Of course, Derzhavin’s contribution to the development of Russian literature and culture was significant. The ode "Felitsa" gave him popularity and, to put it modern language, brought him into the lead. This work was noticed by Empress Catherine II, which gave Derzhavin the opportunity to move up the career ladder. Soon he will become Minister of Justice. During the service, he will create a new genre in Russian literature - a philosophical ode, write the ode “God” and the ode “On the death of Prince Meshchersky”. Next, Derzhavin will create the text of the unofficial first anthem Russian Empire, which also gave him fame among the population and secular society. He was able to combine ode (high style) and satire (low style) - which seems impossible (in other words - brings ode down to earth). In the genre of "satiristic ode" Derzhavin will write an ode to "The Nobleman" and "To the Ruler and the Judges."

Destroying the foundations of classicism, Derzhavin gave rise to the development of a new artistic direction - realism. This is one of his most important achievements. Places the author's self above the norm.

Updated: 2017-03-24

Attention!
If you notice an error or typo, highlight the text and click Ctrl+Enter.
By doing so, you will provide invaluable benefit to the project and other readers.

Thank you for your attention.

Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816) - Russian literary and statesman of the 18th century.

His name appears more than once in the works of A. S. Pushkin, and this is no coincidence. Derzhavin's legacy and personality influenced huge influence on Pushkin’s worldview and creativity. The words of the outstanding Russian critic V. G. Belinsky are known that the study of Pushkin should begin with Derzhavin.

Gabriel Romanovich is known as an innovator in versification and an outstanding statesman; a man who sought not glory, but truth. Derzhavin contributed to the dissemination of the ideas of the Enlightenment, asserted high civic ideals: honest service to the Fatherland and people, upholding truth and justice.

Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin is a Russian poet and statesman.

This message is dedicated to Derzhavin’s biography and his legacy.

Life path of G. R. Derzhavin

G. R. Derzhavin was born on July 3, 1743 into an ordinary noble family. His childhood and youth passed near Kazan. Lack of money did not allow Derzhavin to receive a good education, and in 1762 he entered military service as a private. In the same year, together with the Preobrazhensky Regiment participated in the palace coup that brought Catherine II to power.

Due to poverty, lack of patronage, and humble origins, Derzhavin received his first officer rank only in 1772, and the next year his first poems were published.

In 1777, Derzhavin retired and devoted himself to civic and literary activities. In 1782 he published “Ode to Felitsa” dedicated to Catherine II, which contributed to Derzhavin’s rapid career.

In the civil service, Gavriil Romanovich held various positions:

• Olonets and then Tambov governor;
• secretary of Catherine II;
• President of the Commerce Board;
• Minister of Justice.

In 1803, G. R. Derzhavin was forced to resign and took up literary activity. G. R. Derzhavin died on July 8, 1816.

In 1815, the famous meeting between Derzhavin and Pushkin took place. It happened during a public exam at the Lyceum. Young Pushkin read his poems “Memories of Tsarskoe Selo”. Gabriel Romanovich was delighted with the young man’s talent, and this meeting is seen as having great symbolic significance, marking literary continuity and the brilliant future of Russian poetry.

Everywhere he sought justice, was distinguished by his directness, honesty and love of truth, which, of course, caused conflicts and dissatisfaction with Derzhavin.

Creative heritage

Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin went down in Russian history as a talented writer, poet, with a keen sense of the richness of the Russian language. Your tall ones He used government positions and his poetic gift to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment, improvement of morals.

Derzhavin sought to exalt Russian people, believed in the great future of Russia and sang the valiant victories of the past. At the same time, he also saw the shortcomings of the present: the arrogance of nobles interested only in personal enrichment; indifference to the needs of the people and lawlessness of officials. He exposed all this in his satirical works.

G. R. Derzhavin is a representative of Russian classicism with its cult of reason and citizenship. He pinned great hopes on the enlightened monarchy, which Catherine II personified for him. In “Ode to Felitsa,” Derzhavin contrasted the just ruler with the ignorant court nobility. However, personal acquaintance with Catherine II and serving as her secretary changed the poet’s ideas about the empress.

