Block symbols and their meaning. Block – life and creative path; poem “12” - composition and main images of the poem. Symbols: role and their meaning

Composition. In the poem “The Twelve,” Blok tried to capture such an unusual, stormy and interesting time. The poem consists of twelve chapters, this number is repeated once again in the twelve revolutionary soldiers maintaining order in Petrograd, and in a semi-allusion to the disciples of Jesus walking ahead, “burying themselves behind the houses.” The poem is surprisingly musical: each chapter has its own rhythm and melody. A poet of high culture and refined taste, Blok is “not afraid” to include in his work the colloquial vocabulary of a simple soldier, an old woman, or a passerby. The author shows the life of revolutionary St. Petersburg with real heroes.

Blok enthusiastically welcomed the revolution bringing renewal, and in his poem he paints a merciless portrait of the participants and winners.

The poem is built on an antithesis - the opposition of two colors - white and black, two worlds - old and new. “Black evening, White snow. Wind, wind! The man is not standing on his feet. Wind, wind - All over God's world! Blok is trying to artistically comprehend and convey in images the grandiose achievements that were happening in those days before his eyes. He portrays the dramatic and tense confrontation between two worlds as truthfully as possible, without trying to evaluate what is happening. Many eyewitnesses are afraid of the revolution, curse, and expect even worse times. The wind is biting! The frost isn't far behind! And the bourgeois at the crossroads hid his nose in his collar. And who is this? - Long hair " And he says in a low voice: - Traitors! - Russia has perished! The writer must be Vitia... AND AGAIN... the wind is cheerful, Both angry and happy... It’s rather a symbol of change, sweeping away everything unnecessary, artificial and superficial. It is difficult to hide from the north wind and to stay on your feet. It overtakes and blows away. Only twelve can withstand the pressure of the elements, because they themselves are also uncontrollable, uncontrollable in their hatred and intransigence towards the old world. Anger, sad anger is boiling. in the chest... Black anger, holy anger... Comrade! Look at both, Blok does not try to embellish his heroes, they are real people, their souls are close to the robber freemen. ! And the revolution, in the words of the poet, “... is not an idyll.” In its spontaneous movement forward, it sweeps away the right and the guilty in its path, Katka, killed by her lover Petrukha, becomes an accidental and unnecessary victim. Yes, victims are inevitable and, as a rule,. , are absurd. The unfortunate murderer cannot even really grieve. His revolutionary comrades are angry at the inappropriateness of the soldier’s grief: “Look, you bastard, he started a barrel organ.” What are you, Petka, a woman, or what? - That’s right, you decided to turn your soul inside out? Please! - Maintain your posture! - Keep control over yourself! - Now is not the time to babysit you! The poem is largely symbolic. Blok describes real events and persons, but cannot refuse hints and speculation, trying to express as accurately as possible the image that exists in his imagination, the perception of this new world spontaneously emerging from the chaos. Is this why, in the conclusion of Ml1, Jesus Christ appears in front of the twelve - a symbol of the holiness of the revolution? True, the fighters themselves are far from such an understanding of their business; they shoot “a bullet at Holy Rus'.” And again the symbol of the old world appears - the mangy dog. He relentlessly follows the patrol. They are connected by an invisible thread, this connection is difficult to destroy in a single moment. The ending of the poem is the most inexplicable and mysterious. These twelve walk, led by Jesus, into invisible darkness. What does she promise them? Blok probably foresaw even greater casualties and losses and turned out to be a visionary. The twentieth century brought enormous trials to Russia, which required the country to exert all its mental and physical strength.

