The image of the wind in the socio-philosophical lyrics of Albert Vasiliev

Lyubimov Nikolay Ivanovich ORCID: 0000-0002-0879-0890 Postgraduate student, Department of Finno-Ugrian Comparative Philology, Mari State University 424000, Russia, Republic of the Republic of Mari El, Yoshkar-Ola, Lenin Square, 1 nikolay_lyubimov@inbox.ru Other publications by this author

Albert Vasiliev is a bright representative of modern Mari poetry. His work is connected with the socio-philosophical direction of national lyrics. He talks a lot about today's life, namely, about the state of national culture and the Mari world, about the social differentiation of society, about changing the psychology of people, about the problems of rural life. At the same time, to express his socio-philosophical views, he often turns to natural images.

Natural images and motifs in philosophical lyrics are a fairly relevant field of research in modern Russian literary science [see, for example, monographs: 11; 12; as well as scientific articles: 3; 6; 10]. There are publications of this kind in regional philology ^{[1; 2; 5]}, including articles by the author of this article ^{[7; 8; 9]}.

The purpose of the article is to identify the semantics and artistic function of the image of the wind, which represents the socio–philosophical position of the author, as well as characterizes his lyrical hero, based on the material of poems included in Albert Vasiliev's poetry collection "Osh Lumyshto chever Polan" ("Red Viburnum on white snow", 2017). In this aspect, the work of Albert Vasiliev is considered for the first time in the Mari regional literary criticism.

The methodological basis of the research is the structural and semantic analysis of poetic texts, which allows to identify and describe the content-formal "layers" of this natural image, revealing the author's concept of the world and man, as well as the characteristics of the character of the lyrical hero.

The image of the wind, most often used in fiction to convey various emotions, moods and symbolic meanings, in the collection of the Mari poet Albert Vasiliev "Red Viburnum on white snow" has many meanings associated primarily with the socio-philosophical views of the author.

For the first time in the collection, he appears in the poem "Sortala ok k?l ch?ktym? ?shanym ..." (Do not light hope like a candle ...) and participates in recreating the nature of relations between people, in the artistic expression of the author's axiology. The image of the wind is inserted into the context of the author's reflections on trust and sincerity in love, about happiness and loneliness:

Sortala ok k?l ch?ktym? ?shanym,

From shono gyn mardej dech aralash.

Sharen mut dene pushkido tshakym,

Molan lum shonymash den levedash.

It will be too much for gyn myym ilysh telysh,

Miyash it S?r?, ?kym shyrgyzhal ^{[4, p. 12. The subscript translation into Russian here and further is ours everywhere. – N. L.]}

(Don't burn hope like a candle,

If you do not intend to protect from the wind.

Making a soft bed with words,

Why cover it with snowy thoughts.

If you want to spend me in winter-life,

Don't promise, forcibly smiling).

The wind in this context is a generalized expression of life's hardships on the path of lovers. In true love, overcoming them, as a rule, happens together, is based on the trust and sincerity of both, requires them to be stoic constancy and firmness in feelings and thoughts. Hence, in the poem, the phrase "Sortala ok k?l ch?ktym? ?shanym ...": do not burn hope like a candle if there is no constancy of feelings in you, self-confidence and your future happiness.  The lyrical hero is not just a supporter of understandable and trusting relationships between loving people, but also an active supporter of strong, sincere and lasting ties (a source of strength in overcoming life's difficulties and a harbinger of happiness and spiritual joy). Otherwise, the best option, ethically and emotionally justified, for a lyrical hero is an honest and ruthless breakup of a relationship (blowing out a lit candle without waiting for it to burn out itself):

Varieties of tul semyn ch?ktym? ?shanym,

Palem, from yarse kyzyt aralash.

Kaem my shketyn, lucho it is already ...

Varieties of tulet it mondo pualash ^{[4, p. 12]}

(Lit like a candle flame, hope,

I know you don't have time to defend right now.

