way.
The highest expression of the blizzard element in human consciousness is the “freedom without a cross” of the twelve sentinels. It is understood as unlimited freedom, permission to violate the Gospel commandments, to kill, to commit fornication, leading to a feeling of complete impunity. Revolutionaries are ready to shed blood, be it the blood of an unfaithful lover or a bourgeois.
The peculiarity of the composition of the poem “The Twelve” is the presence of two image plans: a symbolic plan (“Wind, wind - in the whole wide world!”), a concrete object plan (a patrol of 12 guardsmen walks through the city at night). In the poem there is an interruption of these plans.
The theme of wasted blood during the period of revolutionary storms is revealed through a love affair. Katka is a traitor, but she didn’t just cheat on Petrukha, she walked with both the officer and the “cadet,” and now she walks with Vanka, who has become a “bourgeois.” A love conflict develops into a social conflict. The murder of Katka by the twelve is perceived as retribution to the traitor Vanka, as an act of revolutionary will.
Blok believed in the closeness of Christian and revolutionary ideals. The transformation of the world by Jesus (A. Blok's spelling) Christ and revolutionary cataclysms seemed related to him. However, the apostles of the new revolutionary faith - the twelve sentinels - are atheists, sinners: “...And they go without the name of the saint”...
At the end of the poem, Jesus Christ appears at the head of the Red Guards, far from God. Jesus, walking before the atheists, is not only the personification of Blok’s faith in the holiness of the revolution, the justification of the anger of the people, but also the embodiment of the idea of Christ’s atonement for human sin, including the sin of murder. And the poet’s hope is that those who have crossed the blood will come to the ideals of love.
The poet believed in freedom, equality, fraternity, which, in his opinion, the revolution would bring. Jesus is not with the fighters, but ahead of them - he embodies the highest essence of the revolution, which is not yet available to the members of the revolutionary detachment. Their number - twelve - coincides with the number of apostles, disciples of Christ, who brought a new faith to people.
The old world in the poem is represented in the form of a hungry dog wandering after the watchmen. In depicting the old world, Blok uses elements of satire, due to which the images acquire a general meaning; lady in karakul; a long-haired writer who sang to the tune of the authorities. A new world is approaching, the twelve stubbornly move forward, overcoming the blizzard. Those who belong to the old world are unstable: one slides, the other cannot stand on his feet. The wind carries away the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly.” The element of revolution sweeps away everything that has become obsolete.
Revolutionary Russia in the poem is a world split in two, depicted using two colors - black and white. The poet hoped for the transformation of black Russia into white Russia through revolutionary cleansing. The symbolism of color expresses the confrontation between the evil of the old world and the white, Christ-like state of it. There is also another color in the poem - blood red - the color of blood, the color of crime. This is the color of the flag that “beats” Katya’s bullet-ridden head. Blok did not see in 1918 the triumph of the holy ideals that the revolution brings, but he understood that the transition from the black past to the bright future personified by Christ cannot be painless, therefore the present in his poem is presented in a mixture of all three colors.
The rhythm of the poem “The Twelve” is unconventional and not typical for Blok’s poetry. Within the same foot, different sizes are combined (for example, a trochee with an anapest). The text includes the rhythms of ditties, romances, dances, marches, prayers, and raeshnik. The style is also heterogeneous; lexical polyphony is achieved by mixing political concepts, jargon, and buffoonery in a farcical spirit. There are also vagabond and even criminal intonations, unusual for the works of the sophisticated Blok, which are explained by the dominance of anarchy and the reason of the passions of the proletariat. The gigantic “displacement of the whole” led to a displacement of all aspects of life, which is expressed through the stylistic and rhythmic heterogeneity of the poem.
Blok's poem is a reaction to the 1917 revolution. The content is very unambiguous, the poet talks about who is making the revolution, about where it comes from and where it is leading. Actually, the entire outline of the story leads the reader to the well-known lines of the climax, when behind 12 is the mangy dog of the old world, and in front is Christ as a symbol of the new, pure world.
