One of the poets of the twentieth century was Alexander Blok, who began his poetic career as a symbolist poet. His first works are permeated with mysticism, but the events taking place in the country force the writer to turn to public life. But at that moment a civil war was brewing in the country, a revolution was blazing with fire, which opened the author’s eyes to reality. Blok began to write poems that were close to the people, which described the life of the country. At the same time, he always dreamed of equality among people, but had little understanding of the cost of achieving a change of power. Meanwhile, this is death, pain and suffering. Against the backdrop of revolutionary events in 1905, his poem A Girl Sang in a Church Choir appears. It was assigned as homework.
Brief analysis of the poem
The verse begins The girl sang in the church choir with a song that a girl sings in church. This is not a simple song, but a prayer addressed to the Lord. She, like that angel, is trying to convey a prayer to higher powers and asks the Almighty to protect all those who went to war. So that everyone returns safe and sound. In every line one can feel faith and hope that her voice, her prayer will be heard. People who gather around and hear her song begin to believe this. Listening to the girl, it already seems to people that no one died, they just stayed to live in another country, and the ships sail in a quiet backwater, which means nothing will happen to them. But then comes the harsh reality.
At the end of the poem, Blok mercilessly confronts the reader with reality. She really is cruel. He writes that there will be no salvation and lamentation communicates this small child, who was initiated into the secret. The reality is that no one will come back.
Let's listen to the poem A girl sang in a church choir...
“A Girl Sang in the Church Choir” is one of the saddest poems by Alexander Blok. In his work, the poet relied on the principles of symbolism. But his very first poems had a revolutionary flavor. The poet grew up in an intelligent environment, and his cherished dream was the equality of people. But when the first echoes of the revolution began, Blok wondered: are such sacrifices necessary for its sake? You can read more about this in the analysis “The girl sang in the church choir.”
History of writing
In the analysis of “The Girl Sang in the Church Choir,” attention should be paid to the fact that the poem is connected with the fact that in 1905 a wave of workers’ rallies and uprisings swept across the country. Russia was on the verge civil war, people were in fear for their family and friends. Services were held in churches in the name of saving the Fatherland. Most likely, the poet was at one of these.
Most of all, Blok was impressed by the singing girl that a bright future would come. But the poet already realized at that time that to change power it was necessary to sacrifice many lives. Therefore, he ceased to be confident in the ideals of the revolution. In the analysis of “A Girl Sang in the Church Choir,” it is also worth noting: despite the fact that the singing brought peace to those present, Blok realized that the revolution would not bring the truce that people hoped for.
Poem composition
An important point in the analysis of “The Girl Sang in the Church Choir” is the construction in the work. It is built on the antithesis of two parts, both in compositional and semantic terms. In the first part, Blok describes the girl and her singing about all the victims of the revolution, about all ordinary people who had to defend their interests and rights with the help of revolution.
But at the same time, her singing gives people hope for better life, brings peace. And the cleanliness of the temple creates the illusion of security. The beauty of the song fascinates the parishioners; it seems to them that soon there will be a truce between the authorities and the people.
But already in the second part the crying of a child is described, in which the poet hears something completely opposite to the girl’s singing. The baby feels what is not given to others. He has a presentiment that people's hopes will not come true. Revolution is impossible without sacrifices, and, anticipating this truth, he cries, because he cannot tell people about this knowledge in any other way.
Poem meter and rhyme
When analyzing the poem "The Girl Sang in the Church Choir" important has its design. It does not have any specific size, i.e. it is written in free form. Two-syllable parts should be recited slightly so as not to disturb the rhythm. And the fusion of sonorous and hissing sounds conveys the atmosphere of the temple, writing a poem in free form creates a feeling of purity, eternity, and reciting it in a chant gives it melody.
Means of expression
In the analysis of the verse “The girl sang in the church choir,” it should be noted that the sharp transition from hope to the collapse of all illusions is achieved thanks to the antithesis. Each stanza uses anaphora and assonance, which gives the poem a melodious quality. Epithets and metaphors give it even more expressiveness.
Poetic images
All those about whom the girl sang are ordinary people, victims of the struggle for equality. The poet, who observes this service, moves from peace to a state of anxiety, anticipating impending changes in the country. And he understands that it was this secret that was revealed to the child.
Alexander Blok wrote this poem as a memory of all those who sacrificed their lives for revolutionary ideas. He ended each of his public appearances with a reading. During that period, the poet rethought his attitude towards the revolution and ceased to consider it an ideal opportunity for social change. Realizing all the consequences of the revolution, and that it was not worth such sacrifices, Blok abandoned the propaganda of these ideas and devoted his work to the symbolist direction.
