The poem “Tender than Tender” was written by Mandelstam in 1909. It was included in the collection “Stone”. The young poet is only 18 years old. At this time, he studies at the Sorbonne, is in St. Petersburg in the "Tower" of Vyacheslav Ivanov.

There is information on the Internet that the poem is dedicated to Marina Tsvetaeva. This opinion is erroneous. Mandelstam and Tsvetaeva saw each other for the first time at Voloshin in Koktebel in 1915. Only in 1916 did Mandelstam and Tsvetaeva meet in Petersburg. Then Mandelstam came to Moscow several times to see Tsvetaeva. She called their relationship platonic. After one of the walks with Tsvetaeva in Moscow, Mandelstam allegedly wrote the poem "Tender than Tender."

It is tempting to see in this poem a portrait of Tsvetaeva and the prophetic path of her poetry, but the poems were written before the poets met.

Literary direction and genre

In 1909, the acmeist program (1912) was not yet announced, but the poem is already consonant with acmeist ideas, although it was written under the influence of evenings in the "Tower" of the symbolist Vyacheslav Ivanov. The images of the poem are concrete and material, the words are carefully selected and accurate. The poem "Tender than the Tender" is not at all studentish. About the genre, the poem is a declaration of love, love lyrics.

Theme, main idea and composition

The theme of the poem is admiration for the lover's appearance and inner world. The main idea is the exclusivity of the chosen woman. The subtext is the youthful confidence of the lyrical hero in his own exceptionalism and, hence, the ability to see the individuality, selectivity, inevitable loneliness of another person, woman.

The poem consists of eight and nine hundred. In the first stanza, certain details of the lover's appearance, her remoteness "from the whole world" find the reason - "from the inevitable." The second stanza begins with the same phrase that ends with the first. She rethought the details of her lover's appearance, which are filled with her soul.

Trails and images

The main paths in the poem are epithets that describe the face, hands, fingers, voice, eyes of a lover. Mandelstam uses tautology as an artistic device, repeating the same roots in the phrases of the adjective and noun: more tender than whiter than white. Thus, a superlative degree of quality is even brighter than when using a superlative degree of adjective: not just the most tender, but more gentle than the most tender.

Repetition of a pronoun your  all the time the reader returns to the personality of his lover. Communal constructions with a prefix not  repeated thrice. Word gentle, repeated twice in the first line and as if setting the tone for the whole poem, also begins with not, although this is part of the word root. This creates a general denial, the separation of the beloved from a number of other personalities.

In the center of the poem is twice repeated "from the inevitable." The substance leaves a mystery, not indicating the subject of the inevitable. In the second stanza, Mandelstam uses metaphorical epithets, from which the images acquire depth and ambiguity: non-chilling fingers, cheerful speech. Metaphor distance of eyes  again returns to the emotional alienation of the heroine declared in the first stanza.

Size and Rhyme

The poem "Tender than Tender" is unusual in terms of form. If you turn the stanzas into quatrains, you get a five-foot iambic with pyrrhic and internal rhymes, which in the last line becomes four-foot. Then only two middle lines in each stanza will rhyme, with one rhyme being male, and the second dactylistic. The rest of the lines will be rhymed. It will turn out a semi-caliber.

But Mandelstam divided each line into two parts. Thus, the poem became divergent, with two- and three-syllable lines alternating randomly. Four three-syllable lines of 16 consist of one independent word, that is, they have one stress. Such a leaping rhythm of the poem perfectly conveys the confused breath of a young man confessing his love, and this is difficult to do smoothly. In the end, the lyrical hero generally pauses, suffocates, shortening the lines.

Even more complex is the rhyming system of the poem. Each line rhymes, but randomly. In the first stanza, the central 4 lines rhyme with a cross rhyme, and the extreme - ring. That is, the rhyme is symmetrical with respect to the center of the stanza. In the second stanza, the symmetry disappears, the rhyme scheme: А‘бвГ‘вГ‘дбд. The cross rhyme of the central part of the stanza remains. But the first line of the second stanza generally rhymes with the first and last first stanzas.

The lack of orderliness and symmetry, the repeated repetition of words, sounds and rhymes - a feature of the complex formal organization of the poem, corresponding to the difficult expression of the feelings of a lover.

