And smooth waves beat into the ether. “Evening reflection on God’s majesty...” M

Mikhail Lomonosov is the Leonardo da Vinci of Russian history. A person who during his life managed to make a contribution to the development of many sciences, contributing to the emergence higher education in Russia, who wrote scientific works in chemistry and physics, literature and linguistics, history and geography. He left behind helicopter drawings and theories about the structure of the Russian language. This article gives: summary ode, which Lomonosov wrote in 1743, this ode and the history of writing.

Lomonosov as a poet

As a brilliant scientist and statesman Mikhail Lomonosov is known to many. But he was also a poet, and according to many, perhaps the best poet of his era. Having done a lot for the development of the Russian language and literature, he wrote wonderfully. Many of Lomonosov's poems are now included in the program for the study of literature of that period.

According to sources, Lomonosov began studying poetry in early age. After him, a lot of works remained in completely different genres: these are odes, lyric poems, fables, tragedies, and poems filled with patriotic pathos. But still, like many poets of that era, Lomonosov gave his preference to such a genre as ode. Let's take a closer look at this genre of poetry.

What is ode

This type of lyric poem originated in ancient Greece. The essence of an ode is to express delight caused by any object or phenomenon, and convey it exclusively in a sublime style, with due pathos. Odes can be on the accession of an emperor to the throne, addressed to God, inspired by grandiose events that influenced history. Translated from Greek, “ode” is “song”. IN Ancient Greece the most famous poet, who wrote the most famous odes of that era, was Pindar. One of the main themes that inspired his new songs was the winners of the Olympic Games. Actually, that’s when the expression “singing heroes” was born. IN Ancient Rome The most important poet who wrote odes was Horace Flaccus. Having carried out an analysis in this article for the ode “Evening Reflection on God’s Majesty” (Lomonosov), we will find out how far Lomonosov has “gone from the canons.”

Odes in the Russian Empire

The heyday of this genre in Russia occurred in the eighteenth century. The first to create in this genre was one of the most famous Russian poets of the “pre-Pushkin era,” V. K. Trediakovsky. Main idea odes in Russia, as well as in Antiquity, are glorification, often very pompous, and therefore excessively pretentious. Following Trediakovsky, Mikhail Lomonosov began to write in this genre, and at the end of the eighteenth century - G. Derzhavin. The influence of these poets and the genre affects the early work of Alexander Pushkin, but during the nineteenth century the ode genre as one of the most important in the work of Russian poets faded away. Although at the beginning of the twentieth century, the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote the work “Ode to the Revolution.” But this is still an exception, because poetry has found itself in other forms.

"Evening reflection on God's Majesty": history of creation

In 1743, in the month of May, Lomonosov was taken into custody due to a conflict with foreign professors working at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and Arts. Mikhail Lomonosov stayed in the cell for exactly eight months. Researchers of his biography note that this period was marked by his active work both in the sciences and in creativity. It was while in prison that Mikhail Lomonosov wrote the poem “Evening Reflection on God’s Majesty” in the genre of ode.

In general, including God in the title is an attempt to please the tsarist censorship. We will not blame the famous Russian scientist and poet for this, because in difficult situations Many people resorted to this method - both Alexander and Dostoevsky, who wrote any praises and dedications to the imperial family or events from Russian history. Lomonosov did the same in order to achieve a speedy release.

But in the work itself, Mikhail Lomonosov made several thoughts that caused strong indignation among the church authorities. But the content of the ode “Evening Reflection on God’s Majesty” (Lomonosov), the analysis of this work, the main idea are in the subsequent sections. Let's get started.

"Evening reflection on God's Majesty": summary

Why did the church authorities dislike the ode so much? Let's figure it out. In this work, Lomonosov, calling man “a grain of sand before the majestic and bottomless universe,” does not at all downplay the importance of man and his capabilities.

