Poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Railway” (perception, interpretation, evaluation). Railway - analysis of the work

At the beginning of 1842, Nicholas I issued a decree on the start of construction. It was supposed to connect Moscow and St. Petersburg. All work, which was supervised by the chief railway manager P. A. Kleinmichel, was completed in record time short time. Already in 1852 the road was launched.

The Russian poet, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, dedicated one of the most significant poems of a civic nature to this event. But his attention is attracted to a greater extent not so much by the benefits that the road provided, which made it possible to reduce travel time from one week to a day, but by the price at which Russia got it.

From the history of the creation of the work

Poem " Railway"Nekrasov was written in 1864 and published in the magazine Sovremennik. By that time, the railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg was named Nikolaevskaya, and P. A. Kleinmichel, who was distinguished by incredible cruelty towards his subordinates and compromised power, was removed from office by Alexander II.

At the same time, the problem raised by the author of the work was very topical in the 60s of the 19th century. At this time, the construction of railways began in other parts of the country. At the same time, the working and maintenance conditions of the peasants involved in the work differed little from those described by Nekrasov.

While working on the poem, the poet studied a number of journalistic documents, including articles by N. Dobrolyubov and V. Sleptsov about the cruel attitude of managers towards subordinates, published in 1860-61, which expands the time boundaries of the work. Kleinmichel's surname should have been more likely to distract the censor's attention from the relevance of the topic. But even this did not make it any less incriminating, which makes it clear detailed analysis. Nekrasov’s “Railroad” was perceived by many contemporaries as a bold denunciation of the order that existed under Alexander II.

Poem composition

The work consists of 4 chapters, united by images of the narrator ( lyrical hero), the general and his son Vanyusha, who found themselves together in a Moscow-Petersburg train. The role of exposition is played by the epigraph, designed in the form of a dialogue between father and son. It was the general’s answer to his son’s question about who built this railroad that forced the narrator to intervene in their conversation. The dispute that arose as a result was the basis for the poem (the outline is given below) “The Railway”.

Nekrasov addresses his work to children like Vanya. According to the poet, they must certainly know, albeit bitter, but still true story their country, since the future of Russia lies with them.

Chapter 1. Autumn landscape

The beginning of the poem “The Railway” by Nekrasov is imbued with a feeling of admiration and peace. The very first line sets this tone: “ Glorious Autumn! For the author, the pictures of nature flashing outside the carriage window personify the whole of our dear Rus' (from the very name, ancient and already a thing of the past, it emanates warmth and love), so unique and dear to the heart. Everything here is beautiful and harmonious, even the “kochi”, “moss swamps and stumps” that come into view. From general plan Only one word stands out, which makes the reader wary: “there is no ugliness in nature...”. The question involuntarily arises: “Then where is it?”

Chapter 2. Railway builders

Next, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov returns the reader to the epigraph and asks the “dad” not to hold his son in “charm” (here - a delusion), but to tell him the bitter truth about the creation of the road. At the beginning of the conversation, the narrator notes the fact that “this work... is not up to one person,” which means that Kleinmichel could not carry out the construction himself. Only one king could be stronger than the ruler and even the Russian emperor - Hunger. It was he who at all times decided the fate of millions of people. The following pictures drawn by the author and their analysis help to understand how right the narrator is in this statement.

Nekrasov’s “Railroad” continues with a story about how innumerable were the troubles and suffering of the people during the construction of the road. The first conclusion that the author makes is that these wonderful roads were built on the bones of the Russians. “How many are there?!” - V in this case speaks more eloquently than any words or numbers. And suddenly, Vanya, dozing to the sound of wheels, sees a terrible picture. Until recently, such a beautiful landscape was replaced by a description of the dead - road builders - running after the carriage. The silence and peace are disturbed by the clanking of shovels, moaning, crying and a loud song about the suffering experienced. Many, instead of bread and money, found a grave here, since the work was carried out all daylight hours with early spring before late autumn, and sometimes even in winter. But the words of the dead are filled with triumph (the author speaks on their behalf, which adds even more credibility to what is depicted): “We love to see our work.” It is this “habit... noble” - working - that the narrator draws the boy’s attention to.

