Bunin's poem Epiphany Night
Bunin's poem "Epiphany Night" refers to the early period of the poet's work. The poem was finally completed in 1901. Its name is associated with the Orthodox feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 19 according to the new style. But many folk legends and signs were associated with this holiday. For example, it was believed that if on Epiphany night very coldy the year will be fruitful. These signs were undoubtedly familiar to the poet, who spent his childhood on his estate. But Bunin begins the description of Epiphany night without connecting it with a religious holiday. It seems to be just a night in a winter forest, full of poetry and charm:
Dark spruce forest with snow, like fur,
Gray frosts have sprung,
In spangles of frost, as if in diamonds,
Dozed off, bowed, birches.
Before us is a quiet and solemn picture, the cosmos of frozen space:
Their branches froze motionless,
And between them on a snowy bosom,
Right through the silver lacy
A full moon looks from the sky.
In the way the poet describes the snowdrifts (“snow bosom”), one can feel the echoes of Epiphany beliefs, in which so much space is given to snow. So, in some villages on Epiphany night they collected snow from stacks, believing that only he could whiten the canvas properly. Some believed that if on Epiphany evening snow was collected on the field and poured into the well, then the well would have water all year round. This snow was believed to have healing properties.
The thickets of the forest were covered with a blizzard, -
Only traces and paths wind,
Running away between pines and fir trees,
Between the birches to the dilapidated gatehouse.
Here, for the first time in the poem, we feel the presence of a person - a lonely person who spends the pre-holiday night in a dense forest and watches from afar the lights of someone else's home. It is through his eyes that we see a snow-covered forest:
Sleep mysteriously dark thickets,
They sleep, dressed in deep snow,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where once the streams roared.
Behind the elation of the poetic intonation, it is as if a person's long-standing fear of the secrets of the wild nature is hidden. The endless loneliness of a person fills his soul with a completely earthly fear of forest animals:
Silence - even the branch does not crackle!
Or maybe behind this ravine
The wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
Cautious and insinuating step.
Silence - and perhaps he is close ...
And I stand, filled with anxiety,
And I look tensely at the thickets,
On footprints and bushes along the road.
In this expectation of a person there is not only fear of the forest animal, but also some kind of ancient relationship with it. Both of them are forced to hide in the forest from someone else's eyes. However, man is distinguished from the beast not only by fear of nature, of the secrets of the forest, but also by the timid expectation of some miracle on Epiphany night:
Light from the forest guardhouse
Cautiously and timidly flickers,
As if he hid under the forest
And waiting for something in silence.
This light is like a lost human soul that yearns for salvation and hopes for the mercy of God. The striving for God resounds in the lofty and solemn description of the star:
A diamond radiant and bright,
Now green, then blue playing,
In the east, at the throne of the Lord,
A star shines quietly, as if alive.
Although it takes place on Epiphany night, we involuntarily recall the Christmas star that lit up when the Savior was born. Another sign is connected with Epiphany: if the stars shine and burn especially brightly on Epiphany night, then many lambs will be born (the lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ). The Star of the Lord, shining over the world, equalizes the living and the inanimate, the sinful and the righteous, sending peace and consolation to the world:
And above the forest, higher and higher
The moon rises, and in wondrous peace
Freezing midnight freezes
And the crystal kingdom of the forest!
Here Bunin speaks of the famous Epiphany frost, when everything seems ringing and fragile from the cold, when midnight seems to be some mysterious turning point - to warmth, summer, streams murmuring in ravines. The poem "Epiphany Night" was written almost simultaneously with the stories "Meliton" and "Pines". Therefore, there is a lot in common between them. Both in the poem and in the stories, the harsh and beautiful forest space seems to absorb a person. In "Meliton" and in "Epiphany Night" a "dilapidated gatehouse" lost in a mighty forest is described - a symbol of a lonely human life. And in "Pines" and in the poem, the image of a star is a through image. In the story, "the star in the northeast appears to be the star at God's throne." These expressive visual images serve the common goal of revealing the unearthly grandeur of the sky over the perishable world of people. Therefore, the poem describes that below, under the star, "the light from the forest guardhouse flickers cautiously and timidly." Moreover, unlike the story "Meliton", in "Epiphany Night" it is an impersonal light, a hint of human smallness and loneliness in the face of nature and God.
The poem "Epiphany Night" combines the Christian vision of the world and the peasant, folk perception of nature. Bunin shows us the beauty and grandeur of nature, inspired by man and God's plan.
