Analysis of the poem “The kite rose from the clearing”: the contradiction between man and nature. “The kite rose from the clearing...” F. Tyutchev
Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev
The kite rose from the clearing,
He soared high into the sky;
Higher and farther it curls -
And so he went beyond the horizon!
Mother Nature gave him
Two powerful, two living wings -
And here I am, covered in sweat and dust.
I, the king of the earth, am rooted to the earth!..
Young Tyutchev had to begin his career with service abroad, and over several decades he managed to visit France and Germany. In recent years, the poet served abroad in Munich, a city that became almost home to him. The author did not dream of returning to Russia, although he understood that sooner or later this would happen anyway. At that moment, he was most occupied with thoughts of a philosophical nature, the poet tried to comprehend the essence of things and find answers to questions about why, even in his beloved Munich, next to his adored wife, from time to time he experiences a feeling of all-consuming melancholy.
In 1835, Tyutchev created a poem entitled “A kite rose from the clearing...”, in which he tried to understand the reason for those conflicting feelings that periodically beset him, preventing him from enjoying social and family life. The reason for writing this poem was the observation of a kite, which, before the poet’s eyes, soared into the sky, rising higher and higher until it completely “went beyond the horizon.” Tyutchev watched his flight with admiration and some secret envy, as he understood that this proud bird was given something that is beyond the control of man. The poet sincerely admired the flight of the kite, for which the sky is a native and familiar element. For Tyutchev, such a flight symbolizes inner freedom, which he is deprived of due to life circumstances. That is why it is so joyful and sad for him at the same time to watch how the kite goes up into the sky, which nothing holds on the ground.
“Mother Nature gave him two powerful, two living wings,” notes Tyutchev, admiring the strength of this proud and independent bird. In a person, he cannot grasp such qualities that would allow him to easily abandon worldly vanity and rise above it. “And here I am, covered in sweat and dust. I, the king of the earth, am rooted to the earth!..”, notes the author. This phrase contains a share of regret, but at the same time it contains a shade of pride that man is still a higher being. True, his fate is destined to be a ruler on earth, and heaven is not yet subject to the crown of the Lord’s creation. It is for this reason that Tyutchev is sad, because earthly life is full of vanity, lies and empty hopes, while heaven gives a feeling of self-confidence, harmony and genuine happiness. But the world is structured in such a way that people are not given the opportunity to become birds, and the author does not want to put up with this due to his temperament.
“The kite rose from the clearing...” Fyodor Tyutchev
The kite rose from the clearing,
He soared high into the sky;
Higher and farther it curls -
And so he went beyond the horizon!Mother Nature gave him
Two powerful, two living wings -
And here I am, covered in sweat and dust.
I, the king of the earth, am rooted to the earth!..
Analysis of Tyutchev’s poem “The kite rose from the clearing...”
Young Tyutchev had to begin his career with service abroad, and over several decades he managed to visit France and Germany. In recent years, the poet served abroad in Munich, a city that became almost home to him. The author did not dream of returning to Russia, although he understood that sooner or later this would happen anyway. At that moment, he was most occupied with thoughts of a philosophical nature, the poet tried to comprehend the essence of things and find answers to questions about why, even in his beloved Munich, next to his adored wife, from time to time he experiences a feeling of all-consuming melancholy.
In 1835, Tyutchev created a poem entitled “A kite rose from the clearing...”, in which he tried to understand the reason for those conflicting feelings that periodically beset him, preventing him from enjoying social and family life. The reason for writing this poem was the observation of a kite, which, before the poet’s eyes, soared into the sky, rising higher and higher until it completely “went beyond the horizon.” Tyutchev watched his flight with admiration and some secret envy, as he understood that this proud bird was given something that is beyond the control of man. The poet sincerely admired the flight of the kite, for which the sky is a native and familiar element. For Tyutchev, such a flight symbolizes inner freedom, which he is deprived of due to life circumstances. That is why it is so joyful and sad for him at the same time to watch how the kite goes up into the heights, which nothing holds on the ground.
“Mother Nature gave him two powerful, two living wings,” notes Tyutchev, admiring the strength of this proud and independent bird. In a person, he cannot grasp such qualities that would allow him to easily abandon worldly vanity and rise above it. “And here I am, covered in sweat and dust. I, the king of the earth, am rooted to the earth!..”, notes the author. This phrase contains a share of regret, but at the same time it contains a shade of pride that man is still a higher being. True, his fate is destined to be a ruler on earth, and heaven is not yet subject to the crown of the Lord’s creation. It is for this reason that Tyutchev is sad, because earthly life is full of vanity, lies and empty hopes, while heaven gives a feeling of self-confidence, harmony and genuine happiness. But the world is structured in such a way that people are not given the opportunity to become birds, and the author does not want to put up with this due to his temperament.
