What kind of attitude Derzhavin has developed personally with you. Gavrila Derzhavin - politician and conservative - Russian idea

Derzhavin's main merit was to bring poetry closer to life. In his works, for the first time, the reader was presented with pictures of rural life, contemporary political events, and nature. The main subject of the image was the human person, and not a conventional, fictional character. The poet spoke in verse about himself - 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 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 by his intellectual and moral qualities. A poor nobleman, Derzhavin rose to the highest ranks, but he did not get along with either Catherine II, or Paul I, or Alexander I. The reason was always the same - he served the cause, the Motherland, and the people too zealously.

Ode "Felice". Derzhavin's program 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 “the best creations of Derzhavin. In it, the fullness of feeling happily combined with the originality of the form in which the Russian mind is visible and Russian speech is heard. Despite its significant size, this ode is imbued with an internal unity of thought, from beginning to end it is sustained in tone. Personifying modern society in himself, the poet subtly praises Felitsa, comparing himself with her and satirically depicting his vices.

"Felitsa" is a clear example of the violation of classicist normativity, primarily due to the combination of ode and satire: the image of an enlightened monarch is opposed to the collective image of a vicious murza; half-jokingly, half-seriously, the merits of Felitsa are spoken of; the author laughs merrily at himself. The syllable of the poem represents, according to Gogol, "a combination of the words of the highest with the lowest."

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

Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
It 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 turns out to be new, compared with Lomonosov. If, for example, the image of Elizabeth Petrovna in Lomonosov is extremely generalized, then here the complimentary manner does not prevent the poet from showing the specific deeds of the ruler, her patronage of trade and industry, she is that “god”, according to the poet,

who gave freedom
Jump into foreign areas
Allowed his people
Look for silver and gold;
Who allows water
And the forest does not prohibit cutting;
Orders and weave, and spin, and sew;
Untying the mind and hands,
Commands to love trades, science
And find happiness at home.

Felitsa "enlightens manners", writes "in fairy tales of teaching", but she looks at poetry "kind" to her as "tasty lemonade in 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 he does it in the most concrete way, with the help of a few expressive everyday details:

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

In this ode, the poet combines praise for the empress with satire on her entourage, sharply violating the purity of the genre advocated by the classicists. A new principle of typification appears in the ode: the collective image of the Murza is not equal to the mechanical sum of several abstract “portraits”. Derzhavin's Murza is the poet himself, with his inherent frankness, and sometimes slyness. And at the same time, many characteristic features of specific Catherine's nobles were reflected in it. Here the poet luxuriates like Potemkin; leaves the service for hunting, like L.I. Panin; does not let neighbors sleep at night, amusing himself with horn music, like S.K. Naryshkin; amuses his spirit with fisticuffs, like A. G. Orlov; enlightens his mind by reading Polkan and Bova, like A. A. Vyazemsky. Now, in order to establish the prototypes of Murza, comments are needed. Derzhavin's contemporaries recognized them without difficulty. The typicality of the image of Murza was clear to the poet himself - he finished the story about him with meaningful words: “That's 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 of a still life sample in the ode - 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 completed 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 everything, embraces, builds, preserves everything.” Using theological terms, Derzhavin writes about the eternal movement of the mother:

O thou infinite space,
Alive in the movement of matter;
Eternal with the passage of time,
Without faces, in the three faces of the deity!

At the same time, he explains that the three persons do not designate the theological trinity at all, but “three metaphysical persons; that is, infinite space, uninterrupted life in the movement of substances and the endless flow of time, which God combines in himself. Time, space and movement, according to Derzhavin, are the attributes of nature. Derzhavin writes about the immensity of the universe, about the multiplicity of worlds:

Luminaries kindled by millions
Flowing in immensity,
Yours they make laws
Life-giving rays pour.

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

Derzhavin could not help thinking in the ode "God" about the place of man in the universe:
Like a drop in the sea,
All the firmament is before you.
But what is the universe I see?
And what am I in front of you?

Perceptibly depicting the negligible amount that a person represents in comparison with the universe, Derzhavin proudly speaks of his capabilities, of 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 dare ascend to the incomprehensible god.

Man is not just a speck of dust in the chaos of the world. He is a particle of the general system of the universe, he occupies his definite and very important place among living beings:
I am the connection of worlds that exist everywhere,
I am the extreme degree of matter;
I am the center of the living
The trait of the initial deity.
Man is the center of the universe, the most perfect creature on earth. Derzhavin highly appreciates his strength and capabilities.

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

Is not the life of people to us
This waterfall depicts?
He is also the blessing of his jets
Gives water to the haughty, the meek, the evil.
Isn't that how time pours from the sky,
The desire of passions boils ...
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.

Near the waterfall sits and thinks about what it means to be useful to the fatherland, "a certain gray-haired man." 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 speaks of many useful deeds, and of Potemkin's personal virtues, thanks to which ordinary soldiers loved him and hated the nobility.
But Derzhavin does not find a single kind word for Potemkin's successor, Platon Zubov. About this insignificance, which only knew how to “condemn” the deeds of its predecessor, the poet speaks 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 age of Catherine II: brilliant, lush, noisy - and cruel, terrible, bloody. And not with hackneyed morality, not with dry moralizing, but with a bitter reproach, with a hopeless dream of a better future, the poet’s final appeal sounds:

Only truth gives crowns
Merits that will not fade;
Only singers sing the truth
Who will never stop
Thunderbolts of sweet lyres;
Only the righteous idol is holy.

