Description of the painting Savitsky railway. Essay description based on painting K

One day, when I was very young, I was no more than 4 years old at the time, they took me to the village. For the first time in my life. The village was and is called Zavorykino. Such a wonderful name. I could not know then that this village, and especially one large wooden house in it, was our family nest. Yes, not a noble nest. So what? And who said that according to Turgenev, nests can only be those of the nobility. No, it was a large peasant house for two families. And this house with everything that surrounded it was my little homeland.

Today the village has turned into a holiday village. And that wooden house is also long gone. A modern brick cottage has already been built in its place. Strangers live in it. But, nevertheless, today I go to the village of Zavorykino. Out of an inexplicable desire to touch the ancestral root, to breathe the air of those places.

The visible appearance of nature does not change as quickly as man in his often irresistible desire to transform nature, in such a natural desire to adapt it to his needs. The people living on earth themselves are changing quite quickly. The human age is short in comparison with the natural one. The forests and fields around Zavorykino remained the same. They haven't changed since I first saw them. That’s why the air with all its smells remained the same. And I, breathing it into myself, feel like I’m falling no less to the source of my presence on earth.

*****
And then, at the very beginning of the 50s, I was taken to this village for the first time. It is clear that we had to go by train. The beginning of the journey began from the Tulskaya platform in Moscow to Mikhnevo station. It's 70 km away. from Moscow. And it was here, at the long plank platform, that I first saw a steam locomotive. A huge black car with huge red wheels, taller than me, connected by a long metal beam. He seemed to me like such a monstrous, terrible beast, frozen for a while before rushing forward. My whole soul sank at the sight of the indescribably huge monster.

I have never seen anything like this in my life. That is, I saw it in the picture. I myself had a small train that was given to me. But what stood before me here was not a toy. Not a fairy tale. And not a picture. A real locomotive. Until now, I had never seen it so huge, but I had heard it many times. Because I often fell asleep to the sounds of trains rumbling in the distance and lingering whistles coming from this railway in the Paveletsky direction.
Therefore, when I hear the lines of one wonderful song, my whole being involuntarily descends to the very beginning of my childhood.

Silence behind the Rogozhskaya outpost.
The trees are sleeping by the sleepy river.
Only trains follow trains,
Yes, someone is being called by beeps.

By the way, this Rogozhskaya outpost, or as it was called Zastava Ilyich Square for a long time, was not so far from my house.

*****
But let’s return to the first steam locomotive I saw. Imagine all my horror when suddenly this monster in all its terrifying power came to life and began to move. But first the monster’s voice was heard - a ringing, sharp, loud whistle. And then the beam moved, accelerating, and began to walk, jerking back and forth, spinning the red wheels. Horror! Everything inside me sank with fear and I retreated back, not knowing where to find salvation. Since then, this picture has been imprinted in my consciousness and has not let go to this day, as one of the biggest shocks and impressions in my entire life.

There have been no steam locomotives for a long time. And fate destined me to travel many thousands of kilometers along railroad tracks. Several times along the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok. And our railways began from the very times that we see in Savitsky’s painting. This is how they were built and how they were repaired in those days. Of all the mechanisms for work - roughly knocked together wheelbarrows, and shovels with hoes. That's all.

But it was necessary to build roads. Especially in a country like ours. With all its vast expanses. My native country is wide. Russia could not manage without roads, without railways. It was necessary to build. But there were also opponents of construction. And what kind too. And how they put pressure on the king. Among them there were not only hardened retrogrades, but also very enlightened persons. This is what the democrat and London prisoner Herzen said. He publicly stated that “the steel highway is necessary only so that Moscow can quickly find out within a couple of days what other books the government has banned.”

But the tsar was probably influenced by another phrase from one very competent report: “... there is no country in the world where railways would be more profitable and even necessary than in Russia, since they make it possible to shorten long distances by increasing speed movement..." This coincided with the goals of the government: it was necessary to unite, populate and develop vast territories.

The civilization of a people and a country can be judged by several criteria. The most important of them is roads. The more convenient and dense the road network, the higher the level of civilization. Then, just as without internal connections there is no development of the people, and there is no country either. Let's say Gaius Julius Caesar began the deep conquest of Gaul by starting to build roads in the country of the Druids with the characters Obelix and Osterix, now known to all of us. True, he went to conquer new lands, and not to introduce signs of civilization into them. It was easier for Roman legionaries in armor to advance along the roads. But the Romans left. They were supplanted by the Germanic tribe of the Franks. But the roads remained. And then out of all this came France. And the roads there are still wonderful. I saw it, I know.

But if there are roads, then over time you want to drive along them faster and faster. And even more and more people. And these are also signs of a developed civilization. For some time now, the world has begun to develop in a civilizational sense faster and faster, and the rapprochement of countries and peoples has also accelerated. And this is not least thanks to the roads. And when such wonderful machines as steam locomotives appeared, almost unlimited possibilities appeared.

