Boris Pasternak is rightfully considered one of the brightest Russian poets and writers of the 20th century. It was he who came up with the idea to combine prose and poetry in one work, which caused a flurry of criticism from his contemporaries, but was appreciated by his descendants.
We are talking, in particular, about the famous novel “Doctor Zhivago”, the last part of which is dedicated to the poems of the main character. The reader learns that Yuri Zhivalo is a subtle lyricist and lover of rhymed phrases in the first chapters of the novel. However, Boris Pasternak tries not to distract readers with lyrical digressions, so he decides to combine all the poems of Yuri Zhivago into a separate collection.
The first poem attributed to the authorship of the main character is called “Winter Night”. Later, it was often published as an independent literary work called “Candle” and was even set to music, adding to the repertoire of Alla Pugacheva and the ex-leader of the Gorky Park group Nikolai Noskov.
Boris Pasternak worked on the novel Doctor Zhivago for 10 years, from 1945 to 1955. Therefore, today it is no longer possible to establish exactly when exactly the poem “Winter Night” was written. Although some researchers of Pasternak’s work argue that the immortal lines were born during the war, which their author spent in evacuation, living for more than a year in the city of Chistopol. However, given the manner of writing and the maturity of thoughts, critics are inclined to believe that the poem was created shortly before the end of work on the novel, when Boris Pasternak, like the main character, already had a presentiment of his death.
It is the theme of death and life that is the key point of the poem “Winter Night.” It should not be taken literally, but should be read between the lines, since each quatrain is a vivid metaphor, so contrasting and memorable that it gives the poem amazing grace. Considering “Winter Night” in the context of the struggle for survival, one can easily guess that the blizzard, February cold and wind symbolize death. And the candle flame, uneven and barely glowing, is synonymous with life, which leaves not only the terminally ill Doctor Zhivago, but also Boris Pasternak himself.
The version that the poem was written in 1954-55 is also supported by the fact that in 1952 Boris Pasternak experienced his first heart attack, having experienced first-hand what it means to be between life and death. However, it is possible that, possessing the gift of foresight, Pasternak in “Winter Night” predicted not only physical, but also creative death for himself. And he turned out to be right, since after the publication of the novel “Doctor Zhivago” abroad and the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the work, the famous writer was persecuted. They stopped publishing him and expelled him from the USSR Writers' Union. Therefore, the only source of livelihood for parsnips during this period were literary translations, which continued to be in demand and quite highly paid.
The author himself wrote letters several times to the Secretary General of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev, trying to convince the head of state of his political reliability, but this did not help. Moreover, Pasternak’s opponents appealed not to the novel itself as a whole, but to its poetic part, and, in particular, to “Winter Night,” calling the poem an example of decadence, decadence and vulgarity.
Only several decades later, when in 1988 the novel “Doctor Zhivago” was first published in the USSR, the poem “Winter Night” was recognized as one of the most successful and heartfelt works of love poetry written by Boris Pasternak.
"Winter night". B. Pasternak
Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
Like a swarm of midges in summer
Flies into the flames
Flakes flew from the yard
To the window frame.
A snowstorm sculpted on the glass
Circles and arrows.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
To the illuminated ceiling
The shadows were falling
Crossing of arms, crossing of legs,
Crossing fates.
And two shoes fell
With a thud to the floor.
And wax with tears from the night light
It was dripping on my dress.
And everything was lost in the snowy darkness
Gray and white.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Raised two wings like an angel
Crosswise.
It was snowy all month in February,
Every now and then
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
Like a swarm of midges in summer
Flies into the flames
Flakes flew from the yard
To the window frame.
A snowstorm sculpted on the glass
Circles and arrows.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
To the illuminated ceiling
The shadows were falling
Crossing of arms, crossing of legs,
Crossing fates.
And two shoes fell
With a thud to the floor.
And wax with tears from the night light
It was dripping on my dress.
And everything was lost in the snowy darkness
Gray and white.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Raised two wings like an angel
Crosswise.
It was snowy all month in February,
Every now and then
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
Analysis of the poem “Winter Night” by Pasternak
Nowadays, B. Pasternak is considered one of the most talented Russian poets. Recognition in his homeland came to him after his death. After the publication of the novel “Doctor Zhivago” in the West, Pasternak’s work was banned in the USSR. In his most famous work, the writer devoted most of his attention to poetry, which is the fruit of the main character’s creativity. These philosophical and love lyrics become an organic part of the novel, explaining and connecting the various parts. In this lyric, one of the central poems is “Winter Night”. Subsequently, it was published as an independent work. The exact date of writing is unknown, since the writer worked on the entire novel for about ten years.
The central image of the poem is a burning candle, symbolizing a saving light among the surrounding darkness. She is able to warm and calm a tormented soul. This image permeates the entire novel as a whole. The candle becomes for the lovers the center of the universe, which attracted them to itself and gave them shelter in the midst of the “snowy darkness.” Love relationships are outlined with only a few catchy touches: “crossing of arms,” “crossing of legs,” “heat of temptation.” They are not so important in a general philosophical sense. Much more important is the “crossing of fate,” that is, the union of two lonely hearts around the life-giving true source of light.
