Catalina Dorfman 





Prisoner



Alexander Pushkin




Related imageI'm sitting by bars in the damp blackened cell --                                   
The juvenile eagle, who's bred by the jail,
My mournful friend, with his wings stretching wide,
Is picking at bloody food right by my side.

He’s picking and looking at me through the bars,
Like having a thought that is common to us,                                        
Like calling to me with a glance and a sight,                                                                                  
And wanting to say, "Let us fly outside!

We're free proud birds; it is time for the friends
To fly to the white of the rock in a haze,
To fly to the blue of the sea and the sky,
Where evenly dwell only tempests ... and I!"





































































This picture represents the fact that the poet is locked up in jail but he is hopeful that he will be able to experience freedom one day after escaping from his cell.







Biography:

Alexander Pushkin was born into a noble family. He grew up in a house with constant visits from poets, musicians, and painters. He was first published in the journal The Messenger of Europe in 1814. In 1815, his poem "Recollections in Tsarskoe Selo," gained the approval of a great eighteenth century poet, Derzhavin. Alexander Pushkin´s poems included ideas of civic freedom and political rationalism which was a common idea in Russia at the time. His poems were quite controversial which caused many people to want Alexander Pushkin to be kicked out of Russia. So, in April 1820, his political poems led to an interrogation by the Petersburg government general and then to exile in South Russia.







Analysis:



¨Prisoner,¨ by Alexander Pushkin is about a man sitting in jail next to a friend. The other friend wants to be free from the jail. The speaker agrees, imagining the beauty that lies outside of the jail. The speaker experiences feelings of wanting to leave the jail. The speaker also views his friend as a common ally, in which they both feel pulled to freedom. The poem uses a metaphor to compare his friend to a eagle, ¨the juvenile eagle, who is bred in the jail.¨ This metaphor also provides information that "eagle-like" people often end up living in jail. The speaker uses a simile to describe the nature of interactions between the two friends ¨He’s picking and looking at me through the bars, like having a thought that is common to us.¨ This simile continues the eagle metaphor further by describing the jail mates invasive actions as bird-like. ¨Prisoner,¨ by Alexander Pushkin does not have a clear rhyme scheme, but the last two lines in the first and third stanza do rhyme. The stanzas are divided into three different main thoughts that the speaker expresses. The first stanza, concentrates on the speaker describing the jail cell in which he is living, while the second stanza expresses the thoughts of the jail mate, and his wishes for both of them to be free. The third stanza represents the wishes of the speaker and what he imagines life will be like outside his jail cell. The tone of the poem is optimistic. The speaker uses word choice that does not describe the jail as abusive or intolerable. The poem concentrates more on the hopefulness that the speaker feels towards a free life outside the cell. The poem also does not dwell on the difficulty the speaker will face having to escape the jail. Instead, the speaker describes the peaceful life he will experience outside of the cell. The theme of "Prisoner," is that the imagination of a better life can help you live through periods in your life when happiness seems impossible to obtain.





poem found at https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/pushkin/prisoner.html



picture found at https://adagracegospelchurch.org/sermons/an-unlikely-sanctuary



Biography information found at http://pushkin.ellink.ru/2018/english/push1.asp






















































































Comments









  1. AnonymousFebruary 12, 2019 at 7:37 PM
    I disagree that the "The juvenile eagle, who's bred by the jail," is a literal friend of the narrator. I interpreted the poem as if the juvenile eagle is representing the emotions of this prisoner. More specifically, the description of the eagle being "bred by the jail" shows us reading the poem, that this is emotion that all prisoners feel as they sit alone in their cells hoping for freedom. I do agree that the speaker is imagining the beauty that lies outside of this prison cell, which is more specifically described towards the end of the poem. Also, in addition to this dreaming of the outside world, the "eagle" is providing vivid images of this beauty form a birds eye view making the prisoner hope harder.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs. Del DottoFebruary 12, 2019 at 7:56 PM
    (Kate Humphreys' comment. . .)  I agree with your theme that the imagination can be used to help you through a harder period. The eagles in the poem can represent freedom. Like when a bird flies, the author feels free when he dreams of other places. Also, I liked you you interpreted the grouping of the stanzas. Instead of one large continuous poem, the author seperated the stansas into his thoughts.
    ReplyDelete











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