One of the main poems of G. R. Derzhavin is his ode “Felitsa”. It is written in the form of an appeal from “a certain Murza” to the Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess Felitsa. The ode for the first time made contemporaries start talking about Derzhavin as a significant poet. The work was first published in 1789. In this poem, the reader has the opportunity to observe both praise and blame at the same time.
main character
In the analysis of the ode “Felitsa” it is imperative to indicate that it was dedicated to Empress Catherine II. The work is written in iambic tetrameter. The image of the ruler in the work is quite conventional and traditional, reminiscent in its spirit of a portrait in the style of classicism. But what is noteworthy is that Derzhavin wants to see in the empress not just a ruler, but also a living person:
“...And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table...”
Novelty of the work
In his work, Derzhavin portrays the virtuous Felitsa in contrast to the lazy and pampered nobles. Also in the analysis of the ode “Felitsa” it is worth noting that the poem itself is imbued with novelty. After all, the image of the main character is somewhat different compared to, for example, the works of Lomonosov. Mikhail Vasilyevich’s image of Elizabeth is somewhat generalized. Derzhavin points in his ode to specific deeds of the ruler. He also speaks of her patronage of trade and industry: “She orders us to love trade and science.”
Before Derzhavin’s ode was written, the image of the empress was usually built in poetry according to its own strict laws. For example, Lomonosov portrayed the ruler as an earthly deity who stepped from distant heavens to earth, a storehouse of infinite wisdom and boundless mercy. But Derzhavin dares to move away from this tradition. It shows a multifaceted and full-blooded image of the ruler - statesman and an outstanding personality.
Entertainment of nobles, condemned by Derzhavin
When analyzing the ode “Felitsa”, it is worth noting that Derzhavin condemns laziness and other vices of the court nobles in a satirical style. He talks about hunting, and about playing cards, and about trips to buy newfangled clothes from tailors. Gavrila Romanovich allows herself to violate the purity of the genre in her work. After all, the ode not only praises the empress, but also condemns the vices of her careless subordinates.
Personality in ode
And also in the analysis of the ode “Felitsa”, the student can note the fact that Derzhavin also introduced a personal element into the work. After all, the ode also contains the image of Murza, who is sometimes frank and sometimes sly. In the image of nobles, contemporaries could easily find those close to Catherine who were discussed. Derzhavin also meaningfully emphasizes: “That’s how I am, Felitsa, depraved! But the whole world looks like me.” Self-irony is quite rare in odes. And the description of Derzhavin’s artistic “I” is very revealing.
Who is Felitsa opposed to?
A student can discover many new facts in the process of analyzing the ode “Felitsa”. The poem was in many ways ahead of its time. Also, the description of the lazy nobleman anticipated the image of one of the main characters in Pushkin’s works - Eugene Onegin. For example, the reader can see that after waking up late, the courtier lazily indulges in smoking a pipe and dreams of glory. His day consists only of feasts and love pleasures, hunting and racing. The nobleman spends the evening walking on boats along the Neva, and in a warm house, family joys and peaceful reading await him, as always.
In addition to the lazy Murza, Catherine is also contrasted with her late husband, Peter III, which can also be indicated in the analysis of the ode “Felitsa”. Briefly, this point can be highlighted as follows: unlike her husband, she first of all thought about the good of the country. Despite the fact that the Empress was German, she wrote all her decrees and works in Russian. Catherine also defiantly walked around in a Russian sundress. In her attitude, she was strikingly different from her husband, who felt only contempt for everything domestic.
Character of the Empress
In his work, Derzhavin does not give portrait descriptions of the empress. However, this shortcoming is compensated by the impression that the ruler makes on her environment. The poet seeks to emphasize her most important qualities. If it is necessary to analyze the ode “Felitsa” briefly, then these features can be described as follows: it is unpretentious, simple, democratic, and also friendly.
Images in ode
It should be noted that the image of Prince Chlorus also runs through the entire poem. This character is taken from The Tale of Prince Chlorus, which was written by the Empress herself. The ode begins with a retelling of this fairy tale; there are such images as Felitsa, Lazy, Murza, Chlorine, Rose without thorns. And the work ends, as it should be, with praise to the noble and merciful ruler. Just as happens in mythical works, the images in the ode are conventional and allegorical. But Gavrila Romanovich presents them in a completely new manner. The poet portrays the empress not just as a goddess, but also as one who is not alien to human life.
