Petersburg is an amazing city that has left a big mark on Russian history. He has influenced our lives, our society in many ways and incredibly strongly! And, of course, the image of St. Petersburg inspired many Russian writers and poets. Geniuses of the word, such as Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Lomonosov, Konstantin Batyushkov, Mikhail Lermontov, often used the theme of St. Petersburg in their works, but none other than Alexander Pushkin created a complete and complete image of the city. He gave St. Petersburg the power of independent existence, described the spiritual beginning of the city, living its own life, sometimes calm and quiet, sometimes full of disasters and suffering. Spread beautifully and menacingly on the bones and swamp, the majestic creation of Peter the Great exists according to its own laws, and no one is able to fight its mighty element.

Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman". Petersburg image

The poem begins with the history of the formation of the city. Previously, water and wind reigned in its place, but it was here that Peter the Great decided to build a new capital. Petersburg rises "magnificently, proudly", in spite of nature itself. And now, it seems, there is not even a small reminder of the chaos that once reigned here: "bridges hung over the waters", "the Neva dressed in granite." The image of St. Petersburg in the poem "The Bronze Horseman" demonstrates the triumph of man over natural forces, but this impression is deceptive: during a flood, the city is more an accomplice of the elements than a winner.

water rampage

Personified in the image of the Neva, water first appears to the reader as a conquered element: "The Neva rushed about like a sick person." Then the author depicts her in the form of a beast that crushes and sweeps away everything in its path. The devastation after the flood is like the aftermath of a "senseless and merciless" riot. That's the fate of people fall into dependence on the elements. She takes with blind promiscuity the dearest person from Eugene, the hero of the poem "The Bronze Horseman". The image of Petersburg now seems to him merciless, destructive. Eugene's life loses all meaning, he cannot cope with misfortune and goes crazy. The face of this hero reflects the fatal doom and regularity of the fates of other “little people”, whose existence is entirely dependent on the geopolitical aspirations of the authorities and the king. When Peter the Great decided to found a new capital, he thought in general about the people and the state, but not about each specific person.

So, the image of St. Petersburg in the poem "The Bronze Horseman" reveals one of the components - a "little man", humiliated and dependent.

Peter the First

The theme of the city is inextricably linked with its creator. In the introduction, Alexander Pushkin does not call the tsar by name, but uses the pronoun “he”: “He stood on the shore of desert waves, full of great thoughts ...” Petersburg was built by the sole will of Peter the work of many nameless workers. Therefore, the image of the king is present all the time on the pages of the poem "The Bronze Horseman". Description of St. Petersburg is closely intertwined with the figure of the ruler. Here he is, cast in bronze, during the flood, watching the atrocities committed by the Neva, even as if approving them: “Kumir stands with outstretched hand on a bronze horse.” Even in the title of the monument, Pushkin deliberately omits the name of the tsar and calls him either "the bronze horseman" or "the powerful ruler of fate." So, the image of Peter the Great looms sinister, gloomy.

City of Living Statues

Pushkin, when creating the poem, used various legends associated with St. Petersburg. For example, there was a myth that the ghost of Paul the First was wandering around. Here, in the clouded brain of Eugene, the ghost of the tsar also appears, but only this time Peter the Great. And the monument "The Bronze Horseman" in St. Petersburg is like a revived statue and becomes the embodiment of the merciless will and unlimited power of the sovereign. Tsar Peter appears as an inaccessible and incomprehensible deity, mighty and formidable, and St. Petersburg itself is a mysterious and enigmatic city that destroys people and suppresses their will.

