History of creation
Ode “Felitsa” (1782) is the first poem that made the name of Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin famous. It became a striking example of a new style in Russian poetry. The subtitle of the poem states: "Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by Tatarsskiy Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and lives on his businessthem in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic». This work received its unusual name from the name of the heroine of “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” the author of which was Catherine II herself. This name, which translated from Latin means happiness, it is also named in Derzhavin’s ode, glorifying the empress and satirically characterizing her environment.
It is known that at first Derzhavin did not want to publish this poem and even hid the authorship, fearing the revenge of the influential nobles satirically depicted in it. But in 1783 it became widespread and, with the assistance of Princess Dashkova, a close associate of the Empress, was published in the magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word,” in which Catherine II herself collaborated. Subsequently, Derzhavin recalled that this poem touched the empress so much that Dashkova found her in tears. Catherine II wanted to know who wrote the poem in which she so accurately depicted her. In gratitude to the author, she sent him a golden snuff box with five hundred chervonets and an expressive inscription on the package: “From Orenburg from the Kirghiz Princess to Murza Derzhavin.” From that day on, literary fame came to Derzhavin, which no Russian poet had known before.
Main themes and ideas
The poem "Felitsa", written as a humorous sketch from the life of the empress and her entourage, at the same time raises very important problems. On the one hand, in the ode “Felitsa” a completely traditional image of a “god-like princess” is created, which embodies the poet’s idea of the ideal of an enlightened monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:
Bring it on, Felitsa! instruction:
How to live magnificently and truthfully,
How to tame passions and excitement
And be happy in the world?
On the other hand, the poet’s poems convey the idea not only of the wisdom of power, but also of the negligence of performers concerned with their own profit:
Seduction and flattery live everywhere,
Luxury oppresses everyone. –
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
This idea in itself was not new, but behind the images of nobles drawn in the ode, features clearly emerged real people:
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows towards the Turks;
Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.
In these images, the poet’s contemporaries easily recognized the empress’s favorite Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, and Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles he offended could deal with the author for this. Only Catherine’s favorable attitude saved Derzhavin.
But even to the empress he dares to give advice: to follow the law to which both kings and their subjects are subject:
You alone are only decent,
Princess! to create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From disagreement to agreement
And from fierce passions happiness
You can only create.
This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded bold, and it was expressed in simple and understandable language.
The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:
I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,
They keep you invisibly
From all illnesses, evils and boredom;
May the sounds of your deeds be heard in posterity,
Like the stars in the sky, they will shine.
Artistic originality
Classicism forbade combining in one work high ode and satire related to low genres. But Derzhavin doesn’t even just combine them in his characterization different persons, written in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. Breaking the traditions of the laudatory ode genre, Derzhavin widely introduces colloquial vocabulary and even vernacular into it, but most importantly, he does not draw ceremonial portrait the empress, but depicts her human appearance. That's why they end up in odes everyday scenes, still life:
Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table.
“God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in an ordinary way (“Without valuing your peace, / You read, write under the cover...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if exactly copied from the drawing. Reading the poem “Felitsa”, you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people, boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems bright, memorable and understandable. Thus, in “Felitsa” Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing high genre odes to elements of low styles. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of “Felitsa” as mixed ode. Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the ode traditional for classicism, where they praised government officials, military leaders, solemn events were sung, in a “mixed ode” “the poet can talk about everything.” Destroying the genre canons of classicism, with this poem he opens the way for new poetry - the “poetry of reality”, which received brilliant development in the work of Pushkin.
Meaning of the work
Derzhavin himself subsequently noted that one of his main merits was that he “dared to proclaim Felitsa’s virtues in a funny Russian style.” As the researcher of the poet’s work V.F. rightly points out. Khodasevich, Derzhavin was proud “not that he discovered Catherine’s virtues, but that he was the first to speak in a “funny Russian style.” He understood that his ode was the first artistic embodiment Russian life, that she is the embryo of our romance. And, perhaps,” Khodasevich develops his thought, “if “old man Derzhavin” had lived at least to the first chapter of “Onegin,” he would have heard echoes of his ode in it.”
Read also:
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1. "Felitsa"
3. “Frol Silin”
4. “To your mind”
142. Main character“Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow”:
1. officership
2. merchants
4. nobility
5. bureaucracy
143. Features of these literary trends appeared in “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”:
1. classicism and sentimentalism
2. romanticism and sentimentalism
3. realism and classicism
4. classicism and modernism
5. socialist realism
144. In this chapter of “Travel...” A.N. Radishchev leads his reader to the idea of a revolutionary uprising of the people:
1. "Zaitsovo"
2. “Sacrums”
3. “Spasskaya Polest”
4. "Lyubani"
5. "Edrovo"
145. About this work by A. Radishchev, Catherine II said: “Rebel, worse than Pugachev”:
1. "Liberty"
2. “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”
3. “Excerpt from a trip”
4. “Letter to a Friend”
5. “Letters to Falaley”
146. This work by A. Radishchnva contains the ode “Liberty”:
1. "Brigadier"
2. “Journey from Pererburg to Moscow”
3. "Undergrown"
5. "Waterfall"
147. He was arrested for his book and sentenced to death penalty, which was later replaced by a link to Siberia:
1. A. Sumarokov
2. A. Cantemir
3. G. Derzhavin
4. A. Radishchev
5. M. Lomonosov
148. In this book of the 18th century. The epigraph takes the words: “The monster is loud, mischievous, huge, yawning and barking”:
1. “Poor Lisa”
2. "Undergrown"
3. "Inspector"
5. "Sneak"
“I looked around me - my soul became wounded by human suffering”:
1. “Poor Lisa”
2. "Undergrown"
3. "Inspector"
4. “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”
5. "Sneak"
150. They say about him that his life is a feat in the name of the liberation of the Russian peasant:
1. A. Sumarokov
2. A. Radishchev
3. G. Derzhavin
4. I. Krylov
1. A. Radishchev
2. M. Lomonosov
3. G. Derzhavin
4. I. Krylov
5. F. Prokopovich
152. Theme of the ode “Liberty”:
3. revolution
4. happiness
1. M. Lomonosov
2. I. Krylov
3. F. Prokopovich
4. A. Cantemir
5. A. Radishchev
154. He is considered the founder of Russian revolutionary aesthetics:
1. I. Krylov
2. A. Radishchev
3. N. Karamzin
4. I. Dmitriev
5. I. Krylov
155. This line in literature was led by A. Radishchev:
3. romantic-heroic
4. historical and patriotic
5. romantic-historical
156. Liza (“Poor Liza” by N. Karamzin) belonged to this class:
1. to the peasantry
2. to the merchants
3. to philistinism
4. to the nobility
5. to the pillar nobility
157. N.M. Karamzin adhered to these political views:
1. was a democrat
2. was a supporter of an enlightened monarchy
3. was a supporter liberal views
4. supported autocracy
5. was an opponent of autocracy.
