One of the great poets of the XIX century - Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. The tale "The Sleeping Princess", the ballad "Lyudmila" and many other works belong to his pen.

Short biography of the poet

V.A. Zhukovsky was born in 1783, January 29. He is the illegitimate son of the landowner A. I. Bunin from E. D. Turchaninova, a former captured Turkish woman. Vasily received his surname from his godfather, who subsequently adopted the boy at the request of Bunin.

Vasily received a good education, at the age of 18 he graduated from the Moscow University noble guesthouse. He started publishing as an author early - at the age of 14 he made his debut with his work “Thoughts on the Tomb”. In 1808, Vasily Andreyevich wrote his famous ballad “Lyudmila”, then created many more wonderful works in verse, and in 1809 wrote the prose novel “Maryina Roscha”.

In late summer and early fall of 1831, Zhukovsky wrote his interpretation of the plot of the sleeping princess, and after 2 years on the same topic he created a poem by A. S. Pushkin. In order not to confuse these two different works, the article will sometimes give an explanation - the name of the author in brackets. Find out what the poem of the son of Bunin, will help a brief summary.

The Sleeping Princess, Zhukovsky, the plot of the work

The poetic story begins with the acquaintance of the reader with Tsar Matthew and his wife, the queen. They lived together for many years, everything was fine, but one thing overshadowed their union - there were no children in the family.

And then one day the sad queen went to the stream, sat on its green shores and began to weep bitterly. But her tears did not remain unrequited, the young woman regretted the cancer and crawled to her. He said that she should not be sad, that she would get pregnant that night, and after the appropriate time she would give birth to a daughter.

The tsarina answered the beautiful news with gratitude, but he already disappeared. It turns out that cancer was a prophet, and his predictions came true. Here, on such a positive note, a fairy tale begins, and accordingly its short content. The “Sleeping Princess” (V. Zhukovsky) continues with a joyful event - a beautiful baby was born among noble women. The further narration of the two great poets - Pushkin and Zhukovsky - is different. In the first case, the mother died during childbirth, in the second - no. Vasily Andreevich says that happy parents decided to call sorceresses to a feast. About it right now will tell a brief summary. The Sleeping Princess (V. Zhukovsky) is a wonderful work that will be interesting not only to children but also to adults. So, the baby was so beautiful that it’s hard to describe how much. And in honor of the birth of the beauty, sorceresses came to her.

Predictions of sorceresses

At first, Tsar Matthew wanted to invite 12 sorceresses; the same number of dishes was prepared according to the number of guests. But then it turned out that one was missing. Therefore, the king decided the twelfth, old and evil, not to call.

After the guests sat well, drank and ate, they began to present the princess with all kinds of joyful predictions. Since sorceresses were sorceresses, all these wonderful moments should have come true over time. But, as it turned out, there were not only joyful predictions. After 10 magicians said their word, an uninvited guest appeared at the feast. What she said will tell you a brief summary right now. The Sleeping Princess (V. Zhukovsky) is a fairy tale full of miracles and magic. So, according to the evil predictor, the girl will only have to live to the age of fifteen, and in the sixteenth year - to die due to the fact that she will be pricked with a spindle. If we analyze this event and compare Zhukovsky’s work with Pushkin’s poem, it becomes clear that a sad event awaited both girls, but the first had to be pricked with a spindle, and the second had to be poisoned with an apple.

The optimistic prophecy of the good sorceress

This is the wish the little witch made to the baby. But the girl was lucky, because before that only 10 sorceresses managed to predict her all the best, and the eleventh had not yet spoken magic words. To smooth the witch's spell, the last of the guests said that the girl would not die, but would fall asleep for 300 years. After this period, the evil spell will be dispelled, and the princess will live happily until old age. All this was written in verse in his work by Zhukovsky (The Sleeping Princess). The main characters of the story are not only the tsar, the queen, the princess and two sorceresses, the reader will learn about the others a bit later.

The witch's prediction comes true

Hearing what the evil witch wished his beloved daughter, the king was very upset. He began to eat poorly, sleep, and then issued a decree to prohibit sowing flax, to make yarn from it, to knit it with a spindle. This tool of ancient needlework was forbidden to have in any house. After this decree, Matvey calmed down, and life flowed on as usual.

Time passed, the princess turned 15 years old, she became even more beautiful, blossomed like a flower in May. Once her parents went for a walk, and the young girl stayed at home. She became bored, and she decided to inspect the palace. After all, in some rooms the girl has never been.

She began to walk around the mansions and saw a steep staircase, climbed along it, and there was a small komorka. The girl became curious, she opened the door and sees an old woman sitting and spinning yarn. The old woman took and handed the girl a spindle, because it was that very sorceress. Immediately the young virgin pricked her hand and fell asleep. So the sleeping princess appeared in the palace. Zhukovsky, whose heroes in this tale are both positive and negative, further describes the picture of universal sleep.

Sleepy Kingdom

At the same second, the entire palace and its inhabitants were seized by a general nap. The king and his wife stood on the porch, and fell asleep right there. Their retinue stood still, not letting go of the arms of their guns. Khorunzhiy fell asleep on a horse, the animal also plunged into long-term nap. Even the dogs, the flies froze, and remained immovable. The cook, as he cooked the meal, remained in the kitchen. Even the fire fell into a nap.

Since then, a bird could not fly into this sleepy kingdom, and the beast would not have gone there either. Thorny thorns grew like a high fence, wild forest also blocked the path-way.

100 years have passed. During this time, some daredevils, listening to the stories of their grandfathers, tried to find the palace and the princess, but none of them returned back, so everyone abandoned desperate attempts to get there.

King's son

So 300 years have passed. Somehow the young prince rode through the forest with his retinue and lagged behind her. He appeared near that treasured boron, met an old man. He told the young man that he had heard from his grandfathers that the tsar’s palace was standing in these places, the beautiful princess was sleeping in it, and now for 3 centuries he was waiting for his savior.

The hero rode where the old man had pointed. Before the young man blossomed, nature was clearly glad for his appearance - the birds began to twitter, streams began to grow, flowers began to bloom right before their eyes. Zhukovsky beautifully spoke about all this in verses.

The Sleeping Princess: the main characters

In addition to the girl herself, there are characters who played a significant role in her fate. These are both positive and negative characters. Only one person can be assigned to the last category - the old sorceress. She did evil. The author assigned her a considerable role in his work, because of the old woman the girl almost died in the prime of life, and therefore gave the name to his opus Zhukovsky - “The Sleeping Princess”. What does this moment teach? What if you invite guests, you need to think about who exactly. After all, you can offend a person by inviting 11 close friends, but not the twelfth. Then he can hold a grudge, as a fairy-tale sorceress did.

But her spell was destined to dispel the prince, who is one of the main good characters along with the girl and her parents.

Since the main actors in this work are few, they are easy to remember. Now, if someone says: “Zhukovsky, The Sleeping Princess”, the main characters of this poem will immediately pop up in your memory.

And the spell fell

To spell the princess was destined to one of the main positive heroes - the prince. Hearing the old man’s story, he was not afraid and went to look for the palace. I found it quickly and was surprised that everyone, from people to animals and insects, was sleeping.

On the porch lay the king. Having crossed himself, the young man stepped over him and went to his chosen one. Further, Zhukovsky for a long time describes how she was pretty. As they say, years have no power over beauty. The prince fell in love at first sight, kissed a sweet girl, she woke up, and not only her. The palace came to life instantly, everyone began to continue to do what he was doing before.

Of course, the tsar and the tsarina blessed their daughter, she married a savior, and it ended, as in many Russian folk tales, with a feast for the whole world. Here is a poem composed by Sleeping Princess woke up, and everything ended well.

Opus Analysis

What is he telling us about? If students have to write an essay on the subject “Zhukovsky, The Sleeping Princess”, the analysis of the work will help to get an excellent mark. First, you can compare the plot with mention that their story called “Sleeping Beauty” is similar to Zhukovsky’s opus, like the work of Charles Perrault, entitled “Beauty in a Sleeping Forest”. Zhukovsky called “The Sleeping Princess” his own work. Reviews will also help to better understand poetic work.

Readers like that in this work brave heroes triumph, love and good triumph. It is customary to compare the poetic opus of A.S. Pushkin's “The Tale of the Sleeping Princess and the Seven Knights” with the work created by Zhukovsky. The Sleeping Princess (reviews will help to better understand the structure of the work) is a must-have poem for

Zhukovsky’s fairy tales are primarily aimed at children’s audience and are designed for the sounding word, while Pushkin’s fairy tale is addressed to the reader of any age, and the older the reader, the more it opens to him.

But I repeat again the words of Belinsky: "Without Zhukovsky we would not have Pushkin." To be ready to dive into the depths of Pushkin's fairy tales, it’s good to plunge into the fairy-tale world of Zhukovsky, be captivated by his atmosphere of a national fairy tale, based on common stories and heroes of many nations, so that later you can more acutely feel the “Russianness” of Pushkin's fairy tales and your own.

