Analysis of the poem by N.S. Gumilyov "Memory. Educational portal

"Memory" Nikolai Gumilyov

Only snakes shed their skins
So that the soul grows old and grows.
We, alas, are not like snakes,
We change souls, not bodies.

Memory, you are the hand of a giantess
You lead life like a horse by the bridle,
You tell me about the ones before
They lived in this body before me.

The very first: ugly and thin,
Who loved only the dusk of the groves,
Fallen leaf, magical child,
In a word, stopping the rain.

Tree and red dog -
That's who he took as a friend,
Memory, memory, you will not find a sign
You can't convince the world that it was me.

And the second ... He loved the wind from the south,
In every noise I heard the ringing of lyres,
Said life was his friend
The rug under his feet is the world.

I don't like him at all,
He wanted to become a god and a king,
He hung a poet's sign
Above the doors to my silent house.

I love the chosen one of freedom
Navigator and shooter,
Ah, the waters sang so loudly to him
And the clouds were jealous.

His tent was high
The mules were agile and strong,
Like wine, he drank the sweet air
White unknown country.

Memory, you are weaker year by year,
Is it the one or someone else
Traded gay freedom
To the sacred long-awaited battle.

He knew the pangs of hunger and thirst,
A disturbing dream, an endless path,
But Saint George touched twice
Bullet untouched chest.

I am a gloomy and stubborn architect
Temple rising in the darkness
I was jealous for the glory of the Father,
As in heaven and on earth.

The heart will be a flame burning
Until the day when they rise, clear,
Walls of New Jerusalem
In the fields of my native country.

And then a strange wind will blow -
And a terrible light will be shed from the sky,
This is the Milky Way bloomed unexpectedly
A garden of dazzling planets.

Appear before me, unknown to me,
The traveler, hiding his face; but I understand everything
Seeing the lion chasing after
And an eagle flying towards him.

I will shout ... but who will help,
For my soul not to die?
Only snakes shed their skins
We change souls, not bodies.

Analysis of Gumilyov's poem "Memory"

Like many poets, Nikolai Gumilyov had a certain gift of foresight. In his poems, he not only managed to predict his own death, but even indicated that he would be shot. The works, which later became revelations, are characteristic of the last stage of this poet's work. Among them is the poem "Memory", written in 1921, a few months before the arrest and execution.

Analyzing his short but eventful life, the author notes that he would like to be like a snake that sheds its skin from time to time to renew its body. However, this is not given to a person, and the poet states with regret: “We change souls, not bodies.” According to Gumilyov, several different people have visited his mortal shell over the years of his life. The first of these was a gloomy and ugly child who loved only "the dusk of the groves", and his best friends were "a tree and a red dog." Now the poet can hardly believe that once in his childhood he dreamed of solitude and knew how to stop the rain only by the power of his own thought. This strange child was replaced by a reckless adventurer who loves travel and seems to challenge his own destiny every day. “He loved the wind from the south, in every noise he heard the ringing of lyres,” this is how the young poet characterizes himself. However, at the same time, Gumilyov admits that he does not like him at all, and there are very good reasons for this. Challenging the whole world, the young poet "wanted to become a god and a king." He envied the Almighty, because he did not possess his strength, power and talents. At the same time, the reverse side of the author's character was still the desire for loneliness and the desire to comprehend what was not given to mere mortals to know.

“I am a gloomy and stubborn architect,” the poet notes, admitting that too late in his bodily shell he found refuge for who he really is. Anticipating his imminent death, the poet is not cunning before himself, honestly admitting that he is the most ordinary person who is afraid and bitter to see everything that happens to his homeland. He believes that someday “the walls of New Jerusalem will rise on the fields of my native country,” Gumilev means the revival of spirituality, which was lost long before the revolution. People have ceased to be afraid of what in all ages has been called God's judgment, and which, on the verge of death, so frightens the poet. He feels that his days are numbered, and there is too little time left for repentance. However, he does not know how this is done, and does not believe that he can be saved. “But who will help so that my soul does not die?”, the poet asks and does not find an answer to this simple question because of his own disbelief.

