This was only a small part of what truly outraged the writer. Most of all, he hated the blind faith of the peasants in some higher justice. Oddly enough, most of them considered their landowner almost a god on earth. Their opinion on this matter was the same - the landowner is really wise, fair and does a lot for the sake of his charges. It’s all the officials and managers who don’t give life to people.
Nekrasov, trying to debunk the myth that landowners were supposedly excellent people, created the work “The Forgotten Village” in 1855. In it, he literally ridicules the naivety of the peasants, shows the real power and state of affairs as they really are. The landowners really have full power in their lands, but everything is managed by the managers, and the peasants are the lowest link in the chain, from which each subsequent one only profits, becoming stronger.
The poem begins with an old woman addressing the mayor. She needs some wood to restore her old hut. This is a completely ordinary request, which she refuses. The mayor directly states that: “there is no forest, and don’t wait - there won’t be!” But the elderly woman is sure that the master will come soon and will sort everything out, she shouldn’t worry about anything. She naturally desires that she will soon get what she wants.
Thus, Nekrasov speaks of the naivety of all peasants. IN similar situation invariably all petitioners, without exception, who want to achieve some kind of justice, who are trying to defend their rights, end up. The peasants, in their naive faith, are convinced that they need to wait a little, and everything will be done for them, they will decide over time, they will help, supposedly the landowner is about to come and solve their numerous problems, which are only increasing over the years.
The history of this work, like most others created by Nekrasov, is very sad. As you might guess, with these poems the writer was trying to reach not the peasants, who would never have read them anyway, but the landowners, the upper class. It is not difficult to guess how they accepted such irony towards themselves. The work caused only a lot of reproaches from representatives of the upper class. The same fate befell many other poems with a pronounced social overtones.
1
“The mayor Vlas has a grandmother Nenila
She asked me to fix the hut in the forest.
He answered: no to the forest, and don’t wait - there won’t be!”
“When the master comes, the master will judge us,
The master will see for himself that the hut is bad,
And he tells us to give it to the forest,” the old woman thinks.
2
Someone next door, a greedy greedy man,
The peasants of the land have quite a joint
He pulled back and cut off in a roguish manner.
“The master will come: there will be land surveyors!”
The peasants think. - The master will say a word -
And our land will be given to us again.”
3
A free farmer fell in love with Natasha,
May the compassionate German contradict the girl,
Chief manager. “Wait a minute, Ignasha,
The master will come!” - says Natasha.
Small, big - it's a little bit of a debate -
“The master is coming!” - they repeat in chorus...
4
Nenila died; on someone else's land
The rogue neighbor has a hundredfold harvest;
The old boys have beards;
A free farmer ended up as a soldier,
And Natasha herself is no longer raving about the wedding...
The master is still not there... the master is still not coming!
5
Finally one day in front of the road
The drogues appeared like gears in a train:
There is a tall oak coffin on the road,
And there’s a gentleman in the coffin; and behind the coffin is a new one.
The old one was buried, the new one wiped away the tears,
He got into his carriage and left for St. Petersburg.”
After reading, a completely natural question arises - why did Nekrasov call the work “Forgotten Village”? The whole point is that the owner does not care about the people who live there. What needs the serfs experience is completely unimportant. As a result of such neglect, the old woman who needed a new roof simply dies without waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. The deceived peasant is already watching how another person is harvesting on a piece of his former arable land. A courtyard girl named Natalya has already stopped dreaming of a wedding altogether, since her groom was taken to serve as a soldier for 25 years. 
The writer says with some irony and regret that the village is truly forgotten. She does not have a real owner, honest, wise, who would become a reliable support for her serfs, at least partially. As a result, the village is gradually falling into disrepair.
However, the moment finally comes when he finally appears in the village, but in a luxurious coffin. He bequeathed to his successor to bury him there, in the place where he was born, and he, in turn, who was born far from rural life, is not going to deal with the problems of the peasants. The only thing he did was “wiped his tears, got into his carriage and left for St. Petersburg.”