Derzhavin is a recognized innovator in Russian literature. His integrity in life, artistic talent, courage and determination in everything made it possible to open new paths in the development of poetry and lay down new traditions. He looked for other means of poetic expression, mixed “high” and “low” styles and different genres in his odes. His poems are distinguished by lightness and simplicity of syllables, realism in the depiction of life. For the first time in Russian poetry, Derzhavin introduced a colorful description of nature into poetry.

The monument to G. R. Derzhavin in Kazan was erected in 1847.

The memory of G. R. Derzhavin will survive centuries. His literary and government activity contributed to the development of Russia, paved the way for the further development of domestic literature and poetry. His poetic language was natural and alive, and personality has become the embodiment of the ideal of an enlightened person, caring about the Motherland, duty and honor.

1. Remember and write down proverbs and sayings about the book.
2.What does the word folklore mean when translated from in English?
3. Determine which genre of folklore each of the texts belongs to:
a) Go to sleep, go to sleep.
Bye, bye, bye!
Take you away...
Sleep, sleep.
Hurry up to harrow...
b) Rain, rain, more,
I'll give you the grounds...
c) The cap is sewn,
Yes, not in the Kolpakov style.
d) A jackdaw gallops through the spruce forest,
It hits the birch tree with its tail.
The robbers ran into a jackdaw,
They took off the blue caftan from the jackdaw.
It’s not a good idea to walk around the city in anything.
The jackdaw is crying, but there is nowhere to take it...
e) Easy to remember.
f) Alone in the field is not a warrior.
4. What fables are these proverbs, sayings, and aphorisms taken from?
a) “A flatterer will always find a corner in the heart.”
b) “And the casket just opened.”
c) “The powerful are always to blame for the powerless.”
d) “Did you sing everything? This business.
So go and dance!”
d) “Ay, Moska! Know she's strong
What barks at an elephant!”
f) “And Vaska listens and eats.”
5. What work are these lines from?
a) “The prince is there in passing
Captivates the formidable king..."
b) “Once upon a time there lived a good Tsar Matvey;
He lived with his queen
He has been in agreement for many years;
But the children are still gone.”
c) “I sighed heavily,
I couldn't stand the admiration
And she died at mass..."
d) “Yes, there were people in our time,
Mighty, dashing tribe:
The heroes are not you.”
e) “The matchmaker arrived, the king gave his word,
And the dowry is ready:
Seven trading cities
Yes, one hundred and forty towers..."
6. Here is a manuscript from a bottle caught in the sea. Can you restore the title of a manuscript that has been partially damaged?
“S_ _ _k_ _ _a_e _a_ _a_e, o _y_e _ _o s_a_n_ _ and _og_ch_ _ b_ _a_ _r_ k_ _z_ _v_ _ _n_ S_ _ _ a_ _ in_ _ _ and about _ _ ek_ _ s_o_ _a_ _v_ _ e_ _d_.”
7.Which of the literary or fairy-tale characters does the following objects or properties belong to? Name the hero, work and author.
Talking wonderful mirror
Only a gray holey scroll
Pea
White marble boy
Sharp sparkling knife and fur muff
8. Here is a poem by the 20th century Russian poet Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva. Try to explain what the author of these lines is experiencing? Why is childhood called heaven, the “golden times”? What role do books play in this? Why literary heroes called by friends, “golden names”? What works are these characters from and who is their author?
Books in red binding

From the paradise of childhood life
You send me farewell greetings,
Friends who haven't changed
In a worn, red binding.
A little easy lesson learned,
I used to run straight to you.
- “It’s too late!” - “Mom, ten lines!”...
But, fortunately, mom forgot.
The lights on the chandeliers are flickering...
How nice it is to read a book at home!
Under Grieg, Schumann and Cui
I found out Tom's fate.
It’s getting dark... The air is fresh...
Tom is happy with Becky and is full of faith.
Here's Injun Joe with the torch
Wandering in the darkness of the cave...
Cemetery... The prophetic cry of an owl...
(I'm scared!) It's flying over the bumps
Adopted by a prim widow,
Like Diogenes living in a barrel.
The throne room is brighter than the sun,
Above the slender boy is a crown...
Suddenly - a beggar! God! He said:
“Excuse me, I am the heir to the throne!”
Whoever arose in it went into the darkness.
Britain's fate is sad...
- Oh, why among the red books
Wouldn't you be able to fall asleep behind the lamp again?
Oh golden times
Where the gaze is bolder and the heart is purer!
Oh golden names:
Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper!
1908-1910
9. How many “Prisoners of the Caucasus” are there in Russian literature? Name the authors who titled their works this way.
10. Let's play in burim - write a poem using the given rhymes. Let us immediately admit that these rhymes are taken from a poem by the Russian poet M. Yu. Lermontov.
crazy - noisy
granite – covered
will be born - will fly by
hero - peace