The poem "Memory" is the first poem of the most "real" book by Nikolai Gumilyov "The Pillar of Fire". This name "Pillar of Fire" contains many meanings; wandering, following God's will, fate, miracle, participation in the creation of the "Heavenly Jerusalem" (i.e. the desire for holiness, transfiguration), punishment for those who transgressed the Divine Law and patronage of the righteous (the book was written in the post-revolutionary years, when a new state was created and the persecution of the church began), an unshakable foundation on which you need to be established.

In terms of composition, the introduction is one of the most striking places in the book, and according to the author's intention, the poem "Memory" became the first in this collection. It was written in 1919. Initially, the poet called it "Soul". After reading it, you understand that the name is not accidental: turning into the depths of his subconscious, the poet suggests the possibility of his existence in his body of different souls that succeeded one another (or various incarnations of his soul - not a material value, which largely determines the fate and entire life path poet). But upon closer reading, the reader realizes that the poet has one soul, it goes through certain stages of development corresponding to the various stages of the author's creative and life path. Therefore, it seems even more strange that N.S. Gumilyov changed the name of the poem to “Memory”. Memory, like the soul, is a spiritual value. But how are they related? The soul accumulates life events and spiritual experiences in memory, and memory keeps in its storerooms the entire evolution of the poet's soul, and it is impossible to realize which of these values ​​is more important for a person. Given the title of the poem, one can understand that the poet prefers memory. Thanks to the reception of personification, memory becomes the main character of the poem. It is the memory that leads the poet's "horse of life" by the bridle, and tells the saga about his past.

You tell me about the ones before
They lived in this body before me.

The author renounces his past. Today, his state is the only truth, only now, at this moment, he is real. The three previous stages of the development of his soul are so far from his new position. In fact, this poem is an analysis of the entire past life of the poet. And the author, like many other poets, in his poem recalls his past and does not accept naivety in his youth and maximalism in his youth.

His first hero (the beginning of Gumilyov's spiritual development) is "ugly and thin, who fell in love only with the twilight of the groves." Romantic motives are strong in this “witch child”, but his romanticism is mystical: the epithet “witch” emphasizes the unusual and mysterious image. The child himself is remembered by him as a “fallen leaf” torn off its roots, despite everything capable of turning words into deeds: “with a word that stopped the rain” (from the memoirs of N. Gumilyov’s mother, such a case actually took place). This fantastic ability makes the author related to sorcerers and healers (people who can communicate with nature and poetry). Finishing this part, Nikolai Stepanovich once again disowns himself - a child:

Memory, memory, you will not find a sign
You can't convince the world that it was me.

It was this beginning of the creative development of the poet's soul that could lead him to the second stage. Considering that his exceptional abilities should be rewarded at their true worth, the second Nikolenka considered himself the king of nature, longing for greatness, glory, honors and power (“It was he who wanted to become a god and king” - a hyperbole that ridicules the vanity and selfishness of the hero, and the inversion technique separates Gumilyov - the present from Gumilyov - the past), for whom life is a friend, the world is a rug under his feet. His confidence is born of courage and courage. Indeed, the call of exotic freedom, the wind from the south, carried away the poet, and he walked around the world, conquering countries and continents. It was this hero who announced to the whole world that he was a poet, apparently afraid that his silent house would go unnoticed:

He hung a poet's sign
Above the doors to my silent house.

The epithet "silent" emphasizes the thoughtfulness and search for truth of Gumilyov, a contemporary. Fame allows Gumilyov to travel freely and not worry about his own name. Now he can be what he always wanted to be.

