Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is an outstanding Russian poet, a classic of the Golden Age. His famous "Bronze Horseman", the analysis of which will be offered below, is a wonderful work of literature.

It is dedicated to Peter the Great and his main creation - the city on the Neva, St. Petersburg. Analysis of the poem "The Bronze Horseman" is always very difficult, because not everyone has the same attitude towards the great reformer and his brainchild. A. Pushkin is a master of the poetic form, and that is why it was not difficult for him to depict history in just such a form.

“The Bronze Horseman”: analysis of the poem

The poem was created in 1833. By that time, the author’s own opinion about the transformations of the great tsar-builder had changed, because in the Battle of Poltava it was Peter the Great who was the hero. The poem initially did not pass the cruel censorship of Nicholas 1, but was later allowed for publication.

The focus is on two heroes - a young man named Eugene and the Bronze Horseman himself. This poem is easy to read, allowing for quick analysis. The Bronze Horseman is the one whom the young man blames for his misfortune (after a severe flood, the hero runs to the house of his beloved girl and sees that this natural disaster has also affected his fate - Parasha is no more).

What is said in the first part of this poetic story? It tells about the beautiful autumn St. Petersburg. A young and hardworking Evgeniy lives there, who is very concerned and upset about his fate. He has a beloved girl - Parasha, whom he has not seen for many days and missed her very much. It was an ordinary day, Evgeniy was walking home from work and thinking about Parasha. At night, a strong flood begins, after which he learns that his beloved is no longer there. After this incident, the hero stops “living”: he leaves work, leaves his apartment, and lives on the pier. One autumn day, for an unknown reason, he goes to the Bronze Horseman.

The Bronze Horseman (analysis of the poem of the same name by the great Russian classic A. Pushkin always makes everyone think) rises majestically on Senate Square. Pushkin uses the techniques of personification to show the connection between the hero and the monument. It begins to seem to Eugene that after his accusations, Peter the Great himself is chasing him (Eugene hears the sound of rushing hooves). The author himself calls his hero “a madman,” and majestically characterizes the Bronze Horseman: “...he is full of great thoughts.”

The poem "The Bronze Horseman", the analysis and detailed analysis of which will help you plunge into the atmosphere described by A. Pushkin, is a great work. This became possible thanks to an amazing sense of style and words, precise techniques and competent coordination of words. The use of Slavicisms gives the work a real Russian character and emphasizes the Russian nature of Eugene (brow, cold), while for Peter Pushkin uses a completely different stylistic connotation of words - “the ruler of half the world.” The poem “The Bronze Horseman” has become symbolic for the city on the Neva. It was after the publication of this poem that, turning to St. Petersburg, they began to say: “Beauty, city of Petrov...”

We present to your attention a brief analysis of the poem "The Bronze Horseman". The year The Bronze Horseman was written was 1833. The author of this “St. Petersburg story” is Alexander Pushkin. In 1833, Pushkin went to Boldino, where his wife’s estate was located, where the poet wanted to stay in solitude, calmly reflect, and collect his thoughts. It was in Boldino that Pushkin wrote the famous poem “The Bronze Horseman” dedicated to Peter the Great.

The main thing in the analysis of "The Bronze Horseman"

Alexander Pushkin generally showed great interest in the era of Peter the Great - he was interested in how progressively Peter acted, but in the poem “The Bronze Horseman” the tsar appears to readers in two guises: one, he is seen as a strong and courageous man who makes reforms for the good of the country, others see in Peter an autocratic king who, with a heavy hand, forces people to obey and obey.

The poem "The Bronze Horseman" is filled with deep meaning, although Pushkin wrote it in less than a month - on October 6, 1833, the poet began work on the work, and on October 31, the work was completed.

The plot of the poem

The plot of the poem "The Bronze Horseman" is quite simple: the poor official Eugene, the main character, challenged the founder of St. Petersburg, the Bronze Horseman, the statue of Peter the Great. The concept of a “little man” appears more than once in the works of Alexander Pushkin, and, analyzing “The Bronze Horseman,” it is clear that this is one of such cases. The “little man” official Evgeny experienced a terrible shock when he lost his bride during a flood in St. Petersburg, which was the reason for the insolence that the main character dared to do. And all Eugene wanted in life was family happiness and modest income.