*****
And so they built it. First, a small road from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo. And then a big one from St. Petersburg to Moscow. With two palaces - stations at the starting points of the railway line. They still stand today. Architect - Konstantin Ton. Let me remind you that this is the same architect who built the Grand Kremlin Palace and the first Cathedral of Christ the Savior, located not so far from it.

And now let’s imagine what a stunning impression the first locomotive must have made on the not very educated, dark peasants when they saw it. I think the same thing happened to me when I was young. Then, when they saw this black monster with red wheels with a smoking black pipe and thick black smoke, a trail carried by the wind as it moved, rushing along the rails with a roar. But they had never seen anything in their lives other than horse-drawn transport.

A certain wanderer Feklusha told everyone about this to Kabanikha. Well, first she told her about a country where people with dog heads live. And then she told about the harnessed fiery serpent. It is clear that it was a steam locomotive. And they believed her. She saw. She knows. That's what's going on in the world. How can you not believe it?

For a long time they didn’t dare even just get on the first train, let alone ride. An incomprehensible, huge colossus, unknown as it was moving at terrible speed, roaring furiously and releasing clouds of smoke, could only be controlled by evil spirits: the devils set the wheels in motion, and their leader drove the train. To check and calm the population, the first to be put on the train were... prisoners. And only then, having made sure that the train was traveling exactly along the laid track and was capable of stopping on its own, did the first “official” passengers, with the emperor at their head, board.”

And here’s what the enlightened poet Kukolnik wrote about the same thing. He was a very famous poet and wanted to surpass Pushkin himself in fame. The puppeteer was a close friend of M. Glinka and together they composed the very famous song “Poputnaya”. Most often we listen to it in choral performance. A complex piece of music. Requires masterly performance. I especially like it performed by BDH. Type it into YouTube and enjoy. And here are the words of that very song, composed on the occasion of the construction of the railway. But first, there is one detail that may be confusing. For some reason the puppeteer calls the locomotive a steamship. Apparently, that’s how it was in the first place.

There is a column of smoke - the steamer is boiling, smoking...
Variety, revelry, excitement,
Waiting, impatience...
Our Orthodox people are having fun!
And faster, faster than your will
The train rushes into an open field.

No, the secret thought flies faster,
And the heart, counting the moments, beats.
Insidious thoughts flash along the road,
And you whisper involuntarily: “Oh God, how long!”

It is not the air, not the greenery that attracts the sufferer, -
There clear eyes burn so brightly,
The minutes of our meeting are so full of bliss,
The hours of parting are so sweet with hope.

*****
Beautiful, poignant and romantic. But as I listen, I can’t help but remember how this romance was created, through whose labors it was created And all the serfs built the road. Contractors hired them both in nearby villages and in distant provinces. Moreover, contracts were concluded not with them, but with the landowners who owned them.

The advance, which was due at the conclusion of the contract, was almost entirely received by the landowner as payment of rent and to cover arrears. In the first years, 50-60 thousand people worked at the construction site. According to their contracts, they went to work at dawn and returned at nightfall. During the day there was a two-hour break for lunch and rest. Depending on the time of year, the working day was 12-16 hours. Contractors were interested in making the most of the hired people, so they set unreasonably high production standards. In earthworks, for example, they reached up to a cubic fathom per day, and with transportation over a considerable distance.
There was a norm and there was mutual responsibility. If a member of the artel did not complete the daily task, fell ill, or did not go to work for other reasons, deductions were made from the earnings of the entire artel.

The workers lived in dugouts, huts, tents, and less often in wooden barracks. Ovens or pits were installed in them, “so that a constantly maintained fire would dry out the space.” People lived in teams, sometimes several dozen people, and slept on bunks covered with hay. Hard work, poor nutrition, and lack of basic living conditions led to widespread diseases, including typhoid and cholera. During the construction of the road, many thousands of people died from disease, and at the same time someone tells us about the horrors of the Gulag.

*****
And here is what another poet writes about this, whom we know incomparably more than the Puppeteer. This is his textbook work.
It talks about fellow travelers in a train carriage flying “on cast iron rails.” They are talking. The father is a general, his teenage son Vanya and the poet himself. And what are they talking about? Let's listen. The boy is absolutely delighted with the railway. With all the admiration and curiosity characteristic of boys, he looks out the window. And he is breathtaking from the speed of the autumn pictures flashing before him. This is his first time traveling by train. But his companion opposite, also looking thoughtfully at the changing landscapes, decided to enlighten the boy. In my opinion, it’s cruel and even, in my opinion, at the wrong time. Then you can. But not now. There was no need to spoil the happiness that this extraordinary journey gave the boy. But let's remember:

“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 the 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 for themselves here.