Bunin in his years was a great man and poet. In his life, many beautiful works were written that gave people hope and love. His poems evoke different impressions, they can be sad and joyful at the same time. Since childhood, the poet did not even know that he would be a great man. At his age, he did not believe that his works would become a masterpiece of literature.
The Epiphany Night was written in 1886. The name itself makes it clear that we are talking about spiritual love. Love is not only physical, but also platonic. It has been established that Epiphany is the only major Christian public holidays. Once, many hundreds of years ago, during this period, the Savior Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. He showed the people that every person is under great protection sent from heaven.
In the first quatrains it is about the night forest, in them you can see its greatness and beauty. The forest has the ability to enchant and attract. On the one hand, he is beautiful, and on the other, frightening. Bunin conveys a fabulous mood and a fabulous night. In his forest, everyone comes to life, this can be seen in the lines with the month.
After that, in the next part, everything changes dramatically. From the read text there is a slight trembling. Anxiety lurks in the soul, there is no feeling of peace and bliss. Nature remains quiet in its own regal splendor.
Only the highest prudence is needed over everything that exists. This is the subject of the third part, which consists of the last two quatrains. Here the state of mind again changes into a festive, majestic one. In this part, the position of calmness, lost in the previous one, reappears. After all of the above, a star appears in the sky. The image of a star shows the traveler the way, he is lost and cannot find it. It gives peace and tranquility.
This poem was written for many years, Bunin pondered over it for fifteen long years. Under these lines, the whole essence of the author is hidden, and no one can understand why this topic was so important to him?
Grade 11 briefly according to the plan
Picture for the poem Epiphany night
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I.A. Bunin is a poet from God. His work combines tradition and innovation. Using best achievements poets - classicists, novelists, at the beginning of the twentieth century he creates his own, unique, poetry. Bunin's prose is as lyrical as his poetry.
A large place in the work of Bunin the poet is occupied by landscape lyrics. Favorite time of day is night. It is at night that nature freezes, it seems magical, mysterious. The poet has many lyrical poems that convey precisely nightly impressions.
The poem "Epiphany Night" is filled with vivid epithets, metaphors-personifications. With the help of expressive means, Bunin manages to draw a frozen picture of a frosty winter night. Nature in his image is alive, the poet often uses personifications to emphasize this:
Dark spruce forest with snow, like fur,
Gray frosts have sprung,
In spangles of frost, as if in diamonds,
Dozed off, bowed, birches.
Their branches froze motionless,
And between them on a snowy bosom,
Just through the lace silver,
A full moon looks from the sky.
The forest fairy tale froze, froze, comparisons emphasize the beauty and airiness of this night landscape. The moon, like a living being, like a deity, is watching this frozen picture.
Verbs with the meaning of action here are units: “noisy”, “running”, “running away”, basically they emphasize not dynamics, but static: “lulled”, “fell asleep”, “sleep”:
Mysteriously slender thickets sleep,
Sleep dressed in deep snow,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where once the streams roared.
The tranquility, the sleep that enveloped the forest, is emphasized by another repetition:
Silence - even a branch does not crackle! ...
And, perhaps, behind this ravine
The wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
And an antithesis arises: "Silence - but maybe he is close."
Disturbing images and dreams do not leave the lyrical hero, repetitions emphasize this:
Everything seems to me something alive,
Everything looks like animals are running.
The silence is alarming, because this is not an ordinary night, but an Epiphany night. Miracles are possible on a night like this. The frozen picture of the night for Bunin is as if alive, and a star illuminates it:
In the east, at the throne of the Lord,
A star shines quietly, as if alive.
The star is a symbol of eternity, the unity of man with God. On this night, the lyrical hero seems to be asking the Almighty: “What is Fate preparing for me?”. The last quatrain again brings him back to the frozen winter forest:
And above the forest, higher and higher
The moon rises - and in wondrous peace
Freezing midnight freezes
And the crystal kingdom of the forest!
The exclamatory sentence emphasizes the mood: the lyrical hero is delighted with both the “wonderful peace” and the “crystal forest kingdom”. This is the main idea of the poem, and the title determines the theme.
The poem is written in three-foot anapaest. The three-syllable size always gives special expressiveness, musicality.