The third "soul" is the soul of a hero, a traveler, an "arrow" who shoots "arrows" from a "quiver" (a collection of poems released in December 1915). The metaphor "the chosen one of freedom" emphasizes his moral strength, exclusivity and ability to be free. It is he who is able to cause delight, admiration, he is the true embodiment of the strength, valor and courage of real heroes. Gumilyov does not believe that the one to whom “the waters sang so loudly and the clouds envied” was able to exchange the highest value of life - freedom for the bloody battles of war. But he is a hero, and a hero may not accept the "sacred long-awaited battle" with enemies. He is not afraid of "the pangs of hunger and thirst, a disturbing dream, an endless path", and he was awarded an award for his fearlessness. Having gone a long way of wandering around the world, searching for the true self, the poet gained spiritual power and strength to immerse himself in himself. He opens not only the wisdom of his past life, but also prophetic abilities. His stubbornness is aimed at creating "a temple that rises in the darkness." He cares about the glory of his father - God as in heaven - and on earth. These lines sound like a prayer:

I was jealous for the glory of the Father
As in heaven and on earth.

In his heart lives a passionate desire to fight for a new faith, "New Jerusalem in the fields of his native country." It is surprising that the author so calls the power of the Bolsheviks. It is rather an apocalypse - a terrible judgment that will one day fall from heaven. The world will disappear, and the sky will be illuminated by the "milky way" of dazzling planets that flared up like a garden in the sky. And although Gumilyov renounced the image of the “witch child”, and from the “God and the Tsar”, in fact he is no less great than his past incarnations (although he does not recognize this). His current greatness has been through suffering, it has gone through the torments of the entire life path. The Milky Way - the garden of planets - is found in another poem of this collection. In The Lost Tram Gumilyov's thought breaks out into eternity, into the astral space of the "zoological garden of the planets", into other existence.

In the poem “Memory”, the lyrical hero (the new Nikolai Gumilyov) seems to soar up to the sky, from where the truth is revealed to him: a traveler hiding his face is a monk, a monk, a wanderer, and here the gift of a seer allows the poet to see in the wanderer all the past that history has absorbed humanity is the past of faith, which makes it akin to John the Theologian, who predicts the end of the world in the Apocalypse. Only he (Gumilyov) sees a different ending: his own death. After reading the poem, you feel the tragedy of the soul, the poet's fear of losing himself or getting lost in time and being erased from the memory of mankind, leaving no trace on earth. Therefore, the dream of the ability to shed its skin like a snake sounds like a spell, but the snake will remain a snake in any guise, and Gumilyov's soul yearns for a premonition of imminent death. But in the poem, the theme of the rebirth of the soul sounds, the hope for resurrection, which is transmitted through the ring composition of the poem. Comparison of a man with a snake, both at the beginning and at the end of the poem, makes it possible to understand that, having reached perfection, a person has nothing to live for and no one will save his soul from death, because. along with physical death comes the death of the soul, which is dear to him here and now.

Tarasova Natalia Anatolievna

In historical time, many poets have left their mark. These were poets who continued the traditions of Russian literature: they influenced the cultural consciousness of their contemporaries, and they made sense in Russia. They did not separate their fate from the fate of Russia.

The poet N. S. Gumilyov also followed this path. His poem "Memory" can be considered autobiographical. It was written in 1921. Gumilyov, referring to memory, leads the reader through his fate. Pairwise combined stanzas tell readers about the periods of his life. Here he is a child, "ugly and thin", with his friends, a tree and a dog. It is he who recalls his tsarist-rural childhood, where he moves from Kronstadt, where he was born on April 15, 1886, with his family. Tsarskoye Selo became a place of inspiration for the poet. Here, at the age of eight, he began to write his first poems and prose.

In 1905, N. Gumilyov published his first collection of poetry, The Path of the Conquistadors. Then he studied at the Nikolaev gymnasium. The poems of this collection sang the romance of heroism, the love of risk and adventure.

N. Gumilyov began as a poet. And he recalls this period of his life in the poem "Memory":

He hung a poet's sign

Above the doors to my silent house.

