Mandelstam inexpressible sadness analysis. Osip Emilievich Mandelstam

  • 21.09.2019

Interpretation.

O. E. Mandelstam

Unspeakable sadness

opened two huge eyes,

flower woke up vase

and threw out her crystal.

The whole room is drunk

languor is sweet medicine!

Such a small kingdom

took so much sleep.

A little red wine,

a little sunny May -

and, breaking a thin biscuit,

whiteness of the thinnest fingers.

O. M. Mandelstam's poem "Inexpressible Sorrow ..." is one of the earliest in the poet's work (1909). According to Akhmatova, “the tenth years are a very important time in Mandelstam’s creative path ...” (Silver Age. Memoirs. Anna Akhmatova. Leaflets from a diary. M., 1990, p. 407). Indeed, the poet experimented a lot. The beginning of the century: symbolism is still in vogue, the impressionist experiments of Innokenty Annensky are interesting. Mandelstam has many exemplary teachers, but he is proud that he represents a new trend in poetry - acmeism, the "clear" poetic world.

If you call Mandelstam's poetry painting, then this is undoubtedly impressionism. The ray of the sun is an unheard of audacity in painting - the innovation of Manet, Morisot, Degas and many other artists. Bright lighting in the picture makes the color of objects saturated: green water, fiery water lilies, a red bow in the buttonhole, phosphorescent white feathers of ballerinas, the yellow body of Olympia.

Mandelstam in the poem names one bright color - red (“a little red wine”), but how many sun glare is in the picture: the vase “splashed out its crystal” - the brightest shine, “thin” biscuit, “the thinnest fingers whiteness” - also white.

"Unspeakable Sorrow" is a small lyrical study in the style of a still life. The theme of the study is morning awakening, the feeling of one's being and connection with objects of reality: a room, a crystal vase, a biscuit, wine. A ray of the sun creates movement in the picture: first it hits a crystal vase, then it illuminates the whole room, and finally wakes up the one who is in the room and plays on his fingers.

There are two plans in the picture: an imaginary window through which a ray of the sun penetrates and the space of a room with objects in it. This can be correlated with the external and internal state of the lyrical hero - macro and microcosm. The hero's condition, as well as the state of things, can change at any moment: the beam will disappear, the wine will become tart, the biscuit will be eaten.

This poem has a number of features related to the entire lyrics of the poet. Very often in the first stanzas, Mandelstam denies: “We can’t stand tense silence”, “I’m not a fan ...”, “There is nothing to talk about”, etc. Here, too, denial is “inexpressible sadness”. A very strange definition of sadness, but if you recall Akhmatova “The music rang in the garden / such inexpressible grief ...” or “Glory to you, hopeless pain!”, Then you can put these words in a series of traditional maxims of acmeism. Indeed, in pain, suffering, sadness there is languor, even "languor is a sweet medicine." Acmeists love this kind of oxymoron.

Sadness opens "two huge eyes." These can be windows that become transparent with the dawn, “open”. Either these are Mandelstam's eyes - beautiful, brown, with long eyelashes. The acmeists urged everyone to call everything by their proper names, unlike the symbolists, who tried to put a sacred meaning into ordinary words, thereby (according to the acmeists) devaluing the sacredness of the inexpressible.

“The whole room is drunk ...” - a reminiscence to Pushkin's “The whole room is drunk with amber shine / Drinking ...”. This is an indication of the general mood in the stanzas of Pushkin and Mandelstam, which is important for the correct reading of the poem. Reminiscences, open quotation, intertexting are a constant technique in Mandelstam's poetry. This makes it difficult to understand the verses and at the same time enriches them. Sometimes reminiscence comes down only to the repetition of a combination of words in isolation from the context of the original. Such, perhaps, is the allusion to Ostrovsky's "sleepy kingdom" ("Such a small kingdom / So much ... sleep"), which is difficult to interpret otherwise than as an exclusively sound play on a familiar combination of words.

Some red wine

A bit of sunny May...

It's like an excerpt from a recipe. Mandelstam was very fond of sweets. This can be found in the memoirs of Odoevtsoy. For example: “... He tells how, one spring morning, he was dying to get eggnog. He went to the market and bought an egg from the merchant. But on the way, the peasant was selling Golden Label chocolate, Mandelstam's favorite chocolate. Seeing the chocolate, Mandelstam forgot about the mogul, he "to the point" wanted chocolate.