In depicting nature, Bunin is close to such poets as Fet and Zhukovsky. Both Feta and Bunin are closer to nighttime nature, with the help of bright expressive means they depict it alive and at the same time frozen, asleep. And mystery, understatement, bizarre images make Bunin's poetry related to romantic poets of the 19th century. Zhukovsky and Bunin have common family roots, perhaps this also unites their work.
In addition to the abundance of expressive and visual means, one can also note the special phonetic design of the poem - alliteration. For example, the repetition of hissing sounds: “pubescent”, “motionless”, “bending”, “snowy”, “lace” and whistling: “snowy”, “frozen”, “sky”, etc. This combination of "w", "g" and "z", "s" conveys silence, calmness. The mood of anxiety emphasizes the sound "r":
The wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
Cautious and insinuating step.
In some lines you can also find assonance. For example, "He rose high above the forest."
The sound "o" gives smoothness, melodiousness, majesty. The song of the blizzard is emphasized by the vowel “u” (“yu”): “The gray-haired blizzard lulled ...”
Phonetics, combined with the rhythm of three-syllable meter, makes Bunin's style unique.
I really liked this poem. The rich use of expressive means helps the reader vividly imagine the beauty of the winter night. The poet does this so picturesquely that the poem resembles an artist's canvas. “Art is a reality ordered by the artist, bearing the stamp of his temperament, which manifests itself in style,” - this quote by A. Morois can characterize all the work of I.A. Bunin.
Bunin's poem "Epiphany Night" refers to the early period of the poet's work. The poem was finally completed in 1901. Its name is associated with the Orthodox feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 19 according to the new style. But many folk legends and signs were associated with this holiday. For example, it was believed that if there were severe frosts on Epiphany night, then the year would be fertile. These signs were undoubtedly familiar to the poet, who spent his childhood on his estate. But Bunin begins the description of Epiphany night without connecting it with a religious holiday. It seems to be just a night in a winter forest, full of poetry and charm:
Dark spruce forest with snow, like fur,
Gray frosts have sprung,
In spangles of frost, as if in diamonds,
Dozed off, bowed, birches.
Before us is a quiet and solemn picture, the cosmos of frozen space:
Their branches froze motionless,
And between them on a snowy bosom,
Right through the silver lacy
A full moon looks from the sky.
In the way the poet describes the snowdrifts (“snow bosom”), one can feel the echoes of Epiphany beliefs, in which so much space is given to snow. So, in some villages on Epiphany night they collected snow from stacks, believing that only he could whiten the canvas properly. Some believed that if on Epiphany evening snow was collected on the field and poured into the well, then the well would have water all year round. This snow was believed to have healing properties.
The thickets of the forest were covered with a blizzard, -
Only traces and paths wind,
Running away between pines and fir trees,
Between the birches to the dilapidated gatehouse.
Here, for the first time in the poem, we feel the presence of a person - a lonely person who spends the pre-holiday night in a dense forest and watches from afar the lights of someone else's home. It is through his eyes that we see a snow-covered forest:
Sleep mysteriously dark thickets,
They sleep, dressed in deep snow,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where once the streams roared.
Behind the elation of the poetic intonation, it is as if a person's long-standing fear of the secrets of the wild nature is hidden. The endless loneliness of a person fills his soul with a completely earthly fear of forest animals:
Silence - even the branch does not crackle!
Or maybe behind this ravine
The wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
Cautious and insinuating step.
Silence - and perhaps he is close ...
And I stand, filled with anxiety,
And I look tensely at the thickets,
On footprints and bushes along the road.
In this expectation of a person there is not only fear of the forest animal, but also some kind of ancient relationship with it. Both of them are forced to hide in the forest from someone else's eyes. However, man is distinguished from the beast not only by fear of nature, of the secrets of the forest, but also by the timid expectation of some miracle on Epiphany night:
Light from the forest guardhouse
Cautiously and timidly flickers,
As if he hid under the forest
And waiting for something in silence.
This light is like a lost human soul that yearns for salvation and hopes for the mercy of God. The striving for God resounds in the lofty and solemn description of the star:
A diamond radiant and bright,
Now green, then blue playing,
In the east, at the throne of the Lord,
A star shines quietly, as if alive.
Although it takes place on Epiphany night, we involuntarily recall the Christmas star that lit up when the Savior was born. Another sign is connected with Epiphany: if the stars shine and burn especially brightly on Epiphany night, then many lambs will be born (the lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ). The Star of the Lord, shining over the world, equalizes the living and the inanimate, the sinful and the righteous, sending peace and consolation to the world:
And above the forest, higher and higher
The moon rises, and in wondrous peace
Freezing midnight freezes
And the crystal kingdom of the forest!
