Varvara Bakhmeteva. Watercolor by Mikhail Lermontov
Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, which has always been full of people. People bowed low. Church singing was heard. Everything around seemed strict.
You just look at your feet and reread the names on the cast-iron gravestones. Many were buried here famous people... Patriarch Tikhon and Archbishop Ambrose, Prince Shakhovskoy, Field Marshal General Repnin, Countess Rumyantseva-Zadunaiskaya - the wife of the famous field marshal; prince, cavalry general Tormasov, hero Patriotic War 1812 year. And here is one of the cast-iron plates - not far from the entrance, in the left corner of the cathedral. There is an inscription on it. Varvara Alexandrovna Bakhmeteva (née Lopukhina). Year of birth - 1815, year of death - 1851. The same Varenka Lopukhina, friend and deepest love of Lermontov.
It's a mystery why she is buried here. Her closest relatives - her husband, sister, older brother Alexey Alexandrovich - a close friend of Lermontov, were buried in the cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery, and only she was buried in the cathedral. The church allowed not everyone, even a very rich person, to be buried in the church, next to the great prayer books. This means that the church authorities favored Varvara Alexandrovna. The Lopukhins family is ancient, its representatives donated a lot for the precious salaries of icons and sacred books in temples, moreover, at the end of their lives some of the family retired to monasteries, took monastic tonsure and even schema. Varenka, apparently, was very pious and devoted to the church.
Lermontov. 1838. Artist A.I. Klunder
About love M.Yu. Lermontov to Varvara Lopukhina was recognized only decades after the death of the poet. For many years, the name of the one to whom the poem "The Demon" is dedicated, many wonderful poems and whose image served as the prototype for the heroine of the story "Princess Mary" and the unfinished novel "Princess Ligovskaya" remained unknown. According to a contemporary, "they were created for each other." But they were never destined to unite:
... all her movements,
Smiles, speeches and features
So full of life, inspiration,
So full of wonderful simplicity;
But the voice penetrates the soul,
How to remember better days ...
Mikhail Yuryevich wrote this poem at the beginning of 1832, when he was 18 years old. And although he knew Varenka earlier (the Lopukhins' house on Molchanovka was not far from the house of the poet's grandmother), but it was in the fall of 1831, when Varenka was brought from a rich Varenka estate to Moscow for the first high-society season in her life, that he fell in love with her.
“As a student,” recalled the poet’s second cousin Shang-Girei, “he was passionately in love with the young, sweet, smart as day, and in the full sense of the delightful Varvara Alexandrovna Lopukhina, she was an ardent, enthusiastic, poetic and the highest degree pretty. As I now remember her affectionate look and bright smile; she was 15 - 16 years old; we were children and teased her a lot; she had a small birthmark on her forehead, and we always pestered her, repeating: "Varenka has a mole, Varenka is ugly," but she, the kindest creature, was never angry. Lermontov's feeling for her was unaccountable, but true and strong, and he almost kept it until his death. "
At that time his heart was especially looking for love. The strife between the father and the grandmother, their incessant quarrels, put Lermontov in such a position that he "tore his soul from both of them."
All his desire to love someone focused on Varvara Lopukhina. And the trip to the Simonov Monastery made them friends, brought them closer. In the spring of 1832, a cheerful company of young people from Molchanovka, Povarskaya - Lermontov's closest neighbors - sat down in long lines drawn by six horses, went to the Simonov Monastery to listen to the singers, to walk. Michelle and Varenka were next to each other. After the trip, he often visited the Lopukhins and rarely visited them. The owner of the house, Alexander Nikolaevich, once served in the Cavalry Regiment. He numbered over five thousand souls. Lopukhin bought the house on Molchanovka in the early 20s of the 19th century, when the children grew up. Before that, the family lived in the village. On Malaya Molchanovka, in the immediate vicinity of the Lopukhins, in the spring of 1830, the landowner Elizaveta Alekseevna Arsenyeva, who came to Moscow from her Penza estate Tarkhany, settled with her grandson Mikhail.
Fate decreed that it was the children of Alexander Nikolaevich Lopukhin who became the poet's closest friends and remained faithful to his memory.
