Yarensk winter winter. The expression "mother winter" is evidence that the Russians lived in the southern regions, where winter is the wet season, and summer is dry, dead.
If there was no winter... That would be... Some other name, because there is no escape from the change of seasons. And why is winter called winter, and not something else? And why is this snowy and frosty season respectfully called a mother and even a sorceress?
Why is winter so called?
Some people love summer more with the sun, sea and fruits, others gravitate towards spring with its amazing renewal of life and the awakening of nature. There are also fans of autumn with its misty sunrises and carpets of yellow leaves. But no one will argue with the fact that winter is really a fabulous time of the year.
This is the coldest season, coming after autumn and changing to spring. The word itself is similar in sound and pronunciation in languages of Proto-Slavic origin. In Ukrainian, this season is also winter, like in Bulgarian, but with an emphasis on the first syllable. In Czech, Slovak and Polish - zima, in Latvian - zìema. It also exists in other languages, for example, in Indian - hima. Translated into Russian, this word means snow, which, in general, is completely logical and natural, because this season is associated with snowfalls, snowstorms, blizzards, snowdrifts.
In Sanskrit, this word sounds very poetic - the time of falling snows, and in Greek - the time of snow or the time of rains. There is also an unconfirmed assumption explaining the etymology. According to him, winter is the deity of the winter period, who was responsible for the corresponding season. Among the ancient Slavs, in the pantheon of gods, there was a deity - the cow Zemun (or Zimun), created by the creator of the world Rod. She lived on the island of Berezan, in the central part of which the mysterious Riphean mountains were located. A milk river flowed through them - just from the milk of the Zemun cow. In this case, associations with white, snowy color can be traced.
Winter is a sorceress: what is so remarkable about this time of year?
Winter is a sorceress, sorceress, queen. This is not a complete list of epithets that can be found in literature, and in everyday life in relation to winter. Why are such metaphorical expressions used? It's all about nature. Of course, winters vary from region to region. But in most of them, in winter, ordinary streets, courtyards and houses are transformed, wrapping themselves in a snow-white veil that hides all the imperfections of the world until spring.
An early winter morning is a wonderful sight. The first timid rays of the sun, breaking through the frosty transparency of the air, fluffy sparrows, multi-colored slowly swirling snowflakes. Winter evening is a limitless source of inspiration. They are long, long, touching, bewitching, as if inviting to a fairy tale. Winter is a sorceress and enchants anyone who is ready to open up to her charms. A part of the magic of this time of year is added by special winter holidays - New Year, Christmas, Epiphany.
How did the expression "mother winter" come about?
In Russian, there is a stable expression "mother winter", which can be heard quite often. And it, at first glance, is very contradictory, because winter is cold, cold, and mother is directly associated with care, warmth, affection.
But in this case, such an expression is not an indication of fertility, but only the possibility of rest from intense field work. But why, then, did the peasants look forward to the arrival of spring with such impatience? After all, peaceful relaxing holiday- it's so cool.
In fact, this stable expression confirms the fact that our ancestors lived in a different climatic zone, different from the modern middle zone by the order of the seasons. If we turn again to Sanskrit, we can find out that the word "him" is consonant with the English humidity - humidity. And originally meant the wet season, the opposite of the dry, summer.
In Russian, -khim is present only as part of borrowed words. And if you subject them to analysis, they are in no way connected with the word "winter". But etymologically, the words “winter”, “humus” (top fertile soil layer), “humor” (humor) are actually related, since they are connected by common definitions “fertile”, “wet”, “favorable” and are derived phonetic forms from the same word.
If we analyze the word "summer" in the Indo-European lexical context, then it in no way evokes associations with fertility and grace. For example, in ancient Greek mythology there is an expression "to sink into oblivion", that is, to disappear without a trace. In German, there is a phonetically close to Russian "summer" leiche, and in English - late, which translates as "corpse" and "dead", respectively. Analogies can go on and on until the ancient Greek titanides Leto, who gave birth to Zeus the twins Apollo and Artemis, who, as you know, were not distinguished by modesty and pious behavior. In many countries, summer is the dry season, the time of death, in contrast to Russia, where it is favorable for life.
Thus, this expression goes hand in hand with the ethnos from the moment they left those areas where winter was a fertile, rainy, wet and fertile season, in contrast to the dry "dead" summer.
Mother, queen, sorceress, sorceress - all this is winter. And no matter how much we love other seasons, her coming is inevitable, like sunrise and sunset. And this means that you need to make the most of the positive from this season and prepare for the arrival of the next seasons so that there is something to remember.
The next character from the Fairy Tale Map of Russia will be Mother Winter, who lives in the city of Yarensk, Arkhangelsk Region. Her birthday is coming up on December 21st.
No matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to pull out some folklore and mythological thread coming from the depths of centuries regarding this character. The most distant reference in history is to Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin". Well, remember, he was there about the winter
Goes sorceress-winter,
Came, crumbled; shreds
Hanging on the branches of oaks,
She lay down with wavy carpets
Among the fields around the hills.
A shore with a motionless river
Leveled with a plump veil;
Frost flashed, and we are glad
Leprosy mother winter.
In general, it turns out that Russian poets (Derzhavin, Pushkin, Tyutchev, etc.) came up with a magical and enchanting image of winter, and Pushkin also called winter mother. And since we memorized all the poems at school, and Pushkin is our everything, Mother Winter is somehow remembered that way.
Current fairy tale character Mother Zima owes her appearance to the head of the social development department of the Lensky district of the Arkhangelsk region, Natalya Rocheva, from Yarensk, who, apparently, is a wonderful storyteller herself.