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 your 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 still remember us poor people kindly?
Or have you forgotten a long time ago?..”

Yes, I repeat, and it would be useful for us to remember what the poet Nekrasov told us about. And when we fly in a high-speed Sapsan along the rails of the road, it would be fair to know that “on the sides there are all Russian bones... How many of them!” And I would, if not in every carriage, then at least every other one, hang a reproduction of this painting by Savitsky. This is who paid for the comfort and ease of our journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow and back.

*****
And then I thought about this. Unwittingly. Even against my will. But also inevitable. Progress, development of civilization. What is this and in what ways is it achieved? And it was achieved, we study world history, at great cost, sweat and blood and many deaths. Examples? Yes, as much as you like. Who built the Egyptian pyramids, starting with the most famous Cheops? Slaves. And how many of them there were who laid down their lives for the construction of this pyramid. 1.6 million blocks And who remembers them and knows them today. But the pyramids remained as great monuments and evidence of human genius. Built 4,500 years ago, they still surprise and amaze us with their grandeur. Like me for example. And I was there, and with a trembling hand I touched the rough surface of the heavy block at the base of the pyramid, laid with all care by the hands of slaves.

Who created the first water supply system in Europe? Well, of course, everyone knows, thanks, oddly enough, to the proletarian poet Mayakovsky. “My verse, through the labor of many years, will break through and appear weightily, roughly, visibly, just as in our days a water pipe entered, built by the slaves of Rome.” And not just one water supply system, but eleven. And today these cyclopean structures stand and amaze our imagination. For example, one of these water pipes, or aqueduct, crosses the valley of the Gar River, almost 50 meters high and 275 meters long. And then, too, there were no other tools except slave hands, a shovel and a wheelbarrow.

*****
Working on large cruise ships, I walked along the Moscow-Volga Canal more than once. Very comfortable ships. I gave lectures there to a French audience about Russian history. And I couldn’t help but talk about the history of the canal, along the picturesque banks of which the cruise ship sailed. And the story is not very funny.

The canal had to be built. History itself motivated us to implement this project. Even Peter the Great thought about this. And in the thirties, this channel simply became an urgent necessity. Moscow - the river became shallow. Already in the Kremlin area it was possible to ford it. That is, on foot. The growing, expanding capital required a lot of water. And how can we be here if there is no water here or there? So they began to build. And the working conditions were not much different from those we see in Savitsky’s painting. Although there was already equipment and more than 200 excavators. And the workforce itself, this has long been no secret, these were all prisoners of Dmitlag, specially created for the great construction project.

Just don’t think that these were all prisoners under Article 58. That is, all saboteurs, spies, saboteurs and counter-revolutionaries. Although there were some. No, there were criminals of all stripes, thieves, swindlers, bandits and murderers. The canal took more than four years to build. Record time. And not only the canal itself, but also the entire attached infrastructure with dams and locks. Length 128 km. Both their life and work were not much different from the work and life of the serfs who built the railway. Moscow - St. Petersburg. And there were also quite a few who laid down their lives in the name of this construction project of the century. And here were Russian bones.

At the same time, we must not forget what time it was. It was the serfs who often did not understand the importance of what they were doing. But those who built the canal understood this very well. The whole country was in a furious historical breakthrough. A breakthrough that required enormous effort, enormous tension, without which we simply would not have been able to survive. Therefore, the victims were not taken into account, just as victims are not taken into account during the war. Because in war then the stake was greater than life. There is only one stake in war - victory. But the war for us did not begin in '41. Much earlier.

Over the years, the works of centuries have been done. It was thanks to this that we gained the upper hand in the confrontation with an evil enemy who intended to wipe us off the face of the Earth altogether, and who, to tell the truth, was followed by all of Europe.

*****
But we have not forgotten the victims of this construction. At the entrance to Dmitrov from the south on the western bank of the canal, in the year of the 60th anniversary of construction, on the initiative of local historians and the administration of the city of Dmitrov, a 13-meter steel memorial cross was erected in memory of the prisoners who died during the construction of the canal. It is clearly visible to those who now sail comfortably on white river liners along the canal. And to those who transport building materials, timber, grain, vegetables, oil and much more on barges. That is, ensuring the life and development of a big city. The cross reminds us of the “Russian bones” buried along the shores. But why the cross? Among the unfortunate were Muslims and Jews, and many who were not believers at all.

And here one historical parallel suggests itself. Literally shortly before the Moscow-Volga canal, another canal was built and much more famous in the world. Panama Canal. It was built by Europeans. Mainly by the French, who at that time had no idea what the Gulag was. This channel was much shorter than ours. Total 82 km. It connects the Pacific Ocean Bay of Panama with the Caribbean Sea.