•   “Notre Dame,” analysis of Mandelstam’s poem
•   Leningrad, analysis of Mandelstam's poem

Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is considered not just a writer, but the embodiment of the spirit of the times and the idol of American youth of the 20s of the XX century. Today, American critics continue to call F.S. Fitzgerald’s “boom child”, “son of the prosperity era”, “laureate the jazz age”, basing his judgments not only on the content of the author’s books, but also on his life style.

The novel "The Night is Tender" is an attempt by the writer to restore with his help a shaky literary reputation. He did not work on any of his novels for so long and carefully. Therefore, it is not surprising that the novel has incorporated many of the gloomy moods that have prevailed over the writer in recent years. At the same time, “The Night is Tender”, again returning us to the “age of jazz” after its collapse, was the author’s final sentence to all this tragically frivolous decade.

The plot of the novel briefly boils down to the following. The young psychiatrist Richard Diver, whom everyone has a great future, spends the years of the First World War in Europe, studying psychopathology. The case brings him to a young girl Nicole Warren, suffering from a serious mental illness. Nicole fell ill under circumstances that her father, the main culprit of the misfortune, who “accidentally” seduced the girl several years ago, carefully concealed. Dick falls in love with Nicole and soon marries her, although friends in every possible way dissuade him from this. And they are right. For a while, Dick and Nicole live happily ever after. But then comes a gradual, at first even inconspicuous, overpowered. As Nicole recovers, Dick, breaking down, begins to slowly but steadily lose his spiritual strength and eventually comes to a complete moral decline. The finale of the book is pessimistic: the career of a talented doctor failed, his personal life also collapsed. After recovering, Nicole leaves her unsuccessful husband and marries one of her successful friends. Left alone, Dick returns to the backwater of the Midwest, forever disappearing from the life of Nicole and her rich friends.

F.S. Fitzgerald treasured the new book very much, hoping to restore with its help his shaky literary reputation. He did not work on any of his novels for so long, carefully finishing all the details. In total, work on Tender Night took about eight years; some scenes from the unfinished World Fair entered the novel, and then the writer prepared two more versions of the book before deciding to finally publish it.

For many years F.S. Fitzgerald rewritten not only individual episodes, but also entire chapters an infinite number of times, changing the composition and improving the style. In a letter to Maxwell Perkins, who was trying to morally support F.S. Fitzgerald, he, complaining of difficulties in working on the book, compared himself with Hemingway:

“Once, having a conversation with Ernest Hemingway, I told him that, contrary to popular belief, I am a tortoise, and he is a hare, and this is true, because all that I have achieved is achieved at the cost of long and hard work, while Ernest the makings of a genius are inherent, allowing him to do amazing things with ease. I have no lightness. If I give myself free rein, I can easily write only cheap stuff, but when I decide to write seriously, I have to fight every sentence until I turn into a hulking hippo. ”

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In the summer of 1915 Osip Mandelstam  met in Koktebel with Marina Tsvetaeva. This event was a turning point in the life of the poet, since he fell in love like a boy. By that time, Tsvetaeva was already married to Sergei Efront and raised her daughter. However, this did not stop her from reciprocating.

The novel of two iconic representatives of Russian literature did not last long and was, according to Tsvetaeva's memoirs, platonic. In 1916 he came to Moscow and met with the poetess. They wandered around the city for days, and Tsvetaeva introduced her friend to the sights. However, Osip Mandelstam did not look at the Kremlin and Moscow cathedrals, but at his beloved, which caused Tsvetaeva a smile and a desire to constantly make fun of the poet.

It was after one of these walks that Mandelstam wrote a poem that he dedicated to Tsvetaeva. It is completely unlike other works of this author and is based on the repetition of cognate words that are designed to enhance the effect of the overall impression and most fully emphasize the merits of the one that was honored to be sung in verse. “Your face is more tender than a tender one” - this is the first stroke to the poetic portrait of Marina Tsvetaeva, which, as the poetess later admitted, did not quite correspond to reality. However, later Mandelstam reveals the character traits of his chosen one, telling that she is completely unlike other women. The author, turning to Tsvetaeva, notes that “you are far from the whole world, and all yours are from the inevitable.”

This phrase was very prophetic. The first part of it alludes to the fact that at that time he ranked himself among the futurists, so her poems really were very far from reality. She often mentally rushed to the future and played out a variety of scenes from her own life. For example, during this period, she wrote a poem, which ended with a line that later became a reality - "My poems, like precious wines, will come their turn."