The village of Yarensk is very ancient, and although the year of foundation has not been precisely established, the first written mention of it is considered to be the Vychegodsko-Ipatievskaya (Misailo-Evtikhievskaya) chronicle of 1384. For a long time, Yarensk flourished due to the fact that it was located on busy trade routes, since Arkhangelsk was the only Russian seaport. And after Peter the Great and the founding of St. Petersburg, the trade routes withered, and in 1924 Yarensk turned from a city into a village. Under the USSR, there was a state farm and logging. Well, then the USSR collapsed. And Yarensk, like many other small towns and villages, slowly began to die.
Thousand kilometers to regional center. There are closed enterprises and four thousand people around, who by the 2010s are beginning to understand that soon it will not be possible to find such points on the map if something is not done urgently.
And then a miracle happened. Almost fabulous.
The story goes that one day in December 2011, standing over a sink full of dishes and grinding plates, Natalya Rocheva suddenly heard on TV in the familiar "Tales of the Vienna Woods" prophetic - "Tales of the Lena Forest". Having washed the dishes, she sat down to read "Arguments and Facts" and saw there a note called "New Year's orphan?" about the fact that the Snow Maiden, traveling around the country with Grandfather Frost, does not have a mother at all. And I thought, why not take the vacant place of mother?!
No sooner said than done. Yarensk is an ancient place that has seen a lot. In the annals of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior, which today houses the Yarensky Museum of Local Lore, a record was very quickly found that "on December 21, 1882, there was a strong snow storm in the vicinity of Yarensk with a north wind, so that the roofs of many houses were removed." December 21 is the winter solstice! It was on such a night, according to the authors of the idea, that Frost and Snowstorm had a daughter, Winter.
They approached the creator of the "Fairytale Map of Russia" project with a proposal to include their character in the actors. And after a request to make a justification, to find some kind of connection to the area, they began to look for where this could happen. And found. It turned out that in the last century, three kilometers from Yarensk was the village of Siberia!
Looking ahead, I will say that the plan to create a family for the Snow Maiden has been completed and exceeded. Now the Snow Maiden in Yarensk has a mother Mother Zima, a father - the north wind Siverko, a grandmother - Snowstorm (wife of Father Frost), an aunt - a Snow Woman and numerous nephews - Snezhiki and Snowflakes. And all of them are registered in the village of Sibir, Lensky district, Arkhangelsk region.
On December 21, 2011, the New Year tree in Yarensk was opened exactly on Zima's birthday. Residents of the district congratulated Zima on her birthday and handed her a birth certificate.
The organizers understood from the very beginning that Mother Winter must live somewhere, and this place will play a major role in the success of the project. The residence was placed in one of the buildings of the museum, the "House of the Merchant Eshkilev", which is a monument of history and culture of the eighteenth century.
Under the project, they were able to get a regional subsidy for the reconstruction and repair of the building, but there was no more money for anything, so the organizers threw a call to the people to help in any way they could. The residents of Yarensk collected antique furniture, utensils and crockery for the residence, restored them and, having painted them in white, blue and silver colors, placed them in the house, creating an atmosphere of a fairy tale.
A bedchamber, a throne room, a cellar with a treasury where a potion from canned northern lights is stored, pickled snowflakes ... Yarensk shone with fabulous beauty.
The magical throne of Mother Winter, sitting on which you can make a wish. They say that in addition to children, adults sometimes do this, even all sorts of oil and gas managers.
In 2012, at the invitation of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Arkhangelsk Region, specialists from Moscow arrived from Moscow to conduct a seminar and consultations on the project "Yarensk - the birthplace of Mother Winter", as a result of which locals learned a lot about how to run a fabulous business. But consultants have learned something. Not everywhere the entire population, even children, takes on such projects.
In the same year, at the fair in Yarensk, within the framework of the project of the government of the Arkhangelsk region "Constellation of Northern Festivals", the festival "Tales of the Lena Forest" was held.
A great number of guests from all regions of the region came to Yarensk. The festive concert of the festival was opened by the most long-awaited guest - the State Academic Northern Russian Folk Choir. Then artists from the Komi Republic rose on stage, Vologda region, and, of course, Arkhangelsk.
The main event of the fair was the arrival of Grandfather Frost from Veliky Ustyug to the festival "Tales of the Lena Forest". He arrived not alone, but with Baba Zhara, and Mother Winter met them. It was her first official outing.
It's summer. And in winter, the Snow Lace of Winter art festival was held, which was attended by guests from Syktyvkar - the Asya Kya State Song and Dance Ensemble and the Balalaika group named after Nalimov.
I must say that the funding for the project is rather modest, but the enthusiasm of the residents of Yarensk is simply huge, and it is on enthusiasm that everything rests
3 years after the launch of the project, the residents of Yarensk could proudly say: "If in 2012 the Residence was visited by 1400 people, then in 2015 - already 7150. We held 604 excursions, 57 cultural and entertainment programs and 83 master classes."
A Euro-class hotel was built in the village, a horse yard, a new cafe and shopping mall, people got jobs, and a penny flowed into the budget ... Festivals, fairs, holidays, weddings, treasure hunting on the streets of a 600-year-old village - and now there are 3 buses of tourists a day.
Not only school tours and local tourists from the surrounding regions come to visit, but also distant tourists on the way to Father Frost's Estate in Veliky Ustyug often stop by to visit Mother Winter.
The old interiors of the merchant's mansion attract not only children, but also adults. In the courtyard of Mother Winter live the inhabitants of the fabulous "Lena Forest": Snezhiki, Vodyanoy and Kikimora, and in the forest hut - Baba Yaga herself.