And now, a year later, the stormy time comes again. Eugene is flooded with memories of the past he has experienced, and suddenly he sees the figure of a stone sculpture. Although the emperor acted as the savior of Russia, raising it from the abyss and founding the city of Peter, this brought misfortune to the fate of the poor official Eugene. And at this time the proud statue stands on its hind legs, not even wanting to look down and help the poor insignificant people.

You have read a brief analysis of the poem "The Bronze Horseman" and found out what it is about. In addition, we introduced you to the main characters and plot of the poem.

Without love for the city, without love for the native country and its history, it was impossible to create such a work, in which every line breathes jubilation, love or admiration. This is A.S. Pushkina.

The poem describes the largest and most destructive flood in the entire history of St. Petersburg. The poet himself was in Mikhailovskoye during the flood, and could only know about the devastating disaster from journals and letters from witnesses to this disaster. And if we remember that in 1824 there were no cameras, much less video cameras, then one can only admire the authenticity and accuracy with which the poet describes the raging elements.

He began writing the poem in 1833, during his stay in Boldino. The entire poem consists of three parts:

  1. Introduction.
  2. First part.
  3. Second part.

The composition of the poem is based on oppositions:

  • The power of nature, and therefore of God, over all people - from kings to the last merchant or fisherman.
  • The power of kings and others like them is over little people.

We must not forget that by the age of 34, when this poem was written, Pushkin had parted with his youthful maximalism, and freedom acquired for him a slightly different meaning than simply the overthrow of the autocracy. And although the censors found lines in the poem that threatened the security of the state, there was not even half a hint of the overthrow of the tsarist power.

The introduction is an enthusiastic ode dedicated to St. Petersburg and its creator -. It uses the archaisms and sublime words inherent in the ode: great thoughts, city,
full countries, beauty and wonder, from the swamps of blat, porphyry-bearing.

This part of the poem is a short excursion into the history of St. Petersburg. A.S. Pushkin briefly describes the history of the city. This poem contains words that have become popular and define the policy of Emperor Peter I:

And he thought:
From here we will threaten the Swede,
The city will be founded here
To spite an arrogant neighbor.
Nature destined us here
Open a window to Europe,
Stand with a firm foot by the sea.
Here on new waves
All the flags will visit us,
And we’ll record it in the open air.

Pushkin was interested in Russian history, and in particular, the personality of the first reformer, his transformations, methods of government, and attitude towards people, which were reflected in his decrees. The poet could not help but pay attention to the fact that state reforms, even progressive ones, which awakened sleepy Russia, were ruining the fate of ordinary people. Thousands of people were brought to the construction of the city, which the poet so admired, separating them from their relatives and friends. Others died on the fields of the Swedish and Turkish wars.

In the first chapter, the poem begins with exposition. In it, the reader meets the main character of the poem - Eugene, a poor nobleman who has to serve in order to

deliver to yourself
And independence and honor;

The solemn style of the ode gives way to an ordinary narrative. Evgeniy comes home from work, completely tired, lies down on his bed and dreams of the future. For the plot of the poem, it is completely unimportant where Eugene serves, in what rank and how old he is. Because he is one of many. A little man from the crowd.

Evgeniy has a fiancée, and he imagines marrying a girl. Over time, children will appear, then grandchildren, whom they will raise, and who will then bury him. The weather was violent outside the window, the rain was knocking on the windows, and Evgeniy understood that because of the violent weather he would not get to the other side.

Through the reflections and dreams of the main character, the poet shows what kind of person he is. A petty employee, a little jealous of the idle lucky ones, the short-sighted, lazy people, for whom life is so much easier! Ingenuous and honest Evgeniy dreams of a family and career.

The next morning the Neva overflowed its banks and flooded the city. The description of the elements is an admiration for the power of nature. The riot of nature from an expositional description at night turns into a defining part of the plot, in which the Neva comes to life and represents a threatening force.

The poems describing the flood are great. In them, the Neva is represented as a revived beast that attacked the city. The poet compares her to thieves who climb through windows. To describe the elements, Pushkin used epithets: violent, enraged, angry, seething. The poems are full of verbs: tore, unable to overcome, flooded, became furious, swelled, roared.

Eugene himself, fleeing the violence of the water, climbed onto the palace lion. Sitting on the king of beasts, he worried about the people dear to him - Parasha and her mother, completely not noticing how the water was licking his feet.

Not far from him stood the Bronze Horseman - a famous monument to Emperor Peter I. The monument stands unshakable, and even the waves of the raging elements cannot shake it.

