☰ Contents · Russian language

Pushkin “A Winter Evening” and Lermontov “The Sail”

Lessons 32–33 · 2 lessons · G. T. Gasilova, Yu. Yu. Musurmanova. Russian Language, Grade 6 (for schools with Uzbek and other languages of instruction). 2nd revised edition. “O‘zbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi”, Tashkent, 2017
33

M. Yu. Lermontov. “Парус” (The Sail)

Textbook, p. 133
GoalRead M. Yu. Lermontov’s poem «Парус» and understand its symbolic meaning (loneliness, striving for freedom).
New words
парус · yelkanодинокий · yolg‘izморе · dengizбуря · bo‘ron
Explanation

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (1814–1841) was a great Russian poet and prose writer. He wrote «Парус» in 1832, at 17. In the poem a lonely white sail shows in the blue mist of the sea. What does the sail seek in a far land? What did it leave at home? Below flows a pale-blue current, above shines a golden sunbeam, yet the restless sail asks for a storm, as if peace were found in storms. In this poem the sail is a symbol (символ) of a person: ceaseless searching, loneliness and striving for freedom. There are many colour words: «белеет», «голубой», «золотой». There is an antithesis (антитеза): the calm sea against the wish for a storm. The poem has three stanzas (строфа). Is the poem only about the sea, or about a person? Two answers are possible.

Worked examples
«Парус» (summary in my own words). «В синем тумане над морем виден белый парус. Он далеко от родных берегов и ищет что-то новое. Под ним спокойная вода, над ним тёплое солнце, но парусу не нужен покой. Он хочет бури, потому что в тревоге чувствует жизнь.» (In the blue mist above the sea a white sail is visible. It is far from its native shores and seeks something new. Calm water is beneath it and warm sun above, but the sail does not want peace. It wants a storm, because in unrest it feels alive.)
Colour words: «белый парус» (white), «голубая вода» (light blue), «золотой луч» (golden). Antonyms: «покой» (calm) — «буря» (storm), «одинокий» (lonely) — «не один» (not alone).
Class activity

“A picture of the poem”. Pupils draw a sail, sea and sun and write the poem’s colour words under each colour: «белеет», «голубой», «золотой». Then they discuss what the sail symbolises.

Practice
1
When did Lermontov write «Парус» and how old was he?
2
What can the sail symbolise in the poem? Give 2 answers.
3
Find the colour words: «белый», «голубой», «злой», «золотой».
4
Why does the sail ask for a storm even on a calm sea?