Basic images. Bright, polysemantic images and symbols play an important role in A. Blok’s poem, their semantic load is great; this allows you to more vividly imagine revolutionary St. Petersburg, revolutionary Russia, and understand the author’s perception of the revolution, his thoughts and hopes. One of the main symbols of the revolution in the poem “The Twelve” is the wind, like it, it blows away everything in its path. The poem contains another vivid symbol - “world fire”. In the article “Intellectuals and Revolution” Blok wrote that revolution is like a spontaneous phenomenon, “a thunderstorm”, “a snowstorm”; for him, “the scope of the Russian revolution, which wants to embrace the whole world, is this: it cherishes the hope of raising a world cyclone...”. This idea is reflected in the poem “The Twelve,” where the author talks about a “world fire” - a symbol of the universal revolution. And twelve Red Army soldiers promise to fan this “fire.” These twelve Red Army soldiers personify the twelve apostles of the revolutionary idea. With the help of the image of twelve Red Army soldiers, Blok reveals the theme of shed blood, violence during the period of great historical changes, and the theme of permissiveness. Also important in the poem “The Twelve” are the images of an old woman, a priest, a bourgeois - they are representatives of the old, outdated world. For example, the old woman is far from the revolution, from political affairs, she does not understand the meaning of the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, She does not accept the Bolsheviks (“Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive them into the coffin!”), but the old woman believes in the Mother of God, “the intercessor mother " For her, immediate problems are important, not revolution. The priest and the bourgeois are afraid of the consequences of the revolution, they fear for their fate, for the failure of their future life. The old, obsolete, unnecessary world in the poem is also presented as a “rootless”, “cold” dog that barely trails behind twelve Red Army soldiers. The image of Christ in the poem personifies Blok’s faith in overcoming bloody sin, in the outcome from the bloody present to a harmonious future. His image symbolizes not only the author’s faith in the sanctity of the tasks of the revolution. Thanks to the system of images and symbolism in the poem “The Twelve,” Blok was able to show that in the bloody present there is a formation of a new person and a transition from chaos to harmony. This, according to the poet, is the true meaning of the revolution.

Symbol is one of the secret matching methods. They are distinguished from other similar literary devices - metaphors, hyperboles and others - by their polysemy. Any person perceives them as much as he likes, and as he personally understands them. In a literary text, symbols arise not only due to the intentional desire of the author for the reader to recognize something abstract in them, but also due to instinctive factors. Often they are combined with the writer’s extremely metaphysical associations in relation to various words, objects and actions. To some extent, symbols serve to identify the author’s point of view, however, due to the ambiguity of their perception, it is usually impossible to develop any true conclusions.

Alexander Blok's poem "The Twelve" is quite rich in symbolism, which is generally characteristic of the lyrics of the Silver Age, and then we will try to collect these symbols into some kind of unified system.

The rhythm of the first chapter of “The Twelve” is in the folk style, which usually accompanied the performances of small puppet theaters - nativity scenes or various buffoon performances. This technique immediately gives a feeling of unreality. An element such as a huge canvas was immediately added, very similar to a cinema screen. This approach, combined with the constant contrasts of black and white, creates the impression that we are watching some kind of film or performance of the same nativity scene, and this impression does not disappear until the very end of the poem. The landscape is again graphic: white snow - black sky - wind - lights. These easily imaginable details do not at all add reality to the pictures, but are easily associated with footage from the film “Terminator”, which, in turn, is plot-related with the Apocalypse. Black sky, snow and fire are quite suitable symbols for the land over which the wrath of God hangs.

To continue the theme of the Last Judgment, you can take the main song of the Icelandic “Elder Edda” - “The Divination of the Völvi”. According to Norse mythology, the end of the world is preceded by a three-year winter called Fimbulvetr, which begins with a wolf eating the sun. During this winter, fratricidal wars take place, so it is said about it - “... the time of wolves and trolls is great fornication.” Some details of “The Twelve” directly indicate this - the same black and white landscape, a gathering of prostitutes, there is even a wolf - albeit in the form of a mangy dog! According to the Edda, after this winter the Last Battle will take place, when the “good” deities - aces and heroes - will go against the bad trolls, giants, the wolf, Fepriz and the Midgard snake - the “world snake”. Let us recall the episode from the last chapter, when the “twelve” threaten with a bayonet the dog, that is, the wolf, and the snowdrifts in which, as we know, witches, trolls and other evil spirits celebrate their weddings. However, the role of the “twelve” in this system is not clearly defined - whether they are “good” aces, or bloody trolls, eaters of corpses, instigators of the world’s hellish fire, along with whom is the wolf.