Night falls on the earth, covers everything around with shadow, and a person sees an abyss full of stars. And, seeing this abyss, a person realizes that he is a grain of sand in an infinite Universe. And in front of the opening bottomless abyss, a person begins to feel like a grain of sand in this Universe. “Drowning” in this abyss, a person, in search of answers, turns to someone who knows absolutely everything. And even if the questions are not answered, the person continues to search. And in the ode "Evening Reflection on God's Majesty", main idea- is to show a person exactly like that: never giving up in the face of a lack of knowledge or answers, constantly searching, constantly doubting.

Perhaps this is precisely what the church authorities did not like. A person, in their opinion, should be timid, humble and pliable, but here is a completely different image.

Analysis of the work

This poem is not just an ode. These are Lomonosov's poetic reflections on science. Indeed, the poem speaks of “many worlds,” but Lomonosov argued about many inhabited worlds, albeit many thousands and millions of kilometers from the Earth. Part of the work is dedicated to the northern lights as natural phenomenon, which was also studied by Mikhail Lomonosov.

The ode was subject to changes with each publication: it is clear that Lomonosov was looking for the ideal form for expressing his thoughts. The work was first published in Rhetoric in 1748. Later reprinted twice - in 1751 and 1758. As the researchers note, in the final version the poet managed to achieve the highest quality “mixture” of Lomonosov the poet and Lomonosov the scientist.

Criticism and evaluation

In 1765, the poem was first published in France. In 1766 and 1778, two other translations were published, which were very favorably received by French readers. In 1802, in the city of Revel (now Tallinn), the ode was released in German.

The nineteenth-century Russian writer Nikolai Gogol wrote that “in such works Lomonosov is seen more as a naturalist than as a poet.” Plekhanov echoes him: “Lomonosov becomes a truly sensitive poet not when he writes about something from the point of view of myth, but when he looks at things like a natural scientist.”

Meaning of the work

Odes of the spiritual direction are distinguished by specialists from the entire poetic heritage of Lomonosov as the most mature and perfect not only in content, but also in the form of the work. Their style and manner of writing were highly honed by Lomonosov through very frequent alterations. And the images drawn by metaphors remain very vivid and alive to this day.

The theme of Mikhail Lomonosov's "Evening Reflection on God's Majesty" will find a response more than once in the future - in the works of poets of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, such as Derzhavin, Pushkin, Tyutchev. The problems of the relationship between man and God will worry our classics, because where else but in Russian literature such concepts as “earthly” and “heavenly” are found everywhere. Of course, when classicism with very rigid canons and forms became a thing of the past, giving way to more realistic and less sublime poetry, odes as a style for the most part also became obsolete. But the emotional intensity, spiritual quest, and confusion of a person “in the middle of the world” remained, as Arseny Tarkovsky would write already in the twentieth century. Attempts to “establish contact” between man and God through not prayers, but poetry, will not disappear anywhere. And the series of prophets carrying the eternal, sincere, divine will not disappear anywhere. And, starting with the “Prophet” of Alexander Pushkin, then Mikhail Lermontov, Russian poets and writers will prophesy, try to speak on behalf of God or try to come to an agreement with him. But the main thing is that they will create.

Conclusion

Mikhail Lomonosov left a huge mark on Russian culture and science. Some of his research, despite the development of science, is relevant, his historical works amaze with the depth of knowledge, and Lomonosov’s poems are read and studied. Perhaps there are few people who have managed to do so much for the Fatherland in their lives. Historian and geographer, linguist and chemist, poet and physicist - the list could go on for a long time, but the main thing is that he was a true patriot of his country. This article gave an analysis (quite detailed) of the ode “Evening Reflection on God’s Majesty” (Lomonosov), a brief summary of the work, and also showed the main themes of creativity, and talked about the facts of the biography for real “ big man for Russian history".

The fields were covered in gloomy night,

A black shadow has ascended the mountains,

The rays have bent away from us,

An abyss full of stars has opened,

The stars have no number, the bottom of the abyss.