Derzhavin's main merit was bringing poetry closer to life. In his works, for the first time, the reader was presented with pictures of rural life, modern political events, and nature. The main subject of the image was the human personality, and not a conventional, fictional hero. The poet spoke about himself in poetry - all this was new and completely unusual for Russian literature. The framework of classicism turned out to be tight for Derzhavin: in his work he rejected the doctrine of genre hierarchy. Low and high, sad and funny were combined in one and the same work, reflecting life in its unity of contrasts.
Derzhavin the man stood out sharply from the mass of his contemporaries with his intellectual and moral qualities. A poor nobleman, Derzhavin rose to the highest ranks, but he did not get along with Catherine II, Paul I, or Alexander I. The reason was always the same - he served the cause, the Motherland, and the people too zealously.

Ode "Felitsa". Derzhavin’s programmatic poem, which made readers immediately start talking about him as a great poet, was the ode “Felitsa”. According to V.G. Belinsky, “Felitsa” is one of “Derzhavin’s best creations.” In it, the fullness of feeling was happily combined with the originality of the form, in which the Russian mind is visible and Russian speech is heard. Despite its considerable size, this ode is imbued with an internal unity of thought and is consistent in tone from beginning to end. Personifying in yourself modern society", the poet subtly praises Felitsa, comparing himself to her and satirically depicting his vices."

“Felitsa” is a clear example of a violation of classicist normativity, primarily due to the combination of ode with satire: the image of an enlightened monarch is contrasted with the collective image of a vicious Murza; half-jokingly, half-seriously speaking about Felitsa’s merits; The author laughs merrily at himself. The syllable of the poem represents, according to Gogol, “the connection of the highest words with the lowest.”

Derzhavin’s image of Felitsa is multifaceted. Felitsa is an enlightened monarch and at the same time a private person. The author carefully writes out the habits of Catherine the person, her lifestyle, and character traits:

Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table.

The novelty of the poem lies, however, not only in the fact that Derzhavin depicts the private life of Catherine II; the very principle of depicting a positive hero is also new, compared to Lomonosov. If, for example, Lomonosov’s image of Elizabeth Petrovna is extremely generalized, then here the complimentary manner does not prevent the poet from showing the specific affairs of the ruler, her patronage of trade and industry, she is that “god”, according to the poet,

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.

Felitsa “enlightens morals”, writes “instructions in fairy tales”, but she looks at the poetry “kind” to her as “delicious lemonade in the summer”. Remaining within the framework of the dithyramb, Derzhavin follows the truth and, perhaps, without noticing it himself, shows the limitations of Catherine the writer, who sought to develop literature in the spirit of protective ideas.
Derzhavin, like his predecessors, contrasts the modern reign with the previous one, but again does this extremely specifically, with the help of several expressive everyday details:

There with the name Felitsa you can
Scrape out the typo in the line...

In this ode, the poet combines praise of the empress with satire on her entourage, sharply violating the purity of the genre for which the classicists stood. A new principle of typification appears in the ode: the collective image of Murza is not equal to the mechanical sum of several abstract “portraits”. Derzhavinsky Murza is the poet himself with his characteristic frankness, and sometimes slyness. And at the same time, many characteristic features of specific Catherine’s nobles were reflected in it. Here is a poet living in luxury, like Potemkin; leaves service to hunt, like L.I. Panin; keeps his neighbors awake at night, amusing himself with horn music, like S.K. Naryshkin; amuses his spirit with fist fights, like A.G. Orlov; enlightens his mind by reading Polkan and Bova, like A. A. Vyazemsky. Now, to install Murza prototypes, comments are needed. Derzhavin's contemporaries recognized them without difficulty. The typicality of the image of Murza was clear to the poet himself - he ended the story about him with meaningful words: “That’s how I am, Felitsa, I’m depraved! But the whole world looks like me.”