Nekrasov is trying to tell the peasants that practically no one cares about their problems, or rather, to open the eyes of the landowners to this truth, who almost all, without exception, did not care about their serfs. All the landowner wanted to receive from his estates was income. And no matter how the serfs prayed for their master, he, as a rule, had nothing to do with it.
In some villages, the situation was completely out of the ordinary - the peasants did not see their landowners for decades, which seemed to others to be the norm. They became very accustomed to this, accepted this state of affairs as given, as if it was how it should be, and no other way. They considered a manager who purposefully plundered the lord's property to be their king and god.
Nekrasov understands perfectly well that by creating this work, he will not reach the peasants, for the simple reason that they are not destined to read poetry. The writer is trying to say with his work that the owners of serf destinies themselves should cease to be selfish, appealing to philanthropy, because their ego can simply deprive many destinies of life, in fact, what is said in the work.
As you might guess, this poem and many others with a certain irony towards the upper class were received with hostility. A pronounced social coloring has never been very popular among the upper strata, because for the most part, it overshadowed them. In their opinion, such “peasant poems” simply disgrace Russian poetry, although we know very well why they did not like them.
Nekrasov perfectly understood the significance of his creations. Contemporaries could not evaluate his work unambiguously, although he was often met with hostility. A society that is truly mired in vices and passions will never be happy with the kind of truth that Nekrasov spoke about in his poems.
Nikolai Alekseevich did not set out to re-educate the high society, he simply tried to reach the hardened souls of landowners and officials. Your contribution to the formation public opinion he undoubtedly contributed. This is why his contribution to Russian literature is rightfully considered invaluable.
“The Forgotten Village” Nikolai Nekrasov
Mayor Vlas has grandmother Nenila
She asked me to fix the hut in the forest.
He answered: no to the forest, and don’t wait - there won’t be!”
“When the master comes, the master will judge us,
The master will see for himself that the hut is bad,
And he tells us to give it to the forest,” the old woman thinks.Someone next door, a greedy greedy man,
The peasants of the land have quite a joint
He pulled back and cut off in a roguish manner.
“The master will come: there will be land surveyors!”
The peasants think. - The master will say a word -
And our land will be given to us again.”A free farmer fell in love with Natasha,
May the compassionate German contradict the girl,
Chief manager. “Wait a minute, Ignasha,
The master will come!” - says Natasha.
Small, big - it's a little bit of a debate -
“The master is coming!” - they repeat in chorus...Nenila died; on someone else's land
The rogue neighbor has a hundredfold harvest;
The old boys have beards;
A free farmer ended up as a soldier,
And Natasha herself is no longer raving about the wedding...
The master is still not there... the master is still not coming!Finally one day in the middle of the road
The drogues appeared like a train of gears:
There is a tall oak coffin on the road,
And there’s a gentleman in the coffin; and behind the coffin is a new one.
The old one was buried, the new one wiped away the tears,
He got into his carriage and left for St. Petersburg.
Nikolai Nekrasov was convinced that serfdom is not only a relic of the past, but also a completely unacceptable phenomenon in a European country, which Russia considered itself to be in the mid-19th century. However, the poet was even more outraged by the blind faith of the peasants in higher justice. They considered their landowner almost a god on earth, believing that he was wise and fair. It was this feature of the peasant mentality that caused Nekrasov bitter irony: the poet understood perfectly well that in the overwhelming majority of cases, landowners do not care about the needs of the serfs, they are only interested in the correct payment of quitrents, which allows them to exist comfortably.
Trying to debunk the myth about the good masters of life, in 1855 Nikolai Nekrasov wrote the poem “The Forgotten Village,” in which he ridiculed not only the naive faith of the peasants in their benefactors, but also showed that real power in family estates belongs not to landowners, but to managers who behind the backs of the estate owners, they are profiting from the grief of the serfs. This work begins with an old woman asking the mayor to give her some wood to patch up her old hut. To which the woman receives a refusal and a promise that “the master will come” and will sort everything out. All petitioners who want to achieve justice and defend their rights find themselves in exactly the same situation. The peasants are convinced that they only need to be patient a little for the good landowner to make them happy with his visit and help them solve their numerous problems.
