The meaning of the felitsa ode. Literary analysis of the ode "Felitsa"

1. In 1781, it was printed, in a small number of copies, written by Catherine for her five-year-old grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, The Tale of Prince Chlorine. Chlor was the son of a prince, or king of Kiev, who was kidnapped by the Kirghiz Khan during his father's absence. Wanting to believe the rumor about the boy's abilities, the khan ordered him to find a rose without thorns. The prince went with this assignment. On the way, he met the Khan's daughter, cheerful and amiable. Felitsa. She wanted to go to see off the prince, but her stern husband, Sultan Bruzga, prevented her from doing so, and then she sent her son, Reason, to the child. Continuing the journey, Chlorine was subjected to various temptations, and among other things, he was called into the hut by his Murza Lentyag, who, by the temptations of luxury, tried to divert the prince from an enterprise too difficult. But Reason forcibly drew him further. At last they saw in front of them a steep rocky mountain, on which grows a rose without thorns, or, as one young man explained to Chlorus, virtue. Climbing the mountain with difficulty, the prince plucked this flower and hurried to the khan. The Khan sent him along with the rose to the prince of Kiev. “This one was so happy about the arrival of the prince and his successes that he forgot all the longing and sadness .... Here the fairy tale ends, and whoever knows more will tell another.”

This tale gave Derzhavin the idea to write an ode to Felitsa (the goddess of bliss, as he explained this name): since the empress loved funny jokes, he says, this ode was written in her taste, at the expense of her close ones.

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18. Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously etc. - a hint at the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the "Institution on the provinces", according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces. ()

19. That she renounced and be reputed to be wise. - Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of "Great", "Wise", "Mother of the Fatherland", which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for the development of a draft new code; she did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title of "Great" for her. (

The ode "Felitsa" by Derzhavin, a summary of which is given in this article, is one of the most famous works of this Russian poet of the 18th century. He wrote it in 1782. After the publication, Derzhavin's name became known. In addition, the ode has become a clear example of a new style in Russian poetry.

The name of the ode "Felitsa" by Derzhavin, the summary of which you are reading, received on behalf of the heroine "Tales of Tsarevich Chlor". The author of this work is Empress Catherine II.

In his work, this name Derzhavin calls the ruler of Russia herself. By the way, it translates as "happiness". The essence of the ode is reduced to the glorification of Catherine (her habits, modesty) and the caricature, even mocking depiction of her pompous surroundings.

In the images that Derzhavin describes in the ode "Felitsa" (a brief summary of the "Brifli" cannot be found, but it is in this article), one can easily recognize some persons close to the empress. For example, Potemkin, who was considered her favorite. As well as Counts Panin, Orlov, Naryshkin. The poet skillfully depicts their mocking portraits, while demonstrating a certain courage. After all, if one of them would be very offended, he could easily deal with Derzhavin.

He was saved only by the fact that Catherine II liked this ode very much and the empress began to treat Derzhavin favorably.

Moreover, even in the very ode "Felitsa", a brief summary of which is given in this article, Derzhavin decides to give advice to the empress. In particular, the poet advises that she obey the law, the same for all. The ode ends with the praise of the empress.

The uniqueness of the work

After reviewing the summary of the Felitsa ode, one can come to the conclusion that the author violates all the traditions in which such works were usually written.

The poet actively introduces colloquial vocabulary, does not shy away from non-literary statements. But the most important difference is that he creates the empress in human form, refusing her official image. It is noteworthy that the text confused and disturbed many, but Catherine II herself was delighted with it.

The image of the empress

In the ode "Felitsa" by Derzhavin, the brief content of which contains the semantic quintessence of the work, the empress at first appears before us in the usual god-like image. For a writer, she is a model of an enlightened monarch. At the same time, he embellishes her appearance, firmly believing in the depicted image.

At the same time, in the poet's poems, thoughts slip through not only about the wisdom of power, but also about the dishonesty and low level of education of its performers. Many of them are only interested in their own benefit. It is worth recognizing that these ideas have appeared before, but never before have real historical figures been so recognizable.

In the ode "Felitsa" by Derzhavin (he cannot yet offer a summary of the "Brifli") the poet appears before us as a bold and courageous discoverer. He makes an amazing symbiosis, complementing the laudatory ode with individual character traits and witty satire.

History of creation

It was the ode "Felitsa" by Derzhavin, the summary of which is convenient for a general acquaintance with the work, that made a name for the poet. Initially, the author did not think about publishing this poem. He did not advertise it and hid the authorship. He seriously feared the revenge of influential nobles, whom he did not portray in the best light in the text.

Only in 1783 did the work become widespread thanks to Princess Dashkova. A close colleague of the Empress published it in the journal Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word. By the way, the ruler of Russia herself gave her texts to it. According to Derzhavin, Catherine II was so moved when she first read the ode that she even began to cry. It was in such touched feelings that Dashkova herself discovered her.

The Empress certainly wanted to know who the author of this poem was. It seemed to her that everything was depicted in the text as accurately as possible. In gratitude for the ode "Felitsa" by Derzhavin, a summary and analysis of which is given in this article, she sent a golden snuffbox to the poet. It contained 500 chervonets.

After such a generous royal gift, literary fame and success came to Derzhavin. Not a single poet knew such popularity before him.

Thematic diversity of Derzhavin's work

Describing Derzhavin's Felitsa ode, it should be noted that the performance itself is a playful sketch of the life of a Russian ruler, as well as nobles especially close to her. At the same time, the text raises important issues at the state level. This is corruption, the responsibility of officials, their concern for statehood.

Artistic features of the ode "Felitsa"

Derzhavin worked in the genre of classicism. This direction strictly forbade the combination of several genres, for example, high ode and satire. But the poet decided on such a bold experiment. Moreover, he not only combined them in his text, but also did something unprecedented for the literature of that very conservative time.