Description of a Belarusian

The frozen figure of one of the workers stands out from the crowd running after the train. He does not move, but only “pecks the frozen ground with a rusty shovel.”

To fully understand the consequences of unbearable work and inhuman living conditions, detailed description his figure and appearance, as well as their analysis (“The Railway” by Nekrasov is a deeply realistic work that shows everything without embellishment). Fallen eyelids and bloodless lips, skinny arms covered with ulcers and swollen legs (“always in the water”), a “pitted chest” and a hunchbacked back... The author even describes tangles in the hair - a sign of unsanitary conditions and constant painful illness. And also monotonous movements brought to the point of automaticity. Here the distinction between a dead and a living, but very sick person, as Nikolai Nekrasov portrays the Belarusian, is erased. As a result, the railway becomes a source of glory for some, and a grave for others. Thousands of unknown tortured people are buried in it.

So the feeling of delight caused by the beauty of nature in chapter 1 is replaced by a description of the cruel exploitation of some people by others.

Chapter 3. The role of the people in history

The locomotive whistle, like the crow of a rooster, dispelled the visions that seemed so real (I recall the features of a ballad, which Nekrasov successfully uses in the poem “The Railway”).

The narrator’s idea of ​​a great feat accomplished by the people and Vanya’s story about an amazing dream only cause the general to laugh. For him, ordinary men are nothing more than drunkards, barbarians and destroyers. In his view, only true creators of beauty are worthy of admiration, and these must certainly be talented, spiritual people. An esthete at heart, having recently seen the best works of art in Rome and Vienna, the general despises the uneducated man, who, in his opinion, is not capable of anything. Including the construction of the railway. This dispute between the heroes reflected the current mid-century confrontation between materialists and aesthetes about what is more useful: practicality (i.e., a clay pot) or beauty - the statue of Apollo (A. Pushkin, “The Poet and the Crowd”).

Father thinks that similar stories are initially harmful to the child’s heart, and asks to be shown the “bright side” of construction. Nekrasov’s poem “The Railway” ends with a story about what reward the people received for their work.

Chapter 4. “The bright side” of construction

And now the rails are laid, the dead are buried, the sick are in dugouts. The time has come to receive a reward for your efforts. The foremen calculated everything during their work: “did you go to the bathhouse, did you lay sick?” As a result, each clerk still owes money. Against this background, the words of the meadowsweet farmer who rolled out a barrel of wine sound ironic: “... I’m giving away the arrears!” Brings up sad thoughts final chapter and its analysis. Nekrasov’s “Railroad” is a work not only about the labor feat of the Russian people, but also about its servile essence, which cannot be broken by anything. The tortured, beggar, accustomed to obedience, the man rejoiced and “the merchant with a cry of “Hurray!”” rushed along the road...

The image of the lyrical hero in the poem “Railroad”

Nekrasov, for whom the theme of humiliation and enslavement of the people was one of the main ones, showed himself as a citizen who felt personal responsibility for the fate of his native country.

The lyrical hero openly declares his position and attitude towards what becomes the subject of the image. Recognizing the downtroddenness and submissiveness that are, in fact, inherent in the Russian peasant, he admires his fortitude, strength of character, perseverance and incredible hard work. Therefore, he remains hopeful that the moment will come when a sense of human dignity will prevail, and the humiliated masses will be able to rise to their defense.

The attitude of contemporaries to the poem

N. Nekrasov's new work caused a wide public response. It is no coincidence that one of the censors called it “a terrible slander that cannot be read without shuddering.” And the Sovremennik magazine, which was the first to publish the text, received a warning about closure.

G. Plekhanov recalled his acquaintance with the poem in graduating class military gymnasium. According to his testimony, the first desire of him and his comrades was one thing: to take a gun and go “to fight for the Russian people.”