Here Bunin speaks of the famous Epiphany frost, when everything seems ringing and fragile from the cold, when midnight seems to be some mysterious turning point - to warmth, summer, streams murmuring in ravines. The poem "Epiphany Night" was written almost simultaneously with the stories "Meliton" and "Pines". Therefore, there is a lot in common between them. Both in the poem and in the stories, the harsh and beautiful forest space seems to absorb a person. In "Meliton" and in "Epiphany Night" a "dilapidated gatehouse" lost in a mighty forest is described - a symbol of a lonely human life. And in "Pines" and in the poem, the image of a star is a through image. In the story, "the star in the northeast appears to be the star at God's throne." These expressive visual images serve the common goal of revealing the unearthly grandeur of the sky over the perishable world of people. Therefore, the poem describes that below, under the star, "the light from the forest guardhouse flickers cautiously and timidly." Moreover, unlike the story "Meliton", in "Epiphany Night" it is an impersonal light, a hint of human smallness and loneliness in the face of nature and God.
The poem "Epiphany Night" combines the Christian vision of the world and the peasant, folk perception of nature. Bunin shows us the beauty and grandeur of nature, inspired by man and God's plan.
I. A. Bunin is not only a great prose writer, but also a wonderful poet. He left us a legacy of poems that he wrote both in Russia and in exile. By their own artistic merit Bunin's poetic works are in no way inferior to his prose.
A vivid example of this is the wonderful poem "Epiphany Night" (1886-1901).
It is known that Epiphany is one of the most important Christian holidays. Once upon a time, many hundreds of years ago, on this day, Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River. Thus, he showed that every Christian is under the protection of the Lord. This is a great mystery, completely incomprehensible to man. There is only one thing left for him - to believe in the Miracle.
Compositionally, this poem can be divided into three parts. The first part is the first five quatrains. They describe the night in the winter forest. The main moods of this part are peace, grandeur, a sense of the beauty of nature.
In the first part, fairy tale motifs are strong, because nature on Epiphany night, according to Bunin, is magical:
Gray frosts have sprung,
The thickets of the forest were covered with a blizzard, -
Only traces and paths are pouring,
Running away between pines and fir trees,
In the first part, nature turns into a living mysterious creature with its own laws and becomes an observer itself: “... a full moon looks from the sky. He rose high above the forest, In the bright light of his numbness ... "
Bunin achieves this effect with the help of such artistic technique, as a personification: “... the birches dozed off, bowing down.”, “... and shadows fancifully creep ...”, “Mysteriously slender thickets sleep ...”, etc.
The second part contrasts quite sharply with the first. In it, the mood changes: there is a feeling of tension, anxious expectation. For example:
And I stand, filled with anxiety,
And I look tensely at the thickets,
On the tracks and bushes along the road.
It is in this part that the ellipsis appears, which increases tension and uncertainty. Also, this mood is especially strongly conveyed in the last quatrain of the second part:
Light from the forest guardhouse
Cautiously and timidly flickers,
As if he hid under the forest
And waiting for something in silence.
It is worth paying attention to the alternation of vowels o and u. This assonance helps the author to show tension and mystery. Also, this alternation helps to convey folklore motifs.
Returning to the content of the second part, it is worth noting that both tension and anxiety are characteristic only of a person. Nature remains calm in its regal majesty. But a person, not trusting the wisdom of God and not merging with nature, is constantly afraid of something: “Maybe behind this ravine // A wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts…”, as if the animals were running.
But above all things there is a higher wisdom. This is the subject of the third part, consisting of the last two quatrains. Here the mood again changes to a solemn, majestic one. In this part, the state of calm, lost in the previous one, appears again. I believe that the last two quatrains can be called a kind of summary of the entire poem. They express the author's position.
After a painful waiting "at the throne of the Lord" a star rose. The symbol of the star, in my opinion, is not accidental here. After all, by the brightest star, people learned about the birth of Jesus Christ and about their salvation. Also, the brightest star is the guiding one. She proclaims hope to all people and promises peace and security. It is no coincidence that this part speaks of "wonderful peace." It is a divine calmness, a calmness of certainty.
This poem has been written for fifteen years. Apparently, Bunin repeatedly returned to him. Therefore, we can understand that this topic was important for Bunin. Thanks to Epiphany Night, we can understand the views of I. A. Bunin on very important philosophical issues.