But the village that Nekrasov describes in his poem is truly forgotten. Its owner does not care what needs his serfs experience. As a result, the old woman dies without receiving the timber for the new roof; the deceived peasant, from whom a piece of arable land was taken away, watches as a more successful rival is already harvesting on his land. And the courtyard girl Natalya no longer dreams of a wedding, since her fiance was taken into the army for a long 25 years.
With irony and sadness, the poet notes that the village is falling into decay, since it does not have a real owner, wise and fair. However, the moment comes when he nevertheless appears on his estate. But - in a luxurious coffin, since he bequeathed to bury himself in the place where he was born. His successor, far from rural life, does not intend to solve peasant problems. He just “wiped his tears, got into his carriage and left for St. Petersburg.”
It should be noted that in the mid-19th century there were quite a lot of such “forgotten villages” in Russia. The owners of once luxurious estates believed that rural life was not for them, so they sought to settle in the city, closer to high society. In some villages, the peasants did not see the landowners for decades and became so accustomed to this that they considered their king and god the manager who purposefully plundered the lord’s property. Trying to dispel the myth of a fair and wise landowner, Nekrasov did not try to help the peasants themselves, since they were not destined to read the poet’s poems anyway. The author addressed those on whom the fate and life of the serfs directly depended, appealing to their philanthropy. However, his ironic poems, as well as other works with a pronounced social overtones, evoked only reproaches from representatives of the upper strata of society, who believed that “peasant poems” disgraced Russian poetry. However, Nikolai Nekrasov still managed to change public consciousness, although until his death the poet was convinced that his works were not needed modern society, mired in vices and passions, and therefore devoid of compassion for those who ensure his well-being.
1
Mayor Vlas has grandmother Nenila
She asked me to fix the hut in the forest.
He answered: “No to the forest, and don’t wait - there won’t be!”
- “When the master comes, the master will judge us,
The master will see for himself that the hut is bad,
And he tells us to give it to the forest,” the old woman thinks.
2
Someone next door, a greedy greedy man,
The peasants of the land have quite a joint
He pulled back and cut off in a roguish manner.
“The master will come: it will be for land surveyors! -
The peasants think. - The master will say a word -
And our land will be given to us again.”
3
A free farmer fell in love with Natasha,
May the compassionate German contradict the girl,
Chief manager. “Wait a minute, Ignasha,
The master will come!” - says Natasha.
Small, big - it's a little bit of a debate -
“The master is coming!” - they repeat in chorus...
4
Nenila died; on someone else's land
The rogue neighbor has a hundredfold harvest;
The old boys have beards
A free farmer ended up as a soldier,
And Natasha herself is no longer raving about the wedding...
The master is still not there... the master is still not coming!
5
Finally one day in the middle of the road
The drogues appeared like gears in a train:
There is a tall oak coffin on the road,
And there’s a gentleman in the coffin; and behind the coffin is a new one.
The old one was buried, the new one wiped away the tears,
He got into his carriage and left for St. Petersburg. 1
1 Published according to Article 1873, vol. I, part 1, p. 141–142.
First published and included in collected works: St. 1856, p. 34–36. Reprinted in the 1st part of all subsequent lifetime editions of Poems.
Autograph with date: “Oct 2 Night” - GBL (Zap. tetra. No. 2, l. 8–9); in this autograph the original title “Master” is crossed out and inscribed: “Forgotten Village”. Belova's autograph belonged to K. A. Fedip (see: PSS, vol. I, p. 572).
In R. book and St. 1879 it is inaccurately dated: “1856”. The year of writing is determined by the place of the autograph in the West. tetr. No. 2, and also due to the fact that St. 1856 was prepared before Nekrasov left abroad (August 11, 1856).