The third stanza brings us back to the technique of painting. In impressionism, a brushstroke falls easily, quickly, tree trunks, sails, figures, faces appear on the ripples of foliage and sky. The effect of fragmentary painting creates continuous movement in the painting. Mandelstam's third stanza is a series of verbal strokes: objects are not written out photographically (with the help of whole sentences), but are called one or two strokes that unfold in the reader's mind into full-fledged elements of the picture. Mandelstam gives free rein to the imagination. Grammatically, it avoids predicates, and in the last two lines it brings fragmentation to the limit.

The poem contains some features of a self-portrait. Eyes and fingers. According to contemporaries, Mandelstam was not tall, with his head thrown back (“You throw your head back ...”). It is quite possible to imagine that the graceful Mandelstam has "whiteness of the thinnest fingers." On the other hand, this portrait characteristic is also indirect, like "two huge eyes."

The poem is harmonious, musical. Words play with each other, la catches up with two, as - for, etc. The syllables turn into notes (ra, cha, va, ta, na, la), and the notes into a violin solo, bringing out a fragile, nervous melody.

So, in a short poem, with amazing ease and skill, the magical unity of the three arts - poetry, painting and music - is realized.

Interpretation.

O. E. Mandelstam

Unspeakable sadness

opened two huge eyes,

flower woke up vase

and threw out her crystal.

The whole room is drunk

languor is sweet medicine!

Such a small kingdom

took so much sleep.

A little red wine

a little sunny May -

and, breaking a thin biscuit,

whiteness of the thinnest fingers.

O. M. Mandelstam's poem "Inexpressible Sorrow ..." is one of the earliest in the poet's work (1909). According to Akhmatova, “the tenth years are a very important time in Mandelstam’s creative path ...” (Silver Age. Memoirs. Anna Akhmatova. Leaflets from a diary. M., 1990, p. 407). Indeed, the poet experimented a lot. The beginning of the century: symbolism is still in vogue, the impressionist experiments of Innokenty Annensky are interesting. Mandelstam has many exemplary teachers, but he is proud that he represents a new trend in poetry - acmeism, the "clear" poetic world.

If you call Mandelstam's poetry painting, then this is undoubtedly impressionism. The ray of the sun is an unheard of audacity in painting - the innovation of Manet, Morisot, Degas and many other artists. Bright lighting in the picture makes the color of objects saturated: green water, fiery water lilies, a red bow in the buttonhole, phosphorescent white feathers of ballerinas, the yellow body of Olympia.

Mandelstam in the poem names one bright color - red (“a little red wine”), but how many sun glare is in the picture: the vase “splashed out its crystal” - the brightest shine, “thin” biscuit, “the thinnest fingers whiteness” - also white.

"Unspeakable Sorrow" is a small lyrical study in the style of a still life. The theme of the study is morning awakening, the feeling of one's being and connection with objects of reality: a room, a crystal vase, a biscuit, wine. A ray of the sun creates movement in the picture: first it hits a crystal vase, then it illuminates the whole room, and finally wakes up the one who is in the room and plays on his fingers.

There are two plans in the picture: an imaginary window through which a ray of the sun penetrates and the space of a room with objects in it. This can be correlated with the external and internal state of the lyrical hero - macro and microcosm. The hero's condition, as well as the state of things, can change at any moment: the beam will disappear, the wine will become tart, the biscuit will be eaten.

This poem has a number of features related to the entire lyrics of the poet. Very often in the first stanzas, Mandelstam denies: “We can’t stand tense silence”, “I’m not a fan ...”, “There is nothing to talk about”, etc. Here, too, denial is “inexpressible sadness”. A very strange definition of sadness, but if you recall Akhmatova “The music rang in the garden / such inexpressible grief ...” or “Glory to you, hopeless pain!”, Then you can put these words in a series of traditional maxims of acmeism. Indeed, in pain, suffering, sadness there is languor, even "languor is a sweet medicine." Acmeists love this kind of oxymoron.