We begin our acquaintance of fifth graders with Zhukovsky by reading an article in a reader and examining the portrait of the poet by O. Kiprensky.

What appears to us Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky?

Pay attention to the background on which the poet is depicted. What does this background tell us?

Children note the poet’s thoughtfulness and dreaminess, they say that he is depicted against the backdrop of the ruins of a castle, which makes the portrait mysterious and mysterious. Apparently, Zhukovsky was interested in everything old and unusual.

Indeed, he was a very dreamy person, therefore he read and listened with special interest to fairy tales, legends, ancient stories, and traditions. They excited his imagination, prompted him poetry. Zhukovsky knew the German language well, loved German poetry and culture and really wanted to introduce the Russian reader to it, and therefore translated many works into Russian.

More than half of Zhukovsky's literary works are translations from German and English, but these translations rightfully compete with the originals. He said: "The translator in prose is a slave, the translator in poetry is a rival." And in fact, Zhukovsky became a worthy rival to the best poets of the world: Goethe and F. Schiller, V.Skop and Byron.

His poetic arrangements of the famous tales of the brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault are widely known.

We will meet one of these arrangements. The tale "The Sleeping Princess" appeared in the summer of 1831 as a result of a kind of poetic "contest" between two remarkable Russian poets - Pushkin and Zhukovsky. “How many charms have come from the pen of these husbands!” Exclaims N. V. Gogol.

That year, Zhukovsky created The Tale of Tsar Berendey and The Sleeping Princess, Pushkin - The Tale of Tsar Saltan. And in 1833, Pushkin, perhaps recalling the poetry tournament and the tale of his rival, The Sleeping Princess, wrote The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights.

After reading, we find out the perception of the work by fifth graders.

Do you know the plot of this tale? Where from?

Yes, in the plot of Zhukovsky, children can easily recognize the familiar fairy tale of Charles Perrault's “Sleeping Beauty”, some people remember the Grimm brothers, however, they don’t remember the exact name of their fairy tale (“Rosehip”).

Do you like the work of Zhukovsky? Than?

Most of all, children like that the fairy tale is written in verse. They like her beautiful style. The description of the sleeping kingdom, the awakening of the princess to life, are noted as favorite moments.

What is similar and not like a fairy tale to the well-known Russian folk tales?

Find in her turn of speech, close to folk. It resembles Russian folk tales with the miracles that are described in it (spells cast on a princess, an enchanted kingdom), traditional heroes (the tsar, tsarina, tsarevna, tsarevich), the victory of the forces of good over the forces of evil, and some turns of speech close to folk ( “Once upon a time there was a good king”: “My daughter was so beautiful, / What can I say in a fairy tale, / I can’t describe with a pen ...;“ The bird will not fly there, / The beast will not run close… ”;“ Wedding, feast, and I’m there was / And he drank wine at the wedding; / Wine ran down his mustache, / But there wasn’t a drop in his mouth ", etc.).

But this tale has an author, it is written in verse. Among her heroes there are atypical for Russian fairy tales - the prophet cancer, who predicted the birth of the princess. Yes, and the king bears an unusual name - Matvey, more often we hear other names or he remains completely nameless.

All this suggests that we have a literary tale. Let us write its definition: “A literary fairy tale is an author’s, fiction, prose or poetic work, either based on folklore sources, or invented by a writer; the work is mostly fantastic, magical, depicting the wonderful adventures of fictional or traditional fairy-tale characters.

The main features of a literary fairy tale: it has a specific author, an unchanged text, fixed in writing. Like many other literary tales, the work of Zhukovsky was created based on folk tales.

Remember, why in folk tales (for example, in the fairy tales “The Frog Princess”, “Geese-Swans”, “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka”), trouble often occurs with heroes.

They violate a ban, make a mistake: Ivan Tsarevich burned frog skin,
the girl played with her friends and left her brother unattended, Ivanushka, contrary to her sister's ban, drank water from the trail left by the goat's hoof.

And what mistake did anyone make in Zhukovsky’s tale? Which rule violated?

King Matthew made a mistake: he did not invite one of the twelve sorceresses, who was the oldest of all, to a feast in honor of the birth of his daughter. I didn’t invite - it means that I violated the law of hospitality, and even did not respect the old man.

Why didn’t he call the old sorceress?

The king has twelve dishes
Precious gold
It was in the royal pantries;
Cooked dinner;
And there is no twelfth
(Who stole it,
To know about this is not given).
“What is there to do? - the king said. -
So be it! ”And did not send
He’s calling for an old woman’s feast.

Of course, the lack of dishes is not a reason for not inviting someone. Surely in the tsar's bins there would be some other beautiful dish that could replace the missing, and the situation would be resolved.

This word blundered:
Why so blundered
Our sensible king Matthew?
What do you mean blundered?

He committed a bad, rash act, stumbled. Zhukovsky does not justify the king, the word reasonable in relation to the king sounds here with a hidden mockery (irony), since Matvey does not seek a solution to the problem, but simply does not call the old woman for a feast.

How did she feel about this?
She was offended: "It was offensive to her."
Can I understand her? (Of course!)
But what did this insult lead to?

To the thirst for revenge, the desire for death of an innocent girl. The old woman promises her:

In the sixteenth year
You will meet trouble;
At this age
Hand you spindle
Scratch my light
And die in the color of years!
Can this be understood?

Of course no! Due to petty resentment, the old woman is ready to take the girl's life. That's what resentment can give rise to! One frivolously made a mistake, offended the old man with his inattention, which provoked a response that brought trouble not only to the princess, but to the whole kingdom. Another prepared a terrible gift to the young princess.

Find the word by which the author expresses his attitude to this sorceress. He calls her a witch, thus expressing his rejection of her actions. Yes, an evil and dangerous force is already taking effect in the person of a sorceress, while others have prepared wonderful gifts for the newborn princess. What did they cook for her as a present?

You will walk in gold;
You will be a miracle of beauty;
You will be all to joy
Sober and quiet;
Ladies handsome groom
I am to you, my child;
Your life will be joking
Between friends and relatives ...

How many wishes are there? (Five.) And the sorceress? (Eleven.)

We’ll think up what the other six wished the girl. The waltz from the ballet by P.I. Tchaikovsky "Sleeping Beauty", and under his sound, children compose the wishes of the sorceress princess.

Since the beginning is always difficult, you can give the children the first possible phrases, for example: “You will have a palace ...”; "Here is a wonderful chest ..."; “You will give birth to a son and a daughter ...”; “You will see the white light ...” etc.

In addition to editing, the children receive a task according to the options: to make drawings depicting an enchanted forest at the moment when the kingdom was just falling into a dream (1st version), and the forest before the princess’s awakening (2nd version). Some of the students are instructed to find and write out the lexical meanings of the words bor and forest.

We start the next lesson with a question:

How did the king try to divert trouble from his daughter?

He gives the following decree:
"It is forbidden from us
In our kingdom sow flax
Spin, twist to spindles
The spirit was not in the houses;
So as soon as possible
Send everyone out of the kingdom. ”

Zhukovsky calls the king "reasonable." But can his decision be called reasonable? Why?

Most of the children consider the decision of King Matthew unreasonable. Their main argument: you will not go against fate, all the same, the spell must be fulfilled. So, it makes no sense to hinder him. By forbidding the cultivation of flax, spinning it and sewing clothes from it, expelling all the strands from the kingdom, the king does not solve his problem, but creates new difficulties for people. However, he continues to live as before, easily and cheerfully:

The king, having issued such a law,
Started to drink, and eat, and sleep,
Started to live and live
Hitherto, without worries.
- How does this characterize him?

He is not very far-sighted, frivolous, careless. And the prophecy of the sorceress comes true. We reread the description of the sleeping kingdom. Why is it interesting? What are the most striking, expressive details in the description of this kingdom.

Everything calmed down around;
Returning to the palace
On the porch her father

He stumbled and yawned
And he fell asleep with the queen;
The whole suite is sleeping behind them;
Tsarist Guard

Under the gun in a deep sleep
And on a sleeping horse sleeping
Before her is a corral himself;
Motionless on the walls
Sleepy flies sit;
At the gates the dogs are sleeping;
In the stalls, bowing their heads,
Lush manes dropping
Horses don't eat poop
Horses sleep deeply;
The cook is sleeping in front of the fire;
And the fire in a dream
Doesn't burn, doesn't burn
Sleepy flame stands;
And will not touch him
Curling in a club, sleepy smoke;
And the neighborhood with the palace
All embraced by a dead sleep

The children consider the most interesting and vivid details of the description guards sleeping under arms; fire, frozen "sleep flame" in the kitchen; cook, frozen before him.

In general, the kingdom is interesting for its immobility, but in this immobility a movement stopped by spells is felt, life is guessed. Try to find lines in the description of the sleeping kingdom that prove that life in the kingdom simply froze for a while.

Children find lines about sleepy flies, about horses that “don’t eat poop”, about guard dogs that fall asleep at the gate, about a corral (the meaning of the word is given in the textbook footnotes), sleeping right in the saddle, about a cook, etc.