The girl sang in the church choir
About all those who are tired in a foreign land,
About all the ships that went to sea,
About everyone who has forgotten their joy.
And it seemed to everyone that there would be joy,
That all the ships are in the quiet backwater,
That there are tired people in a foreign land
You have found a bright life for yourself.
And the voice was sweet, and the beam was thin,
And only high, at the Royal Doors,
Participant in the Mysteries, the child cried
That no one will come back.
1905
from A. Blok’s first collection “Poems about a Beautiful Lady”
Alexander Blok's poem "A Girl Sang in the Church Choir" was written in August 1905. The reason for the creation of the poem was: 1) the shooting by government troops of a peaceful procession of St. Petersburg workers to the Winter Palace to submit a petition to Tsar Nicholas II in January 1905, which went down in history as “ Bloody Sunday"; and 2) memories of Battle of Tsushima(May 1905) and the death of the Russian squadron during the war with Japan.
The poem contrasts the illusions associated with belief in a happy future; hope given by prayer and all the real horror, pain, hopeless truth of war. The poem is built on the antithesis of two compositional and semantic parts: in the first, Alexander Blok draws a temple where, in the twilight, a girl, beautiful as an angel, sings about everyone whom the war forced to go to foreign lands and forget the joy of a peaceful life: the ship symbolizes those who went to sea; and prayer is hope for a bright and joyful future; the grief of those who remained in desperate and anxious anticipation. The holiness of the temple, the songs and the beauty of the girl give the illusion that everything will be fine; the singer is so beautiful that it seems as if nothing bad could happen in the world. The second part: “And only high, at the Royal Gates, / Participating in the Mysteries, - the child cried / About the fact that no one will come back,” reveals the whole hopeless truth. There is no room for illusion in this lament; small child symbolizes divine truth, the sorrow of God himself. The cry of a baby leaves a feeling of unclouded illusions, naked pain and truth. Understanding the world around them in their own way, without being able to explain what they feel, children are able to predict events. And the child is given the knowledge “that no one will come back.” In the first part, in combination with the aliteration of “l” and “r”, the quiet hissing and silence that is part of the atmosphere of the temple, the accented verse evokes a feeling of eternity, melodious melodiousness. In the last part, aliteration on voiced consonants is clearly felt, which creates a feeling of strain. In the poem “a girl sang in the church choir...” A. Blok reveals the world in all its contradictions. On the one hand, we see the holiness of prayer and great sorrow. On the other, people are capable of such a bloody and cruel act as war. And this is a contradiction cannot be resolved, it can only be captured with a single glance.
Experience of holistic analysis of a poemA.A. Blok “A girl sang in a church choir...”
The girl sang in the church choir
About all those who are tired in a foreign land,
About all the ships that went to sea,
About everyone who has forgotten their joy.
And a ray shone on a white shoulder,
And everyone looked and listened from the darkness,
How white dress sang in the beam.
And it seemed to everyone that there would be joy,
That all the ships are in the quiet backwater,
That there are tired people in a foreign land
You have found a bright life for yourself.
And only high, at the Royal Doors,
Participant in the Mysteries, the child cried
That no one will come back.
August 1905
This poem was written in August 1905, during the bloody time of the first Russian revolution. Alexander Blok took the shooting at Zimny, the barricades and rallies very painfully, and even on one of the fateful days he himself carried the red banner in front of the demonstration. Perhaps the lines of the poem became the poet’s prayer, filled with sincere sympathy for the losses and victims. Contemporary Blok Izmailov connects this work with the tragedy of Tsushima, considering the key image of the ships to be a living response to the death of the Russian squadron.
The poem contrasts the illusions associated with belief in a happy future; hope given by prayer and all the real horror, pain, hopeless truth of war.This poem is among other works that reflected Blok’s disappointment not only in the “bright goals” themselves, but in the possibility of seeing their signs in real life person. The discrepancy between the ideal and reality in them turns into an antithesis, the meaning of which is revealed on the basis of an emotional assessment of its subject level.
Frustrated expectations are the problem of the poem “The girl sang in the church choir...”.The poem is built on the antithesis of two compositional and semantic parts: in the first, Alexander Blokbased on a number of details (church choir, dome, Royal Doors) creates a picture of a church service,paints a temple where, in the twilight, a girl, as beautiful as an angel, sings about everyone whom the war forced to go to foreign lands and forget the joy of peaceful life: the ship symbolizesgone to sea; and prayer is hope for a bright and joyful future; the grief of those who remained in desperate and anxious anticipation.