In the 6th grade, students continue their acquaintance with lyrical works from the treasury of Russian literature and study in more detail the work of the poet Fyodor Tyutchev. Many of this author’s poetic texts are small in volume, but very meaningful, so analyzing them can cause a number of difficulties. Schoolchildren may simply not understand what to write a lengthy essay about when the text itself includes only 8 lines. But there is a way out of this situation. Let us consider, as an example, the analysis of the poem “The Kite Arose from the Clearing” by Tyutchev according to plan.
Plan
First of all, the poetic text should be read expressively. It is best if the teacher does this in class, however, if this is not possible, then you can read the poem yourself. Reading aloud will help you understand the mood of the text and understand the thoughts and feelings of the author.
To analyze the poem “The Kite Arose from the Clearing,” it is best to follow this plan:
- Brief information about the author, history of the creation of the text.
- What is said in the lyrical text.
- Basic mood. What feelings does the poet convey through poetic lines?
- What means of expression are used to convey mood? Give examples of them, highlight the most interesting and unusual ones.
- What is the theme of the poetic text? What is its idea (main idea)?
- Describe your own feelings that the poetic text evokes.
This plan will help you comprehensively analyze the work, understand its idea, and understand what the author wanted to convey to his readers. Using it, we will further analyze the poem “The kite rose from the clearing.”
Brief information about the author and work
To better understand the idea and mood of the text, you should understand exactly what life circumstances prompted the writer to write it. Thus, when conducting a brief analysis of the poem “The Kite Arose from the Clearing,” it should be mentioned that Tyutchev during this period made trips to France and Germany on duty, sincerely admired Munich, but at the same time yearned for the homeland he left behind. The poet could not figure out why his soul was heavy, what exactly was missing for him to be happy. These reflections resulted in a poetic text written in 1835.
The next step in the analysis of Tyutchev’s poem “The kite rose from the clearing” is to determine what the text is talking about. The lyrical hero sees the flight of a proud bird, which nature itself has exalted over people tied to the earth. A kite can fly away, but a man cannot. The hero involuntarily thinks that a person is not as great and powerful as he would like to consider himself. In the confrontation between man and nature, victory remains with the latter.
Basic mood
The lyrical hero experiences admiration and secret envy towards the free bird. The flight of a kite symbolizes for the poet true freedom from the problems that oppress a person. The text itself simultaneously breathes with joy, because the lyrical hero is observing a truly beautiful phenomenon, and with sadness, since he will not be able to fly up after the proud bird.
The kite strives into the sky, into the beautiful and dangerous distance, and the “king of the earth,” as Tyutchev ironically calls the man, is forced to remain on the dusty earth. In saying this, the author regrets the natural limitations of people who cannot conquer the sky. Therefore, the text contains notes of sadness and longing.
Expressive means
The analysis of the poem “The kite rose from the clearing” should be continued by defining the visual and expressive means that help the poet put his thought into a beautiful, memorable form.
- The first and second lines rhyme.
- The third and fourth too.
The meter of the verse that Tyutchev uses is iambic tetrameter, beloved by another great Russian poet - Pushkin.
The poet uses parallelism: if the first stanza shows the reader the flight of a kite, then in the second there are no events or descriptions, there are only the sad reflections of the lyrical hero about the frailty of earthly existence. A similar principle of parallelism is quite widely used in Tyutchev’s works.
Means of expression are rarely used, but each of them has a special meaning:
- “Alive” (wings) is an epithet. Conveys a special mood of deep freedom, which is inherent in the bird, but which the hero lacks.
- Tyutchev uses the personifications “gone beyond the horizon”, “soared” when speaking about the kite and emphasizing his admiration for this bird, as well as the power of nature embodied in it.
- The metaphors “mother nature” and “king of the earth” are clichés, but if the first one conveys the poet’s delight, then he uses the second metaphor clearly with irony.
Thus, the use of expressive techniques allowed Tyutchev to express in the image of a bird his idea of a free and free soul that enjoys flying over the dusty land. Likewise, a person, according to the poet, longs for will, but will not achieve it.
