Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin is a Russian poet of the 18th century. In his works, he adhered to such a direction as classicism, and often turned to the ode genre. At first, his work was influenced by the works of his predecessors, in particular, A. P. Sumarokov and M. V. Lomonosov. Somewhere in the early 80s of the 18th century, Derzhavin's independent poetic path began. He, as it were, reforms the classicist traditions, using in his odes a more sonorous and emotional language and a mixture of a high style of speech with a colloquial one.

Ode "To Felitsa" became one of Derzhavin's most iconic works. The history of the publication of this work is very interesting. Initially, the poet did not want to print it, since in the text he boldly and satirically portrays the favorites of Catherine II. He even wanted to publish under a pseudonym, because he was afraid of the revenge of the nobles. But in 1783, the ode quickly spread among aristocratic circles and reached the empress. Surprisingly, she appreciated the content and innovative methods of Derzhavin. With her assistance, the work "To Felitsa" was published in the new literary magazine of Princess E. R. Dashkova "Interlocutor of lovers of the Russian word." Catherine II herself granted a golden snuffbox with five hundred chervonets and a rather sarcastic inscription: "From Orenburg from the Kyrgyz Princess to Murza Derzhavin."

To whom is the ode "To Felice" dedicated? The work has a subtitle:

“An ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by Tatarsky Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and lives on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic».

The general public learns about the poet in 1782 after the publication of the ode "To Felitsa". Derzhavin receives imperial recognition for his talent. After that, he deals with more patriotic odes, and “On the Capture of Ishmael”, “Waterfall”, “On the Death of Prince Meshchersky” and others are published. In addition, he is fond of translations of ancient poetry. Subsequently, he began to write his own poems based on the works of ancient authors, but he added national flavor to it - Russian life and native landscapes.

One of the most famous works of Derzhavin's late lyrics is the poem "Monument", written in 1795. Here he expresses his vision of one of the eternal problems - the memory of man and the memory of man.

Genre, direction, size

The genre in which the work “To Felitsa” is written is an ode - a laudatory, solemn song dedicated to any hero or event of national significance.

And although Derzhavin did not adhere to strictly classical canons, "To Felitsa" belongs precisely to this direction. The poet praises the empress and recognizes her merits, but he draws attention to her harshness towards the subjects. Such themes could not be in a laudatory song.

In addition, the satirical tone of the work brings it closer to such a literary genre as travesty - this is a parody of various genres, where high vocabulary is mixed with everyday, colloquial, and heroic characters become simpler, baser. The poet himself considered this his main merit and called it "a funny Russian style." Derzhavin also expands the thematic content of genres. Previously, the state thought, the praise of the ruler, the interests of the fatherland always sounded in the odes. Derzhavin brings something personal, intimate, sensual, everyday. Perhaps his work is to some extent at the intersection of classicism and sentimentalism.

The size in which the ode is written is iambic tetrameter with pyrrhic. This helps the author to maintain the general intonation of the work - enthusiasm and solemnity.

Composition

The composition of the ode is heterogeneous and inconsistent: the text contains the central image of the “god-like princess”, which develops throughout the entire work; he is opposed by her "Murzas" and the lyrical hero himself. Therefore, the conclusion follows from this, the composition is based on such a technique as antithesis.

Hero Skins

The system of images in the ode "To Felitsa" is very multifaceted.

The themes and problems of the work deserve a separate article, and in order not to drag out this one, the Wise Litrecon asks you, if necessary, to ask about a topic that is not mentioned in the comments. It will definitely add to the above.

Main idea

The meaning of the ode "To Felitsa" is a description of the image of the ideal ruler of the Enlightenment. Felitsa is a wise, fair, intelligent empress who aims to develop her state and help her people. At the same time, Felitsa is not a faceless goddess, but a person, a person who has her own habits and interests. According to the author, Catherine II is very close to this image. He praises her both as a person and as a sovereign. At the end of the work, he wishes her good health and even greater greatness. However, he reminds her that she is separated from perfection by a bad environment, which is not touched by justice. Derzhavin focuses on the injustice of class division in Russia, which is contrary to what Catherine II wants to achieve. Torture and torture, censorship and lack of freedom, laziness, stupidity and impunity of the elite - all this is a thorn in the eye of the empire that must be eliminated.