Painting folk life presented in the poem “Railroad”. This poem is preceded by an unusual epigraph: not a literary quotation, not folk proverb, and a question some boy asked his father, and the father’s answer. It is designed as a miniature play - indicated characters, there are author's remarks:

Vanya (in coachman's Armenian jacket)
Dad! who built this road?
Papa (in psmto on a red lining)
Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, my dear!
Conversation in the carriage

This kind of epigraph serves as an exposition, an introduction: the author will have a conversation with both Vanya and dad. It’s not hard to guess what it will be about: who actually built the railroad. It, which connected Moscow and St. Petersburg in 1852, was laid for 10 years under the leadership of the chief manager of communications, Count P.A. Kleinmichel. In the fall of 1864, Nekrasov, on a train, having heard or supposedly heard the conversation between father and son cited in the epigraph, considered or supposedly considered it necessary to intervene in this conversation. But first - in the first part of the poem - he talked about how good Moonlight night, visible from the carriage window.

Glorious autumn! Healthy, vigorous
The air invigorates tired forces.

In these sonorous verses (yafenym, bofit) fatigue is overcome and strength is strengthened. Nature is incredibly beautiful. What about swamps with hummocks and stumps (stumps of former trees)? It is hardly customary to admire them. They say: “stupid as a tree stump,” but they call philistinism and stagnation a swamp. But a true poet will find a place for all this in the world of beauty. Nekrasov is genuine.

There is no ugliness in nature! And kochi,
And moss swamps and stumps -
Everything is fine under the moonlight,
Everywhere I recognize my native Rus'...

Beauty is good not only in itself, but also because it is nationally native: Rus'... It is good to travel around Russia, enjoying the newfound comfort of a railway trip, this feeling of pleasure was readily expressed by various poets of Nekrasov’s era, and it is not alien to our author: “ I fly quickly along cast-iron rails, / I think my thoughts...”

Good dad! Why the charm?
Should I keep Vanya the smart one?
Will you allow me at moonlight
Show him the truth.

In our linguistic consciousness, the word “charm” is pleasant. No one will refuse to look like a charming person. But in these poems by Nekrasov given word has a slightly different connotation. Charm is something close to delusion, although, however, also pleasant. “He’s under some kind of spell, he doesn’t see anything” (example from “ Explanatory dictionary" Dalia). It seemed that “everything is fine under the moonlight,” however, under the same “moonlight,” a very cruel “truth” will be seen, which will be shown to Vanya:

This work, Vanya, was terribly enormous, -
Not enough for one!
There is a king in the world: this king is merciless,
Hunger is its name.

The line “Can’t do it alone” directly refers to the epigraph, rejecting the answer of the “father” who said that Kleinmichel built the railway. In fact, it was built, as it turns out, by “the masses of the people,” and Tsar Famine inspired them to do this. A grandiose symbolic figure: Hunger rules the world. Like Schiller: “Love and Hunger rule the world” (according to Gorky, “this is the most truthful and appropriate epigraph to the endless history of human suffering”). Forced by the Famine, people were hired to build the railway in inhumanly difficult conditions, and many “found a phobia here”; The “road” is now so beautiful (“narrow embankments, posts, rails, bridges”), built on Russian bones, there are countless of them.

Chu! Menacing exclamations were heard!
Stomping and gnashing of teeth;
A shadow ran across the frosty glass...
What's there? Crowd of the dead!

“Chu!” - an interjection, close in meaning to the call “listen!” Something terrible is about to happen. As in ballads (for example, Zhukovsky, Katenin, Lermontov) - the dead rise from their graves. A kind of balladry has already been discussed in connection with the poem “Yesterday, at about six o’clock...”. People from the graves chase a speeding train; the dead do not just run, but sing a song, which again mentions a moonlit night - the time most suitable for contact of the living with ghosts, which, as usual, should disappear before dawn. They sing about how cold and hungry they were during their lives, how they were sick, how they were offended by foremen, that is, the elders over a group of workers. One of this crowd of the dead - a “tall sick Belarusian”, fair-haired and emaciated with fever - is depicted in especially detail, even the mat in his hair is mentioned (a disease in which the hair on the head sticks together and sticks together; occurs in unsanitary conditions, may be a consequence of infection) .