Do you know how many French and other stones are laid along the banks of this canal. Because the working and living conditions were simply terrible. Malaria and yellow fever killed hundreds and thousands of construction workers. They say that the workers who crossed the ocean, venturing into this unusual event, brought their own coffins with them, so that the “bones” would not simply be thrown into roadside pits.

And that's not all. After all, at some point this whole event turned out to be such a grandiose scam, a disgusting fraud associated with large-scale corruption. And this led to the ruin of hundreds of thousands of small investors - shareholders. The scandal is huge. And it was not “literate foreman” who robbed the unfortunate people. There were much more literate people there. And among those accused was, don’t be surprised, the famous creator of the Eiffel Tower, Alexander Gustave Eiffel.

Today they will say Panama. What do we know about Panama? Well, yes, there is such a state. And there is also such a not very serious summer headdress that saves you from the sun's rays. I remember in kindergarten we all wore this Panama hat. Signed with the owner's name. But in France this word evokes completely different memories. “Panama” became a household name for a major public bribery scam. The word “Panama” has become synonymous with a scam, fraud on a grand scale.

*****
How often a person’s desires far outstrip the possibilities for realizing these desires. And not only desires, but urgent needs. Sometimes historical. For example, there was a need to build a railway. And there is no way to do without it. And they were already built in Europe and the USA. So what should we do? But in order for this verse by the poet Nekrasov not to appear, it would probably be necessary to wait for the appearance of bulldozers, graders and cranes. Only further it would be according to the proverb “until the grass grows, the horse will die of hunger.” So they built as best they could, using the labor of serfs, that is, the same slaves. And there was no other labor force then. Well, where there are serfs, there are literate foremen. Without them. Or the same literate swindlers and corrupt officials in distant Panama.

But we can't wait. The march of civilization requires sacrifices. Here they are in Savitsky’s painting. But let’s not be too sad, paying tribute to the sacrificial feat of these people. You just need to remember them with pain and gratitude in your heart. And to erect memorial crosses not only along the banks of the Moscow-Volga canal, as if in reproach to that difficult time.

And here I want to express an idea that will seem paradoxical, and not everyone will like it. In my opinion, this cross monument is hypocritical. Moralists have already tensed up after reading this. How is this possible!?. Why? Yes, obviously. Because I am convinced that this cross-monument was created not so much to remember the unfortunate with a mournful word, but to blame time. This whole era created by the Bolsheviks.

Okay, so be it. But let’s go on the same cruise ship from Moscow to St. Petersburg. We sailed to the northern capital, and after that, why don’t we remember all the victims of Peter the Great’s era? Shouldn't we remember that a beautiful city was built, as they say, on bones? Russian bones, as Nekrasov put it.

In those days, still under Peter the Great, the transformation of the army and the construction of the fleet played a stimulating role. It truly opened up the market for manufacturing and various construction projects. And the overwhelming population then were peasants. Serf peasants. At first, Peter I proceeded from the fact that manufacture would use hired labor, as was the case in Western Europe, from which the tsar took his example. While there were only a few manufactories, there were enough “hunters” to go to work. But the contingent recruited from the urban lower classes was soon exhausted. Prisoners of war and soldiers began to be sent to manufactories, and then the industry had to be supplied with serfs.

The turning point was the famous decree of 1721 on the permission “... for the multiplication of factories, it is not prohibited to buy villages from those factories,” i.e. buy serfs to turn them into serf workers. The state set production volumes, production standards, and wages for them. How it “established” - we learned this from Nekrasov’s poem and Savitsky’s painting. And this was a time when serfdom was already coming to an end. What happened in the time of Peter, who himself could arbitrarily cut off the heads of his opponents with a sword?

Production relations during the period of serf manufacture were fundamentally capitalist, but were clothed in a feudal-serf form. The serf worker did not voluntarily, but forcibly sold his labor and could not change his owner. The capitalist entrepreneur was at the same time a landowner; he owned not only the enterprise, but the land and workers. It was serfdom that served as a tool that made it possible to adapt capitalist manufacturing to the feudal system.

The entire civilized breakthrough in Peter's time was carried out on Russian bones. And this breakthrough could not have been made in any other way. If you like, it was determined historically. Without him, Russia might not exist. Russia paid a heavy price. They say that the population of the country decreased by a quarter after the reign of Peter. Yes the price was expensive. But a breakthrough also took place. Let's remember Pushkin. Textbook.

Show off, city Petrov, and stand
Unshakable like Russia,
May he make peace with you
And the defeated element;
Enmity and ancient captivity
Let the Finnish waves forget
And they will not be vain malice
Disturb Peter's eternal sleep.
And here’s another no less famous one:
There was that troubled time
When Russia is young,
Straining strength in struggles,
She dated the genius of Peter.

That is, Pushkin’s attitude to the historical role of Peter the Great in the creation of a new Russia is more than understandable. It's positive. There was a cult due to his family position, but there was also a personality. The same was said about Stalin, who made an even more impressive breakthrough. Although here the shoemaker’s son had no pedigree. And so paradoxically there are no monuments to him. And Peter can’t count them.