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Epiphany night
Bunin's poem "Epiphany Night" refers to the early period of the poet's work. The poem was finally completed in 1901.
Its name is associated with the Orthodox feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 19 according to the new style. But many folk legends and signs were associated with this holiday. For example, it was believed that if there were severe frosts on Epiphany night, then the year would be fertile. These signs were undoubtedly familiar to the poet, who spent his childhood on his estate. But Bunin begins the description of Epiphany night without connecting it with a religious holiday. It seems to be just a night in a winter forest, full of poetry and charm:
Dark spruce forest with snow, like fur,
Gray frosts have sprung,
In spangles of frost, as if in diamonds,
Dozed off, bowed, birches.
Before us is a quiet and solemn picture, the cosmos of frozen space:
Their branches froze motionless,
And between them on a snowy bosom,
Right through the silver lacy
A full moon looks from the sky.
In the way the poet describes the snowdrifts (“snow bosom”), one can feel the echoes of Epiphany beliefs, in which so much space is given to snow. So, in some villages on Epiphany night they collected snow from stacks, believing that only he could whiten the canvas properly. Some believed that if on Epiphany evening snow was collected on the field and poured into the well, then the well would have water all year round. This snow was believed to have healing properties.
The thickets of the forest were covered with a blizzard, -
Only traces and paths wind,
Running away between pines and fir trees,
Between the birches to the dilapidated gatehouse.
Here, for the first time in the poem, we feel the presence of a person - a lonely person who spends the pre-holiday night in a dense forest and watches from afar the lights of someone else's home. It is through his eyes that we see a snow-covered forest:
Sleep mysteriously dark thickets,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where once the streams roared.
Behind the elation of the poetic intonation, it is as if a person's long-standing fear of the secrets of the wild nature is hidden. The endless loneliness of a person fills his soul with a completely earthly fear of forest animals:
Silence - even the branch does not crackle!
Or maybe behind this ravine
The wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
Silence - and perhaps he is close ...
And I stand, filled with anxiety,
And I look tensely at the thickets,
On footprints and bushes along the road.
In this expectation of a person there is not only fear of the forest animal, but also some kind of ancient relationship with it. Both of them are forced to hide in the forest from someone else's eyes. However, man is distinguished from the beast not only by fear of nature, of the secrets of the forest, but also by the timid expectation of some miracle on Epiphany night:
Light from the forest guardhouse
Cautiously and timidly flickers,
As if he hid under the forest
And waiting for something in silence.
This light is like a lost human soul that yearns for salvation and hopes for the mercy of God. The striving for God resounds in the lofty and solemn description of the star:
A diamond radiant and bright,
Now green, then blue playing,
A star shines quietly, as if alive.
Although it takes place on Epiphany night, we involuntarily recall the Christmas star that lit up when the Savior was born. Another sign is connected with Epiphany: if the stars shine and burn especially brightly on Epiphany night, then many lambs will be born (the lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ). The Star of the Lord, shining over the world, equalizes the living and the inanimate, the sinful and the righteous, sending peace and consolation to the world:
And above the forest, higher and higher
The moon rises, and in wondrous peace
Freezing midnight freezes
And the crystal kingdom of the forest!
Here Bunin speaks of the famous Epiphany frost, when everything seems ringing and fragile from the cold, when midnight seems to be some mysterious turning point - to warmth, summer, streams murmuring in ravines. The poem "Epiphany Night" was written almost simultaneously with the stories "Meliton" and "Pines". Therefore, there is a lot in common between them. Both in the poem and in the stories, the harsh and beautiful forest space seems to absorb a person. In "Meliton" and in "Epiphany Night" a "dilapidated gatehouse" lost in a mighty forest is described - a symbol of a lonely human life. And in "Pines" and in the poem, the image of a star is a through image. In the story, "the star in the northeast appears to be the star at God's throne." These expressive visual images serve the common goal of revealing the unearthly grandeur of the sky over the perishable world of people. Therefore, the poem describes that below, under the star, "the light from the forest guardhouse flickers cautiously and timidly." Moreover, unlike the story "Meliton", in "Epiphany Night" it is an impersonal light, a hint of human smallness and loneliness in the face of nature and God.
The poem "Epiphany Night" combines the Christian vision of the world and the peasant, folk perception of nature. Bunin shows us the beauty and grandeur of nature, inspired by man and God's plan.