And this prolonged immobility allowed wild plants to surround the palace tightly:

And the forest covered the neighborhood;
Blackthorn fence
He surrounded the wild forest;

He blocked forever
To the house of the royal path:
Long, long not to find
No one there -
And the trouble is drawing near!
The bird won't fly there
Close the beast will not run
Even the clouds of heaven
Into a dense, dark forest
The breeze will not come.
For a full century has leaked;
It’s like King Matthew didn’t live -
So from people's memory
He was blotted out long ago;
They knew only one thing
What a house stands in the middle of the forest,
That the princess sleeps in the house
What to oversleep for her three hundred years,
That now there is no trace of her.

Why did King Matthew “blot out” from the memory of man? Is it by chance or not? Is this somehow related to his fateful mistake?

Tsar Matvey was forgotten because he did nothing good and useful for his subjects and was famous only for his carelessness and frivolity. His “rationality” was very doubtful, and it led to an error - he “blundered” and propagated trouble in his own family and kingdom. What to remember about such a king?

But his people remember his daughter.

Why does he pass on from generation to generation the story of the princess sleeping in the forest? With the sleeping princess, the expectation of a miracle is due, which should happen in 300 years.

Why did none of the daredevils manage to reach the princess and no one returned from this campaign? Imagine what could happen to them.

The kingdom with the princess was bewitched for 300 years. Recall: after all, this young sorceress replaced death with sleep, because she could not completely remove the spell. The daredevils could not get to the palace with the sleeping princess, because the time of the spell had not yet ended.

Trying to get through the thorny blackthorn, they may have died from its spikes, and those who managed to break through this fence, death probably overtook on the road. Or maybe the spell spread on them, and they also fell asleep, approaching the gates of the sleepy kingdom.

Why does the king’s son have a different story? How did the old man tell the story?

The royal son appeared in the environs of the enchanted kingdom, when the time of the spell came to an end. From the old man he heard a story about a sleeping princess, who is very
excited him:

... from that fairy tale
He broke out, as if from fire;
He squeezed the spurs into his horse;
Spin the horse from sharp spurs
And he rushed into the forest with an arrow ...
What does the swiftness with which
swarm did he rush to the forest?
He wants to see the princess as soon as possible.

What has boron now become? What is Zhukovsky calling him now?

Fence,
Enclosing the dark forest
Not a blackthorn so thick
But the bush is young;
Roses shine through the bushes;
Before the hero, he himself
He parted as if alive;
My hero enters the forest:
Everything is fresh, red before him;
By flowers young
Moths dance, shine;
Light snake brooks
Curl, foam, murmur;
Birds are jumping, making noise
In the density of the branches of the living;
The forest is fragrant, cool, quiet,
And nothing is scary in him.

Bor has turned into a forest ... What is the difference between a forest and a boron?

A trained student informs the lexical meaning of these words: “Bor - coniferous forest, consisting of one species of trees. A forest is a space overgrown with trees, and all the vegetation covering the ground between the trees: shrubs, grasses, ferns, mushrooms. ”

Why has boron become a forest?

The princess and her kingdom were in a state of sleep, which corresponds to immobility, monotony, therefore, And the forest for this dream is selected monotonous and called boron.

Before the princess’s awakening, the forest turns into a forest and is filled with aromas of different plants, birdsong, bright butterflies - a beautiful and varied, full life is ahead!

What strikes the prince in the royal palace? Of course, there are a lot of sleeping people whom the dream caught at the moment of some action. Compare the description of the sleeping kingdom at the beginning of the tale and now. Which one has more life? Why?

There is more life in the second description because everyone is about to wake up:

In the yard he meets
The darkness of people, and everyone is sleeping:
He sits rooted to the spot;
He does not move;
He stands with his mouth open
Sleep interrupted conversation
And silent in lips ever since
Incomplete speech;
He, taking a nap, once lie down
Gathered, but did not have time:
Dream magic took hold
Before sleep simple to them;
And, three centuries motionless,
He does not stand, does not lie
And, ready to fall, sleeps.

But most of all, the princess is striking in her beauty. Find her portrait in a fairy tale:

Like a child, she lies
Sprayed from sleep;
Young is her color;
Glittering between the eyelashes
Flame sleepy eyes;
The nights are dark darker
Braided braid
Curls black stripe
Wrapped around a brow;

Chest as fresh snow is white;
To the airy, thin mill
A light sundress is abandoned;
Red lips burn;
Hands are white
On trembling breasts;
Compressed in light boots
Legs are a miracle of beauty.

Have you seen such detailed portraits in folk tales? How do they usually describe the beauty of a girl?

You will not find such portraits in folk tales. Usually beauty is described by words: neither in a fairy tale to say, nor a pen to describe ...

But we have a literary tale, and therefore the description of the heroine is given in all details: we see the features of her face, and a slender figure, and clothes.

How can one prove that the princess’s dream is only an expectation of a betrothed?

In her dream, her lips are “scarlet burning,” her chest trembles. “Between the eyelashes glistens / Flames of sleepy eyes”, she “was blazing with sleep” - everything says that she is waiting for her savior.

Compare this portrait of the princess with the painting of V. Vasnetsov “The Sleeping Princess”. Do you like her?

Children really like the picture for its fairy-tale atmosphere of mystery and the expectation of a miracle. The princess’s dream is very lively and so sweet that we, the audience, want to yawn sweetly and take a nap somewhere next to sleeping girls or guslars in order to wake up and find ourselves in a few moments.

In a fairy tale ...
Why the prince could not resist and kissed the princess? Why did he do this? Why is her awakening instantly?

The princess is so good, her dream is so full of happy expectation, that the prince wants to quickly see her waking up. Until she hears and sees him, and he is already with her whole soul with her:

... to enjoy the soul,
To at least quench
The greed of captive eyes
Kneeling down to her
He approached his face ...
and "the soul did not hold back / and kissed her."

The princess woke up “instantly” because she had been waiting for him for 300 years. What was the result of this kiss? (Awakening of the whole kingdom.) We re-read the picture of this awakening. What details in his description are particularly expressive and memorable?

With what intonation does the poet describe the awakening of the sleepy kingdom? Prove that he chuckles at its inhabitants and especially at the hapless "rational" king Matthew.

The picture of awakening evokes smiles in children; they are happy to read out some of its details. Everything is back to square one:

Everything is as it was; like a day
Not gone since sleep
The whole edge was sunk.
The king is going up the stairs;

Walking leads
He is the queen in their peace;
The whole retinue is behind the crowd;
Shotgun guards knock;
Flies fly in packs;
Lovely barking dog;
At the stable your oats
Good horse eats up;
The cook blows into the fire
And, cracking, the fire burns,
And a stream of smoke runs

The tsar is especially ridiculous, who, as if nothing had happened, “has walked” leading the queen to the chambers; the guardians knocking guns are also funny, flies waking up from many years of sleep and flying in packs to profit from the royal palace, the cook who resumed cooking. Together with the heroes, we rejoice that everything ended well.

And why did this happen?

The mercy in the person of a young sorceress entered into a duel with resentment and thirst for revenge, which the old sorceress embodies in herself, and gave the princess and her parents salvation: instead of death, a magical dream from which you can wake up and find life again.
Will King Matthew appreciate this, judging by his behavior upon awakening?

It seems that he will remain an unlucky and careless person who is absorbed only in the pleasures of life. But the princess and the young prince, who can’t talk at all after a long-awaited meeting, will probably fully appreciate their happiness and take care of it.

Everything goes like a dream in this life
And in the darkness disappears without a trace.
Love alone, like the sun at its zenith
It will burn forever in the universe ...
Like a lily in the garden of Eden
You bloomed alive under the rays.
And like in a fairytale fairy princess,
About the beautiful You dreamed of a prince.
And the fate of the unknown ways
He appeared to you wonderfully:
Russian prince with unearthly eyes,
And captivated Your pure heart.
You could not love another
This miracle will not happen again.
And the princess of the German house
All-Russian became the Queen.
In the robes of angelic bird of paradise,
I did not forget about my chicks.
Alexandra - Holy Queen
You adopted all of Russia.
Before the Heavenly King in Heaven
You remained close and dear.
Protect us with your prayer
And warm your mother with love.
Dreaming of cloudless happiness
Heart opened to a new homeland.
Only instead of heaven
You went down to the mournful earth.
Life is not a fairy tale. And elusive
Happiness is easy in a busy world.
Do not pass you by side
Sorrows even under the royal porphyry.
I’ve forgotten about peace forever,
Let others dream of happiness.
You shared with the sovereign Spouse
All the labors and sorrows of the earth.
And under an unbearable burden
I found comfort in only one:
Before God you bowed down to the Son,
And she prayed for eternal salvation.
And by God's blessing
Under the cover of the Queen of Heaven
You are the five children in comfort
Gave the Tsar and Russia.
And on the stone of saving faith
You created the hearth of heaven.
Piety is a good example
Your Holy Family has become.
But crazy winds blew
Blood rivers rushed
And the breath of gloomy death
Your happiness has broken forever.
And clutching a hug more tightly
You have come to the threshold of the earth,
And when the hour of crucifixion came,
You went to Calvary with everyone ...