And in this regard, the famous monument - the creation of the Frenchman Falconet at the behest of the German Catherine the Second - appears to me personally in a completely different symbolic form. Don’t be surprised, but to me the huge rock on which this imperishable creation is erected seems like a gravestone-stella, above all the “Russian bones”, from the height of which the monarch imperiously points to Russia’s place in world history.

Who stood motionless
In the darkness with a copper head,
The one whose will is fatal
A city was founded under the sea...
He is terrible in the surrounding darkness!
What a thought on the brow!
What power is hidden in it!
And what fire there is in this horse!
Where are you galloping, proud horse?
And where will you put your hooves?
O mighty lord of fate!
Aren't you above the abyss?
At the height, with an iron bridle
Raised Russia on its hind legs?

Obviously, sometimes, especially in fatal years, an iron rein is needed to lift up the country for the sake of its own salvation. In this place, Pushkin essentially repeats the words of Ivan the Fourth: “A state without a thunderstorm is like a horse without a bridle.”

And if you strain, then, as a result, there is suffering, sweat and blood, and walking through torment. Inevitably. This means groans and complaints. And the desire to regret. And that's the best case scenario. And in the worst case, among the complainants there is a whole host of hypocritical soul-lovers. Those who make a name and fame for themselves through their lamentations about tension. And shouldn’t we know them, especially in our days. Here, for example, is how Eugene expressed himself on this matter from the same poem. An unfortunate man who was almost carried away by the stormy stream of history. He looks angrily into the proud and powerful face of the idol. True, his complaint sounds more like a threat.

Blood boiled. He became gloomy
Before the proud idol
And, clenching my teeth, clenching my fingers,
As if possessed by black power,
“Welcome, miraculous builder!
- He whispered, trembling angrily,
Already for you!...
Our recent history is full of such Eugenes. They will enjoy the fruits of our efforts, like those same travelers of cruise ships silently gliding along the waters of the Moscow-Volga canal, or passengers of the ultra-modern high-speed train "Sapsan" flying along the rails of the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway, and will think at the same time as everything would be the same, comfort and speed, but without stress, without the suffering and tears of our ancestors.

Nekrasov expressed himself much more wisely about this at the end of the poem.

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.
It’s just a pity to live in this wonderful time
You won’t have to, neither me nor you.”

P.S. A few words about the artist. Konstantin Appolonovich Savitsky was born in 1844. He was born in the same city as Chekhov and Emperor Alexander II died. He was born in Taganrog. Not to say that his name is very well known. But he was an academician, a full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, a teacher, the first director of the Penza Art School.

The painting “Repair Work on the Railway” was painted in the same year as “Barge Haulers” by I.E. Repin: both paintings are similar in ideological orientation. Let's take a close look at the painting by K.A. Savitsky to understand the artist's intention.

A significant part of the picture is occupied by a huge depression, in which a large group of workers is moving in different directions. They carry sand in wheelbarrows. Most of them move from below towards the viewer, which allows one to see the extreme tension of the workers. In the foreground, this is emphasized by a pile of broken wheelbarrows that could not withstand the weight of the load. In the center of the foreground of the picture, a powerfully built worker rolls his wheelbarrow forward with a strong jerk. To the right and left of him are figures showing that the diggers’ strength is running out: an elderly worker, harnessed to a strap, cannot pull the wheelbarrow, although his comrade is pushing it by the handles. Behind the pile of broken wheelbarrows, we see the same extreme tension in the young man, driving the wheelbarrow with some desperation; nearby, a thin, emaciated worker hung helplessly in a strap. On both sides, railway embankments rise, as if blocking the workers' exit from this hell.
The scorching sun and brown-yellow sand are everywhere where people work. It’s only good in the distance, in the center of the upper part of the picture: there you can see a copse, green grass and a blue sky. But the exit in that direction is blocked by the sharply outlined figure of a foreman with a stick in his hand.
Despite the fact that the foreman is shown in a small shot, his figure stands out: his pose is motionless and calm. He stands pointedly straight, looking indifferently at the bent backs of the workers. His clothes (red shirt, caftan, boots, pulled-down cap) are neat, which contrasts with the clothes of the workers, who are somehow dressed in rags.
The coloring of the painting evokes in the viewer the same impression as the overall composition, and enhances the ideological orientation of the painting
There is no doubt that this picture makes us remember the famous poem by N.A. Nekrasov “The Railway,” written a whole decade earlier:

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...

