Alexander Blok - On the railway: Verse. Analysis of Blok’s poem “On the Railroad”

A. Blok's poem "On the Railway" begins with a description of the death of the heroine - a young woman. The author returns us to her death at the end of the work. The composition of the verse is thus circular and closed.

On the railway
Maria Pavlovna Ivanova
Under the embankment, in the unmown ditch,
Lies and looks as if alive,
In a colored scarf thrown on her braids,
Beautiful and young.

Sometimes I walked with a sedate gait
To the noise and whistle behind the nearby forest.
Walking all the way around the long platform,
I waited, worried, under the canopy...

In the poem “On the Railway” you can find many other symbols. The symbol of the path - fate is the railway. Depicting continuous lines of passenger cars, Blok sets the theme of the road, the life path of a person. People constantly move from carriage to carriage, some are lucky, others suffer the bitterness of defeat. People's lives are in constant motion. A train, locomotive, station is a symbol of a stage or moment of the journey. But the path, the road, are also harbingers of the outcome, towards which every person moves, as if towards a cliff. Perhaps the poet perceived this outcome as the death of old Russia and the birth of a new one, which all the people were looking forward to. The railway is a sign of a terrible world, merciless to people.
In most of the poem, the poet writes about the past, but it is inextricably linked with the present.
The color scheme of the poem is also interesting. The color of Blok's poetry is a means of expressing emotional assessment and attitude towards images. In terms of color, the first and last quatrains contain practically no colors, they are colorless. In the past, in another world - a different flavor. Here are the “bright eyes” (lights) of the oncoming train, and the gentle, lively blush on the cheeks of this girl, and the multicolored carriages (apparently, division by class). Blue is the color of the sky, sublime – carriages for the rich, yellow is bright, hurting the eyes the color of warmth and at the same time illness is the middle class, and green is the color of grass, proximity to the earth - third class carriages. It is noteworthy that the view from the platform is completely different from the view from behind the windows of the cars. From the inside, the world is visible in faded, colorless colors. The only bright, sharp color in the carriage is scarlet. It can symbolize blood, irritation, aggression and cruelty of these people. Outside there are forest trees, behind the forest there is a long platform with a canopy on it. The color scheme is not muted, but quite calm. The green color of the trees appears to be a blue gendarme uniform and most likely a wooden platform. Blok deliberately does not give “color” definitions for some words, giving the reader the opportunity to imagine this picture in his own imagination.
In the poem, the author uses the technique of reverse narration, that is, he begins with the death of the heroine, tragedy, gradually revealing previous events.

The poem “On the Railroad” was included in the “Motherland” cycle. The work reveals the tragedy of fate and the suicide of a young woman. The action takes place at a small remote stop; the author does not indicate the name of the district or province.

To understand the fate of the heroine, it is enough to know that this is the wilderness. This fact allows us to feel more deeply the loneliness and joylessness of a young woman who dreamed of happiness. Trains probably stop very rarely, “passing by on the usual line.” The reader understands that the platform is deserted by the fact that only she and the gendarme standing next to her are visible from the windows. From the poem it becomes clear that she went out onto the platform more than once, caught many glances from people looking out of the windows, but only once noticed the passing smile of a hussar leaning on the red velvet

Many people passing by saw the woman, but few paid attention to the lonely figure standing on the platform. These imaginary meetings occupied a huge place in the life of a single woman. Words about passing youth with its empty dreams make you think about the speed and irrevocability of time, about unfulfilled hopes. Dreams of finding happiness ran into the indifference and coldness of those around me. Millions of deserted eyes from the carriages looked at her, many bows were given, but all to no avail.

The author asks not to ask her anything. But questions arise of their own accord. The reader will find the answers after carefully reading the poem, when a clear idea of the cause of suicide is formed. We are talking about a woman meeting not a specific person from the train, but about the expectation of wonderful changes for the better. Constant visits to the station and unjustified hopes give the reader the opportunity to feel the hopelessness of the young heroine’s situation.

Constantly passing trains symbolize life rushing by. Her heart was torn apart by the melancholy of the road. The inability to change anything prompted a beautiful woman to commit suicide.

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok

Maria Pavlovna Ivanova

Under the embankment, in the unmown ditch,
Lies and looks as if alive,
In a colored scarf thrown on her braids,
Beautiful and young.

Sometimes I walked with a sedate gait
To the noise and whistle behind the nearby forest.
Walking all the way around the long platform,
She waited, worried, under the canopy.

Three bright eyes rushing -
Softer blush, cooler curl:
Perhaps one of those passing by
Look more closely from the windows...

The carriages walked in the usual line,
They shook and creaked;
The yellow and blue ones were silent;
The green ones cried and sang.