In this episode, the reader sees the confrontation between the unshakable Bronze Horseman and the little man, capable of falling off the lion at any moment into the muddy, seething elements.

“The picture of the flood is painted by Pushkin with colors that a poet of the last century, obsessed with the idea of ​​writing the epic poem Flood, would be willing to buy at the cost of his life... Here you don’t know what to be more amazed at, whether the enormous grandeur of the description or its almost prosaic simplicity, which taken together comes to greatest poetry,” this is how V. Belinsky described the flood paintings.

The second chapter describes the consequences of the flood and how Eugene’s life turned out. As soon as

satiated with destruction
And tired of insolent violence,
The Neva was drawn back,

within the limits of his shores, Eugene, concerned about the fate of his beloved, found a boatman who agreed to transport him to the other shore. Here Pushkin again compares the river with a gang of villains. The river has not yet completely calmed down, the boat is bouncing on the waves, but this does not bother Evgeniy.

Arriving at the street where his Parasha lived, he discovered that neither the house nor the gate were in the same place. This struck the unfortunate young man so deeply that he lost his mind. Parasha and her mother were the only people dear to him. Having lost them, he lost the meaning of life. The little man also turned out to be too weak to withstand the misfortune that befell him.

He did not return to his home, and a few days later the owner rented out his apartment to the “poor poet.” Evgeniy wandered around the city for days on end, seeing nothing in front of him. Sometimes people, out of pity, gave him a piece of bread, and the coachmen mercilessly whipped him with a whip when he climbed under the horses' hooves.

But one day, passing by Copper Peter, Eugene shook his fist at him. And it seemed to him that the expression on the emperor’s face changed, and he himself heard the clatter of hooves of a galloping horseman behind him. After this event, Evgeniy tried to walk past the monument with his head down. Of course, neither mystically nor realistically, the rider did not leave his place. With this episode, the poet shows how upset his hero’s psyche was.

One fine day, Eugene’s lifeless body was found on a small, deserted island. Thus ended the young man's life. This is where the poem ends.

Standing on the balcony, Alexander is the first to bitterly admit:

"With God's element
Kings cannot control.”

The Bronze Horseman, personifying Tsar Peter, is contrasted with the little man. By this, Pushkin himself wants to show that tsars can control a lot. They can command people, force them to build a city, influence other countries. Little people cannot always arrange their own destiny the way they want. But neither kings nor ordinary people have power over the forces of nature, over the elements of God.

Not domineering. But unlike little people living in dilapidated houses and basements, kings are better protected. Alexander I stands on the balcony of a palace built by little people. The Bronze Horseman is mounted on a stone, which was also brought here by ordinary peasants. Kings command, but history is moved and cities are built by the most defenseless little people.

In this article, we will try to analyze the pressing issues that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin reveals in his work. Also below will be the history of the creation of the bronze monument built in honor of the poem, and its brief content. “The Bronze Horseman” today is not only the pride of Russia, but also, oddly enough, to this day it is on the list of the best works of world literature.

Problems that Pushkin touches on in his work

The world-famous poem “The Bronze Horseman”, written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in 1833, carries with it the main problem of the 20th century - the relationship between people and the state. The issues that he reveals in his work affect power and people.

What life circumstances prompted Alexander Sergeevich to write this work?

The brilliant idea to write this poem came to Pushkin only after he became an absentee witness to the St. Petersburg flood on November 7, 1824. This flood was perceived by humanity as a kind of collapse and a step towards the abyss. The emotions that overwhelmed St. Petersburg at those moments could not help but leave their imprint on the imagination of Alexander Sergeevich, and even then the brilliant idea flashed through his head to write a work dedicated to the event that took place. But ironically, the poem was written only nine years later. After the work gained popularity, the world learned its summary. “The Bronze Horseman,” according to many connoisseurs and admirers of the poet’s work, is considered one of his best creations.

Parsing a work into parts

First, it is necessary to determine in the famous poem at least the exposition, the plot, the climax, the denouement, and only then describe the summary. “The Bronze Horseman” includes an expositional part in which the main character Eugene appears, as well as the glorification of the “great thoughts” of Peter the Great and the city of Petrov. The plot can easily be attributed to the description of the flood, the climax is considered to be the news of the death of the bride, but the denouement, in turn, is the madness and death of Eugene.

