Whisper timid breathing metaphors. Analysis of a poetic work
Fet's poem "Whisper, timid breathing ..." appeared in print in 1850. By that time, Fet was already a well-established poet, with his own special voice: with a sharply subjective coloring of lyrical experience, with the ability to fill the word with living concreteness and at the same time catch new overtones, “flickering” nuances in its meaning, with a heightened sense of the role of composition in the poem - a composition that conveys, in essence, the construction, the structure of the development of the author's feeling itself. Fet innovatively developed the figurative structure of the verse, its melody, surprised him with his free use of vocabulary and aroused indignation with his unwillingness to listen to the elementary laws of grammar.
In a word, at the mention of the name Fet in the minds of his contemporaries, an idea arose of a bright, overly pronounced poetic individuality. By the same time, Fet had established himself as a poet who focused on a rather narrow range of problems that were far from the topic of the day, from the vital interests of reality. This secured for his lyrics a reputation of some one-dimensionality, and in the eyes of the most radical figures of the era - even a kind of inferiority.
The poem "Whisper, timid breathing ..." became firmly established in the minds of contemporaries as the most Fetov's from all points of view, as the quintessence of Fet's individual style, giving rise to both delight and bewilderment:
In this poem, disapproval was caused primarily by "insignificance", the narrowness of the topic chosen by the author, the lack of eventfulness - a quality that seemed inherent in Fet's poetry. In close connection with this feature of the poem, its expressive side was also perceived - a simple enumeration of the poet's impressions, separated by commas, too personal, insignificant in nature. Deliberately simple and at the same time bold custom shape could be seen as a challenge. And in response, indeed, sharp and well-aimed, in fact, parodies rained down, since parody, as you know, beats the most characteristic qualities of style, concentrating in itself both its objective properties and the individual artistic preferences of the author. In this case, it was even assumed that Fet's poem would not lose if it was printed in reverse order- from the end...
On the other hand, it was impossible not to admit that the poet brilliantly achieved his goal - a colorful image of the picture of the night nature, psychological richness, the intensity of human feelings, a sense of the organic unity of spiritual and natural life, full of lyrical dedication. In this sense, it is worth citing the statement of Fet's principal opponent in terms of worldview - Saltykov-Shchedrin: "Undoubtedly, in any literature one can rarely find a poem that, with its fragrant freshness, would seduce the reader to such an extent as Mr. Fet's poem "Whisper, timid breath. .."
The opinion of L. Tolstoy, who highly appreciated Fet's poetry, is interesting: "This is a masterful poem; there is not a single verb (predicate) in it. Each expression is a picture ... But read these poems to any peasant, he will be perplexed, not only what is their beauty , but also what their thought is. This is a thing for a small circle of gourmets in art. "
Let's try to determine how Fet achieves that "every expression" becomes a "picture", how he achieves the amazing effect of the momentary nature of what is happening, the feeling of lasting time and, despite the absence of verbs, the presence of internal movement in the poem, the development of action.
Grammatically, the poem is a single exclamatory sentence passing through all three stanzas. But our perception of it as an indivisible text unit is firmly fused with the feeling of its internally compact compositional integrity, which has a semantic beginning, development and culmination. The fractional enumeration, separated by commas, which may seem to be the main engine in the dynamics of experience, is in fact only an external structural mechanism. The main engine of the lyrical theme is in its semantic compositional development, which is based on constant comparison, correlation of two plans: private and general, intimate human and generalized natural. This transition from the image of the human world to the world around, from what is "here, nearby" to what is "there, around, far away", and vice versa, is carried out from stanza to stanza. At the same time, the nature of the detail from the human world corresponds to the nature of the detail from the natural world.
A.A. Fet
Whisper. Rough breathing...
A whisper, a timid breath.
trill nightingale,
Silver and flutter
Sleepy stream.
Night light, night shadows,
Shadows without end
A series of magical changes
sweet face,
In smoky clouds purple roses,
reflection of amber,
And kisses, and tears,
And dawn, dawn!..
ANALYSIS
This poem is especially interesting because for him A.A. Fet received the most reproaches from criticism and the most praise and admiration from readers. Literary critics reproached the poet for excessive descriptiveness, for the absence of action as such. Weird. Then what attracted the sophisticated reader to him? It was the layman who, if he did not see, then felt here what escaped the professional.
