Essay description based on the painting by K. Savitsky “repair work on the railway”
The poet made the fate of the worker, the fate of the Russian people, the main theme of his work. His poems are imbued with deep sympathy for the simple peasant, the working man. Today we will get acquainted with another poem by Nekrasov, “The Railway,” written in 1862.
This very serious and “adult” work is dedicated to children. Why?
S.Ya. Marshak wrote this about N.A.’s poem. Nekrasov’s “Railway”: “...The “Railway” was written by Nekrasov not in order to frighten or pity the reader. These poems are stern and sober. Dedicated to children, they call growing people to action, to activity. They talk about the future, when the people who “endured this railroad road” will endure everything - and “will pave a wide, chest-clear road for themselves”...
Let's turn to the poem.
Today's lesson is devoted to the analysis of the poem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov (Fig. 1) “Railroad”.
Rice. 1. N.A. Nekrasov, Russian poet, writer and publicist ()
On November 1, 1851, the official opening of traffic on the St. Petersburg-Moscow Railway (later it began to be called Nikolaevskaya) took place; it is the construction of this road that is described in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Railway". It took eight long years to build, starting in 1843.
Let's pay attention to the epigraph:
Vanya (in coachman's Armenian jacket):
Dad! Who built this road?
Papa (in a red-lined coat)
Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, my dear!
(conversation in the carriage).
EPIGRAPH- a short saying (proverb, quote) that the author places before the work to help the reader understand the main idea.
As a rule, quotes or proverbs are used as an epigraph; here is an excerpt from a conversation between a father and son in a carriage, which is structured like a scene from a play: there are designated characters, remarks are preceded by stage directions. Based on the remarks, we can judge the participants in the conversation: Vanya is wearing a coachman’s jacket. Armyak is folk clothing. But the boy is the son of a general, since his father is “wearing a coat with a red lining,” that is, in a general’s overcoat. Thus, the coachman’s coat is just a masquerade, a fake of a nationality. The builder of the railway is called Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, a construction manager known for his cruelty.
The epigraph plays the role of a reason for writing a poem. The poem itself is like an answer to the question of who should be called the true builder of the railway: is it really Kleinmichel? Testing the validity of this opinion becomes the main poetic task of the poem.
The truth is shown through the fabulous and fantastic image of the famine king. Nekrasov calls hunger the king, since it is hunger that forces people to do difficult, sometimes backbreaking work, “he leads armies; at sea he steers ships; gathers people into the artel, walks behind the plow, stands behind the shoulders of stonemasons and weavers.” To get rid of hunger, people must earn money, grow bread, engage in crafts and trade.
Sometimes hunger kills people, but it is hunger that forces people to create new things in the struggle for life:
Many are in a terrible struggle,
Having brought these barren wilds back to life,
They found a coffin here for themselves.
In these lines, Nekrasov expresses the idea of what hard work, what tension of all forces is required for creation. People need to give their lives in order to breathe life into these “barren wilds.”
The intonations of a Russian folk song can be heard in the following stanza:
The path is straight: the embankments are narrow,
Columns, rails, bridges.
And on the sides all the bones are Russian...
How many of them! Vanechka, do you know?
The truth, told under the moonlight, takes on a fantastic appearance. The impressionable boy and the lyrical hero are presented with terrible pictures and visions:
A shadow ran across the frosty glass...
What's there? Crowd of the dead!
The ghosts surround the heroes with wild singing, scare the boy, what he hears from their lips are real, terrible pictures of the forced labor of ordinary people, who are now “destined to decay” in the earth.
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...
This sounds like a rhetorical question:
Do you all remember us poor people kindly?
Or have you forgotten long ago?...
A RHETORICAL QUESTION- expressive means of language: a statement in the form of a question that does not require an answer.
Forgotten, of course! And Count Kleinmichel was announced as the builder of the road. Nobody remembers the true, real builders, “peaceful children of labor” (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. Reproduction of a painting by K.A. Savitsky “Repair work on the railway” ()
The words “God’s warriors”, “peaceful children of labor” mean: God is still on the side of those who work peacefully and honestly.
In the crowd of ghosts of men, the image of a Belarusian stands out:
Ulcers on skinny arms
The legs are swollen; tangles in hair;
I'm digging into my chest, which I diligently put on the spade
From day to day I worked hard all my life...
Take a closer look at him, Vasya:
Man earned his bread with difficulty!
I didn’t straighten my hunchbacked back
He is still: stupidly silent
And mechanically with a rusty shovel
It's hammering the frozen ground!
