Analysis of the poem: Balmont, "Reeds". Theme, the plot of the poem by Constantine Balmont

Poets of the Silver Age raised poetry to unprecedented heights. And poets-symbolists filled it with amazing, mysterious images and sound. To achieve the strongest sound, they resorted to the play of words and sounds, alliteration and metaphor. A vivid example of such poetry is the poem "The Reed" by Konstantin Balmont. In the article, we offer readers an analysis of the poem, a description of its features and a rich theme inherent in symbolism in general. And Balmont's lyrics in particular.

What do we know about the poet?

Konstantin Balmont is a Russian poet of the Silver Age. Belonged to the Symbolists, almost all of his works were created in this vein.

He was born in a small village of the Vladimir province. His parents were quite educated people, in the family of the mother they had long loved literature and instilled this love for their daughter. Vera Nikolaevna brought this love to her family, where she arranged literary evenings, various readings and performances. They had a strong influence on the representatives of the local press, where they contributed to the publication of many young authors.

Konstantin Balmont adopted from her love of literature. Later, the poet will say that he has a strong and passionate temperament from his mother.

In his youth, the future Symbolist, thanks to the knowledge of many languages, had the opportunity to study masterpieces of world literature and to draw inspiration from his work.

Another source of inspiration for the poet was Russian nature that surrounded his house. Partly devoted to nature and his poem "Reeds".

"Reeds": what's the poem about?

If the reader first opens a book on the page with this work, he will say that it is about reeds. But this is not so, the key phrase can be called: "What are they whispering about?" What are they talking about? " That is, the poem is not about reeds, it is about the eternal mystery of nature. The author compares the quiet rustle of plants with a night conversation and asks himself: "What is this conversation about?" Doing an analysis of the poem (Balmont, "Reeds"), do not forget that the poet belonged to the Symbolists and was their bright representative.

The characters in his poem are very lively. "Dying Face" he calls the Moon, "the sigh of a lost soul" - the rustling of reeds by the water.

Genre features

According to critics, under the influence of juvenile maximalism and mysticism, young Balmont wrote "Reeds". The genre of the poem, most likely, can be attributed to philosophical lyrics. The poet endows plants with human feelings and the gift of speech: "Whom, for what? - Reeds say."

Smelling about the mysterious whisper of plants, water and the smell of mud, the author does not mean what he sees and we see.

Theme of the poem "Reeds" Balmont

It is quite difficult to determine the theme of poetry at once. If we proceed from the title, we have a sample of landscape poetry before us. But getting deeper into the work, we immediately see that it's not about the landscape, and we can not find the glorification of the beauty of plants here. The theme is quite different: "What do the whispering reeds of a moonlit night"?

But this does not limit the issues raised in poetry. The theme of the mystery of nature, the knowledge inaccessible to people thanks to metaphors, smoothly passes to the soul of the lyrical hero and humanity as a whole. What is this "noiseless whisper of reeds"? Conversation? Feelings? The answer will be correct if we choose any of these options. But the most precise definition is, most likely, thoughts. Whispering of reeds is a thought process. Thoughts are noiseless, but they do not subside for a minute. It is in thoughts that questions and images are born: auditory, visual and even tactile.

The work is written in a mystical key. The mysterious "conversation" of bulrushes is an image, rather an auditory, than a visual one. Next, make a detailed analysis of the poem.

Balmont, "Reeds"

We already know that the poem is written in the key of symbolism, in the genre of philosophical lyrics. His theme is the mysterious world of nature and life.

The poem is based on aural images. "Rustle," "whisper," "say," "snakes whistle," "sigh." There are also visual, the brightest of which are "lights" that "burn, flash, flash - and again they are not"; And the moon, whose "a dying face trembles."

To better understand this poetry, it is necessary to conduct a phonetic analysis of the poem. Balmont ("Reeds" - a vivid example of this) addressed in his lines to the game of sounds, their special alternation. As we recall, the sound was one of the bright features of the symbolists' lyrics. Read the poem out loud. Sounds "ж", "ш", "ч" "п" create an amazing sound effect. Especially rich in such effects is the second line "A little audible, noiseless, rustling reeds." The sound "w" in each word creates a sensation of rustling and whispering simultaneously. This method is called alliteration - the repetition of identical or homogeneous consonants in poetry (do not exclude the use of prose) in order to create a special sound, mood, sensation.

Interestingly, the twelfth line also sounds: "The bog lures, squeezes, sucks." Alternating sounds "with" "z" and "g" gives a sense of mysticism, an ominous whisper of the quagmire, from which you can not escape. Many critics see in this poem the search for the meaning of life, comparing its inevitable end with the quagmire. But there is no reasoning by the author about the work. Perhaps it was created under the influence of Symbolists and attempts to use the method of alliteration for the first time.

Vowel sounds are also interesting, which create a sense of monotony, melodiousness.

The general impression that the "Reed" poem evokes, Balmont created, thanks not only to alliteration, but also through metaphors. The "dying face" of the moon; Month "sadly wilted"; "The sigh of a lost soul" - these metaphorical images evoke a mystical mood, a sense of inevitability.

Finally

Konstantin Balmont was one of the brightest representatives of symbolism. His poetry is read at first sight easily, and the meaning seems to lie on the surface. But this is a completely deceptive impression. An analysis of the poem (Balmont, "Reeds") is proof of this. Poetry with a landscape name does not paint a landscape at all. In her - deep thoughts about the meaning of life, about her riddles and the secrets of nature, which are inaccessible to man. The poem is very strong, many themes and images are intertwined in it. From the image of the night and rustle of reeds - to the mysterious images of the dead, lost and fallen captives of the travelers. Getting to the analysis and reading, it is worth paying attention to the sound series. It will complement and better convey the atmosphere of the work.