The working title of the poem "Smoke from the fire in a gray stream" is "Romance", which speaks of the melodiousness and melodiousness of Blok's lines. Alexander Alexandrovich writes poetry in 1909, in the year of receiving an inheritance after the death of his father and before the start of the traveler's voyages around Europe. The themes of love and Russia are intertwined in the poem; it is not without reason that the work was later included in the poetic cycle "Motherland".

The epigraph was taken by the poet from the well-known at the beginning of the 20th century romance “Stay with me”, written by N Zubov, and the poem itself was used more than once as lyrics, by the way, it perfectly fits the motive of the romance from the epigraph. In the work, the author uses stylistic repetitions that emphasize the main thread of the work, inversions and ring composition. This does not harm the melodiousness of the lines, but gives the verses a peculiar charm.

Love Theme

The tone of the whole poem is set by the words of the epigraph, but the theme of love is clearly traced in the lines themselves, for example:

The author turns to an unknown friend, whom he asks not to rush to leave, but to stay longer with him. The smoke of the fire emphasizes the romantic atmosphere, and the dusk that cuts through the scarlet light of dawn adds mystery and charm to the lines. I note that one of the dominants of the poem is the red (scarlet) color. This color scheme is a constant companion of love, it is also close to Russia, which is pushing its way to prosperity through the land soaked in its own blood.

The poet asks his girlfriend not only to stay with him until sunrise, but also offers to forget about the terrible outer world of civilization, which is beyond the boundaries of this mysterious meeting. According to the author, only here, in the silence of nature and in the aura of smoke from a fire, you can take a deep breath "breathe with heavenly depths." Blok offers the lady protection in the form of a steel but living ring of his hands, hoping to prolong the meeting and protect his companion.

Motherland Theme

Despite the dominant theme of love, the poem shows a disturbing feeling towards Russia. The outside world, that world outside the meeting, appears to Blok as a "terrible world":

Breathe in heavenly depths.

Spruce puts an airy crimson cross on the distance, which is perceived as a terrible prophecy, because crimson is the color of blood. The author prophesies against the backdrop of love about the bitter fate of the Motherland, but at the same time, he hopes that God's finger (cross) will protect Russia after it has passed the path of repentance.

In the last lines, the poet suggests becoming like the smoke of a fire and becoming a fog that flows into a scarlet circle. Didn't Blok see the country of the Soviets in 1909? Is it not the smoke from the fire that the people of Russia seem to be, is it not the fog that will disperse against the background of the crimson sky, because it was white-gray by nature?

Alexander Alexandrovich does not make the ending of the poem positive, but makes you think about the frailty of being and the destiny of man in the world. One of the keys that can open the doors of the dungeon of dullness (fog) and find oneself in life, according to Blok, is love. Let us pay tribute to her and the work of the great symbolist poet.

Don't leave. Stay with me
I have loved you for so long.

Smoke from a fire in a gray stream
It flows into the dusk, into the dusk of the day.
Only scarlet velvet with a scarlet robe,
Only the light of dawn - covered me.

Everything, everything is a deceit, gray fog
The sadness of gloomy places creeps.
And spruce with a cross, a crimson cross
He puts an air cross in the distance ...

Girlfriend, at the evening feast,
Slow down here, stay with me.
Forget, forget the scary world
Breathe in heavenly depths.

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok

Don't leave. Stay with me
I have loved you for so long.

Smoke from a fire in a gray stream
It flows into the dusk, into the dusk of the day.
Only scarlet velvet with a scarlet robe,
Only the light of dawn covered me.

Everything, everything is a deceit, gray fog
The sadness of gloomy places creeps.
And spruce with a cross, a crimson cross
He puts an air cross in the distance ...

Girlfriend, at the evening feast,
Slow down here, stay with me.
Forget, forget the scary world
Breathe in heavenly depths.

Look with sad delight
As smoke creeps into the light of dawn.
I will fence you in
A ring from the hands, a steel ring.

I will fence you in
A living ring, a ring from the hands.
And we, like smoke, need to flow
Gray mist - in a scarlet circle.

For the first time, the poem "Smoke from the fire in a gray stream ..." was published by the almanac "At Dawn" in 1910. Initially, the work had a title - "Romance". Subsequently, Blok decided to remove him. But in the final version, an epigraph appeared. It is taken from the famous to this day urban romance "Stay with me", the author of music and words to which is Nikolai Zubov (1867-1906?). The composition is dedicated to the Russian pop singer Anastasia Vyaltseva (1871-1913). With the public of the early twentieth century, the song gained popularity in the gypsy interpretation. Blok's poem repeats the rhythmic course of the romance composed by Zubov. Moreover - “Smoke from a fire with a gray stream ...” you can sing to the melody “Stay with me”. The musicality of the work of Alexander Alexandrovich is given through the use of various types of repetitions, ring composition, inversions. The image of a smoking fire is intended to create associations with nomadic gypsy romance, with freedom, with nights in an open field. A few years after the composition of the text in question, remarkable lines appeared in Blok's notebook: "... My soul imitates the gypsy, and its riot, and its harmony together."