From the song we learn about the difficult conditions in which the railroad builders worked, about the oppression and cruelty of the authorities, that many people died before others could ride the trains, that is, “reap the fruits.”
This song of the dead evokes a feeling of melancholy and indignation at injustice: the suffering of people could be much less if the management treated the workers as brothers, with respect for their work.
Do not be horrified by their wild singing!
From Volkhov, from Mother Volga, from Oka,
From different ends of the great state -
These are all your brothers - men!
What is important in this stanza is the statement that there are no special people, that contempt for the common people, who were brought up in noble families, is a class prejudice. All people on Earth are brothers: both the general’s children and the child born into the family of a serf. Only the habit of work is noble, and living at someone else's expense is a violation of the highest justice.
This noble habit of work
It would be a good idea for us to adopt...
Bless the work of the people
And learn to respect a man.
The ideal of the lyrical hero is work, “a noble habit of work.” The hero directly calls to work those who shamelessly enjoy the fruits of the people's labor. The habit of work, people's patience, endurance - these are the qualities that allow Nekrasov to believe in a better future for the people.
Don’t be shy for your dear fatherland...
The Russian people have endured enough
He took out this railway too -
He will endure whatever God sends!
Will bear everything - and a wide, clear
He will pave the way for himself with his chest.
It’s just a pity to live in this wonderful time
You won't have to - neither me nor you.
Nekrasov talks about the future with hope and regret that he probably won’t have to live in this wonderful time.
The description of the visions of a moonlit night has the features of a ballad.
BALLAD- a poetic work on a historical or legendary theme, in which the real is combined with the fantastic.
The theme of the construction of the railway, which claimed lives, is a historical basis.
In the description of ghosts there are real and fantastic features. Just as in fairy tales ghosts disappear at the first cry of the rooster, so in Nekrasov’s poem the visions disappear at the whistle of the locomotive.
Vanya, an attentive and impressionable boy, seemed to see the pictures that his fellow traveler drew for him, but his rich imagination completed the terrible impressions:
At this moment the whistle is deafening
He squealed - the crowd of dead people disappeared!
“I saw, dad, I had an amazing dream,”
Vanya said, “five thousand men,”
Representatives of Russian tribes and breeds
Suddenly they appeared - and he said to me:
“Here they are - the builders of our road!..
The general, in response to Vanya’s story about an amazing dream, burst out laughing: for him, everything that the lyrical hero says is nonsense, he argues with him about the role of the people in history. From the general’s point of view, the people are barbarians, a wild bunch of drunkards who “do not create, destroy the master.”
The third part ends with the words of the general:
Would you show the child now?
The bright side...
The general is outraged by the terrible picture that the hero painted for the boy and calls for him to show the “bright side” of life, which the lyrical hero shows in the fourth part.
The so-called “bright side” is a description of the completion of the railway:
Listen, my dear: fatal works
It’s over - the German is already laying the rails.
The dead are buried in the ground; sick
Hidden in dugouts...
The phrase “the German is already laying the rails” means that the most difficult part of the work, which does not require high qualifications, has ended. It was usually performed by the Russians. The Germans (and all foreigners were called that) performed highly skilled work.
Rice. 3. Illustration by I. Glazunov for the poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Railway” ()
...working people
A tight crowd gathered around the office...
They scratched their heads:
Every contractor must stay,
Walking days have become a penny!
The foremen entered everything into a book -
Did you take to the bathhouse, did you lie sick:
“Maybe there is a surplus here now,
Here you go!..” They waved their hand...
After construction was completed, the workers remained in debt to the contractor (Fig. 3).
How could this happen?
It's all about the fine system in force at that time. For example, a person who did not go to work due to illness could be fined. The workers did not have their own money, so for some needs they had to borrow money from the contractor, all of which was subsequently deducted from their wages.
The construction of railways was mainly carried out by peasants, who were almost all illiterate; they could not check the accuracy of the foreman’s records and “gave up”, realizing that they were being deceived, but nothing could be done about it.
The ellipses and intonation of phrases show that the workers do not trust those who lead them; they are desperate to find the truth.
The next scene is the appearance of a venerable meadowsweet, that is, a merchant, trader. The very description of this character is contrasted with the working people.
Let’s compare with the description of a Belarusian:
Bloodless lips, drooping eyelids,
Ulcers on skinny arms
Always standing in knee-deep water
The legs are swollen; tangle in hair...
and a description of the meadowsweet:
In a blue caftan - a venerable meadowsweet,
Thick, squat, red as copper...
The phrase deserves special attention:
The merchant wipes the sweat from his face...