The holiness of the temple, the songs and the beauty of the girl give the illusion that everything will be fine; the singer is so beautiful that it seems as if nothing bad could happen in the world.But, as always in lyric poetry, the description of the objective world serves subjective purposes: in the subtext, the lyrical hero rethinks Christian morality. In the first three stanzas, a metaphor unfolds, the meaning of which is not sufficiently clear at first. The waves of sound rise higher and higher, and a heavenly “ray” rushes towards the Voice flying into the dome, covering the “white dress” with radiance. The extraordinary sound and visual impression concentrates the attention of everyone who “looked and listened from the darkness,” evoking numerous evangelical associations.
The image created in the last stanza allows the lyrical hero to become one of the spectators and participants in what is happening, along with others who are susceptible to the charm of the “voice” and “ray”. The revelation of the “secrets” does not belong to him, but to the “child”, the “infant” who knows the truth, which makes it possible to give an objective character to the debunking of the “sweet”, “disastrous” illusion.There is no room for illusion in this lament; a small child symbolizes divine truth, the sorrow of God himself. The baby's cry leavesa feeling of unclouded illusions, naked pain and truth. Understanding the world around them in their own way, without being able to explain what they feel, children are able to predict events. And the child is given the knowledge “that no one will come back.”
The truth is more tragic than a lie. And in this antithesis it is difficult to determine the positive and negative, since the centuries-old fairy tale is beautiful, bright, and comforting for everyone, except for those who want to be “involved” in the truth.
Several symbols stand out clearly in the poem.Ships as a symbol of renewal and faith in the coming of better times play a big role in Blok’s lyrics. In the poem “The Girl Sang in the Church Choir...” the motif of ships is also iconic and determines the pathos of the entire text. Associated with them is the idea of leaving and returning to the “quiet backwater” as an eternal life path. Without a journey to something new, there will be no aching joy of finding a home.
The ray is a symbol of the spirit, it is “subtle”, but “everyone” sees it. White, to which the author constantly draws our attention when describing the appearance of the heroine, is the color of holiness and purity, purity and innocence. Only she is entrusted to sing “About all those who are tired in a foreign land, / About all the ships that have gone to sea, / About all who have forgotten their joy.” However, people see a ray of hope “out of the darkness”; parishioners hear only the voice of the “white dress”.
To more accurately describe the images of the poem, it is appropriate to create associative chains, since the poem evokes very strong emotional experiences in readers, but they are difficult to describe in words, and especially on paper. Let's try to trace their nature.
The first image is the image of a girl, it is associated with the words of the singer and the church choir. All this evokes associations with beauty, innocence, youth, faith, salvation of the soul, poetry, music, unity, harmony, sound.
The dress was white and sang. Associated with it are covered nudity, purity, modesty, purity, perfection, music.
The beam was thin and shining. The ray is the sun, light, warmth, life, happiness, delight, grace, insecurity, fragility.
Shoulder – white, purity, perfection, support, support, dove.
The transition from a real concrete level to a symbolic rethinking is made on the basis of the liberation of the central image from objective features (“the girl sang” - “her voice sang” - “the white dress sang in the beam” - “the voice was sweet and the beam was thin”). Over the course of the first three stanzas, the sphere covered by the voice expands more and more (the girl sang about everyone - the voice flew into the dome - everyone listened to it from the darkness - everyone believed). At the same time, both melodies merge, and suddenly the polyphony is interrupted barely audible sound: “high, at the Royal Doors, a child was crying...”, returning to the real plane and forming a compositional ring.
The same complexity as the semantic and figurative levels of the poem is distinguished by its poetic size. Dolnik became a common meter in Russian lyrics at the beginning of the 20th century, starting with the works of Blok and then Akhmatova. In addition to rhythmic complexity, in creating the special musicality of Blok’s verse, the most important role is played by phonics and its main element - sound repetition. The impression of the sound of a voice is conveyed not only on a semantic level - the music is heard in the verse itself. In the second stanza this occurs due to the assonance (ee, shined), as well as the alliterative sound l. Lines 1, 2 and 4 of the second stanza are a lipogram - the sound p is missing, which makes it possible to highlight the words containing it, primarily the word darkness, as antithetical. Against the background of a complex rhythmic organization, an extraordinary calm and smoothness of the verse is created with the help of female cross rhyme. Important semantic centers in the lines are shifted to the last place and rhyme, this gives the poem extraordinary harmony and ease of pronunciation.