A. Myslovsky
GOD'S BIRDS

What a wonderful dream

Once to me in the silence of the night:

Four white doves

And a little swan.

In the light of God's grace

In the heavenly rainbow rims -

Holy martyrs children

Holy Russian Tsar.

God's birds fly across the sky

Over the sinful Russian land -

Four white doves

And a little swan.

Fly to the Heavenly Hall

To the Holy Fire Heights.

And boldly pray to God

Forgive my killers for everything ...

The soul trembled in tears

And prostrately prostrated herself -

Until now I have not seen

Such wonderful birds of paradise.

They circled over me

And they marvelously glorified the Creator,

Above all Russian land

White wings spread.

Sent to earth by God

To soften with love

The hearts of a lost people

Love ready to forget.

But you blinded by madness

He sacrificed to the forces of darkness

And pure angelic blood

The clothes of light are tinted.

From now on - only these faces

I’ll see myself again

The soul is writhing like a bird

After all, I have your blood on me!

I am flesh from the flesh of the people

What an oath of allegiance he gave

Anointed before God

And he himself betrayed him to death ...

And the new Cain seal

Russian soul lay

Forever betraying her with a curse

Blood of the slain King.

It has long struck the inevitable

The terrible hour of God's judgment

When would the people perish

You did not beg Christ.

What a wonderful dream

Once to me in the silence of the night:

Four white doves

And a little swan.

And repenting tears

My soul is cleansed -

Holy martyrs children

Holy Russian Tsar ...

Poet Sergey Bekhteev:

ROYAL RUSSIA

Tsarist Russia-meekness and humility,
Centennial icons have hot prayers,
Thirst for repentance, the sweetness of forgiveness,
The sacrificial prowess of a disinterested battle ...

Tsarist Russia, the bell-ringing,
Among the forests of ancient dense cells, log cabins,
The joy and fun of meeting the hospitable
About cherished love whispering lips ...

Tsarist Russia - common labor and service,
Strong peace and order
Friendship of all its classes and peoples,
A century-old excess of generous wealth ...

Tsarist Russia is an epic life
This is a family spirit, this is a free system,
Our language is powerful, our way of life is old,
Dare and courage of round dance ...

Tsarist Russia - faith in the feat of arms
To the triumph and glory of wise rule,
Heaven given above blessed lots
Homeland of great honest service ...

Tsarist Russia - help to beggar brothers,
Bold defense against another's threat,
Mother happy a gentle hug,
Goodbye wiped away tears ...

Tsarist Russia is our native song,
Without end, without the edge of a big road
Tsarist Russia is Holy Russia,
The one who seeks the truth, the one who believes in God!

Tsesarevich

In the days of our tribulation, hopeless
In the days of general human weakness,
Your image, virgin and tender
It attracts us with the charm of the past;

Attracts with radiant eyes
With their genuine kindness,
It attracts heavenly features
It attracts - unearthly beauty.

And mistakes are forgotten
And the sorrow tormenting us
At the sight of a regal smile
Your innocent, children's eyes.

And seem insignificant to the heart
All our idle dreams
And the fear is self-serving and disturbing,
And the voice of petty poverty.

And in these sweet moments
Before a renewed soul
Rises like a bright vision
Your Image is Pure and Holy.

Sergey Bekhteev 1922

Poems from the notebook of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

The compilers of the collection are Russian emigrants, by hook or by crook
managed to save photographs and documents relating to the royal family and

especially to the period after 1917. Letters are reproduced in the book,
prayers and poems written by Empress Alexandra Fedorovna
(as the author of the collection writes: “ The poems written below are reproduced.
Her Majesty’s own hand during a period of hopeless spiritual
suffering ... Then she poured out her prayer calls to God in
his little book, and this little book, collecting and draining tears
The Empress, became a part of Her soul and now shows us confession
Sovereigns before God") And her children, as well as represented
photos of the royal sisters of mercy. Well, a little leaf through the book ... all the poems presented below from the collection of the Empress ...

Now we just learn about what really was the main thing in this family, learn about the rules of life, about life, habits and everything else, human, that for many years it was either unknown to us at all, or it was simply blamed and distorted beyond recognition ...

Do not quench all the grief greedy,

All human tears cannot be drained

And with this thought sad

It is painful and hard to live.

And happy is he who on the day of misfortune

For once gave a hand to the poor

And drained the tear of fate

And in joy turned melancholy.

Empress Alexandra Fedorovna

The royal sister of mercy - Empress Alexandra Fedorovna (drawing by P.I. Volkov 1914)

Prayers are a gift - a wonderful gift, a priceless gift,

Replacing all the fragile blessings of the earth;

Blessed is the one given by a touched soul

Explore the mystery of your holy joys!

Blessed is he who prays in a moment of happiness

Who with God so managed to make friends

That God's thought sanctifies joy and passion in him,

And their mad impulse can tame their impulse.

Blessed is he who prays in anguish and torment

Under the heavy cross

Who visited with grief, lifts his hands to heaven

Stating: “You are holy, Lord, and your power is holy!”

Blessed is he who experiences the battle of life,

Humbly believes, humbly waits,

And the supreme Providence by laudatory hallelujah,

Like the adolescents in a cave, everyone praises and sings.

E.P. Rostopchina

Royal Sisters of Mercy

A little bit of history. With the outbreak of World War I, the Empress and her children began to work actively in hospitals and help the wounded. So in particular, in the literature you can often find a mention of the so-called Fedorovsky town. This is a complex of buildings in the Neo-Russian style, located near Tsarskoye Selo, built in 1911-1916. The town was built under the constant supervision of Emperor Nicholas II. On August 20, 1912, the new Cathedral was solemnly consecrated in the name of the Fedorov Icon of the Mother of God, considered the patroness of all the Romanovs. After the outbreak of World War I, the buildings of the town being built were decided to be used as a hospital for the wounded. The Grand Duchesses Maria Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna took patronage over the infirmary, which was located in the buildings at the Fedorovsky Cathedral.

Her Majesty Alexandra Fedorovna and Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatyana
Nikolaevna in the general group with the medical staff of the infirmary.

Their Majesty Alexandra Fedorovna and Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatyana Nikolaevna in a group of wounded infirmary

The Empress with the Cesarevich

Prayer

Teach me God to love

With all your mind, with all industry

To dedicate a soul to you

And all my life with every heartbeat.

Teach you to obey me

Only by your merciful will

Teach you never to grumble

In its difficult part.

All who came to redeem

You are with Your Blessed Blood, -

Selfless, deep love

Teach me, God, to love!

(from the notebook of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna)

Departure of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna and her daughters from Fedorovsky Cathedral

When driven by insatiable longing,

You go into the temple and stand there in silence,

Lost in the crowd boundless

As part of one suffering soul, -

Involuntarily in her your grief will drown

And you feel that your spirit suddenly joined

Mysteriously in his own sea

And at the same time it is torn to heaven ...

((from the notebook of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna)

Arrival of the heir to Tsarevich Alexei in Fedorovsky Cathedral

Heir to Tsarevich Alexei greets the convoy in front of the entrance to Fedorovsky Cathedral

Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatyana Nikolaevna near the tent infirmary

Minutes of rest - Empress Alexandra Fedorovna and Grand Duchesses Olga
and Tatyana Nikolaevna before the game of croquet among the wounded infirmary

Croquet game

Cheer up

When the time comes for adversity and suffering

And a thunderstorm will fall over your head, -

Cheer up my friend! Per minute of trial

Let your tear fall before the Lord.

Not a bitter murmur, but a warm plea

Obstinate complaint restrain impulses;

But, believing in his heart that He watches over you,

With hope in Him lay sorrows.

And, in the difficult hour of your worldly struggle,

He will come to save you in time.

And He Himself will be unto you Simon of Cyrene

And the hard life of the cross will help to convey.

Rosenheim

(from the notebook of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna)

Little-known verses by Sergey Yesenin

A collection of poems was prepared by Sergei Yesenin for publication during military service in the Fedorovsky town of Tsarskoye Selo. A friend of the poet Mikhail Pavlovich Murashev told about the beginning of work on this book in his memoirs: “It was in July 1916, a year later, when the first book of poetry by Yesenin“ Radunitsa ”appeared, and he worked on the second book,“ Dove ”. According to the poet George Ivanov, Yesenin intended to devote a book to the Tsarina Martyr:

“Yesenin introduced himself to Aleksandrovna Fedorovna in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, read poetry to her, asked and received permission from the Empress to devote a whole cycle to her in her new book!

After reading the poem Yesenin, apparently, presented the sheet to Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, daughter of Nikolai Voroi. There is an assumption that in response to this gift she took off her golden ring and gave it to Yesenin. And indeed, Yesenin kept a ring cast of pure gold, in the openwork frame of which an emerald is interspersed, and
the tsar’s crown is knocked out at the test site. Sergei Yesenin presented this ring in 1920 to his cousin Maria Ivanovna
Konotopova-Kverdeneva on the day of her wedding in Konstantinov.