Regarding the second part of the phrase in the poem of Osip Mandelstam "Tender than tender", then the author seemed to look into the future and made a clear conviction from there that Tsvetayeva’s fate was already predetermined, and it was impossible to change it. Developing this idea, the poet notes that “from the inevitable is your sadness” and “the quiet sound of cheerful words.” These lines can be interpreted in different ways. However, it is known that Marina Tsvetaeva very painfully experienced the death of her mother. Plus, in 1916, she broke up with her best friend Sophia Parnok, to whom she had very tender and not only friendly feelings. The return to her husband coincided in time with the arrival of Osip Mandelstam in Moscow, who found Tsvetaeva in a state close to depression. True, behind a touch of feelings and words, the poet was able to discern something more. It was as if he had read the book of the life of Marina Tsvetaeva, in which he saw a lot of frightening and inevitable. Moreover, Mandelstam realized that the poetess herself guesses what is destined for her by fate, and takes it for granted. This knowledge does not overshadow the "distance" of the poetess, who continues to write poetry and stay in her own world full of dreams and fantasies.

Tsvetaeva later recalled that her relationship with Mandelstam was like a novel by two poets who constantly argue, admire each other, compare their works, curse and reconcile. However, this poetic idyll did not last long, about six months. After that, Tsvetaeva and Mandelstam began to meet much less often, and soon the poetess left Russia altogether and, being in exile, found out about the arrest and death of the poet, who wrote an epigram on Stalin and had the misfortune to read it publicly, that the poet

“Tender than Tender” Osip Mandelstam

Tender than tender
  Your face
  Whiter than white
  Your hand
  From the whole world
  You're far away
  And all yours
  From the inevitable.

From the inevitable
  Your sorrow
  And fingers
  Non-stop
  And quiet sound
  Cheerless
  Speech
  And distance
  Your eyes.

Analysis of Mandelstam’s poem “Tender than Tender”

In the summer of 1915, Osip Mandelstam met in Koktebel with Marina Tsvetaeva. This event was a turning point in the life of the poet, since he fell in love like a boy. By that time, Tsvetaeva was already married to Sergei Efront and raised her daughter. However, this did not stop her from reciprocating.

The novel of two iconic representatives of Russian literature did not last long and was, according to Tsvetaeva's memoirs, platonic. In 1916, Mandelstam arrived in Moscow and met with the poetess. They wandered around the city for days, and Tsvetaeva introduced her friend to the sights. However, Osip Mandelstam did not look at the Kremlin and Moscow cathedrals, but at his beloved, which caused Tsvetaeva a smile and a desire to constantly make fun of the poet.

It was after one of these walks that Mandelstam wrote the poem "Tender than Tender", which he dedicated to Tsvetaeva. It is completely unlike other works of this author and is based on the repetition of cognate words that are designed to enhance the effect of the overall impression and most fully emphasize the merits of the one that was honored to be sung in verse. “Your face is more tender than a tender one” - this is the first stroke to the poetic portrait of Marina Tsvetaeva, which, as the poetess later admitted, did not quite correspond to reality. However, later Mandelstam reveals the character traits of his chosen one, telling that she is completely unlike other women. The author, turning to Tsvetaeva, notes that “you are far from the whole world, and all yours are from the inevitable.”

This phrase was very prophetic. The first part of it hints that at that time Marina Tsvetaeva ranked herself among the futurists, so her poems really were very far from reality. She often mentally rushed to the future and played out a variety of scenes from her own life. For example, during this period, she wrote a poem, which ended with a line that later became a reality - "My poems, like precious wines, will come their turn."

As for the second part of the phrase in Osip Mandelstam’s poem “Tender than Tender”, the author seemed to have looked into the future and made clear belief that the fate of Tsvetaeva is already predetermined, and it is impossible to change it. Developing this idea, the poet notes that “from the inevitable is your sadness” and “the quiet sound of cheerful words.” These lines can be interpreted in different ways. However, it is known that Marina Tsvetaeva very painfully experienced the death of her mother. Plus, in 1916, she broke up with her best friend Sophia Parnok, to whom she had very tender and not only friendly feelings. The return to her husband coincided in time with the arrival of Osip Mandelstam in Moscow, who found Tsvetaeva in a state close to depression. True, behind a touch of feelings and words, the poet was able to discern something more. He seemed to be reading a book of life by Marina Tsvetaeva, in which he saw a lot of frightening and inevitable. Moreover, Mandelstam realized that the poetess herself guesses what is destined for her by fate, and takes it for granted. This knowledge does not overshadow the "distance" of the poetess, who continues to write poetry and stay in her own world full of dreams and fantasies.

