Mikhail Lermontov - I will not humiliate myself before you: Verse. Lermontov M - I will not humiliate myself before you (verse.read by L.Markov) But I don’t want to cry with anyone


The poem was written in 1832. Addressed to N.F. Ivanova, one of the poet’s acquaintances, who was the subject of his hobbies in his youth. Perhaps Lermontov dedicated the largest number of his poems to Natalya Fedorovna, the motive of which was: at the beginning of acquaintance - delight and admiration, and at the end - disappointed hopes and a vain thirst for love.

Ivanova Natalya Fedorovna
(From a portrait, drawn
artist V.F. Binneman)

* * *


Fragment of the poem's autograph
(page from Lermontov's notebook)

In addition to this poem, the following works by Lermontov were dedicated and addressed to Natalya Ivanova:

. "June 1831, 11 days"
. “To the album of N. F. Ivanova”
. "Vision"
. "It's time for the heart to be at rest"
. “The Almighty has pronounced his verdict”
. “God grant that you never know”
. "Exhausted by melancholy and illness"
. "Why a magic smile"
. "When there are only memories"
. “I loved from the beginning of my life”
. "Instantly running through the mind"
. “I can’t languish in my homeland”
. “It wasn’t you, but fate was to blame”
. "Romance to Ivanova"
. "Sonnet"
. "I'm not worthy, maybe"

Love can be so different. Often it is reciprocal, sometimes unrequited. She can be changeable, dreamy, ethereal and destructive. It is this feeling that makes many poets and writers dedicate their pearls to the women they love. The theme of love occupies a special place in the works of M. Yu. Lermontov. The poet was familiar with the love experiences that tormented his soul. He often asked questions about the reciprocity of feelings and endowed love lyrics with philosophical meaning. One of the clearest proofs of this is Lermontov’s poem “I will not humiliate myself before you,” a brief analysis of which you can follow in the article.

Events that contributed to the writing of the message

The analysis of Lermontov's poem "I will not humiliate myself before you" should begin by mentioning its second title. It sounds traditionally differently - “K*”. It is not precisely indicated to whom the message is dedicated, although the poet’s contemporaries knew this. The modern reader will be interested in learning some details from the life of Mikhail Yuryevich.

Plunge into the distant hot summer of 1830. Young Lermontov, who was then 16 years old, went to the country estate of his friends. At this time, he was going through a breakup with Ekaterina Sushkova, who broke his heart. They broke up because of the girl’s constant ridicule of the young poet.

So, it was during this period that Mikhail Yuryevich met the charming Natalya Ivanova. How did this relationship end, did the girl reciprocate? This will become clear from a brief analysis of “I will not humiliate myself before you” by Lermontov.

The culprit of writing the elegy

So, Princess N. F. Ivanova became the subject of youthful hobbies and the addressee of the poet’s lyrics. A whole cycle of poems, the so-called Ivanovo poems, was dedicated to her. In addition to the mentioned message, it also included other poems dedicated to the princess.

Natalya Ivanova, according to Menshikov’s mother, was the daughter of the Moscow playwright and writer Fyodor Ivanov. At the age of three, the girl was left without a father; she was raised by her stepfather. Mikhail Yuryevich really liked the young princess, but the relationship between them was unusual. Natalya was one year older than Mikhail. Seventeen-year-old young ladies of those years were already striving for marriage. At the beginning of their acquaintance, the girl reciprocated her love for Mikhail. He often visited their estate in Nikolsko-Tomilino near Klyazma (30 km from Moscow).

The first poems dedicated to this muse were of delight and admiration. After some time, coldness and misunderstanding arose on Natalya’s part. Lermontov's lyrics were filled with sorrow and a feeling of offended pride. It was during this period that Lermontov created “I will not humiliate myself before you.” You will see an analysis (according to plan) of the features of this masterpiece below.

A little later, Natalya became the wife of N. M. Obreskov, who was deprived of his noble title for stealing jewelry from his relative. The Obreskovs had four children. The first of them was born in the year of the death of Mikhail Yuryevich.

Time of writing, theme, idea, genre

The analysis of the work usually begins by indicating the date of writing of the work. “I will not humiliate myself before you” Lermontov composed in 1832. It became the finale of a love relationship that began so successfully. From this story it becomes clear that the theme of the poem was No one knows whether the poet ever explained his feelings to Natalya, but a draft version of this message was probably sent to her.