In the context of the novel, the image of a candle symbolizes human life, and the surrounding bad weather symbolizes inevitable death. A flickering flame can easily be extinguished by a careless movement; this reminds a person that death can come suddenly at the most unexpected moment. On the other hand, the flame of a candle is immeasurably weaker than a harsh blizzard, but continues its unequal struggle. The philosophical meaning of this symbolic fight is that a person should never give up and use the time allotted to him to the end.
Pasternak uses a variety of expressive means in the poem. The refrain “the candle was burning” is repeated several times, emphasizing the significance of the image. Epithets are used mainly in describing the February bad weather: “snowy”, “gray-haired and white”. Almost everything that surrounds the main characters is endowed with human traits through personification (“a snowstorm sculpted”, “shadows lay down”). The comparisons used are very expressive: “like a midge”, “wax with tears”, “like an angel”.
The poem became very popular in the post-Soviet space. His words were set to music.
| 1. | Chalk, chalk all over the earth To all limits. The candle was burning on the table, The candle was burning. |
| 2. | Like a swarm of midges in summer Flies into the flames Flakes flew from the yard To the window frame. |
| 3. | A snowstorm sculpted on the glass Circles and arrows. The candle was burning on the table, The candle was burning. |
| 4. | To the illuminated ceiling The shadows were falling Crossing fates. |
| 5. | And two shoes fell With a thud to the floor. And wax with tears from the night light It was dripping on my dress. |
| 6. | Gray and white. The candle was burning on the table, The candle was burning. |
| 7. | There was a blow on the candle from the corner, And the heat of temptation Crosswise. |
| 8. | It was snowy all month in February, Every now and then The candle was burning on the table, The candle was burning. |
The southern-motivic structure of the poem “Winter Night” is quite simple. In the first three stanzas, the core opposition “blizzard-candle” is outlined and consolidated. The plot generated by the opposition of these contextual antonyms is dominated not by the event-based (subject-situational) but by the suggestive (associative-symbolic) plan. The 1st and 2nd verses of the 1st stanza are a poetic generalization that turns a real February snowstorm into a symbol of the all-encompassing winter element:
Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits...
The trope of the 2nd stanza is a somewhat unexpected in this context associative and metaphorical likening of snow (blizzard “flakes”) to summer “midges”:
Like a swarm of midges in summer
Flies into the flames
Flakes flew from the yard
To the window frame.
But the “summer” comparison is unexpected only at first glance. In terms of content, this is a “descending” metaphor. The seemingly absolute and eternal power of the blizzard (=cold/death/evil) is in reality not absolute and not at all eternal: in the end it will be destroyed by the opposing fire (=warmth/life/good). Those signs that are visible in frosty patterns (“The snowstorm sculpted on the glass / Circles and arrows ...” - 3rd stanza), apparently, go back to the archetypal symbolism of sunlight and, therefore, can be considered as omens of the impending defeat of the snowstorm, i.e. . e. as a kind of iconic paraphrase of the Old Testament “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” - prophetic words that “numbered” the kingdom of Belshazzar and set the limit to his reign (Dan. 5: 5-28).
Starting from the next, 4th stanza (and until the end of the poem), the attention of the “lyrical author” will alternately focus on what is happening in the room (through a series of subject associations), and then again rush into the boundless blizzard space:
To the illuminated ceiling
The shadows were falling
Crossing of arms, crossing of legs,
Crossing fates.
And two shoes fell
With a thud to the floor.
And wax with tears from the night light
It was dripping on my dress.
And everything was lost in the snowy darkness,
Gray and white.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
The fire (flame) of a candle generates “crossings” of shadows/fate. Without a doubt, this image-symbol should be considered core. In the 7th stanza it is variably transformed into the “heat of temptation”, in turn likened to an angel, whose figure (with raised wings) resembles the outline of a cross:
There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Raised two wings like an angel
Crosswise.
It was snowy all month in February,
Every now and then
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning (IV, 533-534).
The cross (the root of the words “crossing” and “cruciform”) does not appear here by chance - it closes the plot-developing associative-metaphorical chain:
The “crossing of destinies” of the hero and heroine is their cross, that is, fate in its lofty, tragic interpretation. A. Lileeva quite rightly notes in this regard: “In the Christian tradition, the cross is a symbol of suffering and holiness. This allows us to highlight in the words “crossing”, “crosswise” not only this physical proximity of a man and a woman, but also hidden holiness. Love, passion in Pasternak’s poem is not only the crossing of bodies and destinies, but also suffering that brings redemption and salvation.”
Lileeva A. G. Poetry and prose in B. L. Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago”... P. 33.
