"Mistake" Marina Tsvetaeva

When a snowflake that flies easily
Like a fallen star gliding,
You take it with your hand - it melts like a tear,
And it can't be returned to air.

When captivated by the transparency of the jellyfish,
We will touch it with the whim of our hands,
She is like a prisoner in bonds
Suddenly turns pale and suddenly dies.

When we want in wandering moths
To see not a dream, but an earthly reality -
Where is their outfit? From them on our fingers
One dawn painted dust!

Leave flying snowflakes with moths
And do not ruin the jellyfish on the sands!
You can't grab your dream with your hands,
You can't keep your dream in your hands!

It is impossible for what was unsteady sadness,
Say: "Be passion! Grieve madness, rejoice!
Your love was such a mistake
But without love, we perish. Wizard!

Analysis of Tsvetaeva's poem "Mistake"

Marina Tsvetaeva never considered herself a femme fatale, but she took the choice of a life partner with great seriousness. Before meeting Sergei Efron, she managed to refuse a marriage proposal to several young people. Among them was the poet and translator Lev Kobylinskiy, who was affectionately called Ellis in literary circles. History is silent about how his relationship with Marina Tsvetaeva developed. It is only known that he was well acquainted with Gumilyov and was one of the fairly close friends of Maximilian Voloshin, with whom Marina Tsvetaeva also spoke. It is difficult to say when the final explanation took place between this couple - presumably, it happened in 1910-1911. However, after this turning point in the relationship, the poem "Mistake" was written, which Marina Tsvetaeva dedicated to Ellis.

The first lines of this work answer the question of why the young poetess is not ready to become the wife of a man who is in love with her without memory. She compares herself to a snowflake, which, if you take it in your hands, “melts like a tear, and you can’t return its airiness.” The poetess realizes that with all her sympathy for Ellis, she will never be happy with him. But it is very difficult for her to make such a confession, since it means hurting a person who is truly dear. A graceful moth and a slippery sea jellyfish - the poetess cites these comparisons only in order to minimize the consequences of an unpleasant and very difficult explanation for herself with Ellis. Convincing him that such a relationship is a mistake, Tsvetaeva is simultaneously trying to figure out her own feelings. For this person, she wants to remain an unattainable muse, since only in this case does she feel truly happy. After all, along with marriage, that feeling of magic from long-distance relationships goes away, when a man goes crazy just from one look at the object of his adoration.

Trying to develop and concretize this idea, the poetess notes: “You can’t grab your dream with your hands! You can’t keep your dream in your hands!”. This means that she is simply not sure of the feelings that Ellis has for her. Therefore, his proposal for marriage causes Tsvetaeva a slight sadness, as another beautiful illusion is broken for her. Moreover, she is forced to destroy the invented world of her admirer, who does not yet understand how reality can differ from poetic and romantic fantasies. According to the poetess, there has never been passion between them, and it is excluded for various reasons. And Tsvetaeva interprets feelings for each other as “shaky sadness” - a very dubious foundation for building harmonious relationships. “Your love was such a mistake, but without love we perish. The sorcerer! ”, The poetess notes, thereby thanks to her admirer for the minutes of amazing warmth, attention and care that she felt when communicating with this outstanding person.

Whatever you say, but Tsvetaev's poetry is original and unique. Her poems can be found among the many. Having met her "Mistake" in the almanac, we immediately recognize the author. The exact and clear construction of the verse and the logical conclusion of the whole work are the classics used by Marina Tsvetaeva.

She writes her deeply philosophical poem "Mistake" consistently attracting more and more new characters: first it is a snowflake, then a jellyfish and a moth. All these airy, weightless, easily injured objects are akin to the cherished dreams of a person. The farther and more unrealistic they are, the more beautiful, more expensive and valuable for us.

But as soon as the dream turns into reality, she immediately faces everyday problems and ceases to be so beautiful and unearthly. It melts like a snowflake, dies like a jellyfish, crumbles to dust like a moth.