158. A bright representative of Russian sentimentalism:
1. M. Lomonosov
2. G. Derzhavin
3. D. Fonvizin
4. V. Kapnist
1. A. Radishchev
2. M. Lomonosov
3. N. Karamzin
4. D. Fonvizin
5. G. Derzhavin
160. Historical essay N. Karamzina:
1. Bornholm Island
2. Sierra Morena
4. Foreman
5. Minor
161. Work by N. Karamzin:
1. Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka
2. Dmitry the Pretender
3. History of the Russian state
4. Foreman
5. Minor
162. The famous almanac published by N. Karamzin:
1. "Aglaya"
2. “Vladlena”
3. "Tatiana"
4. "Elena"
5. "Marina"
163. Pre-romantic tendencies are visible in these works by N. Karamzin:
1. “Poor Liza”, “Marfa Posadnitsa”
2. “Bornholm Island”, “Sierra Morena”
3. “Frol Silin”, “Knight of Our Time”
4. “Letters of a Russian Traveler”, “Felitsa”
5. “History of the Russian State”, “Brigadier”
164. Name of the main character " Poor Lisa»:
165. The problem of the story “Marfa Posadnitsa”:
2. education
3. love and friendship
4. war and peace
5. monarchy or republic
166. Chief theorist of the 18th century:
1. M. Lomonosov
2. F. Prokopovich
3. A. Pushkin
4. M. Lermontov
5. A. Cantemir
167. Fabulist of the 18th-19th centuries:
1. V. Trediakovsky
2. M. Lomonosov
3. N. Karamzin
4. I. Krylov
5. D. Fonvizin
168. He was arrested for his book and sentenced to death, which was later replaced by exile to Siberia:
1. A. Sumarokov
2. A. Cantemir
3. G. Derzhavin
4. A. Radishchev
1. D. Fonvizin
2. N. Karamzin
4. A. Radishchev
5. I. Krylov
170. Theme of “Letters from Ernest and Doravra”:
1. about the love of an aristocrat and a poor nobleman
2. about friendship between people
3. about justice
4. about the peasantry
5. about freedom
171. “Letters from Ernest and Doravra” - sample:
1. classic novel
3. adventure novel
4. everyday romance
172. He managed to show the world of love experiences:
1. K. Istomin
2. A. Cantemir
3. M. Lomonosov
4. F. Prokopovich
1. M. Chulkov
2. D. Fonvizin
3. M. Lomonosov
4. V. Trediakovsky
5. A. Radishchev
174. The novel “The Pretty Cook” should be classified as:
1. historical
2. picaresque
3. documentary
4. adventure
1. A. Cantemir
2. D. Fonvizin
3. I. Bogdanovich
4. I. Krylov
5. G. Derzhavin
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FELICA
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Godlike Princess Bring it on, Felitsa! instruction: Without imitating your Murzas, You don't like masquerades too much And I, having slept until noon, Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit, Or am I at a rich feast, Or among a beautiful grove Or in a magnificent train Or muses s Coy and singers, And I am amused by the barking of dogs; Or, sitting at home, I will play a prank, That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved! I found it, but why not be mistaken? You alone are only decent, From disagreement to agreement You just won’t offend the only one, You think sensibly about merit, Hearing And children about your actions, It's also unheard of, It's like you're bold to the people Pleasant rivers of tears flow There with the name Felitsa you can You know, Felitsa! You're right You are ashamed to be considered great, Felitsa glory, glory to God, who gave freedom Whose law, right hand Where do conscience and truth live? But where does your throne shine in the world? I ask the great prophet |
Notes
Felitsa (page 97). For the first time “Interlocutor”, 1783, part 1, page 5, without signature, under the title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz princess Felitsa, written by the Tatar Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and lives on his business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic 1782." TO last words the editors gave a note: “Although the name of the author is unknown to us, we know that this ode was definitely composed in Russian language" Pech. according to Ed. 1808, vol. 1, p. 36. Having written the ode in 1782, Derzhavin did not dare to publish it, fearing the revenge of noble nobles depicted satirically. The poet’s friends N.A. Lvov and V.V. Kapnist had the same opinion. By chance, the ode fell into the hands of one good friend of Derzhavin, an adviser to the director of the Academy of Sciences, a writer, an activist in the field of public education, and later minister Osip Petrovich Kozodavlev (early 1750s 1819), who began to show it to various people, including including introducing Princess E.R. Dashkova to her, who was appointed director of the Academy of Sciences in 1783. Dashkova liked the ode, and when the publication of “Interlocutor” was undertaken in May 1783 (Kozodavlev became the editor of the magazine), it was decided to open the first issue “Felitsa” (Ob. D., 601). The publication of “Interlocutor” was due to the political events of the early 1780s, the intensification of Catherine’s struggle with the noble opposition, and the empress’s desire to “use journalism as a means of influencing minds, as a device for disseminating favorable interpretations of phenomena in the internal political life of the country” (P . N. Berkov. History of Russian journalism of the 18th century. M. L., 1952, p. 332). One of the ideas persistently pursued by Catherine in her huge “Notes on Russian history", was the idea noted by Dobrolyubov that the sovereign "is never the cause of civil strife, but is always the resolver of strife, the peacemaker of princes, the defender of what is right, if only he follows the suggestions of his own heart. As soon as he commits an injustice that cannot be hidden or justified, then all the blame falls on the evil advisers, most often on the boyars and the clergy” (N. A. Dobrolyubov. Works, vol. 1. L., 1934, p. 49) . Therefore, “Felitsa,” which panegyrically portrayed Catherine and her nobles satirically, came into the hands of the government and Catherine liked it. Derzhavin received a golden snuffbox containing 500 chervonets as a gift from the empress and was personally introduced to her. The high merits of the ode brought it success in the circles of the most advanced contemporaries and widespread popularity at that time. A. N. Radishchev, for example, wrote: “If you add many stanzas from the ode to Felitsa, and especially where Murza describes himself, almost the same poetry will remain without poetry” (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 2, 1941, p.217). “Everyone who can read Russian found it in the hands,” Kozodavlev testified (“Interlocutor,” 1784, part 16, p. 8). Derzhavin took the very name “Felitsa” from “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” written by Catherine II for her grandson Alexander (1781). “The author called himself Murza because ... he came from a Tatar tribe; and the empress Felitsa and the Kyrgyz princess for the fact that the late empress composed a fairy tale under the name of Prince Chlorus, whom Felitsa, that is, the goddess of bliss, accompanied to the mountain where a rose blooms without thorns, and that the author had his villages in the Orenburg province in the neighborhood from the Kyrgyz horde, which was not listed as a citizen” (Ob. D., 593). In the manuscript of 1795 (see above, p. 363) the interpretation of the name “Felitsa” is somewhat different: “wisdom, grace, virtue” (Manuscript Department of the State Library, F. XIV. 16, p. 408). This name was formed by Catherine from the Latin words “felix” “happy”, “felicitas” “happiness”.