Twelve is the key number of the poem, and many associations can be associated with it. First of all, it is twelve hours - midnight, twelve months - the end of the year. It turns out to be some kind of “borderline” number, since the end of an old day (or year), as well as the beginning of a new one, is always overcoming a certain milestone, a step into an unknown future. For A. Blok, this milestone was the fall of the old world. It's unclear what lies ahead. Probably, the “world fire” will soon spread to all things. But this also gives some hope, because the death of the old world promises the birth of something new. So in Christianity, where the chosen ones will find paradise, so among the Scandinavians, where during the Last Battle the world ash tree Iidrasil will collapse, both heaven and hell will collapse (by the way, created from the corpse of a certain giant). But some aces will be saved, and a man and a woman who

They will eat

Dew in the morning

And they will give birth to people.

Another numerical association is the twelve apostles. This is indirectly indicated by the names of two of them - Andryukha and Petrukha. Let us also remember the story of the Apostle Peter, who denied Christ three times in one night. But with A. Blok it’s the other way around: Petrukha returns to faith three times in one night and retreats three times again. Moreover, he is the killer of his former lover.

I wrapped a scarf around my neck -

No way to recover.

The scarf is like a noose around his neck, and Peter turns into Judas. And the role of the traitor Judas is played by Vanka (John).

And they go without the name of a saint

All twelve - into the distance.

Ready for anything

No regrets...

Their rifles are steel

To an invisible enemy...

And a little earlier: “Eh, eh, without a cross!” The result is some kind of anti-apostles - with rifles instead of a cross, criminals, robbers, murderers, ready to shoot even at a snowdrift, at least at a bourgeois, at least at a dog, at least at all of Holy Rus', at least at Jesus Christ himself. And suddenly A. Blok unexpectedly destroys the concept of the anti-apostles - by the fact that Jesus Christ with a bloody flag leads their procession, although invisible to them! Another important detail is connected with these “twelve”: “You need an ace of diamonds on your back!” There are different explanations here. Firstly, the “twelve” are convicts, and the ace is a sign of distinction from civilians. Secondly, this is a colorfully dressed pagan procession, Christmas carols, for example. Thirdly - a religious procession, then Jesus Christ is in place. Next, “ace” in English is “ace”, and again the Scandinavian aces come to mind, of which, by the way, there were also twelve. Or maybe it’s just a revolutionary patrol and red aces - again for distinction.

The complex order of Alexander Blok’s symbolism makes it impossible to say who these “twelve” are. However, this is not so significant, because it is thanks to the symbolism that the poem was extremely capacious. Here is the story of sin with subsequent retribution, and murder with pangs of conscience and oblivion, and the most important thing is the real idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe collapse and desecration of the former, old world. It no longer makes sense whether he was good or bad. The fall has become a reality, and I just want to hope that in the future everything will be the best.

History and myth. The poems that a real poet creates reflect all his thoughts and even his very soul. When reading a poem, it immediately becomes clear what the person’s state was at the time of writing the poetic creation. Poems are like a diary of the poet's life.

Not everyone will be able to express in words, let alone on paper, their state of mind, their feelings and experiences. Each time you re-read the poet’s books, you begin to understand him more and more as a person. Although, on the other hand, it seems that he is the same as us, and in no way differs from us: the same thoughts, the same desires. And yet he is able to express his feelings somehow differently, differently, with some special specificity, probably more hidden and, of course, through poems. A person who has been given such a gift to express his Thoughts and feelings through poetry cannot do otherwise.

