"KNOW YOURSELF": NATIONAL-PHILOSOPHICAL MEANING OF PAVLO TYCHINA'S POEM-SYMPHONY «SKOVORODA»

In: Ukrai͏̈noznavčyj alʹmanach, Heft 31, S. 58-65

Abstract

Honoring the memory of Hryhoriy Savych Skovoroda in the anniversary year of his birthday, we can talk about the eternal, inexhaustible potential of his creativity and ideas, which are endowed with the category of timeless, gaining new meanings in every era for almost three centuries. The life and philosophical and literary heritage of H. Skovoroda (which are complementary in terms of content, because he included reflections on the meaning of life in his works) have been repeatedly studied by scientists from different points of view. They became the subject of understanding in the literary and artistic works of many writers and poets, including Pavlo Hryhorovych Tychyna. In this article, the authors attempted to analyze the polyphonic motifs of the poem-symphony of the Ukrainian poet P. Tychyna "Skovoroda", and drew attention to its national-philosophical sound. The very genre of the work – a symphony – is seen as interesting, which is fully justified by its construction and sound characteristics (as is known, P. Tychyna is the creator of many "musical" poems, as he had an extremely fine sense of sound rhythm, to which he skillfully selected verbal forms). The main leitmotif of the work is the idea of learning and finding one's place in society and the world. Probably every person has thought about the question of truth, "correct expediency" of the own life. H. Skovoroda put these aspirations into a laconic saying that has already become a maxim over the centuries - "Know yourself." The thought searches, hesitations and formation of the philosopher's beliefs described by the artist take place against the background of the national space and reality, which were native to him, and he valued communication with "the people" above all else, as well as personal freedom, because only by being free can one be truthful, frank and sincere. H. Skovoroda affirmed this creed with another leading idea of his life - "the world was catching me, but I didn't catch it." These words are engraved on his grave.