Your son is accompanying me. In Catherine's fairy tale, Felitsa gave her son Reason as a guide to Prince Chlorus.
Without imitating your Murzas i.e., courtiers, nobles. The word “Murza” is used by Derzhavin in two ways. When Murza speaks about Felitsa, then Murza means the author of the ode. When he speaks as if about himself, then Murza collective image nobleman-court.
You read and write in front of the levy. Derzhavin is referring to the legislative activities of the Empress. Lectern (obsolete, colloquial), more precisely “lectern” (church) a high table with a sloping top, on which icons or books are placed in the church. Here it is used in the sense of “table”, “desk”.
You can't saddle a Parnasque horse. Catherine did not know how to write poetry. Arias and poems for her literary works it was written by state secretaries Elagin, Khrapovitsky and others. Parnassian horse Pegasus.
You don’t enter the gathering of spirits, You don’t go from the throne to the East. i.e. you do not attend Masonic lodges or meetings. Catherine called the Masons a “sect of spirits” (Khrapovitsky’s Diary. M., 1902, p. 31). "Vostok" were sometimes called Masonic lodges(Grotto, 2, 709710). Freemasons in the 80s. XVIII century members of organizations (“lodges”) that professed mystical and moralistic teachings and were in opposition to Catherine’s government. Freemasonry was divided into different movements. A number of leaders belonged to one of them, Illuminism. French Revolution 1789 In Russia, the so-called “Moscow Martinists” (the largest of them in the 1780s were N.I. Novikov, a remarkable Russian educator, writer and book publisher, his publishing assistants I.V. Lopukhin, S. I. Gamaleya and others) were especially hostile towards the empress. They considered her an usurper of the throne and wanted to see on the throne the “legitimate sovereign” - the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, the son of Emperor Peter III, dethroned by Catherine. Paul, while it was beneficial for him, was very sympathetic to the “Martinists” (according to some evidence, he even adhered to their teachings). The Freemasons became especially active in the mid-1780s, and Catherine composed three comedies: “The Siberian Shaman,” “The Deceiver,” and “The Seduced,” and wrote “The Secret of the Anti-Ridiculous Society,” a parody of the Masonic charter. But she managed to defeat Moscow Freemasonry only in 1789-1793. through police measures.
And I, having slept until noon etc. “Refers to the whimsical disposition of Prince Potemkin, like all three of the following couplets, who was either getting ready for war, or practicing in outfits, feasts and all kinds of luxuries” (Ob. D., 598).
Zug team of four or six horses in pairs. The right to ride in a convoy was a privilege of the highest nobility.
I'm flying on a fast runner. This also applies to Potemkin, but “more to gr. Al. Gr. Orlov, who was a hunter before horse racing” (Ob. D., 598). At the Orlov stud farms, several new breeds of horses were bred, of which the most famous is the breed of the famous “Orlov trotters”.
Or fist fighters also applies to A.G. Orlov.
And amused by the barking of dogs refers to P.I. Panin, who loved hound hunting (Ob. D., 598).
I amuse myself with horns at night etc. “Refers to Semyon Kirillovich Naryshkin, who was then the huntsman, who was the first to start horn music” (Ob. D., 598). Horn music - an orchestra consisting of serf musicians, in which only one note can be extracted from each horn, and all together are like one instrument. Walks of noble nobles along the Neva, accompanied by a horn orchestra, were a common occurrence in the 18th century.
Or, sitting at home, I will play a prank.“This verse generally relates to ancient Russian customs and amusements” (Ob. D., 958).
I read Polkan and Bova.“Refers to the book. Vyazemsky, who loved to read novels (which the author, serving on his team, often read in front of him, and it happened that both of them dozed and did not understand anything) Polkan and Bov and famous old Russian stories” (Ob. D., 599 ). Derzhavin is referring to the translated novel about Bova, which later turned into a Russian fairy tale.
But every man is a lie quote from the Psalter, from Psalm 115.
Between a lazy person and a grouch. Lazy and Grumpy characters from the fairy tale about Prince Chlorus. “As much as is known,” she meant by the first book. Potemkin, and under another book. Vyazemsky, because the first, as stated above, led a lazy and luxurious life, and the second often grumbled when money was demanded from him, as the manager of the treasury” (Ob. D., 599).
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously etc. allusion to the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the “Establishment on the Provinces,” according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces.
That she renounced and was considered wise. Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of “Great”, “Wise”, “Mother of the Fatherland”, which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for developing a draft of a new code; She did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title of “Great” for her.