Hear, waterfalls of the world!
O glorious noisy chapters!
Your sword is bright, purple is colored,
If you love the truth,
When they had only a 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 Potemkin's "mind of happiness". And this makes "Waterfall" related to the romanticism of the early 19th century, which claimed that the source of true poetry is the poet's inspiration.

The artistic features of the ode: the general solemn tone of the poem, the gloomy 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 as his artistic study of the dialectics of the existence of the macro- and microcosm. Hence the poet's favorite poetic technique - 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 respect:
I'm rotting in the ashes,
I command the thunders with my mind,
I am a King - I am a slave - I am a worm - I am a 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 fetters of the theory of "three calms", paving 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.

"Tiger".
"Tiger" is considered to be the greatest work of William Blake and one of the most outstanding works of English literature. Like "The Lamb," the pairing poem from "Songs of Innocence," "Tiger" begins with the question: Who is your Creator? However, if in an earlier poem the answer is obvious and unambiguous, then the “Tiger” consists entirely of a chain of questions that remain without a direct answer. In the Songs of Innocence, tigers, lions, and other "wild beasts" represent a force hostile to the Lamb (i.e., God) and therefore negative. Now Blake not only disputes this statement, but implicitly rejects his “one-sided” worldview of the Songs of Innocence era: the ominous beauty of the Tiger is just as necessary a part of the world order as the meekness of the Lamb, and one is impossible without the other. Who created the Tiger, God or the Devil, what kind of fire, heaven or hell, burns in his eyes - this is the main question of the poem. Blake does not give a direct answer, but by the course of his thought he pushes the reader to this answer: the Tiger was created by none other than the Devil, who, therefore, is the Creator on a par with God. However, the Tiger, emerging from the devil's forge, inspires not only horror, but also admiration for its "terrible proportion" (Fearful symmetry). Created by Hell, the Tiger is not Evil in its usual sense, but a fierce and beautiful Energy enclosed in flesh, which, according to the concept set forth in the "Marriage of Heaven and Hell", drives all development.

One of the most prominent personalities in Russian culture of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich. He was a bright figure, both as a statesman and as a poet, who wrote the most famous poems of his time, imbued with the spirit of the Enlightenment. Few people were able to do as much for the development of the culture of their country as did Gabriel Derzhavin. The biography and work of this great man undoubtedly deserves a detailed study.

Genus history

But before starting to study the facts from the life of Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich, let's take a quick look at the history of his family.

The Derzhavin family has Tatar roots. The founder of the clan is considered to be the Horde Murza Bragim, who in the 15th century joined the service of the Grand Duke of Moscow and was baptized under the name Ilya. Given that the newly converted Tatar was a noble family, the prince granted him a noble rank.

Brahim had a son, Narbek, who was baptized Dmitry, from whose eldest son the Narbekov family descended, and from the youngest, Alexei Narbekov, nicknamed Derzhava, the Derzhavin dynasty was formed.

The descendants of the founders of the clan became completely Russified, which was largely facilitated by numerous marriages with representatives of the Russian nobility, and held significant positions under the princes and tsars of the Russian state. In particular, they were governors and stewards. Just the descendant of this glorious family was Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich.

Derzhavin's youth

The life of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin began on July 3 (according to the old calendar), 1743. It was then that he was born in the village of Sokury, Kazan province, in the family of a military officer Roman Nikolaevich Derzhavin and Fyokla Kozlova.

Due to the specifics of the military service of Roman Nikolaevich, the family constantly had to move from place to place. However, Gavriil Romanovich lost his father at the age of 11.

The future poet began to receive education from the age of seven, when he was sent to study at a boarding school. However, due to the poverty into which the family had fallen after the loss of the breadwinner, it was rather difficult to continue education. Nevertheless, in 1759, Gavriil Derzhavin entered Kazan in an educational institution of the gymnasium type, which he graduated with success in three years, demonstrating some of the best results in education. However, this is where his education ends. Such education, even at that time, was considered superficial.

Immediately after graduation, Gavriil Romanovich was enlisted as an ordinary soldier in the Preobrazhensky Guard. There he begins to write the first poems. As part of this unit, he participated in the coup d'état of 1762 with the aim of overthrowing Emperor Peter III and enthroning Catherine, later nicknamed the Great. This fact to a large extent affected his future career.

A decade after the coup, Gabriel Derzhavin finally received an officer's rank, and a year later his poems were published for the first time. Then he distinguished himself in the fight against the rebellion of Pugachev.

in public service

After leaving military service in 1777, thanks to his personal request in a letter to Empress Catherine, Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich transferred to the civil service. In addition, he received another 300 peasants in possession. Six months later, he becomes an executor in the Senate. In 1780 he became an adviser to the state revenues and expenditures, which was a rather lucrative position.

Derzhavin gained wide fame as a poet in 1782, thanks to the publication of his ode "Felitsa", dedicated to the glorification of Empress Catherine II. Of course, this work was filled with flattery to the highest person, but at the same time it was highly artistic and directly contributed to the further career growth of the author. It was thanks to him that Gabriel Derzhavin won the favor of the Empress. His biography in the future consists of a series of promotions through the ranks. In the same year he became a state councillor.