Derzhavin's main idea is not in condemnation, but in edification. He humbly bows before the Empress, recognizes her virtues and serves her by denouncing vices at court. That is why Catherine the Second not only did not take offense at the poet, but also exalted him. In the satirist, she saw a patriot who sincerely wishes the good of Russia. In the ode "To Felitsa" Derzhavin glorified the queen and pointed out to her that it harmed her rule.

means of expression

Derzhavin uses different means of artistic expression for a deeper study of images:

• metaphors (“to shed bliss”, “the path of meekness”, “thoughts in chimeras”);
• comparisons (“Like a wolf of sheep, you don’t crush people”, “Who is great in goodness, like a god?”);
• epithets (“god-like queen”, “incomparable wisdom”, “radiant eye”, “righteous light”);
• rhetorical appeals ("Give it, Felitsa!");
• rhetorical questions (“Where does virtue live? / Where does a rose grow without thorns?”);
• phraseological units (“captivate the spirit and mind”, “tame the passions”);
• anaphoras (“Where they give me a holiday, / Where the table shines with silver and gold, / Where there are thousands of different dishes ...”).

In addition, he uses the technique of antithesis, opposing the image of the wise Felitsa to the depraved and lazy murzas and the idle lyrical hero. Thanks to this, he sort of divides his work into two parts: in the first he glorifies Felitsa, in the second he draws attention to the existing problems. The contrast emphasizes the contrast between what the empress sees in her favorites and who they really are.

Derzhavin's creative heritage is still of research interest. It retains both its relevance and aesthetics. Many poets have returned and are returning to him, who highly appreciate the poetic and stylistic features of the ode “To Felitsa”. Without a doubt, Derzhavin was able to erect a literary monument for himself that would not be broken by "neither a whirlwind, nor a storm, nor time flying."

The title of Derzhavin's famous ode reads as follows: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by some Murza, who has long lived in Moscow, but who lives on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic in 1782. Under Felice (Latin felix - happy) Catherine II was meant, and "Murza" appeared in the ode either as the author's own "I", or as the collective name of Catherine's nobles. Derzhavin's authorship was disguised. When printing the ode (see its full text and summary), the editors of the "Interlocutor" made a note to the title: "Although we do not know the name of the writer, we know that this ode was accurately composed in Russian."

Derzhavin. Felitsa. Oh yeah

For all the "commendable" tone, Derzhavin's poems are very sincere. He speaks to the empress, enumerates positive sides her reign. Catherine is credited, for example, with the fact that she does not exterminate people, like a wolf destroys sheep:

You rule with indulgence;
Like a wolf of sheep, you don't crush people...
...........................................
You are ashamed to be known as that great
To be terrible, unloved;
Bear decently wild
Animals to tear and their blood to drink.

In the ode "Felitsa" Catherine received no less edification than her nobles. Derzhavin clearly told her that the tsar must observe laws that are the same for him and for his subjects, that these laws are based on "divine will", and therefore are generally binding. Derzhavin never tired of reminding the three tsars of this with whom he had to deal.

Derzhavin spoke very freely about previous reigns, comparing the reign of Felitsa with them:

There are no clownish weddings,
They are not fried in ice baths,
Do not click in the mustache of the nobles;
Princes don't cackle with hens,
Lovers in reality they do not laugh
And they don't stain their faces with soot.

It was a question here - what contemporaries understood - about the customs at the court of Anna Ioannovna. The names of the jester princes were still remembered.

Derzhavin showed the new monarch in an unusual way - as a private person:

Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Don't value your peace
You read, you write before the lay...

Following this, a number of allusions to large nobles were scattered in the ode. Their whims and favorite entertainments were immortalized in verses:

Or a magnificent train,
In an English carriage, golden,
With a dog, a jester or a friend,
Or with some beauty
I walk under the swings;
I stop in taverns to drink honey;
Or somehow bored me
According to my inclination to change,
Having a hat on the back,
I'm flying on a fast runner.
Or music and singers
Organ and bagpipes suddenly
Or fist fighters
And dance amuse my spirit...