Derzhavin simply destroys the traditions of a laudatory ode, actively using reduced, colloquial vocabulary in his text. He even uses frank vernacular, which, in principle, were not welcomed in the literature in those years. Most importantly, he paints Empress Catherine II as an ordinary person, abandoning her classical ceremonial description, which was actively used in such works.

That is why in the ode you can find a description of everyday scenes and even a literary still life.

Derzhavin's innovation

The ordinary, everyday image of Felicia, behind which the empress is easily guessed, is one of the main innovations of Derzhavin. At the same time, he manages to create the text so as not to reduce her image. On the contrary, the poet makes him real and human. Sometimes it seems that the poet writes it from nature.

While reading the poem "Felitsa", one can be convinced that the author managed to introduce into poetry the individual characteristics of real historical characters, taken from life or created by imagination. All this was shown against the backdrop of a domestic environment, which was depicted as colorfully as possible. All this made the ode understandable and memorable.

As a result, in the ode "Felitsa" Derzhavin skillfully combines the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of real heroes, and also introduces an element of satire. Ultimately, in the ode, which belongs to the high style, there are many elements of low styles.

Derzhavin himself defined its genre as a mixed ode. He argued that it differs from the classical ode in that in a mixed genre the author has a unique opportunity to talk about everything in the world. So the poet destroys the canons of classicism, the way for a new poetry is opened to the poem. This literature is being developed in the work of the next generation of author - Alexander Pushkin.

Meanings of the ode "Felitsa"

Derzhavin himself admitted that it was a great merit that he decided on such an experiment. The well-known researcher of his work, Khodasevich, notes that Derzhavin was most proud of the fact that he was the first Russian poet to speak in a "funny Russian style," as he himself called it.

But the poet was aware that his ode would be, in fact, the first artistic embodiment of Russian life, would become the germ of a realistic novel. Khodasevich also believed that if Derzhavin had lived to see the publication of Eugene Onegin, he would undoubtedly have found echoes of his work in it.

godlike princess
Kirghiz-Kaisatsky hordes!
Whose wisdom is incomparable
Discovered the right tracks
Tsarevich young Chlor
Climb that high mountain
Where a rose without thorns grows
Where virtue dwells,
She captivates my spirit and mind,
Let me find her advice.

Come on Felicia! instruction:
How magnificently and truthfully to live,
How to tame passions excitement
And be happy in the world?
Your voice excites me
Your son is escorting me;
But I am weak to follow them.
Reeling with the hustle and bustle of life,
Today I rule myself
And tomorrow I'm a slave to whims.

Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Don't value your peace
Reading, writing before laying
And all from your pen
Bliss you pour out on mortals;
Like you don't play cards
Like me, from morning to morning.

And I, sleeping until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday
I circle my thought in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
I turn arrows to the Turks;
That, having dreamed that I am a sultan,
I frighten the universe with a look;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm going to the tailor on the caftan.

Or in a feast I'm rich,
Where they give me a holiday
Where the table shines with silver and gold,
Where thousands of different dishes;
There is a glorious Westphalian ham,
There are links of Astrakhan fish,
There are pilaf and pies,
I drink champagne waffles;
And I forget everything
Among wines, sweets and aroma.

Or in the midst of a beautiful grove
In the gazebo, where the fountain is noisy,
At the sound of a sweet-voiced harp,
Where the breeze barely breathes
Where everything is luxury to me,
To the pleasures of thought catches,
Tomit and revitalizes the blood;
Lying on a velvet sofa
A young girl's feelings of tenderness,
I pour love into her heart.

Or a magnificent train
In an English carriage, golden,
With a dog, a jester or a friend,
Or with some beauty
I walk under the swings;
I stop in taverns to drink honey;
Or somehow bored me
According to my inclination to change,
With a hat on one side,
I'm flying on a fast runner.

Or music and singers
Organ and bagpipes suddenly
Or fist fighters
And dance amuse my spirit;
Or, about all matters care
Leaving, I go hunting
And amuse myself with the barking of dogs;
Or over the Neva banks
I amuse myself at night with horns
And rowing daring rowers.

Or, sitting at home, I'll show you
Playing fools with my wife;
Then I get along with her on the dovecote,
Sometimes we frolic in blindfolds;
Then I have fun in a pile with her,
I look for it in my head;
Then I like to rummage through books,
I enlighten my mind and heart,
I read Polkan and Bova;
Behind the Bible, yawning, I sleep.

Such, Felitsa, I am depraved!
But the whole world looks like me.
Who, no matter how wise,
But every man is a lie.
We do not walk the paths of light,
We run debauchery for dreams.
Between the lazy and the grouch,
Between vanity and vice
Did someone find it by chance
The path of virtue is straight.

Found - but lzya eh not be mistaken
We, weak mortals, in this way,
Where does the mind itself stumble
And he must follow the passions;
Where are the ignorant scientists to us,
How is the haze of travelers, darken their eyelids?
Everywhere temptation and flattery lives,
Luxury oppresses all pashas. -
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?

You alone are only decent,
Princess! create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
Strengthen their integrity with a union;
Out of disagreement, agreement
And from ferocious passions happiness
You can only create.
So the helmsman, floating through the show,
Catching the roaring wind under sail,
Knows how to steer a ship.

Only you will not offend,
Don't offend anyone
You see foolishness through your fingers,
Only evil cannot be tolerated alone;
You correct misdeeds with indulgence,
Like a wolf of sheep, you don't crush people,
You know exactly the price of them.
They are subject to the will of kings, -
But God is more just,
Living in their laws.

You think sensibly about merits,
You honor the worthy
You don't call him a prophet
Who can only weave rhymes,
And what is this crazy fun
Caliphs good honor and glory.
You condescend to the lyre way;
Poetry is kind to you
Pleasant, sweet, useful,
Like summer lemonade.

There are rumors about your actions
That you are not at all proud;
Kind in business and in jokes,
Pleasant in friendship and firm;
What are you indifferent to misfortunes,
And in glory so generous
What renounced and be reputed to be wise.
They also say it's easy
What seems to be always possible
You and tell the truth.

