Summer of 1917

Title: “Birch Grove”

Artist: Isaak Levitan

     

The Summer of 1917 is a monumental moment in the novel, even though it is a relatively very short moment that happens early in the story. Yury and Lara’s time working together during the war was a time of happiness, despite the chaos of the war around them. It was exciting time not just Yury, but Russia as a whole. The future looked bright and full of opportunities for change.

When looking through artists, I came across Isaak Levitan, famous for his landscape paintings. When I found the painting “Birch Grove,” it reminded me of the birch tree under which Pasternak would write poetry in his own personal ‘Summer of 1917.’ While this is a grove of trees rather than just one tree, it still gives me the impression of a peaceful, soothing place where worries seem to vanish. You can imagine the sweet fresh air and the cool shade on a warm summer day. When I first looked at it, it called to mind the happiness of Yury’s Summer of 1917.

Title: “Thou and You”

Author: Aleksandr Pushkin

Translated by: Yevgeny Bonver

She substituted, by a chance,

For empty "you" -- the gentle "thou";

And all my happy dreams, at once,

In loving heart again resound.

In bliss and silence do I stay,

to maintain my role:

"Oh, how sweet you are!" I say –

"How I love thee!" says my soul.

            This poem by Aleksandr Pushkin represented the Summer of 1917 to me as well. In substituting the “empty ‘you’ – the gentle ‘thou,’” it recalls the interaction of Yury and Lara during their time together. For much of their time there, Lara would refer to Yury simply as ‘Zhivago.’ This seemed like a mechanism for Lara to avoid growing feelings for Yury. But then, near the end of their time together, she calls him Yury. Lines 3 and 4 seem to describe how he could have felt at this change, seemingly “by a chance.”

            The last 4 lines sum up the end of their summer together. Through the bliss and silence of their sweet, short time together, he must stay, that is he must stay with his family, with Tonya, and with his son. He must maintain his role as father and husband, even though he wants to go with Lara. While he can only say, “Oh, how sweet you are!” his soul cries out, “How I love thee!” It captures the reality that Zhivago must face of not being able to pursue this cosmic love between Lara and himself. Though he does pursue her later, that was not his intention in the summer of 1917, which is what makes this poem so appropriate. It captures the innocence of this point in the novel.