Ivan Bunin, "Childhood". Poems and prose

In Russian literature, the work of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin occupies a special place already purely for a formal reason. Among the domestic writers of the twentieth century, there is not much that can be counted among those who received world recognition in the form of the Nobel Prize. And in spite of the fact that it is quite possible to understand those who are skeptical about such laureateism as such, it is still an indisputable fact of involvement in the chosen circle of the great figures of world culture. The creativity of any artist can not be understood without looking at the situation in which he lived. Let's take a closer look at it.

Ivan Bunin. Childhood in the Orel province

The beginning of the life of the future writer is connected with the middle stripe of Russia. The images of childhood are of decisive importance for the formation of any creative personality. The unique coloring of Russian nature and the modest life of the noble manor gradually coming to desolation will find repeated reflection in the poems and prose of the future Nobel laureate. Bunin dedicated his famous poem "Childhood" to memories of a very specific place. This is the village of Butyrka Yeletsky district of Orel province. It was here that the estate of Ozerki was located, the neighborhood of which was repeatedly portrayed in his works by Bunin. His childhood proceeded leisurely in his parents' home until he entered the gymnasium. To study in it, he had to move to the county town Yelets.

Ivan Bunin. "Childhood" is a poem. Subsequent creativity

Bunin begins to write poetry at the age of seventeen. And from the first steps he declared himself as a fully formed poet with his characteristic language and recognizable imagery. Bunin's poems are short. In them it is impossible to find a single superfluous word, nothing can be added or subtracted.

The work, which has become a classic of Russian poetry, has only twelve lines. They are difficult to detect any complex symbolic imagery. It's just a emotionally painted description of a warm sunny day in a pine forest. The landscape is transmitted through the sensations of a ten-year-old boy. If you compare with painting, this is pure impressionism. But still it would hardly be an excuse to talk about the author as a classic of Russian literature, if he limited himself to short poetic sketches. And if Bunin's poems are short, then it is not always possible to say this about his prose.

Poetry and prose

Russian reading public Bunin became known at first as a master of short sketches about Russian provincial realities of the beginning of the century. They are very far from that idyllic worldview that the poet Bunin became known for. Childhood remained in the old abandoned manor in Orel province.

It should be noted that Ivan Bunin's poetry and prose were somewhat aloof from the dominant literary trends. In them it is difficult to find a sophisticated symbolic imagery and modernist tendencies. This is much closer to traditional Russian realism. But all the artistic and artistic bohemia, among which the writer revolved, lived a united feeling of the catastrophe that was approaching Russia. It did not take her so long to wait.

War and Revolution

The social upheavals of the beginning of the century put the whole enlightened part of Russian society in front of a tough choice. It often happened not so much between white and red, how many meanwhile, to live or die. This explains the fact that a large part of the Russian intellectual elite at the end of the civil war was outside its homeland.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin was among those who believed to the last degree and hoped for the victory of the White movement. From Odessa, the writer left in February 1920 as one of the last steamships. He emigrated to France. In fact, he will never return to Russia again, Bunin, like many Russian emigrants, refused to believe. But the coast of the country, where twelve lines of the poem "Childhood" was written, disappeared behind the ship for him forever.

Emigration

Outside Russia Bunin lived a long time and, at first sight, quite happily. He worked hard, worked and published widely. Bunin's books were published both in Russian and in translation into many European languages. Here he was overtaken by literary glory on a world scale. It so happened that most of his works he wrote far from his homeland. They would hardly have been created, had it not been for the longing for her irretrievable loss. This is something more than a simple emigrant nostalgia.

The famous poem "Childhood" unexpectedly acquires a new depth and symbolic sound. It becomes the image of forever lost homeland. It is from this spiritual source that the genius prose grows, to which Ivan Alekseevich Bunin became famous. Childhood, held in the middle zone of Russia, was a source of creative energy. It was enough for many years that the writer was destined to spend away from the Motherland.