Derzhavin in his "Explanations" pointed out that he observed the nobles he knew - Potemkin, Vyazemsky, Naryshkin, Orlov, saw the predilection of one for fisticuffs and horses, the other for horn music, the third for panache, etc. and depicted them whims in verse, creating a generalized portrait of a courtier, bringing together typical features. Later, in the ode " Nobleman", He will especially deal with this topic and give a sharp satirical picture in which one can guess the characteristics of individual figures of the era.

In Felitsa, Derzhavin's penchant for accurate descriptions of everyday life and his ability to create vivid, multi-colored pictures, which are still inaccessible to other modern poets, were reflected:

There is a glorious Westphalian ham,
There are links of Astrakhan fish,
There are plov and pies, -
I drink champagne waffles
And I forget everything in the world
Among wines, sweets and aroma.
Or in the middle of a beautiful grove,
In the gazebo, where the fountain is noisy,
At the sound of a sweet-voiced harp,
Where the breeze barely breathes
Where everything represents luxury to me ...

Derzhavin introduced into his ode another, domestic life, typical of some provincial nobleman, although living in the capital:

Or, sitting at home, I'll show you
Playing fools with my wife;
Then I get along with her on the dovecote,
Sometimes we frolic in blindfolds;
Then I have fun in a pile with her,
I'm looking for it in my head ...

With a sense of freedom and ease, Derzhavin talked in his ode about a wide variety of subjects, seasoning moralizing with a sharp word. He did not miss a chance to speak about literature. The fifteenth stanza of the ode is devoted to this topic. Derzhavin says to the queen:

You think sensibly about merits,
You honor the worthy
You don't call him a prophet
Who only rhymes can weave ...

Of course, Derzhavin attributed these lines to himself, he considered himself “worthy” precisely, because he knew how to do something other than weaving rhymes, namely, he was an official and administrator. Lomonosov once said about Sumarokov that he, "except for his poor rhyming, knows nothing." Derzhavin also argued that a person, first of all, should be a worker in the state, and poetry, poetry is what you can do "during free hours."

The definition of poetry included by Derzhavin in the ode "Felitsa" is widely known:

Poetry, you're welcome
Pleasant, sweet, useful,
Like summer lemonade.

The poet talks about the view of literature that Catherine could have. But Derzhavin himself set before poetry the task of being pleasant and useful. In the Letter on Historical Anecdotes and Notes (1780), the poet praises this type of writing, saying that it is “pleasant and useful. Pleasant because the selected and briefly described narrative does not bore any reader, but, so to speak, consoles him in passing. Useful for bringing history to life, embellishing it and containing it, and making it more comfortable to remember with your notes. This formula goes back to Horace, who said: “Omne tulit punetum, qui miscuit utile dulci” (Everything brings that which combines pleasant with useful).

In a letter to Kozodavlev, Derzhavin remarked about the ode "Felitsa": "I don't know how society will see such an essay, which has not yet been in our language." In addition to the boldness of a conversation with the empress and nobles, Derzhavin also had in mind literary features odes: a combination of satire and pathos, high and low sayings, topical allusions, the convergence of poetry with life.

The innovative meaning of "Felitsa" was perfectly understood and formulated by the poet Yermil Kostrov in his "Letter to the creator of an ode composed in praise of Felitsa", published in "Interlocutor".

You have found the path untrodden and new, -

he says, turning to Derzhavin, who guessed that Russian poetry needed a new direction.

Our ears are almost deaf from the loud lyre tones,
And full, it seems, to fly beyond the clouds ...
Frankly, it is clear that out of fashion
Soaring odes have already come out.
You knew how to exalt yourself among us with simplicity!

Kostrov believes that Derzhavin "restored a new taste to poetry," bypassing

Without a lyre, without a violin,
And not saddled, moreover, the Parnassian runner, -

that is, without needing required attributes odic poetry, playing not on the "lyre", but on the whistle - a simple folk instrument.

The success of Felitsa was complete and brilliant. Greeting poems to Derzhavin, in addition to Kostrov, were written by O. Kozodavlev, M. Sushkova, V. Zhukov. Critical remarks also appeared - they found their place in the same journal "Interlocutor", but with Derzhavin's objections.

The Empress sent Derzhavin a gold snuff-box, studded with diamonds, with five hundred chervonets - "from Orenburg from a Kyrgyz princess." In response to the gift, Derzhavin wrote a poem "Thanks to Felitsa", in which he noted what he could like in his ode - "simplicity is pleasing in a non-hypocritical style." This simplicity, the unexpected combination of satire and pathos, lofty odic concepts and everyday colloquial speech were approved in the poet's further work.

In a desire to please the empress, he took as the basis of his work her own work, shortly before that published in a small edition. Naturally, for a brightly talented poet, this story sparkled with richer colors, in addition to this, introducing Russian versification into the history new style and made the poet a celebrity.

Analysis of the ode

"Felitsa" is provided with a subtitle that clarifies the purpose of writing this work. It tells about the appeal to the wise princess of the Tatar Murza, who settled in Moscow, but is on business in St. Petersburg. The reader is also mystified by the fact that the ode was allegedly translated from Arabic. The analysis of the ode "Felitsa" should be started with a name that does not sound native to either Russians or Arabs.

The fact is that this is exactly what Catherine II called her heroine in her fairy tale about Tsarevich Chlorine. Served as soil Italian(here you can remember someone like Cutugno with the exclamation "Felicita") Latin translates the word "felitsa" (Felitsa - felicitas) as happiness. Thus, from the first line, Derzhavin began to exalt the empress, then he could not resist satire in the descriptions of her environment.

Artistic synthesis

An analysis of the ode "Felitsa" shows the setting for the ordinary, accepted at that time, solemn laudatory ode to the date. Written in the traditional stanza of the ode - ten lines, and, as expected, But before Derzhavin, no one had dared to merge two genres that were opposite in their target orientation - a majestic laudatory ode and a caustic

The first was the ode "Felitsa". Derzhavin, as it were, "stepped back" in his innovation, judging by the exactly fulfilled conditions of the genre, at least in comparison with "Poems for Birth", which are not even separated by a stanza. However, this impression disappears as soon as the reader overcomes the first few stanzas. Still, even the composition of the Felitsa ode is a much broader artistic synthesis.

Fairy tale "Felice"

It is interesting to consider what motives inspired Derzhavin to compose this "fan fiction", what served as the fundamental basis and whether this topic was worthy of continuation. Apparently, worthy, and very much. Catherine II wrote her fairy tale for her grandson, so far small, but in the future the great Alexander I. In the Empress's fairy tale, we are talking about the Kiev prince Chlor, who was visited by the Kirghiz Khan to check whether the prince is really as smart and dexterous as they say about him.

The boy agreed to pass the test and find the rarest flower - a rose without thorns - and set off. On the way, having responded to the invitation of Murza Lentyag (a telling name), the prince tries to resist the temptations of that luxury and idleness with which Lentyag tempts him. Fortunately, this Kirghiz khan had a very good daughter, who was called Felice, and an even better grandson, who was called Reason. Felitsa sent her son with the prince, who went out with the help of Reason to the goal of his path.

Bridge between fairy tale and ode

Before them was steep mountain without paths or stairs. Apparently, the prince himself was quite stubborn, because, despite the enormous work and trials, he nevertheless climbed to the top, where he adorned his life with a rose without thorns, that is, with virtue. An analysis of the ode "Felitsa" shows that, as in any fairy tale, the images here are conditionally allegorical, but in Derzhavin at the beginning of the ode they stand up very strongly, and all the odic beginnings of classical samples, where climbing Parnassus and communication with the muses are inevitable, fade next with seemingly simple images of a children's fairy tale.

Even the portrait of Catherine (Felitsa) is given in a completely new manner, which is completely different from the traditional laudatory description. Usually in the odes, the honored character appears in the inexpressive image of the goddess, walking along the solemn booming rhymes of the verse with heavy rhythmic shortness of breath. Here the poet is inspired, and - most importantly - equipped with poetic skill. Poems are not lame and are not inflated with excessive pathos. The plan of the ode "Felitsa" is such that Catherine appears before the reader as a smart, but simple and active Kyrgyz-Kaisat princess. It plays well on the harmony of the construction of this image and the contrast - the image of Murza, vicious and lazy, which Derzhavin uses throughout the ode. Hence the unprecedented genre diversity that distinguishes the ode "Felitsa".

Derzhavin and the Empress

The position of the singer here also changes in relation to the subject of chanting, if we consider not only all previous Russian literature, but even the poems of Derzhavin himself. Sometimes a certain god-likeness of the queen still slips in the ode, but with all this and with the general respect that the Felitsa ode demonstrates, the content also shows a certain shortness of the relationship, not familiarity, but the warmth of almost family intimacy.

But in satirical lines, Derzhavin can sometimes be understood ambiguously. The collective features of the image of Murza ridicule all of Catherine's nobles in turn, and it is here that the poet does not forget himself. Auto-irony is all the more rare in the poetry of those years. The author's "I" is not devoid of lyrics, but it is clearly made clear that "This is Felitsa, I am depraved!", "Today I rule over myself, and tomorrow I am a slave to whims." The appearance of such an author's "I" in the ode is a fact of great artistic significance. Lomonosov also began odes with "I", but as a loyal slave, while Derzhavin's author is concrete and alive.

Narrative from the author

Naturally, the composition of the ode "Felitsa" would not have sustained a full-fledged author's individuality. Derzhavin most often gives under the author's "I" a conventional image of a singer, which is usually always present in odes, just as in satires. But there is a difference: in the ode the poet plays only sacred delight, and in satire only indignation. Derzhavin united "one-stringed" genres by creating a living human poet, with an absolutely concrete life, with a variety of feelings and experiences, with the "multi-stringed" music of verse.

An analysis of the ode "Felitsa" certainly notes not only delight, but also anger, blasphemy and praise in one bottle. Along the way, he manages to dissemble, ironically. That is, he behaves throughout the entire work as a completely normal and living person. And it should be noted that this individual personality has undoubted features of the nationality. In an ode! And now such a case would be unprecedented if someone in our time wrote odic poetry.

About genres

Ode "Felitsa", the content of which is so rich in contradictions, as if warmed by the warm rays of the sun colloquial speech from the reality of everyday life, light, simple, sometimes playful, which directly contradicts the laws of this genre. Moreover, there was a genre revolution, almost a revolution.

It must be clarified that Russian classicism did not know poetry as "simply poetry." All poetry was strictly divided into genres and types, sharply demarcated, and these boundaries were unshakable. Ode, satire, elegy and other types of poetic creativity could not mix with each other.

Here, the traditional categories of classicism are completely broken after the organic fusion of ode and satire. This applies not only to Felitsa, Derzhavin did this both earlier and later. For example, the ode to death is half an elegy. Genres become polyphonic with the light hand of Derzhavin.

Success

A colossal success went to this ode immediately after its publication: "Everyone who can read Russian has found it in the hands of" - according to a contemporary. At first, Derzhavin was wary of widely publishing the ode, he tried to hide the authorship (probably, the depicted and very recognizable nobles were vindictive), but then Princess Dashkova appeared and published "Felitsa" in the magazine "Interlocutor", where Catherine II herself did not hesitate to cooperate.

The empress liked the ode very much, she even wept with delight, ordered the authorship to be immediately exposed, and when this happened, she sent Derzhavin a golden snuffbox with a dedicatory inscription and five hundred chervonets in it. It was after this that real fame came to the poet.

The ode "Felitsa" written in 1782 is the first poem that made Gavril Romanovich Derzhavin very famous, and also, which became an example of a new style in Russian poetry.

The ode got its name from the name of the heroine “Tales of Tsarevich Chlorine”, which was written by Catherine II herself. By the same name, which translates as “happiness,” she is also named in the ode of Derzhavin, who glorified the empress and caricatured her entire entourage. Indeed, having violated all the traditions of the genre of commendable odes, Derzhavin

He widely introduced colloquial vocabulary and even non-literary statements into it, but most importantly, he did not draw an official portrait of the Empress, but depicted her human appearance. But not everyone was as enthusiastic about this poem as the Empress. It has confused and disturbed many.

On the one hand, in the ode “Felitsa” a completely established image of a “god-like princess” is drawn, which expresses the writer’s concept of the standard of the most blessed monarch. Noticeably embellishing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin firmly believes in the image painted by him.

On the other hand, in the writer's verses one can hear the thought not

Only about the wisdom of power, but also about the dishonesty of the performers, who are only interested in their own benefit. The idea is not new, but behind the figures of the nobles that were described in the ode, there were clearly visible features real people.

In these images, one can easily recognize the favorite of the Empress Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, Naryshkin. Having painted their bright mocking portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - because any of those who were offended by the poet could easily deal with the writer. And only the benevolent attitude of the Empress saved Derzhavin. And even Catherine, he decides to give a recommendation: to obey the law, which is the same for everyone. The work ends with the traditional praise of Catherine and the desire for all the best for her.

Thus, in "Felitsa" Derzhavin appeared as a bold pioneer who combined the style laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, he introduced elements of low styles into the high genre of the ode. Later, the author himself defined the genre of "Felitsa" as a "mixed ode".

(No ratings yet)

Other writings:

1. The reputation of a poet develops during his lifetime. The real understanding of his poetry and its place in literary development is determined and determined by history. A vivid illustration of this pattern is the work of Derzhavin. Glory came to Derzhavin suddenly in 1783, when in the first issue of Read More ......
2. The main genre of Russian poetry of the 18th century is the ode. The odes of M. V. Lomonosov “On the day of the accession to the throne of Empress Elizabeth ...” (1747) and G. R. Derzhavin “Felitsa” are considered textbooks. Both of these works sing of the Russian empresses, but they differ sharply from each other. Read More ......
3. Monument Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin - the great Russian poet of the XVIII century. In his work, he illuminated all the problems that were present in the high society of Russia. In 1795, he wrote the poem "Monument", in which he proclaimed his right to immortality. Initially, the poem was Read More ......
4. Notes Notes from well-known incidents and true cases, containing the life of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin. The author, who lists at the beginning of the notes all his ranks, positions and orders, but does not mention poetic fame at all, was born in Kazan from Read More ......
5. Derzhavin's work is deeply contradictory. Revealing the possibilities of classicism, he at the same time destroyed it, paving the way for romantic and realistic poetry. Derzhavin's poetic work is extensive and mainly represented by odes, among which one can distinguish civil, victorious-patriotic, philosophical and anacreontic. A special place Read More ......
6. Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816) is another prominent figure in Russian literature of the 18th century. His poetry completes the classicist tradition and at the same time opens up new paths, prepares for the emergence of Pushkin's "poetry of reality." According to Belinsky, Derzhavin's poetry “was the first step in the transition from rhetoric to Read More ......
7. G. R. Derzhavin is a poet of the last third of the 18th century. His predecessors adhered to the principles of classicism, but further development poetry could not be carried out without violating, and subsequently destroying the boundaries of the genre. These violations began to be committed by the classic writers themselves (Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Kheraskov and Read More ......
8. Many of Derzhavin's contemporaries considered him a court poet. But he never was, despite attempts to persuade him to do so (recall the unsuccessful exhortation of the poet A. V. Khrabrovitsky, Catherine II's secretary of state). His poems speak of the frailty of life, death and immortality. Read More ......

Summary Felitsa Derzhavin

"Felitsa" Derzhavin G.R.

History of creation. Ode "Felitsa" (1782), the first poem that made the name of Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin famous. It became a vivid example of a new style in Russian poetry. The subtitle of the poem specifies: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by Tatarsky Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and who lives on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic. This work received its unusual name from the name of the heroine of the “Tales of Tsarevich Chlorine”, the author of which was Catherine II herself. This name, which in Latin means happiness, is also named in Derzhavin's ode, which glorifies the empress and satirically characterizes her surroundings.

It is known that at first Derzhavin did not want to publish this poem and even hid the authorship, fearing the revenge of the influential nobles, satirically depicted in it. But in 1783 it became widespread and, with the assistance of Princess Dashkova, close empress, it was published in the journal Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word, in which Catherine II herself collaborated. Subsequently, Derzhavin recalled that this poem so touched the empress that Dashkova found her in tears. Catherine II wanted to know who wrote the poem in which she was depicted so accurately. In gratitude to the author, she sent him a golden snuffbox with five hundred chervonets and an expressive inscription on the package: "From Orenburg from the Kirghiz Princess to Murza Derzhavin." From that day on, Derzhavin gained literary fame, which no Russian poet had known before.

Main themes and ideas. The poem "Felitsa", written as a playful sketch of the life of the Empress and her entourage, at the same time raises very important issues. On the one hand, in the ode "Felitsa" quite traditional image"god-like princess", which embodies the poet's idea of ​​the ideal of an enlightened monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:

Give, Felitsa, guidance:
How magnificently and truthfully to live,
How to tame passions excitement
And be happy in the world?

On the other hand, in the poet's verses, the thought sounds not only about the wisdom of power, but also about the negligence of performers who are concerned about their own benefit:

Everywhere temptation and flattery lives,
Luxury oppresses all pashas.
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?

In itself, this idea was not new, but behind the images of the nobles drawn in the ode, the features of real people clearly appeared:

I circle my thought in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
I turn arrows to the Turks;
That, having dreamed that I am a sultan,
I frighten the universe with a look;
Then suddenly, he was seduced by the outfit.
I'm going to the tailor on the caftan.

In these images, the poet's contemporaries easily recognized the favorite of the Empress Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, Naryshkin. Drawing their vividly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles offended by him could do away with the author for this. Only the favorable attitude of Catherine saved Derzhavin.

But even to the empress, he dares to give advice: to follow the law, which is subject to both kings and their subjects:

You alone are only decent,
Princess, create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
Strengthen their integrity with a union;
From disagreement to agreement
And from ferocious passions happiness
You can only create.

This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded bold, and it was expressed in simple and understandable language.

The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:

Heavenly I ask for strength,
Yes, stretching their sapphire wings,
Invisibly you are kept
From all diseases, evils and boredom;
Yes, your deeds in the offspring sounds,
Like stars in the sky, they will shine.

Artistic originality. Classicism forbade combining a high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin does not even simply combine them in characterizing different people depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. Violating the traditions of the laudatory ode genre, Derzhavin widely introduces colloquial vocabulary and even vernacular into it, but most importantly, he does not draw a ceremonial portrait of the empress, but depicts her human appearance. That is why everyday scenes, a still life turn out to be in the ode;

Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table.

The “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in everyday life (“Not cherishing your peace, / You read, you write under a veil ...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if accurately written off from nature. Reading the poem "Felitsa", you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry boldly taken from life or created by the imagination individual characters real people shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems vivid, memorable and understandable.

Thus, in Felitsa, Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of the ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of "Felitsa" as a mixed ode. Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where statesmen, military leaders were praised, solemn events were sung, in a "mixed ode" "a poet can talk about everything." Destroying the genre canons of classicism, with this poem he opens the way for a new poetry - "poetry of the real ™", which received a brilliant development in Pushkin's work.

The value of the work. Derzhavin himself subsequently noted that one of his main merits was that he "dared to proclaim Felitsa's virtues in a funny Russian syllable." As rightly pointed out by the researcher of the poet V.F. Khodasevich, Derzhavin was proud "not that he had discovered the virtues of Catherine, but that he was the first to speak in a "funny Russian style." He understood that his ode was the first artistic embodiment of Russian life, that it was the germ of our novel. And, perhaps, - Khodasevich develops his thought, - had "old Derzhavin" lived at least until the first chapter of Onegin, he would have heard echoes of his ode in it.