The introduction of a personal element into poetry was a bold but necessary step, prepared by the very logic of artistic development. In Derzhavin’s poems, the image of his contemporary, a natural man, with his ups and downs, is revealed in all its fullness and contradictions.

Derzhavin’s innovation was also the inclusion in the ode of a sample of still life - a genre that would later appear brilliantly in his other poems: “There is a glorious Westphalian ham, // There are links of Astrakhan fish, // There are pilaf and pies...”. The innovative nature of the work was seen by his contemporaries.

Ode "God". This work is an inspired hymn to the omnipotence of the human mind. The poet began working on it in 1780 and finished it in 1784. Derzhavin, following Lomonosov, approaches the concept of deity as a deist. God for him is the beginning of beginnings; in essence, it is all nature, the entire universe, which “fills, embraces, builds, preserves everything.” Using theological terms, Derzhavin writes about the eternal movement of mothers:

O you, endless space,
Alive in the movement of matter;
The passage of time, eternal,
Without faces, in three faces of a deity!

He explains at the same time that three faces do not mean a theological trinity at all, but “three metaphysical faces; that is, infinite space, continuous life in the movement of substances and the endless flow of time, which God combines within himself.” Time, space and movement, according to Derzhavin, are attributes of nature. Derzhavin writes about the immensity of the universe, about the multiplicity of worlds:

Shining light of the kindled millions
They flow in immeasurability,
They make your laws
Life-giving rays pour down.

As a true deist, he speaks of the presence of a divine impulse:
You are the light from where the light came.
Who created everything with one word,
Stretching into creation new,
You were, you are, you will forever be.

Derzhavin could not help but think in the ode “God” about the place of man in the universe:
Like a drop in the ocean dropped,
The whole firmament is before you.
But what is the visible universe to me?
And what am I in front of you?

Having palpably depicted the negligible size that man is compared to the universe, Derzhavin proudly speaks about his capabilities, about the power of human thought, striving to comprehend the world, able to “Measure the deep ocean, // Count the sands, the rays of the planets” and daring ascend to the incomprehensible god.

Man is not just a speck of dust in the chaos of the world. He's a particle common system of the universe, it occupies its definite and very important place among living beings:
I am the connection of worlds that exist everywhere,
I am an extreme degree of substance;
I am the center of the living
The initial trait of a deity.
Man is the center of the universe, the most perfect creation on earth. Derzhavin estimates his strengths and capabilities unusually highly.

"Waterfall". In the poem “Waterfall,” Derzhavin again returns to the theme of the transience of existence and asks the question of what eternity is, which people have the right to immortality. The magnificent picture of a waterfall, with which the poem opens, contains an allegory: the waterfall is fast-flowing time, and the wolf, doe and horse coming to it are signs of such human qualities as anger, meekness and pride:

Isn't it the life of people for us
Does this represent a waterfall?
He is also the blessing of his jets
Gives water to the arrogant, the meek, and the wicked.
Isn't that how time flows from the sky?
The desire of passions is in full swing...
Most human destinies disappear without a trace in eternity, and only a few remain in the memory of posterity. To decide who is worthy of immortality, Derzhavin compares two types of figures - Potemkin and Rumyantsev.

“A certain gray-haired man” sits near the waterfall and reflects on what it means to be useful to the fatherland. This is the commander Rumyantsev, clearly idealized by Derzhavin, whom the poet contrasts with Potemkin, a nobleman who paid too much attention to himself. At the same time, the poet talks about many useful deeds and about Potemkin’s personal merits, thanks to which ordinary soldiers loved him and hated the nobility.
But not a single one kind words Derzhavin does not find a candidate for Potemkin’s successor, Platon Zubov. The poet speaks of this nonentity, who only knew how to “discredit” the deeds of his predecessor, with devastating contempt, speaking of him as a worm crawling around the ashes of a hero.

Returning again at the end of the ode to the theme of the waterfall, Derzhavin identifies it simultaneously with Potemkin, and with all earthly rulers - “waterfalls of the world”, and, between the lines, with the very century of Catherine II: brilliant, lush, noisy - and cruel, terrible, bloody. And not with hackneyed morality, not with dry moralizing, but with a bitter reproach, a hopeless dream of a better future, the poet’s final call sounds:

Only truth gives crowns
To merits that will not fade;
Only the singers sing the truth,
Which will never stop
Perun's sweet lyres thunder;
Only the idol of the righteous is holy.