But how does the main idea of ​​a poem differ from the idea of ​​a painting? Pictures of nature that are unpoetic at first glance (“kochi, and mossy swamps, and stumps”) become beautiful under the magical “moonlight”; these are parts of the vast “native Rus'”. There is a lot in nature that seems ugly, but this is our Motherland. And it depends only on the person himself how he will see his homeland: through the eyes of a loving son or the critical gaze of a connoisseur of beauty. There is also a lot of terrible and ugly things in the life of the people, but, according to Nekrasov, this should not obscure the main thing: the creative role of the simple worker. It is after the terrible pictures of forced labor that the narrator invites Vanya to take a closer look at the railroad builders and learn to “respect a man.”
The poet says that this work is not pleasure at all, it is hard, it disfigures a person, but such work is worthy of respect, since it is necessary. Awareness of the creative power of labor gives Nekrasov faith in the future.

The poet made the fate of the worker, the fate of the Russian people, the main theme of his work. His poems are imbued with deep sympathy for the simple peasant, the working man. Today we will get acquainted with another poem by Nekrasov, “The Railway,” written in 1862.

This very serious and “adult” work is dedicated to children. Why?

S.Ya. Marshak wrote this about N.A.’s poem. Nekrasov’s “Railway”: “...The “Railway” was written by Nekrasov not in order to frighten or pity the reader. These poems are stern and sober. Dedicated to children, they call growing people to action, to activity. They talk about the future, when the people who “endured this railroad road” will endure everything - and “will pave a wide, chest-clear road for themselves”...

Let's turn to the poem.

Today's lesson is devoted to the analysis of the poem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov (Fig. 1) “Railroad”.

Rice. 1. N.A. Nekrasov, Russian poet, writer and publicist ()

On November 1, 1851, the official opening of traffic on the St. Petersburg-Moscow Railway (later it began to be called Nikolaevskaya) took place; it is the construction of this road that is described in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Railway". It took eight long years to build, starting in 1843.

Let's pay attention to the epigraph:

Vanya (in coachman's Armenian jacket):

Dad! Who built this road?

Papa (in a red-lined coat)

Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, my dear!

(conversation in the carriage).

EPIGRAPH- a short saying (proverb, quote) that the author places before the work to help the reader understand the main idea.

As a rule, quotes or proverbs are used as an epigraph; here is an excerpt from a conversation between a father and son in a carriage, which is structured like a scene from a play: there are designated characters, remarks are preceded by stage directions. Based on the remarks, we can judge the participants in the conversation: Vanya is wearing a coachman’s jacket. Armyak is folk clothing. But the boy is the son of a general, since his father is “wearing a coat with a red lining,” that is, in a general’s overcoat. Thus, the coachman's coat is just a masquerade, a fake of a nationality. The builder of the railway is Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, a construction manager known for his cruelty.

The epigraph plays the role of a reason for writing a poem. The poem itself is like an answer to the question of who should be called the true builder of the railway: is it really Kleinmichel? Testing the validity of this opinion becomes the main poetic task of the poem.

The truth is shown through the fabulous and fantastic image of the famine king. Nekrasov calls hunger the king, since it is hunger that forces people to do difficult, sometimes backbreaking work, “he leads armies; at sea he steers ships; gathers people into the artel, walks behind the plow, stands behind the shoulders of stonemasons and weavers.” To get rid of hunger, people must earn money, grow bread, engage in crafts and trade.

Sometimes hunger kills people, but it is hunger that forces people to create new things in the struggle for life:

Many are in a terrible struggle,

Having brought these barren wilds back to life,

They found a coffin for themselves here.

In these lines, Nekrasov expresses the idea of ​​what hard work, what tension of all forces is required for creation. People need to give their lives in order to breathe life into these “barren wilds.”

The intonations of a Russian folk song can be heard in the following stanza:

The path is straight: the embankments are narrow,

Columns, rails, bridges.

And on the sides all the bones are Russian...

How many of them! Vanechka, do you know?

The truth, told under the moonlight, takes on a fantastic appearance. The impressionable boy and the lyrical hero are presented with terrible pictures and visions:

A shadow ran across the frosty glass...

What's there? Crowd of the dead!

The ghosts surround the heroes with wild singing, scare the boy, what he hears from their lips are real, terrible pictures of the forced labor of ordinary people, who are now “destined to decay” in the earth.

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...

This sounds like a rhetorical question:

Do you all remember us poor people kindly?

Or have you forgotten long ago?...

A RHETORICAL QUESTION- expressive means of language: a statement in the form of a question that does not require an answer.

Forgotten, of course! And Count Kleinmichel was announced as the builder of the road. No one remembers the true, real builders, “peaceful children of labor” (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Reproduction of a painting by K.A. Savitsky “Repair work on the railway” ()

The words “God’s warriors”, “peaceful children of labor” mean: God is still on the side of those who work peacefully and honestly.

In the crowd of ghosts of men, the image of a Belarusian stands out:

Ulcers on skinny arms

The legs are swollen; tangles in hair;

I'm digging into my chest, which I diligently put on the spade

From day to day I worked hard all my life...