We got up sleepy behind the glass
And looked around with an even gaze
Platform, garden with faded bushes,
Her, the gendarme next to her...

Just once a hussar, with a careless hand
Leaning on the scarlet velvet,
Slipped over her with a tender smile,
He slipped and the train sped off into the distance.

Thus the useless youth rushed,
Exhausted in empty dreams...
Road melancholy, iron
She whistled, breaking my heart...

Why, the heart has been taken out a long time ago!
So many bows were given,
So many greedy glances cast
Into the deserted eyes of the carriages...

Don't approach her with questions
You don’t care, but she’s satisfied:
With love, mud or wheels
She is crushed - everything hurts.

Alexander Blok’s poem “On the Railway,” written in 1910, is part of the “Odin” cycle and is one of the illustrations of pre-revolutionary Russia. The plot, according to the author himself, is inspired by the works of Leo Tolstoy. In particular, “Anna Karenina” and “Sunday”, the main characters of which die, unable to survive their own shame and having lost faith in love.

The picture, which Alexander Blok masterfully recreated in his work, is majestic and sad. A young beautiful woman lies on the railway embankment, “as if alive,” but from the first lines it is clear that she died. Moreover, it was not by chance that she threw herself under the wheels of a passing train. What made her commit this terrible and senseless act? Alexander Blok does not give an answer to this question, believing that if no one needed his heroine during her life, then after her death there is especially no point in looking for motivation for suicide. The author only states a fait accompli and talks about the fate of the one who died in the prime of life.

It is difficult to understand who she was. Either a noble noblewoman or a commoner. Perhaps she belonged to a fairly huge caste of ladies of easy virtue. However, the fact that a beautiful and young woman regularly came to the railway and followed the train with her eyes, looking for a familiar face in the respectable carriages, speaks volumes. It is likely that, like Tolstoy's Katenka Maslova, she was seduced by a man who subsequently abandoned her and left. But the heroine of the poem “on the railway” until the last moment believed in a miracle and hoped that her lover would return and take her with him.

But the miracle did not happen, and soon the figure of a young woman constantly meeting trains on the railway platform became an integral part of the dull provincial landscape. Travelers in soft carriages, carrying them to a much more attractive life, glanced coldly and indifferently at the mysterious stranger, and she aroused absolutely no interest in them, just like the gardens, forests and meadows flying past the window, as well as the representative figure of the policeman who was on duty at the station.

One can only guess how many hours, full of secret hope and excitement, the heroine of the poem spent on the railway. However, no one cared about her at all. Thousands of people carried multi-colored carriages into the distance, and only once did the gallant hussar give the beauty a “tender smile,” meaning nothing and as ephemeral as a woman’s dreams. It should be borne in mind that the collective image of the heroine of Alexander Blok’s poem “On the Railroad” is quite typical for the beginning of the 20th century. Fundamental changes in society have given women freedom, but not all of them have been able to properly use this invaluable gift. Among the representatives of the fairer sex who were unable to overcome public contempt and were forced to be doomed to a life full of dirt, pain and suffering, of course, is the heroine of this poem. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the woman decides to commit suicide, hoping in this simple way to immediately get rid of all her problems. However, according to the poet, it is not so important who or what killed the young woman in her prime - a train, unhappy love or prejudice. The only important thing is that she is dead, and this death is one of thousands of victims for the sake of public opinion, which places a woman on a much lower level than a man and does not forgive her even the most insignificant mistakes, forcing her to atone for them with her own life.

Alexander Blok’s heartfelt poem “On the Railroad” combines two literary heroes. From the very first lines, one feels sadness and longing for the young woman who devoted her life to waiting.

Cold, unknown expectation. A woman, under the command of love, comes to the platform and peers into the silent carriages. Hoping to see my own eyes in them. Wants to see a familiar silhouette leaving the carriage. But she meets the trains, and not finding in them an answer to her expectation, she sees them off with bitter sadness in her soul.

Maybe someone was looking at her from the windows of the cars, thinking about how long she had been waiting, and for whom exactly. Maybe a loved one, maybe a mother, or a child from a long journey. But even those who noticed it forgot about it after a few stops. And then, this is very unlikely. After all, Alexander Blok in his lines pointed out that its essence for strangers merged with the ordinary landscape of travel. The platform, some people, a tavern and that’s it. Nobody cares about anyone. And no one noticed her, did not notice her beauty, did not notice her sadness in her eyes and lack of a smile in such early years. And maybe right away, for her, these empty glances were offensive, a lump of resentment rose in her throat from this indifference. But, most likely, in the last minutes this indifference was like a balm for her soul. No one disturbed the old wounds, they did not ooze blood, and she was not in pain.