Also unheard of
Worthy of you! one
What if you boldly people
About everything, both awake and at hand,
And let you know and think,
And you don't forbid yourself
And the truth and fiction to speak;
As if to the most crocodiles,
Your all graces zoila
You always tend to forgive.

Aspire to tears of pleasant rivers
From the depths of my soul.
O! as long as people are happy
There must be their own destiny,
Where is the meek angel, the peaceful angel,
Hidden in porphyry lordship,
A scepter was sent down from heaven to carry!
There you can whisper in conversations
And, without fear of execution, at dinners
Do not drink for the health of kings.

There with the name of Felitsa you can
Scrape the typo in the line,
Or a portrait carelessly
Drop her on the ground
There are no clownish weddings,
They are not fried in ice baths,
Do not click in the mustache of the nobles;
Princes don't cackle with hens,
Lovers in reality they do not laugh
And they don't stain their faces with soot.

You know, Felitsa! Rights
And men and kings;
When you enlighten morals,
You don't fool people like that;
In your rest from work
You write teachings in fairy tales,
And Chlorine in the alphabet you repeat:
"Don't do anything wrong
And the evil satyr himself
You will make a despicable liar."

You are ashamed to be known as that great
To be terrible, unloved;
Bear decently wild
Animals to tear and their blood to drink.
Without extreme distress in a fever
That lancet needs funds,
Who could do without them?
And is it nice to be that tyrant,
Great in atrocity Tamerlane,
Who is great in goodness, like God?

Felitsa glory, glory to God,
Who pacified the battles;
Which is orphaned and wretched
Covered, clothed and fed;
Who with a radiant eye
Jesters, cowards, ungrateful
And gives his light to the righteous;
Equally enlightens all mortals,
The sick rests, heals,
Doing good only for good.

who gave freedom
Jump into foreign areas
Allowed his people
Look for silver and gold;
Who allows water
And the forest does not prohibit cutting;
Orders and weave, and spin, and sew;
Untying the mind and hands,
Commands to love trades, science
And find happiness at home;

Whose law, right hand
They give both mercy and judgment. -
Tell me, wise Felitsa!
Where is the rogue different from the honest?
Where does old age not roam the world?
Does he find bread for himself?
Where revenge does not drive anyone?
Where do conscience and truth dwell?
Where do virtues shine?
Is it your throne!

But where does your throne shine in the world?
Where, heavenly branch, do you bloom?
In Baghdad, Smyrna, Cashmere?
Listen, wherever you live, -
Accepting my praises to you,
Don't think that hats or beshmetya
For them I wished from you.
Feel the goodness
Such is the wealth of the soul,
Which Croesus did not collect.

I ask the great prophet
Let me touch the dust of your feet,
Yes, your sweetest current words
And enjoy the sight!
Heavenly I ask for strength,
Yes, their outstretched safir wings,
Invisibly you are kept
From all diseases, evils and boredom;
Yes, your deeds in the offspring sounds,
Like stars in the sky, they will shine.

Notes

Felitsa (p. 97). For the first time - “Interlocutor”, 1783, part 1, p. 5, without a signature, under the title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz princess Felitsa, written by a Tatar murza who has long settled in Moscow, and who lives on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic 1782. To the last words, the editors gave a note: "Although we do not know the name of the writer, we know that this ode was definitely composed in Russian." Pech. according to Ed. 1808, v. 1, p. 36. Having written an ode in 1782, he did not dare to print it, fearing the revenge of noble nobles depicted in a satirical plan. The poet's friends, N.A. Lvov and V.V., were of the same opinion. By chance, the ode fell into the hands of a good friend, an adviser to the director of the Academy of Sciences, a writer, figure in the field of public education, later Minister Osip Petrovich Kozodavlev (early 1750s - 1819), who began to show it to different people, including Among them, he introduced her to Princess E. R. Dashkova, who was appointed director of the Academy of Sciences in 1783. Dashkova liked the ode, and when the publication of The Interlocutor was undertaken in May 1783 (Kozodavlev became the editor of the journal), it was decided to open the first issue of Felice (Ob. D., 601). The publication of the Sobesednik was due to the political events of the early 1780s, the intensification of Catherine’s struggle with the noble opposition, the empress’s desire to “use journalism as a means of influencing minds, as an apparatus for disseminating favorable interpretations of the phenomena of the country’s internal political life” (P Berkov N. History of Russian journalism of the 18th century (M.-L., 1952, p. 332). One of the ideas persistently pursued by Catherine in the huge “Notes on Russian History” was the idea noted by Dobrolyubov that the sovereign “is never the fault of civil strife, but always the resolver of strife, the peacemaker of princes, the defender of the right, if only he follows the suggestions of his own hearts. As soon as he does an injustice that cannot be hidden or justified, then all the blame falls on evil advisers, most often on the boyars and the clergy ”(N. A. Dobrolyubov. Works, vol. 1. L., 1934, p. 49) . Therefore, "Felitsa", panegyric portraying Catherine and satirically - her nobles, fell into the hands of the government, Catherine liked. received a golden snuffbox with 500 chervonets as a gift from the Empress and was personally introduced to her. The high merits of the ode brought her success in the circles of the most advanced contemporaries, wide popularity at that time. A. N. Radishchev, for example, wrote: “If you add many stanzas from the ode to Felitsa, and especially where Murza describes himself, almost the same poetry will remain without poetry” (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 2, 1941, p.217). “Everyone who can read Russian has found herself in her hands,” Kozodavlev testified (“Interlocutor”, 1784, part 16, p. 8). The very name "Felitsa" Derzhavin took from "The Tale of Tsarevich Chlorus", written by Catherine II for her grandson Alexander (1781). “The author called himself Murza because ... he came from a Tatar tribe; and the empress - Felice and the Kyrgyz princess, because the late empress composed a fairy tale under the name of Tsarevich Chlor, whom Felitsa, that is, the goddess of bliss, accompanied to the mountain where a rose without thorns blooms, and that the author had his villages in the Orenburg province in the neighborhood from the Kyrgyz horde, which was not listed as a citizen ”(Ob. D., 593). In the manuscript of 1795 (see above, p. 363), the interpretation of the name "Felitsa" is somewhat different: "wisdom, grace, virtue" (Manuscript Department of the GPB, F. XIV. 16, p. 408). This name was formed by Catherine from the Latin words "felix" - "happy", "felicitas" - "happiness".