Sadness opens "two huge eyes." These can be windows that become transparent with the dawn, “open”. Or these are Mandelstam's eyes - beautiful, brown, with long eyelashes. The acmeists urged everyone to call everything by their proper names, unlike the symbolists, who tried to put a sacred meaning into ordinary words, thereby (according to the acmeists) devaluing the sacredness of the inexpressible.

“The whole room is drunk ...” - a reminiscence to Pushkin's “The whole room is drunk with amber shine / Drinking ...”. This is an indication of the general mood in the stanzas of Pushkin and Mandelstam, which is important for the correct reading of the poem. Reminiscences, open quotation, intertexting are a constant technique in Mandelstam's poetry. This makes it difficult to understand the verses and at the same time enriches them. Sometimes reminiscence comes down only to the repetition of a combination of words in isolation from the context of the original. Such, perhaps, is the allusion to Ostrovsky's "sleepy kingdom" ("Such a small kingdom / So much ... sleep"), which is difficult to interpret otherwise than as an exclusively sound play on a familiar combination of words.

Some red wine

A bit of sunny May...

It's like an excerpt from a recipe. Mandelstam was very fond of sweets. This can be found in the memoirs of Odoevtsoy. For example: “... He tells how, one spring morning, he was dying to get eggnog. He went to the market and bought an egg from the merchant. But on the way, the peasant was selling Golden Label chocolate, Mandelstam's favorite chocolate. Seeing the chocolate, Mandelstam forgot about the mogul, he "to the point" wanted chocolate.

The third stanza brings us back to the technique of painting. In impressionism, a brushstroke falls easily, quickly, tree trunks, sails, figures, faces appear on the ripples of foliage and sky. The effect of fragmentary painting creates continuous movement in the painting. Mandelstam's third stanza is a series of verbal strokes: objects are not written out photographically (with the help of whole sentences), but are called one or two strokes that unfold in the reader's mind into full-fledged elements of the picture. Mandelstam gives free rein to the imagination. Grammatically, it avoids predicates, and in the last two lines it brings fragmentation to the limit.

The poem contains some features of a self-portrait. Eyes and fingers. According to contemporaries, Mandelstam was not tall, with his head thrown back (“You throw your head back ...”). It is quite possible to imagine that the graceful Mandelstam has "whiteness of the thinnest fingers." On the other hand, this portrait characteristic is also indirect, like "two huge eyes."

The poem is harmonious, musical. Words play with each other, la catches up with two, as - for, etc. The syllables turn into notes (ra, cha, va, ta, na, la), and the notes into a violin solo, bringing out a fragile, nervous melody.

So, in a short poem, with amazing ease and skill, the magical unity of the three arts - poetry, painting and music - is realized.

Osip Emilievich Mandelstam

Unspeakable sadness
Opened two huge eyes
Flower woke up vase
And threw out her crystal.

The whole room is drunk
Tiredness is sweet medicine!
Such a small kingdom
So much sleep has been consumed.

A little red wine
A little sunny May
And, breaking a thin biscuit,
The thinnest fingers are white.

In 1913, the first edition of Mandelstam's debut book "Stone" was published, which reflected the creative searches of the young poet, his experiments in the field of symbolism and acmeism. Biggest Influence two geniuses, Tyutchev and Verlaine, rendered early lyrics. From the first, Osip Emilievich borrowed some themes. From the second - lightness of form.

Often, when analyzing the first period of Mandelstam's work, literary critics do not take into account one very important fact- the young poet suffered from two diseases at once: angina pectoris and asthma. The situation was quite dangerous, there was even a certain prediction imminent death Osip Emilievich. She greatly frightened the poet. Mandelstam was afraid that the body would die, and the "feat of the soul" would not have time to be accomplished. The disease gave rise to a sense of the fragility of being. At any moment, the world can sway and shatter, as reflected in the 1909 poem "Unspeakable Sorrow". The motif of fragility appears in the first stanza: the vase spills its crystal. In the second quatrain, the room appears as a whole world - a small kingdom, which is both closed and limitless. At the end of the poem, the theme of fragility returns. The world described earlier, like a biscuit, can be destroyed with the help of the thinnest fingers. To whom do they belong - fate, God, man? In this case, it is not so important as long as there is an opportunity to enjoy “red wine” and “sunny May”. By the way, even the disease has a peculiar advantage - it is able to expand vision: "Inexpressible sadness opened two huge eyes ...".