Take a closer look at him, Vasya:

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!

From the song we learn about the difficult conditions in which the railroad builders worked, about the oppression and cruelty of their superiors, and that many people died before others could ride the trains, that is, “reap the fruits.”

This song of the dead evokes a feeling of melancholy and indignation at injustice: the suffering of people could be much less if the management treated the workers as brothers, with respect for their work.

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!

What is important in this stanza is the statement that there are no special people, that contempt for the common people, who were brought up in noble families, is a class prejudice. All people on Earth are brothers: both the general’s children and the child born into the family of a serf. Only the habit of work is noble, and living at someone else's expense is a violation of the highest justice.

This noble habit of work

It would be a good idea for us to adopt...

Bless the work of the people

And learn to respect a man.

The ideal of the lyrical hero is work, “a noble habit of work.” The hero directly calls to work those who shamelessly enjoy the fruits of the people's labor. The habit of work, people's patience, endurance - these are the qualities that allow Nekrasov to believe in a better future for the people.

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.

It’s just a pity to live in this wonderful time

You won't have to - neither me nor you.

Nekrasov talks about the future with hope and regret that he probably won’t have to live in this wonderful time.

The description of the visions of a moonlit night has the features of a ballad.

BALLAD- a poetic work on a historical or legendary theme, in which the real is combined with the fantastic.

The theme of the construction of the railway, which claimed lives, is a historical basis.

In the description of ghosts there are real and fantastic features. Just as in fairy tales ghosts disappear at the first cry of the rooster, so in Nekrasov’s poem the visions disappear at the whistle of the locomotive.

Vanya, an attentive and impressionable boy, seemed to see the pictures that his fellow traveler drew for him, but his rich imagination completed the terrible impressions:

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, in response to Vanya’s story about an amazing dream, burst out laughing: for him, everything that the lyrical hero says is nonsense, he argues with him about the role of the people in history. From the general’s point of view, the people are barbarians, a wild bunch of drunkards who “do not create, destroy the master.”

The third part ends with the words of the general:

Would you show the child now?

The bright side...

The general is outraged by the terrible picture that the hero painted for the boy and calls for him to show the “bright side” of life, which the lyrical hero shows in the fourth part.

The so-called “bright side” is a description of the completion of the railway:

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...

The phrase “the German is already laying the rails” means that the most difficult part of the work, which does not require high qualifications, has ended. It was usually performed by the Russians. The Germans (and all foreigners were called that) performed highly skilled work.

Rice. 3. Illustration by I. Glazunov for the poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Railway” ()

...working people

A 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 the 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...

After construction was completed, the workers remained in debt to the contractor (Fig. 3).

How could this happen?

It's all about the fine system in force at that time. For example, a person who did not go to work due to illness could be fined. The workers did not have their own money, so for some needs they had to borrow money from the contractor, all of which was subsequently deducted from their wages.

The construction of railways was mainly carried out by peasants, who were almost all illiterate; they could not check the accuracy of the foreman’s records and “gave up”, realizing that they were being deceived, but nothing could be done about it.

The ellipses and intonation of phrases show that the workers do not trust those who lead them; they are desperate to find the truth.

The next scene is the appearance of a venerable meadowsweet, that is, a merchant, trader. The very description of this character is contrasted with the working people.

Let’s compare with the description of a Belarusian:

Bloodless lips, drooping eyelids,

Ulcers on skinny arms

Always standing in knee-deep water

The legs are swollen; tangle in hair...

and a description of the meadowsweet:

In a blue caftan - a venerable meadowsweet,

Thick, squat, red as copper...

The phrase deserves special attention:

The merchant wipes the sweat from his face...

Workers wipe away sweat from hard work. What kind of sweat does the merchant wipe away? Not hard to guess…

The following stanza evokes a feeling of horror with its absurdity:

I expose a barrel of wine to the workers

And - I give you the arrears!..

It seemed that this statement by the contractor should have caused indignation among the workers, but they shout “Hurray” and harness themselves to the merchant’s cart instead of horses.

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?..

These lines contain bitter irony, precisely that irony, which, according to Aristotle’s definition, is “a statement containing ridicule of someone who really thinks so.”

IRONY(from ancient Greek εἰρωνεία - “pretense”) - a trope in which the true meaning is hidden or contrasted with the obvious meaning. Irony creates the feeling that the subject of discussion is not what it seems.

The brightest picture in the work turned out to be the ugliest.

Despite its gloominess, the poem is dedicated to children, because they are the ones who have the opportunity to correct what is unjust in this world.

Bibliography

1. Lib.Ru/Classics: Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich: Collected Works [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ( Source).
2. Internet library of Alexey Komarov. Nekrasov Nikolay Alekseevich [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().
3. Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().