Your son is accompanying me. In the tale of Ekaterina, Felitsa gave Tsarevich Chlor her son Reason as a guide.

Not imitating your Murzas, that is, courtiers, nobles. The word "Murza" is used by Derzhavin in two ways. When Murza speaks about Felitsa, then Murza means the author of the ode. When he speaks as if about himself, then the murza is a collective image of a nobleman-court.

You read, you write before the tax. Derzhavin has in mind the legislative activity of the Empress. Naloy (obsolete, colloquial), more precisely "lectern" (church) - a high table with a sloping top, on which icons or books are placed in the church. Here it is used in the sense of "table", "desk".

You can't saddle a parnasca horse. Catherine did not know how to write poetry. Arias and poems for her literary works were written by her secretaries of state Elagin, Khrapovitsky and others. Parnassian horse - Pegasus.

You don't go to the spirits in the assembly, You don't go from the throne to the East - that is, you don't attend Masonic lodges, meetings. Catherine called the Freemasons "a sect of spirits" (Khrapovitsky's Diary. M., 1902, p. 31). "Easts" were sometimes called Masonic lodges (Grot, 2, 709-710). Masons in the 80s 18th century - members of organizations ("lodges") that professed mystical and moralistic teachings and were in opposition to the Catherine's government. Freemasonry was divided into various currents. One of them, Illuminism, belonged to a number of leaders of the French Revolution of 1789. In Russia, the so-called “Moscow Martinists” (the largest of them in the 1780s were N.I. in publishing, I. V. Lopukhin, S. I. Gamaleya, and others) were especially hostile towards the empress. They considered her an invader of the throne and wished to see on the throne the "legitimate sovereign" - the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, the son of Emperor Peter III, deposed from the throne by Catherine. Paul, as long as it was to his advantage, was very sympathetic to the "Martinists" (according to some evidence, he even adhered to their teachings). Freemasons have become especially active since the mid-1780s, and Catherine composes three comedies: “The Siberian Shaman”, “Deceiver” and “Seduced”, writes “The Secret of the Anti-Absolute Society” - a parody of the Masonic charter. But she managed to defeat Moscow Freemasonry only in 1789-1793. through police action.

And I, having slept until noon, etc. “Relates to the whimsical disposition of Prince Potemkin, like all three of the following couplets, who either got ready for war, or practiced dressing up, in feasts and all kinds of luxuries” (Ob. D., 598).

Zug - a team of four or six horses in pairs. The right to drive in a train was a privilege of the highest nobility.

I'm flying on a fast runner. This also applies to Potemkin, but “more to c. Al. Gr. Orlov, who was a hunter before horse racing” (Ob. D., 598). At the Orlov stud farms, several new breeds of horses were bred, of which the breed of the famous "Orlov trotters" is the most famous.

Or fist fighters - also refers to A. G. Orlov.

And I amuse myself with the barking of dogs - refers to P.I. Panin, who loved dog hunting (Ob. D., 598).

I amuse myself at night with horns, etc. “Refers to Semyon Kirillovich Naryshkin, who was then the master of the hunt, who was the first to start horn music” (Ob. D., 598). Horn music is an orchestra consisting of serf musicians, in which only one note can be played from each horn, and all together are, as it were, one instrument. Walks of noblemen along the Neva, accompanied by a horn orchestra, were a common occurrence in the 18th century.

Ile, sitting at home, I will tell. “This couplet generally refers to the ancient customs and amusements of Russians” (Ob. D., 958).

I read Polkan and Bova. "Relates to the book. who loved to read novels (which the author, while serving in his team, often read in front of him, and it happened that both dozed and did not understand anything) - Polkan and Bovu and famous old Russian stories ”(Ob. D., 599) . Derzhavin is referring to the translated novel about Bova, which later turned into a Russian fairy tale.

But every person is a lie - a quote from the Psalter, from Psalm 115.

Between the lazy and the grouch. Lentyag and Grumpy are the characters of the fairy tale about Tsarevich Khlor. “As far as is known, she meant by the first book. Potemkin, and under another book. , because the first, as mentioned above, led a lazy and luxurious life, and the second often grumbled when money was demanded from him, as a manager of the treasury ”(Ob. D., 599).

Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously, etc., is an allusion to the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the "Institution on the provinces", according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces.

What renounced and be reputed to be wise. Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of “Great”, “Wise”, “Mother of the Fatherland”, which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for the development of a draft new code; she did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title of "Great" for her.

And you allow to know and think. In the “Instruction” of Catherine II, which she compiled for the Commission for the development of a draft new code and was a compilation of the works of Montesquieu and other philosophers of the Enlightenment of the 18th century, there are indeed a number of articles, a summary of which is this stanza. However, it was not for nothing that he called the “Instruction” “hypocritical”: we have heard a huge number of “cases” of people arrested by the Secret Expedition precisely on charges of “speaking” “indecent”, “obscene”, etc. words addressed to the Empress, heir to the throne, Prince. Potemkin, etc. Almost all of these people were brutally tortured by the "whip fighter" Sheshkovsky and severely punished by secret courts.

There you can whisper in conversations, etc., and the next stanza is an image of cruel laws and customs at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. As Derzhavin notes (Ob. D., 599-600), there were laws according to which two people whispering to each other were considered intruders against the empress or the state; who did not drink a large glass of wine, “offered for the health of the queen”, who accidentally dropped a coin with her image were suspected of malicious intent and ended up in the Secret Chancellery. A slip of the pen, an amendment, a scraping, a mistake in the imperial title entailed punishment with whips, as well as the transfer of the title from one line to another. Rude clownish "amusements" were widespread at court, such as the famous wedding of Prince Golitsyn, who was a jester at court, for which an "ice house" was built; titled jesters sat in baskets and clucked chickens, etc.