What idea did Lermontov put into this elegy? In the person of Ivanova, the poet accuses all the beauties of the world of frivolous behavior. Some lines are filled with disappointment and resentment. The hero ponders whether it is possible to treat women with respect if one of the best did not keep her word.

The girl gave the poet a reason to cruelly deceive others. The hero sees in his beloved a stranger and proudly says that he will never humiliate himself before her.

Mikhail Yuryevich wrote his message in the genre of elegy. In it, he emotionally expresses his philosophical thoughts on the topic of love.

Composition of the work

The basis of the composition of the message is made up of antitheses (oppositions). The author contrasts love with betrayal, hope with delusion, and greeting with reproach. But the main antithesis is the pronouns - “I” and “you”. This is clearly visible in almost every line. The hero really wants to understand why the girl didn’t immediately show who she really is. He feels sorry for the days he spent on his beloved, because he could devote himself to a more important matter. The climax of the work is achieved with a reproach for cunning and hypocrisy.

Author's lexical techniques

To convey the state of his hero, the poet took colorful epithets - “insidious betrayal”, “wonderful gift”, “we are strangers”, “tenderly promised”. To increase the tragedy of love, he uses hyperbole. He reveals his beloved's deceit with metaphors.

An analysis of Lermontov’s “I will not humiliate myself before you” proves that artistic means very accurately convey the hero’s emotions. To achieve even greater effect, the author used rhetorical questions and exclamatory sentences. The poem is written in the form of a monologue of the lyrical hero, which he pronounces in one breath. The message is written in iambic pentameter.

Lyrical hero

The lyrical hero of the message is full of love and despair. He demonstrates his feelings in contrast. All his sacrifice was in vain; his beloved rewarded him only with “insidious betrayal.” The former "angel", in his eyes, turned into a vicious woman.

The lonely hero is filled with pride and prepares for new love impulses. It is clear that he is trusting and strives for happiness. The hero's soul turns to past and future times, he hopes that they will be better. The analysis of Lermontov's poem "I will not humiliate myself before you" deserves the attention of many modern lovers of love poetry.

“K* (I will not humiliate myself before you...)” Mikhail Lermontov

I will not humble myself before you;
Neither your greeting nor your reproach
They have no power over my soul.
Know: we are strangers from now on.
You forgot: I am freedom
I won’t give it up for delusion;
And so I sacrificed years
To your smile and eyes,
And so I've seen for too long
You have the hope of young days
And the whole world hated
To love you more.
Who knows, maybe those moments
What flowed at your feet,
I took away from inspiration!
What did you replace them with?
Perhaps I am thinking heavenly
And I am convinced by the strength of spirit,
I would give the world a wonderful gift,
And for that immortality he gives me?
Why did you promise so tenderly?
You replace his crown,
Why weren't you there at first?
What I finally became!
I'm proud! - sorry! love another
Dream of finding love in another;
Anything earthly
I will not become a slave.
To foreign mountains, under the sky of the south
I'll retire, maybe;
But we know each other too much
To forget each other.
From now on I will enjoy
And in passion I will swear to everyone;
I will laugh with everyone
But I don’t want to cry with anyone;
I'll start cheating shamelessly
So as not to love as I loved, -
Or is it possible to respect women?
When did an angel cheat on me?
I was ready for death and torment
And call the whole world to battle,
So that your young hand -
Madman! - shake again!
Not knowing the insidious betrayal,
I gave my soul to you;
Did you know the price of such a soul?
You knew - I didn’t know you!

Analysis of Lermontov’s poem “K* (I will not humiliate myself before you...)”

In the summer of 1830, 16-year-old Mikhail Lermontov, while relaxing on a country estate, met Natalya Ivanova, the daughter of a famous Russian writer at that time. The girl captivates him not only with her beauty, but also reciprocates the young poet’s feelings. After an unsuccessful romance with Ekaterina Sushkova, who mercilessly ridiculed her young admirer, Lermontov again feels the taste of life. He is fascinated by his beloved and devotes his first timid poems to her, in which he hints at his feelings. Now it is difficult to establish for certain whether the young people had a love affair and whether they swore an oath of allegiance to each other, but Lermontov returned to Moscow inspired and completely cured of despondency.