Brief summary of the poem “The Bronze Horseman”, A.S. Pushkin

"Bronze Horseman". Summary" - it would be great if books of this kind existed and would benefit all teenagers in the modern world. But, unfortunately, there are none, and in the 21st century all school material of this kind must be processed by children independently in the shortest possible time. That is why, to simplify this task, we suggest moving smoothly to a brief description of the plot of the poem “The Bronze Horseman.” A summary of the chapters will not be indicated in this section; below we will analyze the main events that occurred in the poem. So, let's begin. At the beginning of the poem, Pushkin tells readers about Peter, who stands on the banks of the Neva and dreams of building a city that will certainly serve the people in the future as a window to the desired Europe. A hundred years later, this idea was destined to come true, and now a beautiful city has risen in place of emptiness. Further in the work we are talking about a petty official named Eugene, who returns home every day and tries to sleep, thinking about his current situation, because once his family did not need help, because the noble family of officials had a good profit, but now it’s the other way around . In addition, his thoughts are constantly filled with his beloved, whose name is Parasha, he dreams of marrying her as quickly as possible and building a strong, inseparable family.

Sweet dreams make him fall asleep, and closer to the morning his sleep is disturbed by the raging Neva, which got out of control, and soon the whole of St. Petersburg was flooded. Many people died, Pushkin compares the river flows with soldiers who destroyed everything in their path. Soon the river returns to its banks, and Evgeniy has a chance to swim to the other side of the city, to his beloved. He runs to the boatman and asks him for help. Once on the other side, the petty official cannot recognize the former places; now they look like ruins and resemble a battlefield strewn with human bodies. Evgeny, having forgotten about everything, hurries to his beloved’s house, but does not find it, realizing that his bride is no longer alive. The official loses his mind, tormenting himself with wild laughter. The next day, when nature returned to its previous state, all the people seemed to have forgotten about what had happened, and only Eugene could not breathe calmly. Over the next years, he will constantly hear the sound of a storm, and he will become a hermit. Only one day, waking up early in the morning, he remembers everything that has happened to him recently and goes out into the street, where he sees a house with monuments at the entrance. Walking around them a little, the poor fellow noticed anger on the face of one of the marble lions and rushed to run away, hearing the incredible clatter of horses behind him. After that, he hid for a long time from an incomprehensible noise in his ears, rushing around the city from side to side. After a while, passers-by saw him take off his cap, thus asking for forgiveness in front of the formidable monument. A little later he was found dead on a small island and immediately “buried for God’s sake.”

Monument "Bronze Horseman"

Below we will dwell on the description of a monument of world significance. The work discussed in this article is famous throughout the world not only for its genius, simplicity, and a certain philosophy of life. In addition, the content of “The Bronze Horseman” is not at all brief. Oddly enough, it is an integral part of St. Petersburg. This is a monument that was erected in the city center and is dedicated to the poem discussed and to Peter the Great. Externally, the bronze block looks like a rock with a charming horseman. The place where the memorial monument is located was chosen due to the fact that the Senate, the symbol of all of Tsarist Russia, is located nearby. The author of this masterpiece is Etienne-Maurice Falconet, a porcelain factory worker who, against the wishes of Catherine II, decided to install his work of art near the Neva. Falcone received a rather modest fee for the work done; other secular sculptors at that time were asking twice as much. During the work, the sculptor received many different proposals regarding the future monument, but Etienne-Maurice was persistent and ultimately erected what he had previously planned. This is what he wrote to I. I. Betsky about this: “Could you imagine that a sculptor chosen to create such a significant monument would be deprived of the ability to think, and that the movements of his hands would be controlled by someone else’s head, and not his own?”

Having analyzed the summary of “The Bronze Horseman” and familiarized yourself with the history of the monument, I propose to talk about interesting things. It turns out that in addition to the fact that the poem was used for sculptural art, the Russian composer R. M. Glier, taking advantage of the events in the work of Alexander Sergeevich, created his own ballet of the same name, a fragment of which became the St. Petersburg anthem.

The poem “The Bronze Horseman” reveals the theme of the relationship between the common man and the authorities. The technique of symbolic opposition between Peter I (the great transformer of Russia, the founder of St. Petersburg) and the Bronze Horseman - a monument to Peter I (the personification of autocracy, senseless and cruel force) is used. Thus, the poet emphasizes the idea that the undivided power of one, even an outstanding person, cannot be fair. Peter's great deeds were carried out for the benefit of the state, but were often cruel towards the people, towards the individual: On the shore of desert waves He stood, no thoughts of great thoughts, And looked into the distance.

