This poem is thoroughly saturated with sadness and longing for departed feelings. And, even without knowing the history of its creation, the reader is touched by the depth of love lyrics and understands its meaning.
Meanwhile, it was dedicated to Tyutchev’s wife. The poet, already in adulthood and being married, fell in love with another girl. And their relationship lasted quite a long time. His wife found out about her. And although she was able to forgive her betrayal of her husband and continue to live with him, the experience was very painful.
One day, Tyutchev found her doing the activity that he describes later in his poem. She was going through their old correspondence. There were also poems dedicated only to her.
A feeling of melancholy and regret, as well as helplessness in the current situation, overwhelmed the poet then and was reflected in these lines. With what sadness he, invisible in the work, looks from the side at how his once only beloved woman sorted out this pile of paper.
And the comparison of letters with cooled ashes also echoes the author’s cooled feelings. Although he continued to love both women throughout the rest of his life, his feelings for his wife were not the same. Looking with sadness at this scene, the poet wants to throw himself on his knees and return everything. But the realization that this cannot be corrected turns all these impulses into a shadow. Just like himself, he presents himself in this work as a shadow watching what is happening. Everything is gone, only the memories captured on these old yellowed sheets remain.
Analysis of the poem She was sitting on the floor by Tyutchev
F. Tyutchev’s poem “She was sitting on the floor,” written in 1858, is permeated word by word and line by line with an incredibly strong and fiery blazing feeling. After the first acquaintance with this masterpiece, one feels not only the emotional depth, but also all the sorrow, the destructive power of the aftertaste of love. The problem of this poem is the irrevocable departure of once-flaming feelings.
In the first stanza, a woman tormented by grief appears before us: “She was sitting on the floor.” She sits not because she is unable to get up, but because the strength of her internal feelings of despondency is so great that it absorbs all her physical strength. The letters reflect her life, which has cooled down and cooled as a result of extinguished love. Throwing letters is a cry from the soul from the flood of memories.
In the second stanza, the author again uses an amazing, and at that time such an accurate comparison, in order to give expressiveness and strength of sensation to the witnesses of this drama. The woman looks at the letters “as souls look from above at the body they abandoned.” Her memory is not only in her thoughts, but also in her hands, in hands that once felt the love of a dear person.
The apotheosis of all tragedy is reflected in the third stanza. Here the author conveys the awareness and understanding that the finale has already taken place, and it will not be possible to revive the feeling that was recently burning with fire.
The repentant participant in the tragedy, observing the suffering victim of love, appears in the fourth stanza. On the one hand, he is ready to ask for forgiveness and act, but on the other, he understands that this is only inside him, in reality, love has disappeared and it is impossible to return it.
The work uses different epithets to enhance the feelings experienced: “familiar”, “sorrowful”, “sweet”. The multiplicity of complex sentences evokes an unprecedented and confusing intensity of feelings in the readers. The relevance of the work will never be eclipsed, since love is eternal.
Analysis of the poem She was sitting on the floor according to plan
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F.I. Tyutchev created wonderful poems in which he sang the beauty of nature. But he also has works about a beautiful and high feeling - love. One of the creations of love lyrics is the poem “She was sitting on the floor,” the analysis of which is presented in our article. We will also briefly tell you what prompted the poet to write this masterpiece, which poetry lovers still admire to this day.
History of creation
The analysis of the poem “She was sitting on the floor” should begin with who it is dedicated to. This work was written in 1858. It is believed that it is dedicated to the poet’s second legal wife, Ernestina Feodorovna. But Tyutchev fell in love with Elena Denisyeva, who was much younger than the poet.
Fyodor Ivanovich maintained relations with both. Ernestina Feodorovna was a wise woman, so she managed to save her marriage. But it was not easy for her, and this is exactly how she appeared in F. Tyutchev’s poem “She was sitting on the floor.”