Varvara Alexandrovna Bakhmetyeva, ur. Lopukhin (1815-1851). 1833
Let's go back to Varenka. She answered Lermontov in return. In the summer of 1832, young people met in Serednikovo, an estate owned by Ekaterina Arkadyevna Stolypina, a relative of Lermontov. Their affection for each other grew day by day. Mikhail Yurievich and Varvara Alexandrovna did not show their love and did not talk about it. One can only wonder how patient she was with Lermontov, who had an unbearable character.
For reasons that are unlikely to ever become known, Varenka's father was against their marriage. And the elder sister Maria Alexandrovna in every possible way prevented the rapprochement of the lovers, which did not prevent her from remaining the poet's closest friend. But despite all the obstacles, in July 1832, when Lermontov and his grandmother were leaving Moscow for St. Petersburg (Mikhail decided to enter St. Petersburg University), Varenka promised to wait for his return.
“… I was fascinated by this girl, I was bewitched by her… I surrendered to her as to fate,” Lermontov wrote in the drama “Two Brothers”, “she did not demand promises or vows, but she herself vowed to love me forever - we parted - she was unconscious, everyone attributed that attack of illness - I was the only one who knew the reason - I left with a firm intention to return soon. "
A quick return did not work. Lermontov entered the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers. In the Guards school, Lermontov's feelings for Varenka were drowned out by the new environment and the noisy life of the cadets, and upon entering the world - by new successes in society and in the field of literature.
Varenka patiently waited, but Lermontov's three-year silence, as well as rumors that came from Petersburg about his infatuation with Ekaterina Sushkova, forced her to yield to the demands of her relatives. On May 25, 1835, she married Nikolai Fedorovich Bakhmetev, who was 18 years older than her and whom she did not know at all.
“Bakhmetev was 37 years old when he decided to marry and began to travel to the world to spy out a bride for himself,” recalled Lopukhina's cousin, Princess Olga Nikolaevna Trubetskaya. - His choice hesitated among several girls who liked him, and he prayed that the Lord would show him whom to choose. In these thoughts, he arrived at the ball in Assembly of the nobility and was climbing the stairs when, wanting to overtake him, Varenka hooked her ball scarf on the button of his tailcoat. I had to stop and unravel the fringe for a long time ... Nikolai Fyodorovich saw in this an undoubted indication from above - "finger", and wooed. He was a man of great fortune and an impeccable reputation. I don't know who influenced poor Varenka, but Bakhmetev's proposal was accepted. "
Shang-Girey lived at that time in St. Petersburg and witnessed how Lermontov met the news of Varenka's marriage. “We played chess,” he recalled, “a man submitted a letter; Michel began to read it, but suddenly his face changed and turned pale; I got scared and wanted to ask what it was, but he, handing me a letter, said: “Here's the news - read it,” and left the room. This was the news of V.A.'s impending marriage. Lopukhina ".
Over time, it will be revealed that Lermontov's hobby for Sushkova was a game, even, perhaps, someone's order. He needed that Varenka's brother Alexei, who was carried away by Sushkova, did not marry this person. The poet applied all his diligence and skill to beat off the woman from a friend, and after beating him, immediately left her. Alexei Lopukhin was angry, but forgave Lermontov and soon met his future wife, the charming princess Obolenskaya.
Emilia, character in the play "The Spaniards". Presumably, the author depicted his beloved Varvara Lopukhina. Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov.
The truth was revealed, but too late. The marriage of Varenka Lopukhina became an unhealed wound for Lermontov until his death. Lermontov wrote to Alexandra Vereshchagina in the winter of 1835: "I wish Mademoiselle Barbet (Varvara) to live in conjugal consent until the silver wedding and even longer, if until then she is not disappointed!"
In 1836, the Bakhmetevs had their only daughter, Olga. The first biographer of Lermontov, Pavel Aleksandrovich Viskovatov, according to the relatives of Varvara Lopukhina, whom he found alive, said that “since only Lermontov had a chance in the third place (possibly in the house of his acquaintances Bazilevsky), to see the daughter of Varvara Aleksandrovna. He caressed the child for a long time, then wept bitterly and went into another room.
After Lopukhina's marriage, Lermontov nevertheless met her several times. He presented her with his 1837 self-portrait and painted several of her portraits.
