« Railway» Nikolay Nekrasov
Vanya (in the coachman’s Armenian jacket).
Dad! who built this road?
Papa (in a coat with a red lining),
Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, my dear!
Conversation in the carriageGlorious autumn! Healthy, vigorous
The air invigorates tired forces;
Fragile ice on the icy river
It lies like melting sugar;Near the forest, like in a soft bed,
You can get a good night's sleep - peace and space!
The leaves have not yet had time to fade,
Yellow and fresh, they lie like a carpet.Glorious autumn! Frosty nights
Clear, quiet days...
There is no ugliness in nature! And kochi,
And moss swamps and stumps -Everything is fine under the moonlight,
Everywhere I recognize my native Rus'...
I fly quickly on cast iron rails,
I think my thoughts...Good dad! Why the charm?
Should I keep Vanya the smart one?
You will allow me in the moonlight
Show him the truth.This work, Vanya, was terribly enormous
Not enough for one!
There is a king in the world: this king is merciless,
Hunger is its name.He leads armies; at sea by ships
Rules; rounds up people in an artel,
Walks behind the plow, stands behind
Stonemasons, weavers.It was he who drove the masses of people here.
Many are in a terrible struggle,
Having brought these barren wilds back to life,
They found a coffin here for themselves.The path is straight: the embankments are narrow,
Columns, rails, bridges.
And on the sides there are all Russian bones...
How many of them! Vanechka, do you know?Chu! menacing exclamations were heard!
Stomping and gnashing of teeth;
A shadow ran across the frosty glass...
What's there? Crowd of the dead!Then they overtake the cast-iron road,
They run in different directions.
Do you hear singing?.. “On this moonlit night
We love to see our work!We struggled under the heat, under the cold,
With an ever-bent back,
They lived in dugouts, fought hunger,
They were cold and wet and suffered from scurvy.The literate foremen robbed us,
The authorities flogged me, the need was pressing...
We, God's warriors, have endured everything,
Peaceful children of labor!Brothers! You are reaping our benefits!
We are destined to rot in the earth...
Do you all remember us poor people kindly?
Or have you forgotten a long time ago?..”Do not be horrified by their wild singing!
From Volkhov, from Mother Volga, from Oka,
From different ends of the great state -
These are all your brothers - men!It's a shame to be timid, to cover yourself with a glove,
You're not little!.. With Russian hair,
You see, he’s standing there, exhausted by fever,
Tall sick Belarusian:Bloodless lips, drooping eyelids,
Ulcers on skinny arms
Always standing in knee-deep water
The legs are swollen; tangles in hair;I'm digging into my chest, which I diligently put on the spade
Day after day I worked hard all my life...
Take a closer look at him, Vanya:
Man earned his bread with difficulty!I didn’t straighten my hunchbacked back
He is still: stupidly silent
And mechanically with a rusty shovel
It's hammering the frozen ground!This noble habit of work
It would be a good idea for us to share with you...
Bless the work of the people
And learn to respect a man.Don’t be shy for your dear fatherland...
The Russian people have endured enough
He took out this railway too -
He will endure whatever God sends!Will endure everything - and a wide, clear
He will pave the way for himself with his chest.
It’s just a pity to live in this wonderful time
You won’t have to, neither me nor you.At this moment the whistle is deafening
He squealed - the crowd of dead people disappeared!
“I saw, dad, I had an amazing dream,”
Vanya said, “five thousand men,”Representatives of Russian tribes and breeds
Suddenly they appeared - and he said to me:
“Here they are, the builders of our road!”
The general laughed!“I was recently within the walls of the Vatican,
I wandered around the Colosseum for two nights,
I saw St. Stephen in Vienna,
Well... did the people create all this?Excuse me for this impudent laugh,
Your logic is a little wild.
Or for you Apollo Belvedere
Worse than a stove pot?Here are your people - these thermal baths and baths,
It’s a miracle of art - he took everything away!”
“I’m not speaking for you, but for Vanya...”
But the general did not allow him to object:"Your Slav, Anglo-Saxon and German
Do not create - destroy the master,
Barbarians! wild bunch of drunkards!..