The River rushed wide before him; the poor boat strove along it alone. Along the mossy, swampy banks of Cherneli there are huts here and there. Shelter of a wretched Chukhonian; And the forest, unknown to the rays In the fog of the hidden sun. There was noise all around.

Pushkin, recognizing the greatness of Peter, defends the right of every person to personal happiness.

The clash of the “little man” - the poor official Evgeniy - with the unlimited power of the state ends with the defeat of Evgeniy: And suddenly he began to run headlong. It seemed to Him that he was a formidable king. Instantly ignited with anger. The face turned quietly... And he runs across the empty square and hears behind him - As if thunder was rumbling - A heavy, ringing galloping along the shocked pavement, And, illuminated by the pale moon. Stretching out your hand on high. Behind him rushes the Bronze Horseman on a ringing galloping horse; And all night long the poor madman.

Wherever he turned his feet, the Bronze Horseman galloped behind him with a heavy stomp. The author sympathizes with the hero, but understands that the rebellion of a loner against the “powerful ruler of fate” is insane and hopeless.

  • Artistic features of the poem.

“The Bronze Horseman” is one of Pushkin’s most perfect poetic works. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. The uniqueness of this work lies in the fact that the author overcame the genre canons of the historical poem.

Peter does not appear in the poem as a historical character (he is an “idol” - a statue), and nothing is said about the time of his reign. The poet turns not to the origins of this era, but to its results - to modernity: On the porch With a raised paw, as if alive. The guard lions stood, And right in the dark heights Above the fenced rock, the Idol with outstretched hand Sat on a bronze horse. The conflict reflected in the poem is supported stylistically.

The introduction and the episodes associated with the “idol on a bronze horse” are in the tradition of the ode - the most state genre: And he thought; From here we will threaten the Swede. Here the city will be founded to spite the arrogant neighbor. Nature here destined us to cut a window into Europe. Stand with a firm foot by the sea. Here on the new waves All the flags will visit us, And we will lock them in the open air. When it comes to Evgeniy, prosaicism prevails: “Get married?

To me? why not? It’s hard, of course; But well, I'm young and healthy. Ready to work day and night; I’ll somehow arrange a shelter for myself, humble and simple, and in it I’ll calm Parasha. Perhaps a year or two will pass - I’ll get a place, I’ll entrust our family to Parasha And the upbringing of the children... And we’ll begin to live, and so we’ll both reach the grave Hand in hand, And our grandchildren will bury us...”

  • The main conflict of the poem.

The main conflict of the poem is the conflict between the state and the individual. It is embodied, first of all, in a figurative system: the opposition of Peter and Eugene. The image of Peter is central in the poem. Pushkin gives his interpretation of the personality and state activities of Peter in “The Bronze Horseman”.

The author depicts two faces of the emperor: in the introduction, Peter is a man and a statesman: On the shore of desert waves He stood, full of great thoughts, And looked into the distance. He is guided by the idea of ​​the good of the Fatherland, and not by arbitrariness. He understands the historical pattern and appears as a decisive, active, wise ruler. In the main part of the poem, Peter is a monument to the first Russian emperor, symbolizing autocratic power, ready to suppress any protest: He is terrible in the surrounding darkness! What a thought on the brow!

What power is hidden in it! The conflict between history and personality is revealed through the depiction of the fate of an ordinary person. Although Eugene’s researchers do not include “little people” in the gallery, we nevertheless find some typical features of such heroes in this image. The confrontation between man and power, the individual and the state is an eternal problem, an unambiguous solution to which Pushkin considers impossible. In the poem, the empire is represented not only by Peter, its creator, the embodiment of its titanic will, but also by St. Petersburg.

Unforgettable stanzas about St. Petersburg best provide an opportunity to understand what Pushkin loves in “Peter’s Creation.” All the magic of this northern St. Petersburg beauty is in the reconciliation of two opposite principles: I love your cruel winter, motionless air and frost. Sleigh running along the wide Neva. Girls' faces are brighter than roses, And the shine, and the noise, and the talk of balls, And at the hour of a single feast The hiss of foamy glasses And the blue flame of punch. I love the warlike liveliness of the Amusing Fields of Mars. Infantry troops and horses Monotonous beauty, In their harmoniously unsteady formation The rags of these victorious banners. The shine of these copper caps.