And you allow me to know and think. In the “Instruction” of Catherine II, which she compiled for the Commission for the development of a draft of a new code and which was a compilation from the writings of Montesquieu and other enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century, there are indeed a number of articles, summary of which this stanza is. However, it was not for nothing that Pushkin called the “Nakaz” “hypocritical”: it has reached us huge amount“cases” of people arrested by the Secret Expedition precisely on charges of “speaking” “indecent”, “diarrhea” and other words addressed to the empress, heir to the throne, Prince. Potemkin, etc. Almost all of these people were cruelly tortured by the “whip fighter” Sheshkovsky and severely punished by secret courts.
There you can whisper in conversations etc. and the next stanza depiction of cruel laws and morals at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. As Derzhavin notes (Ob. D., 599600), there were laws according to which two people whispering to each other were considered attackers against the empress or the state; Those who did not drink a large glass of wine, “offered for the queen’s health,” and who accidentally dropped a coin with her image were suspected of malicious intent and ended up in the Secret Chancellery. A typo, correction, scraping, or mistake in the imperial title entailed punishment with lashes, as well as moving the title from one line to another. At court, rude clownish “amusements” were widespread, such as the famous wedding of Prince Golitsyn, who was a jester at court, for which an “ice house” was built; titled jesters sat in baskets and clucked chickens, etc.
You write teachings in fairy tales. Catherine II wrote for her grandson, in addition to “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” “The Tale of Prince Fevey” (see note on page 378).
Don't do anything bad. The “Instruction” to Chlorus, translated into verse by Derzhavin, is in the appendix to the “Russian alphabet for teaching youth to read, printed for public schools by the highest command” (St. Petersburg, 1781), which was also composed by Catherine for her grandchildren.
Lancets means i.e. bloodshed.
Tamerlane(Timur, Timurleng) Central Asian commander and conqueror (13361405), distinguished by extreme cruelty.
Who pacified the battle etc. “This verse refers to the time of peace at that time, after the end of the first Turkish war(17681774 V.Z.) flourished in Russia when many humane institutions were created by the empress, such as an orphanage, hospitals and others” (Ob. D., 600).
who gave freedom etc. Derzhavin lists some laws issued by Catherine II, which were beneficial to the noble landowners and merchants: she confirmed the permission given by Peter III to the nobles to travel abroad; allowed landowners to develop ore deposits on their property for their own benefit; lifted the ban on cutting down forest on their lands without government control; “allowed free navigation on the seas and rivers for trade” (Ob. D., 600), etc.
Appendix to the ode: “Felitsa”.
SKETCH OF THE ORIGINALLY CONCERNED ODE TO CATHERINE.
You, who alone, without the help of a minister, following the example of the gods, hold everything with your own hand and see everything with your own eyes!
Great Empress, if until now, out of prudence, I remained in respectful silence and did not praise you, it was not because my heart hesitated to burn the proper incense for you; but I know little how to praise, and my trembling Muse runs away from such excessive burdens and, not being able to speak worthily about your great deeds, is afraid to touch your laurels, lest they dry up.
I am not blinded by vain desire and moderate my flight according to my weak strength, and with my silence I am wiser than those brave mortals who desecrate your altars with an unworthy sacrifice; who in this field, where their selfishness leads them, dare to sing without strength and spirit your name and who bore you every day in an ugly voice, telling you about your own affairs.
I do not dare to discredit their desire to please you; but why, without having the strength, work uselessly and, without praising you, only disgrace yourself?
To weave praises, it must be Virgil.
I cannot make sacrifices to gods who do not have virtue, and I will never hide my thoughts for your praise: and no matter how great your power, if in this my heart did not agree with my lips, then there would be no reward and no reasons I would have snatched from me not a word of your praise.
But when I see you working with noble ardor in the performance of your office, bringing to shame the sovereigns who tremble at their labor and who are oppressed by the burden of the crown; when I see you enriching your subjects with reasonable orders; the pride of the enemy, trampling underfoot, opening the sea to us, and your brave warriors - promoting your intentions and your great heart, subduing everything under the power of the Eagle; Russia - under your power, ruling happiness, and our ships - Neptune despising and reaching the places from where the sun spreads its run: then, without asking whether Apollo likes it, my Muse warns me in the heat and praises you.
“Felitsa” (its original full title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisat princess Felitsa, written by some Murza, who has long lived in Moscow, and lives on his business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic in 1782”) was written with a focus on the usual ode of praise. In its external form, it seems to even be a step back from “Birthday Poems...”; it is written in ten-line iambic stanzas, traditional for a solemn ode ("Poems for the birth..." are not at all divided into stanzas). However, in fact, “Felitsa” is an artistic synthesis of an even broader order.
Catherine's name Felitsa (from the Latin felicitas - happiness) was suggested by one of her own literary works- a fairy tale written for her little grandson, the future Alexander I, and shortly before published in a very limited quantities copies. The Kyiv prince Chlorus is visited by the Kyrgyz khan, who, in order to verify the rumor about the boy’s exceptional abilities, orders him to find a rare flower - “a rose without thorns.” On the way, the prince is beckoned by Murza Lazy, who is trying to divert him from an overly difficult undertaking with the temptations of luxury. However, with the help of the Khan's daughter Felitsa, who gives Chlorus her son's Reason as a guide, Chlorus reaches a steep rocky mountain; having climbed with great difficulty to the top of it, he finds there the sought-after “rose without thorns,” that is, virtue. Using this simple allegory, Derzhavin begins his ode:
Godlike Princess
Kirghiz-Kaisak horde,
Whose wisdom is incomparable
Discovered the right tracks
To Tsarevich young Chlorus
Climb that high mountain
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
Where virtue lives!
She captivates my spirit and mind;
Let me find her advice.
Thus, conventionally allegorical images of a children's fairy tale travestically replace the traditional images of the canonical beginning of the ode - the ascent to Parnassus, the appeal to the muses. The very portrait of Felitsa - Catherine - is given in a completely new manner, sharply different from the traditional laudatory description. Instead of the solemnly heavy, long-cliched and therefore little expressive image of the “earthly goddess,” the poet, with great enthusiasm and hitherto unprecedented poetic skill, depicted Catherine in the person of the active, intelligent and simple “Kirghiz-Kaisak princess”:
Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Not valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
Shedding bliss to mortals,
Like you don't play cards,
Like me, from morning to morning.