However, it’s time to take care of Vanyusha;You know, the spectacle of death, sadness
It is a sin to disturb a child's heart.
Would you show the child now?
The bright side..."Glad to show you!
Listen, my dear: fatal works
It’s over - the German is already laying the rails.
The dead are buried in the ground; sick
Hidden in dugouts; working peopleA tight crowd gathered around the office...
They scratched their heads:
Every contractor must stay,
Walking days have become a penny!The foremen entered everything into a book -
Did you take to the bathhouse, did you lie sick:
“Maybe there is a surplus here now,
Here you go!..” They waved their hand...In a blue caftan is a venerable meadowsweet,
Thick, squat, red as copper,
A contractor is traveling along the line on holiday,
He goes to see his work.The idle people part decorously...
The merchant wipes the sweat from his face
And he says, putting his hands on his hips:
“Okay... nothing... well done!.. well done!..With God, now go home - congratulations!
(Hats off - if I say!)
I expose a barrel of wine to the workers
And - I give you the arrears!..”Someone shouted “hurray”. Picked up
Louder, friendlier, longer... Lo and behold:
The foremen rolled the barrel singing...
Even the lazy man could not resist!The people unharnessed the horses - and the purchase price
With a shout of “Hurray!” rushed along the road...
It seems difficult to see a more gratifying picture
Shall I draw, general?..
Analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “Railroad”
The poet Nikolai Nekrasov is one of the founders of the so-called civil movement in Russian literature. His works are devoid of any embellishment and are characterized by extraordinary realism, which sometimes causes a smile, but in most cases is an excellent reason for rethinking the reality around us.
Such profound works include the poem “The Railway,” written in 1864, a few months after the abolition of serfdom. In it, the author tries to show the other side of the coin of the construction of the overpass between Moscow and St. Petersburg, which for many workers became a huge mass grave.
The poem consists of four parts. The first of them is romantic and peaceful in nature. In it, Nekrasov talks about his railway journey, not forgetting to pay tribute to the beauty of Russian nature and the delightful landscapes that open outside the window of the train, sailing through meadows, fields and forests. Admiring the opening picture, the author becomes an involuntary witness to a conversation between the father-general and his teenage son, who is interested in who built the railway. It should be noted that this topic was particularly relevant and pressing in the second half of the 19th century, since railway communication opened up truly unlimited possibilities for travel. If it was possible to get from Moscow to St. Petersburg by mail carriage in about a week, then traveling by train made it possible to reduce travel time to one day.
However, few people thought about the price that had to be paid for Russia to finally transform from a backward agricultural country into a developed European power. The symbol of transformation in this case was the railway, which was intended to emphasize the new status of the Russian empire. It was built by former serfs who, having received their long-awaited freedom, simply did not know how to use this priceless gift. They were driven to the construction site of the century not so much by curiosity and the desire to fully taste the delights of a free life, but by banal hunger, which Nekrasov in his poem refers to only as the “king” who rules the world. As a result, several thousand people died during the construction of the railway, and the poet considered it necessary to tell about this not only to his young companion, but also to his readers.
The subsequent parts of the poem “Railroad” are devoted to a dispute between the author and the general, who is trying to assure the poet that the Russian peasant, stupid and powerless, is not able to build anything more worthwhile than a wooden rural hut, wretched and lopsided. According to Nekrasov’s opponent, only educated and noble people have the right to consider themselves geniuses of progress; they own great discoveries in the field of science, culture and art. At the same time, the general insists that the bleak picture painted by the poet harms the fragile youthful mind of his son. And Nekrasov takes it upon himself to show the situation from the other side, talking about how the construction work was completed, and at a celebration on this occasion, from the lordly shoulder of the meadowsweet worker, the workers received a barrel of wine and a write-off of the debts that they had accumulated during the construction of the railway. Simply put, the poet directly pointed out the fact that yesterday’s slaves were again deceived, and the results of their labor were appropriated by those who are the masters of life and can afford to dispose of the lives of others at their own discretion.
Genre focus The work is a civic lyric, the main theme of which is the depiction of the suffering and hardships of a person participating in the construction of the Russian railway, combined with the recklessness of officials and the brutal exploitation of the masses.