In 1783, the Academy was founded in St. Petersburg, and the poet from the moment of opening became its full member.

However, it cannot be said that everything was absolutely smooth for him in the public service. Due to a conflict with the high-ranking Prince Vyazemsky, his former patron, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin resigned. A brief biography does not make it possible to dwell on all aspects of this case.

However, already in 1784 he was sent to manage the Olonets governorship in Karelia. There, Gavriil Romanovich distinguished himself with great diligence in establishing the social life and economy of the region, thereby demonstrating his high organizational talents. A significant body of Derzhavin's poetic work is dedicated to this period of life and the region that the poet ruled.

Two years later, he was given a more profitable post of Tambov governor, which promised more income and privileges.

Pinnacle of career

Meanwhile, Derzhavin Gavriil is achieving more and more official heights. In short, in 1791 he became the secretary of Empress Catherine herself, and two years later he was promoted to the rank of senator and privy councillor. Since then, we can safely say that Derzhavin made his way into the elite of Russian society.

In 1795, Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich was granted the title of president of the Commerce Collegium, a state body whose task was to manage and control trade. Of course, it was a very lucrative position.

Already after the death of Catherine, under Emperor Paul I, Gabriel Romanovich became the state treasurer and ruler of the office of the Senate. Under the successor of Paul Alexander I in 1802, Derzhavin received a ministerial portfolio, becoming Minister of Justice. It was the pinnacle of his career.

Resignation

But already in 1803, at the age of sixty, the Minister of Justice retired and never returned to public service, having lived until his death in one of his estates in the village of Zvanka, Novgorod province. There are a number of reasons that led to the fact that Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin was forced to retire. A brief biography allows only to list them, without giving details. This is Derzhavin's fatigue from public service, and most importantly, the desire to remove him from the new favorites of Alexander I.

However, there is a positive aspect in this event: the resignation allowed Gavriil Romanovich to concentrate on literary activity.

Earlier creativity

The work of Gabriel Derzhavin is significant for its time. As mentioned earlier, he wrote his first poems as a private in the Preobrazhensky Guard. True, Derzhavin wrote this poetry more for himself than for general review.

For the first time, his poems were published only ten years later in 1773, when Derzhavin was already an officer. But the fame of a poet of a national level was brought to him by the ode "Felitsa", dedicated to the Empress of All Russia Catherine II. This work abounded with compliments and praises to the royal person, but at the same time, its composition of the ball is quite harmonious, and the metaphors used put the ode on the same level with the greatest works of contemporary poetry.

It was after the publication of Felitsa that Derzhavin became one of the most famous of his time.

Further creative path

Gabriel Derzhavin had a difficult fate. Facts from his life testify that even while holding the highest government posts, he did not forget about poetry. It is to this period of activity that the writing of such iconic works as “The thunder of victory resounds”, “Swan”, “God”, “Nobleman”, “Waterfall” and many others. Each of them had its own conceptual features and topical relevance. For example, “The Thunder of Victory Resounds” was set to music and until the middle of the 19th century was considered an unofficial Russian anthem. Another creation of the poet "Autumn during the siege of Ochakov" was a kind of poem-a call for active action against the Ottoman army. And such works as "The Swan" and "Waterfall" were written under the impression of Derzhavin's stay in Karelia.

Derzhavin wrote both lyrical and epic poems aimed at raising morale and glorifying the Empress and the Russian Empire. Each of his works had its own unique zest.

It is noteworthy that most of the most famous creations of Gavriil Romanovich chronologically fall precisely on the period of his highest career advancement in the public service.

Literary activity after retirement

As mentioned above, the resignation from the civil service allowed Derzhavin to devote more time to poetry and literary activity in general.

In 1808 a new collection of his works was published in five parts.

In 1811, together with another significant figure in Russian culture, Alexander Semenovich Shishkov, the retired minister created a literary society. The creation of this organization is, of course, one of the many deeds that Gabriel Derzhavin could be proud of. A short biography, unfortunately, narrows the scope of the narrative and does not provide a detailed account of the activities of this society.

Of particular note is Derzhavin's later famous meeting with the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. True, at that time Pushkin was still a student and did not have fame, but Gavriil Romanovich, taking the exam, already at that time noticed in him the makings of a genius. This significant meeting took place a year before Derzhavin's death in 1815.

Family

Gabriel Derzhavin was married twice. For the first time, at the age of 35, he married sixteen-year-old Ekaterina Yakovlevna Bastidon, who was the daughter of the valet of the deposed Emperor Peter III, who was a Portuguese. Hence such a strange surname for Russia. The wedding took place in 1778. There were rather reverent feelings between the newlyweds, which is not surprising, given the personal qualities of Gavriil Romanovich and the beauty of Ekaterina Yakovlevna. No wonder Derzhavin considered his wife a muse that inspires him to work.

But happiness does not last forever, and Gabriel Derzhavin suffers great grief. His young wife, being only 34 years old, dies in 1794. She was laid to rest at the Lazarevsky cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Although the grief of Gabriel Romanovich knew no bounds, six months after the death of his wife, he married a second time. His betrothed was the daughter of the Chief Prosecutor and State Councilor Daria Alekseevna Dyakova. At the time of their marriage, the bride was only 28 years old, while Derzhavin was 51 years old. It must be said that, unlike the poet's first marriage, this union was not built on love, but on friendship and mutual respect. Daria Alekseevna survived her husband for 26 years, but nevertheless she did not marry a second time.

Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin had no children, but he took over the care of the children of his deceased friend Pyotr Lazarev, whose names were Andrei, Alexei and Mikhail. The last of them in the future became the discoverer of Antarctica.

Death of poet

Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin died on his estate Zvanka, where he lived all the last years after his resignation from his ministerial post. It happened in the seventy-third year of the poet's life on July 8 (according to the old style), 1816. At the time of his death, his faithful wife Daria Alekseevna was next to him.

But, besides his wife, a significant part of the Russian intelligentsia and enlightened personalities, as well as people who simply knew Gavriil Romanovich and knew him as a sympathetic and noble person, certainly grieved about the loss of such a powerful cultural torch of his time.

Gavriil Derzhavin was buried in the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, which is located not far from Novgorod.

Life outcomes and legacy

Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich lived a rather complicated, eventful and interesting life. Facts from his biography testify to the significant role of this person both in the cultural life of the country and in social activities. Of particular note is his service for the benefit of the Russian Empire in various government posts. But the main legacy left by Gavriil Derzhavin is, of course, his brilliant poetry, highly valued by both the poet's contemporaries and descendants.

And now in Russia they remember the contribution that Gavriil Romanovich made to the development of national culture. The honoring of the memory of the great poet is evidenced by numerous monuments, steles and erected to Derzhavin in various cities of Russia, in particular, in Petrozavodsk, Kazan, St. spent the last years of his life. In addition, streets, squares, educational institutions, etc. are named after Gabriel Derzhavin in many settlements.

The museum-estate of the great poet should be singled out separately. It was in this mansion that Gavriil Derzhavin lived during his service in St. Petersburg. A photo of the estate from the side is presented below.

Now this building is considered the main museum dedicated to the life and work of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin. The former estate acquired its current status only in 2003, although the decision to create a museum was made five years earlier. In previous years, there was a communal apartment here. Now the interior of the times of Derzhavin's life has been recreated in the building.

Of course, the memory of such an outstanding personality as Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin does not deserve to be forgotten and will never be forgotten in Russia.

Photo: Ivan Smirnovsky. Portrait of Gabriel Derzhavin, 18th century

It is difficult to break through Derzhavin's magnificent tongue-tied tongue in order to enjoy his music, prayer, wit and revelation of introspection. That is why in any conversation about him one cannot do without a historical context: without such comments, you will never fall in love with Derzhavin. It is no coincidence that he was the first of the Russian poets to begin to "explain" his own poems, recalling the circumstances from which they grew. Derzhavin's best poems cannot be heard without court turmoil and state accomplishments.

Secretary of the Empress

His youth was spent in poverty and obscurity, even the war with the "Marquis Pugachev" did not bring glory and prosperity to Derzhavin. But only the success of the ode "Felitsa" brought him closer to his own heroine - to the "blessed princess." Derzhavin did not become a disciplined courtier, a classic court poet. He, instead of enjoying favor, strove to serve zealously, corrosively, and therefore quickly made enemies. However, Derzhavin (an experienced gambler!) even had his own calculation in love of truth. Catherine's deck lacked such an original. So he kept at court, like a simple-hearted provincial, always ready to blurt out the tactless truth. When there was a demand for this type of personality, Derzhavin found himself right there.

As governor, he failed both in Petrozavodsk and Tambov. And yet he soared right up to the personal secretaries of Catherine herself.

But he did not idealize her. The Empress seemed to him either petty or truly great. He noticed her wit, even used some anecdotes that reflect the brilliance of Catherine's mind: For example: "If I lived 200 years, then of course the whole of Europe would be subject to the Russian scepter." Or: “I will not die without driving the Turks out of Europe, pacifying the pride of China and not trading with India.” Or: “Who, if not me, gave the French people the right to feel human rights? I am knitting knots now, let them untie them.

An interesting fact: during the years of his poetic fame, Derzhavin, due to lack of time, did not publish a single large book, there were only separate editions of odes and magazine publications. In his old age, already in the 19th century, he prepared a multi-volume collected works, but by that time young lovers of poetry had new heroes.

And under Catherine, peripheral printing houses often reprinted odes without the knowledge of the author. In those days, poets were not yet treated as prophets, and the circle of readers was not only “terribly far from the people,” but also narrow. However, in the circles of young nobles, seized with a desire to correct morals, the name of Derzhavin became legendary. He was perceived not only as the first poet of Russia, comparable to the best singers in Germany or France, but also as a bold scourger of vices, an honest man close to the throne. And finally, this noble patriot and truth-lover will become a constant interlocutor of the empress!

Friends and admirers of Derzhavin's poetry noisily greeted his new rise. An enthusiastic message “To an honest man” was published in the Moscow Journal, signed with one initial - I.

What do I hear? Oh good news!

Favorite pet Aonid,

Vice is an implacable enemy,

Acquired merit a new honor!

Pour out the sounds of a modest lyre,

You are my heartfelt joy! ..