Sometimes Mandelstam is accused of being tongue-tied. Pay attention to the last two lines of the poem "Unspeakable Sorrow":

... And, breaking a thin biscuit,
The thinnest fingers are white.

Here there is an incorrect use from the point of view of the rules of the Russian language participle turnover. Well, how can whiteness act as the performer of any action? And at Mandelstam's, she breaks a thin biscuit. A sensitive reader is captivated precisely by the irregularity contained in the image invented by Osip Emilievich. A similar idea is found in Nikolai Gumilyov, a friend of Mandelstam and his colleague in the “Workshop of Poets”.

Nikolai Gumilyov

He wrote that the poem "should be impeccable even to the point of being wrong," since only conscious deviations from generally accepted rules give individuality to the work.

Literary critic and philologist Mikhail Gasparov associated "Inexpressible Sadness" with another early lyrical sketch by Mandelstam - "In the vastness of the twilight hall ...". It shows an empty room with tall vases on the table. In them are lilies, open flowers as if asking for wine. Compare with the picture depicted in the poem we are considering - a bouquet in a vase, a sip of wine, a thin biscuit.

"Inexpressible Sadness" is a magnificent example of Mandelstam's impressionist work. Not without the influence of Paul Verlaine.

Paul Verlaine

He is considered the first impressionist poet in world literature, whose lyrics marked the transition from romanticism to symbolism. "Pure observation", which underlies the new direction in art, meant the rejection of the idea in creativity, completeness, generalization. Every moment was depicted. The place of thought was taken by perception, reason replaced instinct. Accordingly, there was a rejection of the story, the plot. "Unspeakable Sorrow" is a beautiful impressionistic sketch, the images of which each reader can interpret in his own way, depending on his own life experience perception of art and reality.

Interpretation.

O. E. Mandelstam

Unspeakable sadness

opened two huge eyes,

flower woke up vase

and threw out her crystal.

The whole room is drunk

languor is sweet medicine!

Such a small kingdom

took so much sleep.

A little red wine

a little sunny May -

and, breaking a thin biscuit,

whiteness of the thinnest fingers.

O. M. Mandelstam's poem "Inexpressible Sorrow ..." is one of the earliest in the poet's work (1909). According to Akhmatova, “the tenth years are a very important time in Mandelstam’s creative path ...” (Silver Age. Memoirs. Anna Akhmatova. Leaflets from a diary. M., 1990, p. 407). Indeed, the poet experimented a lot. The beginning of the century: symbolism is still in vogue, the impressionist experiments of Innokenty Annensky are interesting. Mandelstam has many exemplary teachers, but he is proud that he represents a new trend in poetry - acmeism, the "clear" poetic world.

If you call Mandelstam's poetry painting, then this is undoubtedly impressionism. The ray of the sun is an unheard of audacity in painting - the innovation of Manet, Morisot, Degas and many other artists. Bright lighting in the picture makes the color of objects saturated: green water, fiery water lilies, a red bow in the buttonhole, phosphorescent white feathers of ballerinas, the yellow body of Olympia.

Mandelstam in the poem calls one bright color - red (“a little red wine”), but how many sun glare is in the picture: the vase “splashed out its crystal” - the brightest shine, “thin” biscuit, “the thinnest fingers whiteness” - also white.

"Unspeakable Sorrow" is a small lyrical study in the style of a still life. The theme of the study is morning awakening, the feeling of one's being and connection with objects of reality: a room, a crystal vase, a biscuit, wine. A ray of the sun creates movement in the picture: first it hits a crystal vase, then it illuminates the whole room, and finally wakes up the one who is in the room and plays on his fingers.

There are two plans in the picture: an imaginary window through which a ray of the sun penetrates and the space of a room with objects in it. This can be correlated with the external and internal state of the lyrical hero - macro and microcosm. The hero's condition, as well as the state of things, can change at any moment: the beam will disappear, the wine will become tart, the biscuit will be eaten.