And then there were passions for exotic countries: Africa, Egypt, Turkey. And, carried away, he went to Africa:

I love the chosen one of freedom

Navigator and shooter.

Ah, the waters sang so loudly to him,

And the clouds were jealous.

He traveled with a caravan and hunted wild animals. He grew up as a poet. But this trip did not quench his thirst for foreign exoticism. In the winter of 1909-10, Gumilev again went to Abyssinia. He collected and studied African folklore, which served as the basis for the poetic cycle "Abyssinian Songs". -

Memory, you are weaker year by year,

Is it the one or someone else

Changed cheerful freedom, -

N. Gumilyov writes further. "Merry freedom" - it seems that the period of the poet's life from 1910 to 1914. Here one can single out such significant events in his life as his marriage to A. A. Akhmatova (spring 1910), the publication of the third book of poems "Pearls", acquaintance in St. Petersburg with the poet-philosopher Vyacheslav Ivanov, with whom they together created the Society " Academy of Verse. At this time, the poet Gumilyov published his articles on poetry on the pages of the Apollo magazine. In these articles, Gumilyov substantiated the basic principles of the new literary direction of acmeism. Acmeists (N. Gumilyov, S. Gorodetsky, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam and others) formed the core of the "Workshop of Poets". The task of the "Workshop" was to improve the poetic craft. "Merry Time" is a favorite meeting place in the literary and artistic cabaret "Stray Dog". In 1912, Gumilev's next book of poems, Alien Sky, appeared. It had more simplicity and less rhetoric.

But the poet changed the “merry freedom” to the “sacred long-awaited battle”. It was the war of 1914, where Gumilyov "knew the pangs of hunger and thirst, an unsettling dream, an endless journey." N. Gumilyov served in the hussar regiment, participating in battles and long transitions. But even at the height of the war, the poet Gumilyov wrote poetry. In 1916, the next book of poems, Quiver, was published. Its content was made up of military poems, which are based on the romanticism of battle and heroism. Gumilyov himself was awarded for heroism in battle:

But Saint George touched twice

Bullet untouched chest.

And then the October Revolution passed through the fate of Russia and the poet. He accepted it and worked for the glory of the Fatherland:

I am a gloomy and stubborn architect

Temple rising in the darkness

I was jealous for the glory of the Father...

In May 1918, Gumilyov returned to Petrograd (from the spring of 1917 he was on a business trip in London and Paris, engaged in translations, worked on the drama The Poisoned Tunic). In the new revolutionary country, N. Gumilyov collaborated with A. M. Gorky at the publishing house World Literature. He lectures on literature. In 1918 two more books of the poet were published. In 1921, Gumilyov published a collection of poems "Tent" and prepared a new poetic book "Pillar of Fire", in which he presented his last lyrical revelation to the reader. The poet dreamed of that bright time for his country, “when the walls of the New Jerusalem rise clear on the fields of my native country.”

The poet constantly felt the transience of his own being, arguing: "In our modern world, I feel like a guest." N. Gumilyov thought about his last hour:

Appear before me, unknown to me,

A traveler, hiding his face, but I will understand everything ...

Therefore, it is important that his soul remains alive:

For my soul not to die.

The poet felt the tragic end of his life. In his last year, he often repeated the line of N. Klyuev that he loved: “As soon as I ascend the newlywed at dawn to the scaffold.” How not to see the prophecy here? That is why the poet does not hope for help: “I will shout. But who can help…”

The presentiment of leaving life from life does not leave the poet, and he seems to sum it up. He uses the technique of ring composition: the poem begins and ends in the same way: "We change souls, not bodies."

This article will be devoted to one of the most famous poets of the Silver Age. To be more precise, we will analyze Gumilev's poem "Memory".