Now the festival "Tales of the Lena Forest" is held in December and lasts a whole month.
Every year, the festival program is full of various events: a holiday of craftsmen and craftsmen, a trade fair, competitions for the best toy for the New Year tree and a sketch of a postcard from Mother Winter, a gastronomic festival "According to the recipes of Baba Yaga's magical cuisine", a winter ball "Snow Lace of Winter"
Here is such a story.
And I don’t even know what is more wonderful in it - a fairy tale about Mother Winter or a fairy tale that has come true, how the inhabitants of little Yarensk gathered their strength and, with almost naked enthusiasm and love for their small homeland, pulled out a project that is now compared in terms of level already with the Estate of Father Frost, with absolutely incomparable financial opportunities.
Do not forget to visit if you are in those parts.
Mood now - The soul sings and the heart cries...
Harness the ravens. I invite everyone to visit! I will show you all the miracles, I will feed you dinner from the heart ... From you - gifts, toasts.
There is a special map in Russia. Fairyland. Live in it: Kysh-Babay, Goblin, Kikimora, Porcini, Santa Claus ... And three years ago
Another fabulous place appeared - the residence of Mother Winter in Yarensk, Lensky district, Arkhangelsk region.
Without hesitation for a long time, a group of employees of the Vperyod editorial office with children of various ages, and some with their grandchildren, went to visit our Arkhangelsk neighbors.
From Kazluk (the border of the Komi Republic with the Arkhangelsk region) to Yarensk is a distance of 20 kilometers. Leaving Aikino (district center
Ust-Vymsky district, Aikatyl in the local dialect) at 9 o'clock in the morning, around 11, we were already in place - in just two hours.
In the courtyard of the residence of Mother Winter, we were met by the inhabitants of the fabulous Lena Forest: Leshy, Kikimora and, as usual, Baba Yaga. And right there
On the street, we held a game program with our motley group: we rode fabulous skis, participated in fun relay races, and threw felt boots into the distance.
Then a tour of the residence of Mother Winter awaited us - a real winter fairy tale! Terem, where Winter moved in - an old merchant's
house. The house is really "winter" both outside and inside. Rooms with stucco and cold cellars under the arches. Very nice decor
illumination in blue and white. Everywhere winter attributes and very, very many snowflakes. The house itself is much less pretentious than Father Frost's apartments in Veliky Ustyug, more "homely".
The speech of Zimushka’s assistant sounds smoothly and singsongly, which tells how on December 21, 1882 there was a strong snowstorm in Yarensk with north wind, "so that the roofs of many houses were taken off." And that night a daughter was born to Santa Claus and a snowstorm, and they named her Zimushka.
She liked it so much in the Lena Territory that she decided to settle here in a hundred and thirty years: to grow green grass under a snowy featherbed, to store pickled icicles in her cellar, canned Northern lights, salty snowballs in birch tubs and
keep ice jewels in an ancient heavy safe.
Here comes Mother Winter! Contrary to my fears, she turned out to be very sweet and friendly. She said that in the old days winters were winters, and summer- summer, nothing was confused. Well, but when people began to interfere a lot in the course of weather affairs, confusion began.
Then they remembered the mistress of snows and blizzards, invited to live nearby...
We listened with pleasure to the story of Winter, who showed her chambers. First we visited Zimushka's office. And the children were amazed by the throne room. "If you sit in the snow throne, make a wish, it will certainly come true," said the sorceress-Winter.
Then she led us to the refectory, where all the dishes were pure silver, and then to a cozy bedchamber. And there everything is as it should be - a bed with high feather beds and winter pillows - what winter sleeps on, such weather will be.
We visited the cellars, saw salty snowballs in a birch tub. They didn’t let me try, unfortunately (they haven’t salted it yet!). And there are also pickled ones, but they say that they are the most delicious from the tub! After that, the doors of the treasury opened, and in the pantry we saw a safe with jewelry, which, in special lighting, shone like real diamonds. And each child put a coin in a special safe to come here again.
At the end of the tour, we were invited to the workshop of Mother Winter. Here, experienced assistants of Winter give a master class on making snowflakes and other New Year's attributes. We were taught how to make amulets. How did everyone try - both children and adults! And after all
no one left without a beautiful amulet! And in the shop, which is next to the workshops, one could buy souvenirs and handicrafts.
Then we were fed lunch in the dining room-refectory from Mother Winter, after the treat we were taken to the local museum of local lore, located in the former church.
In the local history museum of Yarensk, a real museum quest awaited us - attentiveness had to be turned on to the fullest! We not only visited the halls of the museum, got acquainted with the northern flora and fauna, but also learned Interesting Facts about the history of ancient Yarensk
and about him famous residents, in a playful way, answering the questions of the guide. And they also heard the music of the beginning of the last century, pouring from a working gramophone!
And to say goodbye to the hospitable Yarensk, the smallest representatives of our group rode in a phaeton, which was carried along the snow-covered streets by a real fairy-tale horse.
... OUR CHILDREN LOVE THE FAIRY TALE, and we try to present this fairy tale to them: we invite Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden, who will bring long-awaited gifts. Well, what about us, adults, how do we differ from children? Although we have grown out of their age, we still hope that the New Year will bring something very good: our dreams will come true, and some miracle will happen in life ...
But it turns out that the Fairy Tale is nearby - just a two-hour drive from the regional center. don't believe?
Come to Yarensk, see for yourself.
