I. A. Bunin showed his artistic perception of nature very subtly in his poetry, from which, in principle, he began his creative path. Here he showed the characteristic features of his poetic and literary talent. In his lyrical works there are gentle and subtle notes of harmony and optimism, where the laws of life of human nature are freely perceived. Bunin has absolutely no doubt that only in merging with nature can one feel the strong threads of contact with life and come to an understanding of God’s plan. Bunin's poem "The Last Bumblebee" is a clear example of this. Its title immediately sets up a wave of light sadness and melancholy, withering and the end, which, according to the systematic course of the poem’s plot, receive a smooth and melodious development.

Bunin: analysis of the poem “The Last Bumblebee”

This poem consists of three stanzas, each of which contains a separate compositional part. The first can be considered an introduction; it immediately makes clear the character’s train of thought and defines his complex psychological state.

Together with his hero, Bunin also feels these fading colors of the soul. An analysis of the poem “The Last Bumblebee” suggests that the bumblebee becomes an assistant and guide to the hero’s melancholy state. The insect has become a kind of symbol of care, melancholy and death. Why such sadness and sorrow? This secret will be revealed a little later, at the very end of the work. In the meantime, there is a call to the imaginary interlocutor to rejoice and enjoy the magnificent, serene and hot, but last, summer days. And, in the end, having caught all these rosy moments, he will have to fall asleep forever. As quickly as time flies for this insect, so does a person’s life - one moment, and he will already be, like that bumblebee, lulled to sleep by nature.

The second quatrain is filled with bright life tones and colors, but they sharply contrast with the theme of rapid fading, which makes the human soul scared and lonely, and all the more painful at the thought of unexpected and inevitable death.

Inevitable sadness

And finally, the third stanza puts everything in its place, or, more precisely, brings the topic to its logical conclusion. Where does this sadness and sadness come from? Because sooner or later a person comes to understand that life is fleeting, and therefore he begins to be overcome by thoughts about its frailty and fleetingness. After all, very soon the summer warmth and joy will be replaced by the piercing and cold wind of autumn, and the bumblebee, as an integral part of a joyful and happy time, will be killed by the ruthless forces of the harsh laws of nature.

Here Bunin surpasses himself. An analysis of the poem “The Last Bumblebee” says that the author seems to feel sorry for his lyrical hero. The bumblebee will soon disappear, and from a deep understanding of this comes great pain and regret. This is how life, without having time to begin, can sometimes disappear in its prime, since death will come at the most unexpected moment.

Metaphorical image of a bumblebee

Ivan Bunin created “The Last Bumblebee” based on metaphorical artistic expression. Without the attractive image of the bumblebee, it would not be so beautiful and sincere; for the author, he is a mute interlocutor to whom the writer asks rhetorical questions.

Phonetic means of expression are used very accurately - with the help of whistling and hissing sounds, the writer conveys the behavior of a bumblebee - “a mournful hum”, as well as the autumn “gloomy wind”.

This verse is very poignant and alarming, suggesting philosophical thoughts. This is most likely what Bunin was counting on. An analysis of the poem “The Last Bumblebee” suggests that it was created on the model of philosophical lyrics, which touches on the eternal issues of the transience of life and the inevitability of death, and in the period of youth you need to have time to enjoy every moment of earthly existence.

"The Last Bumblebee Bunin." History of creation

Bunin began writing poetry at the age of seven. When the writer created at that time he was 46 years old, he already knew what to tell his reader about, especially since he was a true master of a beautiful style. A very important thing should be noted here: Bunin was twice awarded the literary Pushkin Prize (in 1903 and 1909), and he was an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg in the class of fine literature. And, most importantly, Bunin became a Nobel Prize laureate in 1933.

Incredibly, Bunin’s poem “The Last Bumblebee” was written on June 26, 1916. This was literally a year before the October Revolution, he seemed to have a presentiment, but did not suspect that very soon Russia would practically perish for Bunin in precisely the form in which he passionately loved it, and would find itself in the chaos of destruction, godlessness and fratricidal war . This is probably why at the subconscious level he was depressed and depressed. Even then he stopped having illusions about a cloudless future.

It is impossible to read the poem “The Last Bumblebee” by Ivan Alekseevich Bunin without memories of the first autumn days, yellowing trees, and already cool rain. Falling leaves are metaphorically associated with the withering of the human body. In part, autumn is a little death. Thoughts about the end of his life visited the author in the fall of 1916. Then he had no idea about the revolution, which, to some extent, would destroy the Russia that he knew and loved. It is difficult to say whether he had premonitions about this. But his depressed mood is visible to the naked eye.