I. Smirnov, not without reason, believes that Klintsov-Pogorevshikh is not only a “caricature of an anarchist,” but also an “autocaricature”: by portraying him, “Pasternak was also reckoning with his anarcho-futurist past.” “In this lighting, the deaf-muteness of the Burned may be associated<…>With lack of absolute pitch from Pasternak,” which caused the collapse of “his composing career.” See: Smirnov I.P. Novel of secrets “Doctor Zhivago”. pp. 146, 147, 148 et seq.
“Winter Night,” which embodies the best features of symbolism in its lines, is a complex but harmonious combination of philosophical and love lyrics. The main technique used by the author is antithesis, skillfully emphasized with the help of shortened lines. Two opposing elements are in constant struggle.
Boris Pasternak "Winter Night"
Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
Like a swarm of midges in summer
Flies into the flames
Flakes flew from the yard
To the window frame.
A snowstorm sculpted on the glass
Circles and arrows.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
On the illuminated ceiling
The shadows were falling
Crossing of arms, crossing of legs,
Crossing fates.
And two shoes fell
With a knock on the floor,
And wax with tears from the night light
It was dripping on my dress.
And everything was lost in the snowy darkness,
Gray and white.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Raised two wings like an angel
Crosswise.
It was snowy all month in February,
Every now and then
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
Only a person with love in his soul can defeat a terrible storm. And when the cold goes away, you feel the comfort of home, the warmth from a candle and a night light.
“Winter Night” B. Pasternak
Chalk, chalk all over the earth
To all limits.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.Like a swarm of midges in summer
Flies into the flames
Flakes flew from the yard
To the window frame.A snowstorm sculpted on the glass
Circles and arrows.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.To the illuminated ceiling
The shadows were falling
Crossing of arms, crossing of legs,
Crossing fates.And two shoes fell
With a thud to the floor.
And wax with tears from the night light
It was dripping on my dress.And everything was lost in the snowy darkness
Gray and white.
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.There was a blow on the candle from the corner,
And the heat of temptation
Raised two wings like an angel
Crosswise.It was snowy all month in February,
Every now and then
The candle was burning on the table,
The candle was burning.
Boris Pasternak is rightfully considered one of the brightest Russian poets and writers of the 20th century. It was he who came up with the idea to combine prose and poetry in one work, which caused a flurry of criticism from his contemporaries, but was appreciated by his descendants.
We are talking, in particular, about the famous novel “Doctor Zhivago”, the last part of which is dedicated to the poems of the main character. The reader learns that Yuri Zhivalo is a subtle lyricist and lover of rhymed phrases in the first chapters of the novel. However, Boris Pasternak tries not to distract readers with lyrical digressions, so he decides to combine all the poems of Yuri Zhivago into a separate collection.
The first poem attributed to the authorship of the main character is called “Winter Night”. Later, it was often published as an independent literary work called “Candle” and was even set to music, adding to the repertoire of such performers as pop queen Alla Pugacheva and ex-leader of the Gorky Park group Nikolai Noskov.
Boris Pasternak worked on the novel Doctor Zhivago for 10 years, from 1945 to 1955. Therefore, today it is no longer possible to establish exactly when exactly the poem “Winter Night” was written. Although some researchers of Pasternak’s work argue that the immortal lines were born during the war, which their author spent in evacuation, living for more than a year in the city of Chistopol. However, given the manner of writing and the maturity of thoughts, critics are inclined to believe that the poem was created shortly before the end of work on the novel, when Boris Pasternak, like the main character, already had a presentiment of his death.
It is the theme of death and life that is the key point of the poem “Winter Night”. It should not be taken literally, but should be read between the lines, since each quatrain is a vivid metaphor, so contrasting and memorable that it gives the poem amazing grace. Considering “Winter Night” in the context of the struggle for survival, one can easily guess that the blizzard, February cold and wind symbolize death. And the candle flame, uneven and barely glowing, is synonymous with life, which leaves not only the terminally ill Doctor Zhivago, but also Boris Pasternak himself.
The version that the poem was written in 1954-55 is also supported by the fact that in 1952 Boris Pasternak experienced his first heart attack, having experienced first-hand what it means to be between life and death. However, it is possible that, possessing the gift of foresight, Pasternak in “Winter Night” predicted not only physical, but also creative death for himself. And he turned out to be right, since after the publication of the novel “Doctor Zhivago” abroad and the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the work, the famous writer was persecuted. They stopped publishing him and expelled him from the USSR Writers' Union. Therefore, the only source of livelihood for parsnips during this period were literary translations, which continued to be in demand and quite highly paid.
The author himself wrote letters several times to the Secretary General of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev, trying to convince the head of state of his political reliability, but this did not help. Moreover, Pasternak’s opponents appealed not to the novel itself as a whole, but to its poetic part, and, in particular, to “Winter Night,” calling the poem an example of decadence, decadence and vulgarity.
Only several decades later, when in 1988 the novel “Doctor Zhivago” was first published in the USSR, the poem “Winter Night” was recognized as one of the most successful and heartfelt works of love poetry written by Boris Pasternak.