Literary genre of the work
In analyzing the poem “She was sitting on the floor,” you need to determine which literary movement and genre it belongs to. This work is written in the best traditions of romanticism and love lyrics. The heroes are very worried about their love, but they don’t know how to solve the problem.
The hero and heroine are both a couple and alone. Therefore, the tense state in which they are intensified. It is in such a sad, lyrical mood that the entire poem is written.
Theme and features of the composition
The next point in the analysis of the poem “She was sitting on the floor” is to determine the main theme of the work. This is a conflict that arose between two once close people, between whom feelings have faded. And from the realization of this, both experience bitterness, regret, sadness.
But despite the fact that the feelings have already lost their strength, memories of them bind these people. The first, second and fourth stanzas are a description of one simple scene. The main characters are a woman sorting out letters and a man watching her. And in the third stanza there is a description of the letters that evoke so many emotions in the heroine.
Analysis of stanzas
In a brief analysis of the poem “She was sitting on the floor,” you can consider each stanza separately. In the first, the reader sees the image of a woman who is sitting on the floor not from fatigue, but from the excess of feelings that she experiences at that moment. She is filled with despair and sadness, because, going through the letters, she realizes that all her feelings are gone. These messages remind her of this, so the woman cannot hold the letters in her hands.
In the next stanza, the poet develops the thought that was described at the very beginning. The letters have already become part of the heroine. Reading what is written in them, she remembers everything that has already passed. And that's why she's in such a sad mood. In the third stanza, the poet shows all the tragedy of lost love, because, according to Tyutchev, love and strong feelings are inseparable from each other.
The last part reveals the image of the lyrical hero. Although he, like the heroine, is silent, his observation of her speaks more than words. He feels guilty because he understands that it is because of him that the woman is so worried. The hero repents of this, and he is also sad that love has passed. For them, she remained only a bright memory.
Images of heroes
In the analysis of Tyutchev’s poem “She was sitting on the floor,” it is necessary to note the characteristics of the heroes of the work. The hero and heroine are devoid of any details: there are no names, no descriptions of appearance, or any distinctive character traits. But the emphasis in the work was on the inner experiences of the characters.
The woman sorts through the letters, comparing them with cooled ash. This can be interpreted as meaning that they mean nothing to her. But she picks up some. Therefore, it can be assumed that some messages have special value for her. The only hint about her appearance is the description of the heroine's gaze. It is from a person’s eyes that you can understand what he feels. The woman does not notice the presence of the hero, she is absorbed in her experiences. The man feels superfluous in this situation.
The hero here acts as a silent contemplator. The sheets of paper seem familiar to him, and the reader understands that he wrote these letters. But the man, unlike the heroine, is still capable of reasoning. He is ready to ask her for forgiveness, but, realizing the futility of the act, he does nothing. But the fact that he stands aside, towering over the woman, shows the intractability of the conflict situation.
Literary tropes and poem meter
In the analysis of “She was sitting on the floor,” it should be noted that the comparisons and epithets that the poet used were used in order to convey the experiences of the characters. Comparison of sheets of paper with cooled ash shows that these letters are a symbol of faded feelings. The heroine, going through them, plunges into memories. All epithets have a minor connotation, which emphasizes the tragedy of the situation.
The work is written in iambic tetrameter. Alternation of male and female rhymes was used.
This poem is autobiographical in nature. Although no names are indicated in it, researchers are sure that it is dedicated to the poet’s second wife, who tolerated and turned a blind eye to his relationship with Denisyeva. The poet loved Elena for her intelligence and courage, because her relationship with him cost her her reputation and inheritance.
But thanks to Ernestine, the marriage was saved. And it was she who later, when Tyutchev lost Elena, consoled him. This poem shows the complexity of their situation in which Tyutchev’s beloved and he himself were. But even those who are not familiar with his biography, after reading this work, understand that we are talking about once close people. This poem is one of the most famous creations related to the love lyrics of F.I. Tyutcheva.