From Kazluk (the border of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the Arkhangelsk region) to Yarensk - just some 20 km, you don’t go on a good road - you fly! Therefore, many residents of Kazluk, Zheshart and other nearby villages often travel to the regional center of the Lensky district. Who for what purpose, but recently most often guests, and not only from the Komi Republic, go on excursions to the residence of Mother Winter.
Познавательно-развлекательная программа «Сказки Ленского леса» для детей и взрослых (молодоженов, именинников) по их желанию может включать экскурсию по древнему Яренску, а также прием в резиденции Зимы, и «Зимние забавы» на склоне реки Кижмола, что буквально рядом от резиденции (катание на ватрушках, горках и так далее) и еще много чего - балы, приемы по случаю, мастер-классы и так далее.
A fairy tale can be made true
Quite a bit of time passed - two years with a "tail" - as the dream of making a fairy tale come true became a reality. Yes, and what: Yarensk today has become officially and all-Russian recognized as the Motherland of Winter.
How did you manage to do all this in such a short period of time? At the beginning, an idea appeared, and it arose from the head of the department of social development of the administration of the Lensky Municipal District, Natalya Rocheva, suddenly - when viewing a fabulous map of Russia. “If Grandfather Frost, his granddaughter Snegurochka, has a homeland, then why does Zima not have it?” thought Natalya Nikolaevna.
They began to look for sources to confirm this fact in the annals. And found!
At least believe it, at least check it: on the night of December 21-22, 1882, there was a strong snowstorm and in the village of Siberia, Yarensky district (three km from Yarensk), Father Frost and Mother Metelitsa had Zimushka-Winter.
Surprisingly, we hit the mark! Information about the Motherland of Winter was written by Russian news agencies, "Arguments and Facts", television, a message appeared on the Internet, - N. Rocheva said. “That’s how a new tourist destination was born.
And the work on the "promotion" of the idea-dream began: what a dream! The employees of the department of social development of the district administration and the Yarensky museum of local lore wrote scientific works-projects in which the concept of the birth of a snow heroine was substantiated. The project "Snow Lace of Winter" became the best among 12 projects of the Arkhangelsk region and was awarded a grant of 300 thousand rubles, another project was written, for which they received 400 thousand rubles. (Looking ahead, it must be said that subsequently two TOSs were created at the residence of Zima, and received from them target funds, were used to improve the territory of the residence - a fence, benches were put up, figurines of fairy-tale heroes were made).
For the residence of Zima, the administration of the Lensky district provided the old house of the merchant Eshkilev, in which much has been preserved in its original form, and part of the interior began to be styled antique and ... a fairy tale. Residents, having heard about such a miracle, began to bring antique furniture - chests, tables, a sideboard, and so on. The residence workers, who were three, put everything in order and decorated it. The magnificent wooden throne for Winter was made by a skilled craftsman according to the drawings. The costumes are so beautiful that you can't take your eyes off! - sewed by the cutter-fashion designer of the highest qualification Tatyana Katunina, who plays in the image of Mother Metelitsa on excursions. And Lilia Korzhakova in the image of Winter is so gentle, refined and beautiful!
Winter will show his palace ...
We, correspondents of the newspaper, are hard to surprise with anything, because where we just haven't been and what we just haven't seen. But the excursion nevertheless pleasantly surprised us - first of all, with originality, as well as magical journey into the world of a fairy tale, and the fact that for a short time we seemed to have become children again and believed in miracles! So we entered a silver office with an old telephone on a writing table - silver plated, where Mother Metelitsa met us, showed us 150 snowmen and walls decorated with snowflakes and an old dressing table, and took us to the throne room, where we were met by Zimushka-Winter in a snow-white robe (pictured). “If you sit in the snowy throne, make a wish, then it will certainly come true,” said the sorceress-Winter. Then she led us to the refectory, where all the dishes (a gift from Siverko) were pure silver, and then to a cozy bedchamber. And everything is as it should be there - a bed with high featherbeds and winter pillows - on which Winter sleeps, this will be the weather ... They also showed us the winter cellar, where Winter kept salted snowballs in a birch tub, pickled icicles and many other supplies in reserve. After that, the doors of the treasury opened, where there was a Christmas tree with diamonds and safes in which the fabulous wealth of Winter was stored - silver bars and pearls ...
At the end of the tour, we also visited the workshops of Mother Winter. Here they saw gifts from the art house of Urdoma village - unusual vases, embroidered paintings, as well as old things of craftswomen - a spinning wheel and much more. At the request of guests, master classes on making snowflakes and other New Year's attributes are held here. And in the shop, which is next to the workshops, you can buy souvenirs and handicrafts.
"Snow Lace of Winter"
This is the name of the annual festival, which is held in December in Yarensk. This year it opened on December 2 with a performance by the Asya Kya Ensemble from the Komi Republic at the Yaren Culture Center. “60 artists showed a unique bright musical program with Komi and Russian songs to the accompaniment of a live orchestra,” wrote an enthusiastic review of the performance of our fellow countrymen, the Lensk regional newspaper Mayak. A lot of interesting events are planned during the festival.
In February, Santa Claus is going to International convention magicians in Sochi, in order to support athletes at the Olympics. And now she is gathering a fabulous delegation, which included our Mother Winter and the Arkhangelsk Snowman, - said Natalia Rocheva, who, as the author of the idea of the project "Yarensk - the Motherland of Winter", received a special prize from the new governor of the Arkhangelsk region Igor Orlov in December 2012, and the project itself received a diploma in the special nomination "For a fruitful idea".
December has come - a month of early twilight and anticipation of winter joys. Winter came. Crafts with cotton wool and sequins, paper snowflakes, Christmas trees and snowmen, and the first garlands flickering on the windows are the constant signs of a special time that occurs in all families with small children. In some houses, the walls are decorated with an advent calendar - an amazing monument to mother's industriousness and imagination, bags with surprises and tasks for every day.