You write teachings in fairy tales. Catherine II wrote for her grandson, in addition to The Tale of Tsarevich Chlor, The Tale of Tsarevich Fevey (see note on p. 378).

Don't do anything bad. "Instruction" to Chlorus, transcribed by Derzhavin into verse, is in the appendix to the "Russian alphabet for teaching youth to read, printed for public schools by the highest command" (St. Petersburg, 1781), which was also composed by Catherine for her grandchildren.

Lancet means - i.e. bloodshed.

Tamerlane (Timur, Timurleng) - Central Asian commander and conqueror (1336-1405), distinguished by extreme cruelty.

Who pacified the battle, etc. “This couplet refers to the time of peace at that time, after the end of the first Turkish war (1768-1774 - V.Z.) flourished in Russia, when many philanthropic institutions were made by the empress, such as: educational house, hospitals and others” (Ob. D., 600).

Who granted freedom, etc. Derzhavin lists some laws issued by Catherine II that were beneficial to the noble landlords and merchants: she confirmed the permission given by Peter III to the nobles to travel abroad; allowed landowners to develop ore deposits in their possessions for their own benefit; lifted the ban on logging on their lands without government control; “allowed free navigation on the seas and rivers for trade” (Ob. D., 600), etc.

Appendix to the ode: "Felitsa".

SKETCH OF THE ORIGINALLY INTENDED ODE TO CATHERINE.

You, who alone, without the help of a minister, follow the example of the gods, hold everything with your hand and see everything with your own eyes!

Great Empress, if, out of prudence, I have so far remained in respectful silence and have not praised you, it is not because my heart hesitated to burn you the proper incense; but I know little how to praise, and my trembling Muse runs away from such an excessive burden and, not being able to speak worthily about your great deeds, is afraid, touching your laurels, so as not to dry them.

I am not blinded by vain desire and moderate my flight over my weak forces, and my silence is more reasonable than those brave mortals who desecrate your altars with an unworthy sacrifice; who in this field, where their self-interest leads, without strength and spirit dare to sing your name and who every day with an ugly voice bore you, telling you about your own deeds.

I do not dare to defame in them the desire to please you; but why, having no strength, to work without profit and, without praising you, only dishonor yourself?

To weave praise, it must be Virgil.

I cannot make sacrifices to the gods who do not have virtue, and I will never hide my thoughts for your praise: and no matter how great your power is, but if my heart did not agree with my lips in this, then no reward and no reasons would not I would have torn out not a word to your praise.

But when I see you with a noble fervor working in the performance of your office, bringing to shame the sovereigns, who tremble with labor and whom the burden of the crown oppresses; when I see you enriching your subjects with reasonable orders; the pride of the enemies trampling underfoot, opening the sea for us, and your brave warriors - helping your intentions and your great heart, conquering everything under the power of the Eagle; Russia - under your power that controls happiness, and our ships - Neptune of despising and reaching places from where the sun stretches its run: then, without asking if Apollo likes it, my Muse warns me in the heat and praises you.

History of creation. Ode "Felitsa" (1782), the first poem that made the name of Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin famous. It became a vivid example of a new style in Russian poetry. The subtitle of the poem specifies: “Ode to the wise Kirghiz-Kaisak princess Felitsa, written by Tatarsky Murza, who has long settled in Moscow, and who lives on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic. This work received its unusual name from the name of the heroine of the “Tales of Tsarevich Chlorine”, the author of which was Catherine II herself. This name, which in Latin means happiness, is also named in Derzhavin's ode, which glorifies the empress and satirically characterizes her surroundings.

It is known that at first Derzhavin did not want to publish this poem and even hid the authorship, fearing the revenge of the influential nobles, satirically depicted in it. But in 1783 it became widespread and, with the assistance of Princess Dashkova, close empress, it was published in the journal Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word, in which Catherine II herself collaborated. Subsequently, Derzhavin recalled that this poem so touched the empress that Dashkova found her in tears. Catherine II wanted to know who wrote the poem in which she was depicted so accurately. In gratitude to the author, she sent him a golden snuffbox with five hundred chervonets and an expressive inscription on the package: "From Orenburg from the Kirghiz Princess to Murza Derzhavin." From that day on, Derzhavin gained literary fame, which no Russian poet had known before.

Main themes and ideas. The poem "Felitsa", written as a playful sketch of the life of the Empress and her entourage, at the same time raises very important issues. On the one hand, in the ode "Felitsa" a completely traditional image of a "god-like princess" is created, which embodies the poet's idea of the ideal of an enlightened monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:

Give, Felitsa, guidance:
How magnificently and truthfully to live,
How to tame passions excitement
And be happy in the world?

On the other hand, in the poet's verses, the thought sounds not only about the wisdom of power, but also about the negligence of performers who are concerned about their own benefit:

Everywhere temptation and flattery lives,
Luxury oppresses all pashas.
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?

In itself, this idea was not new, but behind the images of the nobles drawn in the ode, the features of real people clearly appeared:

I circle my thought in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
I turn arrows to the Turks;
That, having dreamed that I am a sultan,
I frighten the universe with a look;
Then suddenly, he was seduced by the outfit.
I'm going to the tailor on the caftan.

In these images, the poet's contemporaries easily recognized the favorite of the Empress Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, Naryshkin. Drawing their vividly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles offended by him could do away with the author for this. Only the favorable attitude of Catherine saved Derzhavin.

But even to the empress, he dares to give advice: to follow the law, which is subject to both kings and their subjects:

You alone are only decent,
Princess, create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
Strengthen their integrity with a union;
From disagreement - consent
And from ferocious passions happiness
You can only create.

This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded bold, and it was expressed in simple and understandable language.