It is known that the poet and his chosen one met several times at balls during 1830, which became the reason for Lermontov’s deep disappointment. He became convinced that he was just a passing hobby for Natalya Ivanova, and at parties she preferred to spend time in the company of more successful gentlemen, with whom she openly flirted. However, the final break between the lovers occurred in the summer of 1831. It is no longer possible to establish for certain what exactly happened between Lermontov and Ivanova. However, after returning to Moscow, the 17-year-old poet unexpectedly writes a play called “Strange People”, the prototype of the main character in which is his chosen one. According to the plot, a girl who has sworn an oath of fidelity to her beloved subsequently takes back her words and gives preference to another. It is likely that the same thing happened in real life, and Natalya Ivanova simply became interested in another young man.

One way or another, in the winter of 1832, 5 months after the fateful events, Mikhail Lermontov creates the poem “K* (I will not humiliate myself before you...),” a handwritten version of which he sends to the one he loved. In this work, the author seems to draw a line under this short novel, emphasizing: “we are strangers from now on.” Explaining his decision to finally break off relations with his beloved, the poet notes that he made too much of a sacrifice in the name of high feelings for someone who does not deserve it. “And the whole world hated you so that it could love you more,” the poet notes. At the same time, Lermontov considers the year and a half that this novel lasted to be irretrievably lost for poetry, since he indulged in pipe dreams instead of honing his literary style.

The poet considers himself deceived and insulted. But he blames this not only on his beloved, who was not at all what she wanted to appear to be. First of all, the author calls himself a “madman,” because he was led by his own feelings, which overshadowed the voice of reason. However, insight came quickly enough, and Lermontov wishes only one thing for his chosen one - “dream of finding love in another.”

As in the play, the poet directly indicates that the reason for the break in relations was that Natalya Ivanova preferred another young man to him. And this discouraged Lermontov so much that he finally became disillusioned with the fairer sex, asking: “Is it possible to respect women when an angel cheated on me?” However, from now on, the poet no longer intends to indulge himself in illusions and remain in delusions, believing that it is better to put an end to this love story than to sacrifice freedom for the sake of the illusion of happiness.

No one in the poet’s circle knew about the romance between Lermontov and Ivanova, so for a long time the poems marked with the initials of Natalya Ivanova, which in a year and a half totaled more than 30 pieces, remained the poet’s posthumous secret. Only in the middle of the last century did the literary critic Irakli Andronnikov manage to decipher the name of the mysterious stranger with whom Lermontov was in love, who shed light on the tragic love story of the young poet.

I will not humble myself before you;
Neither your greeting nor your reproach
They have no power over my soul.
Know: we are strangers from now on.
You forgot: I am freedom
I won’t give it up for delusion;
And so I sacrificed years
To your smile and eyes,
And so I've seen for too long
You have the hope of young days
And the whole world hated
To love you more.
Who knows, maybe those moments
What flowed at your feet,
I took away from inspiration!
What did you replace them with?
Perhaps I am thinking heavenly
And I am convinced by the strength of spirit,
I would give the world a wonderful gift,
And for that immortality he gives me?
Why did you promise so tenderly?
You replace his crown,
Why weren't you there at first?
What I finally became!
I'm proud! - sorry! love another
Dream of finding love in another;
Anything earthly
I will not become a slave.
To foreign mountains, under the sky of the south
I'll retire, maybe;
But we know each other too much
To forget each other.
From now on I will enjoy
And in passion I will swear to everyone;
I will laugh with everyone
But I don’t want to cry with anyone;
I'll start cheating shamelessly
So as not to love as I loved, -
Or is it possible to respect women?
When did an angel cheat on me?
I was ready for death and torment
And call the whole world to battle,
So that your young hand -
Madman! - shake again!
Not knowing the insidious betrayal,
I gave my soul to you;
Did you know the price of such a soul?
You knew - I didn’t know you!

Analysis of the poem “K* (I will not humiliate myself before you)” by Lermontov

The poem “K* (I will not humiliate myself before you...)” is dedicated to one of Lermontov’s first love disappointments. Contemporaries had no idea to whom it was actually dedicated. Only much later did researchers establish that the mysterious lover was N. Ivanova. The young poet met her in 1830 and quickly fell in love. It is unknown how the girl responded to his feelings, but Lermontov probably believed that he could hope for reciprocity. Meeting Ivanova only at balls, the poet gradually realized that he was one of the many admirers of the flighty beauty. A decisive conversation took place between the young people, after which all relations ceased. In 1832, Lermontov managed to take an impartial look at the failed novel. He expressed his impressions in the poem “K* (I will not humiliate myself before you...).”