The duality of the image

At the same time, Petersburg in the poem "The Bronze Horseman" is revealed not only in an ominous, but also in a positive halo. This is a beautiful, majestic city, full of graceful forms, amazing splendor. It is full of graceful outlines: “huge slender palaces and towers”, “rich marinas”, into which “ships from all over the earth” aspire ... Among all the unique features of St. Petersburg, one cannot fail to note Pushkin's amazing descriptions of white nights. To do this, the author finds unique comparisons, uses perfectly honed words: “Your thoughtful nights are transparent dusk, moonless shine ...” I must say that Pushkin's contemporaries were lucky, because in those days the architectural appearance of the city was much more perfect. One can only envy the people who saw that beautiful and mysterious Petersburg with their own eyes, and even could recognize it in the poems that had just come out from the pen of Alexander Pushkin.

For us, the image of St. Petersburg, described by the poet in the poem "The Bronze Horseman", drowned in the "traditions of antiquity", and now only his creations serve as a guide to the city during Pushkin's life. Contemporaries of Alexander Sergeevich claimed that he managed to recreate the appearance of an amazing city on the Neva much brighter than other writers. We can only agree with this.

The true existence of the Northern capital

Diverse, at the same time beautiful and terrifying, the reader is drawn to the image of St. Petersburg in the poem "The Bronze Horseman". Pushkin reflected in it both the material and spiritual life of the city. In unsurpassed verses, Petersburg appears different, but in everything one can guess the outlines that are familiar and close to today's residents of the Northern capital: the “cast-iron fence” of the river, the “wonderful lattices” of the Summer Garden, the “Admiralty Needle” ... And the Neva is always present in the description of the city as something inseparable like the heart of Petersburg.

Instead of a conclusion

The poem "The Bronze Horseman" would not be complete without the spiritual completion of the image of Northern Palmyra, shown at different times of the day, year, in its different parts: on the outskirts and in the center. The reader sees an ambiguous Petersburg in the work: rich and poor, raging and silent, menacing and beautiful. The poem reflects the difficulties of the birth of this city, the despotic nature of the ruler who created it, the slavery of the people.

In essence, St. Petersburg is a city built on human bones. And all these features were most clearly revealed by Pushkin in his brilliant work. Alexander Sergeevich made a whole world out of St. Petersburg, and everyone who wanted to say his own word about this city had to reckon with this.

The writing

The poem "The Bronze Horseman" is a living figurative organism that does not tolerate unambiguous interpretations. All the images here are multi-valued, symbolic. The images of St. Petersburg, the Bronze Horseman, the Neva, Eugene have an independent meaning, but within the framework of the poem they closely interact with each other.

The poet explains history and modernity through a capacious and symbolic image of St. Petersburg.

The poem opens with "Introduction", in which the image of the city occupies a dominant place. Petersburg here is a deeply symbolic monument to the fruitfulness of the unity of millions of people. This fruitfulness lies in the fact that a city was created that is necessary for Russia, a city for people, a city that gives back the good that its builders laid in it. Therefore, the author often intrudes into the description of St. Petersburg with an expression of his love for him:

I love you, Peter's creation ...

Peter owns the very idea of ​​​​creating this city, an idea on the scale of the whole of Russia, but it was built by its people for people. Everything in it is beautiful, harmonious, full of grandeur, beauty and goodness. The "humanity" of the city is revealed in the affirmation of St. Petersburg's favor for creativity:

... Your thoughtful nights

Transparent dusk, moonless brilliance,

When I am in my room

I write, I read without a lamp...

In the future, the description opens up more and more new sides of the city to the reader. Before us appears a glorious city, the new capital of mighty Russia, which the poet loves. And he captivates the reader with his commitment to the places of St. Petersburg dear to him.

But the more the poet talks about the magnificent beauty of the city, the more it seems that he is somehow motionless, even somewhat unnatural. The poet sees "sleeping masses of deserted streets", hears "the hiss of foamy glasses", but there are no people on the streets, just as there are no their faces against the background of glasses.