Workers wipe away sweat from hard work. What kind of sweat does the merchant wipe away? Not hard to guess…
The following stanza evokes a feeling of horror with its absurdity:
I expose a barrel of wine to the workers
And - I give you the arrears!..
It seemed that this statement by the contractor should have caused indignation among the workers, but they shout “Hurray” and harness themselves to the merchant’s cart instead of horses.
The people unharnessed the horses - and the purchase price
With a shout of “Hurray!” rushed along the road...
It seems difficult to see a more gratifying picture
Shall I draw, general?..
These lines contain bitter irony, precisely that irony, which, according to Aristotle’s definition, is “a statement containing ridicule of someone who really thinks so.”
IRONY(from ancient Greek εἰρωνεία - “pretense”) - a trope in which the true meaning is hidden or contrasted with the obvious meaning. Irony creates the feeling that the subject of discussion is not what it seems.
The brightest picture in the work turned out to be the ugliest.
Despite its gloominess, the poem is dedicated to children, because they are the ones who have the opportunity to correct what is unjust in this world.
Bibliography
- Lib.Ru/Classics: Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich: Collected Works [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ( Source).
- Internet library of Alexey Komarov. Nekrasov Nikolay Alekseevich [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().
- Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().
Homework
Learn by heart and prepare an expressive reading of the first part of N.A.’s poem. Nekrasov "Railway".
Read the passage.
Glorious autumn! Healthy, vigorous
The air invigorates tired forces;
Fragile ice on the icy river
It lies like melting sugar;
Near the forest, like in a soft bed,
You can get a good night's sleep - peace and space!
The leaves have not yet had time to fade,
Yellow and fresh, they lie like a carpet.
Glorious autumn! Frosty nights
Clear, quiet days...
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'...
I fly quickly on cast iron rails,
I think my thoughts...
Answer the questions and complete the tasks.
- What is the first part of the poem?
SCENERY- compositional means: depiction of pictures of nature in a work.
- Find and write down the epithets:
- Find and write out metaphors:
- Find and write out personifications:
- Find and write out comparisons:
- Find and write out repeat:
- Find and write out inversion:
- Find and write out exclamations:
-
How does the mood change in the last stanza of the first part? How will the intonation change?
What does the expression “think about thinking” mean? Why does the author of the poem use this particular expression?
What role does the first part play in understanding the main meaning of N.A.’s poem? Nekrasov "Railway"?
Illustration
If you need a visual representation of the depicted N.A. Nekrasov's paintings of nature, illustrate the first part of the poem (oral verbal drawing or ordinary drawing - your choice).
What mood is the story filled with? What linguistic means are used to create this mood?
Vocabulary
Poetic size
What size is the poem written in? What does this poetic meter allow you to convey?
Lyrical hero
How does the lyrical hero of the poem appear to the reader? (Write down at least two characteristics).
IntonationThe painting “Repair Work on the Railway” was painted in the same year as “Barge Haulers” by I.E. Repin: both paintings are similar in ideological orientation. Let's take a close look at the painting by K.A. Savitsky to understand the artist's intention.
A significant part of the picture is occupied by a huge depression, in which a large group of workers is moving in different directions. They carry sand in wheelbarrows. Most of them move from below towards the viewer, which allows one to see the extreme tension of the workers. In the foreground, this is emphasized by a pile of broken wheelbarrows that could not withstand the weight of the load. In the center of the foreground of the picture, a powerfully built worker rolls his wheelbarrow forward with a strong jerk. To the right and left of him are figures showing that the diggers’ strength is running out: an elderly worker, harnessed to a strap, cannot pull the wheelbarrow, although his comrade is pushing it by the handles. Behind the pile of broken wheelbarrows, we see the same extreme tension in the young man, driving the wheelbarrow with some desperation; nearby, a thin, emaciated worker hung helplessly in a strap. On both sides, railway embankments rise, as if blocking the workers’ exit from this hell.
The scorching sun and brown-yellow sand are everywhere where people work. It’s only good in the distance, in the center of the upper part of the picture: there you can see a copse, green grass and a blue sky. But the exit in that direction is blocked by the sharply outlined figure of a foreman with a stick in his hand.
Despite the fact that the foreman is shown in a small shot, his figure stands out: his pose is motionless and calm. He stands pointedly straight, looking indifferently at the bent backs of the workers. His clothes (red shirt, caftan, boots, pulled-down cap) are neat, which contrasts with the clothes of the workers, who are somehow dressed in rags.
The coloring of the painting evokes in the viewer the same impression as the overall composition, and enhances the ideological orientation of the painting
There is no doubt that this picture makes us remember the famous poem by N.A. Nekrasov “The Railway,” written a whole decade earlier:
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...