The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:

Heavenly I ask for strength,
Yes, stretching their sapphire wings,
Invisibly you are kept
From all diseases, evils and boredom;
Yes, your deeds in the offspring sounds,
Like stars in the sky, they will shine.

Artistic originality. Classicism forbade combining a high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin does not even simply combine them in characterizing different people depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. Violating the traditions of the genre of laudatory ode, Derzhavin widely introduces colloquial vocabulary and even vernacular into it, but most importantly, he does not draw a ceremonial portrait of the empress, but depicts her human appearance. That is why everyday scenes, a still life turn out to be in the ode;

Not imitating your Murzas,
Often you walk
And the food is the simplest
It happens at your table.

The “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in everyday life (“Not cherishing your peace, / You read, you write under a veil ...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if accurately written off from nature. Reading the poem "Felitsa", you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the background of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems vivid, memorable and understandable.

Thus, in Felitsa, Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of the ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of "Felitsa" as a mixed ode. Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where statesmen, military leaders were praised, solemn events were sung, in a "mixed ode" "a poet can talk about everything." Destroying the genre canons of classicism, with this poem he opens the way for new poetry - "poetry of the real ™", which received a brilliant development in Pushkin's work.

The value of the work. Derzhavin himself subsequently noted that one of his main merits was that he "dared to proclaim Felitsa's virtues in a funny Russian syllable." As rightly pointed out by the researcher of the poet V.F. Khodasevich, Derzhavin was proud "not that he had discovered the virtues of Catherine, but that he was the first to speak in a "funny Russian style." He understood that his ode was the first artistic embodiment of Russian life, that it was the germ of our novel. And, perhaps, - Khodasevich develops his thought, - had "old Derzhavin" lived at least until the first chapter of Onegin, he would have heard echoes of his ode in it.

Ode "Felitsa"(1782) - the first poem that made the name of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin famous, becoming an example of a new style in Russian poetry.

The ode got its name from the name of the heroine of the “Tales of Tsarevich Chlorus”, the author of which was Catherine herself, and this name, which in Latin means happiness, is also named in Derzhavin’s ode, glorifying the empress and satirically characterizing her environment.

The history of this poem is very interesting and revealing. It was written a year before publication, but Derzhavin himself did not want to print it and even hid the authorship. And suddenly, in 1783, news spread around St. Petersburg: an anonymous ode appeared Felitsa”, where the vices of famous nobles, close associates of Catherine II, to whom the ode was dedicated, were deduced in a comic form. Petersburg residents were quite surprised by the courage of the unknown author. They tried to get the ode, read it, rewrite it. Princess Dashkova, close to the Empress, decided to publish an ode to Krich in the very magazine where Catherine II herself collaborated.

The next day, Dashkova found the Empress all in tears, and in her hands was a magazine with Derzhavin's ode. The Empress asked who wrote the poem, in which, as she herself said, she portrayed her so accurately that she was moved to tears. This is how Derzhavin tells this story.

V " Felice» Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of the ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of "Felitsa" as a "mixed ode". Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where statesmen, military leaders were praised, a solemn event was sung, in a "mixed ode", "a poet can talk about everything."

Reading the poem Felitsa”, you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the background of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems vivid, memorable and understandable not only for people of his time. And now we can read with interest the poems of this remarkable poet, separated from us by a huge distance of two and a half centuries.

Classicism forbade the combination of high ode and satire, which belonged to low genres, in one work. But Derzhavin does not even just combine them in the characterization of different persons, bred in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. The “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in an ordinary way (“You often walk on foot ...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if accurately written off from nature.

But far from everyone liked this poem as much as the Empress. It puzzled and alarmed many of Derzhavin's contemporaries. What was so unusual and even dangerous about him?

On the one hand, in the ode "Felitsa" a completely traditional image of a "god-like princess" is created, which embodies the poet's idea of the ideal of the Right Reverend Monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:

Give, Felitsa, guidance:

How magnificently and truthfully to live,

How to tame passions excitement

And be happy in the world?

On the other hand, in the poet's verses, the thought sounds not only about the wisdom of power, but also about the negligence of performers who are concerned about their own benefit:

Everywhere temptation and flattery lives,

Luxury oppresses all pashas.

Where does virtue live?

Where does a rose without thorns grow?

In itself, this idea was not new, but behind the images of the nobles drawn in the ode, the features of real people clearly appeared:

I circle my thought in chimeras:

Then I steal captivity from the Persians,

Then I turn arrows to the Turks:

That, having dreamed that I am a sultan,

I frighten the universe with a look;

Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,

I'm going to the tailor on the caftan.

In these images, the poet's contemporaries easily recognized the favorite of the Empress Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles offended by him could do away with the author for this. Only the favorable attitude of Catherine saved Derzhavin.

But even to the empress, he dares to give advice: to follow the law, which is subject to both kings and their subjects:

You alone are only decent,

Princess, create light from darkness;

Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,

Strengthen their integrity with a union;

From disagreement to agreement

And from ferocious passions happiness

You can only create.

This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded bold and was expressed in simple and retrograde language.

The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:

Heavenly I ask for strength,

Yes, their outstretched safir wings,

Invisibly you are kept

From all diseases, evils and boredom;

Yes, your deeds in the offspring sounds,

Like stars in the sky, they will shine.

Listen to Derzhavin's ode "Felitsa"

Ode "Felitsa"

Don't like masquerades too much
And you won't even set foot in the clob;
Keeping customs, rituals,
Don't be quixotic with yourself;
You can't saddle a Parnassian horse,
You don’t enter the assembly to the spirits,
You do not go from the throne to the East;
But meekness walking the path,
Benevolent soul,
Useful days spend the current.
And I, sleeping until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday
I circle my thought in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
I turn arrows to the Turks;
That, having dreamed that I am a sultan,
I frighten the universe with a look;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm going to the tailor on the caftan.