A similar opposition to the “virtuous” image of Felitsa and the contrasting image of the vicious “Murza” is then carried out throughout the entire poem. This results in something exceptional, something we have never seen before. genre originality"Felitsa". The ode of praise in honor of the Empress appears at the same time political satire- a pamphlet against a number of people in her inner circle. Even more sharply than in “Poems for the Birth of a Porphyry-Born Youth in the North,” the singer’s posture in relation to the subject of his chanting also changes here. Lomonosov signed his odes to the empresses - “the most submissive slave.” Derzhavin’s attitude towards Ekaterina-Felitsa, traditionally endowed by him with sometimes “god-like” attributes, while respectful, is not without at the same time, as we see, a certain playful shortness, almost familiarity.
The image contrasted with Felitsa characteristically doubles throughout the ode. In satirical places, this is a kind of collective image that includes the vicious features of all the Catherine’s nobles ridiculed here by the poet; to a certain extent, Derzhavin, who is generally prone to self-irony, introduces himself into this circle. In high pathetic places - this is the lyrical author's "I", again endowed with specific autobiographical features: Murza is indeed the real descendant of Murza Bagrim, the poet Derzhavin. The appearance in "Felitsa" of the author's "I", the living, concrete personality of the poet, was a fact of enormous artistic, historical and literary significance. Lomonosov’s odes of praise also sometimes begin in the first person:
Am I seeing Pindus under my feet?
I hear pure sisters' music.
I'm burning with the heat of Permes,
I flow hastily to their face.
However, the “I” that is being discussed here is not the individual personality of the author, but a certain conventional image of an abstract “singer” in general, an image that acts as an invariable attribute of any ode of any poet. We encounter a similar phenomenon in satires, also a widespread and significant genre of poetry in the 18th century. The difference in this regard between odes and satyrs is only that in odes the singer always plays on one single string - “sacred delight”, while in satyrs one single, but indignantly accusatory string also sounds. Love songs of the Sumarokov school were equally “one-stringed” - a genre that, from the point of view of contemporaries, was considered generally semi-legal and, in any case, dubious.
In Derzhavin’s “Felitsa,” instead of this conventional “I,” the true living personality of the human poet appears in all the concreteness of his individual existence, in all the real diversity of his feelings and experiences, with a complex, “multi-stringed” attitude to reality. The poet here is not only delighted, but also angry; praises and at the same time blasphemes, denounces, slyly ironizes, and in highest degree It is important that this first declared itself in odic poetry of the 18th century. individual personality carries in itself undoubted features of nationality.
Pushkin said about Krylov's fables that they reflect a certain " distinctive feature in our morals there is a cheerful cunning of the mind, mockery and a picturesque way of expressing itself." From under the conventionally "Tatar" guise of "Murza", this trait first appears in Derzhavin's ode to Felitsa. These glimpses of nationality are also reflected in the language of "Felitsa". With the new character of this work is also its “funny Russian style,” as Derzhavin himself defines it - borrowing its content from real everyday life, light, simple, playfully colloquial speech, directly opposite to the lushly decorated, deliberately elevated style of Lomonosov’s odes.
Odami continues to traditionally call his poems Derzhavin, theoretically linking them with the ancient model obligatory for classicism - the odes of Horace. But in reality he they make a genuine genre revolution. In the poetics of Russian classicism there were no poems “in general.” Poetry was divided into sharply demarcated, in no case mixed with each other, isolated and closed poetic types: ode, elegy, satire, etc. Derzhavin, starting with “Poems for the birth of a porphyry-born youth in the north” and, in particular, with “Felitsa”, completely breaks the framework of traditional genre categories of classicism, merges ode and satire into one organic whole , in his other works, like “On the death of Prince Meshchersky” - an ode and an elegy.
In contrast to the one-dimensional genres of classicism, the poet creates complex and full-life, polyphonic genre formations that anticipate not only the “variegated chapters” of Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” or, to the highest degree, complex genre his own Bronze Horseman", but also the tone of many of Mayakovsky's works.
“Felitsa” was a colossal success upon its appearance (“everyone who could read Russian found it in the hands of everyone,” testifies a contemporary) and generally became one of the most popular works Russian literature XVIII V. This enormous success clearly proves that Derzhavin’s ode, which produced a kind of revolution in relation to Lomonosov’s poetics, fully met the basic literary trends era.
In "Felitsa" are united two opposite principles of Derzhavin’s poetry– positive, affirming, and revealing, – critical. The chanting of the wise monarch, Felitsa, is one of the central themes of Derzhavin’s work, to whom both his contemporaries and later criticism gave him the nickname “Felitsa’s Singer.” “Felitsa” was followed by the poems “Gratitude to Felitsa”, “Image of Felitsa”, and finally, almost as famous as “Felitsa”, the ode “Vision of Murza” (started in 1783, completed in 1790).
Ode "Felitsa"(1782) - the first poem that made the name of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin famous, becoming an example of a new style in Russian poetry.
The ode received its name from the name of the heroine of “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” the author of which was Catherine herself, and with this name, which translated from Latin means happiness, she is also named in Derzhavin’s ode, glorifying the empress and satirically characterizing her environment.
The history of this poem is very interesting and revealing. It was written a year before publication, but Derzhavin himself did not want to publish it and even hid the authorship. And suddenly, in 1783, news spread around St. Petersburg: an anonymous ode appeared “ Felitsa", where the vices of famous nobles close to Catherine II, to whom the ode was dedicated, were depicted in a comic form. The residents of St. Petersburg were quite surprised by the courage of the unknown author. They tried to get the ode, read it, and rewrite it. Princess Dashkova, a close associate of the Empress, decided to publish the ode, Krichem, in the very magazine where Catherine II herself collaborated.
The next day, Dashkova found the empress in tears, and in her hands was a magazine with Derzhavin’s ode. The Empress asked who wrote the poem, in which, as she herself said, he portrayed her so accurately that he moved her to tears. This is how Derzhavin tells the story.