I'll leave alone, it's better not to see me off...

         Don't forget to blow out the candle flame).

"The peculiarity of a literary and artistic text," notes R.A. Kudryavtseva, "is that the value in it is not openly declared" ^{[7, p. 27]}. Similarly, Albert Vasiliev's author's axiology related to love and happiness, as we see, opens indirectly – through the image of the wind, which symbolizes the difficulties that are inevitable in love, in life, in general, and then through the image of a candle expressing hope experienced by a loving person and given to a loving person.  Note that the author distracts from the mythopoetic meaning of the second image (divine truth, purity, light and eternity), inserting it into the opposite semantic context (temporality, deception, insincerity, hypocrisy).  

As for the image of the wind, it is also found in other poems by Albert Vasiliev in a philosophical (ethical, axiological) context. In different poems, it is interpreted differently by the author. So, in the poem "Chonem mardezhysh sakenam ..." (he hung his soul in the wind ...), the wind for the poet is like salvation, like an opportunity to rise above the hateful vanity, when people are unable to listen and hear each other, constantly shift responsibility to others, as an expression of an attempt to preserve themselves, their soul, freedom of thought and actions:

Chonem mardezhysh sakenam,

Cat geun, shortmyzhym charna.

Mo oylyshashym oylenam –

Iktazh iktazhshym ketch sharna? ?…?

Chonem mardezhyshte koshten,

Izishlan my shyplanyem.

Ode to kert ?mylem toshken –

Fervor dene kechym shoyshtem ^{[4, p. 222]}

(He hung his soul in the wind,

If it dries, it will stop crying.

What should have been said, said –

Does anyone even remember anything? ?…?

My soul dried up in the wind,

I was quiet for a while.

You won't be able to trample my shadow –

I'll cover the sun with clouds).

         The dried–up (saved) soul of the poet in the wind, suffering from misunderstanding by the everyday consciousness of his "most beloved song", is a hyperbolic image that not only enhances the emotional background of the poem, but also vividly represents the author's reflections on the difficult fate of the poet and on the principles of life – real and imaginary. The author does not accept indifference and passivity, silence and lies. And he is ready to defend his values, his way of life, even if he is misunderstood, persecuted by the crowd (Ode to kert ?mylem toshken ...), ready to work, to seek the truth:

Shke sh?dyrem lyshtash koklashte,

Nyren gynat, kychal muam ^{[4, p. 69]}

(His star among the leaves,

I'll find it, even if it gets wet).

And he keeps hoping that his reader will change along with him, for whom a beautiful song will be born.:

Iktazh gana my school shke muam gyn,

Ik silne muro tylatat shochesh ^{[4, p. 18]}

(If I ever find myself,

One beautiful song will be born for you).

The wind is very often represented in variations of "blizzard", "storm", "blizzard", "blizzard". These images, like, in fact, the wind, if it is with them together in one poem, are mainly understood as a kind of hindrance in a person's life; these natural phenomena do not nourish the soul, do not give birth to creative power:

Om kychal poranyshte at murym,

Yuzhgunam kech palymyn shishka.

Chodyrashke unala om puro –

Kyzytesh mardezh tushto lyoshka.

Me ik semyn ogyna muralte.

yosht? muro ok k?l chonemlan ^{[4, p. 178]}

(I'm not looking for a new song in the storm,

Although sometimes it whistles familiar.

I will not enter the forest to visit –

While the wind is making noise there.

We won't sing a duet.

My soul doesn't need a cold song).

The same motive is noted in the poem "Peljd erten..." (Midnight has passed ...):

Oy voch kagazysh.

Petyrysh osh tylzym –

Mardezh shem pylym poktylyn konden. ...

Yomesh tyge,

Shochdegych, mynyar muro ^{[4, p. 64]}

(It didn't fit on paper.

The wind drove a black cloud. ...

Closed the white moon –

It gets lost like this,

Without being born, how many songs).