But how does the main idea of a poem differ from the idea of a painting? Pictures of nature that are unpoetic at first glance (“kochi, and moss swamps, and stumps”) become beautiful under the magical “moonlight”; these are parts of the vast “native Rus'”. There is a lot in nature that seems ugly, but this is our Motherland. And it depends only on the person himself how he will see his homeland: through the eyes of a loving son or the critical gaze of a connoisseur of beauty. There is also a lot of terrible and ugly things in the life of the people, but, according to Nekrasov, this should not obscure the main thing: the creative role of the simple worker. It is after the terrible pictures of forced labor that the narrator invites Vanya to take a closer look at the railroad builders and learn to “respect a man.”
The poet says that this work is not pleasure at all, it is hard, it disfigures a person, but such work is worthy of respect, since it is necessary. Awareness of the creative power of labor gives Nekrasov faith in the future.
Description of the painting by artist K. Savitsky "Repair work on the railway." Independent work in 8th grade on the topic: Isolation of minor members of a sentence. Can be used to prepare for exams.
Download:
Preview:
Painting by artist K. Savitsky “Repair work on the railway”
(Task: insert isolated parts of the sentence that are appropriate in meaning, using words for reference.)
The painting depicts a hot summer day. Grass……….. Tall telegraph poles go into the distance………
Hard work is going on at the iron embankment. On the right......diggers lift layers of earth with shovels......load them into wheelbarrows and drive them along a wooden floor.........
Tanned faces and hands…………, shirts…………, - everything indicates that people work from dawn to dusk. Cars………. They testify that a misfortune happened to their owners.
Children, old people, young people…… have difficulty moving the wheelbarrows………
Bent backs hurt, arm muscles are tense, sweat floods your face, but you can’t straighten up: in the distance……. , there is a red-bearded foreman …………
The images of the peasants are lifelike and truthful. In the foreground is a mighty hero……………..
…………., he is driving his car………… But the old man, his face ………….. gloomy, concentrated. Near…. A boy with a face………, gaze……….
Savitsky’s painting and N. Nekrasov’s poem “Railway”, works ……….
They cause a feeling of indignation against the oppressors of the people.
Words for reference: definitions (huge, heavy; tanned, blackened from dust and sun; loaded with earth; pale, emaciated; silent, deep in his thoughts; faded from heat and dust; faded, patched, not washed for a long time; holding a stick in his hand ; covered with hair; depicting the hard labor of railway builders; tired, exhausted; circumstances(; sweltering from the heat; not looking at anyone; on the left; straining with all his might, trying to maintain balance; on the mountain; on the hillock;); applications (possessor of enormous physical strength)
Answer:
The painting depicts a hot summer day. Grass faded from heat and dust. Tall telegraph poles go into the distance, disappearing into the foggy haze.
Hard work is going on at the iron embankment. On the right, on the mountain, diggers are lifting huge, heavy layers of earth with shovels, loading them into wheelbarrows and driving them along the wooden flooring, straining with all their might, trying to maintain balance.
Faces and hands are tanned, tanned, blackened by dust and sun, shirts are faded, patched, not washed for a long time - everything indicates that people work from dawn to dusk. Wheelbarrows turned upside down indicate that a misfortune has happened to their owners.
Children, old people, young people, exhausted from the heat, have difficulty moving wheelbarrows loaded with earth. Your bent backs hurt, your arm muscles are tense, your face is sweating, but you can’t straighten up: in the distance, on a hill, stands a red-bearded foreman holding a stick in his hand.
The images of the peasants are lifelike and truthful. In the foreground is a mighty hero, the owner of enormous physical strength, he, silent, deep in his thoughts, is driving his wheelbarrow, not looking at anyone. But here is the old man, his face, covered with hair, looks gloomy and concentrated. Nearby, on the left, a boy with a pale, emaciated face, tired, exhausted eyes
Savitsky's painting and N. Nekrasov's poem "The Railway", works depicting the hard labor of railway builders, evoke a feeling of indignation against the oppressors of the people.
On the topic: methodological developments, presentations and notes
“Pictures of forced labor in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Railway”
“Pictures of forced labor in N.A. Nekrasov’s poem “Railroad” (Extracurricular reading lesson. 6th grade.) Purpose of the lesson: To introduce students to the pages of the life and work of N.A. Nekrasov, To help students...
The lesson summary is a binary lesson on literature and history in grade 7. The purpose of the lesson: to introduce students to the historical basis of the poem, to show the conditions of forced labor of workers. ...