The last lines of the poem compare a railroad and a woman. The fate of both is filled with sadness and grief for those leaving their lives. They give themselves completely, without reserve, but receive nothing in return.

The train, in this case, personifies a cold, soulless monster that lives its own life and does not want to contact anyone and give joy.

And she waited and waited as long as she could. While the one she was waiting for was her raison d'être.

And the poet presents us with her death. This senseless death of a young man. After all, who needs it? Did the scary old lady Death really need her? After all, how else could she love, create harmony in this world between love and hatred. She could heal other people's souls, but if only someone had cured her a little earlier.

If only the one whom she was so faithfully waiting for would heal her soul, cold, lonely in the cold on the platform. Perhaps then her heart would have endured. But this is a cruel life with its main weapon - separation. And we can’t run away from this, but only try to win.

Analysis of the poem On the Blok Railway

A well-known and beloved work by many, namely the poem “On the Railway” by the great Russian poet Alexander Blok, was written and published in 1910. It is worth immediately noting that this poem is part of the “Odin” cycle and becomes one of the most striking illustrations of the old, pre-revolutionary country.

The main plot of this work, as the author himself admitted, was inspired by another great and famous Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy.

The picture that is so fully and vividly reproduced by this poet is very, majestic, but at the same time very sad.

From the first lines, readers understand that a young, very attractive girl is lying on the railway, lying as if alive, but nevertheless the author does not hide the fact that she is already dead. Moreover, she died not by accident, but by deliberately throwing herself under a train.

What made a young girl, full of strength, health and beauty, commit this terrible act? Alexander Blok leaves this question unanswered, sincerely believing that, unfortunately, no one needed the girl during her life, therefore even after her death there is no point in talking about it, revealing her soul to those who were not interested in her before.

Who this heroine of this work was is also very difficult to understand, since here the author does not focus his attention.

As for the literary component of this poem, it is built from 9 stanzas, each of which contains 4 lines, for a total of 36 lines in total.

The rhyme used for this work is cross rhyme. The poem is filled with various literary devices and contains quite a few colorful adjectives that make it memorable, bright and catchy.

In conclusion, I would like to say that one can only guess how many hours the heroine spent on the railway before her death, what she was thinking about, what she was afraid of, and at what moment she finally decided on the most terrible, last act of her life. Unfortunately, sometimes many people simply lack support and understanding from other people, and they are left alone with their problems, experiences, sometimes unable to survive it, and decide to do the most terrible things.

Option #3

“Unconscious imitation of an episode from Tolstoy’s “Resurrection”,” is how Alexander Blok characterized his poem in 1910. However, is it borrowed “unconsciously”? In Tolstoy’s novel, everything is quite clear: the tragedy of an unfortunate girl, the cause of which was a not very decent person. Blok’s poem is ambiguous, behind a woman who is crushed and broken not only from the point of view of anatomy, but also from the internal component, that is, spiritually, the fate of Russia is hidden: “She is crushed, everything hurts.”

In 1910, it was already becoming clear to the Russian people that something was going wrong, that collapse was slowly approaching. The train is always allegorical in the works of Russian classics. So in the poem “On the Railway” the locomotive is a symbol of the movement of life, its transience, the impossibility of evading or escaping one’s destiny. And the tragedy at one of the stations is both the ending of someone’s life and the future collapse of the Russian Empire.

Conventionally, the poem is divided into 3 parts, since its composition is circular: the first one tells about the moment when everything happened. The epithets “Beautiful and young” paint a picture of a girl who is just alive, but a moment later already dead. Then suddenly the lyrical hero, who once knew this woman a long time ago, is overcome by memories. From them it becomes clear why she decided to do such an act. Chaotic and multiple verbs: “waited”, “walked”, “trembled” characterize her life “before” in unusual detail. The metaphor of “three bright eyes rushing” speaks of the approaching end, the denouement. Personification: “the carriages were moving”, “yellow and blue were silent” only thicken the colors and make the atmosphere even more intense. Anaphora: “Slipped…” and numerous omissions convey the suffering that the girl/Russia experienced when she was betrayed.

That’s how Blok’s poor Motherland trusted the wrong person, who in 1917 left the country without a leader at the helm. And her poor girl was hogtied, tied up and taken under escort in front of a dozen countries. Until she rushed and died, only to be reborn later under a new name. Blok, not knowing then, not to think 10 years ahead, very accurately and prophetically described the situation that awaited Russia in a few years.

Chaotic iambic, with different stops, adds dynamism and rhythm, the plot flies at the speed of a train, remaining light and not overloaded with unnecessary details.

The poem is included in Blok’s “Motherland” cycle, into which he poured his whole soul, all his worries about the fate of his country and its people. Russia, recently young and flourishing, is now, in his opinion, crushed and killed.

Topic idea briefly according to plan