Analysis of the ode “Felitsa” according to plan
A student can use a plan something like this:
- Author and title of the ode.
- The history of creation, to whom the work is dedicated.
- Composition of the ode.
- Vocabulary.
- Features of the main character.
- My attitude to ode.
Who was the author of the ode making fun of?
Those who need to make a detailed analysis of the ode “Felitsa” can describe those nobles whom Derzhavin ridiculed in his work. For example, this is Grigory Potemkin, who, despite his generosity, was distinguished by his capriciousness and whimsicality. The ode also ridicules the ruler’s favorites Alexei and Grigory Orlov, revelers and horse racing enthusiasts.
Count Orlov was a winner of fist fights, a ladies' man, a gambling hunter, as well as the killer of Peter III and the favorite of his wife. This is how he remained in the memory of his contemporaries, and this is how he was described in Derzhavin’s work:
“...Or, taking care of all matters
I leave and go hunting
And I’m amused by the barking of dogs...”
We can also mention Semyon Naryshkin, who was the huntsman at Catherine’s court and was distinguished by his exorbitant love of music. And Gavrila Romanovich also puts himself in this row. He did not deny his involvement in this circle; on the contrary, he emphasized that he also belonged to the circle of the chosen ones.
Image of nature
Derzhavin also glorifies beautiful natural landscapes, with which the image of an enlightened monarch is in harmony. The landscapes he describes are in many ways similar to scenes from tapestries decorating the living rooms of the St. Petersburg nobility. Derzhavin, who was also fond of drawing, called poetry “talking painting” for a reason. In his ode, Derzhavin speaks of a “high mountain” and a “rose without thorns.” These images help make the image of Felitsa even more majestic.
Ode “Felitsa” (1782) is the first poem that made the name of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin famous, becoming an example of a new style in Russian poetry.
The ode received its name from the heroine of “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” the author of which was Catherine II herself. She is also named by this name, which in Latin means happiness, in Derzhavin’s ode, glorifying the empress and satirically characterizing her environment.
The history of this poem is very interesting and revealing. It was written a year before publication, but Derzhavin himself did not want to publish it and even hid the authorship. And suddenly, in 1783, news spread around St. Petersburg: the anonymous ode “Felitsa” appeared, where the vices of famous nobles close to Catherine II, to whom the ode was dedicated, were depicted in a comic form. The residents of St. Petersburg were quite surprised by the courage of the unknown author. They tried to get the ode, read it, and rewrite it. Princess Dashkova, a close associate of the Empress, decided to publish the ode, and precisely in the magazine where Catherine II herself collaborated.
The next day, Dashkova found the Empress in tears, and in her hands was a magazine with Derzhavin’s ode. The Empress asked who wrote the poem, in which, as she herself said, he portrayed her so accurately that he moved her to tears. This is how Derzhavin tells the story.
Indeed, breaking the traditions of the laudatory ode genre, Derzhavin widely introduces colloquial vocabulary and even vernacular into it, but most importantly, he does not paint a ceremonial portrait of the empress, but depicts her human appearance. That’s why the ode contains everyday scenes and still life:
Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table.
Classicism forbade combining high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin doesn’t even just combine them in characterizing different persons depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. "Godlike" Fe- faces, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in an ordinary way (“Often you walk on foot...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if exactly copied from life.
But not everyone liked this poem as much as the empress. It puzzled and alarmed many of Derzhavin’s contemporaries. What was so unusual and even dangerous about him?
On the one hand, in the ode “Felitsa” a completely traditional image of a “god-like princess” is created, which embodies the poet’s idea of the ideal of the eminent monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:
Give me some advice, Felitsa:
How to live magnificently and truthfully,
How to tame passions and excitement
And be happy in the world?
On the other hand, the poet’s poems convey the idea not only of the wisdom of power, but also of the negligence of performers concerned with their own profit:
Seduction and flattery live everywhere,
Luxury oppresses everyone.
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
This idea in itself was not new, but behind the images of the nobles depicted in the ode, the features of real people clearly emerged:
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows towards the Turks;
Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, showing off your outfit,
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.