But the main idea of ​​the poem is that it is not necessary to hold on to the departed feelings. When passion has faded and love has gone, it is not necessary, in spite of everything, to hold in your hands what is no longer there. If pure and bright feelings are already overshadowed by dark spots, such love has no future. And Tsvetaeva believes that high feelings in general cannot be lowered to everyday routine, they should remain somewhere above everyday worries.

However, the poetess immediately objects to herself that without a great feeling of love, a person cannot live on earth. And she calls to the sorcerer. Perhaps Marina means the Creator, perhaps she is looking for help from a wizard or storyteller. In any case, the woman screams and asks for help, again waiting for a miracle, because she knows that without love a person will die.

And even though most recently there was disappointment from a faded relationship that simply faded away. And let her mind understand that she should not touch another snowflake or jellyfish with her hands, then the moth dreams will not crumble to dust. And yet she craves love, craves deep, sincere feelings. And this is the whole person.

Years have passed, and we are also looking for our soul mate, we dream of high relationships. And how often today passionate feelings melt faster than a snowflake on your hand ...

Whatever you say, but Tsvetaev's poetry is original and unique. Her poems can be found among the many. Having met her "Mistake" in the almanac, we immediately recognize the author. The exact and clear construction of the verse and the logical conclusion of the whole work are the classics used by Marina Tsvetaeva.

She writes her deeply philosophical poem "Mistake" consistently attracting more and more new characters: first it is a snowflake, then a jellyfish and a moth. All these airy, weightless, easily injured objects are akin to the cherished dreams of a person. How far are they

And the more unrealistic, the more beautiful, more expensive and valuable for us.

But as soon as the dream turns into reality, she immediately faces everyday problems and ceases to be so beautiful and unearthly. It melts like a snowflake, dies like a jellyfish, crumbles to dust like a moth.

But the main idea of ​​the poem is that it is not necessary to hold on to the departed feelings. When passion has faded and love is gone, don't defiantly

Everything to hold in the hands of what is no longer there. If pure and bright feelings are already overshadowed by dark spots, such love has no future. And Tsvetaeva believes that high feelings in general cannot be lowered to everyday routine, they should remain somewhere above everyday worries.

However, the poetess immediately objects to herself that without a great feeling of love, a person cannot live on earth. And she calls to the sorcerer. Perhaps Marina means the Creator, perhaps she is looking for help from a wizard or storyteller. In any case, the woman screams and asks for help, again waiting for a miracle, because she knows that without love a person will die.

And even though most recently there was disappointment from a faded relationship that simply faded away. And let her mind understand that she should not touch another snowflake or jellyfish with her hands, then the moth dreams will not crumble to dust. And yet she craves love, craves deep, sincere feelings. And this is the whole person.

Years have passed, and we are also looking for our soul mate, we dream of high relationships. And how often today passionate feelings melt faster than a snowflake on your hand ...

How often do people make mistakes?

How often do people make mistakes? Of course, mistakes, one's own or others', make it possible to learn a lot, but few people think about it, especially in their youth.

It is all the more surprising to turn to the analysis of a poem by 18-year-old Marina Tsvetaeva with just such a name - “Mistake”. Written in 1910, it was included in the first collection of her poems "Evening Album", which received an enthusiastic response from such eminent poets of the Silver Age as Nikolai Gumilyov, Valery Bryusov, Maximilian Voloshin.

The poem itself is unusual in form: the first three quatrains begin the same way - the anaphora "when ..." is used. The poetess chooses three, in her opinion, the most ephemeral creations of nature - a snowflake, a jellyfish and a moth. snowflake, "what flies easily", you can not touch it with your hand, because from human heat "She melts like a tear".

The most important thing is that it cannot be returned to its former airiness: it can only turn into a tiny ice floe, and then it will actually become clear that touching a snowflake is a mistake, since it is impossible to restore the lost beauty and fragility.

When "we will touch the whim of the hands" jellyfish, "captivated by its transparency", she will turn pale and die, as "a prisoner in bondage". This comparison sounds very symbolic: the hands in which, at someone's whim, a jellyfish turns out to be comparable to the bonds (shackles!), From which the prisoner cannot escape. And again a mistake occurs: another God's creature dies.