It was suggested that Nekrasov wrote “The Forgotten Village” under the influence of D. Crabb’s poem “Parish Lists” (St. 1879, vol. IV, p. XLV; cf. commentary on the poem “Wedding” on p. 624 of this volume). However, the similarity of “The Forgotten Village” with the corresponding passage of the “Parish Lists” is small, and the plot of the poem was developed by Nekrasov completely independently (see: Levin Yu. D. Nekrasov and the English poet Crabb. - Nekr. sb., II, pp. 480–482 ).
The reprint of “The Forgotten Village” (Together with “The Poet and the Citizen” and “Excerpts from the Travel Notes of Count Garapsky”) in No. 11 of Sovremennik for 1856, in N. G. Chernyshevsky’s review of St. 1856, caused a censorship “storm” (for details about this - E vol. II present, ed., in the commentary to the poem “Poet and Citizen”). Some readers saw in “The Forgotten Village” a political pamphlet, meaning by the old master the recently (February 18, 1855) deceased Tsar Nicholas I, by the new one - Alexander II, by the forgotten village - Russia. On November 14, 1856, the censor E. E. Volkov reported this to the Minister of Public Education A. S. Norov: “Some readers understand something completely different by the words “forgotten village”... They see here something that, it seems, is not there at all, - some secret hint to Russia...” (Evgeniev-Maksimov V. Nekrasov as a person, journalist and poet. M.-L., 1928, p. 223). From the memoirs of A.P. Zlatovratsky it is known that “some censor” even “reported Nekrasov to the III Department for her” (II. A. Dobrolyubov in the memoirs of contemporaries. [L.], 1961, pp. 139–140). Nekrasov probably took into account the possibility of such interpretations, but the meaning of “The Forgotten Village” is much broader: it is useless for the people to wait for help “from above,” from “good gentlemen.” It was in this sense that D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak used quotes from “The Forgotten Village” - in the epigraph to last chapter novel "Mountain Nest" (1884).
The image of grandmother Nenila from “The Forgotten Village” was reproduced by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in the essay “Gnashing of Teeth” (1860) from the series “Satires in Prose.” In Shchedrin, this image embodies the age-old need of the serf peasantry: “Here you are, poor, bent over by need, grandmother Nenila. You are sitting calmly at the gate of your rickety hut...", etc. (Saltykov-Shchedrin, vol. III, p. 378).
Even before its publication in St. 1856, “The Forgotten Village” was known in literary circles: for example, it is mentioned in a letter from K. D. Kavelin to M. P. Pogodin dated April 3, 1856 (Barsukov N. Life and works of M. P. Pogodin, book 14. St. Petersburg, 1900, p. 217). At the end of the 1850s. keeping lists of the “Forgotten Village” was considered a sign of political “unreliability” (Zlatovratsky N.N. Memoirs. [M.], 1956, p. 325). Many lists of the “Forgotten Village” have been preserved: the list of I. S. Turgenev with the date: “2 ok 1855” - GBL, f. 306, map. 1, units hr. 9; list of P. L. Lavrov - TsGAOR, f. 1762, op. 2, units hr. 340, l. 213–213 vol; list of A.P. Elagina - GBL, f. 99, cards. 16, units hr. 61; list from the PC archive - IRLI, f. 265, op. 3, units hr. 81, l. 7–7 vol.; unnamed list with the title “Barin” - TsGALI, f. 1345, op. 1, units hr. 751, l. 383–383 vol.; unnamed list - GBL, OR, units. hr. 256, l. 61 rev. - 62, etc.
In St. 1856, A. I. Herzen especially noted “Hound Hunt”, “In the Village” and “Forgotten Village”, about which he wrote: “charm” (Herzen, vol. XXVI, p. 69).