In these images, the poet’s contemporaries easily recognized the empress’s favorite Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, and Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles he offended could deal with the author for this. Only Catherine’s favorable attitude saved Derzhavin
But even to the empress he dares to give advice: to follow the law to which both kings and their subjects are subject:
You alone are only decent,
Princess, create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From discord - agreement
And from fierce 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:
I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,
They keep you invisibly
From all illnesses, evils and boredom;
Yes, the sounds of your deeds will be heard in your descendants.
Like the stars in the sky, they will shine.
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 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 government officials and military leaders were praised, and a solemn event was glorified, in a “mixed ode,” “the poet can talk about everything.”
Reading the poem “Felitsa”, you are convinced that Derzhavin, indeed, managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people, boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems bright, memorable and understandable not only for the people of his time. And now we can read with interest the poems of this wonderful poet, separated from us by a huge distance of two and a half centuries.
In 1782, the not yet very famous poet Derzhavin wrote an ode dedicated to the “Kirghiz-Kaisak princess Felitsa.” That's what the ode was called "To Felitsa" . A difficult life taught the poet a lot; he knew how to be careful. The ode glorified the simplicity and humanity of Empress Catherine II in dealing with people and the wisdom of her reign. But at the same time, in ordinary, if not rude, colloquial language, she spoke about luxurious amusements, about the idleness of Felitsa’s servants and courtiers, about “Murzas” who were by no means worthy of their ruler. In the Murzas, Catherine’s favorites were clearly visible, and Derzhavin, wanting the ode to fall into the hands of the Empress as quickly as possible, was at the same time afraid of this. How will the autocrat look at his bold trick: mockery of her favorites! But in the end, the ode ended up on Catherine’s table, and she was delighted with it. Far-sighted and intelligent, she understood that courtiers should be put in their place from time to time, and the hints of the ode were an excellent occasion for this. Catherine II herself was a writer (Felitsa was one of her literary pseudonyms), which is why she immediately appreciated the artistic merits of the work. Memoirists write that, having called the poet to her, the empress generously rewarded him: she gave him a golden snuffbox filled with gold ducats.
Fame came to Derzhavin. The new literary magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word,” which was edited by the Empress’s friend Princess Dashkova, and Catherine herself published in it, opened with the ode “To Felitsa.” They started talking about Derzhavin, he became a celebrity. Was it just a matter of successful and bold dedication of the ode to the empress? Of course not! The reading public and fellow writers were struck by the very form of the work. The poetic speech of the “high” odic genre sounded without exaltation and tension. Lively, imaginative, mocking speech of a person who understands well how it works real life. Of course, they spoke laudably about the empress, but also not pompously. And, perhaps, for the first time in the history of Russian poetry as about a simple woman, not a celestial being:
Without imitating your Murzas, you often walk, and the simplest food happens at your table.
Strengthening the impression of simplicity and naturalness, Derzhavin dares to make bold comparisons:
You don’t play cards like me, from morning to morning.
And, moreover, he is frivolous, introducing into the ode details and scenes that were indecent by the secular standards of that time. This is how, for example, a Murza courtier, an idle lover and an atheist, spends his day:
Or, sitting at home, I will play a trick, Playing fools with my wife; Sometimes I go to the dovecote with her, sometimes I frolic in blind man's buff, sometimes I have fun in a pile with her, sometimes I look in my head with her; Then I love to rummage through books, I enlighten my mind and heart: I read Polkan and Bova, I sleep over the Bible, yawning.
The work was filled with funny and often sarcastic allusions. Potemkin, who loves to eat well and drink well (“I wash down my waffles with champagne / And I forget everything in the world”). On Orlov, who boasts of magnificent trips (“a magnificent train in an English, golden carriage”). On Naryshkin, who is ready to give up everything for the sake of hunting (“I leave worry about all matters / Leaving behind, go hunting / And amuse myself with the barking of dogs”), etc. In the genre of a solemn laudatory ode, nothing like this has ever been written before. Poet E.I. Kostrov expressed a general opinion and at the same time slight annoyance at his successful opponent. In his poetic “Letter to the creator of an ode composed in praise of Felitsa, Princess of Kirgizkaisatskaya” there are the lines:
Frankly, it is clear that soaring odes have gone out of fashion; You knew how to elevate yourself among us with simplicity.