In the third quatrain there is already a new image - "wandering moth". Surprisingly, with the help of the application, Tsvetaeva endows him with a characteristic: he is not just a moth, he is a wanderer, that is, a wanderer, and in Russia wanderers were people close to God, looking for the truth (how can one not recall the famous wanderer Luka from Maxim Gorky’s play “On day!"). In addition, in this quatrain there is no longer a single image, but many moths, which emphasizes how too many wanted "to see not a dream, but an earthly reality" and left their outfit on their fingers - "dawn the painted dust".

And suddenly a sharp transition: "Leave the flight of snowflakes with moths ...!" The heroine is convinced that a dream cannot be translated into reality, because everything that becomes commonplace perishes without turning into reality. It is probably hard to disagree with the heroine: the dream must remain unattainable, it must call, beckon, lead.

But this idea is not the most important thing in this poem. As often happens in the works of Marina Tsvetaeva, the main idea is at the end. Paradoxically, the poem is about love! And this secret is revealed in the final lines: you cannot demand from a loved one that he loves the way you fantasized yourself. You can not demand from him the sacrifice that you are ready for. You cannot expect from another such passion that you are capable of. But when the heroine understands this, it becomes doubly difficult for her. First, she sees that her lover has been "unsteady sadness", i.e. fake, ephemeral, like a snowflake, a jellyfish or a moth.

And secondly, it becomes quite certain for her that his love was a mistake, because he did not think about being in love "to burn, to rage, to blush".
At the same time, the heroine Tsvetaeva is sure: "But without love we perish". Obviously, the youthful maximalism of the poetess herself affects here, because the poem was written at the age of 18, when you really can’t imagine life without love. Thus, the last line of the poem is opposed to the entire poem. And what is also surprising in this line is that it ends with an appeal to a certain Sorcerer. Perhaps Tsvetaeva meant a magician, a storyteller, God - in a word, anyone who can perform a miracle - give true love. This appeal is used at the end of a sentence, which is not typical for the Russian language, and resembles a desperate cry of a person who no longer hopes for anything.

• “I like that you are not sick with me ...”, analysis of a poem by Marina Tsvetaeva
• "Grandmother", analysis of Tsvetaeva's poem
• "Youth", analysis of the poem by Marina Tsvetaeva

***

When a snowflake that flies easily
Like a fallen star gliding,
You take it with your hand - it melts with a tear,
And it can't be returned to air.

When captivated by the transparency of the jellyfish,
We will touch it with the whim of our hands,
She is like a prisoner in bonds
Suddenly turns pale and suddenly dies.

When we want in wandering moths
To see not a dream, but an earthly reality -
Where is their outfit? From them on our fingers
One dawn painted dust!

Leave flying snowflakes with moths
And do not ruin the jellyfish on the sands!
You can't grab your dream with your hands,
You can't keep your dream in your hands!

It is impossible for what was unsteady sadness,
To say: "Be a passion! Grief be mad, radiate!"
Your love was such a mistake
But without love, we perish, Wizard!

*****************

My comment (Nika Tumanova):

I have such a character trait - "in everything I want to get to the very essence," as Pasternak wrote. If I don’t understand something that I can and want to understand, I will understand it to the end. Someone may call such a trait tediousness or meticulousness, but what is, that is, the character cannot be altered.
With such a character, the presence of the Internet is like a balm for the soul: without leaving the cash register, as they say, you can find or double-check any information. True, like every medal, this one also has its flip side. Namely - a huge amount of incorrect and unverified information. Therefore, when doing searches, it is better not to limit yourself to one site, but to review several sources of information.

Now let me explain what I'm getting at...

I came across this wonderful poem by Tsvetaeva - "Mistake".
I read it. Admired. It seems that everything is clear, everything is clear ... everything except one: to whom is this poem addressed? Unknown.
I find this verse on various sites - no comments. Either everyone understands everything except me, or no one else asks this question.
I reread the verse. I understand that the answer is hidden in one, the very last word - the Wizard.
Who is this?

