Socio-philosophical motives in the poem «Don’t Leave the Room» by J. Brodsky

This article is devoted to the study of social and philosophical motifs of J. Brodsky’s creative work. During the research we analyze the content of the poem «Don’t Leave the Room». In analyzing the main trails and toposes, we define the idea of the poem and its conditional recipients. After analyzing the poem, we consider the conditions and factors of its writing. The main imperatives of the Soviet society of 1960–1970s, which played a key role in determining the author’s social-philosophical position in this poem, are given.

Key words: postmodernism, lyric hero, idiolect, personality, creative freedom, self-realization, Soviet type of person.

The urgency of the topic lies in the need for research social and philosophical side of creativity J. Brodsky, Nobel Prize winner and one of the most famous representatives of postmodernism. The poem «Don’t Leave the Room» is imbued with philosophy and subtle irony («And besides, incognito ergo sum»). Besides the value in understanding Brodsky’s personality, the poem conveys the spirit of the Soviet era. The poem reflects all the significant contradictions of the 1960s and 1970s. The poem itself has a special attraction, thanks to the skeptical mood of the lyrical hero.

Practical importance is expressed in the possibility to use social motives of the poem to analyze the most important imperatives of the Soviet society in 1960–1970. The poem is also valuable from the point of view of analysis of such important social-philosophical categories as «personal freedom» and «existence». By analyzing the poem and the conditions in which it was written, we get an approximate list of value attractions of the «Soviet man». This knowledge is valuable both in literature theory and in collecting data on Soviet culture in personal history.

The poem «Don’t Leave the Room» is a monologue of the lyrical hero, addressed to an abstract listener. To some extent, this dialogue is a reminder for oneself. Brodsky’s hero urges not to leave the room, to abandon the sublime in favor of the lowly (Sun and Shipka cigarettes). The hero calls to lock up, not to take a cab or enter into a relationship with charming girls. The wall and chair in the room are equated by a lyrical hero with the most interesting things in the world [5].

Outside the room — only suffering. The lyrical hero urges to be content with only this. The remark that the most meaningless from the hero’s point of view is happiness is especially alarming. Here you can see a certain share of misanthropy. In fact, through the hero, we learn that it is more interesting for the author to entertain himself locked up. In any case, it is better than visiting the damp close corridors.

The author ironically paraphrases the expression of the French philosopher René Descartes: «Cogito ergo sum» («Thought, therefore, exists»). He states: «Incognito ergo sum» («Unknown, therefore existing»). Again, he urges you not to leave the room. The USSR is not France. Apparently, this means that by the time the poem was written, the author was no longer interested in the Soviet Union.

The lyrical hero exclaims: «Don’t be a fool! Be what others were not». It is difficult to say whether this statement refers to the entire history of mankind, or operates within a single country. The hero suggests becoming as impersonal part of the room as any interior item. This is a cry of despair — to lock the doors and barricade yourself from any expression of life. Let us proceed to the analysis of the poem.

The text of the poem (Brodsky’s self-translation [1]):

Don’t leave the room, don’t blunder, do not go on.

Outside, all is meaningless, especially — the cry of joy.

To the lavatory and back straightaway, old boy.

O, don’t leave the room, don’t call for a cab, my friend.

Because Space is a corridor that will end

with a meter. And, if your dear, delight expressing,

walks inside, kick her out without undressing.

Don’t leave the room; pretend that you have a cold.

Four walls and a chair entice like nothing else in the world.

Why leave the place that you’ll surely return to late in

the night, as you were, only more — mutilated?

in shoes worn on bare feet, in a coat draped over

your naked body. The hall reeks of ski wax and cabbage.

You’ve written a lot; more would be extra baggage.

Don’t leave the room. Let only the room imagine a little

what you might look like. And besides, incognito

ergo sum, as form itself learned from substance once.

Don’t leave the room! Outside, you will not find France.

Don’t be a fool! Be what others weren’t. Remain.

Don’t leave the room! Let the furniture have free reign,

blend in with wallpaper. Bolt the door, barricade in place

1. The poem begins with an anaphora: «Don’t leave the room». An anaphora is a connecting element that allows you to fix a central thought in a poem. The author pushes the reader into reflections. This forces the reader to rethink the phrase over and over again.
2. Various forms of irony can be seen throughout the poem:«To the lavatory and back straightaway, old boy»; «Don’t leave the room; pretend that you have a cold»; «And besides, incognito ergo sum».
3. The author uses some kind of metaphors: «You’ve written a lot; more would be extra baggage»; «blend in with wallpaper»; «Bolt the door, barricade in place with a dresser from chronos…».
4. The metonymy: «don’t call for a cab, my friend». The metonymy allows the authors to interpret the space differently. At first, a room is considered a communal apartment, and then — the whole street.
5. The personifications: «Let only the room imagine a little / what you might look like»; «Let the furniture have free reign»; «as form itself learned from substance once». The personifications are used to create the illusion that one room may be the most interesting in the world.
6. The substitution of notions: «Because Space is a corridor that will end / with a meter». «Because Space is a corridor» — substitutes for space and corridor, «that will end with a meter» — semantics of the word «meter» is distorted. This word reflects at least several meanings, it is also an author’s idiom.
7. The rhetorical question: «If you’re smoking Shipka, what good is the Sun?». The sublime is compared to the low. To some extent, this trail can be considered sarcasm.
8. A rhetorical exclamation: «Don’t be a fool!». This is an appeal to individuals who crave freedom. An appeal to those few who want to feel freedom.
9. Sarcasm: «Outside, you will not find France». The USSR is not France. Everything here is typical, everything is ordinary. And there is nothing interesting, at least for a lyrical hero.