IN " Felice“Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of “Felitsa” as a “mixed ode.” Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where government officials and military leaders were praised, and a solemn event was glorified, in a “mixed ode,” “the poet can talk about everything.”
Reading the poem " Felitsa“, you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people, boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems bright, memorable and understandable not only for the people of his time. And now we can read with interest the poems of this wonderful poet, separated from the pas by a huge distance of two and a half centuries.
Classicism forbade combining high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin doesn’t even just combine them in characterizing different persons depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in an ordinary way (“You often walk on foot...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if exactly copied from life.
But not everyone liked this poem as much as the empress. It puzzled and alarmed many of Derzhavin’s contemporaries. What was so unusual and even dangerous about him?
On the one hand, in the ode “Felitsa” a completely traditional image of a “god-like princess” is created, which embodies the poet’s idea of the ideal of the eminent monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:
Give me some advice, Felitsa:
How to live magnificently and truthfully,
And be happy in the world?
On the other hand, the poet’s poems convey the idea not only of the wisdom of power, but also of the negligence of performers concerned with their own profit:
Seduction and flattery live everywhere,
Luxury oppresses everyone.
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
This idea in itself was not new, but behind the images of the nobles depicted in the ode, the features of real people clearly emerged:
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows to the Turks:
Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, I was seduced by the outfit,
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.
In these images, the poet’s contemporaries easily recognized the empress’s favorite Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, and Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles he offended could deal with the author for this. Only Catherine’s favorable attitude saved Derzhavin.
But even to the empress he dares to give advice: to follow the law to which both kings and their subjects are subject:
You alone are only decent,
Princess, create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From disagreement to agreement
You can only create.
This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded boldly and it was expressed in simple and straightforward language.
The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:
I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,
They keep you invisibly
Listen to Derzhavin’s ode “Felitsa”
Ode "Felitsa"
Godlike Princess
Kirghiz-Kaisak horde!
Whose wisdom is incomparable
Discovered the right tracks
To Tsarevich young Chlorus
Climb that high mountain
Where does a thornless rose grow?
Where virtue lives, -
She captivates my spirit and mind,
Let me find her advice.
Bring it on, Felitsa! instruction:
How to live magnificently and truthfully,
How to tame passions and excitement
And be happy in the world?
Your voice excites me
Your son is accompanying me;
But I am weak to follow them.
Disturbed by the vanity of life,
Today I control myself
And tomorrow I am a slave to whims.
Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Not valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
You shed bliss on mortals;
Like you don't play cards,
Like me, from morning to morning.
You don't like masquerades too much
And you can’t even set foot in the club;
Keeping customs, rituals,
Don't be quixotic with yourself;
You can't saddle the horse of Parnassus,
You don’t enter a gathering of spirits,
You don’t go from the throne to the East;
But walking the path of meekness,
With a charitable soul,
Have a productive day.
And I, having slept until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday,
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows towards the Turks;
Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.
Or am I at a rich feast,
Where do they give me a holiday?
Where the table glitters with silver and gold,
Where are thousands of different dishes:
There's a nice Westphalian ham,
There are links of Astrakhan fish,
There are pilaf and pies there,
I wash down the waffles with champagne;
And I forget everything in the world
Among wines, sweets and aroma.
Or among a beautiful grove
In the gazebo where the fountain is noisy,
When the sweet-voiced harp rings,
Where the breeze barely breathes
Where everything represents luxury to me,
To the pleasures of thought he catches,
It languishes and revitalizes the blood;
Lying on a velvet sofa,
The young girl feels tender,
I pour love into her heart.
Or in a magnificent train
In an English carriage, golden,
With a dog, a jester or a friend,
Or with some beauty
I'm walking under the swing;
I go to taverns to drink mead;
Or, somehow I’ll get bored,
According to my inclination to change,
With my hat on one side,
I'm flying on a fast runner.
Or music and singers,
Suddenly with an organ and bagpipes,
Or fist fighters
And I make my spirit happy by dancing;
Or, taking care of all matters
I leave and go hunting
And I am amused by the barking of dogs;
Or over the Neva banks
I amuse myself with horns at night
And the rowing of daring rowers.
Or, sitting at home, I will play a prank,
Playing fools with my wife;
Then I get along with her at the dovecote,
Sometimes we frolic in blind man's buff;
Then I’m having fun with her,
Then I look for it in my head;
I like to rummage through books,
I enlighten my mind and heart,
I read Polkan and Bova;
Over the Bible, yawning, I sleep.
That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved!
But the whole world looks like me.
Who knows how much wisdom,
But every person is a lie.
We do not walk the paths of light,
We run debauchery after dreams.
Between a lazy person and a grouch,
Between vanity and vice
Did anyone accidentally find it?
The path of virtue is straight.
I found it, but why not be mistaken?
To us, weak mortals, on this path,
Where does reason itself stumble
And he must follow his passions;
Where are the learned ignoramuses for us?
Like the darkness of travelers, their eyelids are dark?
Seduction and flattery live everywhere,
Pasha oppresses everyone with luxury.-
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
You alone are only decent,
Princess! to create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From disagreement to agreement
And from fierce passions happiness
You can only create.
So the helmsman, sailing through the show-off,
Catching the roaring wind under sail,
Knows how to steer a ship.
You just won’t offend the only one,
Don't insult anyone
You see through your fingers the tomfoolery
The only thing you cannot tolerate is evil;
You correct misdeeds with leniency,
Like a wolf, you don’t crush people,
You know right away their price.
They are subject to the will of kings, -
But God is more just,
Living in their laws.
You think sensibly about merit,
You give honor to the worthy,
You don't consider him a prophet,
Who can weave rhymes,
What crazy fun is this?
Honor and glory to the good caliphs.
You condescend to the lyrical mode:
Poetry is dear to you,
Pleasant, sweet, useful,
Like delicious lemonade in summer.
There are rumors about your actions,
That you are not at all proud;
Kind in business and in jokes,
Pleasant in friendship and firm;
Why are you indifferent to adversity?
And in glory she is so generous,
That she renounced and was considered wise.