The Empress brought Derzhavin closer to her. Remembering the “fighting” qualities of his nature and incorruptible honesty, she sent him to various audits, which, as a rule, ended with noisy indignation of those being inspected. The poet was appointed governor of the Olonets, then Tambov province. But he could not resist for long: he dealt with local officials too zealously and imperiously. In Tambov, things went so far that the governor of the region, Gudovich, filed a complaint to the empress in 1789 about the “arbitrariness” of the governor, who did not take anyone or anything into account. The case was transferred to the Senate Court. Derzhavin was dismissed from office and until the end of the trial he was ordered to live in Moscow, as they would say now, under a written undertaking not to leave.
And although the poet was acquitted, he was left without a position and without the favor of the empress. Once again, one could only rely on oneself: on enterprise, talent and luck. And don't lose heart. In the autobiographical “Notes” compiled at the end of his life, in which the poet speaks about himself in the third person, he admits: “There was no other way left but to resort to his talent; as a result, he wrote the ode “Image of Felitsa” and by the 22nd on the day of September, that is, on the day of the empress’s coronation, he handed her over to the court<…>The Empress, having read it, ordered her favorite (meaning Zubov, Catherine’s favorite - L.D.) the next day to invite the author to dinner with him and always take him into her conversation.”
Read also other topics in Chapter VI.
Oct 21 2010
In the last third of the 18th century, great changes took place in poetry, as well as in drama. The further development of poetry could not occur without change, disruption, and then destruction of familiar old forms. These violations began to be committed by the classic writers themselves: Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Maikov, and later by Kheraskov and the young poets from his circle. But the real revolt in the world of genres was made by Derzhavin. , having learned true nature as a multi-voiced and multi-colored world, in eternal movement and change, limitlessly expanded the boundaries of the poetic. At the same time, Derzhavin’s main enemies were all those who forgot the “public good”, the interests of the people, indulging in sybarism at court.
A significant expansion of the object of poetry required new forms of expression. Derzhavin began this search by changing the established genre system of classicism.
Derzhavin began the immediate “destruction” of the genre of solemn ode with his “Felitsa”, combining praise with satire in it.
The ode “Felitsa” was created in 1782 in St. Petersburg. The friends to whom Derzhavin read it passed an inexorable verdict on the work: the ode is excellent, but it is impossible to publish it due to the non-canonical image of the empress and the satirical portraits of Catherine’s nobles, easily recognizable by contemporaries. With a sigh, Derzhavin put the ode in the bureau drawer, where it remained for about a year. One day, while sorting out the papers, he laid out the manuscript on the table, where the poet Osip Kozodavlev saw it.
In the spring of 1783, the President of the Russian Academy, Ekaterina Dashkova, anonymously published the ode “Felitsa” in the magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word”, on the recommendation of Kozodavlev, without the knowledge of the author. Dashkova presented the first issue of the magazine to Empress Catherine P. After reading the ode, she was moved to tears and became interested in the author of the work. “Don’t be afraid,” she told Dashkova, “I’m just asking you about someone who knew me so closely, who could describe me so pleasantly that, you see, I’m crying like a fool.” The princess revealed the poet's name and told a lot of good things about him. After some time, Derzhavin received an envelope in the mail containing a gold snuff box sprinkled with diamonds and five hundred gold rubles. Soon the poet was introduced to the empress and received favors from her. The publication of the ode immediately made Derzhavin famous; he became one of the first poets of Russia.
Ode “Felitsa” is innovative, bold in thought and form. It includes high, odic, and low, ironic-satirical. Unlike Lomonosov’s odes, where the object of the image was the lyrical state of the poet, for whom state, national interests merged with personal ones, Derzhavin’s ode made the object of poeticization “the man on the throne” - Catherine II, her state affairs and virtues. “Felitsa” is close to a friendly literary message, a word of praise and at the same time a poetic satire.
The poet included in the ode a literary portrait of the empress, which has a moral, psychological, idealized character. Derzhavin tries to reveal the inner world of the heroine, her morals and habits through a description of the actions and orders of Catherine II, her acts of state:
Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Not valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
Shedding bliss to mortals...