In the spring of 1838, Bakhmeteva and her husband stopped in St. Petersburg while traveling abroad. That year the last meeting of Varenka and Lermontov took place. This is how Akim Pavlovich Shan-Girey recalled it:
“Lermontov was in Tsarskoe, I sent a messenger to him, and I myself galloped to her. My God, how painfully my heart sank at the sight of her! She was pale, thin, and there was no shadow of the former Varenka, only her eyes retained their brilliance, and were as affectionate as before. She outlived him, languished for a long time and died, they say, peacefully. "
During the last meeting, Varvara Aleksandrovna asked Lermontov to check her list of the "Demon" - if everything in it was correct. Soon he returned the manuscript to her with corrections and a second dedication.
Mikhail Yurievich thought about her in the Caucasus as well. After a bloody battle at the Valerik River on July 11, 1840, he wrote the famous poem of the same name, in which he again turned to her image.
But I remember everything - and indeed,
I couldn't forget you!
First, because there are many
And for a long, long time I loved you,
Then with suffering and anxiety
Paid for the days of bliss;
Then in fruitless repentance
I dragged the chain of difficult years
And cold thinking
Killed last life color.
Gently approaching people
I forgot the noise of youthful mischief,
Love, poetry - but you
It was impossible for me to forget.
V. A. Lopukhina. 1832-1834 Drawing by M. Yu. Lermontov from the 22nd notebook Institute of Russian Literature. St. Petersburg
Shortly before his death in Pyatigorsk, Lermontov saw a woman who surprisingly reminded him of Varenka. And soon the famous lines appeared in his notebook:
No, it's not you that I love so fervently
Your shine is not for me;
I love the past suffering in you
And my lost youth.
When sometimes I look at you
Into your eyes, looking into your long gaze:
Mysterious I'm busy talking
But I'm not talking to you with my heart.
I'm talking to a friend of my early days
I'm looking for other features in your features,
In the lips of the living, lips have long been dumb,
In the eyes the fire of extinguished eyes.
The marriage did not bring Varenka happiness. Bakhmetev turned out to be a very jealous husband. He could not hear the name of Lermontov. In 1839, she gave autographs of poems and drawings of the poet to her cousin and friend of her youth, Alexandra Mikhailovna Vereshchagina, who married the Württemberg diplomat Baron Hugel. After the death of the Baroness, some of the drawings returned to their homeland, some remained abroad.
Varenka gave Lermontov's letters for safekeeping to her elder sister Maria Alexandrovna. She survived Varvara much, looked after her in illness, and after her death Maria Alexandrovna burned Lermontov's letters.
Lopukhina Lermontov dedicated many poems, for example, the poem of 1832:
We are accidentally brought together by fate
We found ourselves in one another,
And the soul made friends with the soul,
Though the paths do not end them together!
So the spring stream reflects
The vault of heaven is distant blue
And in a calm wave he shines
And trembles with a stormy wave.
Be, oh be my heaven
Be a comrade of my formidable storms;
Then let them thunder between us,
I was born not to live without them.
I was born for the whole world to be a spectator
Celebrations or my death,
But with you, my guide beam,
What praise or the proud laughter of people!
The souls of their singer did not comprehend,
Souls could not love him,
Couldn't understand his sorrow
They could not share the enthusiasm.
This poem stands out for its enlightened mood. The ideal image of the beloved woman serves the poet's only consolation. However, the hope of finding happiness in love is unrealizable, therefore Lermontov speaks about the impossibility of a common path, he foresees another outcome prepared for him by fate.
Another poem of the same year is "Leave your vain worries". One of the few in which the lyric hero is sure of a reciprocal feeling. The image of a pure, uncooled soul runs through the entire poem. However, even mutual love does not lead to harmony, because the soul of the poet himself has lost faith in everything and does not value anything. This poem was set to music by K.D. Agrenev-Slavyansky and A.F. Pashchenko.