Topic and main idea
Now begins the most difficult but interesting stage of the analysis of the poem “The Kite Arose from the Clearing.” It is necessary to determine its theme and idea.
The theme is the flight of a kite into the skies and the silent observation of it by the lyrical hero, who, with all his admiration, experiences a feeling of sadness, because he, unlike the proud predator, is not able to rise far above earthly problems.
The idea is the main thought, that is, what the lyrical text was written for. In the poem, Tyutchev shares with readers his innermost thoughts that being a man, the king of nature, is, of course, good, but he does not have internal freedom and the ability to fly (by which, again, freedom is meant). You should not think that Tyutchev regrets that people do not fly; by the image of wings, the poet means freedom of thought, the ability to live, without looking at the opinion of society, without fear of anyone’s condemnation.
Completing the analysis
The analysis of the poem “The Kite Arose from the Clearing” by Tyutchev should be briefly completed with a summary and independent conclusions.
It is very important to note that, while abroad, Tyutchev could compare the way Europeans live and the way his compatriots are forced to live, and this difference could not help but strike him. In Russia at that time, freedom of speech and thought was very harshly punished.
Despite this, being a true patriot, the poet did not strive to stay in the free West; on the contrary, with all his soul he longed to return to his homeland, although, most likely, at times he himself did not understand why. His poem breathes with sadness and sadness, but there is no despair or feeling of hopelessness in it; the lyrical hero’s longing for freedom is light and sublime.
This is an example of analyzing the poem “The Kite Arose from the Clearing” according to a predetermined plan.
Tyutchev did not attach particular importance to writing poetry - there was a period when he was busy with journalism and wrote a treatise on the topic of political relations between Russia and the West, and practically did not remember about versification. They started talking about Tyutchev’s work only when Mr. State Councilor was about fifty years old.
How did he even start doing this?
It seems that Fyodor Ivanovich’s inclination was more towards prose, and not at all towards literature. And here's the thing. Tyutchev, like many young men of his time, was educated at home. Among the teachers who studied with him was one - the poet Sergei Raich, who tried to encourage his student’s poetic inclinations. Then the poet continued his humanitarian education at Moscow University at the Faculty of Literature, and was also a member of the “Society of Lovers of Russian Literature,” which included Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
A kite rose from the clearing...
Analysis of the poem
In the first quatrain, a picture unfolds before the reader - a kite, previously sitting peacefully in a clearing, decided to take off. He rises into the sky, flies higher and higher into the blue sky. The words sound measured, smoothly, conveying the calm and serenity of the kite’s flight. You can even draw an analogy with a movie - a general plan is being shown, one of the pictures seen in nature. The first line describes the kite at the beginning of its flight, how it rises up. The second line conveys the movement of the bird in a certain direction, namely “to the sky.” The third line continues to describe the process of movement, as indicated by the words “above” and “far.” The picture becomes wider - the expanse of heaven occupies most of the picture, and the kite becomes smaller and smaller. In the fourth line, the kite goes beyond the limits of human vision.
The logical conclusion of the first quatrain is the word “gone”, on which the frame changes, as in a movie - just now the kite flew into the heights and once again! – he disappears from the lyrical hero’s field of vision.
In the second quatrain, the picture changes - the poet’s thoughts about what he saw come to the fore. This describes the contrast between nature and man. And the general plan changes to a close-up, however, only in the imagination of the lyrical hero.
The first two lines reveal the image of the kite as a part of nature. At first, everything is obscured by the figure of a bird, which has “two powerful, two large wings.” Here the poet notes the power of the kite, given to him by nature itself, and then compares the free bird with a person. And the comparison is not in favor of the latter.
In the third line, the poet writes about where the person himself is and how he feels. The bird is strong, it has huge, powerful wings that allow it to fly high into the skies. But what about man? Yes, here he sits, “in the dirt and dust,” dreams of soaring just like the bird he saw, but he just can’t. And all because he “grew to the ground.” The poet uses the expression “king of the earth” in an ironic sense, since the one who has power over the earth cannot sit in the dirt and not be able to move from his place.
And the fourth line expresses the most important idea of the poem. The so-called king of the earthly world, a title that man has assigned to himself, is deprived of the real freedom that real children of nature have. And the fate of man is to be forever rooted to the earth, to dirt and dust, and only mentally ascend to the sky.