Or in a feast I'm rich,
Where they give me a holiday
Where the table shines with silver and gold,
Where thousands of different dishes:
There is a glorious Westphalian ham,
There are links of Astrakhan fish,
There are pilaf and pies,
I drink champagne waffles;
And I forget everything in the world
Among wines, sweets and aroma.

Or in the midst of a beautiful grove
In the gazebo, where the fountain is noisy,
At the sound of a sweet-voiced harp,
Where the breeze barely breathes
Where everything represents luxury to me,
To the pleasures of thought catches,
Tomit and revitalizes the blood;
Lying on a velvet sofa
A young girl's feelings of tenderness,
I pour love into her heart.

Found - but lzya eh not be mistaken
We, weak mortals, in this way,
Where does the mind itself stumble
And he must follow the passions;
Where are the ignorant scientists to us,
How is the haze of travelers, darken their eyelids?
Everywhere temptation and flattery lives,
Pasha depresses all luxury.-
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?

You think sensibly about merits,
You honor the worthy
You don't call him a prophet
Who can only weave rhymes,
And what is this crazy fun
Caliphs good honor and glory.
You condescend to the lyre way:
Poetry is kind to you
Pleasant, sweet, useful,
Like summer lemonade.

Also unheard of
Worthy of you alone
What if you boldly people
About everything, both awake and at hand,
And let you know and think,
And you don't forbid yourself
And the truth and fiction to speak;
As if to the most crocodiles,
Your all graces to zoila,
You always tend to forgive.

There with the name of Felitsa you can
Scrape the typo in the line,
Or a portrait carelessly
Drop her on the ground.
There are no clownish weddings,
They are not fried in ice baths,
Do not click in the mustache of the nobles;
Princes don't cackle with hens,
Lovers in reality they do not laugh
And they don't stain their faces with soot.

You know, Felitsa! right
And men and kings;
When you enlighten morals,
You don't fool people like that;
In your rest from work
You write teachings in fairy tales
And Chlorine in the alphabet you repeat:
"Don't do anything wrong
And the evil satyr himself
You will make a despicable liar."

You are ashamed to be known as that great
To be terrible, unloved;
Bear decently wild
Animals to tear and their blood to pour.
Without extreme distress in a fever
That lancet needs funds,
Who could do without them?
And is it nice to be that tyrant,
Great in atrocity Tamerlane,
Who is great in goodness, like God?

Whose law, right hand
They give both mercy and judgment.-
Tell me, wise Felitsa!
Where is the rogue different from the honest?
Where does old age not roam the world?
Does he find bread for himself?
Where revenge does not drive anyone?
Where do conscience and truth dwell?
Where do virtues shine?
Is it your throne!

But where does your throne shine in the world?
Where, heavenly branch, do you bloom?
In Baghdad? Smyrna? Cashmere? -
Listen, where do you live, -
Accepting my praises to you,
Don't think that hats or beshmetya
For them I wished from you.
Feel the goodness
Such is the wealth of the soul,
Which Croesus did not collect.

_____________________________________
1. For the first time, the ode was published in the journal “Sobesednik”, 1783, part 1, p. 5, without a signature, under the title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz princess Felitsa, written by a Tatar murza who has long settled in Moscow, and who lives on business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic 1782. (return)

Commentary by J. Grot
1. In 1781 was printed, in a small number of copies, written by Catherine for her five-year-old grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, The Tale of Tsarevich Chlor. Chlor was the son of a prince, or king of Kiev, who was kidnapped by the Kirghiz Khan during his father's absence. Wanting to believe the rumor about the boy's abilities, the khan ordered him to find a rose without thorns. The prince went with this assignment. On the way, he met the Khan's daughter, a cheerful and amiable Felitsa. She wanted to go to see off the prince, but her stern husband, Sultan Bruzga, prevented her from doing so, and then she sent her son, Reason, to the child. Continuing the journey, Chlorine was subjected to various temptations, and among other things, he was called into the hut by his Murza Lentyag, who, by the temptations of luxury, tried to divert the prince from an enterprise too difficult. But Reason forcibly drew him further. At last they saw in front of them a steep rocky mountain, on which grows a rose without thorns, or, as one young man explained to Chlorus, virtue. Climbing the mountain with difficulty, the prince plucked this flower and hurried to the khan. The Khan sent him along with the rose to the prince of Kiev. “This one was so happy about the arrival of the prince and his successes that he forgot all the longing and sadness .... Here the fairy tale will end, and whoever knows more will tell another.

2. The poet called Catherine the Kyrgyz-Kaisat princess because he had villages in the then Orenburg region, next to the Kyrgyz horde, subject to the empress. Now these estates are located in the Buzulutsky district of the Samara province.

Commentary by V.A. Zapadov

3. Your son is accompanying me. – In the fairy tale of Ekaterina, Felitsa gave her son Reason as a guide to Tsarevich Chlor.

4. Not imitating your Murzas - that is, courtiers, nobles. The word "Murza" is used by Derzhavin in two ways. When Murza speaks about Felitsa, then Murza means the author of the ode. When he speaks, as it were, about himself, then the murza is a collective image of a nobleman-court.

5. You read, write before the deposit. - Derzhavin is referring to the legislative activities of the Empress. Naloy (obsolete, colloquial), more precisely "lectern" (church) - a high table with a sloping top, on which icons or books are placed in the church. Here it is used in the sense of "table", "desk".

6. You can’t saddle a parnasca horse. Catherine did not know how to write poetry. Arias and poems for her literary works were written by her secretaries of state Elagin, Khrapovitsky and others. Parnassian horse - Pegasus.