In December, winter poems begin to sound
And in December, winter poems begin to sound. Even if they almost do not sound during the year, the pre-holiday time is special. Most often they are taught at the Christmas tree - to school, to kindergarten, to Sunday school. Among them are many good, but extremely "hackneyed" texts, learned by my grandmother when she was an October child. And although “The girls got up in a circle, got up and fell silent” - Agnia Lvovna’s excellent poems about the fun at the Christmas tree, sometimes you want something new, fresh and no less talented.
Here I tried to collect the most beautiful and melodic, deep and kind poems about winter, New Year and Christmas that can be learned with children. Among them there are both modern and time-tested texts, large and small, serious and funny. The main thing is that they create and maintain a feeling winter holidays- perhaps the best thing that happens to us in the cold winter time.
As winter comes
It is always a secret, every year news. Yesterday it was dirty and gray, today it is frosty and snowy, as if one world replaces another. Pushkin has a small passage about this borderland of the seasons in "Eugene Onegin" - however, there is about everything of any importance in the life of a Russian person.
Here is the north, catching up the clouds,
He breathed, howled - and here she is
The magical winter is coming.
Came, crumbled; shreds
Hanging on the branches of oaks,
She lay down with wavy carpets
Among the fields, around the hills.
A shore with a motionless river
Leveled with a plump veil;
Frost flashed, and we are glad
Leprosy mother winter.
amazing strength, the depth and emotionality of these lines is clear even to a child - even at the level of the melody of the verse. In these eleven lines there is a whole range of moods - from mysterious and slightly sinister to good-naturedly cheerful. This is the whole Pushkin, in fact: I remember that at the university we were quoted a line from The Captain's Daughter, depicting the well-known snow storm: "Everything was darkness and whirlwind." Five little words that don't just explain - create before us is a clear and convex image.
The above passage, of course, requires a parental commentary: "tufts", "breg" and "puffy shroud" need an explanation, especially for a preschooler. Otherwise, this melodious, sonorous text is, perhaps, the most graphic illustration of the beginning of winter.
And here is another, cheerful and sonorous, excerpt from the novel. It can be learned and read on occasion. This is also a small visual picture, accessible to understanding from 4–5 years old:
Neater than fashionable parquet
The river shines, dressed in ice.
Boys joyful people
Skates cut the ice loudly;
On red paws a goose is heavy,
Having thought to swim in the bosom of the waters,
Steps carefully on the ice
Slides and falls; funny
Flashes, curls the first snow,
Stars falling on the shore.
The joy of the first snow and frost is always childish, even if you are already an adult
The arrival of winter is almost always a joy, and in poetry too. So in the program poem by Afanasy Fet there is a lot of this feeling. The joy of the first snow and frost is always childish, even if you are already an adult. Perhaps that is why one of the most favorite poems to memorize is this:
Mother! look out the window -
Know that yesterday it was not for nothing that the cat
Washed the nose
There is no dirt, the whole yard is dressed,
Brightened, whitened -
Apparently it's cold.
Not scratchy, light blue
Frost is hung on the branches -
Just look at you!
Like someone with a beef
Fresh, white, plump cotton
Removed all bushes.
Now there will be no dispute:
For the sled, and uphill
Have fun running!
Really, mom? You won't refuse
And you might say to yourself:
"Well, hurry up for a walk!"
This text is also surprising because it is an exception. Fet wrote it five years before his death, in the years of severe disappointments and sad thoughts, a premonition of death. And suddenly such a pure, childish, unclouded joy - the more valuable it is for the reader.
The only word here that is incomprehensible to a modern child is “horny”. It has completely fallen out of use. However, one should not be afraid of such archaisms in advance: no, they will not confuse, they will not scare the baby. It is unlikely that he will use them in speech, but they show the infinite wealth of the world, show life in a historical perspective.
And here is another greeting to winter - it was created by Pyotr Vyazemsky. This remarkable poet is rarely remembered today - except perhaps by specialists - but it's a pity. He subtly feels and talentedly conveys the joy and renewal that we feel at the beginning of winter.
Hello, in a white sundress
From silver brocade!
Diamonds burn on you
Like bright rays.
You are a life-giving smile
Fresh beauty of the face
You awaken to new feelings
Broken hearts!
Hello Russian girl,
Coloring soul,
white winch,
Hello Mother Winter!
A similar feeling reigns in the poem of Nikolai Rubtsov - and yet it has been separating poets for more than a century.
Snow fell and everything was forgotten.
What a soul was full!
My heart suddenly beat faster.
It was like I was drinking wine.
Down the narrow street
A clean breeze rushes
The beauty of ancient Russian
The town has been updated.
Snow flies on the Sophia Cathedral.
For children, but they can not be counted.
Snow is flying all over Russia,
Like good news.
Snow is flying - look and listen!
So, simple and clever,
Life sometimes heals the soul...
Well, okay! And good.
And here is a modern poem - it was written by Daria Gerasimova. Her poetic texts are good for their thoughtfulness, a special feeling of the surrounding world.
Childhood is not always fun, jumping and screaming: sometimes it's silent reflections
After all, childhood is not always fun, jumping and screaming: sometimes it is silent reflections.
WINTER EVENING
The wind sleeps on the blue tree
The rivers are sleeping, at home.
Flying into the distance on a white wolf
Grandma Winter.
Snow pours from a mitten
Light wave.
And blizzard birds sing
In the sky above me
I walk in front of the house
Where is my old grandfather
Quiet in the rooms
Golden light.