I go further in search ... I find an analysis of this poem on one literary site called "The Tree of Poetry". The name suggests that people are good at poetry. I read the analysis of the last quatrain:

***

In the last quatrain, Tsvetaeva reveals to us the essence of her pain: h the feeling for the person she loved faded away, the unearthly went into a fairy tale, the fairy tale became everyday life, there was disappointment, a feeling that you were deceived ...

The last line is opposed to everything previous written in the poem - the whole main idea of ​​the verse:

But without love, we perish, Wizard!

You can’t touch snowflakes and jellyfish, but without touching love, we perish ... sorcerer (God, Creator, Storyteller), do something miracle!..

***

I read this explanation and could not believe my eyes... Is the poem addressed to God?! But obviously not!

***

ELLIS is the pseudonym of the poet Lev Kobylinsky.

For Marina, he became "the first poet I met in my life." He was not only her friend, but also the main conductor of new trends. It was Ellis who introduced the young poetess to the literary circles of Moscow.
"One of the most passionate early symbolists, a scattered poet, a man of genius" she wrote about Ellis .

(My soul, wrapped around its dream, does not give it to non-existence- I really liked this line of the poet!)

So... CHARODEY - so called Ellis Marina Tsvetaeva.

He was our angel, he was our demon
Our tutor is our sorcerer,
Our prince and knight. He was for all of us
Among people!

It had so much abundance
I don't know how to start!
We loved him passionately
One spring... ...

O Ellis! - A knight without treason!
The son of the dove of the fatherlands!
The walls moved with you
To another life...

(from the poem by M.Ts. "The Enchanter" - by the way, a wonderful thing!)

Ellis proposed to her to marry him. As an answer, she wrote him a poem "Mistake". It was a symbolic, subtle and sad allusion to a negative answer.

Where did this symbolism come from?

Because Ellis' worldview was as follows: in the center of consciousness - the cult of dreams, unbearable in reality; she is the corpse of a dream.

A clearer idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhis views can be drawn from Ellis's preface to his translation of J. Rodenbach's drama The Veil, published in 1907, a book that certainly entered the reading circle of young Tsvetaeva.

The Veil is a symbolic drama, the plot of which boils down to the following.
The hero of the play falls in love with a nun who temporarily lives in his house and takes care of his sick relative. The function of the keeper of the symbolic secret, which the heroine possesses, is performed by a headdress, with which, according to the charter of her order, she must always cover her head, making her hair invisible. The hero's imagination tries to penetrate this veil, his dream creates an ideal image of hidden hair. One day, due to a coincidence, he sees a nun without a headdress, and the ideal image crumbles:

I saw her as an earthly woman:
Her forehead cover, as before, did not hide,
And her hair with their delicate colors,
Available to the eye, scattered in waves.
Alas! my love that wove a dream
Out of obscurity, forever dead! ..
Only the cover was raised, everything that captivated the dream,
Disappeared without a trace - the sister has become different!
And seeing her, suddenly lost my sight
The one that seemed to me once unearthly!
Now suddenly she appeared before me
Ordinary - and the image that a dream
The love of the hermit involuntarily clothed
And removed the cover into a white halo,
Disappeared without a trace... Love can't stand it
Offensive clarity and always asks for secrets! ..

(by the way, the lyrics and translation are very good!)

That's the plot twist. In his preface, Ellis interprets it thus:

Love does not experience what is its vital nerve, what nourishes and elevates it, i.e., secrets, because "to love" means "to dream", and the essence of a dream is the incessant creation of a new world, more beautiful and ideal than always too rough and sad reality. A dream is a flower growing in the mysterious world of the ideal and instantly withering at any contact with reality.

Thus, Tsvetaeva's poem almost "returns" to Ellis his own words. Even the ending of “Mistakes”: “Your love was such a mistake - / But without love we perish, Wizard!” has a correspondence in the words of Ellis's preface: " Love is always looking for secrets, but the secret always eludes love, and without love, the heart dies.- this is the main idea of ​​the symbolic drama of J. Rodenbach "The Veil"!

***

That's how much interesting and new information for me became available to me only because I initially asked one question: to whom was Tsvetaeva's poem addressed? ..

(Materials from Irina Shevelenko's article "Tsvetaeva's Literary Path" were used)