The famous Russian poet Joseph Alexandrovich was born in Leningrad in 1940. He had a difficult childhood, which fell on the years of war and blockade.
Even after the long-awaited victory was won, poverty, hunger did not go anywhere, and little Joseph was also forced to grow up without a father.
After school, he took up any work. At the same time, he read a lot and with interest, talked with the most famous poets of that time, and became famous in literary circles.
At the age of 22, he met a young artist Marina Basmanova, to whom he devoted most of his works. Because of the break with her, he tried to commit suicide.
His life was complicated by the fact that Brodsky was arrested, accused of parasitism in 1964. In the cell, he had a heart attack, but despite this, after 4 days he was taken to a psychiatric hospital for examination, where he was abused.
The examination recognized him as able-bodied, although he noted the presence of psychopathic traits. The court sentenced Joseph to 5 years of forced labor. But this suffering helped him become a real poet, at 25 he was already a mature young man.
In 1972, Brodsky left the USSR, became a teacher at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. A person who graduated from 8th grade was able to hold professorships at 6 universities in the USA and England for 24 years.
Joseph Brodsky is the author of many poems, including in English, plays, translations, and a 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature. Unfortunately, he left us early, having died at the age of 55 from a heart attack.
Brodsky’s most famous poems are still loved and appreciated not only here, but also abroad.
10. I loved you
The basis of the poem "I loved you" Brodsky takes the famous work of Pushkin, but deliberately distorts his mood and meaning.
He, as it were, “lands” the great Russian language, using crude expressions. Some of them are close to obscene. Interestingly, next to these simple words, like “scattered to hell", There are also" high "expressions, like"chest fever" or "god give you". And this mishmash of words helps convey the emotions of the author, has a huge impact on the reader.
It may seem that he is mocking Pushkin's work. But this is not so. Just Brodsky understands that he lives in a different era, where Pushkin’s creations no longer fit, so he changes them, trying to comply with the spirit of the times.
Instead of touching and exalted love, we observe a carnal, selfish feeling.
9. I always kept saying that fate is a game
Poem “I always kept saying that fate is a game” the poet dedicated to his best friend, who always understood his inner world - L. Lifshits. He shares with him thoughts about himself and about his place in this world.
The poem is not as simple as it seems to make an effort to unravel. The hero of this work is very lonely, but does not suffer from it, because he is self-sufficient, he has enough accessible and close things.
His thoughts seem to reflect the era, its cultural level, which has significantly decreased. No one is striving for high ideals, everything that people have at hand is at hand.
And even the author himself is busy with simple actions: he sits by the window, washed the dishes. And he accepts this reality, fully focusing on his own thoughts. His unconventional thoughts help him understand the foundations of the universe.
His contemporaries, residents of the USSR, do not recognize these thoughts, considering them "second grade goods", But he is sure that they are correct and hopes that their descendants will appreciate them.
8. From the outskirts to the center
After reading a poem “From the outskirts to the center”It seems that his hero left his homeland for a long time and finally decided to return. It is filled with nostalgia, sadness, longing for the past.
But in fact, the verse was written in 1962, i.e. 10 years before he left the USSR. Researchers noted that Brodsky had a strong intuition and even a certain gift of foresight. However, experts do not see anything mystical in this, because the poet already understood that he could not live under that political regime.
The whole world in this poem is gray, gloomy, and against the background of this sad landscape stands out the figure of a hero in a bright red coat, a modern dandy that society does not accept. But he does not despair, because realizes that he has a whole world.
7. Christmas romance
Composition “Christmas romance” was dedicated to his friend Eugene Rein, written in 1961 (according to other sources, in 1962). Joseph Alexandrovich himself was very fond of him, often read it to others.
Christmas, a time of joy, but this is not felt in the poem, the author is trying to convey to everyone his anguish, his difficult state of mind. It seems to him that all people and objects share his mood.
At that time, everything related to Christianity was forbidden, everyone celebrated only the New Year, and this holiday is not able to improve the mood of the poet. But still, at the end of the poem, there is hope that the situation will change.
6. Pilgrims
Poem “Pilgrims” Brodsky wrote when he was only 18 years old. It did not fit the standards of the Soviet era. At that time, poets sang heroes, a happy future. All youth had to live for the sake of a feat and a higher idea, i.e. building communism.
The main characters of this work were ordinary wanderers who could not bring any benefit. These are some symbols of pilgrimage that wander along unknown roads. This is the embodiment of all the sorrows of the world, and all its suffering. They see the world from the side and are well aware that it does not change.
Someone believes that this is a prophetic work, because Brodsky always felt like a wanderer, without a homeland and home.
5. Return to your homeland. Well...
The author speaks ironically about himself. Poem “Going back to your homeland. Well…" permeated by the theme of loneliness, which does not leave the lyrical hero even after returning to his homeland. It shows how hard it is when no one is waiting for you, how easy it is to lose loved ones.
The protagonist knows that no one needs him, but he doesn’t cry about this, but tries to find the “pluses”: he does not owe anything to anyone, he has no one to blame, etc.
4. Postscriptum
Poem “Postscriptum”, like other works of his love lyrics, are dedicated to Brodsky's love for Basmanova. The poet dreamed of marrying his beloved, but against this union were Joseph's parents and Marianne's father. And the girl herself did not want to lose freedom and refused to marry even when she gave birth to a child from her lover.
Brodsky hoped that Basmanova would leave with him, but she refused. For a long time, the poet could not forget her.
And this poem of his is permeated with the theme of loneliness. Life has become an existence for him. He not only cannot connect with his beloved, but also become his own in society.
3. Sailing clouds
It was written in 1961. In the poem “Floating clouds” The poet compares landscapes, surrounding reality with his life, which also passes by.
They cannot be hugged or brought back. It is necessary to come to terms with the fact that each person carries death in himself. But, nevertheless, the author calls not to despair, cry, but at the same time sing, and also live.
2. loneliness
Brodsky first felt like an outcast at the age of 19, when the doors of literary magazines began to close before him, because his thoughts seemed seditious to everyone.
Based on these sensations, he writes this poem "Loneliness"where trying to analyze what is happening. He is not so naive as to believe in miracles, therefore, not only the present, but also the future does not look bright for him.
The poet intuitively feels that there will be only trials ahead, therefore he assumes that he will recall the present days with nostalgia.
He is sure that it is better to live without illusions, i.e. "worship given”, Than then perceive all these days as serene and happy.
1. Do not leave the room
From childhood, Brodsky had a deep dislike of Soviet ideology, which deprived him of his freedom of creativity. It was about this that his poem was written in 1970 “Do not leave the room”.
There is a version that he thus described the double life of a person living in the USSR, where people could openly express their views only at home. All those who could convey, became strangers, which led to loneliness, all contacts outside the house were painful.
According to another version, this poem described a character trait of Brodsky, who was good only in his personal world. Any communication made him more mutilated, and he accused others of poverty of thinking and narrow-mindedness. But the poet extols his personality, because sure that he can comprehend the highest truth.