In the "Introduction" the main principle of the image of the city, implemented in two parts of the "Petersburg story", is outlined - contrast. In the first part, the appearance of St. Petersburg changes, it is no longer a magnificent "young city", but a "gloomy Petrograd". The city turns into a fortress besieged by the Neva. The Neva is also part of the city, and this is worth noting. The trouble comes as if from within, the city itself takes itself by storm; everything that was unworthy of the image comes out, hidden behind the description of splendor:

Trays under a wet veil,

Fragments of huts, logs, roofs,

thrifty commodity,

Relics of pale poverty,

Storm-blown bridges

Coffins from a blurry cemetery

Float through the streets!

And only now people appear on the streets, "pressed in heaps" on the banks of the Neva. The raging Neva is difficult to correlate with the element of popular indignation: it either rushes about, “like a sick person in his restless bed”, then it rushes “to the sea against the storm” and, having met an obstacle, rebels, then it grumbles “penny ... like a petitioner at the door”.

The entire first part is a picture of a national disaster, and it is at this moment that the figure of the “idol on a bronze horse” appears for the first time, which is imperturbable, unlike the living king, powerless to resist the elements.

After the flood, urban contradictions not only did not disappear, but even more intensified. The Petersburg outskirts, where Evgeny rushed, resembles a "battlefield", washed away by the stormy elements, the house of his beloved Evgeny Parasha is the personification of a universal tragedy; but the very next morning everything returns to the previous order - the city is again indifferent to people. Once again, it becomes a city of merchants, officials, and "evil children" who throw stones at the insane Yevgeny.

Petersburg appears as a stronghold of Russian autocracy, as a center of autocracy, and it is hostile to man. The capital of Russia, created by the people, has turned into a hostile force for itself and for the individual. Pushkin, as it were, emphasizes that a city that did not arise gradually, did not grow out of the countryside, like the vast majority of other cities, but was forcibly built on this site in spite of the smooth flow of history, if it stands, then its inhabitants will have to pay for the fact that the founder practically went against the laws of nature.

In the center of the city there is a monument to its founder, and Petersburg itself is a huge monument to the personality of Peter; and the contradictions of the city reflect those of its founder.

Other writings on this work

Analysis of the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" The conflict of the individual and the state in the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" The image of Eugene in the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" The image of the Bronze Horseman in the poem of the same name by A. S. Pushkin The image of St. Petersburg in the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" The image of Peter the Great in the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" The image of Tsar Peter I in the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" The plot and composition of the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" The tragedy of a little man in the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" Image of Peter I The problem of personality and state in Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" The image of Peter in Alexander Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" The image of the elements in the poem "The Bronze Horseman" The truth of Eugene and the truth of Peter (based on Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman") Brief analysis of Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" The image of Eugene in Alexander Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" The conflict in the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" Petersburg through the eyes of A. S. Pushkin based on the poem "The Bronze Horseman" The problem of the individual and the state in the poem by A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" Heroes and problems of A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" The conflict between a private person and the state Bronze Horseman. Two heroes

The name of the city of St. Petersburg is imprinted in Russian history. But not only did he influence the life of the Russian people, but he also left a deep mark on Russian literature. The seething and formidable river, which was forged in granite, has become an excellent subject for many works of talented writers: Batyushkov, Derzhavin, Gogol and others. All of them tried to reveal this city, to show its strength and power. But only A. Pushkin was able in his poem "The Bronze Horseman" to reveal more fully the image of this city, showing its spiritual and natural development.

The life of St. Petersburg in the image of the poet is different: sometimes it is calm, silent and very quiet, but then it can suddenly boil up and become a kind of uncontrollable element, which manifests itself in the form of disasters and terrible floods. Petersburg is the creation of Peter I, which was built on bones, but it turned out to be not only majestic, but also terrible. Therefore, the city rises so menacingly and triumphantly above everything. This city has its own daily and peaceful life. But when the elements begin, then no one, even the king, can cope with it.

It is known from history that Petersburg is the “window to Europe”. Therefore, the poem "The Bronze Horseman" also has historical significance. From the very beginning of his work, Alexander Sergeevich mentions to us how this city was created. Once on this place only the wind walked, and the fast water carried its noisy waves. However, Tsar Peter I, seeing this place, decided to build a new city here, defeating the forces of the elements. And no matter how nature resisted, but still a proud and magnificent city grew majestically on the banks of the Neva.