Discussion of the analysis of the poem
"Epiphany Night" I. Bunin
"Epiphany Night" Ivan Bunin
Dark spruce forest with snow, like fur,
Gray frosts have sprung,
In spangles of frost, as if in diamonds,
Dozed off, bowed, birches.
Their branches froze motionless,
And between them on a snowy bosom,
Just through the lace silver,
A full moon looks from the sky.
He rose high above the forest,
In its bright light, numb,
And strangely shadows creep,
Blackening in the snow under the branches.
The thickets of the forest were covered with a blizzard, -
Only traces and paths are pouring.
Running away between pines and fir trees,
Between the birches to the dilapidated gatehouse.
Gray-haired blizzard lulled
With a wild song, the forest is empty,
Mysteriously slender thickets sleep,
They sleep, dressed in deep snow,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where once the streams roared.
Silence - not even a branch crunches!
And, perhaps, behind this ravine
The wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
Cautious and insinuating step.
Silence - and, perhaps, he is close ...
And I stand, filled with anxiety,
And I look tensely at the thickets,
On the tracks and bushes along the road,
In distant thickets, where branches and shadows
Patterns weave in the moonlight
Everything seems to me something alive,
Everything looks like animals are running.
Light from the forest guardhouse
Cautiously and timidly flickers,
As if he hid under the forest
And waiting for something in silence.
A diamond radiant and bright,
Now green, then blue playing,
In the east, at the throne of the Lord,
A star shines quietly, as if alive.
And above the forest, higher and higher
The moon rises, and in wondrous peace
Freezing midnight freezes
I am the crystal kingdom of the forest!
Analysis of Bunin's poem "Epiphany Night"
Working as a proofreader in the Oryol newspaper, Ivan Bunin travels a lot. His routes run mainly through the nearest forests, as the novice writer loves hunting and prefers to spend all his free time in the bosom of nature. He falls in love with the Oryol thickets so much, treats water meadows and fields with such reverence and enthusiasm that, without noticing it, he begins to recreate their image in his works. It is worth noting that initially Ivan Bunin wrote only poetry, believing that prose was boring for perception. However, even after emigrating to Paris, the author remembers to the smallest detail how his favorite glades and copses in the Oryol region look like, recreating their images in his stories and short stories.
In 1896, on the eve of one of the most significant Orthodox holidays Ivan Bunin began work on the poem "Epiphany Night". From the outside, one might get the impression that the author really spent it in a snowy forest, watching how the gloomy spruce forest of waters is being transformed by the influence of severe frosts. However, the poet's diaries indicate the opposite: Bunin met Baptism in Ukraine, regretting that he only had to dream of snow and frost. However, under the influence of surging memories, the author wrote several lines of the future poem "Epiphany Night", mentally transferring him to the Oryol forests, where "the dark spruce forest with snow, like fur, was deafened by gray frosts." The writer's fantasy did not last long, and soon he put the manuscript aside, completing the image of the winter forest with birches, decorated with hoarfrost, like diamonds.
The poet returned to this poem 5 years later, when, shortly before Epiphany, he had a chance to visit the forest. After an unsuccessful second marriage and a break in relations with Anna Tsakni, Bunin returned from Odessa to Moscow, and on the eve of the new year, 1901, decided to visit his elderly parents. His path ran through such familiar and beloved Oryol forests, and the poet could not deny himself the pleasure of wandering at night through the thicket, powdered with snow. It was after this trip that the poem "Epiphany Night" was completed, which became a real hymn to the winter forest. It is noteworthy that there is not a word about the approaching Baptism in this work. But each line of this work breathes with the feeling of a holiday: the winter forest, decorated with snow and hoarfrost, like jewels, froze in anticipation of a miracle, and for the author is the real embodiment of a forgotten fairy tale.
Indeed, lulled by a gray blizzard, the forest appears before Bunin as mysterious and delightfully beautiful. It is generously bathed in soft moonlight, deserted and motionless, "silence reigns around - even a branch does not crunch!". However, the author knows that she is deceptive, and the forest thicket still poses a threat to a lone traveler.. who sees the shadows of wild animals. At the same time, even the prospect of meeting a wolf cannot force Bunin to leave this kingdom of snow, mysterious and alluring, which is illuminated by a lone star, lit up "in the east, near the throne of God." The contemplation of nature captivates the author so much that he is simply unable to continue his journey. Bunin not only enjoys the midnight silence, breathing in the prickly frosty air, but also associates himself with a part of this world, claiming: “I am the crystal kingdom of the forest!”. With this phrase, the poet emphasizes that he considers himself a part of nature, her son, who, due to a misunderstanding, was forced to leave his homeland. However, wandering in a foreign land allowed him to understand what exactly is the most valuable and burn out in his life, which is unlikely to be happy without this snowy forest, burning frost and a clear starry sky.