They also say it’s not false,
It's like it's always possible
You should tell the truth.
It's also unheard of,
Worthy of you alone
It's like you're bold to the people
About everything, and show it and at hand,
And you allow me to know and think,
And you don’t forbid about yourself
To speak both true and false;
As if to the crocodiles themselves,
All your mercies to Zoilas,
You are always inclined to forgive.
Pleasant rivers of tears flow
From the depths of my soul.
ABOUT! when people are happy
There must be their destiny,
Where is the meek angel, the peaceful angel,
Hidden in the porphyry lightness,
A scepter was sent down from heaven to wear!
There you can whisper in conversations
And, without fear of execution, at dinners
Don't drink to the health of kings.
There with the name Felitsa you can
Scrape out the typo in the line,
Or a portrait carelessly
Drop it on the ground.
There are no clownish weddings there,
They are not fried in ice baths,
They don’t click on the nobles’ mustaches;
Princes don't cluck like hens,
Favorites don't want to laugh at them
And they don’t stain their faces with soot.
You know, Felitsa! are right
And men and kings;
When you enlighten morals,
You don't fool people like that;
In your rest from business
You write lessons in fairy tales
And you repeat to Chlorus in the alphabet:
"Don't do anything bad,
And the evil satyr himself
You will make a despicable liar.”
You are ashamed to be considered great,
To be scary and unloved;
The bear is decently wild
Tearing animals and shedding their blood.
Without extreme distress in the heat of the moment
Does that person need lancets?
Who could do without them?
And how nice it is to be a tyrant,
Tamerlane, great in atrocity,
Who is great in goodness, like God?
Felitsa glory, glory to God,
Who pacified the battles;
Which is poor and wretched
Covered, clothed and fed;
Which with a radiant eye
Clowns, cowards, ungrateful
And he gives his light to the righteous;
Equally enlightens all mortals,
He comforts the sick, heals,
He does good only for good.
who gave freedom
Jump into foreign regions,
Allowed his people
Seek silver and gold;
Who allows water
And it doesn’t prohibit cutting down the forest;
Orders to weave, and spin, and sew;
Untying the mind and hands,
Tells you to love trading, science
And find happiness at home;
Whose law, right hand
They give both mercy and judgment.-
Prophecy, wise Felitsa!
Where is a rogue different from the honest?
Where does old age not wander around the world?
Does merit find bread for itself?
Where revenge does not drive anyone?
Where do conscience and truth live?
Where do virtues shine? -
Isn't it yours at the throne?
But where does your throne shine in the world?
Where, branch of heaven, do you bloom?
In Baghdad? Smyrna? Cashmere? -
Listen, wherever you live, -
I appreciate my praises to you,
Don’t think about hats or beshmetya
For them I wanted from you.
Feel the good pleasure
This is the wealth of the soul,
Which Croesus did not collect.
I ask the great prophet
May I touch the dust of your feet,
Yes, your words are the sweetest current
And I will enjoy the sight!
I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,
They keep you invisibly
From all illnesses, evils and boredom;
May the sounds of your deeds be heard in posterity,
Like the stars in the sky, they will shine.
_____________________________________
1. The ode was first published in the magazine “Interlocutor”, 1783, part 1, page 5, without a signature, under the title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-kaisak princess Felitsa, written by the Tatar Murza, who had long settled in Moscow, and who lived on their business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic 1782." (go back)
Commentary by J. Grot
1. In 1781, the Tale of Prince Chlorus, written by Catherine for her five-year-old grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, was published in a small number of copies. Chlorus was the son of the prince, or king of Kyiv, who was kidnapped by the Kirghiz khan during his father’s absence. Wanting to believe the rumor about the boy’s abilities, the khan ordered him to find a rose without thorns. The prince set off on this errand. On the way, he met the khan’s daughter, the cheerful and amiable Felitsa. She wanted to go to see off the prince, but her stern husband, Sultan Grumpy, prevented her from doing so, and then she sent her son, Reason, to the child. Continuing his journey, Chlorus was subjected to various temptations, and among other things, he was invited to his hut by Murza Lazy, who, with the temptations of luxury, tried to dissuade the prince from an undertaking that was too difficult. But Reason forcibly carried him further. Finally, they saw in front of them a steep rocky mountain, on which grows a rose without thorns, or, as one young man explained to Chlorus, virtue. Having climbed the mountain with difficulty, the prince picked this flower and hurried to the khan. Khan sent him along with the rose to to the prince of Kyiv. “This one was so happy about the arrival of the prince and his successes that he forgot all the melancholy and sadness... This is where the fairy tale ends, and whoever knows more will tell another.”
This fairy tale gave Derzhavin the idea to write an ode to Felitsa (the goddess of bliss, according to his explanation of this name): since the empress loved funny jokes, he says, this ode was written in her taste, at the expense of her entourage.
2. The poet called Catherine the Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess because he had villages in the then Orenburg region, adjacent to the Kyrgyz horde, subject to the empress. Now these estates are located in the Buzulutsky district of the Samara province.
Comment by V.A. Zapadov
3. Your son is accompanying me. – In Catherine’s fairy tale, Felitsa gave her son Reason as a guide to Prince Chlorus.
4. Without imitating your Murzas - that is, courtiers, nobles. The word “Murza” is used by Derzhavin in two ways. When Murza speaks about Felitsa, then Murza means the author of the ode. When he speaks as if about himself, then Murza is a collective image of a nobleman-court.
5. Read and write before the levy. – Derzhavin is referring to the empress’s legislative activities. Lectern (obsolete, colloquial), more precisely “lectern” (church) - a high table with a sloping top, on which icons or books are placed in the church. Here it is used in the sense of “table”, “desk”.
6. You can’t saddle a Parnasque horse. – Catherine did not know how to write poetry. Arias and poems for her literary works were written by her secretaries of state Elagin, Khrapovitsky and others. The Parnassian horse is Pegasus.
7. You do not enter the meeting of spirits, you do not go from the throne to the East - that is, you do not attend Masonic lodges and meetings. Catherine called the Freemasons a “sect of spirits” (Khrapovitsky’s Diary. M., 1902, p. 31). Masonic lodges were sometimes called “Easts” (Grotto, 2, 709–710).