The author was none other than Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev! And this is not the only greeting of its kind. Like-minded people hoped that Derzhavin, who had come into power, would protect young men from debauchery, help unfortunate widows, console those unjustly offended ... Perhaps they themselves did not believe in this, but considered it necessary to express beautiful dreams in verse. I said associates. But they did not have a common and clear unified ideology, rather, vague ideas about the ideal. At the time of strengthening the empire, this is more important than narrow and pragmatic party guidelines.

When Derzhavin took office as cabinet secretary of the Empress, the campaign to destroy Masonic nests was in full swing. Moscow University, where Kheraskov curated, was known as the largest center of Martinism. After Novikov's arrest, there was talk of Kheraskov's resignation from the university. The poet fell into disgrace, he was followed ... In desperation, he turned to Derzhavin - and received support. Once Kheraskov rendered services to Derzhavin - both in the literary and political fields. This is not forgotten. Saving the poet, Derzhavin decided on a lie: he testified before the empress and Zubov that Kheraskov had nothing to do with Masonic lodges. The author of Rossiada himself renounced Freemasonry - and was forgiven.

There was no complete confidence in Derzhavin! Here the indefatigable Popov selected Potemkin's papers for the empress - his plans, his proposals ... The almighty prince died, but it was necessary to continue his undertakings. By the way, Potemkin petitioned for Derzhavin to be awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 2nd degree. It turned out that this was not part of Catherine’s plans: “He should be pleased with me that he was taken out of court as a secretary, and an order without merit is not given.” Derzhavin really did not come easily with orders...

Catherine was glad to see the poet on holidays, but Gavrila Romanovich's weekly reports on Senate affairs bored her. The empress was able to appreciate the corrosiveness of Derzhavin: such, perhaps, would gnaw the earth, performing the most dreary task. Vyazemsky was wrong: Derzhavin does not hover in poetic fantasies, he is capable of painstaking work with papers, with facts, with evidence. He has another flaw: straightforwardness. In a different environment, Derzhavin would probably have seemed cunning and a diplomat, but such charming hypocrites shone in Catherine's circle... Against their background, almost fifty-year-old Derzhavin looked like a boy.

Gavrila Romanovich tried to follow the principles that he himself proclaimed in poems and treatises. Beloved niece, almost a daughter - Elizaveta Lvova - recalled one episode. It is difficult to determine to which Senate investigation he is related, this is a plot very characteristic of Derzhavin: “... he was begged not to go to the Senate and say he was sick, because they were afraid of his truth; for a long time he could not agree to this, but finally his bile overflowed, he was definitely not able to go, lay down on the sofa in his office and in anguish, not knowing what to do, not being able to do anything, ordered Praskovya to be called to him Mikhailovna Bakunina, who lived with her uncle as a girl, and asked her, in order to calm his anguish, to read aloud to him something from his writings. She took the first ode that fell into her hands, "The Nobleman", and began to read, but as she recited the verses:

Do not bend like a snake before the throne,

Stand and speak the truth

Derzhavin suddenly jumped up from the sofa, grabbed his last hair, shouting: “What have I written and what am I doing today? Scoundrel!" I couldn’t stand it any longer, got dressed and, to the surprise of the entire Senate, appeared - I don’t know for sure how I said it, but I can guarantee that I didn’t twist my soul. And such an original made an enviable administrative career! The fact is amazing, doing honor to both Catherine and Pavel.

How to get along with the emperor?

Immediately after the accession of Pavel Petrovich, all political fans expected the rise of Derzhavin. He was seen as one of those on whom the new emperor could lean. This frightened many: Derzhavin had a reputation as a man who knew how to persecute and punish. Gavrila Romanovich himself, perhaps, saw himself as the first among equals in the Areopagus of the sovereign's advisers. And Paul lived up to expectations at first. On the very first day of the new reign, Derzhavin was summoned to the highest audience. The emperor's valet, Ivan Pavlovich Kutaisov, who was in power, looked critically at Gavrila Romanovich: this gentleman will come in handy for us! The emperor received Derzhavin with excited cordiality, uttered compliments: he appreciates Derzhavin's honesty, his mind and business qualities, he invites him to become the ruler of the tsarist Supreme Council with permission to appear to the sovereign at any time. Derzhavin returned from the sovereign in unprecedented enthusiasm: in former times there was no such position - the ruler of the Supreme Council. Emperor's Chief Advisor! Derzhavin will rise above all the nobles - he will lead them, like a prosecutor general - senators. But the next day a decree was issued in which Derzhavin's position was interpreted differently: the ruler office Council. At the meeting, Derzhavin defiantly did not take the chair of the head of the Chancellery, and listened to the reports standing up. And then he asked for an audience with the sovereign.

I was in the Council, but I don't know what to do there.

Do what Samoilov did (the ruler of the Chancellery in Catherine's time).

Derzhavin grew gloomy. Samoilov did nothing, he only carried the minutes of the meetings to the empress... Pavel said something vague: they say that Derzhavin's powers would be specially announced.

Here Gavrila Romanovich would take his leave. But he continued grumpily ranting: “I don’t know whether I should sit in the Council or stand, who am I - present or head of the office?”