Homework

Learn by heart and prepare an expressive reading of the first part of N.A.’s poem. Nekrasov "Railway".

Read the passage.

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.

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...

Answer the questions and complete the tasks.

1. What is the first part of the poem?

   SCENERY- compositional means: depiction of pictures of nature in a work.

What mood is the story filled with? What linguistic means are used to create this mood?

Vocabulary

• Find and write down the epithets:
• Find and write out metaphors:
• Find and write out personifications:
• Find and write out comparisons:
• Find and write out repeat:
• Find and write out inversion:
• Find and write out exclamations:

Poetic size

What size is the poem written in? What does this poetic meter allow you to convey?

Lyrical hero

How does the lyrical hero of the poem appear to the reader? (Write down at least two characteristics).

Intonation

2. How does the mood change in the last stanza of the first part? How will the intonation change?

   What does the expression “think about thinking” mean? Why does the author of the poem use this particular expression?

   What role does the first part play in understanding the main meaning of N.A.’s poem? Nekrasov "Railway"?

   Illustration

   If you need a visual representation of the depicted N.A. Nekrasov's paintings of nature, illustrate the first part of the poem (oral verbal drawing or ordinary drawing - your choice).

Description of the painting by artist K. Savitsky "Repair work on the railway." Independent work in 8th grade on the topic: Isolation of minor members of a sentence. Can be used to prepare for exams.

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Preview:

Painting by artist K. Savitsky “Repair work on the railway”

(Task: insert isolated parts of the sentence that are appropriate in meaning, using words for reference.)

The painting depicts a hot summer day. Grass……….. Tall telegraph poles go into the distance………

Hard work is going on at the iron embankment. On the right......diggers lift layers of earth with shovels......load them into wheelbarrows and drive them along a wooden floor.........

Tanned faces and hands…………, shirts…………, - everything indicates that people work from dawn to dusk. Cars………. They testify that a misfortune happened to their owners.

Children, old people, young people…… have difficulty moving the wheelbarrows………

Bent backs hurt, arm muscles are tense, sweat floods your face, but you can’t straighten up: in the distance……. , there is a red-bearded foreman …………

The images of the peasants are lifelike and truthful. In the foreground is a mighty hero……………..

…………., he is driving his car………… But the old man, his face ………….. gloomy, concentrated. Near…. A boy with a face………, gaze……….

Savitsky’s painting and N. Nekrasov’s poem “Railway”, works ……….

They cause a feeling of indignation against the oppressors of the people.

Words for reference: definitions (huge, heavy; tanned, blackened from dust and sun; loaded with earth; pale, emaciated; silent, deep in his thoughts; faded from heat and dust; faded, patched, not washed for a long time; holding a stick in his hand ; covered with hair; depicting the hard labor of railroad builders; tired, exhausted; turned upside down); circumstances(; sweltering from the heat; not looking at anyone; on the left; straining with all his might, trying to maintain balance; on the mountain; on the hillock;); applications (possessor of enormous physical strength)

Answer:

The painting depicts a hot summer day. Grass faded from heat and dust. Tall telegraph poles go into the distance, disappearing into the foggy haze.

Hard work is going on at the iron embankment. On the right, on the mountain, diggers are lifting huge, heavy layers of earth with shovels, loading them into wheelbarrows and driving them along the wooden flooring, straining with all their might, trying to maintain balance.

Faces and hands are tanned, tanned, blackened from dust and sun, shirts are faded, patched, not washed for a long time - everything indicates that people work from dawn to dusk. Wheelbarrows turned upside down indicate that a misfortune has happened to their owners.

Children, old people, young people, exhausted from the heat, have difficulty moving wheelbarrows loaded with earth. Your bent backs hurt, your arm muscles are tense, your face is sweating, but you can’t straighten up: in the distance, on a hill, stands a red-bearded foreman holding a stick in his hand.

The images of the peasants are lifelike and truthful. In the foreground is a mighty hero, the owner of enormous physical strength, he, silent, deep in his thoughts, is driving his wheelbarrow, not looking at anyone. But here is the old man, his face, covered with hair, looks gloomy and concentrated. Nearby, on the left, a boy with a pale, emaciated face, tired, exhausted eyes

Savitsky's painting and N. Nekrasov's poem "The Railway", works depicting the hard labor of railway builders, evoke a feeling of indignation against the oppressors of the people.

On the topic: methodological developments, presentations and notes

“Pictures of forced labor in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Railway”

“Pictures of forced labor in N.A. Nekrasov’s poem “Railroad” (Extracurricular reading lesson. 6th grade.) Purpose of the lesson: To introduce students to the pages of the life and work of N.A. Nekrasov, To help students...

The lesson summary is a binary lesson on literature and history in grade 7. The purpose of the lesson: to introduce students to the historical basis of the poem, to show the conditions of forced labor of workers. ...