Shot through and through in battle. I love it, military capital. Your stronghold is smoke and thunder. When the full-fledged queen bestows a son into the royal house. Either Russia again triumphs in victory over the enemy, Or, having broken its blue ice, the Neva carries it to the seas And, sensing the spring days, rejoices. Almost all epithets are paired and balance each other. The cast iron of the gratings is cut into a light pattern, the vast deserted streets are “clear”, the needle of the fortress is “light”.

  • Heroes of the poem.

In “The Bronze Horseman” there are not two heroes (Peter and Eugene - the state and the individual), but three - this is the element of the raging Neva, their common enemy, to whose image most of the poem is devoted. Russian life and Russian statehood are a continuous and painful overcoming of chaos by the beginning of reason and will. This is the meaning of empire for Pushkin. And Evgeny, an unfortunate victim of the struggle between two principles of Russian life, is not a person, but just an ordinary person, dying under the hooves of the horse of the empire or in the waves of the revolution. Evgeniy is deprived of individuality: At that time, young Evgeniy came home from the guests...

We will call our hero by this name. It sounds nice; My pen has been with him for a long time and is also friendly. We don't need his nickname. Although in times gone by It may have shone And under the pen of Karamzin It sounded in native legends; But now it is forgotten by light and rumor. Our hero lives in Kolomna; He serves somewhere, is shy of nobles and does not worry about his deceased relatives. Not about forgotten antiquities. Peter I becomes for him that “significant person” who appears in the life of any “little man” to destroy his happiness.

The greatness, state scale of the image of Peter and the insignificance, limitation of the circle of personal concerns of Eugene are emphasized compositionally. Peter’s monologue in the introduction (And he thought: “From here we will threaten the Swede...”) is contrasted with Eugene’s “thoughts” (“What was he thinking about? About / That he was poor...”).

Literary critic M.V. Alpatov claims that all critics who wrote about “The Bronze Horseman” see in it an image of two opposing principles, to which each of them gave their own interpretation. However, at the heart of “The Bronze Horseman,” M. V. Alpatov believes, lies a much more complex multi-stage system of images. It consists of the following characters: Peter with his “companions” Alexander, the Bronze Horseman and Petersburg. An element that some critics tried in vain to identify with the image of the people.

People. Eugene. A poet who, without speaking openly, is invariably present as one of the characters. The poem as assessed by critics and literary scholars. “The will of the hero and the uprising of the primeval elements in nature - a flood raging at the foot of the Bronze Horseman; the will of the hero and the same uprising of the primeval element in the human heart - a challenge thrown in the face of the hero by one of the countless, doomed to death by this will - this is the meaning of the poem" (Dn. Merezhkovsky).

“Pushkin managed to see in the St. Petersburg flood and in the unfortunate fate of the poor official a significant event and reveal in it a range of ideas that went far beyond the scope of the events described. In this regard, it is natural that Pushkin’s poem reflected the poet’s experiences related to the events of the December uprising, as well as a number of broader problems of Russian and world history and, in particular, the romantic theme of the individual in his relationship to society, nature and fate" ( M.V. Alpatov). “Pushkin does not reveal Evgeniy’s threat in more detail.

We still don’t know what exactly the madman wants to say with his “Wow!” Does this mean that the “small”, “insignificant” will be able to ‘*really’ take revenge for their enslavement, humiliation by the “hero”? Or that voiceless, weak-willed Russia will raise its hand “already” against its rulers, who are hard forcing them to test their fatal will? There is no answer... The important thing is that small and insignificant, the one who recently humbly admitted that “God could give him more intelligence,” whose dreams did not go beyond the modest wish: “I’ll ask for a place,” suddenly felt equal to the Bronze Horseman, found in yourself the strength and courage to threaten the “power of half the world”” (V.Ya. Bryusov). “We understand with a confused soul that it is not arbitrariness, but rational will that is personified in this Bronze Horseman, who, in an unshakable height, with an outstretched hand, seems to be admiring the city...

And it seems to us that, amid the chaos and darkness of this destruction, from his copper lips comes the creative “let it be!”, and his outstretched hand proudly commands the furious elements to subside... And with a humble heart we recognize the triumph of the general over the particular, without giving up our sympathy for the suffering of this private...