So, the first stanza ... Romantic landscape. Brevity, regularity, parallelism of action is achieved through the use of non-union. The metaphor "silver" and the epithet "sleepy" convey the immobility, calmness, static nature of the stream. Its metallic luster, smooth, as if polished, surface is described. The first quatrain is, as it were, an indication of the place of action. But there is already a hint of the presence of a person - a “whisper”.
The second stanza demonstrates the time of action - this is night. "Shadows without end" - apparently, shadows in motion. And this is not a lonely contemplative of nature. There are at least two people. Further, you can guess that this is a meeting of two lovers. The epithet "cute" indicates that a person loves someone. Perhaps he is loved. Since the changes in the face are “magical” (also an epithet), it means that they are favorable to him.
The last stanza is a hidden description of feelings. The purple rose metaphor candidly states that sunrise is near. The luminary itself is not yet visible, but it will be orange, bright, burning, as indicated by the metaphor “amber reflection”. Polyunion here helps to reveal the speed, the swiftness with which the fresh morning grows. And hence the farewell kisses and, of course, tears, as the dawn promises parting.
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A. Fet is known not only for his poems about the unity of man and nature, but also love lyrics. But among the rest, one should especially highlight "Whisper, timid breathing", an analysis of which is presented below. Literary critics consider it "Fetov's", because it is written in a special manner, peculiar only to Afanasy Afanasyevich, and reveals all his poetic talent.
Lyrics by A. A. Fet
In the analysis of "Whisper, timid breath" one can consider the features of the poet's work. In the early poems, the poet admired female beauty, later landscape lyrics occupied a central place. All Fet's work is permeated with the spirit of romanticism, although the poet himself did not consider himself an adherent of this direction.
At the heart of most of the poems was admiration for nature. In some landscape lyrics are intertwined with the theme of love. This is not surprising, because, according to Fet, man was inseparable from nature. In the analysis of "Whisper, Timid Breath" it should be emphasized that this particular poem is an excellent example of how landscape and love lyrics are surprisingly harmoniously combined.
In this verse, descriptions of the surrounding world and sensory experiences alternate. And this creates a whole lyrical picture. The lines reflect the intimate feelings that can be between lovers. And the changing pictures of night and dawn complement the experiences of the lyrical hero. And all this emphasizes the poet's opinion that a person and the world should be in harmony.
Composition features
Also one of the points of analysis of "Whisper, timid breath" is the composition of the poem. Grammatically, it is one sentence divided into three stanzas. But it seems to the reader as a single component due to the integrity of the composition, which has a beginning, a climax and an end.
It is written in iambic tetrameter. The type of rhyming is cross, which gives the poem a leisurely and measured rhythm.
The basis of the poem is a comparison of two plans - general and particular. Against the backdrop of nature, the love story of two people is shown. changing natural phenomena complement the love lyrical component.
Image of nature
In the analysis of "Whisper, timid breath" by Athanasius Fet, it is necessary to consider in detail the image of nature. In this poem, the world around us is shown in harmony with a person, or rather, with lovers. In the first stanza, a nightingale is shown, whose beautiful trills sound over a sleepy stream. This can be compared to the fact that love appears in a person’s life like a beautiful nightingale song that awakens him.
In the second stanza, no natural phenomena are depicted. It is only said that all night shadows cause changes on the face of a cute hero. And in the third stanza, a dawn is drawn in all colors, which appears like a haze, which then flares up brighter and brighter. It's like the feelings of lovers are getting stronger and illuminate human life.
love lyrics
In the analysis of "Whispers, timid breathing, nightingale trills" it is necessary to consider the love line in the poem. The poet does not name names, there are not even any pronouns. But the reader understands that we are talking about the secret meetings of two lovers, due to the fact that the hero calls the face cute.
Why are the meetings secret? The heroes meet at night, and with the onset of dawn they are forced to say goodbye. At the very beginning of the meeting between them, one feels awkwardness, timidity, which happens with pure and sincere feelings.
