Joachim Klein

Wiener Slavistisches Jahrbuch. Neue Folge, Jahrgang 11 (2023), Ausgabe 1, Seite 75 - 90

This paper is about a poem of 1773–1774 by Derzhavin which was not published in its time – an “Epistle“ adressed to lieutenant-colonel Ivan I. Mikhel’son. Dealing with the the Pugačev-Rebellion of 1773–1775, the poem tells the story of how the city of Kazan’ was conquered by Pugačev and then freed by Mikhel’son and his regular troops. Why did Derzhavin not wish to publish his poem? Due to a lack of data, an answer to this question must be hypothetical, yet it stimulates an analysis of the literary, biographical, social and political circumstances under which the “Epistle“ was created and then not published.

This article is written in German.

Keywords: G. Derzhavin, Pugachev-Rebellion, Ivan Mikhel’son, Kazan’, chinopochitanie, M. Lomonosov

Joachim Klein

Wiener Slavistisches Jahrbuch. Neue Folge, Jahrgang 9 (2021), Ausgabe 1, Seite 104 - 114

Derzhavin’s poem To Evgenii. Life at Zvanka is an important work of his later years. This paper aproaches it from three different angles: 1. The angle of the genre as a country house poem in its relation to Horace’s II epode Beatus ille.... 2. The angle of a contrasting backdrop which is established in the first stanzas of the poem: the imperial court at Petersburg. 3. A further angle is implicit in the poem: a contemporary disdain for gentry landowners. In the light of Peter I’s reforms their lifestyle could be perceived as a backward and even barbarian relic of medieval Russia. From this point of view Derzhavin’s idealized picture of country life can be interpreted not only as a criticism of court life, but also as an attempt to bring the Russian gentry’s way of life into accord with contemporary Russian culture. As in many of Derzhavin’s poems, we can assume a didactic intention: His Zvanka was supposed to serve as a model for the Russian country gentry to emulate.

Joachim Klein

Wiener Slavistisches Jahrbuch. Neue Folge, Jahrgang 7 (2019), Ausgabe 1, Seite 49 - 60

“Memento mori: Derzhavin's Ode On the Death of Prince Meshcherskii”. –Derzhavin's ode is not an epicedium, not an occasional poem on the death of a certain person, but rather a didactic poem about death and the fear of death. Its center of attention is, after all, not Meshcherskii, but the lyrical subject terrified by his encounter with death. Viewed as a didactic poem, the Meshcherskii-ode allows Derzhavin to position himself against a contemporary cult of death. This cult was practiced not only by Edward Young and his Night Thoughts, to which Derzhavin's poem is very close textually, but also by the Russian masons. Derzhavin depicts death not as a friend who liberates man from the burden of earthly life, but as a terrifying enemy; the drastic terms he uses to describe the horror of death harken back to the baroque tradition. Derzhavin confronts Young's and the masons' ‘love of death’ by resorting to the classical tradition as represented by the Horatian formula carpe diem: life is not a vale of tears, but a wonderful if only temporary gift from heaven. The article closes with a reflection on the concept of ‘occasional poetry’ and its relevance for understanding Derzhavin's poetic achievement.