Compositional structure The poem is constructed in a linear form and consists of four parts, the first of which is a description of the natural landscape, and the following parts depict terrible pictures that arise during construction work on the railways. The compositional parts of the poem have a close relationship with each other, representing a combination of several heroes of the work in the image lyrical hero and the general and his son Vanya, who met in a railway carriage.
In the first part of the poem it appears loving relationship the author to Russian nature in the form of a description of the beauty of the autumn landscape, which contrasts strongly and effectively with the slave labor of people.
As poetic size the poet uses dactyl in the work in combination with precise and imprecise male and female rhymes, as well as the use of a cross rhyme method, which contribute to creating the atmosphere of the narrative as a gradual, but at the same time rich conversation. The use of this technique, which conveys the sound of the sound of the wheels of a train, is a kind of sound recording of the ballad direction.
The author chooses various means of artistic expression in the form of epithets, comparisons, personifications, and also uses literary devices in the form of metonymy and hyperbole, allowing us to convey bright, vivid pictures of reality.
The originality of the poem is the use of antithesis in the narrative in the form of an initial image of autumn nature, and then the presentation of eerie paintings demonstrating the difficult working conditions of the Russian people, which are a dazzling contrast to natural sketches.
Distinctive feature The poem is the author's use of several bright and talentedly presented images in the form of Russia and the Russian people, distinguished by a simple and strong character, a tortured Belarusian, symbolizing slave labor, a general, the interlocutor of the lyrical hero, depicted as a proud, arrogant, pompous, arrogant person.
In addition, the poetic narrative combines elements poetic drama, satires and ballads, which is also a unique, masterful technique of the author.
The poem “Railway” is to depict a revolutionary breakthrough in the Russian transport sector of that historical period, which claimed thousands of lost human lives.Option 2
N. Nekrasov is one of the founders of the civil direction in Russian creativity. There is no exaggeration in his works, and they are written quite realistically. Somewhere it may make you smile, but mostly it’s an excellent reason to think about what surrounds us around us.
And this work was created in 1864, shortly before serfdom was abolished. The poet strives to show a different situation when creating an overpass between the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, because for many masters this was the end of his life, his personal grave.
The work is presented in four parts. The first is with a touch of romanticism, with a certain peace. Here the poet talks about his journey by rail, not forgetting to note the beauty of Russia, and admires the landscapes that are visible outside the window of his train. Being delighted, N. Nekrasov accidentally heard a dialogue between his father, a general, and his teenage son. The child wonders who made this road. It should be noted that this topic is very relevant for the nineteenth century and is vital, since thanks to the new railway, new opportunities for travel appeared. If it was possible to travel by carriage from Moscow to St. Petersburg in a week, here the time was reduced to just one day.
But rarely did anyone think about the cost involved in getting there so quickly. And Russia was able to become a developed European power. Main symbol- a railway that was able to acquire a new status for Russia. It was put forward by former serfs, having finally acquired their freedom, they did not know what to do with it. And they were drawn to this work not so much by interest as by hunger and poverty. As a result, a lot of people, more than a thousand people, were injured during construction.
Analysis of the poem Nekrasov's Railway
Nikolai Nekrasov is a very talented person. It was he who wrote the work called “The Railway”. This work was created by the author in 1864. No wonder it bears such a name. After all, the poem actually has a very deep meaning.
Nikolai Nekrasov is very famous not only for his beautiful and good works, but also because he became the first to pave the civil direction in Russian literature. This makes a lot of sense, because it all started with his works. The writer is a man of principles who will not fall into invented romance, only in order to live well and joyfully. This is a realist who even in his literature adhered to precisely these standards. In his works everything was always very realistic. Sometimes readers smiled at how well and efficiently everything was described - our real life and its processes are everyday.
That is why the poem “Railway” does not surprise anyone, since it is also realistic, like KK and other works of Nekrasov. The poem was written a little later after the abolition of crepatism. Serfdom was abolished in 1861. But this was only a formal term, only after several years did something really begin to happen. It was on this occasion that this poem was written by the poet. In his work he describes the events of those years. And especially - 1864. Since it was in that year that the construction of the overpass between big cities– St. Petersburg and Moscow.
