Тяжкий млат (О генезисе одного образа в «Полтаве»)

Abstract

Abstract: This note addresses the genesis of a famous image in Pushkin's narrative poem "Poltava": "Having born the blows of the fates, Rus´ grew stronger, just as the heavy hammer crushes glass but forges steel." We note a connection to the European Baroque's symbolism of the hammer as an ambivalent tool, one which both destroys and creates. Further, we propose that the structure of this poetic image reflects Pushkin's familiarity with the books of symbols and emblems common in Peter the Great's day, particularly the emblem titled "A Diamond beaten with hammers," which is a representation of hardness and constancy. In its Russian version, the accompanying motto for this emblem was " Vsegda nesokrushaem " ("Always indestructible"). However, Pushkin introduced important modifications to the emblematic image he uses, putting at its center not the idea of immutability but, to the contrary, the ability to change and improve. "Poltava" thus explains the historical significance of the Petrine transformations (and their accompanying tribulations) using an original take on the symbolic language of Peter's epoch.