The role that the environment plays in “I do not look for harmony in nature”, and the tone in which it is described, is very different than what we’ve seen in past readings. I have found that most pieces represent nature as very strong and persistent in the face of all the disruption it faces. In this poem, however, I felt less of this “hope” I felt in the past, feeling more of the hopelessness of nature coming through. Not only has nature become unidentifiable to humans, as Zabolotsky makes clear in explaining that he no longer even bothers searching for harmony in nature, but also that nature can no longer identify itself. Zabolotsky writes that the black water is now “weary of its vigour”, “its bodily movement”, and “its massive labors”, seemingly trying to express that the hopelessness we often see in humans regarding the environment has reached nature itself. A force once so in balance and in harmony can no longer recognize its new form and purpose, an idea that reminds me of Professor Breyfogle’s lecture. The role of water around Lake Baikal was created to maintain itself and the wildlife depending on it. All of a sudden this purpose was shifted to supporting factories and working endlessly to work toward hydroelectric power. If we were to personify the water within Lake Baikal, we might imagine that altering its purpose so drastically could make it unable to identify itself, similar to how nature is depicted in Zabolotsky’s “I do not look for harmony in nature”. I see themes of betrayal in both of these instances, the industrialization of Lake Baikal and the transformation of nature in Zabolotsky’s poem. The waters of Baikal, the wildlife inhabiting it, and even the residents of the area we’re betrayed by the forced industrialization; and, too, the narrator in Zabolotsky’s poem loses a connection with nature, and nature itself almost loses a connection with itself.
Tag Archives: Nikolai Zabolotsky
Harmony versus Disunity: Rivers in Yuri Norstein’s “Hedgehog in the Fog” and Nikolai Zabolotsky’s “Winter’s Start”
There is a clear distinction in the symbolic functions of the rivers that are present in both Yuri Norstein’s short film Hedgehog in the Fog and Nikolai Zabolotsky’s poem “Winter’s Start.” Specifically, in Norstein’s film, the river exists as a larger metaphor for the randomness of life. It both literally and figuratively intersects the routine homecoming of Hedgehog, who all along intends to return home promptly with raspberry jam for the owl. Disoriented by the fog and enamored by a majestic white horse, the hedgehog falls victim to the natural, untouched elements of the Russian forest. There is a scene where the Hedgehog loses his balance and falls into the river after being deeply distracted by both the fog and the horse. I read this as the river and surrounding environment working in unity to divert the Hedgehog in his mission to return home. Here, the Hedgehog’s self-made schedule to traverse through the Russian forest is collectively obstructed by elements of said forest. The river, portrayed as a windy labyrinth, is just an element of the random and natural aspects of the Russian forest.
Meanwhile, Nikolai Zabolotsky’s “Winter’s Start” illustrates a less harmonious interaction between a river and its natural environment. Here, instead of combining forces to obstruct the notion of routine and order, the “cold start of winter” instead “numbs” the river, causing it to “tremble” and “sense its own demise” (1; 9; 11 Zabolotsky). In other words, the weather does not work with the river, but rather works against it, causing it to freeze over and “die” (17). This time, the animals of this environment are neither enamored nor sidetracked by the elements of their environment; instead, “huge birds stare down,” “attentive” and agent of the forest around them (35-36). Because the weather works to harden the river, there seems to be more of a focus on the transition of seasons, i.e. impending winter, rather than on the animals or the narrator. There is clearly something greater to be said about the comparison between the natural environment and its harmony in Norstein’s short, versus the natural environment and its disunity in Zabolotsky’s poem. To me, it seems that when the natural environment works together in Norstein’s film, it collectively transcends the lives and routines of inhabiting beings. However, when the environment is disunited, as in “Winter’s Start,” there is shortcoming in transcending the natural world alone— a lacking that impedes connections to and influence on forest dwellers.
Do you all have any thoughts on this topic? I am interested in discussing more about how the changing of the seasons seems to represent not only a change in temperature and climate, but more so: a change in the chemistry of the environment. Any other examples of Russian literature where the transition of seasons functions as a disruption of unity, like it does here in Nikolai Zabolotsky’s poem? Or perhaps this transition preserves natural harmony, as nature exists in Norstein’s film? I would love to hear your thoughts!