At the beginning of the poem the author is contrasted with a lyrical hero. Then the author and the lyrical hero merge together. Brodsky criticizes those who follow the way of life described in the poem. However, he also advises to live this way. But this applies only to those who do not represent a person. In a different context, it concerns individuals who have been opposed by society. It is better to be free within four walls than to be completely free. This is the author’s ambiguous message.

Yes, J. Brodsky’s work has always been ambiguous. Any of his poems requires deep philosophical analysis. This is due to the fact that the poet’s fate was not easy. From an early age, he felt a deep dislike for Soviet ideology. Brodsky believed that the poet for self-realization requires complete freedom of creativity. This led to clashes and conflicts with official bodies. Brodsky did not fit into socialist society at all. His dissent eventually led to his emigration. In 1970, he wrote the poem «Don’t leave the room», in which he expressed his views on the place of the man in the Soviet system.

This poem can be interpreted in different ways. A common version is that Brodsky described a man who leads a double life. It is possible that the author described himself. In the USSR, criticism of the state system was strictly forbidden. Not being able to speak out publicly, people only expressed their negative views at home. For fear of denunciation, such statements were distributed only among a narrow circle of people [2, p. 45].

Most often these reflections took place in a circle of friends, those who could be trusted. The phenomenon of «kitchen philosophers» appeared. Distrust of others led to forced loneliness. This was especially true for Brodsky. Work and contacts outside the home were becoming difficult. Only in his native four walls a person felt free. Brodsky ironically criticized this position. He describes an imaginary feeling of freedom in a narrow space of a person.

The other interpretation is based on an analysis of the life of the poet himself. The constant feeling of dislike for the surrounding reality has affected his character. Brodsky felt like an outcast, he really felt more comfortable in his personal world, where he felt creative freedom. In his time, the poet was accused of tuna-jobbing because he refused to get a regular job. He tried to isolate himself from others. Brodsky believed that communicating with the type of «Soviet man» would not do him any good [4, p. 39].

It is not surprising that such a strange way of life has caused censures. Exclamation in the poem «Do not be a fool! — is a direct accusation of limited and scarce thinking. The poet exalts his personality, which is able to comprehend the truth. Brodsky himself claimed that the poet’s homeland is his language. He did not care where to live, in the USSR or in the United States, as long as he did not feel the pressure from the outside. Borderless freedom is an ideal form of existence for the poet. Personal growth within four walls is also a kind of freedom [6].

Joseph Brodsky considered his generation lost, confused in the maze of ideology and high matter. However, life dictated its own conditions, instincts were taken up above the mind. In the USSR, many young people found themselves at a crossroads, when reality ran counter to generally accepted principles. Some Brodsky’s peers became rebels, and the poet himself soon found himself among the unwanted for the Soviet authorities. And all because he openly expressed his views and thoughts. Brodsky believed that this was an inalienable right of any person [3, p. 51].

Meanwhile, the vast majority of people lived by double standards. At home, there were anti-government disputes, and in public places, everyone supported the course of the party and government in a friendly manner. Joseph Brodsky dedicated his famous poem to such ‘chameleons’. In an interview, the author himself said that the poem was only partially dedicated to him. It is imbued with deep irony and disgust for those who fear the truth. This disgust concerns everyone who can not afford to live the way his feelings tell him to.

Such people, according to sweat, are better off staying home. In fact: «Outside, everything is meaningless, especially — the cry of joy. Brodsky openly ridiculed such hypocrites, who are willing to spend hours talking about justice and individual freedom without doing anything. For the purity of the experiment, Brodsky recommended them to give up small worldly joys. How can you accept a girl in your home if you are not legally married to her? How can you allow yourself to ride a boat with a modest Soviet salary?

However, people living by double standards are not confused by such trifles. And it irritates Brodsky madly. The author advises them to bury themselves alive in four walls to get rid of all kinds of temptations. Indeed, it is good to live when everyone has forgotten about you. It’s good to be able to give yourself the illusion of complete freedom. But even those to whom these works were addressed understood that it is simply impossible to fall out of society without consequences for your reputation and career in the USSR.

Conclusions . Thus, we took apart J. Brodsky’s poem «Don’t leave the room». We analyzed the main trails and toposes. On the basis of the obtained data we made a portrait of the «Soviet man» through the eyes of Brodsky. In determining the conditions of writing the poem, we revealed the contradictions of the Soviet society in 1960–1970-ies. In addition, we defined such significant social and philosophical categories as«personal freedom» and «existence».

References:

1. Brodsky J. Collected Poems in English. — New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2002. — 560 p.
2. Brodsky J. Less Than One: Selected Essays. — New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1987. — 516 p.
3. Brodsky J. Nativity Poems. — New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2002. — 128 p.
4. Brodsky J. Watermark. — New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2002. — 144 p.
5. Hill A. A. Introduction to linguistic structures: Fromsound to sentence in English. — New York: Harcourt, Brace, 2018. — 202 p.
6. Nostalgia: Selected Poetry of Andrey Kneller. — Scotts Valley: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. — 96 p.