But in the first poem ("Chonem mardezhysh sakenam ..."), the lyrical hero recognizes an important mission behind the blizzard: to sweep away unnecessary, unworthy, to expose evil and lies:

Om shudal my osh poran,

Tek kyshatym shtylesh.

Vesylan ynem k?rane,

Shoyashtet k? y?shtylesh ^{[4, p. 27]}

(I'm not scolding the white blizzard,

Let him cover your tracks.

I don't want to envy others,

Who bathes in your lies).

In the poem "Yal muchko, er kynel ..." (In the village, waking up early in the morning ...), the behavior of a village man concerned about how to get drunk is compared with a blizzard:

Yal muchko, er kynel, poran

Kapkam sh?kedyl oshkylesh.

Poshkudo puito mokmyrlan

Kychalyn arakam koshtesh ^{[4, p. 19]}

In the village, waking up early in the morning,

He walks, pushing the gate.

Like a neighbor with a hangover,

Wandering in search of wine).

In the poem, written at the beginning of the new century (2007), the author reflects on the tragic state of the Mari village (lack of stable and decent earnings, social depression, alcoholism, generating anger and chaos), about the destruction of the usual way of life and traditional values, which obviously gave rise to the image of a destructive natural element associated with a person in the poem:

Nigga oy purto.

Shydeshken

Tale pyrt osallanash.

Osh lumym urzo den kyshken,

Uremym, korny levedash ^{[4, p. 19]}

(No one let me in.

Angry,

Started messing up a little.

Throwing a handful of white snow,

Cover the street, the road).

But the poet does not intend to give up before this "dirty trick": he understands that evil is eternal (Noah, osal zhaplan gyn), that the poet's fate is unchanged – to clean and pave the way.

It should be noted that Albert Vasiliev thinks a lot about how to change people, the world; in this system of artistic and philosophical coordinates, the image of the wind of change appears in his lyrics:

Mardezh, kunam ves mogyrysh pualyn

Kertat ?shanym yallan p?rtylten?  ^{[4, p. 232]}

(The wind, when to blow in the other direction

Will you be able to return hope to the village?)

The author writes that there are many waiting for him, but in order to improve the world, you need to act yourself:

My namysemzhym v?dyl popanash

Y?rash om t?ch? l?chysh? samanlan ^{[4, p. 53]}

(I, having wrapped my shame,

I'm not trying to please the swollen era).

He dreams of the time when the village will flourish again, people will return from the cities, agriculture will develop. But now the wind is howling in an empty barn, the tyretpuch (musical trumpet) and the Mari drum have quieted down. He compares himself living in a new village with a leaky drum, and reflects on whether he will remain in the memory of posterity – a poet or a peasant:

Sadlan om pale: myyn mo en tj?.

Kuzela k?chyk ?myrim aklash.

Poet, kresanyk – lachak kudo L?mj?

At tukymlan kodesh sharnash ^{[4, p. 282]}

(So I don't know what is the most important thing for me.

How to evaluate a short life.

Poet, peasant – exactly what name

The new generation will remember).

Let's consider a few more options for using the wind image by the author. So, in the poem "Mardezh, Mardezh, tynar it osallane..." (Wind, wind, so don't rage ...), the lyrical hero asks the wind not to rage too much and not to demonstrate his power so zealously. He assures that he has enough strength to defeat him, that he will be able to go against the wind, without humping, with confident steps.

Aram shonet, my vet nacharzhak washed,

Aram shonet, ogesh vorane somyl ^{[4, p. 255]}

(You shouldn't think I'm that bad,

You think in vain, things are not going well).

Albert Vasiliev associates the image of the wind with different seasons of the year, in each of them it is individual in meaning and in emotional tone. The poet is afraid to freeze during the winter wind, the wind in the rainy autumn weather makes him uncomfortable, weighs down his soul. But the summer wind is his pleasant companion.