And with the sunrise they have to part. But these feelings only flare up more strongly, like the dawn. This poem shows how man and nature can exist in harmony.
Color epithets
In a brief analysis of "Whisper, timid breath" one can write that color epithets play a big role in giving expressiveness to the work. At the very beginning, the poet uses muted colors to add more mystery to the meetings, to show the emergence of feelings.
Then there is a gradual increase in expression. The colors become brighter, as the lovers become bolder in the manifestations of feelings. This color contrast shows the development of the narrative, which does not appear grammatically in any way.
Sound coloration
The poet creates not only a visual, but also a sound picture. The epithets of color are complemented by sound design. The first stanza conveys nightingale trills, in the next stanza a feeling of absolute silence is created.
And again, the poet, thanks to the contrast, gives sound to the plot. But it is worth noting that all sounds organically complement the lyrical component of the poem.
Feature of expressive means
Distinctive feature of this poem is that it lacks verbs. This simple form lines - a challenge to society, which at that time reacted negatively to such a "wordless" poem. Using only nouns gives a smooth measured rhythm.
But, despite the absence of verbs, each line is a complete action. At first glance, it may seem to the reader that there is no plot and development of actions in the poem. In fact, this is not so, the poet described his feelings. No portraits lyrical heroes, the poet only indicates that the play of light and shadow is displayed on the cute hero's face. Nouns have covert action, there is a sense of dynamism. This creates the development of the plot.
The poet also used other literary tropes. This is a large number of epithets, personifications and metaphors. The last sentence stands out in particular for its emotional coloring. This is facilitated by both repetition and exclamation. The repetition of voiceless consonants makes the lines melodious. All of these means of expression add tenderness and lyricism to the poem.
Criticism of the poem
In the analysis according to the plan of "Whisper, timid breathing" Fet should also talk about how the work was accepted by the public. Some poets and writers spoke ambiguously about him. The main reason is the peculiarity of writing, namely the absence of verbs.
Some felt that the poem had no plot, and said that the theme chosen by the poet was narrow and limited. They also complained about the lack of any events. There were jokes that if you read it from the end, then nothing will change. People behind the images of sensations did not see a gradual increase in expression. They failed to notice the harmony and integrity of the composition.
The work was also criticized for the fact that the poet did not give a specific subject description. And the reader had only to guess what it was about in this or that line. The phrases are written in a chopped style, some critics did not notice the smoothness and unhurried musicality of the poem.
But there is an opinion that this creation was accepted unfavorably by some poets and writers due to the fact that the poet touched on the topic of intimacy of feelings. And although this is not said directly, the reader can guess thanks to allusions. But from this, Fet's creation does not become less refined and elegant, does not lose a drop of its lyricism.
A. A. Fet in his work praised not only the beauty and grandeur of nature. But the poet also described feelings in his work. But for him, man and the world around him are one whole, which is reflected in this poem. It was brief analysis according to the plan "Whisper, timid breath."
Analysis of the poem by A.A. Feta "Whisper, timid breathing ..."
One of the most famous Fet miniatures. It was written and published in 1850 in the magazine "Moskvityanin" ("Whisper of the Heart ..."). In a modified form, the poem appeared in 1956 and immediately won the hearts of readers. His twelve lines are filled with strong feeling, and economically chosen words paint vivid pictures. Contemporaries recalled that L. Tolstoy really liked this work, who said about the ending: "This is for a small circle of gourmets in art." Readers today cannot but be surprised that the poem, filled with movement from beginning to end, was written without a single verb, and 36 words of which it consists, 26 of them are nouns.
Fet's miniature "Whisper, timid breathing ...", which was perceived by contemporaries as an innovative work, became a textbook. Nature and feelings are merged in it. The poem, especially in the last lines (the poet's endings were always strong), sounds like a real hymn to nature and love. The words in it are chosen so that each of them is a hint, and combined together they create a system of hints that have subtext and make a special impression. Researchers point to the features of impressionism in Fet's lyrics. Impressionism, as you know, is most pronounced in the work of French artists: C. Monet, E. Monet, E Degas, O. Renoir, who liked to depict objects from a special angle and in unusual lighting. The impressionistic style is felt in the poem “Light of the night, night shadows, shadows without end” and plays essential role in the image of a night vision picture that ends with the sunrise.