The duel predetermined everything and ended everything. All who knew him and who understood that he was for Russian poetry grieved. Everybody was seized with a daze. Varenka's sister and a person close to Lermontov writes in a letter to another woman close to him, Sasha Vereshchagina: “The latest news about my sister Bakhmeteva is truly sad. She is ill again, her nerves are so upset that she had to spend about two weeks in bed, so weak. Her husband offered her to go to Moscow - she refused and stated that she decidedly did not want to be treated anymore. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I attribute this disorder to Michel's death, because these circumstances are so closely converged that this cannot but arouse certain suspicions. What a misfortune this death ... For several weeks I cannot free myself from the thought of this death and sincerely mourn it.
I really, really loved him. "
Varenka had no opportunity to express her feelings, she could only "not want to be treated anymore." And for a long time she still had to see Bakhmetev in front of her, who was jealous of her even for the memory of the poet, who was no longer dangerous for him.
...With myself
To the grave he carried away a flying swarm
Still immature, dark inspirations,
Of deceived hopes and
bitter regrets.
“She survived him, languished for a long time and died, they say, peacefully” in 1851 - this is how their mutual friend wrote about her. How well they all imagined her feelings, how they could judge her, although she herself could not figure out whether she loved or was afraid of her Demon. He was a tempter, he could not be different, he loved, and that was the main thing for him ... And she ... She felt sorry for him, the only one who sincerely and simply felt sorry for him and herself, - with sadness about what had not happened, with gratitude for unearthly existence, God knows why the Poets are still loved and pitied ...
We are accidentally brought together by fate
We found ourselves in one another,
And the soul became friends with the soul;
Though the paths do not end them together!So the spring stream reflects
The vault of heaven is distant blue
And in a calm wave he shines
And trembles with a stormy wave.Be, oh be my heaven
Be a comrade of my formidable storms;
Then let them thunder between us,
I was born not to live without them.I was born for the whole world to be a spectator
Celebrations or my death,
But with you, my ray is a guide.
What praise or the proud laughter of people!The souls of their singer did not comprehend,
Souls could not love him,
Couldn't understand his sorrow
They could not share the enthusiasm.
Analysis of Lermontov's poem "K * (We are accidentally brought together by fate ...)"
In 1831, 16-year-old Mikhail Lermontov met Ekaterina Sushkova and fell in love with a girl who subsequently played with his feelings for 10 long years. However, the young poet did not lose hope that one day he would be able to win the heart of an eccentric and selfish beauty. Almost from the first days of his acquaintance, he devoted poetry to his chosen one, believing that this meeting is a kind of sign from above. Not naturally inclined to mysticism, the poet believed that he had found his soul mate.
The poem "K * (We are accidentally brought together by fate ...)" is sustained in a similar vein, in which Lermontov tries to reach out to his beloved and tell her about his feelings. The poet does not touch on the theme of love, but admits: “We found ourselves in one another, and the soul became friends with the soul”. At the same time, the author is aware that for happy union with Ekaterina Sushkova, there are many different obstacles. And first of all, the whole thing is in the character of a girl who loves social entertainment and loves to flirt with men. However, Lermontov sees not only this in his chosen one, he admires her rich inner peace... He understands that Katenka's behavior in society is a protective mask, under which a delicate and very vulnerable soul is hidden. It is for this reason that the poet asks his muse: "Be, oh, be my heavens, be a comrade of my formidable storms."
Constant quarrels with the girl do not bother Lermontov, who believes that he only brings liveliness to their relationship. However, he cannot assume that every day this harmless game goes further and further: the poet falls in love more and more, and Ekaterina Sushkova increasingly uses his feelings as a target for ridicule.
At one time, Alexander Pushkin very accurately defined the nature of such relationships, noting: "The less we love a woman, the easier she likes us." The novel of Lermontov and Sushkova developed in this vein, but the poet does not soon realize that he has become a victim of a game of love. In the meantime, he is determined to throw the whole world at the feet of the chosen one for the opportunity to feel her favor at least occasionally.
The poet admits: "I was born so that the whole world was a spectator." This phrase means that Lermontov knows about his exceptionalism, but is not sure that he can achieve success in the literary field. However, next to Ekaterina Sushkova, he is not afraid of human rumor, contempt and the stigma of a loser. “What praise or the proud laughter of people!” - the author notes, implying that in the first place for him there are and will be not personal ambitions, but relationships with this girl. After all, she easily catches his mood and knows exactly when the poet needs friendly participation, and when he is ready to maintain small talk. The fact that Sushkova does not feel love for him, Lermontov will understand much later, and this will become the biggest disappointment in his life.