The lack of portrait descriptions is compensated by the impression that the ode makes on others. The poet emphasizes the most important, from his point of view, features of the enlightened monarch: her democracy, simplicity, unpretentiousness, modesty, friendliness, combined with an outstanding mind and talent as a statesman. The poet contrasts the high image of the queen with an ironic portrait of her courtier. This is a collective, including the features of Catherine II’s closest associates: His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin, who, despite his breadth of soul and brilliant mind, is distinguished by a whimsical and capricious disposition; favorites of the Empress Alexei and Grigory Orlov, guardsmen-revelers, lovers of fist fights and horse racing; Chancellor Nikita and Field Marshal Pyotr Panin, passionate hunters who forgot the affairs of public service for the sake of their favorite entertainment; Semyon Naryshkin, the huntsman of the imperial palace and a famous music lover, who was the first to host an orchestra of horn music; Prosecutor General Alexander Vyazemsky, who loved to enjoy reading popular popular stories in his spare time, and ... Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin. The Russian poet, who by that time had become a state councilor, did not distinguish himself from this noble sphere, but, on the contrary, emphasized his involvement in the circle of the elite:
That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved!
But the whole world looks like me.
Later, defending himself from reproaches that he had created an evil satire on famous and respectable courtiers, Derzhavin wrote: “In the ode to Felitsa, I turned ordinary human weaknesses onto myself... I contrasted the virtues of the princess with my stupidities.” The poet, laughing at the quirks of those close to the empress, is not alien to their inherent epicurean attitude to life. He does not condemn their human weaknesses and vices, for he understands that Catherine II surrounded herself with people whose talent serves the prosperity of the Russian state. Derzhavin is flattered to see himself in this company; he proudly bears the title of Catherine’s nobleman.
The poet glorifies the beautiful Nature and Man living in harmony with it. Landscape paintings are reminiscent of scenes depicted on tapestries decorating the salons and living rooms of the St. Petersburg nobility. It is no coincidence that he, who was fond of drawing, wrote that “there is nothing more than talking painting.”
Drawing portraits of important dignitaries, Derzhavin uses the techniques of literary anecdote. In the 18th century, an anecdote was understood as an artistically processed folklore content about a famous historical person or event, having a satirical sound and instructive character. Derzhavin’s portrait of Alexei Orlov takes on an anecdotal character:
Or music and singers,
Suddenly with an organ and bagpipes,
Or fist fights
And I make my spirit happy by dancing;
Or, taking care of all matters
I leave and go hunting
And amused by the barking of dogs...
Indeed, a winner of fist fights, a guards officer, a prize-winner at horse races, a tireless dancer and a successful duelist, a reveler, a ladies' man, a gambling hunter, the killer of Emperor Peter III and the favorite of his wife - this is how Alexei Orlov remained in the memory of his contemporaries. Some lines depicting courtiers resemble epigrams. For example, about the “bibliophile” preferences of Prince Vyazemsky, who prefers serious popular prints, it is said:
I like to rummage through books,
I will enlighten my mind and heart,
I read Polkan and Bova;
Over the Bible, yawning, I sleep.
Although Derzhavin’s irony was soft and good-natured, Vyazemsky could not forgive the poet: he “at least became attached to him, not only mocked him, but almost scolded him, preaching that poets are incapable of doing anything.” Elements of satire appear in the ode where it concerns the reign of Anna Ioannovna. The poet indignantly recalled how the well-born prince Mikhail Golitsyn, at the whim of the empress, was married to an ugly old dwarf and made a court jester. In the same humiliating position were representatives of noble Russian families - Prince N. Volkonsky and Count A. Apraksin. “These jesters,” Derzhavin testifies, “while the empress was listening to mass in the church, sat down in baskets in the room through which she had to pass from the church to the inner chambers, and cackled like hens; The others all laughed at this, straining themselves. The violation of human dignity at all times, according to the poet, is the greatest sin. The teaching contained in the satire is addressed to both the reader and the main character of the ode.
The poet, creating an ideal image of an enlightened monarch, insisted that she was obliged to obey the laws, be merciful, and protect the “weak” and “poor.”