The emperor saw in such behavior signs of a hated freemen of the nobility. He decided to frighten the old man and shouted indignantly: "Listen, he considers himself superfluous in the Council!" At the same time, "his eyes flashed like lightning." This cry was intended for the nobles who stood in the waiting room of the office, Arkharov, the then royal favorite, stood out among them. And the emperor said to Derzhavin in a rude manner: “Go back to the Senate and sit quietly there, otherwise I’ll teach you a lesson!” Jumping out of the hall, Derzhavin blurted out in oblivion loudly enough for many to hear: "Wait, this tsar will be of use."

And Pavel simply taught a lesson to all Catherine's old men ... The decree said directly: "Privy Councilor Gavrila Derzhavin, appointed as the ruler of the chancellery of our Council, for an obscene answer, committed before us, is sent to his former place."

Society fed on exaggerated rumors about the Emperor's quarrel with Derzhavin. It was rumored that the poet, responding to the remark of the sovereign, said passionately: "I cannot change myself." Bolotov, in his notes, called this plot eloquently: "The sovereign punishes one of his neighbor nobles for the unbridled language."

What political future to expect after such a slap in the face? I had to sit in the Senate in the most modest survey department. Derzhavin asked Prince Repnin for intercession - he declined. Gavrila Romanovich held a grudge - after all, he sang of the prince in the "Monument to the Hero", but Repnin knew that it was not worth testing the emperor's patience with arguments about Derzhavin's innocence. Then the piit decided to "return to himself the favor of the monarch through his talent." What could be easier? One, two, three - and before you is the ode "For the new year 1797."

The sovereign immediately invited Derzhavin to an audience and removed his disgrace. From now on, he was again allowed into the "cavalier" hall of the palace ...

Delicate errands

In the Judaica encyclopedia, Derzhavin is listed under the category of "Famous anti-Semites", and this is natural, although the anti-Semitism of Derzhavin's times cannot be likened to the Judaism of the 20th century or our time. In those years, the Jews appeared to the Russian nobleman as mysterious and dangerous strangers.

Emperor Paul was not a supporter of the infringement of non-Christian religions. During his reign, the head of the Hasidim, Zalman Schneersohn, was released. The new emperor flaunted religious tolerance and, having received a complaint from Belarusian Jews, ordered to sort out the atrocities that the landowner Zorich, a retired general and no less retired favorite of Catherine, allows himself. Pavel returned Zorich to military service, even promoted him to lieutenant general, but this player and bully could not get along with the new emperor and returned to landowner life.

To receive a task and immediately understand the situation, having analyzed the behavior of the parties, is the style of work of the best Catherine's eagles inherent in Derzhavin. Several times he wrote to the sovereign about the course of the investigation, until the emperor, who was bored with the Zorich case, requested him to Petersburg.

But this raid by Derzhavin on Jewish shtetls was not the last. Less than a year later, the emperor again sent him to those parts. He receives a royal rescript: “Mr. Privy Councilor Derzhavin! According to the information that has come down to us that in the Byelorussian province there is a shortage of bread and some landowners, out of boundless greed, leave their peasants without help to feed, we instruct you to find out about such landowners where the peasants in need of food remain without help from them, and these, having taken away the estates , give under guardianship and order it to supply the peasants from the master's bread, and in case of shortage, borrow it for them at the expense of the landowners from rural shops. The fight against the malevolence of the landowners was a matter of principle for Pavel: he saw himself as Prometheus, who grants rights to the peasants, saves them from starvation ... The sovereign's enterprising comrades-in-arms, led by Kutaisov, saw hunger as a pretext for confiscation of land from negligent owners. After nationalization, these lands can be purchased at a bargain price or as a reward from the emperor. Derzhavin received two thousand rubles for the journey and again went to Shklov.

He saw how in many villages they eat quinoa and roots instead of bread. I saw emaciated, sick peasants. In the meantime, carts with bread went to Vitebsk, from where they were supposed to be sent by river to Minsk and Riga, and only from there - abroad, for export. Derzhavin immediately stopped this disgrace, ordered that this bread be sent to the starving regions, and at the lowest price.

When state affairs receded, Derzhavin wrote several plays, operas, and many odes. And among them - a few masterpieces. "Eugene. Life of Zvanskaya”, “Recognition”, dying “River of Times...”... The psychology of creativity is dark waters. But it seems that we know the answer to the question: would Derzhavin's new creative take-off have happened if he had not previously worked so zealously in the administrative field? If he hadn't suffered, hadn't been on trial, hadn't fallen exhausted after sleepless weeks... This is how non-greenhouse poetry sprouts.

The great Russian poet Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin was born in the Kazan province, in 1743. After the initial home teaching of literacy, numbers and German, under the guidance of churchmen, the exiled German Rose, Lebedev and Poletaev, Derzhavin was sent to the Kazan gymnasium that opened in 1759. Here Derzhavin especially developed a passion for drawing and fell in love with engineering. When the director of the gymnasium M. I. Verevkin presented the works of the best students, including Gavriil Derzhavin, to the curator Shuvalov, Derzhavin was declared the conductor of the engineering corps. At the beginning of 1762, a demand came that Derzhavin report for service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Shuvalov apparently forgot that he himself assigned Derzhavin to the engineering corps. Subsequently, Gavriil Romanovich did not have to replenish his education, and his absence is reflected in all his poetry. He himself understood this; later he wrote: “I confess my shortcoming in the fact that I was brought up at that time and within those limits of the empire, when and where the enlightenment of sciences did not yet fully penetrate, not only on the minds of the people, but also on the state to which I belong. ".

Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin

12 years of military service are the darkest and bleakest period in the biography of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin. At first, he had to live in the barracks, along with the soldiers. There was nothing to think about literary creativity and science: only at night it was possible to read something and write poetry. Since Derzhavin had no "protectors", he moved very slowly through the service. After the accession to the throne of Catherine II, Derzhavin asked Alexei Orlov himself for a promotion in a letter and only thanks to this received the rank of corporal. After a year's vacation, Gavriil Romanovich returned to St. Petersburg and from that time began to live in the barracks with the nobles. If material conditions improved somewhat, new inconveniences appeared. Derzhavin began to indulge in carousing and gambling. After a second vacation in Kazan (1767), Derzhavin stopped in Moscow and spent about 2 years here. Here, the wild life almost led Derzhavin to death: he became a cheater and indulged in all sorts of tricks for money. Finally, in 1770 he decided to leave Moscow and change his way of life.

In 1772, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin received his first officer rank. From that time on, he begins to withdraw from bad society, and if he plays cards, then "out of necessity for a living." In 1773 A. I. Bibikov was entrusted with the pacification of the Pugachev rebellion. By the way, at his personal request, Bibikov took Derzhavin with him to conduct investigative cases. Gavriil Romanovich developed the most energetic activity during the Pugachev region. At first, he drew Bibikov's attention with his investigation into the surrender of Samara. While in Kazan, Derzhavin, on behalf of the nobles, composed a speech in response to the rescript of Catherine II, which was then published in Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti. In his actions Derzhavin was always distinguished by a certain independence, which placed him high in the eyes of some of his superiors, but at the same time made him enemies among the local authorities. Derzhavin took little account of the position and connections of the persons with whom he dealt. In the end, the war with Pugachev did not bring external differences to Gavriil Romanovich, and he was almost subjected to a military court.

Portrait of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin. Artist V. Borovikovsky, 1811

In 1776 through A. A. Bezborodko he submitted a letter to the empress with a calculation of his merits and with a request for a reward. On February 15, 1777, by decree, Gavriil Romanovich was granted the title of collegiate adviser and at the same time received 300 souls in Belarus. On this occasion, Derzhavin wrote "An Outpouring of a Grateful Heart to Empress Catherine II." Six months after his resignation, Derzhavin, thanks to his acquaintance with the Prosecutor General A. A. Vyazemsky, received a place as an executor in the Senate. In 1778 Derzhavin married Katerina Yakovlevna Bastidon. The marriage was successful; the aesthetic sense of his wife did not remain without influence on the work of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin. In 1780, Derzhavin was transferred to the post of adviser to the newly established expedition of state revenues and expenses. By order of Vyazemsky, Derzhavin wrote a code for this institution, printed in the complete Collection of Zap. (XXI, 15-120). Discord with Vyazemsky forced Derzhavin to leave his service in the Senate and retire (1784) with the rank of real councilor of state.

By this time, Derzhavin had already acquired a glorious literary name in society. Gavriil Romanovich peed while still in the gymnasium; in the barracks he read Kleist, Gagedorn, Klopstock, Haller, Gellert and translated "Messiad" in verse. The first original work that appeared in print in 1773 was an ode to the first marriage of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. Upon his return from the Volga region, Derzhavin published Odes translated and composed at Mount Chitalagai. Here, in addition to translations of the ode On the death of Bibikov, On the noble, On the birthday of Her Majesty, etc. Derzhavin's first works were an imitation of Lomonosov. But Derzhavin in his work did not succeed at all in the soaring and unnatural manner that distinguish Lomonosov's poetry. Thanks for the advice P. A. Lvova, V. V. Kapnist and I. I. Khemnitser, Gavriil Romanovich refused to imitate Lomonosov and took Horace's ode as a model. “Since 1779,” writes Derzhavin, “I have chosen a very special path, guided by the instructions and advice of my friends.” Derzhavin placed his odes mainly in the Saint Petersburg Bulletin without a signature: “Songs to Peter the Great” (1778), an epistol to Shuvalov, “On the death of Prince Meshchersky”, “Key”, “On the birth of a porphyry child” (1779), “On the absence of the empress in Belarus”, “To the first neighbor”, “Lords and judges” (1780).

All these works, with their sublime tone, brilliant, lively pictures, drew the attention of lovers of literature, but not of society, to Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin. In the latter, Derzhavin became famous for the famous “Ode to Felice” (see full text, summary and analysis), published in the first book of “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word” (1783). Derzhavin received for her a snuff-box, strewn with diamonds, with 50 gold coins. "Felitsa" placed Derzhavin highly in the opinion of Catherine II, the court and the public. In "Interlocutor" Derzhavin published "Thanks to Felitsa", "Vision of Murza", "Reshemysl" and, finally, "God" (see summary and full text). With the last poem, Derzhavin reached the apogee of his fame. At the very establishment of the Russian Academy, Derzhavin was elected a member and took part in the dictionary of the Russian language.