“She was sitting on the floor...” Fyodor Tyutchev
She was sitting on the floor
And I sorted through a pile of letters,
And, like cooled ash,
She picked them up and threw them away.I took familiar sheets
And I looked at them so wonderfully,
How souls look from above
The body thrown on them...Oh, how much life there was here,
Irreversibly experienced!
Oh, how many sad moments
Love and joy killed!..I stood silently on the sidelines
And I was ready to fall on my knees, -
And I felt terribly sad,
As from the inherent sweet shadow.
Analysis of Tyutchev’s poem “She was sitting on the floor...”
The love lyrics of Fyodor Tyutchev are one of the brightest and most exciting pages of the poet’s work. Poems dedicated to the chosen ones are filled with sensuality, emotionality and often tragedy. The thing is that at the age of 47, Tyutchev, being a respected and high-ranking government official, a happy family man and a fairly famous poet, fell in love with a 24-year-old student of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, Elena Denisyeva. Their secret romance proceeded stormily and serenely until it became clear that the hereditary noblewoman, entrusted to the care of her St. Petersburg aunt, was expecting a child from the poet. The enormous scandal that erupted in society could not remain secret for the poet’s wife, Eleonora Tyutcheva, who was very painfully worried about her husband’s betrayal. In a fit of despair, she even destroyed a significant part of the correspondence with the poet, which contained many poems dedicated to her, which turned out to be irretrievably lost. It was to this sad event that Tyutchev dedicated his poem “She was sitting on the floor...”, created in 1858.
If you don’t know the background to how it was written, you get the impression of a very idyllic and slightly sad picture, when a mysterious stranger, sitting on the floor, sorts through old letters and “like cold ash,” picks them up, and then throws them away again. The author addresses the heroine of his work in the third person and in the past tense, noting that she looks at the pages of letters yellowed by time, which contain joys and sorrows, somehow detached, “like souls looking from above at the body they abandoned.” . And at the same time, it seems that he does not notice the culprit of his suffering, who stands aside and feels clearly superfluous in this strange company of a woman and letters, once so dear, but now having lost all their value. The author notes that at that moment he was “ready to drop to his knees,” but he understood that nothing could be corrected, and the fragile sheets, which are material evidence of once ardent love, as well as the feeling itself, were doomed to destruction. And the author is no longer a tangible person of flesh and blood for the heroine of his work, gradually turning into a “sweet shadow,” a mirage, a phantom. The realization of this causes deep sadness in Tyutchev, as if another page of his difficult life turns out to be turned over and crumbles into ashes, like old letters.
Despite all the piquancy and ambiguity of the situation, the poet did not find the strength to part with his wife, but at the same time he was unable to give up his feelings for Elena Denisyeva. The poet lived in such a love triangle for 14 years, until the death of Deniseva, whom he affectionately called Lelechka. She died of consumption, giving Tyutchev three children, two of whom were also destined to die. All these years, the poet took care of his second family and continued to love both women. Denisyev for her extraordinary intelligence, courage, beauty and the sacrifice she made in the name of their strange union, which cost her her reputation and inheritance. To the spouse - for understanding and the ability to forgive. It is noteworthy that it was with the consent of Eleanor Tyutcheva that the poet’s children born out of wedlock received his surname. And after Denisyeva’s death, it was his wife who became the poet’s main comforter, sharing his heartache with him.
It is also worth noting that the poet outlived both of his lovers. But even after their death, he continued to dedicate his poems to women, touching, tender, filled with sincere admiration and love, as well as gratitude for the fact that they brightened up the author’s life, bringing into it a little joy, light and warmth.
F. Tyutchev's love lyrics should be read in the context of the poet's biography; intimate poems are the key to his soul and most intimate experiences. The poem discussed in the article is studied in 10th grade. We invite you to familiarize yourself with a brief analysis of “She was sitting on the floor” according to plan.
Brief Analysis
History of creation- the work was written in 1858, at a time when the poet’s heart was torn between two women - Elena Denisyeva and his wife Ernestina. The lines are dedicated to Ernestine.