And in 1916-17, the elder daughters of Nicholas II, Olga and Tatyana, together with Alexandra Fedorovna in the form of sisters of mercy, helped the sick and wounded in the hospital, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo, and the younger ones, Maria and Anastasia, visited daily hospital No. 17 in their name . In their youth, they formally could not work as sisters of mercy, but they helped the sick and wounded soldiers with what they could. Here is what one of the wounded officers recalled about this:

“The first impression of the Grand Duchesses never changed and could not change, how perfect they were, complete
regal charm, sincere gentleness and infinite goodwill and kindness in everything. They had an inborn
the ability and ability to soften and reduce in a few words the grief, the severity of the experiences and physical suffering of the wounded soldiers. All the princesses were wonderful Russian girls, full of external and internal beauty. ”

Yesenin saw all this. Was he familiar with Maria and Anastasia? The answer we find in the memoirs of a friend of the poet M.P. Murashova:

“Colonel Loman often called him to his house and taught him how to stay with Empress Alexandra, if necessary
to meet. And they were often in the infirmary ... When I came to Esenin for the second time, he told me that Colonel Loman
introduced him to the Empress, and then to Princess Mary and Anastasia. Poems of the Ryazan poet to the royal daughters, and the youngest Anastasia, by
memoirs N. Volpin, deigned to talk with the poet, walking with him through the Tsarskoye Selo gardens.

In the crimson glow, the sunset is effervescent and foamy,

White birches burn in their crowns.

Salutes my verse of the young princesses

And youthful meekness in their tender hearts.

Where the shadows are pale and woeful,

They are the one who went to suffer for us.

Holding out royal hands

Blessing them for the coming life of an hour.

On a white bed, in a bright shine of light,

He weeps whose life they want to return.

And the walls of the infirmary shudder

From pity that they are compressing the chest.

Closer pulls their hand irresistible

There, where sorrow puts a seal on the forehead.

Oh pray, Magdalen

For their fate, for their fate!

We begin our acquaintance of fifth graders with Zhukovsky by reading an article in a reader and examining the portrait of the poet by O. Kiprensky.

What appears to us Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky?

Pay attention to the background on which the poet is depicted. What does this background tell us?

His poetic arrangements of the famous tales of the brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault are widely known.

After reading, we find out the perception of the work by fifth graders.

Do you know the plot of this tale? Where from?

Do you like the work of Zhukovsky? Than?

What is similar and not like a fairy tale to the well-known Russian folk tales?

The main features of a literary fairy tale: it has a specific author, an unchanged text, fixed in writing. Like many other literary tales, the work of Zhukovsky was created based on folk tales.

Remember, why in folk tales (for example, in the fairy tales “The Frog Princess”, “Geese-Swans”, “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka”), trouble often occurs with heroes.

They violate a ban, make a mistake: Ivan Tsarevich burned frog skin,

the girl played with her friends and left her brother unattended, Ivanushka, contrary to her sister's ban, drank water from the trail left by the goat's hoof.

And what mistake did anyone make in Zhukovsky’s tale? Which rule violated?

Why didn’t he call the old sorceress?

The king has twelve dishes

It was in the royal pantries;

And there is no twelfth

(Who stole it,

To know about this is not given).

“What is there to do? - the king said. -

So be it! ”And did not send

He’s calling for an old woman’s feast.

Could any solution have been found for this situation?

This word blundered:

Why so blundered

Our sensible king Matthew?

What do you mean blundered?

How did she feel about this?

She was offended: "It was offensive to her."

Can I understand her? (Of course!)

But what did this insult lead to?

To the thirst for revenge, the desire for death of an innocent girl. The old woman promises her:

In the sixteenth year

You will meet trouble;

At this age

Hand you spindle

Scratch my light

And die in the color of years!

Can this be understood?

You will walk in gold;

You will be a miracle of beauty;

You will be all to joy

Sober and quiet;

Ladies handsome groom

I am to you, my child;

Your life will be joking

Between friends and relatives ...

How many wishes are there? (Five.) And the sorceress? (Eleven.)

We’ll think up what the other six wished the girl. The waltz from the ballet by P.I. Tchaikovsky "Sleeping Beauty", and under his sound, children compose the wishes of the sorceress princess.

We start the next lesson with a question:

How did the king try to divert trouble from his daughter?

He gives the following decree:

"It is forbidden from us

In our kingdom sow flax

Spin, twist to spindles

The spirit was not in the houses;

So as soon as possible

Send everyone out of the kingdom. ”

Zhukovsky calls the king "reasonable." But can his decision be called reasonable? Why?

The king, having issued such a law,

Started to drink, and eat, and sleep,

Started to live and live

Hitherto, without worries.

- How does this characterize him?

Everything calmed down around;

Returning to the palace

On the porch her father

He stumbled and yawned

And he fell asleep with the queen;

The whole suite is sleeping behind them;

Tsarist Guard

Under the gun in a deep sleep

And on a sleeping horse sleeping

Before her is a corral himself;

Motionless on the walls

Sleepy flies sit;

At the gates the dogs are sleeping;

In the stalls, bowing their heads,

Lush manes dropping

Horses don't eat poop

Horses sleep deeply;

The cook is sleeping in front of the fire;

And the fire in a dream

Doesn't burn, doesn't burn

Sleepy flame stands;

And will not touch him

Curling in a club, sleepy smoke;

And the neighborhood with the palace

All embraced by a dead sleep

The children consider the most interesting and vivid details of the description guards sleeping under arms; fire, frozen "sleep flame" in the kitchen; cook, frozen before him.

And this prolonged immobility allowed wild plants to surround the palace tightly:

And the forest covered the neighborhood;

Blackthorn fence

He surrounded the wild forest;

He blocked forever

To the house of the royal path:

Long, long not to find

No one there -

And the trouble is drawing near!

The bird won't fly there

Close the beast will not run

Even the clouds of heaven

Into a dense, dark forest

The breeze will not come.

For a full century has leaked;

It’s like King Matthew didn’t live -

So from people's memory

He was blotted out long ago;

They knew only one thing

What a house stands in the middle of the forest,

That the princess sleeps in the house

What to oversleep for her three hundred years,

That now there is no trace of her.

Why did King Matthew “blot out” from the memory of man? Is it by chance or not? Is this somehow related to his fateful mistake?

But his people remember his daughter.

Why does he pass on from generation to generation the story of the princess sleeping in the forest? With the sleeping princess, the expectation of a miracle is due, which should happen in 300 years.

Why did none of the daredevils manage to reach the princess and no one returned from this campaign? Imagine what could happen to them.

Why does the king’s son have a different story? How did the old man tell the story?

The royal son appeared in the environs of the enchanted kingdom, when the time of the spell came to an end. From the old man he heard a story about a sleeping princess, who is very

He broke out, as if from fire;

He squeezed the spurs into his horse;

Spin the horse from sharp spurs

And he rushed into the forest with an arrow ...

What does the swiftness with which

swarm did he rush to the forest?

He wants to see the princess as soon as possible.

What has boron now become? What is Zhukovsky calling him now?

Enclosing the dark forest

Not a blackthorn so thick

But the bush is young;

Roses shine through the bushes;

Before the hero, he himself

He parted as if alive;

My hero enters the forest:

Everything is fresh, red before him;

By flowers young

Moths dance, shine;

Light snake brooks

Curl, foam, murmur;

Birds are jumping, making noise

In the density of the branches of the living;

The forest is fragrant, cool, quiet,

And nothing is scary in him.

Bor has turned into a forest ... What is the difference between a forest and a boron?

Why has boron become a forest?

The princess and her kingdom were in a state of sleep, which corresponds to immobility, monotony, therefore, And the forest for this dream is selected monotonous and called boron.

Before the princess’s awakening, the forest turns into a forest and is filled with aromas of different plants, birdsong, bright butterflies - a beautiful and varied, full life is ahead!

There is more life in the second description because everyone is about to wake up:

In the yard he meets

The darkness of people, and everyone is sleeping:

He sits rooted to the spot;

He does not move;

He stands with his mouth open

Sleep interrupted conversation

And silent in lips ever since

He, taking a nap, once lie down

Gathered, but did not have time:

Dream magic took hold

Before sleep simple to them;

And, three centuries motionless,

He does not stand, does not lie

And, ready to fall, sleeps.

But most of all, the princess is striking in her beauty. Find her portrait in a fairy tale:

Like a child, she lies

Sprayed from sleep;

Young is her color;

Glittering between the eyelashes

Flame sleepy eyes;

The nights are dark darker

Curls black stripe

Wrapped around a brow;

Chest as fresh snow is white;

To the airy, thin mill

A light sundress is abandoned;

Red lips burn;

Hands are white

On trembling breasts;

Compressed in light boots

Legs are a miracle of beauty.

Have you seen such detailed portraits in folk tales? How do they usually describe the beauty of a girl?

You will not find such portraits in folk tales. Usually beauty is described by words: neither in a fairy tale to say, nor a pen to describe ...