The terrain changes a lot: natural chaos is replaced by order and granite shackles. Petersburg becomes a kind of symbol of the triumph of man over natural forces. But this impression is wrong, because one has to look deeper. The flood shows that a person is not a winner, becomes not only a victim of this element, but also its accomplice. Water is also an element, but in St. Petersburg it is represented by the conquered Neva River. This opinion about the conquered elements is deceptive, since the same water in the poem breaks into the life of people and the city itself, disturbing their peace and bringing death.

Pushkin compares a flooding river with a sick person who rushes about, trying to find peace and consolation. But soon this comparison is replaced by the following: the raging river, like a robber, rushes through the streets of the city, destroying, like a beast, everything that it comes across along the way. And everything that Neva has done, helplessly and cruelly, can be compared with the consequences that usually remain after a riot. The author uses many different verbs to describe the consequences: breaks, cuts, crushes, robs and others.

Now the fate of people living in St. Petersburg, are dependent on the elements. The protagonist of the poem during the flood loses his beloved girl, whom he was going to propose to. So Eugene loses his purpose in life and therefore his life becomes empty, and he begins to sink to the very bottom of life. The young man ceases to perceive reality, he simply goes crazy. The fate of Yevgeny is the fate of “little people” in Russia, whose life is priceless and it strongly depends on the authorities and on what the goals of autocratic power are.

When Petersburg was being built, the tsar only thought that a new city would be founded, and that its appearance would be useful for the whole people, but Peter the Great could not think specifically about each person, his fate. Therefore, the theme of St. Petersburg is closely connected with the theme of the “little man”, who in this city is humiliated and destroyed even by nature itself.

The image of the city on the Neva is also connected with the theme of Peter the Great. The author begins to talk about him already in the introduction to the poem. Therefore, having erected this city, the tsar - the autocrat connected forever his fate with it. When a flood occurs, Tsar Peter is also present here. He is a bronze horseman who towers over the city and carefully watches what is happening.

Pushkin describes this monument, calling Peter an idol who sits above the city on a horse made of bronze. But the author of the poem diligently bypasses the name of his idol, realizing that his poetic image is gloomy and sinister. So, in the introduction, when there is a glorification of the deeds of Peter, the author uses the pronoun "he". When describing the flood, it is already an idol on a horse, a strong lord of fate, a horseman made of copper. The author also recalled those legends that are associated with this magnificent city on the Neva: the myth of the appearance of the ghost of Paul the First in one of the city's castles. And the author uses this myth in order to show the clouding of the consciousness of the protagonist, who also has the ghost of Peter in his head, which haunts him.

The monument to the Copper Idol is the embodiment of power, which not only has no boundaries, but is also merciless. Consequently, St. Petersburg is a city that suppresses the will of a person, ruins their life, suppresses a person. But on the other hand, the city on the Neva is a place where many secrets and mysteries lurk, where the elements rage and monuments suddenly come to life. The image of Peter in the poem is a formidable deity, which is shrouded in a holy veil and its height is inaccessible.

Petersburg in the image of the poet has a dual characteristic: positive and sinister. Positive characteristic: a beautiful city, a majestic city with graceful forms. Sinister Description: The element rages like a tyrant that cannot be appeased. The reader sees not only the charm and splendor of this city, but also its poverty.

Pushkin describes that the fences are unpainted and the houses are "dilapidated". But after all, huge towers and palaces were built in this city, ships from all over the world come here, and the river is framed by granite, beautiful bridges were erected over it. The author also describes the northern nights with admiration, using epithets: thoughtful, transparent, moonless. To describe the beauty of the white nights, the poet uses comparisons.

Pushkin's poem is a hymn to the city of Petersburg, which, as the author himself admits, entered his life, and it is impossible not to love him. The author shows the city not only at different times of the year, but also all its hidden places.