A remarkable Russian poet of the early 20th century, A. A. Blok, was born in November 1880 in St. Petersburg. A. A. Blok began his creative career in 1904 while studying at the Faculty of Philology at St. Petersburg University. This is how “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” (1904), the cycles of poems “Crossroads” (1902-1904), “Fed”, “Unexpected Joy”, “Snow Mask” (1905-1907) appeared. After graduating from university in 1906, the writer continued his literary activity: in 1907 the poetic cycle “On the Kulikovo Field”, “Motherland” (1907-1916) appeared, then the poems “The Twelve”, “Scythians” (1918).

For quite a long time, Blok’s poem “The Twelve” was perceived as a work that described only the events of the October Revolution, and no one saw what was hidden under these symbols, no one understood the important questions that lie behind all the images. In order to impart deep and multifaceted meaning into simple and ordinary concepts, many writers, both Russian and foreign, use various symbols. For example, for one writer, a flower represents a Beautiful Lady, a majestic woman, and a bird represents the soul. Knowing all these nuances of literary creativity, the reader begins to perceive the poet’s lyrics in a completely different way.

In the poem “The Twelve” A. A. Blok very often uses various symbols, images - these are colors and nature, numbers and names. In his poem, he uses various contrasts to enhance the effect of the impending revolution. In the first chapter, the color contrast is obvious at the very beginning: black wind and white snow.

Black evening.

White snow.

Wind, wind!

The black and white colors of the landscape run through Blok’s entire poem “The Twelve”: black sky, black anger, white roses. And gradually, as events unfold, this color scheme is diluted with red and bloody color: the red guard and a red flag suddenly appear.

... They walk into the distance with a mighty step...

Who else is there? Come out!

This is the wind with a red flag

Played out ahead...

Bright red colors are colors that symbolize blood, and this suggests that bloodshed is sure to happen and is very close. Soon, soon the wind of revolution will rise over the world. A special place in the poem is occupied by the image of the wind, which is also associated with an alarming premonition of the inevitable revolution. The wind is a symbol of rapid progress into the future. This image runs through the entire poem; it fills all the poet’s thoughts during the days of the revolution. The wind trembles the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly”, knocks people off their feet, people who make up the old world (from the priest to the girl of easy virtue). What is shown here is not just the wind, but the elemental wind, the wind of global change. It is this wind that will take away everything old and save us from the “old world,” which is too stuffy and inhuman. The revolutionary wind of change will bring with it something new, some new, better system. And people are waiting for him, waiting for changes in their lives.

The man is not standing on his feet.

Wind, wind -

All over God's world!

When Blok was working on the poem “The Twelve,” he repeatedly used the image of the wind in his notebook: “In the evening, a hurricane (the constant companion of translations)” - January 3, “In the evening, a cyclone” - January 6, “The wind is raging (cyclone again? ) - January 14." The wind itself in the poem is perceived in the same way as a direct depiction of reality, since in January 1918 in Petrograd there was just such windy and blizzard weather. The image of the wind was accompanied by images of a storm, cold, and blizzard. These images are among the poet’s favorites, and the poet resorted to them when he wanted to convey a feeling of the fullness of life, people’s expectation of great changes and excitement at the impending revolution.

Something like a blizzard has played out,

Oh, blizzard, oh blizzard,

Can't see each other at all

In four steps!

This night, gloomy, cold blizzard, snow storm is contrasted with lights, bright, light, warm lights.

The wind is blowing, the snow is fluttering.

Twelve people are walking.

Rifles have black belts.

All around - lights, lights, lights...

Blok himself spoke about his work on the poem: “During and after the end of “The Twelve,” for several days I felt physically, auditorily, a great noise around - a continuous noise (probably the noise from the collapse of the old world) ... the poem was written in that historical and always a short time when a passing revolutionary cyclone produces a storm in all seas - nature, life and art."