In addition to the analysis of the poem "Whisper, timid breath ..." is also available:
- "The First Lily of the Valley", analysis of Fet's poem
- "Storm", analysis of Fet's poem
- "Butterfly", analysis of Fet's poem
- “What a night! How clean the air is...”, analysis of Fet's poem
- "Autumn Rose", analysis of Fet's poem
- "The swallows are gone ...", analysis of Fet's poem
- "Sad birch ...", analysis of Fet's poem
Fet is called the master of the poetic style. He gives preference to the themes of love and nature. Among Fetov's lyrics, verses are especially distinguished, dictated by the memory of his true first and last love - Maria Lazich, with whom, in his own words, his birth as a poet is connected.
But in his love lyrics there is no individualized image of a beloved girl. And this conveys the joyful state of the first love, when a winged person feels unity with the entire universe, in the center of which is the idolized She.
Her image merges with the trills of the nightingale, reflected in the silvery surface of the water, in the very early dawn. For example, we see this in the poem “Whisper, timid breathing” ... The first time I read the poem, I was surprised that there were no verbs in it. Probably, it is this feature that gives the work the figurativeness of details that convey subjective sensations and impressions. We see happy moments goodbye: a languid expectation, followed by a sweet moment of meeting. We hear a whisper, timid breathing, which indicates that the lovers are overwhelmed with feelings, that they are excited. The moment of parting is approaching every minute, but this does not overshadow their happiness, because they are glad that they can even be together at least a little.
The night has already fully entered into its rights, it gives the surrounding nature languor, mystery, and the farther, the more everything intrigues us. The surrounding world changes, but even the slightest fluctuation in nature manifests itself magically in the state of the souls of the heroes.
Night light, night shadows,
Shadows without end
A series of magical changes
Sweet face.
In the poem, the awakening nature and the awakened soul are harmoniously merged, interpenetrating each other. For example, "silver and the ripple of a sleepy stream" echoes lines such as "a series of magical changes in a sweet face." Real chiaroscuro coexists with spiritual movements, trembling of the heart, the flow of thoughts.
But the night is not eternal, which means that the dawn must “come”. And then, when the sky begins to turn pink and shine with the rays of the morning sun, everything changes: the world around and the actions of the characters. The pace of what is happening grows and develops: first there were whispers and timid breathing, night, then kisses, tears and dawn, there were disturbing night shadows, then the light of a triumphant morning.
Fet's poems are characterized, in the words of the researcher B. Eikhenbaum, by "abundant lyrical repetitions", which give the greatest accuracy and clarity to everything that happens.
Night light, night shadows,
Shadows without end.
In order to increase the aesthetic impact on the reader, to emphasize the splendor of the language, the author uses figurative and expressive means. Tropes such as epithets ("magical changes") are used to show how beautiful nature is in this heart-rending moment - dates; metaphors (“silver of a sleepy stream”, “smoky clouds”) to show the magic, the unusualness of some life moments.
The poem uses both non-union and polyunion. At the beginning, we see that the action takes on a more dynamic, fast pace, but then suddenly everything slows down, becomes smoother.
And kisses, and tears,
And dawn, dawn!
The polyunion conveys the state of mind of the heroes who want to postpone the separation.
The poem is written in two-syllable meter, or rather in trochee, which usually gives the work a rhythmic expressiveness.
Whisper, timid breath,
Treʾli nightingale´…
Here, due to the strong lengthening of the verse, the movement acquires smoothness, melodiousness, melodiousness. The rhyme is cross, which gives the poem additional melody and expressiveness.
J: Whisper, timid breath,
M: Nightingale's trills,
F: Silver and roar
M: sleepy stream´.
I really liked the poem, but some of Fet's contemporaries criticized it from the first to the last line, believing that it smells of debauchery.
They altered it in their own way, and this is what Shchedrin remarked on this score: “If this most magnificent poem is presented to you in several versions, then it will not be very surprising that, finally, its very charm will become somewhat doubtful for you.” Personally, I believe that each person should judge everything in his own way, because I understand that one cannot base one's opinions on others, one must always decide everything on one's own.