But we have a literary tale, and therefore the description of the heroine is given in all details: we see the features of her face, and a slender figure, and clothes.

How can one prove that the princess’s dream is only an expectation of a betrothed?

Compare this portrait of the princess with the painting of V. Vasnetsov “The Sleeping Princess”. Do you like her?

In a fairy tale ...

Why the prince could not resist and kissed the princess? Why did he do this? Why is her awakening instantly?

The princess is so good, her dream is so full of happy expectation, that the prince wants to quickly see her waking up. Until she hears and sees him, and he is already with her whole soul with her:

... to enjoy the soul,

To at least quench

The greed of captive eyes

Kneeling down to her

He approached his face ...

and "the soul did not hold back / and kissed her."

With what intonation does the poet describe the awakening of the sleepy kingdom? Prove that he chuckles at its inhabitants and especially at the hapless "rational" king Matthew.

The picture of awakening evokes smiles in children; they are happy to read out some of its details. Everything is back to square one:

Everything is as it was; like a day

Not gone since sleep

The whole edge was sunk.

The king is going up the stairs;

He is the queen in their peace;

The whole retinue is behind the crowd;

Shotgun guards knock;

Flies fly in packs;

Lovely barking dog;

At the stable your oats

Good horse eats up;

The cook blows into the fire

And, cracking, the fire burns,

And a stream of smoke runs

And why did this happen?

Will King Matthew appreciate this, judging by his behavior upon awakening?

July 22, 1916 S.A. Yesenin was invited to read poetry to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarevich Alexy and the Grand Duchesses in Tsarskoye Selo. Emperor Nikolai was then at Headquarters in the city of Mogilev. The poet presented the Grand Duchess with his new poem “To the Young Princesses”, writing it on a large sheet of whatman paper in Slavic script and decorating it with ornaments. After the revolution, the poem fell under the ban and was published only in 1960 in the regional newspaper of Kuibyshev (now Samara).

N. A. Ganina

SERGEY YESENIN

YOUNG KINGDOMS

White birches burn in their crowns.
And youthful meekness in their tender hearts.

They are to the one who went to suffer for us,
Holding out royal hands
Blessing their future life an hour.

On a white bed, in a bright shine of light
He weeps whose life they want to return ...
And the walls of the infirmary shudder

Closer pulling them with an irresistible hand
There, where sorrow puts a seal on the forehead.
Oh pray, Magdalen
For their fate.
1916

Great Princesses. In the first row from left to right: Tatiana, Olga,
second row from left to right: Maria, Anastasia

B.V. STYRIKOVICH
SERGEY ESENIN AND THE KINGDOM
(BEEN AND LEGEND)

By the will of fate, the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin repeatedly met with members of the royal family in 1916.
The first meeting took place with the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna, the Empress’s sister, in early January (according to the literary critic S.I. Subbotin, between January 7-10) in her wounded infirmary in the Martha-Mariinsky community in Moscow, where S. Yesenin Together with the poet N. Klyuyev in stylized Russian clothes, he read his poetry and legends. Here is what, in particular, the merchant N.T. Stulov in his letter to the colonel, the chief officer for special assignments under the palace commandant, clerk of the Fedorov State Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo D.N. Loman: "According to them (Yesenina and Klyueva - B.S.), the Grand Duchess liked them very much, and she asked for a long time about their past, forcing them to explain the meaning of their legends."
N.V. Yesenina, daughter of the eldest of the poet’s sisters Catherine, in her book “In the Family of My Own” (M., 2001) writes that this evening of poets took place on January 11. The Grand Duchess granted S. Yesenin this evening the Holy Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with an oval sign on the cover of “The Blessing of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna” and a silver picture depicting the icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos and saints Martha and Mary. Currently, they are kept by N.V. Yesenina.
On January 12, poets performed directly in the house of the Grand Duchess in new costumes, such as boyars, sewn in the workshop of N.T. Stulov on behalf of Colonel D.N. Loman. Famous artist I.V. Nesterov, who was among those invited to this poetic evening, recalled that "The Grand Duchess received her guests with usual friendliness." Nesterov signed Yesenin and Klyuyev a postcard with a reproduction of his painting "Holy Russia".

Later N. Klyuyev recalled: “I stayed in Moscow with the tsarina’s sister Elizabeth Fedorovna. It breathed easier, and thoughts were lighter. Nesterov is my favorite artist, Vasnetsov on Ordynka near the Princess easily gathered. The kind Elizaveta Fedorovna and the simple one asked me about my mother what her name was and whether she loved my songs. I have never heard such questions from sophisticated writers ”(Sever, 1992, No. 6).
Rightly remarked S.I. Subbotin in one of his articles that “Yesenin and Klyuyev’s speeches before the Grand Duchess were organized with the close participation of D.N. Loman. " The latter at that time was appointed Chief Commissioner for the Tsarskoye Selo Field Sanitary Train No. 143 of Her Imperial Majesty Empress Alexandra Fedorovna and Head of Infirmary No. 17 of the Grand Duchesses of Mary and Anastasia, where he served as a nurse from April 20, 1916 to March 20, 1917. Sergey Yesenin.
The journalist I. Murashov, the poets N. Klyuyev and S. Gorodetsky, the artist V. Sladkopevtsev included in the staff of the military sanitary train, and even Grigory Rasputin, whose son served in the same train.
The archive of the Alexander Palace preserved the receipt of G. Rasputin, discovered by art critic A. Kuchumov: “My dear, dear, I am sending you two paratroops. Be a father, warm. Nice guys, especially this blonde. By God, he will go far. " The note is not dated. It is most likely addressed to Colonel D.N. Loman, whom Grigory Rasputin was familiar with, and she is talking about Yesenin ("blonde") and Klyuev. Most likely, the trip of two poets with a note by G. Rasputin to Tsarskoye Selo took place in the autumn of 1915. Colonel D.N. Loman could directly turn to the Empress, and it was easy for him to achieve the Highest permission to enroll S. Yesenin as the orderly of train No. 143. The literary critic P.F. Yushin in a letter dated April 15, 1964 to the godson of Empress Yu.D. Loman, son of Colonel D.N. Loman, thanks to the latter, "... Yesenin did not feed lice in the trenches, where the poet could easily put a stray bullet to death." During almost a whole year of service, S. Yesenin only twice went with an ambulance train to the front line for the wounded.

Tsarskoye Selo, Feodorovsky town, infirmary

Writer S.P. Postnikov in "Some Additions to the Memoirs of S. Yesenin," written in 1962, believes that V. I. Gedroits, who was the senior resident of Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsky hospitals, played a large role in determining the poet for military service in the hospital in Tsarskoye Selo. court surgeon. Vera Ivanovna Gedroits typed poetry and prose under the pseudonym Sergey Gedroits, borrowing the name of her deceased brother. About the diaries of "the young Princess Gedroits, in which she recorded her conversations with the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna," memoirist A.Z. Steinberg. IN AND. Gedroits at that time almost every Sunday visited the literary critic and publicist R.V., who lived in Tsarskoye Selo. Ivanov-Razumnik and to his accompaniment on the piano played the violin. According to L.F. Karokhina, S. Yesenin met R.V. Ivanov-Razumnik, probably in October-November 1915 and since then maintained friendly relations with him. S. Yesenin was also familiar with V.I. Gedroits. Her poem, “Sergei Yesenin,” written on December 30, 1925, the day after the funeral ceremony of farewell to the poet in the Leningrad branch of the Writers Union, at which she was present, refers, in particular, to her meeting with Sergei Yesenin in Ivanov’s apartment The wise man. It seems to us quite probable that V.I. Gedroits in the military fate of Yesenin, but documentary evidence of this, according to eseninoved V.A. Widows, still not identified.
Colonel D.N. Loman perfectly understood the need to have in his service such a poet as S. Yesenin, whose work at that time was neutral to politics. In addition, the poet’s poetic position was largely close to the ideals of the Society for the Renaissance of Artistic Russia, whose activity began in the Fedorovsky Cathedral of Tsarskoye Selo in the fall of 1915, and Loman was one of its most active organizers.