The number “twelve” occupies a special place in the poem. Both the revolution and the title of the poem itself are very symbolic, and this magical combination of numbers can be seen everywhere. The work itself consists of twelve chapters, creating the feeling of a cycle - twelve months a year. The main characters are twelve people marching in a detachment, rampant debauchery, potential murderers and convicts. On the other hand, these are the twelve apostles, among whom the names Peter and Andrew are symbolic. The symbol of twelve is also used in the sacred number of the highest point of light and darkness. This is noon and midnight.

Towards the end of the poem, Blok is trying to find a symbol that would mean the beginning of a new era and thus is Christ. The poet’s Jesus Christ is not a specific image; he is revealed to the reader as some kind of invisible symbol. Christ is not accessible to any earthly influences, he cannot be seen:

And invisible behind the blizzard,

And unharmed by a bullet,

One can only follow this silhouette; he, as the highest moral authority, leads twelve people behind him.

In a white corolla of roses, Jesus Christ is ahead.

A large number of symbols and images in the poem “The Twelve” makes us think about every word and sign, because we want to understand what is hidden behind them, what is the meaning. It is not for nothing that the poet takes his place next to the great symbolists, and the poem “The Twelve” illustrates this well.

The poem “The Twelve” was written by A Blok in January 1918, when the October events were already behind us, but not enough time had passed to comprehend them and give an objective historical assessment. The revolution of 1917 swept through like a storm, like a hurricane, and it was difficult to say unequivocally what good and what bad it brought with it. It was under such a spontaneous impression that the poem “The Twelve” was written.

Bright, polysemantic images and symbols play an important role in A. Blok’s poem, their semantic load is great; this allows you to more vividly imagine revolutionary St. Petersburg, revolutionary Russia, and understand the author’s perception of the revolution, his thoughts and hopes. One of the main symbols of the revolution in the poem “The Twelve” is the wind, like it, it blows away everything in its path.

Wind, wind! The man is not standing on his feet.

Wind, wind - All over God's world! The wind curls white snow.

There is ice under the snow.

Slippery, hard, Every walker Slides - oh, poor thing! In this part of the poem, A. Blok sought to convey to the reader the atmosphere of the time when anyone can “slip” on the “ice” of the revolution, caught by surprise by the hurricane of change.

The poem contains another vivid symbol - “world fire”. In the article “Intellectuals and Revolution” Blok wrote that revolution is like a spontaneous phenomenon, “a thunderstorm”, “a snowstorm”; for him, “the scope of the Russian revolution, which wants to embrace the whole world, is this: it cherishes the hope of raising a world cyclone...”. This idea is reflected in the poem “The Twelve,” where the author talks about a “world fire” - a symbol of the universal revolution. And twelve Red Army soldiers promise to fan this “fire”: We will fan the world fire to the grief of all bourgeois, The world fire is in the blood - God bless! These twelve Red Army soldiers personify the twelve apostles of the revolutionary idea. They are entrusted with a great task - to defend the revolution, although their path lies through blood, violence, cruelty. With the help of the image of twelve Red Army soldiers, Blok reveals the theme of shed blood, violence during the period of great historical changes, and the theme of permissiveness. The “Apostles of the Revolution” turn out to be capable of killing, robbing, and violating Christ’s commandments, but without this, in the author’s opinion, it is impossible to achieve the goals of the revolution. Blok believed that the path to a harmonious future lies through chaos and blood.

In this sense, the image of Petrukha, one of the twelve Red Army soldiers who killed Katka out of jealousy, is important. On the one hand, A. Blok shows that his villainy is quickly forgotten and justified by an even greater future villainy. On the other hand, through the images of Petrukha and Katka, Blok wants to convey that, despite the important historical events taking place, love, jealousy, passion are eternal feelings that guide human actions.