This poem has a number of features related to the entire lyrics of the poet. Very often in the first stanzas, Mandelstam denies: “We can’t stand tense silence”, “I’m not a fan ...”, “There is nothing to talk about”, etc. Here, too, denial is “inexpressible sadness”. A very strange definition of sadness, but if you recall Akhmatova “The music rang in the garden / such inexpressible grief ...” or “Glory to you, hopeless pain!”, Then you can put these words in a series of traditional maxims of acmeism. Indeed, in pain, suffering, sadness there is languor, even "languor is a sweet medicine." Acmeists love this kind of oxymoron.

Sadness opens "two huge eyes." These can be windows that become transparent with the dawn, “open”. Either these are Mandelstam's eyes - beautiful, brown, with long eyelashes. The acmeists urged everyone to call everything by their proper names, unlike the symbolists, who tried to put a sacred meaning into ordinary words, thereby (according to the acmeists) devaluing the sacredness of the inexpressible.

“The whole room is drunk ...” - a reminiscence to Pushkin's “The whole room is drunk with amber shine / Drinking ...”. This is an indication of the general mood in the stanzas of Pushkin and Mandelstam, which is important for the correct reading of the poem. Reminiscences, open quotation, intertexting are a constant technique in Mandelstam's poetry. This makes it difficult to understand the verses and at the same time enriches them. Sometimes reminiscence comes down only to the repetition of a combination of words in isolation from the context of the original. Such, perhaps, is the allusion to Ostrovsky's "sleepy kingdom" ("Such a small kingdom / So much ... sleep"), which is difficult to interpret otherwise than as an exclusively sound play on a familiar combination of words.

Some red wine

A bit of sunny May...

It's like an excerpt from a recipe. Mandelstam was very fond of sweets. This can be found in the memoirs of Odoevtsoy. For example: “... He tells how, one spring morning, he was dying to get eggnog. He went to the market and bought an egg from the merchant. But on the way, the peasant was selling Golden Label chocolate, Mandelstam's favorite chocolate. Seeing the chocolate, Mandelstam forgot about the mogul, he "to the point" wanted chocolate.

The third stanza brings us back to the technique of painting. In impressionism, a brushstroke falls easily, quickly, tree trunks, sails, figures, faces appear on the ripples of foliage and sky. The effect of fragmentary painting creates continuous movement in the painting. Mandelstam's third stanza is a series of verbal strokes: objects are not written out photographically (with the help of whole sentences), but are called one or two strokes that unfold in the reader's mind into full-fledged elements of the picture. Mandelstam gives free rein to the imagination. Grammatically, it avoids predicates, and in the last two lines it brings fragmentation to the limit.

The poem contains some features of a self-portrait. Eyes and fingers. According to contemporaries, Mandelstam was not tall, with his head thrown back (“You throw your head back ...”). It is quite possible to imagine that the graceful Mandelstam has "whiteness of the thinnest fingers." On the other hand, this portrait characteristic is also indirect, like "two huge eyes."

The poem is harmonious, musical. Words play with each other, la catches up with two, as - for, etc. Syllables turn into notes (ra, cha, va, ta, na, la), and notes into a violin solo, bringing out a fragile, nervous melody.

So, in a short poem, with amazing ease and skill, the magical unity of the three arts - poetry, painting and music - is realized.

romantic3 in post

Unspeakable sadness

Opened two huge eyes
Flower woke up vase
And threw out her crystal.

The whole room is drunk
Tiredness is sweet medicine!
Such a small kingdom
So much sleep has been consumed.

A little red wine
A little sunny May -
And, breaking a thin biscuit,
The thinnest fingers are white.

Osip Mandelstam, 1909

O. M. Mandelstam's poem "Inexpressible Sorrow ..." is one of the earliest in the poet's work (1909). According to Akhmatova, "the 10s are a very important time in Mandelstam's creative path..." Indeed, the poet experimented a lot. The beginning of the century: symbolism is still in vogue, the impressionist experiments of Innokenty Annensky are interesting. Mandelstam has many exemplary teachers, but he is proud that he represents a new trend in poetry - acmeism, the "clear" poetic world.

If you call Mandelstam's poetry painting, then this is undoubtedly impressionism. The ray of the sun is an unheard of audacity in painting - the innovation of Manet, Morisot, Degas and many other artists. Bright lighting in the picture makes the color of objects saturated: green water, fiery water lilies, a red bow in the buttonhole, phosphorescent white feathers of ballerinas, the yellow body of Olympia.