Hear, waterfalls of the world!
O glory to the noisy heads!
Your sword is bright, purple is colored,
Since you loved the truth,
When they only had meta,
To bring happiness to the world.

For over four years, Derzhavin worked on “Waterfall,” but managed to create the impression that the poem was written immediately, by inspiration, “in one breath,” under the impression of the unusual death of the “minion of happiness” Potemkin. And this connects “Waterfall” with romanticism early XIX century, who argued that the source of true poetry is the inspiration of the poet.

The artistic features of the ode: the overall solemn tone of the poem, the darkly sublime coloring, titanic images in the spirit of northern legends and folk epics - finally make “Waterfall” one of the first romantic poems of Russian poetry.

Derzhavin played an outstanding role in the history of Russian literature. All the poets of the first decades of the nineteenth century relied on his achievements.
A special merit of the poet should be recognized for his artistic exploration of the dialectics of the existence of the macro- and microcosm. Hence the poet’s favorite poetic device is antithesis. He sometimes manages to reveal the dialectical connection of contradictions in their unity. The following lines from the ode “God” are remarkable in this regard:
My body is crumbling into dust,
I command thunder with my mind,
I am the King - I am the slave - I am the worm - I am God!

Derzhavin’s “funny Russian style” contributed to the renewal of poetry. By combining the words “high” and “low,” Derzhavin freed Russian poetry from the shackles of the “three calms” theory, opening the way for the development of a realistic language. No wonder V. G. Belinsky said that “Derzhavin is the father of Russian poets”, that he “would be the first living verb of our Russian poetry.”
According to V. Zapadov, V. Fedorov.

Portrait of 1811
V.L. Borovikovsky

Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin born on July 14 (July 3, old style) 1743 on a family estate in the village of Sokury in the Kazan province (now the village of Sokury, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation) in a poor noble family. Father, Roman Nikolaevich, was an officer and his family often moved from one duty station to another. In 1750, Gabriel Romanovich began studying at a German boarding school in Orenburg. In 1754, after resigning, the father dies, and the family finds itself in a difficult financial situation. Mother - Fekla Andreevna, decides to move to Kazan. And in 1759 Derzhavin entered the Kazan gymnasium, which he successfully graduated from in 1762. During his studies, Gabriel Romanovich was one of the best students.
After school begins military service Derzhavin with the rank of private in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In the same 1762, he took part in the palace coup and the ascension to the throne of Catherine II. During his service he took part in the suppression of the Pugachev uprising. During the service, he begins to write poetry, which was first published in 1773.
He retired with the rank of officer in 1777 and, with the help of Prince Vyazemsky, got a job in the Senate. In 1778 he married Ekaterina Yakovlevna Bastidon (1761-1794). In 1782, after the publication of the ode “Felicia”, praising Catherine, Derzhavin became known as a poet. In 1783 he became a member of the newly created Imperial Russian Academy. In 1784, after a conflict with Prince Vyazemsky, he resigned. In the same year, Catherine II appointed Derzhavin as ruler of the Olonets governorship (since 1801, Olonets province). Here he participated in the creation of administrative institutions. And since 1786 he has served as the ruler of the Tambov governorship, where he also proves himself to be a good leader, leaving a noticeable mark on the history of the region. In 1791 he became Secretary of State of Catherine II. And two years later, in 1793, he was appointed senator. In 1794, Derzhavin’s wife dies and six months later he marries Daria Alekseevna Dyakova for the second time. From 1802 to 1803 he was Minister of Justice. In 1803 he was dismissed. Throughout his military and public service, he often came into conflict because of his love for the truth and his ardor, for which he was not loved.
The time of public service was the dawn of his talent, and his fame grew. After leaving service, he constantly lives on his Zvanka estate in the Novgorod province and continues to study literature. In 1811, together with Alexander Semenovich Shishkov, he created the literary community “Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word.”
Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin died on July 20, 1816 on his estate. He was buried in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Varlaamo-Khutyn Monastery near Veliky Novgorod.