2. A grain of sand as in sea ​​wave X,

How small is the spark in eternal ice,

Like fine dust in a strong whirlwind,

In a fire as fierce as a feather,

So I am deep in this abyss

I'm lost, tired of thoughts!

3. The lips of the wise say to us:

There are many different lights,

Countless suns are burning there,

The peoples there and the circle of centuries:

For the common glory of the Divine

So equal is the power of nature.

4. But where, nature, is your law?

The dawn rises from the midnight lands!

Doesn't the sun set his throne there?

Is it not the ice that holds back the fire of the sea?

Behold, the cold stone has covered us!

Behold, day has entered into the night on earth!

5. O you who are quick to see

Pierces into the book of eternal rights,

Which small thing is a sign

Reveals the nature's charter:

You know the path of all the planets,

Tell me, what is bothering us so much?

6. What does the ray waver on a clear night?

What thin flame spreads into the firmament?

Like lightning without threatening clouds

Striving from the ground to the zenith?

How can it be that frozen steam

Did a fire start in the middle of winter?

7. There the thick darkness argues with the water,

Or the sun's rays shine,

Loafing through the thick air towards us

Or the tops of the fat mountains are burning,

Or the zephyr stopped blowing into the sea,

And smooth waves hit the air.

8. Your answer is full of doubts,

About what is around nearby places.

Tell me, how expansive is the light?

And what about the smallest stars?

Is the end unknown to you creatures?

Tell me, how great is the Creator?

1. Already a beautiful luminary

Spread its shine across the earth,

And the works of God were revealed:

My spirit, listen with joy,

Wondering only the clear rays,

Imagine what the Creator himself is like!

2. Whenever mortals are so high

It was possible to fly

So that our eye is perishable to the sun

Could look closer,

Then all countries would open up

The eternally burning ocean.

3. There the fiery shafts rush

And they don’t find the shores

Fiery whirlwinds swirl there,

Fighting for many centuries,

There the stones, like water, boil,

The burning rains there are noisy.

4. This terrible mass

Like one spark before you,

Oh, if the most bright lamp,

I was kindled by you, O God,

For our daily affairs,

What have You commanded us to do!

5. Freed from the dark night

Fields, hillocks, seas and forests,

And they opened to our gaze

Filled with Your miracles.

There every flesh cries out:

Great is our Creator, Lord!

6. The daylight shines

Only on the surface of bodies,

But Your gaze penetrates into the abyss,

Without knowing any limits.

From the grace of Your eyes

The joy of all creation flows.

7. Creator! covered in darkness for me

Spread out the rays of wisdom,

And whatever is before You,

Always teach to create,

And, looking at Your creature,

Praise You, immortal King.

1. Blessed is he who does not consult with the evil,

Doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of sinners,

And with the one who leads to destruction,

To sit in consonant thoughts,

2. But it only subjects the will

The law of God in everything,

And with his heart he watches

In its entire course.

3. Like a tree it will spread,

What's nearby flowing waters growing,

To be enriched by your fruit,

And its leaf will not fall off.

4. He will see the consequences hasty

In your good deeds,

But sinners will be troubled by destruction,

Like a whirlwind of enraptured dust.

5. And so the villains will not rise

Before the Most High Creator for judgment,

And the righteous will not remember

There are none of them in your cathedral.

6. The Lord looks upon the righteous,

And He keeps them on His way,

He turns away His gaze from sinners,

And the evil way will destroy them.

Between 1743 and early 1751

1. Lord, who dwells

In a bright house above the stars,

Who dwells with You

The top of the sacred mountain places?

2. He who walks blamelessly

Always keeps the truth

And with an unflattering heart for sure

How he speaks with his tongue.

3. He who does not know how to flatter with his lips,

Doesn't cause harm to neighbors

Doesn't weave cunning networks,

So that the neighbor gets stuck in them.

4. Despises all the evil ones,

Praises the Most High servants

And before Him the souls of the right,

Sticks to sworn words

5. Give more than silver to be ashamed,

He does not take bribes from innocent people.