Let it spin in the alley
snow braid,
Let it run faster
Grandma Winter.
Hits the moon tambourine
Somewhere far away...
And fluffy snow melts
On my arm...
But a poem with a completely different mood: something between a child's fantasy and a rhyme - cheerful, rhythmic and light, like the first snow. It is called “The First Snow”, and it was written more than a century ago by the wonderful Russian poet Sergei Gorodetsky, friend of Nikolai Gumilyov, poet, translator, fearless war correspondent of the First World War.
The month began to be considered with the Sun,
Who gets up first
One two three four five,
The wind came out to fly
He sent winged birds,
A cloud of gray and shaggy.
The sky has fluffed up
Day and night it snows
And between the clouds, under the window,
Weep bitterly Month with the Sun:
One two three four five.
Who to disperse the clouds?
winter dreams
“Bewitched by the invisible, the forest is slumbering under the fairy tale of sleep,” remember? Such a mood was close not only to Yesenin. It also appears in modern children's poetry. Because winter is actually an incredible wealth: colors, joys, life. You can run and wallow in snowdrifts, sled and play snowballs, and then thoughtfully watch how the frozen world plunges into a frosty sleep. Or sleep yourself - and grow, grow up in a dream.
NIGHT SONG
In the silence of the midnight
Snow fell on the roofs.
Lost milk tooth
Evening at Grisha's.
Snow covered the paths
And lay down on the rooftops.
Until the morning in the palm of your hand
The tooth lay with Grisha.
Snowdrifts will grow
Above the roofs and pipes...
And closer to spring
The tooth will grow!
This poem was written by Mikhail Yasnov. It looks like a lullaby - both in rhythm, and in melody, and in poetic pattern. But what a poetic text Andrei Usachev has - about the same, but look how different they are!
Quietly humming a fairy tale,
Winter swims in the twilight
Covering with a warm blanket
Earth, and trees, and houses.
Light snow swirls over the fields,
It's like the stars are falling from the sky.
Lowering furry eyelashes,
A dense forest slumbers in silence.
Golden owls sleep on Christmas trees
In the fabulous glow of the moon.
Snowdrifts sleep at the edge of the forest,
Like big white elephants.
Everything changes shape and color
Extinguish the windows of sleepy houses,
And winter, telling a tale,
Falling asleep slowly...
About winter warmth
Yes, that's right: winter teaches us to appreciate and love comfort, home, well, and warmth, of course. A special charm lies in this opposition of a storm, frost, inconvenience outside the window - and a warm house full of soft light. Here is another poem by Afanasy Fet - it is about this:
The cat sings, squinting his eyes,
The boy is napping on the carpet
A storm is playing outside
The wind is whistling in the yard.
“It’s enough for you to wallow here,
Hide your toys and get up!
Come to me to say goodbye
Yes, go to sleep."
The boy got up. And the cat's eyes
Led and sings everything;
The snow falls in tufts at the windows,
The storm whistles at the gate.
Oddly enough, it is this theme - at home, comfort, peaceful evenings by the fire - that can encourage a parent to talk with a child about mercy. This topic was raised quite often in Russian Christmas prose - both by Dostoevsky in The Little Match Girl, and by Kuprin in The Wonderful Doctor, and in many other works.
The theme of home, comfort can encourage a parent to talk with a child about mercy
When I am warm and full, thoughts of someone's misfortune are like a gust of cold wind that bursts into a heated cozy room. But these are important thoughts, and it is even more important that they turn into actions. How - each parent decides in their own way, but talking about mercy in contrast with their own well-being is a fairly effective method.
I have an old children's book. Unfortunately, it was not republished, and now few people know about the wonderful poet Vitaly Tatarnikov. And meanwhile, he owns excellent poems - kind and warm. Like this, for example:
A man lived in the world.
He has been taking care of sheep all his life.
Is it a day
at night -
Knock-knock -
The shepherd ran to him.
The man took the first aid kit
And he hurried to save the sheep.
... Frost crackled in the fields,
The cold is no joke.
And sheep
little man
They gave me a coat:
- Wear more fun
And don't get sick yourself!
And here is a poem by Yulia Simbirskaya dedicated to ... a battery! Yes, even such a prosaic subject can become the hero of an excellent poetic text, lyrical and ironic at the same time.
She will dry on a hot back
My soaking wet boots.
I will put my palms next to them.
In winter, I am friends with batteries
And the sweater is friends, the mittens are friends,
And the cat is huddled somewhere on the edge.
After all, heat is hidden in the battery.
I found such a house for the winter.
And gurgles like milk in a cat,
Heat in the battery in the stomach.
Winter joys and fun
"Feed the birds!" - wrote the poet Alexander Yashin. In fact, Igor Severyanin wrote about this simple and joyful winter affair much earlier - yes, yes, the one who threatened to turn the tragedy of life into a dream farce "in a group of nervous girls, in an acute ladies' society." And here, without losing his ironically refined manner, he writes simply and loudly, about a picture of a winter day, about a moment in the life of a little girl:
HER PETS
She fed the winter birds
Throwing crumbs out the window.
From their cheerful roll calls
She laughed joyfully.
When she ran to school
Pets, hearing the crunch of snow,
A gang of noisy and cheerful
Follow her from bush to bush!
And here are poems about snow and snowfall. They are different - fervent, thoughtful, lyrical, full of indefatigable fantasy, such a truly childish, anticipation of winter miracles:
Our house is covered
Almost to the windows
And the black sky
Polka dots today.
One hundred thousand peas.
No, a hundred million
Rake off the porches
Rake from balconies.