“The Forgotten Village” is one of the first poems by Nekrasov translated into foreign languages. The first French translation of “The Forgotten Village” (as well as the poems “Am I Driving Down a Dark Street at Night...” and “The Princess”) belonged to A. Dumas and was published back in 1859 (cf. commentary on the poem “Am I Driving Down a Street at Night?” dark..." on pp. 594–595 of this volume).
Zug - a team of four or six horses in pairs; Riding in a train was the privilege of rich and noble gentlemen.
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The poem “Forgotten Village” is one of the most tragic in Nekrasov’s creative heritage. Brief Analysis“The Forgotten Village” will explain the essence of the story told to 10th grade students. This material can be used in a literature lesson both as an additional and as a main one.
History of creation- the work was written in 1856 and published in the same year, included in the collected works.
Theme of the poem- story forgotten village, in which people live whose expectations do not come true.
Composition– the poem consists of five stanzas, each of which represents a separate story. Compositionally, it is divided into two parts, the first includes the three title stanzas, the second - the last two.
Genre- civil lyrics.
Poetic size- dolnik with a feminine rhyme.
Epithets–“bad hut”, “greedy covetous man”, “a hefty joint”, “roguish manner”, “compassionate German”, “oak coffin”.
The poem was written by Nekrasov in 1856. After Chernyshevsky published an article on him in Sovremennik, censorship found allegorical content in it: in 1855, Emperor Nicholas I died, Alexander II ascended the throne. The poet was accused of describing them in the image of the old and new master, and the forgotten village is all of Russia. How fair this interpretation is is still unknown.
The poem is dedicated to a forgotten village. People live in it, dependent on the will of the master - only he can solve many peasant problems, but they do not interest him at all. This is how people’s lives pass in unfulfilled expectations.
Thus, Nekrasov debunks the myth about the good master that exists among the peasantry. He says that ordinary people should not rely on landowners, since they live their own lives and are not at all interested in what is happening in their villages.
The five-strophe work consists of two parts. The first part is three stories about peasants living in a village forgotten by the landowner. These are grandmother Nenila, who cannot get wood to repair the hut, peasants whose land was taken away by a greedy neighbor, and Natasha, whom the German manager does not allow to marry a free tiller. All of them are united by the refrain - “the master will come!” “, which is repeated by all those unjustly offended.
The second part is separated from the first by a significant period of time. As a result of the inaction of the master farmer Ignat, he became a soldier, Nenila’s grandmother died in her crumbling hut, and the rogue neighbor collected more than one harvest from the peasant land.
The climax is the last stanza, in which the master finally arrives, but... in a coffin. And the new one, as soon as the funeral has passed, leaves for St. Petersburg, again leaving the peasants with their unresolved problems.
This verse is one of the most striking examples of Nekrasov’s civil lyrics. The poet describes not just the master’s indifference to fate ordinary people, but also the passivity of the peasants, who only hope for the arrival of someone from above.
Written by a debtor, the work is reminiscent of the songs that peasants composed when complaining about their fate. The folk character and songfulness are emphasized by the proximity to tonic verse. The author also uses banal female rhymes characteristic of folk poetry.
Since the poet brings his work closer to a folk song, the language in it is also quite simple. Of all the paths, Nekrasov prefers epithets- “bad hut”, “greedy covetous man”, “heavy joint”, “roguish manner”, “compassionate German”, “oak coffin”, are also very simple. These means of expression emphasize the connection of the written poem with folk tradition.
Plays a special role refrain“The master will come,” expressing the aspirations of the peasants. In the fourth stanza it is transformed into the phrase “the master still doesn’t come,” and the fifth stanza gives the repetition an ironic meaning - the master deigned to come, but is already in a coffin.
"The Forgotten Village" analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, characters, issues and other issues are discussed in this article.
History of creation
The poem “Forgotten Village” was written by Nekrasov in 1856 and published in the collected works of 1856. It was originally called “Barin”.