Who strives to live like this in the world,

He will never fall.

Between 1743 and 1747

M. V. Lomonosov. Sentence of Psalm 103. Morning reflection on God's majesty. Evening reflection on God's majesty during the Great Northern Lights

Three poems by Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711 - 1765), published in this book, reflect the spirit of his poetry and his artistic discoveries, which largely determined the further development of Russian literature: the creation of the foundations literary language, improvement - following V.K. Trediakovsky, but with the originality and power of a genius - Russian verse, development of the principles of epic and lyrical poetry, scientific and artistic literature. Lomonosov's transcriptions of biblical psalms and reflections on God's majesty (in current usage - greatness) amaze with the unity of unshakable faith in the incomprehensible wisdom of the Creator, the perfection of His creation and a fiery thirst for knowledge, creativity, a happy consciousness of the power and beneficence of the human mind.

“Transition of Psalm 103,” written, like other “translations,” in the 40s, is a high example of fidelity to the spirit of the original and the freedom to transform it in the consciousness of a poet of a different time, language and culture. Comparison of the original text with Lomonosov’s is extremely difficult for readers of our time because they also have translations at their disposal: into Old Slavic and Russian (the first complete handwritten Slavic Bible was created in 1499, the complete printed one in 1581, its Old Testament part was edited in the first half XVIII century, the first complete Russian Bible was published in 1876). Lomonosov could use the Slavic Bible, as well as translations of the Bible into Greek (“Septuagint” - “Translation of the Seventy,” 3rd century BC) and into Latin (“Vulgate” - “People’s”, 4th century BC). ). Nevertheless, a comparison even with the Russian Bible, which did not exist under Lomonosov, allows one to feel the nature of the “change.” Here are two Bible verses:

“Thou hast set the earth on firm foundations: it shall not be shaken for ever and ever;

You covered it with the abyss like a garment; there are waters on the mountains."

The corresponding two quatrains of Lomonosov:

You firmly founded the earth, And for the reliable strengthening of the Immovable you laid rivets And gave eternal inflexibility.

You clothed it with an abyss, You commanded the waters in pairs, To rise, thickening above us, Where rain and snow are born.

Loyalty to the source is obvious, and the features introduced by the northern poet and naturalist are also noticeable.

The poem is understandable to the modern reader: ancient words give it solemnity, their meaning is revealed in the context, with the exception of the word “onager” - donkey, an animal that was highly valued in Palestine for its exceptional usefulness in the household; People of honor rode white donkeys.

“Morning” and “Evening” reflections were written in 1743. These are lyrics created by a convinced Christian, poet-scientist; a striking fusion of scientific insight and poetic imagery (for these poems, see also the first chapter of the book). Here the words “Creator” - creator, “creature” - creation, “nature”, “nature” - nature need clarification.

Pech. Based on the book: Lomonosov M.V. Works. L., 1957.

1b M. V. LOMONOSOV

Sentence of Psalm 103

May my spirit and tongue praise the Almighty Creator's power, splendor and glory. O my God, how great You are!

Cloaked in wondrous beauty, The dawn of divine light, You have spread out countless stars like a tent before You.

Having covered the heights with water, You rise on light clouds, You make noise with the wings of the winds, When You fly on them.

And the ambassadors of Your will, Like aerial aspirations, Obedient to omnipotent manias, Flow, burn, not knowing the darkness.

You firmly founded the earth, And for the reliable strengthening of the Immovable, you laid rivets And gave eternal inflexibility,

You covered it with an abyss, You commanded the waters to Rise in pairs, thickened over us, Where rain and snow are born.

Their will is Your single view. They are troubled by the prohibition, And, frightened, they crowd into the clouds; As soon as Your thunder strikes, there is a noise downwards.

The mountains rise in height; You create steep rapids and lay down green valleys, multiplying beauty with sullenness.

He set a limit to their heights, So that they would not hide the earth, They would not bow down to anything, Except Your immeasurable powers.