The reason for Nekrasov’s indignation was that this rash decision led to the death of many people. And that's just putting it mildly. In fact, thousands, and even millions of people died - ordinary people, although no one cared about it then. Nikolai Nekrasov was angry and outraged that the state of that time could not fully understand what they had planned. After all, they considered, as they say, only one side of the coin. And it was precisely this lack of thought that led to the death of many ordinary peasants.
The poem itself is, as it were, divided into four symmetrical parts. Oddly enough, yet in Nekrasov’s works, in addition to the striking everyday reality, there is also romance, at least a little - but it is still inherent. And it is precisely the first part of Nekrasov’s work that bears romantic impressions. The writer tells how he saw all the beauties of nature while traveling on the train. Railroad travel - and even it has its own pleasant sensations, except for fatigue. And, as a realist, he understood this all the more.
Russian nature is simply unforgettable, and even more so in those days. When corners still existed wildlife, not inhabited by people. The author becomes an involuntary listener to a conversation between the general’s son and the father himself. The teenager begins to wonder who built such a road for trains. Further, you can see a deeper meaning, which is more revealed than at the beginning. After all, no one then really thought about the cost of creating such a huge line of railway tracks for huge titan trains. And how many lives were lost then, in 1864, because many forgot about it, enjoying only the result.
At the center of events is the hero of Fetov's lyrics, who is trying to find harmony, but it always eludes him. He tries to be sure that a miracle can exist completely close to the observer
Main part love lyrics Nekrasov falls in the middle of his work and, of course, the pearl among all this lyrics remains the so-called Panaevsky cycle, which is a story about an amorous relationship with Avdotya Panaeva
One of the first poems by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, “Sasha,” was born in 1855. The simple story of a young village girl carries a deep meaning and reflects the formation of the modern young generation
The first railway in Russia was built under Nicholas I; it connected Moscow with St. Petersburg. The king did not foresee any difficulties or obstacles, but simply drew a road diagram under a ruler on a large map, which, naturally, affected forests and swamps, and as a result, the construction of this road claimed many lives of ordinary people.
The process was led by Count Kleinmichel, who went down in history as a man of incredible toughness. He really wanted to finish the construction as early as possible, so he brought the peasants to an ugly state, forcing them to work until they died.
Somewhat later, when Alexander II began to reign, the construction of railways gained momentum. And in 1864, a new line was built, and this time the victims of this construction were peasants freed from serfdom in 1861.
Such situations made a very strong impression on Nekrasov, and the poet could not help but create a poem dedicated to the terrible treatment of ordinary people, because throughout his entire work one can trace his incredible love for the peasant class, and in general for the simple, humiliated and undeserving to people.
Over the years of working on the work, N.A. Nekrasov became acquainted with the works of many famous personalities, the poet himself considered V.A.’s article to be particularly strong journalistic sources. Sleptsov “Vladimirka and Klyazma”, written in 1861, as well as an article by N.A. Dobrolyubov “The Experience of Weaning People from Food,” written in 1860.
Dobrolyubov in his article expresses a very important idea that runs through Nekrasov’s entire poem: even such a huge step in the history of Russia as the construction of the railway did not mean getting rid of a huge number of people in power and only thirsting for profit. They were not at all worried about the fate of ordinary workers, who had no choice but to follow orders, otherwise, for the slightest disobedience, they were threatened with confiscation of the last piece of bread, and sometimes even death.
The first edition of the poem was published in the then popular magazine Sovremennik; it had a rather controversial subtitle - “Dedicated to children.” Naturally, the publication caused a lot of unrest in high circles, who once again threatened to close the magazine. The censor called this poem by Nekrasov “slander.”
Although this conclusion was fundamentally incorrect, because the poet presented very real arguments and evidence in his work, so rather the ruling circles were not “slandered”, but exposed.
Thus, the poem by N.A. Nekrasov's "Railway" has a very interesting story a creation in which there were difficulties, censorship and controversy, because the author in the work touches on such a complex and painful topic for Russia - the suffering of ordinary people who were attacked by the authorities. The poet nevertheless managed to secretly defend the right to his amazing work, and in our time it is considered one of the greatest poems of that time.