The lyrical hero wants to quickly part (drive away) with the autumn wind, which sweeps leaves from the trees and makes him sad:

Ala mardezh lyshtashym k?rysht

Kyshka da serysh semyn yrysh,

Onchen shogen om kert laskan,

Oilem ereak shyzhylan:

"Kuzhun it shogylt, oshkyl vele" ^{[4, p. 78]}

(Probably the wind, tearing the leaves,

Throws and like letters – in the rain,

I can't look calmly

I always say autumn:

"Don't mess around for a long time, come on in").

In another poem, "Ydymal mardezh ok condo shokshym ..." (The North wind does not bring heat ...), on the contrary, the lyrical hero wants to stop the autumn wind, which he calls gentle, and asks him not to rush to "bring" winter:

Lai mardezh, vashken it condo telym.

Kuzhunrakyn shyzhym pu ilash.

Narynche lyshtashyn erkyn velim

Shym onchash da chamanen shortash ^{[4, p. 105]}

(Gentle wind, don't rush to bring winter.

Let me live longer in autumn.

How the yellow leaves are falling quietly,

Let me look with regret and cry with pity).

In the poem "It man" (Don't tell) Albert Vasiliev used the phrase "Mardezh kuem kudashyn shogalten" (The wind exposed the birch), in which the concept of "wind" is associated with the semantic context of age (autumn – old age, spring – love). 

It man: "Chochoy, orade liynat,

Yeratymash nergen vozet alat.

Vet tyyn shosho shukertak erten,

Mardezh kuem kudashyn shogalten" ^{[4, p. 138]}

(Don't say, "Grandpa, you've become a fool,

You write everything about love.

After all, your spring has long passed,

The wind exposed the birch").

In the poem "Oralgysh mardezh" (Hoarse Wind) ^{[4, p. 140]}, the wind tries to pluck an apple growing at the very top, but, failing to achieve its goal, it decides to pluck the leaves of the apple tree. This natural "story" allegorically conveys the behavior of an unreasonable person who takes out his anger on the family.

In another poem, the wind tries to pluck the leaves of a birch tree where a cuckoo is sitting. The wind believes that it may well replace it in the forest space. The author's idea, voiced with the help of images of the wind and the cuckoo, has a philosophical sound: everyone has their own purpose in life, there is no need to take on what is not given by nature. And the wind itself (meaning: the way) is different for everyone; everyone should write (finish) their own poem (life, fate), listening to the "voice" of their wind, finding their own motive and singing their own song, with their own experiences:

Uke liimek, muchashdyme poemym

Tek vese shkenzhyn semyn muchashla.

Mardezhym kolysht, muyn shlyk semym,

Chon ysyzh dene ykyn muralta ^{[4, p. 307]}

(When I'm gone, an unfinished poem

Let the other one finish in his own way.

Listening to the wind, finding a sad melody,

He will sing aloud about mental suffering).

Thus, in the poem "Who is my ?myr muchko ik poem ..." (I have been writing one poem all my life ...), from which the above fragment, the author proclaims personal and "core" existence as the most important principle of human life.

So, in Albert Vasiliev's poetry collection "Red Viburnum on white Snow", the image of the wind stands out with a special anthropomorphism, it is completely inscribed in the context of the author's reflections about himself and about the people around him, about modern society, as well as about life, the meaning and principles of human existence. The origins of the author's socio-philosophical reflections almost always lie in modern society, in the system of social and individual-human relations of the modern world. The author's assessments and reflections on the current state of society (the standard of living of the people, the state of the rural world of Mari, ethics, etc.), expressed through the image of the wind, not only reveal the social aspects of human activity, but also form the axiological concept of Albert Vasiliev's lyrics. The wind appears in various semantic variants: the expression of life's difficulties; the wind of change; opponent, assistant, friend of the author, etc. Most often, he leads the lyrical hero to melancholy and melancholy. The image of the wind in the lyrics is combined with other natural images (blizzard, storm, etc.), reinforcing its semantic load.