Mandelstam in the poem calls one bright color - red (“a little red wine”), but how many sun glare is in the picture: the vase “splashed out its crystal” - the brightest shine, “thin” biscuit, “the thinnest fingers whiteness” - also white.

"Unspeakable Sorrow" is a small lyrical study in the style of a still life. The theme of the study is morning awakening, the feeling of one's being and connection with objects of reality: a room, a crystal vase, a biscuit, wine. A ray of the sun creates movement in the picture: first it hits a crystal vase, then it illuminates the whole room, and finally wakes up the one who is in the room and plays on his fingers.

There are two plans in the picture: an imaginary window through which a ray of the sun penetrates and the space of a room with objects in it. This can be correlated with the external and internal state of the lyrical hero - macro and microcosm. The hero's condition, as well as the state of things, can change at any moment: the beam will disappear, the wine will become tart, the biscuit will be eaten.

This poem has a number of features related to the entire lyrics of the poet. Very often in the first stanzas, Mandelstam denies: “We can’t stand tense silence”, “I’m not a fan ...”, “There is nothing to talk about”, etc. Here, too, denial is “inexpressible sadness”. A very strange definition of sadness, but if you recall Akhmatova “The music rang in the garden / such inexpressible grief ...” or “Glory to you, hopeless pain!”, Then you can put these words in a series of traditional maxims of acmeism. It is in pain, suffering, sadness that there is languor, even "languor is a sweet medicine." Acmeists love this kind of oxymoron.

Sadness opens "two huge eyes." These can be windows that become transparent with the dawn, “open”. Either these are Mandelstam's eyes - beautiful, brown, with long eyelashes. The acmeists urged everyone to call everything by their proper names, unlike the symbolists, who tried to put a sacred meaning into ordinary words, thereby (according to the acmeists) devaluing the sacredness of the inexpressible.

“The whole room is drunk ...” - a reminiscence to Pushkin's “The whole room is amber luster / Drinking ...” This is an indication of the general mood in the stanzas of Pushkin and Mandelstam, which is important for the correct reading of the poem. Reminiscences, open quotation, intertexting are a constant technique in Mandelstam's poetry. This makes it difficult to understand the verses and at the same time enriches them. Sometimes reminiscence comes down only to the repetition of a combination of words in isolation from the context of the original. Such, perhaps, is the allusion to Ostrovsky's "sleepy kingdom" ("Such a small kingdom / So much ... sleep"), which is difficult to interpret otherwise than as an exclusively sound play on a familiar combination of words.

Some red wine
A bit of sunny May...

It's like an excerpt from a recipe. Mandelstam was very fond of sweets. This can be found in the memoirs of Odoevtsoy. For example: “... He tells how, one spring morning, he was dying to get eggnog. He went to the market and bought an egg from the merchant. But on the way, the peasant was selling Golden Label chocolate, Mandelstam's favorite chocolate. Seeing the chocolate, Mandelstam forgot about the mogul, he "to the point" wanted chocolate.

The third stanza brings us back to the technique of painting. In impressionism, a brushstroke falls easily, quickly, tree trunks, sails, figures, faces appear on the ripples of foliage and sky. The effect of fragmentary painting creates continuous movement in the painting. Mandelstam's third stanza is a series of verbal strokes: objects are not written out photographically (with the help of whole sentences), but are called one or two strokes that unfold in the reader's mind into full-fledged elements of the picture. Mandelstam gives free rein to the imagination. Grammatically, it avoids predicates, and in the last two lines it brings fragmentation to the limit.

The poem contains some features of a self-portrait. Eyes and fingers. According to contemporaries, Mandelstam was not tall, with his head thrown back (“You throw your head back ...”). It is quite possible to imagine that the graceful Mandelstam has "whiteness of the thinnest fingers." On the other hand, this portrait characteristic is also indirect, like "two huge eyes."

The poem is harmonious, musical. Words play with each other, la catches up with two, as - for, etc. Syllables turn into notes (ra, cha, va, ta, na, la), and notes into a violin solo, bringing out a fragile, nervous melody.

So, in a short poem, with amazing ease and skill, the magical unity of the three arts - poetry, painting and music - is realized.


Christina Uzorko