The text of Bunin’s poem “The Last Bumblebee” is like the author’s search for a kindred soul who can share with him the aching longing for the passing summer. And it doesn’t matter that it’s just an insect. Even it can sense the approaching emptiness. Of course, the bumblebee has no idea about its imminent death. Therefore, the poet treats him condescendingly. He patiently and reverently addresses his little “friend.” Of course, the bumblebee's fate is already sealed. And the author is tormented by a painful feeling of pity and powerlessness in the face of harsh reality.

The poem plunges you into sad reflections. The author makes the reader think that one day he will become this same bumblebee. One fine day everyone will fall asleep in eternal sleep, forgetting about all sorrows and hardships, sinking into oblivion. And this cannot but cause sadness and melancholy. The work must be taught in literature classes in high school. You can read it in its entirety online or download it on our website.

Black velvet bumblebee, golden mantle,
Mournfully humming with a melodious string,
Why are you flying into human habitation?
And it’s like you’re pining for me?

Outside the window there is light and heat, the window sills are bright,
The last days are serene and hot,
Fly, sound your horn - and in a dried-up Tatar,
On a red pillow, fall asleep.

It is not given to you to know human thoughts,
That the fields have long been empty,
That soon a gloomy wind will blow into the weeds
Golden dry bumblebee!

He belongs to the number of masters of the pen whose creativity is difficult to limit to any boundaries. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he became famous for his lyrical works, releasing seven collections of poems about his homeland, life, and love over 20 years. Many critics specifically note his love poetry, imbued with erotic motives. In 1903, the Academy of Sciences even awarded the young poet the Pushkin Prize for his poetry collection “Falling Leaves” and his translation of “The Song of Hiawatha” by the American poet G. Longfellow.

Bunin's prose brought him even wider fame. The story “Antonov Apples”, the stories “Village” and “Sukhodol” expressed the author’s truly poetic attitude towards the world. In these works, the author expressed his sadness over the disappearance of the former noble way of life. As a result, never accepting the changes in Russian society, especially after the October Revolution of 1917, Ivan Alekseevich Bunin left Russia forever, ending his life path at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery in Paris.

Perhaps it is precisely the state of “great sadness”, the feeling of something passing away, the last in life, that the poet conveys in his poem "The Last Bumblebee", written in 1916. This poem will be the subject of analysis. Small in volume, it evokes a whole range of feelings in the reader. In terms of theme, it can rather be classified as philosophical lyricism, because this poem contains serious reflections on life and death, on purpose in this world, on the frailty of earthly existence - in a word, on everything that is typical for lyricism of this kind.

Lyrical plot quite simple: the hero sees a bumblebee accidentally flying into the room, but he "mournfully humming", causes the hero a feeling of melancholy and sadness. Of course, such thoughts do not bring joy, so the hero asks with some degree of reproach:

Why are you flying into human habitation?
And it’s like you’re pining for me?

If the flight of the bumblebee inspired the great Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to create an immortal masterpiece of the same name, full of joy, vigor and movement, then Bunin’s poem sounds very measured, unhurried, largely thanks to the tetrameter anapest with which this work is written. The name itself - “The Last Bumblebee” - evokes an association with the passing of summer, with the onset of autumn, and then winter, which in the lyrics is traditionally associated with dying in nature. Death theme Bunin is often associated with theme of memory. That is why the heroine of the story “Dark Alleys” says: “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten.”

Wise nature arranged it in such a way that her children - birds, animals, insects - do not have intelligence, which means they cannot know that their lives are sometimes too short. This is probably what makes them happier than a person who knows that sooner or later death awaits him, and thinking about it plunges him into a pessimistic state. For the bumblebee from Bunin's poem, death is just a dream: without painfully waiting for death, he will simply fall asleep “in a dried tartar, on a red pillow”, therefore, his last days can be considered serene, that is, devoid of thoughts about what will happen after death.

Probably the lyrical hero states with some envy:

It is not given to you to know human thoughts,
That the fields have long been empty...

After all, a person just thinks, and often thinks about death. He was always worried about the question: how much has fate measured out for me? Some people jokingly try to find out this from the cuckoo, others go to fortune tellers or clairvoyants. The lyrical hero of this poem hides his emotions: his internal state can only be known by epithets - "mournfully humming" Yes "gloomy wind".

Overall, the poem does not produce the gloomy impression that may arise from discussions about death. Yes, the hero is endowed with knowledge of the end of his earthly existence, but this, rather, should help him choose a worthy path in life in order to leave a memory of himself for centuries. This is exactly the path that Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, a writer, poet and philosopher, chose for himself, during his long life he probably knew well its true value.

• Analysis of the story “Easy Breathing”

Composition

I.A. Bunin is the greatest lyricist of the 20th century. The main mood of his lyrics is elegance, contemplation, sadness as a habitual state of mind. The same mood is reflected in the poem “The Last Bumblebee.”