Theme of the poem– a woman’s suffering from unhappy love.
Composition– the poem is written in the form of a monologue of a lyrical hero observing the suffering of a woman. According to the meaning, the work is divided into several parts: a description of a woman, with letters, a story about the letters, a reproduction of the feelings experienced by the lyrical hero.
Genre- elegy.
Poetic size– iambic tetrameter, cross rhyme ABAB.
Metaphors – "love and joy of the murdered", « souls look from above at the body they abandoned.”
Epithets – "familiar sheets", "sorrowful moments".
Comparisons – “I took them in my hands like cooled ashes,” “I looked at them like souls look from above at the body they abandoned,” “I felt terribly sad, as if from an inherent sweet shadow.”
History of creation
The history of the creation of the work is connected with the poet’s love for a young girl Elena Deniseva. They met in 1849. Elena was 23 years younger than Tyutchev, but age did not become an obstacle to the development of strong feelings. Elena found out that she was expecting a child. It was no longer possible to hide the relationship. The couple endured condemnation from society, but the love between Tyutchev and Denisyeva did not fade for 14 years - until Elena’s death.
Eleanor Tyutcheva had a hard time experiencing her husband’s betrayal. Emotions overwhelmed the woman; during such emotional distress, she destroyed letters once written by her husband. They also contained love poems, which were forever scattered with ashes. Tyutchev once saw a picture of the destruction of letters. She remained forever in his memory. In 1858, the analyzed poem was written. The one to whom the work is dedicated turned out to be a woman who had the rare ability to forgive. After Denisyeva’s death, Tyutchev returned to the family, Eleanor accepted her beloved man.
Subject
The poet reveals the theme of unhappy love. The scene described in the analyzed work is not new for Russian literature; its peculiarity is that it was snatched from life. The author's attention is drawn not so much to events as to the emotions and feelings of the characters.
In the center of the poem are two images - a woman who burns letters and her lover observing this sad picture. The beloved is a lyrical hero.
At the beginning of the work, the story is told about a woman who was sorting through letters. The heroine looked at them unusually, realizing that there was no way to return to the past. We don’t yet know who wrote the lines; the author lifts the curtain on this mystery in the fourth quatrain. In it, the reader learns that the woman was holding love messages in her hands. The correspondence apparently went on for quite a long time, as evidenced by the lines: “Oh, how much life was here, irrevocably experienced.”
Finally, in the last quatrain the image of the beloved appears. These lines are written in the first person, so the author shows who watched the bitter parting with love. The man admits that he did not dare to approach his loved one and try to calm him down, even though “he was ready to fall to his knees.” At that moment he felt only terrible sadness.
Composition
The analyzed work is a monologue-memoir of a lyrical hero who witnessed how his beloved burned letters. Analysis of the poem according to its meaning allows us to divide it into several parts: a description of a woman with letters, a story about the letters, a reproduction of the feelings experienced by the lyrical hero. Formally, the poem consists of four quatrains.
Genre
The genre of the poem is elegy, as the lyrical hero sadly talks about his experiences. The poetic meter is iambic tetrameter. F. Tyutchev used cross ABAB rhyme.
Means of expression
The poet does not oversaturate the work with means of expressiveness, so they cannot be found in every verse. However, tropes help to develop the theme and show the feelings and emotions of the characters.
The text contains metaphors- “love and joy of the murdered”, “souls look from above at the body they abandoned”; epithets- “familiar sheets”, “sorrowful moments”; comparisons- “like cooled ashes, I took them in my hands”, “I looked at them like souls look from above at the body they abandoned”, “I felt terribly sad, as if from an inherent sweet shadow.”
The emotions of the lyrical hero are emphasized with the help of intonation. In the third stanza, where he is overwhelmed by a wave of memories, the author uses rhetorical exclamations.