Masons in the 80s. XVIII century - members of organizations (“lodges”) that professed mystical and moralistic teachings and were in opposition to Catherine’s government. Freemasonry was divided into different movements. A number of leaders of the French Revolution of 1789 belonged to one of them, Illuminism.
In Russia, the so-called “Moscow Martinists” (the largest of them in the 1780s were N.I. Novikov, a remarkable Russian educator, writer and book publisher, his publishing assistants I.V. Lopukhin, S.I. Gamaleya etc.) were especially hostile towards the empress. They considered her an usurper of the throne and wanted to see the “legitimate sovereign” on the throne - the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, the son of Emperor Peter III, who was dethroned by Catherine. Paul, while it was beneficial for him, was very sympathetic to the “Martinists” (according to some evidence, he even adhered to their teachings). The Freemasons became especially active in the mid-1780s, and Catherine composed three comedies: “The Siberian Shaman,” “The Deceiver,” and “The Seduced,” and wrote “The Secret of the Anti-Ridiculous Society,” a parody of the Masonic charter. But she managed to defeat Moscow Freemasonry only in 1789–1793. through police measures.
8. And I, having slept until noon, etc. - “Refers to the whimsical disposition of Prince Potemkin, like all three of the following couplets, who was either getting ready for war, or practicing in outfits, feasts and all kinds of luxuries” (Ob. D., 598).
9. Zug - a team of four or six horses in pairs. The right to ride in a convoy was a privilege of the highest nobility.
10. I'm flying on a fast runner. – This also applies to Potemkin, but “more to gr. Al. Gr. Orlov, who was a hunter before horse racing” (Ob. D., 598). At the Orlov stud farms, several new breeds of horses were bred, of which the most famous is the breed of the famous “Orlov trotters”.
11. Or fist fighters - also applies to A.G. Orlov.
12. And amused by the barking of dogs - refers to P.I. Panin, who loved hound hunting (Ob. D., 598).
13. I amuse myself with horns at night, etc. - “Refers to Semyon Kirillovich Naryshkin, who was then a huntsman, who was the first to start horn music” (Ob. D., 598). Horn music is an orchestra consisting of serf musicians, in which only one note can be extracted from each horn, and all together are like one instrument. Walks of noble nobles along the Neva, accompanied by a horn orchestra, were a common occurrence in the 18th century.
14. Or, sitting at home, I will play a prank. - “This verse generally refers to the ancient customs and amusements of Russians” (Ob. D., 958).
15. I read Polkan and Bova. - “Refers to the book. Vyazemsky, who loved to read novels (which the author, serving on his team, often read in front of him, and it happened that both of them dozed and did not understand anything) - Polkan and Bova and famous old Russian stories" (Ob. D., 599 ). Derzhavin is referring to the translated novel about Bova, which later turned into a Russian fairy tale.
16. But every person is a lie - a quote from the Psalter, from Psalm 115.
17. Between a lazy person and a grouch. Lazy and Grumpy are characters from the fairy tale about Prince Chlorus. “As much as is known,” she meant by the first book. Potemkin, and under another book. Vyazemsky, because the first, as stated above, led a lazy and luxurious life, and the second often grumbled when money was demanded from him, as the manager of the treasury” (Ob. D., 599).
18. Dividing Chaos into harmonious spheres, etc. is a hint at the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the “Establishment on the Provinces,” according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces.
19. That she renounced and was considered wise. – Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of “Great”, “Wise”, “Mother of the Fatherland”, which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for developing a draft of a new code; She did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title of “Great” for her.
20. You allow me to know and think. – In Catherine II’s “Instructions,” which she compiled for the Commission to develop a draft of a new code and which was a compilation from the writings of Montesquieu and other enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century, there are indeed a number of articles, a brief summary of which is this stanza. However, it was not for nothing that Pushkin called the “Nakaz” “hypocritical”: a huge number of “cases” of people arrested by the Secret Expedition precisely on charges of “speaking” “indecent”, “diarrhea” and other words addressed to the empress, heir to the throne, Prince . Potemkin, etc. Almost all of these people were cruelly tortured by the “whip fighter” Sheshkovsky and severely punished by secret courts.
21. There you can whisper in conversations, etc. and the next stanza is a depiction of the cruel laws and morals at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. As Derzhavin notes (Ob. D., 599–600), there were laws according to which two people whispering to each other were considered attackers against the empress or the state; Those who did not drink a large glass of wine, “offered for the queen’s health,” and who accidentally dropped a coin with her image were suspected of malicious intent and ended up in the Secret Chancellery. A typo, correction, scraping, or mistake in the imperial title entailed punishment with lashes, as well as moving the title from one line to another. At court, rude clownish “amusements” were widespread, such as the famous wedding of Prince Golitsyn, who was a jester at court, for which an “ice house” was built; titled jesters sat in baskets and clucked chickens, etc.
22. You write teachings in fairy tales. – Catherine II wrote for her grandson, in addition to “The Tale of Prince Chlorus”, “The Tale of Prince Fevey”.
23. Don't do anything bad. - “Instruction” to Chlorus, translated into verse by Derzhavin, is in the appendix to the “Russian alphabet for teaching youth to read, printed for public schools by the highest command” (St. Petersburg, 1781), which was also composed by Catherine for her grandchildren.
24. Lancets means - i.e. bloodshed.
25. Tamerlane (Timur, Timurleng) - Central Asian commander and conqueror (1336–1405), distinguished by extreme cruelty.
26. Which pacified the abuse, etc. - “This verse refers to the time of peace, at the end of the first Turkish war (1768–1774 - V.Z.) in Russia, which flourished, when many philanthropic institutions were made by the empress, like then: orphanage, hospitals and others.”
27. Which granted freedom, etc. - Derzhavin lists some laws issued by Catherine II, which were beneficial to the noble landowners and merchants: she confirmed the permission given by Peter III to the nobles to travel abroad; allowed landowners to develop ore deposits on their property for their own benefit; lifted the ban on cutting down forest on their lands without government control; “allowed free navigation on the seas and rivers for trade,” etc.