The poem “The girl sang in the church choir...” represents new stage Blok's path. Light is no longer identified with truth; on the contrary, the ray shines above illusion. Disappointment in the individual’s ability to penetrate secrets led to the disintegration of the picture of the world, and at the same time the psychological balance was disrupted. Many of the subsequent poems recorded the painful experiences of the lyrical hero caused by such a breakdown in consciousness.
The girl sang in the church choir
About all those who are tired in a foreign land,
About all the ships that went to sea,
And a ray shone on a white shoulder,
And everyone looked and listened from the darkness,
How the white dress sang in the beam.
And it seemed to everyone that there would be joy,
That all the ships are in the quiet backwater,
That there are tired people in a foreign land
And only high, at the Royal Doors,
Participant in the Mysteries, the child cried
That no one will come back.
Updated: 2011-05-09
LookAttention!
Thank you for your attention. Poem composition But singing transforms everything around, the girl illuminates the dark world: And it seemed to everyone that there would be joy, That all the ships are in the quiet backwater, That there are tired people in a foreign land You have found a bright life for yourself. It was possible to end the poem here, but the word “seemed” sows doubt that the ending will be happy. Indeed, the ending leaves the reader confused: a crying child appears, who, in my opinion, is an angel. And this angel sheds tears that the soul is becoming less and less, it does not sleep, but simply evaporates, finding no use for itself; and a person without a soul will never find eternal life, will never return to where it came from: And only high, at the royal gates, Involved in secrets, the child cried That no one will come back. And it seems to me that by this Blok wanted to say that nothing can bring these souls back: neither the girl’s prayer, nor the light that she carries.
If you notice an error or typo, highlight the text and click Ctrl+Enter.
By doing so, you will provide invaluable benefit to the project and other readers.
In this poem, the poet conveys the interaction of the Eternal Feminine, beauty with the reality of life, that is, the connection between the earthly and the Divine.
At the beginning of the poem there is peace, tranquility. A church is depicted, a singing girl, and in the background there are ships sailing into the sea, people who have forgotten their joy. The girl in the church song empathizes with “...the tired in a foreign land, the ships that have gone to sea and forgotten their joy.” Her song is a prayer for those torn away from their native home, for those abandoned to a foreign land. The peaceful singing prompted everyone from the darkness to look at her white dress and listen to the mournful song. The darkness and her white dress symbolize the sinful and the holy in the midst of this cruel world. With her singing, she instilled in people a piece of sincere kindness, hope for a better, brighter future: “...And it seemed to everyone that there would be joy, that all the ships were in a quiet backwater, that tired people in a foreign land had found a bright life for themselves.”
We see the unity of those present in the church in one spiritual impulse. Even at the beginning of the poem there was no hope for happiness, a bright life. But when her gentle voice was heard from the darkness and a white dress appeared, illuminated by a beam, then the confidence came that the world was beautiful, it was worth living for the sake of beauty on Earth, despite all the troubles and misfortunes. But in the midst of universal happiness, someone will be deprived and unhappy - the one who went to war. And now the warrior will live only with memories, hoping for the best.
With her dazzling radiance and gentle voice, the girl gave people the opportunity to forget for a moment about what was happening outside the church. In the image of the girl they saw that ray of life that they so needed. They didn't see her a simple girl, but a Deity who descended from heaven to a sinful earth to save their souls. In the last column of the poem, the cry of a child is a harbinger of war. After all, the poem was written in 1905 (the end of the Russo-Japanese War).
The color background helps us understand the deeper meaning of the poem. If at the beginning of the poem people are absorbed in darkness, then at the end of the poem the dark tones turn into light. It seemed to them that they “...found a bright life.”
In the fourth stanza, in the third line - “...participated in secrets, - the child cried” - this child is prophetic, the future is open to him, he knew in advance the tragic outcome for Russia in the war in the summer of 1905. The child personifies rebirth, renewal, everything that is bright and innocent. And in in this case– he is a child prophet, foreseeing a difficult future for Russia.
Basic images
The girl is a symbol of spiritual purity, light, and she is in unusual place- in the church. And her singing is not entertainment, but a prayer for all the unfortunate:
About all those who are tired in a foreign land,
About all the ships that went to sea,
About everyone who has forgotten their joy.
Poetic syntax
It is no coincidence that anaphora is used: it shows the significance of singing, its importance, because the girl sings “about everyone.”
In the second quatrain, the technique of antithesis is clearly manifested. Light is opposed to darkness: the girl and all those who love life, happy people– everyone who has lost meaning, who exists and does not live. The epithet "white" denotes the color of life; and in the “darkness” there are those who do not want to live, to enjoy life.
Emotions evoked while reading
I think this is a very unusual poem; it evokes such an elusive sensation, like a light breeze.