One significant oddity: it is written that a Belarusian is standing. But the crowd of the dead, of which he is a representative, is running. As if this is a small contradiction (the Belarusian should have fled with everyone else), but it came in very handy. A static figure, snatched from the general flow and frozen in one place, is easier to describe in detail. Unlike the dead, who sing their song as they run, the Belarusian is silent. This further separates him from the rest. As a result, you somehow forget that he is dead and begin to treat him as if he were alive. Moreover, the details of his portrait (bloodless lips, drooping eyelids, swollen legs, etc.) can indicate not only death, but also the morbidity of a living person. And further: “It would be a good idea for us to adopt this noble habit of work.” This would sound strange if you remember that the Belarusian is dead: you can’t take labor lessons from a dead man! In addition, the pathos of work is interrupted by ominous motives of death: in the behavior of the Belarusian, the poet sees something dull and mechanical, something similar to an inanimate wound-up doll, monotonously repeating some given movement.

Bless the work of the people
And learn to respect a man.

The phrase “respect a man” has become commonplace. In the ballad A.K. Tolstoy’s “Stream-Bogatyr” the hero falls from Ancient Rus' V Russia XIX c., and he is strictly asked: “Do you respect the peasant?” - “Which one?” - “In general, a man who is great in humility!” But Potok says: “There is a man and a man. / If he doesn’t drink away the harvest, / Then I respect the man.”

Don’t be shy for your dear fatherland...
The Russian people have endured enough.

In the original version of the text, instead of the word “enough” there was: “Tatarism,” that is, the Mongol-Tatar yoke (1243-1480). The replaced word is surprisingly consonant with the one it replaced. One can guess the reasons for such a replacement: “Tatarism” is a matter of the distant historical past, while the Tatars “from Mother Volga, from the Oka” probably also participated in the construction of the railway, suffering together with the Russians, so why offend them with this word, as thereby promoting national hatred?

At the beginning of the third part, the ballad dead disappear:

At this moment the whistle is deafening
He squealed and the crowd of dead disappeared.

Here the locomotive whistle played the traditional role of a cock's crow, heralding the dawn and dispersing ghosts who are now in a hurry to escape from the world of the living. These are the Slavic, and not only Slavic, ideas on this matter. In Shakespeare, this is exactly how the ghost of Hamlet’s father disappears: “He suddenly disappeared at the crow of a rooster” (quoted from the modern Nekrasov translation by A. Kroneberg). It seems to Vanya that he dreamed all this in a dream: thousands of men appeared (he tells his “dad”), and someone - he - said: “Here they are, the builders of our road!..” Maybe this one was also in Vanya’s dream - and talked about the railroad builders and showed them? But no, the boy’s father, who turns out to be a general, perceives the narrator as a real person and enters into an argument with him. He says that he recently visited Rome and Vienna and saw wonderful monuments of ancient architecture. Was it really “the people who created all this” - such beauty? And does the general’s interlocutor, who spoke so eloquently about the needs of low life, place them above the eternal ideals of beauty:

- Or for you Apollo Belvedere
Worse than a stove pot?

This refers to Pushkin’s poem “The Poet and the Crowd,” in which the self-seeking “rabble” is sharply condemned: “...by weight / You value the Belvedere Idol, / You see no benefit, no benefit in it... / The stove pot is more valuable to you. ..” What is more important: beauty or benefit? Shakespeare or boots? Raphael or kerosene? Apollo Belvedere or stove pot? - they argued about this in every possible way in the Nekrasov era, literature and journalism struggled with these “damned” questions. On the one hand, aesthetes, priests pure art, on the other - utilitarians, materialists. Nekrasov’s general is aesthetically pleasing and despises the black and rude people:

Here are your people - these thermal baths and baths,
A miracle of art - he took everything away!