And only hot palms
Afraid of heavenly peas.
Julia Simbirskaya
SNOW WALTZ
Snow falls on people and houses,
Waltz without an orchestra dancing winter.
Large flakes are spinning in a ring,
Fall, fall on my face
It's like they caress. Dance white snow
You make us all happy.
Rimma Aldonina
MUCH SNOW!
How much snow!
How much snow!
It's clearly not for running.
Definitely not for pedestrians.
This white weather.
This is for moving out
This is for squealing
for felting,
For a laugh!
So much snow
Here's the fun!
Rimma Aldonina
SNOWFALL
Snowdrifts at the house
Snowdrifts in the forest,
Huge
Snowdrift
I wear a hat.
On the hats of passers-by
With the coming of winter
That towers
That castles
Those are just hills.
Or maybe this
Not castles and blocks,
And the snow beasts
And snow fish
Hats in the city
They go, they look
Like white flakes
They fly over the world.
Sit on hats
Foxes and owls
dogs and cats,
Elephants and cows
And with a bird
On the hat
My brother is walking
And whispers with delight:
"What a snowfall!"
Daria Gerasimova
Winter in children's poems is precisely joy. Skating and felting, home warmth, anticipation of the holidays. And good children's poets manage to find and show the reader this joy from an unexpected angle.
Winter in children's poems is precisely joy. Skating and felting, home warmth, anticipation of the holidays
But it is useful and important - to look at familiar things in a different way. For example, through the eyes of a four-legged character in Mikhail Yasnov's poem "Joy".
What a happy morning
Run down the stairs
Forget about comfort
With steam heating
About chairs and table
Vacuum cleaner and sofa
And bury your nose
In frost and fog!
What a joy to see
What are you glad again
pillars and corners,
Garages and fences
Pull the leash
contemplating an escape
And the skin, like a rug,
Brush off the snow!
And there is also the joy of creativity and imagination. They, as you know, go hand in hand, and the child is completely devoid of boundaries and conventions. But they serve - if a small person grows in love - to the kindest and brightest feelings. Here's how in a poem by Natalia Volkova, for example:
ON A WHITE LEAF
I draw a gray-gray hare.
Away, behind the snowdrift - a deep ravine,
There is a hidden enemy in the ravine!
Two pointed ears sticking out of the snow -
The fox guards the defenseless rabbits!
What to do?!
What to do?!
I do not play like that!
I erase the gray hare with an eraser.
On a white sheet in a line oblique
I draw a white-white hare.
And let them say that my drawing is empty ...
I hear the rustling of the bushes,
I see footprints in the fluffy snow.
And I will save the bunny from the enemy!
I really like Sasha Cherny's poem "On Skates" - it accurately conveys the emotion and atmosphere of winter skating. True, it is not easy to learn it, despite its small size - it has a complex rhythmic pattern, and in order to tell it expressively, you need to skillfully place pauses and semantic accents. But it's worth it - especially for skaters!
I'm skating like the wind
Along the forest edge...
Mittens on hands
Hat on top...
One-two! That's where I slipped...
One and two! Almost tumbled...
One-two! Hard on your toes!
Crunched, creaked ice,
The wind blows from the right.
Christmas trees-wolves! Full stroke -
From the pond to the ditch...
One-two! Down the slippery path...
One and two! Funny feet...
One-two! On and on...
New Year's poems
New Year for an Orthodox person is a difficult time. For an Orthodox parent, it is doubly difficult. It is important for me to strike a balance, to carefully lead the children past the December-January revelry, not to lose the fragile and quiet feeling of the approaching Christmas. But I don’t think it’s right to turn off the kids completely from the already traditional festive atmosphere. Therefore, poetry.
Because good poems bypass vulgarity, roar and drunken cries. Because they take from the holiday its most important innermost essence, the most sincere joy. These texts are easy to remember, perfectly recited, develop an aesthetic taste and do not completely close the joy of the upcoming main holiday - the Nativity of Christ.
SILVER CHRISTMAS
Silver Christmas tree
Grandpa brought us
Brought by our grandfather,
Like a good Santa Claus.
She stands, pleasing everyone,
And she glows
All so elegant
Like a winter-winter.
Her Christmas tree sisters
Frost sings in the forest
And they are all funny
Meet the New Year.
Silver Christmas tree
Saved the green one
And... lots and lots of joy
Brought it to the kids.
Vitaly Tatarnikov
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
Color paper set
For child labor
Wizards and mages
Please come here!
Artists
For female artists
Will get on the scissors,
And what else?
Still to take
Large jar of glue
And everything we cut
We will collect and glue:
paper garden,
paper house
With a paper sun outside the window!
Scurrying along the golden branches
silver birds,
And white smoke rises
On red tiles.
It's good that the world is colored,
And matte
And glossy!
How good that I am
Big-eyed
AND RUMIANT!
Mikhail Yasnov
WHERE IS FATHER FROST GONE?
Where did Santa Claus go
to songs and fireworks?
Perhaps he got on a steam locomotive
last minute?
Or got into a taxi at night,
to get far?
Or wandered into a dense forest
to say goodbye to the cold?
Sailed to other cities
where is the sea or rocks...
I would never and never
didn't let him go!
I would say, locking the door
and taking him by the hand:
- You will be a grandfather now,
and I am your granddaughter!
Dina Burachevskaya
TREES IN THE SNOW
Today is not yesterday, but today,
And the night is getting darker and more New Year's,
And everything is infinite, more mysterious life,
And the tree went out
And the stars lit up.
In a dream, a sparrow chirped outside the window.
Vacation start! Vacation start!