Tsvetaeva later recalled that her relationship with Mandelstam was like a novel by two poets who constantly argue, admire each other, compare their works, curse and reconcile. However, this poetic idyll did not last long, about six months. After that, Tsvetaeva and Mandelstam began to meet much less often, and soon the poetess left Russia altogether and, being in exile, found out about the arrest and death of the poet, who wrote an epigram to Stalin and had the misfortune to read it publicly, that the poet Boris Parsnip equated to suicide.

1916: the First World War is going on, the population is choking in loyal feelings, poets dispute the right to express the spirit of the era more precisely than others. Great domestic poets of the beginning of the XX century recalls Vladimir Averin.

Osip Emilievich Mandelstam (birth name - Joseph) - poet, prose writer and translator, essayist, critic, literary critic.

Joseph Mandelstam was born on January 3, 1891 in Warsaw into a glove family. His father was a merchant of the first guild, which gave him the right to live outside the Pale of Settlement, despite his Jewish origin. A year later, the family settled in Pavlovsk, then in 1897 moved to live in St. Petersburg. Here he graduates from one of the best St. Petersburg educational institutions - the Tenishevsky Commercial School.

In 1908-1910, Mandelstam studied at the Sorbonne and at the University of Heidelberg. By 1911, the family began to go broke, and training in Europe became impossible. In order to circumvent the quota for Jews on admission to St. Petersburg University, Mandelstam is baptized by a Methodist pastor.

In 1910, in the journal Apollo, he first published his texts. Since November 1911, regularly participates in the meetings of the Poet Workshop. In 1912 he was a member of the Acmeist group. In 1913, the first book of poems by Osip Mandelstam "Stone" was published, immediately placing the author in a number of significant Russian poets. In the prewar years, Mandelstam was a frequent participant in literary evenings, where he reads his poems.

After October 1917, he lives in Moscow, then in Petrograd, then in Tiflis. Chukovsky wrote: "... he never had not only no property, but also constant settledness - he led a wandering lifestyle, ... I understood his most striking feature - homelessness."

The 1920s were a time of intense and varied literary work for Mandelstam. New poetic collections were published - "Tristia" (1922), "Second Book" (1923), "Poems" (1928). He publishes articles on literature, two books of prose - the novel "The Sound of Time" (1925) and "The Egyptian Brand" (1928). Several books for children came out.

In the fall of 1933, Mandelstam wrote the poem "We live without us feeling the country ...", for which in May 1934 he was arrested. Next - years of exile and a second arrest. Sentence - 5 years of camps. December 27, 1938 Osip Emilievich Mandelstam died in a hospital hut in a camp near Vladivostok. He was rehabilitated posthumously: in the case of 1938 - in 1956, in the case of 1934 - in 1987. The whereabouts of the poet’s grave is still not known.

In 1916, Osip Mandelstam lives in St. Petersburg and leads the Poets Shop. His life includes Marina Tsvetaeva. Friendship began, a kind of "poetic" result which became several poems dedicated to each other.

In transparent petropolis we will die
Where Proserpine rules over us.
In every breath we drink the mortal air
And every hour is our death year.

Goddess of the sea, formidable Athena,
Take off the mighty stone shell.
In transparent Petropolis we will die, -
It is not you who reigns here, but Proserpine.

Tender than tender
Your face
Whiter than white
Your hand
From the whole world
You're far away
And all yours
From the inevitable.

From the inevitable
Your sorrow
And fingers
Non-stop
And quiet sound
Cheerless
Speech
And distance
Your eyes.

Not believing Sunday a miracle
We walked to the cemetery.
- You know, land is everywhere for me
Reminds those hills

Where does Russia break off
Over the sea black and deaf.

From the monastery slopes
Wide meadow runs away.
Me from the Vladimir expanses
So unwilling to go south
But in this dark, wooden
And a holy fool
With such a misty nun
To stay is to be in trouble.

Whole elbow tanned
And a forehead a piece of wax.
I know - he stayed white
Under a dark brown strand.
Whole brush where from the bracelet
The strip still whitens.
Tauris fiery summer
Works such miracles.

How soon did you become a dark-skinned girl
And I came to the Savior of the poor,
Kissing without breaking away
But it was proud in Moscow.
All that remains for us is the name:
A wonderful sound for a long time.
Take with my palms
Poured sand.

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