The piece is very emotional. It is noticeable that the author sincerely loved the girl and deeply experienced this mental trauma. It was not easy for him to say: “We are strangers from now on.” From an early age, Lermontov considered freedom to be the main ideal, but he transgressed it for the sake of love. Succumbing to sudden passion, he made a big mistake in life. The girl became a new deity in his eyes, for whom he spared nothing. Of course, there are still many exaggerations in the statements of the young romantic. He considers the short relationship to be years of sacrifice, when he “hated the whole world”, giving all his feelings to his beloved.

On the other hand, Lermontov judges quite sensibly the time wasted, which he could have used to develop his poetic gift. At a more mature age, the poet will generally feel contempt for balls and masquerades. Perhaps the origins of this contempt lie in failed love.

Judging by the poem, the girl made some promises to the poet. It was just a flirty game on her part. But Lermontov’s sublime soul took these words at face value. The poet realized too late that he was just another amusement for Ivanova.

Only now the author has seen the light, he declares: “I am proud!” The mistake I made became a huge lesson for the future. The poet claims that he will never humiliate himself in front of anyone again. The hint of moving away “under the sky of the south” is a traditional 19th-century threat to leave for the Caucasus. Lermontov declares that from now on he will be strong in soul and heart. The insidious betrayal of a girl whom he considered an angel made him forever lose respect for women. From now on, he himself will take false oaths and break hearts.

The solemnity and pathos of the work gradually increase. In the finale, the author states that his beloved understood what he was capable of for her sake. But he himself was in a love fog and did not know what the imaginary “goddess” really was.

In his youth, Lermontov was quite keen on the daughter of the famous writer, N.F. Ivanova. Their relationship did not last long. You can find out what the young poet thought about the breakup if you thoughtfully read the poem “I will not humiliate myself before you” by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.

The poem was created in 1832. The period is from 1830 to 1832. was the pinnacle of the poet’s youthful creativity. Trying to find himself in literature, Lermontov wrote in many genres. Byron had a great influence on his early work. Trying to keep up with the times, Lermontov created many fatalistic works imbued with gloomy romance. The text of Lermontov’s poem “I will not humiliate myself before you,” which is taught in a literature lesson in the 8th grade, is imbued with youthful maximalism. “We are strangers from now on,” the poet exclaims, having learned that his flighty lover chose someone else over him. The lines that young Lermontov dedicated years to the “smile and eyes” of his beloved bring a smile. In fact, their relationship lasted several months and cannot be called romantic. N. Ivanova, rather, was the “beautiful lady” of the young poet, who for a long time saw his ideal in her.

Initially, Lermontov misinterpreted N. Ivanova’s sympathy and attention. Therefore, her coldness, with which she met the poet’s impulse in love, caused him pain. She was so strong that Lermontov was ready to be disappointed in all women. Offended by the “angel’s” refusal, he bitterly reproaches the girl for giving him false hope. “Why weren’t you at first what you finally became?” - he complains. The pain from this wound remained for the rest of my life. Lermontov, calling N. Ivanova “an insensitive, cold deity,” dedicated a whole series of works to her. It consisted of forty poems. You can download this work in full or study it online on our website.

I will not humble myself before you;
Neither your greeting nor your reproach
They have no power over my soul.
Know: we are strangers from now on.
You forgot: I am freedom
I won’t give it up for delusion;
And so I sacrificed years
To your smile and eyes,
And so I've seen for too long
You have the hope of young days
And the whole world hated
To love you more.
Who knows, maybe those moments
What flowed at your feet,
I took away from inspiration!
What did you replace them with?
Perhaps I am thinking heavenly
And I am convinced by the strength of spirit,
I would give the world a wonderful gift,
And for that immortality he gives me?
Why did you promise so tenderly?
You replace his crown,
Why weren't you there at first?
What I finally became!
I'm proud! - sorry! love another
Dream of finding love in another;
Anything earthly
I will not become a slave.
To foreign mountains, under the sky of the south
I'll retire, maybe;
But we know each other too much
To forget each other.
From now on I will enjoy
And in passion I will swear to everyone;
I will laugh with everyone
But I don’t want to cry with anyone;
I'll start cheating shamelessly
So as not to love as I loved, -
Or is it possible to respect women?
When did an angel cheat on me?
I was ready for death and torment
And call the whole world to battle,
So that your young hand -
Madman! - shake again!
Not knowing the insidious betrayal,
I gave my soul to you;
Did you know the price of such a soul?
You knew - I didn’t know you!

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