Throughout the ode there are images and motifs “about Prince Chlorus,” composed by the empress for her grandson. The ode begins with a retelling of the plot of the fairy tale, in the main part the images of Felitsa, Lazy, Grumpy, Murza, Chlorine, Rose without thorns appear; the final part has an oriental flavor. The ode ends, as it should, with praise to the empress:
I ask the great prophet
May I touch the dust of your feet,
Yes, your sweetest words
And I will enjoy the sight!
I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, they spread out their sapphire wings,
They keep you invisibly
From all illnesses, evils and boredom;
May the sounds of your deeds be heard in posterity,
Like the stars in the sky, they will shine.
The theme and image of Catherine II in Derzhavin’s poetry is not limited only to Felitsa; He dedicates the poems “Gratitude to Felitsa”, “Vision of Murza”, “Image of Felitsa”, “Monument” and others to the empress. However, it was ODA “Felitsa” that became “ business card"Derzhavin, it was this work that V. G. Belinsky considered “one of the best creations” of Russian poetry of the 16th century. In Felitsa, according to the opinion, “the fullness of feeling was happily combined with the originality of the form, in which the Russian mind is visible and Russian speech is heard. Despite its considerable size, this ode is imbued with an internal unity of thought and is consistent in tone from beginning to end.”
Need a cheat sheet? Then save - » Literary analysis of the ode “Felitsa”. Literary essays!Derzhavin Gavrila Romanovich (1743-1816). Russian poet. Representative of Russian classicism. G.R. Derzhavin was born near Kazan into a family of small landed nobles. The Derzhavin family originated from the descendants of Murza Bagrim, who voluntarily went over to the side of Grand Duke Vasily II (1425-1462), which is attested in a document from the personal archive of G.R. Derzhavin.
Derzhavin's work is deeply contradictory. While revealing the possibilities of classicism, he at the same time destroyed it, paving the way for romantic and realistic poetry.
Derzhavin's poetic creativity is extensive and is mainly represented by odes, among which civil, victorious-patriotic, philosophical and anacreontic odes can be distinguished.
A special place is occupied by civil odes addressed to persons endowed with great political power: monarchs, nobles. Among the best of this cycle is the ode “Felitsa” dedicated to Catherine II.
In 1762, Derzhavin received a call to military service to St. Petersburg, in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. From this time on, Derzhavin’s public service began, to which the poet devoted over 40 years of his life. The time of service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment is also the beginning of Derzhavin’s poetic activity, which undoubtedly played an exceptionally important role in his career biography. Fate threw Derzhavin into various military and civilian positions: he was a member of a special secret commission, the main task of which was to capture E. Pugachev; For several years he was in the service of the all-powerful Prosecutor General Prince. A.A. Vyazemsky (1777-1783). It was at this time that he wrote his famous ode "Felitsa", published on May 20, 1873 in the "Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word".
"Felitsa" brought Derzhavin noisy literary fame. The poet was generously rewarded by the empress with a golden snuffbox sprinkled with diamonds. A modest official of the Senate department became the most famous poet throughout Russia.
The fight against the abuses of nobles, nobility and officials for the good of Russia was a defining feature of Derzhavin’s activities both as a statesman and as a poet. And Derzhavin saw the power capable of leading the state with dignity, leading Russia to glory, to prosperity, to “bliss” only in an enlightened monarchy. Hence the appearance in his work of the theme of Catherine II - Felitsa.
In the early 80s. Derzhavin was not yet closely acquainted with the empress. When creating her image, the poet used stories about her, the dissemination of which Catherine herself took care of, a self-portrait painted in her literary works, ideas preached in her “Instructions” and decrees. At the same time, Derzhavin knew very well many prominent nobles of Catherine’s court, under whose command he had to serve. Therefore, Derzhavin’s idealization of the image of Catherine II is combined with a critical attitude towards her nobles,
The very image of Felitsa, a wise and virtuous Kyrgyz princess, was taken by Derzhavin from “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” written by Catherine II for her grandchildren. "Felitsa" continues the tradition of laudable odes of Lomonosov and at the same time differs from them in its new interpretation of the image of the enlightened monarch. Enlightenment scholars now see in the monarch a person to whom society has entrusted the care of the welfare of citizens; he is entrusted with numerous responsibilities towards the people. And Derzhavin’s Felitsa acts as a gracious monarch-legislator:
Not valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
Shedding bliss to mortals...