While serving in the army in Tsarskoye Selo, Sergei Yesenin met in the Alexander Palace, which since 1905 was the residence of Emperor Nicholas II, with the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna. Here is what V.A. writes about this Vdovin, who studied in the archives materials about S. Yesenin:
“In the memoirs of L.O. Povitsky (writer, friend of S. Yesenin - BS) contains a story about a poet reading poetry for mother Nicholas II, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna. The Empress, after listening to poems, praised them and told Yesenin that he was a real Russian poet, noting at the same time: “I have high hopes for you. You know what is being done in our country. Kramolniki, internal enemies raised their heads and sow confusion among the people. At such a time, patriotic loyalistic verses would be very useful. I expect such verses from you, and my son would be very happy. And I ask you to seriously think about it ... ".
“Mother,” Yesenin objected to her, “yes, I only write about cows, more about sheep and horses.” I can’t write about people.
The empress shook her head incredulously, but let him go in peace ... ”
At parting, the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna presented Sergey Yesenin with an icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which is stored in the funds of the memorial museum in the village of Konstantinovo, Ryazan Region.
“Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna,” recalled E.A. Yesenin, - on the day of his birth (S. Yesenin - B.S.) gave him a silver icon depicting the Monk Father Sergius, a silver cross and a small gospel ", which" Sergei gave to his father. "
S. Yesenin had the opportunity to contemplate the Dowager Empress on June 9, 1916, when she visited a medical train in Kiev on his return trip to the front line and "honored the wounded with gracious conversation. officers and lower ranks. "
On June 22, 1916, a concert was held at the officer’s infirmary No. 17 in honor of the namesake of the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. According to most memoirists, the concert was attended by Empress Alexandra Fedorovna with her daughters. The concert was led by Sergei Yesenin and Vladimir Sladkopevtsev. The famous balalaika orchestra conducted by Vasily Andreev took part in the concert. Yesenin was dressed in a blue shirt, plaid harem pants and yellow boots. He read a greeting, and then a poem entitled "Tsarevnam" (later the title was removed), the original of which was discovered in the thirties by an employee of A.I. Ikonnikov in the archive of the Alexander Palace.
The poem was written almost in gold, in Slavic script on a piece of thick paper, along the perimeter of which the artist Gorelov painted a watercolor in the style of the end of the 19th century. The sheet was placed in a folder lined with magnificent golden brocade. Here is the full text of the poem from the sheet, recorded by A.I. Ikonnikov (during the war the sheet was lost):
In the crimson glow, the sunset is effervescent and foamy,
White birches burn in their things
Greeted by my verse of the young Princesses
And the meekness of youth in their tender hearts
Where the shadows are pale and woeful,
They are the one who went to suffer for us,
Hold out the royal hands
Blessing them for the coming life of an hour.
On a white bed, in a bright shine of light,
He weeps whose life they want to return ...
And the walls of the infirmary shudder
From pity that they are compressing the chest.
Closer pulls their hand irresistible
There, where sorrow puts a seal on the forehead.
Oh pray, Magdalen
For their fate.
19-22.VII.1916 S. Yesenin
One can only be surprised at the perspicacious foresight of Sergei Yesenin of the tragic death of the “younger princes”, for whom he asked to pray “Saint Magdalene” (July 22 is the memorial day of St. Mary Magdalene). The words of Anna Akhmatova involuntarily come to mind:
But in the world there is no power more terrible and terrible,
Than the poet’s prophetic word.
After reading the poem, S. Yesenin, in all probability, presented it to Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. There is an assumption that in response, she removed a gold ring from her finger and gave it to the poet. Indeed, Sergei Yesenin kept a ring cast of pure gold, an emerald interspersed in an openwork rim of which, and a golden crown was knocked out at the sample site. S. Yesenin presented this ring to his cousin Maria Ivanovna Konotopova-Kverdeneva on the day of her wedding in Konstantinovo.
After a concert that the Empress and her daughters liked, S. Yesenin and other leading artists were introduced to Alexandra Fedorovna and the Grand Duchesses. Sergei Yesenin presented the Empress with the first collection of her poems "Radunitsa", made in black and white heel, which, unfortunately, has not been preserved. The book probably had a dedicatory inscription. Yeseninoved Yu.B. Yushkin restored the conditionally reconstructed text of the inscription in the style of inscripts written by the poet at that time on the book “Radunitsa” to other persons:
"To Her Imperial Majesty the God-Preserved Queen Mother Alexandra Fedorovna from the hawthorn of straw straws from the glorious prayer slave of Ryazan Sergei Yesenin."
Most likely, S. Esenin wrote about this concert in his 1923 autobiography: “At the request of Loman, he once read verses to the Empress. After reading my poems, she said that my poems are beautiful, but very sad, I answered her that this is all of Russia. He referred to poverty, climate and so on. ”
The conversation about “sad Russia” occurred because S. Yesenin also read the little poem “Rus”, where there are such stanzas:
The village in the potholes drowned,
Covered the huts of the forest.
Only visible on bumps and troughs,
How the skies turn blue around.
Howl at dusk long, winter
Terrible wolves from skinny fields.
In the yards in the burning hoarfrost
Above the catches snoring horses.
………………………………….
Unclean power frightened us,
Whatever the hole is, sorcerers are everywhere.
Into the evil frost at dusk hazy
On birch trees hang galloons.
As noted by Art. Yu. And S.S. Kunyaevs in the book "Life of Yesenin" (M., 2001), "... the choice of reading was very successful ...". "The Black Crows" poked the war ", and now the militias are gathering ..."
In the village to a high outskirts
People followed them deafeningly ...
That's where, Russia, your good fellows,
All the support in a year of adversity.
There is no direct “cheers-patriotism” in this poem, but there is no social-democratic pacifism, no curses of “imperialist slaughter”.
Later, Colonel D.N. Loman procured gifts for the leading artists of the concert. In particular, at the very beginning of November 1916, Sergei Yesenin received the “Highest granted” gold watch with the national emblem and a gold chain, which were sent to D.N. Broken "for delivery to destination." But they did not get to the poet. After the February Revolution and the arrest of Colonel D.N. Loman in March 1917, during a search of his apartment in a safe, a gold watch was found with the coat of arms of the Pavel Bure company number 451560, granted to S. Yesenin. N.V. Yesenina writes that the poet left the watch at Loman for conservation. Representatives of the Provisional Government even tried to give the poet the gift of the Empress, but. allegedly did not find him. The memo said: "It was not possible to return them (watch - B.S.) for the failure to detect Esenin's place of residence." It should be noted that the poet from late May to mid-August left Petrograd in Konstantinovo, and then, together with the poet A.A. Ganin and Z.N. Reich, to the north of Russia (Vologda, where Yesenin and Reich married, Arkhangelsk, Solovetsky Islands, Murmansk coast). Subsequently, the trace of the Yesenin clock was lost. In the second half of 1918, Colonel D.N. Loman was shot by the Bolsheviks.
Probably, in the summer of 1918 the Highest review of the sanitary column took place before sending it to the front on the square of Tsarskoye Selo Catherine's Palace. Conducted by Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, dressed in the form of a sister of mercy, accompanied by the Grand Duchesses. The next day, orderlies, including Sergey Yesenin, lined up in the corridor of the Alexander Palace, and the Empress handed them small, wearable images.