“The Railway” is a poem by N. A. Nekrasov. It was written in 1864 and became the embodiment of the poet’s thoughts about the plight of the Russian people, injustice and the conditions in which people who built railways found themselves. You can check out brief analysis“Railroad” according to plan. This analysis can be used when studying a work in a literature lesson in 6th grade.
Brief Analysis
History of creation- the poem appeared in 1864 and became one of Nekrasov’s works, dedicated to the people, telling about their difficult life.
Subject- a poem about the suffering of people during the construction of railways in Russia in the 19th century, the recklessness of officials, and the cruel exploitation of the people.
Composition– linear, the poem consists of four parts: the first is a description of nature, and the following are live description terrible pictures that took place during the construction of the railway.
Genre- civil lyrics.
Poetic size- the poem is written in dactyl, using precise and imprecise, feminine and masculine rhyme, cross ABAB rhyming method.
Epithets– “Healthy, vigorous air”, “glorious autumn”.
Comparisons- “The ice... lies like melting sugar”, “Near the forest, you can sleep in a soft bed”, “The leaves... are yellow and fresh, like a carpet”, “...the venerable meadowsweet, thick, squat, red as copper”.
Hyperboles– “This work, Vanya, was terribly enormous.”.
Metonymy– “And on the sides there are all Russian bones”.
Personification– “The whistle blew a deafening sound”.
History of creation
The poem “The Railway” was written in 1864. The history of the creation of this work is associated with the construction in Russian Empire railways. The peasants who worked on the tracks were in difficult conditions, hungry and sick. Their lives were not thought or cared for, the only goal was to finish the job quickly. For the poet, who cared about ordinary people and tried to reflect reality as it is, it was painful and insulting to see this. His experiences were embodied in the poem being studied.
Subject
The main idea that Nekrasov tried to convey to the general public in many of his works was the plight of the common people in Russia. The theme of the life of peasants and workers, the unbearable conditions of their work and life during the construction of communication routes, was clearly reflected in the poem “Railroad”. Also here, a red thread runs through the poet’s condemnation of those people who were at the head of these works. They did not care about making people's work easier and saving their lives, but used them only as a means to achieve their goals.
Composition
The poem consists of four distinct parts. All of them are interconnected and represent a combination of several images of people sitting in a train carriage: the lyrical hero, the general and his son Vanya.
The description is completely built on antithesis: in the first part we see autumn landscapes, thin ice on the river, forest, yellow leaves, moonlight. The author says that “there is no ugliness in nature.” Then we are presented with completely different pictures: hunger, death, and terrible working conditions for people. There “stands, exhausted by fever... a sick Belarusian: bloodless lips, drooping eyelids, ulcers on his skinny arms...”. Here we see the work managers: “in a blue caftan... fat, stocky... contractor.”
Genre
The genre of a poem is determined by the topic to which it is dedicated - this is civil poetry. Confirmation of this is a reflection of real reality, not embellished in any way. The poet worries about the Russian people, people forced to work in unimaginably difficult conditions, condemns the leadership, which strives to achieve its goals at any cost.
The poem is written in a three-syllable meter - dactyl. Are used different kinds rhymes: exact (beds - had time, nights - kochi), inaccurate (space - carpet, alone - him), masculine (people - weavers), feminine (huge - merciless), method of rhyming - cross.
Means of expression
In the poem “Railroad” various artistic media. Among them there are often comparisons: “Ice... lies like melting sugar”, “Near the forest, like in a soft bed, you can sleep well”, “Leaves... yellow and fresh lie like a carpet”, “... the venerable meadowsweet, thick, planty, red as copper” . The author also applies epithets: “Healthy, vigorous air”, “glorious autumn”, hyperbole: “This work, Vanya, was terribly enormous.”
In addition, other means can be observed, for example, metonymy: “And on the sides there are all Russian bones”, personification: “The whistle blew a deafening sound.”
The abundance of means of expression helps to recreate a bright, living picture of the reality of that time, which appears before us when reading the poem.
Poem test
Rating Analysis
Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 65.