Exclamation “Here are your people!” entered into oral usage. In Korolenko’s story “Prokhor and the Students,” two students pass by a pitiful, degraded peasant, and, pointing at him, one says to the other: “Here are your people!”, and he wonders: where are the people, because I’m the only one here! Baths - ancient Roman public baths, once luxurious, now ruins, testifying to lost greatness ancient culture. It was destroyed by barbarians, that is, peoples not involved in Roman civilization: Slavs (apparently southern, non-Russian), Germans... destroyers, not creators:

Your Slav, Anglo-Saxon and German
Do not create - destroy the master,
Barbarians! wild bunch of drunkards!..

In the same way, according to the general, Russian barbarian men cannot be considered the creators of the railway: “a wild crowd of drunkards” is not capable of this. But there is also “ bright side“people's life! So let the general’s interlocutor show Vanya her too, instead of traumatizing the child with “the spectacle of death and sadness”! And in the fourth part of the poem this “bright side” is shown.

The construction of the railway is completed, the dead are in the ground, the sick are in the dugouts, the workers have gathered at the office: what kind of earnings will there be? But the rogue foremen (in modern terms, foremen) calculated them so daringly that it turned out that the workers not only should not receive anything, but also must pay the arrears (part of the tax not paid on time) to the contractor (here - the rich merchant responsible for this area of ​​work). The situation is bad, but then the contractor himself appears, “congratulates” (congratulates) those gathered and is ready to treat them and generally make them happy: “I’m giving away the arrears!”

The people's reaction was universal jubilation. They shout “hurray!” The foremen, singing, roll the promised barrel of wine. Apparently, in the words of the general - “a wild crowd of drunkards!..” - there is a certain amount of truth. Here is the “bright side” of people’s life - the tortured people are sincerely happy:

The people unharnessed the horses - and the purchase price
Shouting “Hurray!” rushed along the road...
It seems difficult to see a more gratifying picture
Shall I draw, general?..

Nekrasov Railway analysis of the poem

Plan

1. History of creation

2.Genre

3. Main idea

4.Composition

5.Size

6. Expressive means

7. Main idea

1.History of creation. The work “The Railway” was written by the poet in 1864 and is dedicated to the construction of the first Nikolaev railway in Russia (1842-1852). Nicholas I, without taking into account the terrain, simply drew a line on the map with a ruler. This monstrous carelessness turned a huge amount workers who died during construction in impenetrable swamps and forests.

2.Genre of the poem- the poet’s favorite and perfected civic lyricism.

3. main idea poems - difficult situation common people, forced to pay with their lives for progress in Russia. The king and his entourage did not take into account the cost of the grandiose project at all. Peasants driven from all over Rus' worked in inhumane conditions, littering the vast expanses of their land with bones. It is no coincidence that the first part of the poem lovingly describes a beautiful landscape that was destined to become huge mass grave. A sharp contrast to this description is presented by the picture of a heavy physical labor. The souls of all those who died during construction flash before us. They did not understand the significance of their huge undertaking. The peasants were forced to work by the earthly king and the invisible king - hunger. The general's monologue reveals a cynical attitude high society to the workers. The lot of slaves is drunkenness and theft, so there is nothing to feel sorry for them. This reveals the absolute illiteracy and stupidity of the general, who does not understand that all the achievements and successes of the state are based on the overwhelming mass of the downtrodden and humiliated peasantry. The “bright” picture that completes the work is the settlement with the workers. Exhausted peasants, heroes of labor, receive a reward - ... a barrel of vodka. And the manifestation of the “immeasurable generosity” of the authorities is the forgiveness of all arrears and absenteeism. The country is taking a huge step forward, the leaders are triumphant, but the people, as always, are being made fools.

4.Composition. The poem "Railroad" consists of four parts. First - lyrical description Russian landscape rushing past travelers. The second is a terrible picture of overwork. The third part describes the general's primitive thoughts and opinions. The final part is a “joyful” picture, the result of the work.