And a slow day
And the flying night
And a book you can't part with.
The snow drifts between the bare bushes.
I feel that something is happening in me.
But what?
I can't answer myself.
And the words melt like trees in the snow.
Mikhail Yasnov
Thank you, fir tree
For this New Year!
For our cheerful, joyful
Children's dance!
Because the good Santa Claus
He warmed his red nose in warmth,
The Snow Maiden thawed
Distributes gifts.
Thank you, fir tree
For this spirit of the forest,
For being in a fierce cold
It blew in the spring.
Let there be a snowstorm outside the window
Noisy, raging creeps,
Thank you, fir tree
Because you are with me!
Rimma Aldonina
NEW YEAR
Wait, don't wait, but the New Year
Will definitely come.
He will come without delay
No delay on the way
Won't break promises
He can't come
With a new reality
With a new fairy tale
He will come at the same time
Like a clock on the Spasskaya tower
We'll be hit twelve times.
Rimma Aldonina
About Christmas
There are not so many talented poems about the Nativity of Christ that a modern child can understand, feel and learn. The fact is that most of these texts were written before the revolution - more than a century ago. They contain many archaisms, Church Slavonic words - the theme itself suggests. And it's difficult.
Even the textbook “Christoslavs” (“Under the cover of the starry night”) by Apollo of Corinth require explanations, and even after them the child sometimes rattles the poem formally. There are practically no modern tests about Christmas that can be put on a par with the classics.
There are not so many talented poems about the Nativity of Christ that a child can understand
Therefore, I will give a little - only five - poems that, it seems to me, are able to comprehend and consciously learn a modern child of 5–8 years old. They are deep and clear. And it is important to hear and love them in childhood, I think.
CHRISTMAS
In a manger I slept on fresh hay
Quiet tiny Christ.
The moon, emerging from the shadows,
I stroked the flax of His hair ...
The bull breathed in the face of the Baby
And, rustling straw,
On a flexible knee
I looked around, breathing a little.
Sparrows through roof poles
They rushed to the manger in a crowd,
And the bull, clinging to the niche,
The blanket was wrinkled with his lip.
The dog, sneaking up to a warm leg,
Licked her secretly.
Everyone was more comfortable with a cat
In the manger to warm the Child sideways ...
Subdued white goat
Breathed on his forehead,
Just a stupid gray donkey
Helplessly pushed everyone:
"Look at the Child
Just a minute for me!”
And cried loudly
In pre-dawn silence...
And Christ, opening his eyes,
Suddenly parted the circle of animals
And with a smile full of affection,
Whispered: "Look quickly!"
Sasha Black
bright star rays
The blue sky is shining...
- Why, tell me, mom,
Brighter in the sky of stars shine
On Christmas night?
Like a tree in the mountain world
Lit this midnight
And diamond lights
And the radiance of radiant stars
Is she all decorated?
- True, my son, in God's sky
On the night of the present saint
A Christmas tree is lit for the world,
And full of wonderful gifts
For the family, she is human.
Look how bright the stars are
Shine the world there, far away:
Holy gifts shine in them -
For people - goodwill,
Peace and truth are for the earth.
Heinrich Heine
There are countries where people have never known
No blizzards, no loose snows;
There only non-melting snow sparkle
Tops of granite ridges...
The flowers there are more fragrant, the stars are larger,
Brighter and more elegant spring
And the feathers of birds are brighter there, and warmer
There is a wave of the sea...
In such and such a country on a fragrant night,
Whispering laurels and roses
The desired miracle happened firsthand:
The Christ Child was born.
Semyon Nadson
Around the Christmas haze.
Bells are ringing in the darkness
And with them in harmony the Words sound:
"Peace on earth and happiness to all!"
I felt like that day
Life in cities and villages
Combining, the call sounds:
"Peace on earth and happiness to all!"
Henry Longfellow
CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE FOREST
Having tied the riza crosswise,
Tied a candle to a stick
The angel flies is small,
Flies through the forest, light-faced.
In snow white silence
From pine flutters to pine,
Touches a branch with a candle -
It will crack, the fire will flare up,
Round up, tremble,
Like a thread, run
Here and there, and here, and here...
The winter forest shines all over!
As light as snow fluff
Christmas winged spirit
Lights up the sky
Brings the holiday to the forests,
So that from heaven and earth
Lights could meet
So that between heaven and earth
Another beam lit up
So that from the light of small candles
Long beam like a sharp sword
Heart pierced with light
The path is not false.
Alexander Blok
And I want to complete my review with Alexander Blok's poem "Christmas". It is quite well-known, but, it seems to me, it cannot get bored: every year you can read it, feeling inside the ringing joy and anticipation of Christmas and Christmas time.
Ringing bell blow
The winter air wakes up.
We work in vain -
There will be light rest.
Silver light frost
around the entrance,
Silver on blue
The clear firmament of the star.
How transparent, snow-white
Glitter patterned windows!
How fluffy and softly gentle
Your golden curl!
How thin you are in a red coat,
With a bow in a pigtail!
Laugh - tremble lips,
Eyelashes tremble.
You amuse all passers-by -
Young and old
Ugly and pretty
Thick and lean.
Marvel, smile,
Wander far away
As if at all, how they laugh
Children, did not see.
Sisters will be happy with dolls
Brothers ask for guns
And you don't need
No toys.
You decorate the tree yourself
The stars are golden
And tie it to a branch with a peg
The apples are big.
You will throw beads on the Christmas tree,
Golden threads.
You will spread strong branches,
You shout: "Look!"
You shout, raise a branch,
Thin hands...
And there the grandfather laughs
With a white mustache!