The poem “Railway” (sometimes researchers call the work a poem) was written by N.A. Nekrasov in 1864. The work was based on historical facts. It talks about construction in 1846–1851. Nikolaevskaya railway, connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. This work was led by the manager of communications and public buildings, Count P.A. Kleinmichel. People worked in the most difficult conditions: thousands died of hunger and disease, they did not have the necessary clothing, and they were cruelly punished with whips for the slightest disobedience. While working on the work, I studied essays and journalistic materials: an article by N.A. Dobrolyubov “The Experience of Weaning People from Food” (1860) and an article by V.A. Sleptsov “Vladimirka and Klyazma” (1861). The poem was first published in 1865 in the Sovremennik magazine. It had the subtitle: “Dedicated to children.” This publication caused discontent among official circles, after which a second warning followed about the closure of the Sovremennik magazine. The censor found in this poem “a terrible slander that cannot be read without shuddering.” The censorship determined the direction of the magazine as follows: “Opposition to the government, extreme political and moral opinions, democratic aspirations, and finally, religious denial and materialism.”
We can classify the poem as civil poetry. Its genre and compositional structure is complex. It is constructed in the form of a conversation between passengers, whose conditional companion is the author himself. The main theme is thoughts about the difficult, tragic fate of the Russian people. Some researchers call “The Railway” a poem that synthesizes elements of various genre forms: drama, satire, songs and ballads.
“The Railway” opens with an epigraph – a conversation between Vanya and his father about who built the railway along which they are traveling. To the boy’s question, the general answers: “Count Kleinmichel.” Then the author comes into action, who initially acts as a passenger-observer. And in the first part we see pictures of Russia, a beautiful autumn landscape:
Glorious autumn! Healthy, vigorous
The air invigorates tired forces;
Fragile ice on the icy river
It lies like melting sugar;
Near the forest, like in a soft bed,
You can get a good night's sleep - peace and space! -
The leaves have not yet had time to fade,
Yellow and fresh, they lie like a carpet.
This landscape was created in line with the Pushkin tradition:
October has already arrived - the grove is already shaking off
The last leaves from their naked branches;
The autumn chill has blown in - the road is freezing.
The stream still runs babbling behind the mill,
But the pond was already frozen; my neighbor is in a hurry
To the departing fields with my desire...
These sketches perform the function of exposition in the plot of the work. Nekrasov’s lyrical hero admires the beauty of the modest Russian nature, where everything is so good: “frosty nights”, and “clear, quiet days”, and “moss swamps”, and “stumps”. And as if in passing he remarks: “There is no ugliness in nature!” This prepares the antitheses on which the entire poem is built. Thus, the author contrasts the beautiful nature, where everything is reasonable and harmonious, with the outrages that are happening in human society.
And we have this opposition already in the second part, in the speech of the lyrical hero addressed to Vanya:
This work, Vanya, was terribly enormous -
Not enough for one!
There is a king in the world: this king is merciless,
Hunger is its name.
Opposing the general, he reveals to the boy the truth about the construction of the railway. Here we see the beginning and development of the action. The lyrical hero says that many workers were doomed to death during this construction. Next we see a fantastic picture:
Chu! menacing exclamations were heard!
Stomping and gnashing of teeth;
A shadow ran across the frosty glass...
What's there? Crowd of the dead!
As noted by T.P. Buslakov, “the reminiscent source of this picture is the dance scene of “quiet shadows” in the ballad of V.A. Zhukovsky “Lyudmila” (1808):
“Chu! a leaf shook in the forest.
Chu! a whistle was heard in the wilderness.They hear the rustling of quiet shadows:
At the hour of midnight visions,
There are clouds in the house, in a crowd,
Leaving the ashes at the grave
With the late month sunrise
A light, bright round dance
They are entwined in an aerial chain...
In terms of meaning, two close... episodes are polemical. Nekrasov’s artistic goal becomes the desire not only to present evidence, unlike Zhukovsky, of the “terrifying” truth, but to awaken the reader’s conscience.” Next, the image of the people is concretized by Nekrasov. From the bitter song of the dead we learn about their unfortunate fate:
We struggled under the heat, under the cold,
With an ever-bent back,
They lived in dugouts, fought hunger,
They were cold and wet and suffered from scurvy.The literate foremen robbed us,
The authorities flogged me, the need was pressing...