If in the first quatrain the reader is shown a majestic and solemn picture of a flying kite, in which the poet is overwhelmed by enthusiastic emotions, then in the second stanza everything changes. Here there are notes of regret about a person’s lack of opportunity to become like this bird, as well as envy that the kite can be completely free and has all the opportunities given to it by Mother Nature. At the end there is a sad thought that a person is deprived of the opportunities that real children of nature have, and is forced to exist forever rooted to his environment.
Main thought
The poem “The Kite Arose from the Clearing”, on the one hand, reflects man’s philosophical view of nature, thoughts about man’s place in it. The kite, a natural creation, can fly into the skies whenever it wants. And there is no one who could stop him from doing this. The poet watches the flight process with delight until the kite disappears from sight. He admires the bird’s ability to soar freely above the world and would like to soar above all the vanity in the same way. The sky in this case is a symbol of freedom, that very freedom that man can never reach.
But why can’t man, the very crown of creation, the highest being, be as free as this kite, who rose up and flew away to where he wanted? After all, man is also a part of nature, but he is not given the opportunity to become one with it.
The main idea of the poem is contained precisely in its last line. There is a contradiction in it - the “king of the earth”, who owns and commands it, cannot exist without it to such an extent that he himself has grown attached to it. And he is burned with longing for the heavenly expanses, and he envies the children of Mother Nature, who are able to soar above the earth.
It is hard to be the king of the earth, because the earth does not let go, and the sky is not subject to him. Man is rooted to the earthly vale, with all his feelings and thoughts, and cannot in any way break out of the so-called circle of earthly concerns.
Features of the verse
The poem is short and consists of only two four-line blocks. These blocks are strict and very capacious, rich in images, there is nothing superfluous in them. With these eight lines, the poet was able to show a picture of the opposition between man and nature. It is written in iambic tetrameter, has a clear rhythm and is practically devoid of pauses between words. The verbs “soared,” “rose,” and “winds” are intended to convey the dynamics of the narrative. The poet deliberately uses stress on the endings of words - rosep‰, soaredp‰. This gives solemnity to the verse and does not allow the measured rhythm of the lines to be interrupted, which would certainly happen if the emphasis was placed where it usually is.
Archaic even for the time in which Tyutchev lived, the word “far” only emphasizes the solemnity of the entire poem. The indication that nature is the mother of the kite is intended to mark the connection between the proud, free bird and the universe that gave birth to it. Syntactic doubling - the repetition of “two powerful, two large” indicates the greatness and strength of the kite.
History of writing
While in the diplomatic service, Tyutchev spent more than twenty years abroad. His life away from his family was not difficult - he was doing what he loved, his family was with him, and over such a long period of time the city of Munich generally became like his own. It would seem that everything is fine, live and be happy! But still, the poet was visited by sad thoughts about the existing order of things, which is understandable from the work of that period.For any creative person is like a receiver, absorbing signals coming from the outside world. Something passes by, and something hurts so much that it becomes a reason for comprehension, and the event that struck the poet becomes a source of experiences, which then pour out into poetic form.
So the generally ordinary picture of a kite taking off from the ground became for the poet a pretext for thinking about the fact that in fact a person does not have freedom. His whole life is subject to rules and regulations; he is always forced to do as he should, and not as he wants. He is tied to his earthly existence and is not even mentally able to soar above the vanity of vanities and go “beyond the horizon”, into the world of pure truth.
If we take all the poems written at the same time as the poem “The Kite Arose from the Glade” - and this is 1835 - then they are all dedicated to nature. The poet watches her, trying to understand the secret forces that move all life in nature and man’s place in it. His thoughts are not always sad and full of regrets, but always in his works man is separated from nature, although he strives to see himself in it.
Conclusion
Despite the relatively calm life of a fairly wealthy person, and most importantly, a person busy with what he loved, Tyutchev could not get rid of sad thoughts about the injustice of earthly life and the fact that man is deprived of real freedom. Having risen above nature, man has lost contact with it, lost the opportunity to receive strength and support from it. The position of the “king of the earth,” ruling over all other natural forms, does not at all guarantee freedom of action. The king cannot even look at his possessions from above, but the kite can survey the earth from above.
Here we can draw a parallel with the biblical story of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Envy of the kite in the sky is a longing for a lost paradise, sadness for what was lost a long time ago and cannot be returned. And this inseparability of man and the earth is precisely the punishment for disobedience to God. A person “in sweat and dust” must work in order to feed himself and ensure his existence. And he will only have to watch with longing the birds flying in the sky, bitterly regretting the lost paradise.