Also important in the poem “The Twelve” are the images of an old woman, a priest, a bourgeois - they are representatives of the old, outdated world. For example, the old woman is far from the revolution, from political affairs, she does not understand the meaning of the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, She does not accept the Bolsheviks (“Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive them into the coffin!”), but the old woman believes in the Mother of God, “the intercessor mother " For her, pressing problems are important, not revolution: On the rope there is a poster: “All power to the Constituent Assembly!” The old woman is killing herself - she’s crying, she won’t understand what it means, what is such a poster for, such a huge flap? How many foot wraps would there be for the guys...

The priest and the bourgeois are afraid of the consequences of the revolution, they are afraid for their fate, for the failure of their future life: The wind is biting! The frost isn't far behind! And the bourgeois at the crossroads hid his nose in his collar.

And there’s the long-skirted one - To the side - behind the snowdrift...

Why are you sad these days, Comrade Pop? The old, obsolete, unnecessary world in the poem is also presented as a “rootless”, “cold” dog, which barely trails behind twelve Red Army soldiers: ... Bares its teeth - a hungry wolf - Tail tucked - does not lag behind - Cold dog - rootless dog... .

Ahead is Jesus Christ.

The image of Christ in the poem personifies Blok’s faith in overcoming bloody sin, in the outcome from the bloody present to a harmonious future. His image symbolizes not only the author’s faith in the holiness of the tasks of the revolution, not only the justification of the “holy malice” of the revolutionary people, but also the idea of ​​Christ’s acceptance of yet another human sin, the idea of ​​forgiveness and the hope that people will come to His covenants, to the ideals of love, to eternal values . Jesus walks ahead of the twelve Red Army soldiers who go from freedom “without a cross” to freedom with Christ.

Revolutionary Petersburg, in which the “universal elements” are played out, personifies the entire revolutionary Russia. A. Blok depicted it as a world split in two, as a confrontation between black and white. The symbolism of color plays an important role in the poem “The Twelve”: on the one hand, black wind, black sky, black anger, black rifle belts, and on the other, white snow, Christ in a white crown of roses. The black, evil present is contrasted with the white, bright, harmonious future. The symbolism of red color expresses the motive of the bloody crime. The red flag, on the one hand, is a symbol of a victorious end, on the other hand, a symbol of the bloody present. The colors are associated with the image of time: a black past, a bloody present and a white future.

Thanks to the system of images and symbolism in the poem “The Twelve,” Blok was able to show that in the bloody present there is a formation of a new person and a transition from chaos to harmony. This, according to the poet, is the true meaning of the revolution.

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://www.coolsoch.ru/

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Essay on the work on the topic: Images and symbolism in A. Blok’s poem “The Twelve”

The poem “The Twelve” was written by A Blok in January 1918, when the October events were already behind us, but not enough time had passed to comprehend them and give an objective historical assessment. The revolution of 1917 swept through like a storm, like a hurricane, and it was difficult to say unequivocally what good and what bad it brought with it. It was under such a spontaneous impression that the poem “The Twelve” was written.

Bright, polysemantic images and symbols play an important role in A. Blok’s poem, their semantic load is great; this allows you to more vividly imagine revolutionary St. Petersburg, revolutionary Russia, and understand the author’s perception of the revolution, his thoughts and hopes. One of the main symbols of the revolution in the poem “The Twelve” is the wind, like it, it blows away everything in its path.

Wind, wind!

The man is not standing on his feet.

Wind, wind -

All over God's world!

The wind curls

White snow.

There is ice under the snow.

Slippery, hard

Every walker

Slips - oh, poor thing!

In this part of the poem, A. Blok sought to convey to the reader the atmosphere of the time when anyone can “slip” on the “ice” of the revolution, caught by surprise by the hurricane of change.