Literary direction and genre
The poem belongs to the genre of civic poetry and raises the problem of forgotten villages abandoned by landowners. After the publication of Chernyshevsky’s review in Sovremennik No. 11 for 1856, the censor saw an allegory in the poem: in the image of the old master they saw Tsar Nicholas I, who died in 1855, the new master was Alexander II, and the forgotten village was all of Russia. But the poem should be interpreted more broadly.
Nekrasov, as a realist poet, chose the most vivid, typical images of peasants for his epic heroes. Nenila’s grandmother is the embodiment of peasant need and dull patience, Natasha reflects the plight of a peasant woman who does not belong to herself and depends on the whim of the manager, the free tiller Ignat is forced into the army due to the imperfection of the laws, and because of a bribe, the land is taken away from the peasants. Representatives of power are also typical. The master not only does not interfere in problems and is not interested in them, but also does not remember his village, in which he is destined only to be buried. The compassionate German chief manager manages the destinies of the peasants at his own discretion, not allowing Natasha to get married and pursuing his own goals. The burmistr (village elder) thinks about his own benefit, and not about the peasant’s, the bribe-taking official is bribed by a covetous neighbor.
Theme, main idea and composition
The poem consists of five stanzas, each a separate episode from the life of a forgotten village. In the first three stanzas, the peasants hope that the master will come to their village and help them in their troubles. In each stanza the refrain sounds: “The master will come.”
The fourth stanza describes the village after a long period of time: the old woman Nenila, who needed wood to repair her hut, died, a piece of land taken from the peasants by a neighbor brings high yields, Ignat, who wanted to marry Natasha, “ended up as a soldier.” In this stanza one can hear disappointment, emphasized by the refrain: “The master still doesn’t come.”
The fifth stanza is also distant in time from the previous one. She describes the arrival of the master on the funeral cart in a coffin. Now the master cannot solve not only those problems that have not required solution for many years, but also new ones. And the new master, who came to the funeral, “wiped his tears” and left the forgotten village for St. Petersburg. The refrain changes again: the master arrived in a coffin, even the hope for change died.
The theme of the poem is reflected in the title: a forgotten village, abandoned by the landowner and peasants dependent on him, whose lives pass in unfulfilled expectations.
The main idea of the poem: debunking the myth of the good master whom one can hope for. The life of a serf peasant is of no interest to the landowner. To summarize: peasants have nothing to hope for help from above.
Paths and images
Nekrasov describes the peasant woman Nenila using diminutive suffixes: grandmother, old woman, hut, hut. The same suffixes are used to describe peasants or their property: a joint of land, Ignasha, Natasha, boys.
Representatives of the authorities are described with negative epithets or application-characteristics: covetous greedy, rogue neighbor. The German manager is called compassionate (irony). Nekrasov uses colloquial verbs, conveying the living peasant language: he pulled it off, we’ll wait, he’ll reread, he ended up as a soldier, he’s not crazy about the wedding.
The master himself as a creature inaccessible to the peasants is not described, and the epithets describe his coffin (tall, oak).
The poem is a segment of the life of a forgotten village, during which generations have changed, children have grown up and adults have aged. The reader sees what is happening through the eyes of the peasants and perceives events through the prism of their consciousness.
The idea of the poem is close to the idea of the ancient Greek tragedy: a person’s life completely depends on the will of the gods, he is unable to change either circumstances or his own life, he can only submit. The refrain of the first three stanzas sounds like replicas of the heroes of the tragedy, hoping for help higher powers(master). In the third stanza, the peasants unite into a chorus, which, like the ancient Greek, indicates the omnipotence of fate (the master). In the fourth stanza, the heroes and the chorus lose hope, and in the fifth, something unprecedented happens in ancient Greek tragedy: the death not of a hero, but of a god. Thus, Nekrasov shows the tragedy of a person whose fate is controlled by nothing, the world of dead gods. Oblivion is the worst punishment for a person.
Meter and rhyme
The poem is written in a dolnik with four stresses per line. The proximity to tonic verse emphasizes nationality and songfulness. The stanzas consist of 6 lines with paired female rhymes, most often banal, as in folk poetry.