Nietzsche described man as a rope from animal to superman, stretched over an abyss. In Blok we see a similar design, these 12 are the very rope that hangs over the abyss, over the abyss. We again see confirmation of this fact in Nietzsche: “What is important in a person is that he is a bridge, not a goal: in a person you can only love that he is a transition and destruction.”
The heroes of the poem, who personify the entire revolutionary people, the poor and other low people, are this transition, they as such do not deserve sympathy, Blok emphasizes the ensuing godlessness, the lack of moral principles. Nevertheless, it is they who, symbolically by the number of apostles, are the forerunners of a new era, a new faith, a new truth. On the ruins of former Rus', something different, different, real is being created.
The poet presents typical figures from former Rus': an old woman who complains about a poster, “a sad comrade priest,” “a lady in karakul,” “a writer, a vitiator.” Also characteristic is the figure of the bourgeois, who is mentioned a couple of times as a typical representative of his time and the mangy dog who hides behind the bourgeois like the old world. They represent types that have lost their authenticity and have outlived their usefulness.
Now the popular revolutionary element has broken free. They “go without the name of a saint” and are “ready for anything.” This fact is emphasized in the poem by the description of the atrocities committed by the twelve and Petka in particular.
They do not understand who is walking in front of them, and can only shoot forward and call out, but in response they only receive laughter, which sweeps like a blizzard throughout the poem. This laughter is harsh, the laughter of an element that is much greater than the 12 themselves. The very fact of the role of people in the process of revolution is confirmed, who are nothing more than a rope over an abyss, only a transition and nothing more.
Blok contrasts opposites from the very beginning. His evening is black, like the affairs of the heroes of the poem, but the snow is white, including the snow of the all-encompassing blizzard. This white snow is a symbol of the new truth, which is greater than anything else and represents the goal of the whole action.
Analysis of the poem Twelve Block
Today we can safely say that Blok’s poem “The Twelve” is both an ode to the revolutionary changes of 1917 and a requiem for them: lock the floors, now there will be looting.
One can even assume that in one work Blok both blesses the revolution and curses it. So what is it about?
The poet himself, listening to the “music” of the revolution, was initially shocked, even absorbed by it, but later, disappointed with its results, he emigrated abroad. But he did not renounce his creation. After all, initially the revolution of 17 was not so much a political game as a joyful element of the coming changes. Many progressive people of that period were inspired by the idea that the new Russia, having destroyed the world of slaves and masters, would contribute to the establishment of the “kingdom of God” throughout the entire earth.
Therefore, the sound of breaking glass, the crackling of street fires, the death of Katya, and the flight of her boyfriend are perceived by us as the only possible outcomes of the events taking place.
The poem consists of twelve chapters. In the first, the poet immerses the reader in the world of curses and reproaches heard against the new government. But a detachment of Red Army soldiers, also, by the way, consisting of twelve people, intimidates everyone in its path. This is a detachment that is authorized to shoot without trial anyone who violates the curfew laws in military Petrograd.
But the plot of the work is contained in the second chapter. It is here that “living” persons are drawn who, having received power, can take revenge on their offenders. But for what?
The culmination of the work is the sixth chapter: the meeting of the detachment with Katka and Vanka. The decision is made instantly: fire to kill.
The subsequent chapters are a kind of denouement. These are the doubts of Katka’s former boyfriend, and his choice in favor of serving the ideas of the revolution.
But what does the poem pump up?
Despite the wind, the Red Army soldiers move forward. And Jesus Christ leads them.
The meaning of the ending is ambiguous. On the one hand, we are ready to admit that it is impossible to change the old world without violence. And in order to change the world for the better, the “new apostles” are ready to shoulder the full weight of responsibility for what they have done.
On the other hand, the image of Jesus Christ in the poem. This is the author’s attempt to somehow illuminate the mistakes of the revolution and its results. An attempt to protect her from herself. And this is faith in a bright future, without which everything would simply become meaningless.
In addition, it is worth noting that Christ is still perceived by everyone as a martyr who shouldered his sins with humanity, which cannot come to the idea of justice not only of death, but also of life.
Analysis of the poem Analysis of the poem Block Twelve according to plan
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