From the mountains you pour springs into the valleys And thus cool you from the heat: They murmur for sweet peace, They flow between the mountains.

And they will give water to all the animals that feed themselves around the villages; Onagers wait, as if they melt in thirst, for joy from Your hand.

Birds flock there to the shade, They sing and whistle, The rocky dens live, And thus they spend the hot day.

You pour moisture from above to the mountains, You plant the earth with fruits, And You satisfy all nations, Witnesses to Your deeds.

You grow grass in the fields for the flocks; We need different potions. You add generously to bread, You are rich in generosity to everyone.

Bread strengthens our breasts with strength, Butter softens our limbs, Wine comforts us in sorrow, And fills our hearts with joy.

You give abundant fatness to the trees, You crown the fields with them, generous one! Cedars were planted in Lebanon by the power of omnipotent hands.

Morning reflection on God's Majesty

The beautiful luminary has already spread its brilliance across the earth and revealed the works of God. My spirit, listen with joy, Wondering only at the clear rays, Imagine what the Creator himself is like!

If only it were possible for mortals to fly so high, so that our eye could approach the mortal sun and gaze, then the eternally burning Ocean would open from all countries.

There fiery shafts strive and do not find shores, there fiery whirlwinds spin, struggling for many centuries; There the stones boil like water, the burning rains there make noise.

This terrible mass is like a single spark before You. Oh, since You, God, have lit the bright lamp for our daily affairs, What You commanded us to do!

The fields, hillocks, seas and forests were freed from the gloomy night and opened to our gaze, filled with Your miracles. There every flesh cries out: “Great is our Creator, the Lord!”

The luminary of day shines only on the surface of bodies; But Your gaze penetrates into the abyss, Not knowing any limits. From the lightness of Your eyes the joy of all creation flows.

Creator! To me covered in darkness, spread out the rays of wisdom and always teach me to do anything before You and, looking at Your creation, Praise You, immortal King.

1743 (?)

Evening reflection on God's Majesty during the Great Northern Lights

The day hides its face, The fields are covered with gloomy night; A black shadow ascended the mountains, The rays bent away from us. An abyss has opened and is full of stars; The stars have no number, the bottom of the abyss.

A grain of sand is like a sea wave: How small a spark is in eternal ice, Like fine dust in a strong whirlwind, In a fire as fierce as a feather, So I, deep in this abyss, am lost, tired of thoughts!

The lips of the wise tell us: “There are many different lights there, Countless suns burn there, Peoples there and the circle of centuries; For the common glory of the Divine, the power of nature is equal there.”

But where, nature, is your law? The dawn rises from the midnight lands! Doesn't the sun set his throne there? Aren't the icemen putting out the fire of the sea? Behold, the cold flame has covered us! Behold, day has entered into the night on earth!

O you, whom the quick eye Pierces into the book of eternal rights, To whom the small sign of things Reveals the charter of nature, The path of all planets is known to you; Tell me, what is bothering us so much?

Why does a clear beam ripple at night? What thin flame spreads into the firmament? How does lightning, without menacing clouds, rush from the earth to the zenith? How can it be that frozen steam in the middle of winter gives birth to a fire?

There the thick darkness argues with the water; Or the sun's rays shine, bending through the thick air towards us; Or the tops of the fat mountains are burning; Or the zephyr has stopped blowing into the sea, And the smooth waves beat into the ether.

Your answer is full of doubts about what is around nearby places. Tell me, how expansive is the light? And what about the smallest stars? Ignorance of creatures is the end for you? Tell me, how great is the Creator?

M. V. Lomonosov. ADDRESS OF PSALM 1 M. V. Lomonosov ADDRESS OF PSALM 1 1 Blessed is he who does not go to the counsel of the wicked, Does not want to follow sinners And with those who lead to destruction, To sit in concordant thoughts, 2 But he only subjects his will to the Law of God in everything And with his heart he watches