It is known that the source of the creation of the image of Felitsa was the document “Order of the Commission on the Drafting of a New Code” (1768), written by Catherine II herself. One of the main ideas of the “Nakaz” is the need to soften existing laws that allowed torture during interrogations, the death penalty for minor offenses, etc., so Derzhavin endowed his Felitsa with mercy and leniency:
Are you ashamed to be considered great?
To be scary and unloved;
The bear is decently wild
Rip animals and drink their blood.
And how nice it is to be a tyrant,
Tamerlane, great in atrocity,
There you can whisper in conversations
And, without fear of execution, at dinners
Don't drink to the health of kings.
There with the name Felitsa you can
Scrape out the typo in the line
Or a portrait carelessly
Drop it on the ground.
What was fundamentally new was that from the very first lines of the ode the poet depicts the Russian Empress (and in Felitsa, readers easily guessed it was Catherine) primarily from the point of view of her human qualities:
Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table...
Derzhavin also praises Catherine for the fact that from the first days of her stay in Russia she strove to follow in everything the “customs” and “rites” of the country that sheltered her. The Empress succeeded in this and aroused sympathy both at court and in the guard.
Derzhavin's innovation was manifested in "Felitsa" not only in the interpretation of the image of an enlightened monarch, but also in the bold combination of laudatory and accusatory principles, ode and satire. The ideal image of Felitsa is contrasted with negligent nobles (in the ode they are called “Murzas”). “Felitsa” depicts the most influential persons at court: Prince G. A. Potemkin, Counts Orlov, Count P. I. Panin, Prince Vyazemsky. Their portraits were so expressively executed that the originals were easily recognizable.
Criticizing the nobles spoiled by power, Derzhavin emphasizes their weaknesses, whims, petty interests, unworthy of a high dignitary. So, for example, Potemkin is presented as a gourmet and glutton, a lover of feasts and amusements; The Orlovs amuse “their spirit with fist fighters and dancing”; Panin, “giving up worry about all matters,” goes hunting, and Vyazemsky enlightens his “mind and heart” - he reads “Polkan and Bova”, “he sleeps over the Bible, yawning.”
Enlightenmentists understood the life of society as a constant struggle between truth and error. In Derzhavin’s ode, the ideal, the norm is Felitsa, the deviation from the norm is her careless “Murzas”. Derzhavin was the first to begin to depict the world as it appears to an artist.
The undoubted poetic courage was the appearance in the ode “Felitsa” of the image of the poet himself, shown in an everyday setting, not distorted by a conventional pose, not constrained by classical canons. Derzhavin was the first Russian poet who was able and, most importantly, wanted to paint a living and truthful portrait of himself in his work:
Sitting at home, I'll do a prank,
Playing fools with my wife...
The “eastern” flavor of the ode is noteworthy: it was written on behalf of the Tatar Murza, and eastern cities are mentioned in it - Baghdad, Smyrna, Kashmir. The end of the ode is in a laudatory, high style:
I ask the great prophet
I will touch the dust of your feet.
The image of Felitsa is repeated in Derzhavin’s subsequent poems, caused by various events in the poet’s life: “Gratitude to Felitsa”, “Image of Felitsa”, “Vision of Murza”.
The high poetic merits of the ode “Felitsa” brought it wide fame at that time in the circles of the most advanced Russian people. A. N. Radishchev, for example, wrote: “If you add many stanzas from the ode to Felitsa, and especially where Murza describes himself, almost poetry will remain without poetry.” “Everyone who can read Russian found it in their hands,” testified O. P. Kozodavlev, editor of the magazine where the ode was published.
Derzhavin compares Catherine's reign with the cruel morals that reigned in Russia during the Bironism under Empress Anna Ioannovna, and praises Felitsa for a number of laws useful for the country.
The ode "Felitsa", in which Derzhavin combined opposite principles: positive and negative, pathetic and satire, ideal and real, finally consolidated in Derzhavin's poetry what began in 1779 - mixing, breaking, eliminating the strict genre system