"Epiphany Night" poetic analysis by I.A. Bunin.
Ivan Alekseevich Bunin in the literature of the 20th century became the successor of the traditions of Russian classical poetry. The work of Pushkin, Tyutchev, Fet, Maikov, Polonsky was for Bunin part of the world around him. It was this poetry that translated into the language of art the impressions that the then young poet received. Poetic conservatism saved him from the fashionable "diseases" of the time: Imagism, symbolism, etc.
At the same time, Bunin's poetry is not without excitement, special lyricism. The strict poetic system of Bunin's work, as a continuer of traditions, allowed him to turn to eternal themes and not look for the motives of his poetry in the Iron Age of everyday life. Bunin's universalism as an artist allowed him to clearly express himself both as a prose writer, and as a poet, and as a translator.
In the lyrical work of Bunin, it is almost impossible to single out purely landscape, love or philosophical lyrics. This helped Bunin to poetically comprehend the various and contradictory aspects of human existence. His poetry will raise topics that have worried man at all times. So, in the poem "Epiphany Night" it is said about a person "full of anxiety." He alone ended up in a forest “pubescent with gray frosts” on Epiphany night.
At the beginning of the work, Bunin describes the landscape of a winter forest. The poet emphasizes a special silence, similar to a dream. With the help of personification, the artist of the word conveys the calmness and serenity of nature:
Gray-haired blizzard lulled
With a wild song, the forest is empty,
And he fell asleep, covered with a blizzard,
All through, motionless and white.
Contrasting the silence of the winter forest with a man filled with anxiety allows Bunin to reveal in this poem the theme of loneliness, traditional for his lyrics. This motive is understood by the poet as a feeling that every person is endowed with, regardless of his temporal and spatial location. It is the feeling of loneliness that helps a person feel like a part of nature.
Thus, Bunin reveals the classic Tyutchev theme of the animation of nature, the desire of man to penetrate the hidden worlds, to understand the meaning of the existence of the human race. If a person cannot merge with nature like the hero of a poem, to whom everything seems to be “something alive”, then he is doomed to complete loneliness and suffering.
There is another symbolic opposition between the forest and the moon in the poem. The forest is drawn by the poet immersed in the realm of sleep, while the moon rises higher and higher, while living its own special mysterious life. But they are both spiritualized, and this makes them related. The month is a symbol of the beginning of life, the guardian of the "crystal kingdom of the forest."
The central motif of the feeling of the lyrical hero is anticipation, anticipation of some kind of dynamics, revival, awakening from sleep. It all seems to him that:
The wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
Cautious and insinuating step.
The wolf acts here as a symbol of the danger that threatens a person in the world of universal peace.
A person finds himself again torn off from the world, subject to the spell of the “gray blizzard” in the forest, in which:
... even the willow does not creak,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where once the streams roared.
The very title of the poem speaks of the special significance of the moment. After all, it was on Epiphany night, according to Russian beliefs, that special miracles were performed. And the poet describes them on the example of a landscape of a winter forest. This helps Bunin convey a sense of excitement and anxiety.
In the last quatrain, the feeling of waiting for a miracle reaches its highest intensity, climax:
And above the forest, higher and higher
The moon rises - in wondrous peace
Freezing midnight freezes
And the crystal kingdom of the forest!
The lexical drawing of the poem is distinguished by the active use of figurative and expressive means of the language. The technique underlying the entire poem is the personification: “frosts are downy”, “birches dozed off”, “the moon looks”, “frosty midnight freezes”, etc. A lot of epithets: “with an insinuating step”, “through, motionless and white” (forest), “wonderful peace”, etc. The predominant colors in the poem are silver, white and blue.
The poet's work is characterized by the use of traditional poetic meters. Rhythmic movement is weakly expressed. The sound pattern is stingy. Vocabulary is mostly common, neologisms and archaisms are alien to the poet. All this allows the poet to convey restraint and a special concentration of emotional experiences.
This poem appears as the best sample poetry in its classical form.
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