7. You don’t enter the spirits in the assembly, You don’t go from the throne to the East - that is, you don’t attend Masonic lodges, meetings. Catherine called the Freemasons "a sect of spirits" (Khrapovitsky's Diary. M., 1902, p. 31). "Easts" were sometimes called Masonic lodges (Grot, 2, 709-710).
Masons in the 80s 18th century - members of organizations ("lodges") that professed mystical and moralistic teachings and were in opposition to the Catherine's government. Freemasonry was divided into various currents. One of them, the Illuminati, belonged to a number of leaders of the French Revolution of 1789.
In Russia, the so-called "Moscow Martinists" (the largest of them in the 1780s were N. I. Novikov, a remarkable Russian educator, writer and book publisher, his assistants in publishing, I. V. Lopukhin, S. I. Gamaleya etc.) were especially hostile towards the empress. They considered her to be the invader of the throne and wanted to see on the throne the “legitimate sovereign” - the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, the son of Emperor Peter III, deposed from the throne by Catherine. Paul, as long as it was to his advantage, was very sympathetic to the "Martinists" (according to some evidence, he even adhered to their teachings). Freemasons have become especially active since the mid-1780s, and Catherine composes three comedies: “The Siberian Shaman”, “The Deceiver” and “Seduced”, writes “The Secret of the Anti-Absolute Society” - a parody of the Masonic charter. But she managed to defeat Moscow Freemasonry only in 1789-1793. through police action.

8. And I, having slept until noon, etc. - “Relates to the whimsical disposition of Prince Potemkin, like all three of the following couplets, who was either going to war or practicing dress, feasting and all kinds of luxuries” (Ob. D., 598).

9. Zug - a team of four or six horses in pairs. The right to drive in a train was a privilege of the highest nobility.

10. I fly on a frisky runner. - This also applies to Potemkin, but “more to c. Al. Gr. Orlov, who was a hunter before horse racing” (Ob. D., 598). At the Orlov stud farms, several new breeds of horses were bred, of which the breed of the famous "Orlov trotters" is the most famous.

11. Or fist fighters - also refers to A. G. Orlov.

12. And I amuse myself with the barking of dogs - refers to P.I. Panin, who loved dog hunting (Ob. D., 598).

13. I amuse myself at night with horns, etc. - “Refers to Semyon Kirillovich Naryshkin, who was then the Jägermeister, who was the first to start horn music” (Ob. D., 598). Horn music is an orchestra consisting of serf musicians, in which only one note can be played from each horn, and all together are, as it were, one instrument. Walks of noblemen along the Neva, accompanied by a horn orchestra, were a common occurrence in the 18th century.

14. Or, sitting at home, I'll prank. - "This couplet generally refers to the ancient customs and amusements of Russians" (Ob. D., 958).

15. I read Polkan and Bova. - "Relates to the book. Vyazemsky, who loved to read novels (which the author, while serving in his team, often read in front of him, and it happened that both dozed and did not understand anything) - Polkan and Bovu and famous old Russian stories ”(Ob. D., 599 ). Derzhavin is referring to the translated novel about Bova, which later turned into a Russian fairy tale.

16. But every person is a lie - a quote from the Psalter, from Psalm 115.

17. Between the lazy and the grouch. Lentyag and Grouch are the characters of the fairy tale about Tsarevich Chlor. “As far as is known, she meant by the first book. Potemkin, and under another book. Vyazemsky, because the first, as mentioned above, led a lazy and luxurious life, and the second often grumbled when money was demanded from him, as a manager of the treasury ”(Ob. D., 599).

18. Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously, etc. - a hint at the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the "Institution on the provinces", according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces.

19. That she renounced and be reputed to be wise. - Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of "Great", "Wise", "Mother of the Fatherland", which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for the development of a draft new code; she did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title of "Great" for her.

20. And you allow to know and think. - In the “Instruction” of Catherine II, compiled by her for the Commission for the development of a draft new code and which was a compilation of the works of Montesquieu and other philosophers of the Enlightenment of the 18th century, there are indeed a number of articles, a summary of which is this stanza. However, it was not for nothing that Pushkin called the “Instruction” “hypocritical”: a huge number of “cases” of people arrested by the Secret Expedition have come down to us on charges of “speaking” “indecent”, “obscene”, etc. words addressed to the Empress, heir to the throne, Prince . Potemkin, etc. Almost all of these people were brutally tortured by the "whip fighter" Sheshkovsky and severely punished by secret courts.

21. There you can whisper in conversations, etc., and the next stanza is an image of cruel laws and customs at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. As Derzhavin notes (Ob. D., 599-600), there were laws according to which two people whispering to each other were considered intruders against the empress or the state; who did not drink a large glass of wine, “offered for the health of the queen”, who accidentally dropped a coin with her image were suspected of malicious intent and ended up in the Secret Chancellery. A slip of the pen, an amendment, a scraping, a mistake in the imperial title entailed punishment with whips, as well as the transfer of the title from one line to another. Rude clownish "amusements" were widespread at court, such as the famous wedding of Prince Golitsyn, who was a jester at court, for which an "ice house" was built; titled jesters sat in baskets and clucked chickens, etc.

22. You write teachings in fairy tales. - Catherine II wrote for her grandson, in addition to "The Tale of Tsarevich Chlor", "The Tale of Tsarevich Fevey."

23. Don't do anything bad. - "Instruction" to Chlorus, transcribed by Derzhavin into verse, is in the appendix to the "Russian alphabet for teaching youth to read, printed for public schools by the highest command" (St. Petersburg, 1781), which was also composed by Catherine for her grandchildren.

24. Lancet means - that is, bloodshed.

25. Tamerlane (Timur, Timurleng) - Central Asian commander and conqueror (1336-1405), distinguished by extreme cruelty.

26. Who pacified the battle, etc. - “This couplet refers to the time of peace at that time, after the end of the first Turkish war (1768–1774 - V.Z.) flourished in Russia, when many philanthropic institutions were made empress, as then: an orphanage, hospitals and others.

27. Who granted freedom, etc. - Derzhavin lists some of the laws issued by Catherine II, which were beneficial to the noble landowners and merchants: she confirmed the permission given by Peter III to the nobles to travel abroad; allowed landowners to develop ore deposits in their possessions for their own benefit; lifted the ban on logging on their lands without government control; “allowed free navigation on the seas and rivers for trade”, etc.