We, God's warriors, have endured everything,
Peaceful children of labor!
...Russian hair,
You see, he’s standing exhausted with fever,
Tall, sick Belarusian:
Bloodless lips, drooping eyelids,
Ulcers on skinny arms
Always standing in knee-deep water
The legs are swollen; tangles in hair;
I'm digging into my chest, which I diligently put on the spade
I worked hard all day every day...
Take a closer look at him, Vanya:
Man earned his bread with difficulty!
Here the lyrical hero indicates his position. In his appeal addressed to Vanya, he reveals his attitude towards the people. Great respect for the workers, “brothers”, for their feat is heard in the following lines:
This noble habit of work
It would be a good idea for us to share with you...
Bless the work of the people
And learn to respect a man.
And the second part ends on an optimistic note: the lyrical hero believes in the strength of the Russian people, in their special destiny, in a bright future:
Don’t be shy for your dear fatherland...
The Russian people have endured enough
He also took out this railway -
He will endure whatever God sends!Will bear everything - and a wide, clear
He will pave the way for himself with his chest.
These lines are the culmination of the development of the lyrical plot. The image of the road here takes on a metaphorical meaning: this is the special path of the Russian people, the special path of Russia.
The third part of the poem is contrasted with the second. Here Vanya's father, the general, expresses his views. In his opinion, the Russian people are “barbarians,” “a wild bunch of drunkards.” Unlike the lyrical hero, he is skeptical. The antithesis is also present in the content of the third part itself. Here we encounter a reminiscence from Pushkin: “Or is Apollo Belvedere Worse than a stove pot for you?” The general here paraphrases Pushkin’s lines from the poem “The Poet and the Crowd”:
You would benefit from everything - worth it's weight
Idol you value Belvedere.
You don’t see any benefit or benefit in it.
But this marble is God!.. so what?
The stove pot is more valuable to you:
You cook your food in it.
However, “the author himself enters into polemics with Pushkin. For him, poetry, the content of which is “sweet sounds and prayers”..., and the role of the poet-priest are unacceptable. He is ready to “Give... bold lessons”, to rush into battle for the sake of the people’s “good”.
The fourth part is an everyday sketch. This is a kind of denouement in the development of the topic. With bitter irony, the satirically lyrical hero paints here a picture of the end of his labors. The workers do not receive anything, because everyone “owes something to the contractor.” And when he forgives them the arrears, this causes wild rejoicing among the people:
There is also an antithesis in this part. The contractor, the “venerable meadow farmer,” and the foremen are contrasted here with the deceived, patient people.
Compositionally, the work is divided into four parts. It is written in dactyl tetrameter, quatrains, and cross rhymes. The poet uses various means of artistic expression: epithets (“vigorous air”, “in a beautiful time”), metaphor (“He will endure everything - and pave a wide, clear path for himself with his chest...”), comparison (“Ice is fragile on a chilly river Like melting sugar lies down"), anaphora ("A contractor is traveling along the line on a holiday, He is going to see his work"), inversion "This noble habit of work"). Researchers have noted the variety of lyrical intonations (narrative, colloquial, declamatory) in the poem. However, they are all colored by a song tone. The scene with the image of the dead brings “The Railroad” closer to the ballad genre. The first part reminds us of a landscape miniature. The vocabulary and syntax of the work are neutral. Analyzing the phonetic structure of the work, we note the presence of alliteration (“The leaves have not yet had time to fade”) and assonance (“Everywhere I recognize my native Rus'...”).
The poem “Railroad” was very popular among the poet’s contemporaries. One of the reasons for this is the sincerity and fervor of the lyrical hero’s feelings. As K. Chukovsky noted, “Nekrasov... in “The Railway” has anger, sarcasm, tenderness, melancholy, hope, and every feeling is enormous, each one is brought to the limit...”
1. Zarchaninov A.A., Raikhin D.Ya. Russian literature. Tutorial for high school. M., 1964., p. 15–19.
2. Buslakova T.P. Russian literature of the 19th century. Minimum educational requirement for applicants. M., 2005, p. 253–254.
3. There, p. 255.
4. See: Chukovsky K.I. Nekrasov's mastery. M., 1955.