The genre of the poem gravitates towards philosophical lyrics. The poem reflects the feeling of the universality of life, its eternal cycle. Earthly life, the life of nature and man, is perceived by the poet as part of what is happening in the vastness of the universe.

The poem “The Last Bumblebee” depicts a moment in a person’s inner life, his experiences. A bumblebee that accidentally flies into the window evokes sad thoughts in the lyrical hero about the frailty of life.

The poem is simple in composition and consists of three stanzas: the first two are narrative in nature, and the last stanza is the culmination of the feelings and thoughts of the lyrical hero.

In the first stanza the poet asks:

Why are you flying into human habitation?

And it’s like you’re pining for me?

The lyrical hero is in a depressed state, the “black velvet bumblebee” causes him rejection, that’s why he, the bumblebee, hums with a “mourningly melodious string”, and all that he has that is noticeable is the “golden mantle”, but against the background of a mournful black velvet and it does not please.

In the second stanza, a contrast is created between the bright window sill and the withered Tatarka, in which the bumblebee will have to sleep. “The last days are serene and hot.” After all, they, just like the bumblebee, are unaware of their frailty:

Outside the window there is light and heat, the window sills are bright

The last days are serene and hot,

Fly, sound your horn - and in a dried-up Tatar,

Sleep on a red pillow.

The third stanza is the result of the painful thoughts of the lyrical hero:

It is not given to you to know human thoughts,

That the fields have long been empty,

That soon a gloomy wind will blow into the weeds

Golden dry bumblebee.

The bumblebee is not given to know that soon “the fields will be empty” and he will be “blown away into the weeds”, which is why he flies serenely, and man knows about his frailty, but only he is not given the opportunity to know the time of his departure.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin

Black velvet bumblebee, golden mantle,
Mournfully humming with a melodious string,
Why are you flying into human habitation?
And it’s like you’re pining for me?

Outside the window there is light and heat, the window sills are bright,
The last days are serene and hot,
Fly, sound your horn - and in a dried-up Tatar,
On a red pillow, fall asleep.

It is not given to you to know human thoughts,
That the fields have long been empty,
That soon a gloomy wind will blow into the weeds
Golden dry bumblebee!

People always associate autumn with the withering of nature, which is preparing for a long winter hibernation. However, looking at how the yellowed leaves fall, many people find themselves thinking about their own old age. Indeed, these two phenomena are closely interrelated, and they are united by the final result - death. And it is precisely this topic that writers love to talk about, who not only draw associative parallels, but also try to find an answer to the question of why the world is structured this way.

Ivan Bunin also has a similar poem-reasoning. The author wrote his “The Last Bumblebee” in the fall of 1916, not suspecting that within a few months Russia would be mired in the chaos of the revolution and, in fact, would die in the form in which the poet was very dear. It is difficult to say whether Bunin foresaw something like this. However, the fact that at the time of writing this poem he was in a rather depressed and depressed state is beyond doubt.

“A black velvet bumblebee, a golden mantle, mournfully humming with a melodious string,” these first lines of the poem create a special atmosphere, not only setting one in a lyrical and philosophical mood, but also showing what the author perceives the world through the prism of your personal experiences. Developing the theme of discussions about the frailty of existence, Bunin is looking for an ally in the bumblebee who could share with him the aching melancholy and sadness inspired by the last warm days of Indian summer. However, the author, unlike the bumblebee, is well acquainted with the laws of the universe, and understands perfectly well what fate awaits this beautiful and noble insect. Therefore, he tries to be extremely affectionate and patient with him, noting: “Fly, sound your horn - and in the dried-up Tatar,
on a red pillow, go to sleep.”

It's not hard to guess what will happen next. Bunin is devoid of illusions, and therefore is convinced that “that soon the gloomy wind will blow away the golden dry bumblebee into the weeds!” However, such a thought evokes very contradictory feelings in the author. On the one hand, he feels very sorry for this velvety buzzing creature, but on the other, the poet knows that he is unable to change anything. Therefore, saying goodbye to the last bumblebee, Bunin will experience a slight feeling of sadness, which directs his thoughts in a completely different direction. “It is not given to you to know human thoughts,” the poet notes, addressing the bumblebee. He himself had not yet fully understood why the arrival of autumn gives rise to so much sadness and doubt. But the poet knows for sure that someday the time will come, and he himself will find himself in the role of this bumblebee, who, believing in miracles, will one day fall asleep in a sweet dream and turn to dust. Bunin has a presentiment that something similar will very soon happen to Russia, so in this poem two parallels can be traced at once, the last of which is based on the intuition and vague premonitions of the author. But they turn out to be so accurate and true that they leave no doubt about Bunin’s ability to see the future and not have any illusions that it will be cloudless.