In 1784, Derzhavin was appointed governor of the Olonets viceroy, but Derzhavin immediately began to have troubles with the governor Tutolmin, and a year and a half later the poet was transferred to the same position in the Tambov viceroy. Gavriil Romanovich occupied the place of the Tambov governor for about 3 years. With his energetic activity, Derzhavin benefited the province, introduced more regularity in the administration of recruiting service, improved the organization of prisons, and repaired roads and bridges. But here, too, Derzhavin's independent course of action, his irascibility, provoked squabbles with the governor. In 1788 Derzhavin was put on trial and obliged to sign a written undertaking not to leave Moscow, where the case was to be carried out. In 1789, the Moscow Senate, having considered the case of Derzhavin, found that he was not guilty of any abuse of office. Seeing the gracious attitude of the Empress, who approved the decision of the Senate, Derzhavin wrote the ode "The Image of Felitsa", and, turning to the patronage of the new favorite Platon Zubov, dedicated the odes "On Moderation" and "To the Lyre" to him. The ode “On the Capture of Ishmael” written at the same time was a great success. Gavriil Romanovich received a snuffbox worth 200 rubles. When Potemkin arrived in Petersburg, Derzhavin had to maneuver between two favorites. Potemkin's death on the banks of the Prut caused one of the most original and majestic in design poems in Derzhavin's work - "Waterfall". Derzhavin's rapprochement with Dmitriev and Karamzin dates back to this time; the latter attracted him to participate in his Moscow Journal. Here Derzhavin placed "Song of the house that loves science" (gr. Stroganov), "On the death of Countess Rumyantseva", "Majesty of God", "Monument to the hero."

In 1796, Derzhavin was ordered to be with the empress when receiving petitions. Gavriil Romanovich failed to please her: in life he could not flatter as subtly as in poetry, he was irritable and did not know how to stop unpleasant reports to Catherine II in time. In 1793 Derzhavin was appointed senator for the Land Survey Department, and a few months later he was also given the post of President of the Collegium of Commerce. In his senatorial activity, Derzhavin was distinguished by his extremely intransigence to those opinions that he considered wrong. And since his love of truth was always expressed in a harsh and rude form, here, too, Derzhavin had many official griefs. In 1794, the wife of Gabriel Romanovich died; he dedicated the elegiac poem "Swallows" to her memory. Six months later, Derzhavin entered into a new marriage with D. A. Dyakova. In 1794 Derzhavin wrote the ode "To Nobility", dedicated to the praise of Rumyantsev, and "To the Capture of Ishmael". His last odes during the life of Catherine II were: “On the birth of Empress Gremislava” (message to Naryshkin), “To the Athenian knight” (to Alexei Orlov), “Ode on the conquest of Derbent” (in honor of Valerian Zubov), “On the death of a benefactor” ( I. I. Betsky). Finally, Derzhavin presented Catherine II with a handwritten collection of his writings, prefixing him with "An Offering to the Monarchine." Even before the death of the Empress, Derzhavin wrote "Monument" (see summary and full text), in which he summarized the significance of his poetic work. During the era of Catherine II, Derzhavin's talent flourished and his main significance in the poems of this era. Derzhavin's poetry is a monument to the reign of Catherine II. “In this heroic age of Russian history, events and people, with their gigantic dimensions, exactly corresponded to the boldness of this original fantasy, the scope of this wide and capricious brush.” A whole epic of the era lives in the work of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin.

Derzhavin's creative activity became smaller. In addition to epigrams and fables, Gavriil Romanovich began to write more tragedies. He himself was sure of their dignity, but in fact Derzhavin's dramatic works are below criticism. (Dobrynya, Pozharsky, Herod and Mariamna, Atabalibo, etc.). By 1815, the discourse on lyric poetry read in the "Conversation" dates back. Derzhavin already considered it necessary to comment on his writings and himself made "explanations" to them. Feeling the need to find out the real nature of his biography and career, so rich in vicissitudes, Derzhavin wrote in 1812 Notes, published in the Russian Conversation, they caused an unfavorable impression with their subjective assessment of persons and events. In this last period of his life, following the spirit of his time, Derzhavin tried to give place to the folk language in his work. The awakening of the study of Russian nationality caused Derzhavin to imaginary folk ballads and romances (Tsar Maiden, Novgorod wolf Zlogor). The most successful of these poems was "To Ataman and the Don Army." Derzhavin, even in retirement, did not stop responding to the events taking place around him (On Peace 1807, Lamentation, Lyric-epic anthem for the expulsion of the French, etc.). In retirement, Derzhavin spent the winters in St. Petersburg, and in the summers on his estate in Novgorod Gubernia. "Zvanke". Gavriil Romanovich described his village life in a poetic message to Evgeny Bolkhovitinov. Derzhavin died in Zvanka on July 8, 1816.

In the 19th century, Derzhavin's creative style seemed already outdated. Aesthetically, the poems of Gavriil Romanovich amaze with amazing randomness: among the rhetorical pathos we discover the brilliance of real poetic talent. In the same way, Derzhavin's language, abundant in folk speech, reaches an extraordinary fluency and lightness in some poems, in others it becomes unrecognizable by its severity. In historical and literary terms, the ode of Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin is important because it introduced elements of simplicity, jokes and vitality into the tense and far from life Lomonosov ode. His work reflected his clear satirical mind, his ardent disposition, common sense, alien to any painful sentimentality and cold abstraction.

The views of critics on Derzhavin changed. After the reverence that surrounded his name, there came a period of denial of any meaning behind it. Only the works of D. Grot written before the revolution on the publication of works and biography of the poet made possible an impartial assessment of his work.