5. Poem size- alternation of four- and three-foot dactyl with cross rhyme.

6.Expressive means. Nekrasov widely uses epithets to describe nature (“glorious”, “vigorous”, “icy”) and the suffering of workers (“huge”, “terrible”, “barren”). The first part is rich in comparisons: “like melting sugar,” “like a soft bed,” “like a carpet.” Hunger is described with vivid personifications: “the king is merciless,” he “drives,” “drives,” “walks.” In general, the first parts are built on sharp contrast with each other. The third and fourth parts are written extremely in short language without much use expressive means. Significantly closer to reality live Speaking boss “...something... well done!.. well done!...”.

7. Main thought works - the suffering of the common people is incalculable. He has to bear the civilizational development of Russia on his shoulders. At the end of the second part, Nekrasov makes the main statement that the Russian people will endure everything and come to a happy future. But this is still very far away, the “beautiful time” is in the foggy unknown.

Of course, the construction was officially given special meaning, like a construction site of the century. The road, which took twelve years to build, reduced the time spent on the road during a trip between the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg by seven times. In addition, this construction had political overtones. All-Russian Emperor Nicholas I wanted to declare his state in Europe as progressive and developed. Money was allocated for the creation of infrastructure at the appropriate level, good specialists, including foreign ones. But few people thought about their own people, who were cheap labor.

The whole story of the construction of the railway was true and told about how the people actually lived and what they were forced to endure. Then the emperor highly appreciated the work of the construction organizers. The Commander-in-Chief of the Railways, Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, was awarded an award for services to the Fatherland. Indeed, the speed of construction was high, and the mortality of ordinary workers was considered as a production cost.

Analysis of the poem

Only 12 years later did Nekrasov come up with this poem. The work itself seems to answer the question: will the descendants of the unfortunate workers who gave their lives to strengthen the state, as a progressive state, and for the convenience of the upper class of the population, be remembered?

We struggled under the heat, under the cold,
With an ever-bent back,
They lived in dugouts, fought hunger,
They were cold and wet and suffered from scurvy.
The literate foremen robbed us,
The authorities flogged me, the need was pressing...
We, God's warriors, have endured everything,
Peaceful children of labor!
Brothers! You are reaping our benefits!
We are destined to rot in the earth...
Do you still remember us poor people kindly?
Or have you forgotten a long time ago?..

The poem itself consists of four parts. All of them are united by one plot and the image of the lyrical hero. The narrator and neighbors in the carriage, where there is a boy and his father, a general. The dialogue is about the railway, how it was built, this is the epigraph.
The first part of the story describes nature, which very colorfully depicts the surrounding environment, which can be seen from the train window. She is very perfect and doesn’t seem to have the ugliness that is present in people’s lives. The second part is shown in the form of a monologue by the narrator himself, where the life of society is shown. It shows the life of the builders of this highway, all their suffering and misfortunes.

The main meaning is found in the last three stanzas. Where it is described that the Russian people must be respected, that with their hard work and sacrifices they are moving towards a bright future. The writer also very accurately describes the mentality of the people, who have endured much suffering and humiliation for centuries. With just one statement, Nekrasov described the entire life of the people of those times:

“It’s just a pity - I won’t have to live in this beautiful time - neither for me nor for you.”

In the third part, the author presents a dispute between the author and the general, where the reader can take either side. It’s hard to argue with the fact that the people are illiterate, downtrodden, and dirty. The general presents evidence, calling people pathetic destroyers and drunkards, and sees only this as their destiny. But the author comes to the defense of the peasants, declaring that it is not the people themselves who are to blame for this.

In the fourth part the reasoning continues. Now the author has gone even deeper. The reader becomes even more immersed in the problems of society. It becomes clear that different positions, which already divide society - this is an insurmountable gap. And small people, from the point of view of the upper class, are simply consumables. Material that, if necessary, can be sacrificed endlessly.

But the narrator believes that a “bright future” will come, because the Russian people deserve a better life. Nekrasov could not have finished the poem any other way. He put all his pain into every line. That is why his words echo in the hearts of his contemporaries.