ALLEGORICAL IMAGES OF M. Y. LERMONTOV: TO THE THEME OF THE WEST AND THE EAST IN THE LYRICAL WORKS OF THE POET

Abstract

The article analyzes the use of allegorical images in the poetry of M.Y. Lermontov in connection with the theme of the West and the East. It is shown that the poet's appeal to the West, having passed through the stage of deep infatuation, ended in disappointment in the allegory of the poem "The Dying Gladiator". The appeal to the East and the desire to know its spiritual foundations was expressed in a number of allegorical poems of oriental themes. The article suggests the interpretation of the poet's images not in line with the romantic concept of personality, but in a culturosophical and historiosophical way, reveals Lermontov's concept in his cycle "East" – in a kind of Western-Eastern divan of the poet. This reading of poetic parables reveals the depth of Lermontov's historiosophy, his understanding of the tragic complexity in the interaction of the East and the North (in the poem "Dispute"), as well as his understanding of eastern wisdom (in the poem "Three Palm Trees"). As a result, it is shown that the theme of the East, while retaining its spiritual significance for the poet to the end, did not find a final solution in his poems.

Extended abstract:

The article analyzes the use of allegorical images in the poetry of M.Y. Lermontov in connection with the theme of the West and the East, in which the researchers almost did not deal with the allegorical poems of the poet. The purpose of the article is to analyze the Western-Eastern concept in Lermontov's allegorical poems. The article shows, first, that the poet's appeal to the West, having passed through the stage of deep fascination, ended in disappointment. That was reflected in "The Dying Gladiator" analyzed in the article. Rooted in the history of the Lermontov family, aspiration to the West (motherland) is denied in it: the best of this world (chivalric culture) is revealed as a flattering illusion. The appeal to the East is shown as deeply rooted in the biography of the poet; he was connected with the Caucasus – the nearest part of the Muslim world. The desire to find the spiritual foundations of the East (reflected in the letters of the poet) is expressed in some allegorical poems. The article offers a new interpretation of them, included in his cycle "The East" – a kind of Western-eastern divan (by analogy with Goethe). These poems are analyzed not as the romantic concept of personality, but in a culturosophical and historiosophical way – as an expression of the poet's ideas of the North (Russia), the West and the East (South). The article analyzes the poem "Three Palm Trees" as a source of Lermontov's concept of the Eastern world: its existential harmony was disrupted by the impulse of self-awareness and striving for the benefits of earthly existence, resulting in the death of the original world. The disastrous departure from God's ways and aspirations for the good of the earth – this morality is invested by Lermontov in the eastern legend. In his poem "The Dispute" (which was most often referred to by researchers), the poet's understanding of the tragic complexity in the interaction of the East and the North – the Caucasus and Russia is revealed. The inevitability of Russia's conquest of the Caucasus is shown as disastrous for the East. The poet's appeal to the "sweet North" (Russia) will be continued in the next article. But the preliminary results – the main hypothesis of the article – are like this: the theme of the West is rejected, and the theme of the East retained its spiritual significance for the poet. But the idea of the tragedy of historical development does not find a final resolution in Lermontov’s poems. The exhaustion of the West, the silencing of the individual principle in the East, the emerging historical mission of Russia – these ideas did not have time to be realized as a complete historiosophical concept.