F. Tyutchev's love lyrics are among the brightest and most exciting pages of the work of this talented poet. The poems that the author dedicated to his chosen ones are simply overflowing with emotionality, sensuality, and often even tragedy.
History of writing
The history of the writing of a work can help the reader make a correct poetic analysis. “She was sitting on the floor...” Tyutchev wrote already in adulthood. When the poet was 47 years old, he was a respected man and a happy family man. But it so happened that at that moment Fedor fell in love with a 24-year-old girl, Elena Denisyeva. His feeling turned out to be mutual, and a stormy romance broke out between the two people, which proceeded serenely until it turned out that Elena was expecting a child. A huge scandal broke out in society; it could not help but affect Tyutchev’s legal wife, Eleanor. She experienced her husband’s betrayal very painfully. In a moment of despair, she destroyed a significant part of the correspondence with Fedor, which contained a large number of poems dedicated specifically to her. The works were irretrievably lost. This sad event is described by the poet in the poem “She was sitting on the floor...”. F. Tyutchev wrote it in 1858.
Love for Elena became both joy and sorrow in the poet’s life. He couldn’t divorce his wife, but he also couldn’t give up his happiness with Denisyeva. So, it existed for almost 14 years. Tyutchev lived longer than both women, but he retained his feelings and gratitude in his heart for both the one and the second.
Analysis of the poem “She was sitting on the floor...” by F. Tyutchev
Very often, the works of Fyodor Tyutchev describe the feelings that a person experiences at certain turning points in his life. The famous poem “She was sitting on the floor...” has four stanzas, and each is filled not only with feeling, but also with deep meaning. With the help of some words, the author managed to convey emotions so that every reader could feel the state of the heroine of the poem.
First stanza
The first stanza tells the story of a woman who sorts out old letters while sitting on the floor. Even line-to-line analysis is not needed here. “She was sitting on the floor” - Tyutchev was only able to convey part of the emotions that the woman felt with the help of these four words. Only in her pose can one already sense suffering and defenselessness. Further, it becomes clear to the reader that this entire pile of letters was once very dear to the heroine. That is why she first takes each piece of paper in her hands and then throws it aside. The author makes it clear that at the moment they no longer mean anything to her.
Second stanza
The second stanza brings to the reader a real human tragedy. Verbs such as “sat”, “looked”, “took”, “disassembled” help to do (“She was sitting on the floor...”). Tyutchev uses these words to depict the heroine’s behavior. All and are used only in This adds the character of a memory. At the same time, the burden of the moment of nostalgia is emphasized.
At the end of the second stanza there is an ellipsis, which means a pause, as if an unfinished thought. In this dot, you can see the suffering of the main character’s soul over a happy past life.
Third stanza
These lines show the woman's memories. The heroine goes over in her memory the happy moments she experienced, which no longer mean anything at the present time and which will never be returned. The phrase “how much life” in the first line forms a semantic ring with the word “killed” in the last line. This moment enhances the feeling of emotion and deep tragedy.
Fourth stanza
Using the last stanza, a final analysis of “She was sitting on the floor...” can be made. Tyutchev shows the reader a man who is probably the culprit of all the heroine’s suffering. This man felt all the pain that the woman was experiencing at that moment. He is even ready to fall on his knees in front of her, but at the same time he understands that it is already impossible to change anything, the feelings are doomed, they cannot be renewed, no matter how hard you try.
Tolstoy's opinion
Leo Tolstoy marked this poem with two letters “T.” Ch.", which means "Tyutchev. Feeling." The famous writer believed that in this poem the poet was able to convey those feelings that are almost impossible to express with words. There are moments in life when a person struggles with a large number of emotions, which is very difficult to explain, but Tyutchev managed to convey this in his poem.
For many, the work “She was sitting on the floor...” remains relevant even now. Analysis of the poem showed that such a moment can happen in the life of every person. Perhaps for some this masterpiece is the pinnacle of creativity, but for others it is simply poetry. We can only say one thing: such lines will not leave anyone indifferent.