The poem intertwines two themes. The first is love. It is also stated through the epigraph. “Stay with me” ends well: “The delight of love awaits us with you ...”. Blok refuses a happy ending. Love can only bring sadness to a lyrical hero and a woman dear to his heart. Therefore, the motive of parting comes to the fore. In Zubov's romance, the theme of love is revealed directly. Alexander Alexandrovich - with the help of symbols. In particular, we are talking about several references to red, which is considered a symbol of love, passion: “scarlet velvet with a scarlet robe”, “crimson cross”, “scarlet circle”. The second important theme for Blok's poem is reflections on the fate of Russia. No wonder the work "Smoke from the fire in a gray stream ..." is included in the cycle "Motherland". Until the end of the poem, Blok constantly reinforces the feeling of anxiety that arises in readers from the very beginning. It seems that the poet does not expect a bright future for his country. On the contrary, he sees future catastrophes. In the last stanza, dissolution in native spaces and unity with nature are offered as an alternative to the “terrible world”, which does not have the soul of civilization.

One, one -
Sleep, sleep...
But still -
Someone wakes up.

“Smoke from the fire is a gray stream ...”

Don't leave. Stay with me
I have loved you for so long.

Smoke from a fire in a gray stream
It flows into the dusk, into the dusk of the day.
Only scarlet velvet with a scarlet robe,
Only the light of dawn - covered me.

Everything, everything is a deceit, gray fog
The sadness of gloomy places creeps.
And spruce with a cross, a crimson cross
He puts an air cross in the distance ...

Girlfriend, at the evening feast,
Slow down here, stay with me.
Forget, forget the scary world
Breathe in heavenly depths.

Look with sad delight
As smoke creeps into the light of dawn.
I will fence you in
A ring from the hands, a steel ring.

I will fence you in
A living ring, a ring from the hands.
And we, like smoke, need to flow
Gray fog - in a scarlet circle.

August 1909

“It was, it was, it was…”

All this was, was, was,
The cycle of days has come to an end.
What a lie, what a power
Will the past bring you back?

At one o'clock in the morning, clean and crystal,
At the walls of the Moscow Kremlin,
The initial delight of the soul
Will my land be returned to me?

Or on the night of Easter, over the Neva,
Under the wind, in the cold, in the ice drift -
An old woman beggar with sticks
Will my corpse move calmly?

Or in the beloved glade
Under the rustle of gray autumn
I have a body in the rain mist
Will the young kite peck?

Or just in the hour of starless longing,
In some four walls
With the need of iron
Sleep on white sheets?

And in a new life, unlike,
Forget my old dream
And I will also remember the Doge,
How do I remember Kalita now?

But I believe - will not pass without a trace
All that I loved so passionately
All the thrill of this poor life
All this incomprehensible ardor!

August 1909 (Spring 1911)

“How they said goodbye, passionately swore ...”

How they said goodbye, passionately swore
In fidelity to love...
Together they shared secrets,
The nightingales sang...

Took a guitar goodbye
And the strings are torn
All confessions, promises,
Whole hearted delight...

Yes, sadness filled
String broke...
I wouldn’t call and didn’t beckon
Far side!

Remember, for God's sake,
Remember me,
Like gray fog from a log
Get up to the fence ...

“Everything on earth will die - both mother and youth ...”

Everything on earth will die - both mother and youth,
The wife will change, and the friend will leave.
But you learn to taste a different sweetness,
Looking into the cold and polar circle.

Take your boat, sail to the far pole
In the walls of ice - and quietly forget
How they loved, died and fought ...
And forget the seasoned land of passions.

And to shudders of slow cold
Teach your weary soul
She doesn't need anything to be here.
When the rays rush from there.

"From the crystal mist..."

From the crystal mist
From an unknown dream
Someone's image, someone's strange.
(In the restaurant room
over a bottle of wine).

The screech of a gypsy chant
Has flown from distant halls,
Distant violins cry misty
The wind enters, the maiden enters
Into the depths of striated mirrors

Eye to eye - and burning blue
There was space.
Magdalene! Magdalene!

The wind blows from the desert
Blowing fire.

Your narrow glass and blizzard
Behind the blind glass of the window -
Life is only half!
But behind the blizzard - the sun of the south
Burnt country!

The resolution of all suffering
All blasphemy and praise,
All the snaking smiles
All pleading movements, -
Break life like my glass!

So that on the bed of a long night
Not enough passion!
So that in the desert cry of violins
frightened eyes
The darkness of death has been extinguished.

"In these yellow days between houses..."

In these yellow days between houses
We meet only for a moment.
You burn me with your eyes
And hide in a dark dead end...

But eyes silent fire
You don't fool me,
And I bow down secretly for good reason
Before you, silent lie!

Winter nights will be thrown, perhaps
Us to a crazy and devilish ball,
And finally destroy me
Your smasher, your gaze, your dagger!

SONG OF HELL

The day burned out on the sphere of that land,
Where I was looking for ways and days are shorter.
There, lilac twilight lay down.

I'm not there. The path of the underground night
I descend, sliding, by a ledge of slippery rocks.
Familiar Hell looks into empty eyes.

On earth I was thrown into a bright ball,
And in the wild dance of masks and guises
I forgot love and lost friendship.

Where is my companion? - Oh, where are you, Beatrice? -
I walk alone, having lost the right path,
In underground circles, as custom dictates,

To sink among horrors and gloom.
The stream carries friends and women corpses,
Here and there a pleading glance flashes, or a chest;

A cry of mercy, or a gentle exclamation - sparingly
Breaks from the mouth; words died here;
Here it is tightened senselessly and stupidly

Ring of iron pain head;