S. Yesenin also attended divine services at the Fedorovsky Cathedral, when the tsar's family prayed there, which, of course, needed special permission. It has been documented that the poet was at similar services on October 22 and 23, December 31, 1916, January 2.5 and 6, 1917.
A curious episode is contained in the memoirs of the poetess and close friend of Yesenin, Nadezhda Volpin, who had a son, Alexander, now living in America, from the poet. This is a meeting of the poet with the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Anastasia. Here is what she writes:
“I listen to Sergey’s story about how he, a young poet, sits in the back of the palace. (Winter? Tsarskoye Selo? Did he name it? I don’t remember) (most likely we are talking about the Alexander Palace - B. S.) on the “black staircase” with Nastya Romanova, the princess! Reads her poems. They kiss, then the guy admits that he is desperately hungry. And the princess “ran away to the kitchen”, got a pot of sour cream (“I was afraid to ask for a second spoon”), and now they eat this sour cream one spoon at a time! ”
An interesting commentary by Nadezhda Volpin on this story by Sergei Yesenin (we add that the conversation took place, most likely, in 1920):
"Artifice? If an invention, in the poet’s mind, she turned into reality, the truth of a dream. And the dream did not hurt that in those years, Anastasia Romanova could have been fifteen years old. (Volpin was not mistaken, but the poet, by the way, was twenty-one years old, and he looked eighteen years old .. - B.S.). And the memory of the further fate of the Romanov dynasty did not muddle the idyll. I listen and believe. I don’t know how to simply say: “But are you not lying, boy?” On the contrary, I immediately try on: Is not that your old true love princess? But even then, what had happened in Sverdlovsk could not have covered your pot of sour cream with a bloody shadow! ”
It is interesting in this story that, according to numerous legends, publications and the film, it was Anastasia Romanova who did not die in Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), but was saved and, allegedly, lived for many years in Europe under the name of Anna Anderson.
Once, remembered E.A. Yesenin, Sergei sent a package from St. Petersburg to Konstantinovo, wrapped in a headscarf with the royal coat of arms - a two-headed eagle. As he later said, the princess gave him the princess to go to the bathhouse when he served in Tsarskoye Selo. Is it not Anastasia? In addition, he told me that the princes gave him books. She writes further that “from a conversation with my father, I remember Sergey said:“ Longing, green longing there. We live much better: we are always free, and all these high-ranking people are stupid martyrs. "
In this regard, the poet’s memoirs are interesting. Rozhdestvensky, first published in the first issue of Zvezda magazine in 1946:
“It was December 1916 (...). He (Yesenin - BS) told me that he managed to get settled in the palace hospital of Tsarskoye Selo. The place is not bad, ”he added,“ only a lot of anxiety (...). ” And most of all the tsar’s daughters pester - so that they were empty. They will arrive in the morning, and the whole hospital goes upside down. Doctors got off their feet. And they walk around the wards, are touched. Images are distributed like nuts from a Christmas tree. They play soldiers, in a word. I and the "German" (Empress Alexandra Fedorovna - BS) twice saw. Thin and feisty. Such just get caught - you won’t be glad. Someone reported that there is an orderly Yesenin, he writes patriotic verses. Interested in. They ordered to read. I read, and they sigh: "Ah, it's all about the people, about our great martyr-sufferer ...". And a handkerchief is taken out of a purse. This evil took me. I think: “What do you understand about this people?”
On this occasion, Art. Yu. And S.S. The Kunyaevs in Yesenin’s Life book write: “Even if we assume that Yesenin’s words as a whole were accurately conveyed by Rozhdestvensky, all the same, there’s nothing behind them but some fiction and pretentious irritation. Anyway, Yesenin, who wrote (but did not write, but exhaled from the soul) “did not shoot the unfortunate in prison” is with the princesses on the bright pole of life, and all the shooters - Bukharin, Yurovsky, Uritsky - on the other - where there is eternal darkness, eternal sin and eternal retribution ... ” At the same time, one should take into account the dislike of a large part of Russia's population towards the Empress because of her nationality (war with the Germans) and worship of Rasputin ”..
During military service, in the second half of 1916, Sergei Yesenin is preparing to print a collection of poems "Dove", which he supposedly intended to devote to the Empress. Here is what poet George Ivanov wrote about this in 1950, who emigrated abroad in 1923:
“In the late autumn of 1916, a“ monstrous rumor ”suddenly spread and then:“ Our ”Yesenin,“ darling Yesenin ”,“ adorable boy ”Yesenin introduced himself to Alexandra Fyodorovna in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, read poetry to her, requested and received permission from the Empress to devote to her a whole cycle in his book! (...) Yesenin’s book “Dove” was published after the February Revolution. Yesenin managed to remove the dedication to the Empress. Some second-hand book dealers in St. Petersburg and in Moscow, however, managed to get some proofs of the “Doves” with the fatal “I dedicate reverently ...”.
In Solovyov’s Petrograd bookstore on Liteiny, such a copy with the mark “extremely curious” appeared in the catalog of rare books. The poet V.F. also held it in his hands. Khodosevich who emigrated in 1922 abroad. In the essay “Yesenin” in 1926 he wrote: “... in the summer of 1918, a Moscow publisher, a bibliophile and a lover of book rarities, suggested that I buy from him or exchange the proofreading of the second Yesenin's book,“ Dovecot, ”obtained by roundabout ways. This book was released after the February Revolution, but in a truncated form. She was recruited back in 1916, and the full proof contained a complete cycle of poems dedicated to the empress ... "
The prints of the “Dove” with the dedication to the Empress have not yet been discovered.
According to Georgy Ivanov, “if a revolution did not happen, the doors of most of Russia's publishing houses, even the richest and most influential, would be permanently closed for Yesenin. The liberal society did not forgive such “crimes” as monarchist feelings for the Russian writer. Yesenin could not understand this and, obviously, deliberately went to break. What were the plans and hopes that pushed him to such a bold step is unknown. ”
During the war, monarchist foundations were undermined from all sides. The liberal intelligentsia dreamed of democracy. The monarchist "Society for the Renaissance of Artistic Russia" tried to save the monarchy. And it is no coincidence that Colonel D.N. Loman, after the successful meetings of N. Klyuyev and especially S. Yesenin with the people of the reigning House, turns to poets with a request to write a collection of poems praising the monarchy. In response, N. Klyuyev, on his own behalf and on behalf of Sergei Yesenin, outlined the reasons why they did not dare to write such verses. In the letter-treatise "Small beads from the lips of peasants" N. Klyuyev wrote D.N. Loman:
“To your desire to publish a book of our poems, which would reflect moods close to you, your favorite Fedorovsky Cathedral, the face of the tsar and the aroma of Khramina the sovereign are imprinted, I will answer with the words of the ancient manuscript:“ Men of book, scribes, golden commandments and honor with spiritual they receive from kings and bishops, and may they sit on seats and evenings near the saints with even people. ” So the ancient church and power looked at their artists. In such an atmosphere, both art itself and the attitude towards it took shape. Give us this atmosphere and you will see a miracle. In the meantime, we breathe the air of the backyard, then, of course, the backyard and draw. You can not portray something that you have no idea. To consider blindly sacred, we consider it a great sin, for we know that none of this, apart from lies and ugliness, will not work. ”
That's how crafty and sarcastic N. Klyuyev and S. Yesenin refused the proposal of Colonel D.N. Loman.

And here is how he described the proposal to write an ode in honor of the tsar in his “Memoirs of Yesenin” in the Russian Voice newspaper (New York) in 1926. writer and journalist A. Vetlugin, who accompanied Yesenin and Duncan on a trip to the USA in 1922 as a secretary. He recorded a conversation between S. Yesenin and General Putyatin, who since 1911 was the head of the royal palace administration:
“It came December 16, 1916 - the king’s name day.
And here again we give the floor to Yesenin and assign all responsibility for the accuracy of the story to Yesenin:
"Prince Putyatin came and says: - Seryozha ... the sixth is not far off ..."
- Sixth? What is it about?
- Sixth - the king’s name day.
- Well? ...
“I have to write ode.” Waiting in the palace ...
- Ode?
Yesenin grinned.
- Find someone else ...
The prince sat down.
- Yes, you understand, Serezha, it is necessary ... By all means ... In the palace ...
“It smells like a corpse in your palace, I won’t write about it ...”
A week later, Yesenin was sent to the front, to the disciplinary battalion ... "
Of course, it should be borne in mind that this conversation between Yesenin and Vetlugin apparently took place in 1922, that is, after the October Revolution, and, as Vetlugin notes, “Yesenin had a passion for embellishment.” Here, of course, more poetic fantasy.
It must be said that, in the fair opinion of the Kunyaevs, the poet N. Klyuyev and the critic R. Ivanov-Razumnik kept Sergey Yesenin from the “disadvantageous”, in their opinion, further rapprochement with the Tsar’s Court. S. Yesenin listened to their opinion.
It should once again dwell on the poet's autobiography mentioned above, where he wrote:
“In 1916 he was called up for military service. With some patronage of Colonel Loman, the adjutant of the Empress, he was presented with many benefits (...). The revolution found me at the front, in one of the disciplinary battalions, where I ended up because I refused to write poetry in honor of the king ... "
Yesenin said needs commentary and clarification. First, Loman was never an adjutant to the Empress. The benefits were expressed in the fact that S. Yesenin often had the opportunity to be fired - to go on a business trip to Moscow (to meet with Klyuyev), to St. Petersburg and to his homeland, to have free time to write poems. And the assurances that the February Revolution found him at the front in a disciplinary battalion, judging by the facts, is not true. In fairness, it should be noted that on August 21, 1916, in connection with an untimely return from dismissal, S. Yesenin was subjected to disciplinary sanction (arrest) for 20 days.
Sergei Yesenin was sent to Mogilev on February 22-23, 1917, where the headquarters of Nicholas II was at the disposal of the commander of 2 battalions of His Imperial Majesty’s Consolidated Infantry Regiment, Colonel Andreev. As the son of Colonel Loman suggests in his memoirs, his father sent the poet to Mogilev so that he could see the king in a marching setting. But Yesenin did not go to Mogilev, and in February-March he was in Petrograd in Tsarskoye Selo. March 20, 1917, Sergei Yesenin was issued the last document related to military service. It states, in particular, that "... the duties assigned to him ... until March 17, 1917, were fulfilled by him honestly and in good faith, and at present there are no obstacles to admission to the school of ensigns."
However, in an atmosphere of general emancipation and freedom, S. Yesenin evaded further service in the army of the Provisional Government.
In 1966, in the book of P.F. Yushin, “The poetry of Sergei Yesenin of 1910-1923”, the view was expressed that “Yesenin after the October Revolution was again in Tsarskoye Selo when they prepared a monarchist coup loyal to the tsar's servants. December 14 (old style), the poet takes ... an oath of allegiance to the king. "
Formally P.F. Yushin was right. Indeed, the text of the oath kept in the archive, the date "December 14, 1917". The opponent was V.A. Widows. In his article “Documents should be analyzed” (“Questions of literature”, 1967, No. 7), it was shown that the document “An oath of promise for loyalty to the service”, which P.F. Yushin called "an oath of allegiance to the king", is an ordinary military oath, in the date of which a mistake was made - instead of "January" is written "December". This was also confirmed by the Central State Historical Archive, where the document is located, in the article “Restoring the Truth” (Literary Russia, January 8, 1971).
The article concludes with the idea that the meetings of Sergei Yesenin with many members of the royal family (if it had not happened for the February Revolution, perhaps there would have been a meeting with Nicholas II at his headquarters) is not a coincidence, Yesenin is a piece of the Lord God.