The poem contains another vivid symbol - “world fire”. In the article “Intellectuals and Revolution” Blok wrote that revolution is like a spontaneous phenomenon, “a thunderstorm”, “a snowstorm”; for him, “the scope of the Russian revolution, which wants to embrace the whole world, is this: it cherishes the hope of raising a world cyclone...”. This idea is reflected in the poem “The Twelve,” where the author talks about a “world fire” - a symbol of the universal revolution. And twelve Red Army soldiers promise to fan this “fire”:

We are woe to all the bourgeoisie

Let's fan the world fire,

World fire in blood -

God bless!

These twelve Red Army soldiers personify the twelve apostles of the revolutionary idea. They are entrusted with a great task - to defend the revolution, although their path lies through blood, violence, cruelty. With the help of the image of twelve Red Army soldiers, Blok reveals the theme of shed blood, violence during the period of great historical changes, and the theme of permissiveness. The “Apostles of the Revolution” turn out to be capable of killing, robbing, and violating Christ’s commandments, but without this, in the author’s opinion, it is impossible to achieve the goals of the revolution. Blok believed that the path to a harmonious future lies through chaos and blood.

In this sense, the image of Petrukha, one of the twelve Red Army soldiers who killed Katka out of jealousy, is important. On the one hand, A. Blok shows that his villainy is quickly forgotten and justified by an even greater future villainy. On the other hand, through the images of Petrukha and Katka, Blok wants to convey that, despite the important historical events taking place, love, jealousy, passion are eternal feelings that guide human actions.

Also important in the poem “The Twelve” are the images of an old woman, a priest, a bourgeois - they are representatives of the old, outdated world. For example, the old woman is far from the revolution, from political affairs, she does not understand the meaning of the poster “All power to the Constituent Assembly!”, She does not accept the Bolsheviks (“Oh, the Bolsheviks will drive them into the coffin!”), but the old woman believes in the Mother of God, “the intercessor mother " For her, pressing problems are important, not revolution:

On the rope - poster:

“All power to the Constituent Assembly!”

The old woman is killing herself - crying,

He won't understand what it means

What is this poster for?

Such a huge flap?

How many foot wraps would there be for the guys...

The priest and the bourgeois are afraid of the consequences of the revolution, they fear for their fate, for the failure of their future life:

The wind is biting!

The frost isn't far behind!

And the bourgeois at the crossroads

He hid his nose in his collar.

And there's the long one -

To the side - behind the snowdrift...

Why is it sad now?

Comrade pop?

The old, obsolete, unnecessary world in the poem is also presented as a “rootless”, “cold” dog that barely trails behind twelve Red Army soldiers:

Bares his teeth - hungry wolf -

Tail tucked - not far behind -

A cold dog is a rootless dog...

Ahead is Jesus Christ.

The image of Christ in the poem personifies Blok’s faith in overcoming bloody sin, in the outcome from the bloody present to a harmonious future. His image symbolizes not only the author’s faith in the holiness of the tasks of the revolution, not only the justification of the “holy malice” of the revolutionary people, but also the idea of ​​Christ’s acceptance of yet another human sin, the idea of ​​forgiveness and the hope that people will come to His covenants, to the ideals of love, to eternal values . Jesus walks ahead of the twelve Red Army soldiers who go from freedom “without a cross” to freedom with Christ.

Revolutionary Petersburg, in which the “universal elements” are played out, personifies the entire revolutionary Russia. A. Blok depicted it as a world split in two, as a confrontation between black and white. The symbolism of color plays an important role in the poem “The Twelve”: on the one hand, black wind, black sky, black anger, black rifle belts, and on the other, white snow, Christ in a white crown of roses. The black, evil present is contrasted with the white, bright, harmonious future. The symbolism of red color expresses the motive of the bloody crime. The red flag, on the one hand, is a symbol of a victorious end, on the other hand, a symbol of the bloody present. The colors are associated with the image of time: a black past, a bloody present and a white future.

Thanks to the system of images and symbolism in the poem “The Twelve,” Blok was able to show that in the bloody present there is a formation of a new person and a transition from chaos to harmony. This, according to the poet, is the true meaning of the revolution.