About the poem

The poems were written in 1920. In it, the writer addresses the theme of memory and changes in the human soul. For greater clarity, Gumilyov compares a person with a snake. And his conclusion is disappointing - a snake, having the ability to shed its skin, keeps its soul young, and a person is not given such luxury, his soul changes, not his body: "Only snakes shed their skin ... We change souls, not bodies."

In reflection, the poet returns to his past and realizes that in his life he “changed his soul” four times. According to these hypostases, the poem can also be divided into four parts for ease of analysis.

First part

Let's start Gumilyov's "Memory" with a description of the first "soul" of the poet. In this incarnation, he is still an "ugly and thin" child, whose only friends are "a tree and a red dog." The reader is presented with a lonely ugly duckling, who, however, is destined to change, "becoming an arrogant swan."

According to Gumilyov's contemporaries, in childhood he really was a very unattractive child, and one should not forget about his congenital strabismus.

Second part

We continue the analysis of Gumilev's poem "Memory", referring to the second part of the work. Now the reader is presented with the next "soul" of the lyrical hero. This is a poet who "wanted to become both a god and a king." The author himself, after many years, admits that he did not like this hero at all.

Critics correlate this hypostasis of the poet with the first publication of Gumilev's collection of poems in 1905, which was called The Way of the Conquistadors. This book is very romantic and sensual. Later, Gumilev said more than once that he would like to forget about its existence altogether.

Indeed, it turns out that in his youth he was a completely different person, unlike himself now. These past "souls" absolutely do not cause the lyrical hero of longing for the departed or sentimentality. On the contrary, he describes them with coldness and even a certain disgust, not understanding them at all.

The third part

So the analysis of Gumilyov's poem "Memory" brought us to the third "soul" of the lyrical hero, which is embodied in the shooter and the navigator. The lyrical hero treats this past incarnation much more favorably: "I love the chosen one of freedom."

Dreams of distant countries and cities attracted Gumilyov from childhood. During his life, the poet traveled to Africa, Abyssinia, Egypt, Italy. And judging by the glorified courage, courage and description of the wonderful life of a traveler, the passion for adventure did not leave the lyrical hero over the years. He dreams of the freedom he once had, despite all the dangers he had to face. But then "the waters sang loudly and the clouds envied him."

Alas, this stage of life has sunk into oblivion. There is no longer that fearless and free traveler. The soul had to be reborn again.

Fourth part

Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich talks about his life in this poem. And now we come to the moment when the poet had to take part in the First World War. Then Gumilyov went to the front among the volunteers, believing that he was fulfilling his duty to the Motherland: "He exchanged cheerful freedom / For a sacred long-awaited battle."

In the war, the poet rose to the rank of ensign of the hussars and was distinguished by unprecedented courage in battle. For this, he was twice awarded the St. George Cross: "Saint George touched twice."

Despite all the awards, Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich was never a supporter of the war and did not accept it, which is also mentioned in the poem. The battle for him is only torment, but not a place where you can show your prowess.

It was during the war that the fourth “soul” was born, which loves the homeland, believes in the best and people, empathizes with their suffering and torment. The homeland becomes the key image of this part of the poem.

However, despite the fact that at the time of writing a revolution had taken place in Russia, the writer does not mention it at all. It was as if she didn't exist for him.

Last stanzas

The last stanzas came out especially strong from the pen that Nikolai Gumilyov held in his hand. "Memory" ends with the image of a traveler with a hidden face, in front of whom an eagle flies, and behind is a lion. These characters symbolize Christ and his companions - Mark, associated with the symbolism of a lion, and John, embodied in an eagle.

Thus, Gumilyov compares the immortality of a god who bequeathed his teaching to his followers, and the immortality of a poet who preserved his thoughts in verse. The author, of course, doubts his immortality, speaking of the birth of new souls, which means the death of old ones, but he has the only hope for eternal life - creativity. Only it can help a person become equal to God.

So, we have finished the summary of the verse and its analysis. In fact, the poem became a kind of autobiography of Gumilyov, in which he reflected all the spiritual changes that had ever happened in him.