"K *" ("We are accidentally brought together by fate") "TO*" ("We are accidentally brought together by fate"), verse. early L. (1832), dedicated. V.A. Lopukhina. In the love lyrics of 1830-32 (for example, in the poems of the Ivanovo cycle), where notes of resentment, reproach and bitterness of disappointed hopes prevail, this is a verse. stands out with a special mood of an enlightened and confident in her feeling of love: the ideal image of a beloved woman, born so early in the heart of a young poet, serves him as the only joy: "But with you, my ray guide, / What praise or the proud laughter of people!" Such love is love-comradeship, love-companion - "Be, oh be my heavens, / Be a comrade of my formidable storms" - and it is not rejected by the poet. However, the hope of finding happiness in love is unrealizable, hence the fatal impossibility of a common path: the hero knows about another outcome prepared for him by fate. This is how another basic arises. motive - the motive of being chosen; verse, thus, outgrows the framework of a love theme. Lyric. the hero realizes the uniqueness and uniqueness of his life, openly and uncompromisingly opposing himself to an alien world, affirming the desire for heroism. action, struggle: "I was born for the whole world to be a spectator / Celebrations or my death." This poetic. the formula can be viewed as a kind of declaration of early L. In contrast to the human world, inert and indifferent, the hero is close to nature as a natural friendly environment. At the same time, the elements are romantic. landscape ("the vault of heavens distant", "formidable storms", "stormy waves") are symbolic. meaning. Expressive tension of syntax, reusable anaphores create that "uninhibited" pathos of Lermont. verse, when free poetic. thought, as it were, breaks out of the framework of a clearly organized form. Unknown autograph. Authorizations. copy - IRLI, tetr. XX. For the first time - "SV", 1889, No. 1, dep. 1, p. 21-22; Dated from the position in the notebook.
Lit .: Maximov(2), p. 32-37; Matvievskaya L.A., About stylistic. the use of antonyms in the lyrics and poems of M. Yu. L., “Rus. language at school ”, 1977, no. 2, p. 71-72; Pakhomov(5).
V.N.Shikin Lermontov Encyclopedia / USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of Rus. lit. (Pushkin. House); Scientific-ed. Council of the publishing house "Sov. Entsik."; Ch. ed. Manuilov V.A., Editorial board .: Andronikov I.L., Bazanov V.G., Bushmin A.S., Vatsuro V.E., Zhdanov V.V., Khrapchenko M.B. - M .: Sov. Encyclopedia., 1981
See what "" K * "(" We are accidentally brought together by fate ")" in other dictionaries:
- “WE ARE ACCIDENTALLY FOUNDED BY FATE”, see “K *”. Lermontov Encyclopedia / USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of rus. lit. (Pushkin. House); Sci. ed. Council of the Publishing House of Sov. Encyclopedia. ; Ch. ed. Manuilov V.A., Editorial board .: Andronikov I.L., Bazanov V.G., Bushmin A.S., Vatsuro V.E., ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia
RANDOM, adv. 1.adv. k random in 1 and 2 digits To meet someone by chance. “Accidentally buy something. Why are you together? It is impossible to accidentally. " Griboyedov. "We are accidentally brought together by fate." Lermontov. We met by chance. I him… … Dictionary Ushakova
MOTIVES of Lermontov's poetry. The motive is a stable semantic element lit. text, repeated within a number of folklore (where the motive means the minimum unit of plot composition) and lit. artist manuf. Motive m. B. considered in the context of all creativity ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia
Lermontov's ETHICAL IDEAL, embodied in his work, the idea of \u200b\u200ba perfect personality, inextricably linked in the poet's mind with the idea of \u200b\u200ba perfect world order as a whole. For understanding lermont. creativity E. and. especially important: ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia - Lermontov's poem. Verse speech L. as a special kind of poetry. speech is characterized by an extraordinary variety of express. means: an abundance of metric. and stanza. forms, freedom of rhythm. variations, richness of melodic. intonation, pictoriality ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia