Love, like poetry, is immortal. This is an eternal topic that more than one generation of writers and poets has addressed and will continue to address.

The theme of love is the main one in Fet’s work, which is largely connected with his personal tragedy. In his youth, the poet passionately loved the daughter of a Serbian landowner, Maria Lazic. But their love turned out to be tragic: differences in social status became a serious obstacle to marriage. The inability to be with her loved one drove Maria to suicide. She became the poet’s only love, feelings for which he carried in his heart throughout his life. Fet blamed himself for the death of his beloved and was burdened by this guilt. The image of Mary became his moral ideal, which is present in every one of his works.

Poem “No, I haven’t changed. Until deep old age…” was written on February 2, 1887, during the last period of Fet’s work. It is also dedicated to his deceased lover. In it, he tries to reassure her that he still loves her: “I am the same devotee, I am the slave of your love.” He is separated from her not only by years, but also by a grave, but the poet refuses to believe this. Her image is still vivid in his memory, so that it seems as if she is standing right in front of him: “I cannot believe that you have forgotten me when you are here, in front of me!” - Fet exclaims.

The poem is imbued with love's longing and despair. Tragic and doomed to eternal suffering, but at the same time a fiery image lyrical hero the author conveys using artistic means: “poison of chains” is a periphrase, “burns in the blood” is a metaphor, “Even though my memory keeps repeating...Even though I delirium every day...” is anaphora.

Afanasy Fet's poem evokes a whole range of feelings in the soul. This is sadness, and anxiety, and tenderness, and doubt, and longing. It feels like a fusion of poetry, painting and music, and the theme of love is revealed so subtly, tenderly and deeply that you want to re-read it again and again.

“No, I haven’t changed. Until deep old age..." Afanasy Fet

No, I haven't changed it. Until old age
I am the same devotee, I am the slave of your love,
And the old poison of chains, joyful and cruel,
It still burns in my blood.

Although memory insists that there is a grave between us,
Even though every day I wander wearily to another, -
I can't believe that you would forget me,
When you're here in front of me.

Will another beauty flash for a moment,
It seems to me that I’m about to recognize you;
And I hear a breath of former tenderness,
And, shuddering, I sing.

Analysis of Fet's poem “No, I haven’t changed. Until deep old age..."

The late period of Afanasy Fet’s work is inextricably linked with the name of Maria Lazic, a girl with whom the poet was once in love, but broke off relations with his chosen one for the sake of a more financially profitable marriage. Fet realized his mistake much later, when he received from life everything he had strived for. There was only one thing missing - pure and sincere love, which he had the opportunity to experience once in his life, but could not be preserved. Only after the poet’s death did it become clear from his diaries that all these years he truly loved not his legal wife, but Maria Lazic, who died tragically after breaking up with her beloved. And it was to this girl that the poet dedicated all his poems, hoping in this way not only to throw out the feelings he was experiencing, but also to beg his beloved for forgiveness.

One of these works is the poem “No, I haven’t changed. Until deep old age...", written in 1887. In it, the poet tries to assure the one who has long been buried in the earth that he is still a slave of her love. “The old poison of chains, joyful and cruel, still burns in my blood,” Fet notes. He understands that he is separated from his beloved not only by years, but also by a grave. But the image of Maria Lazic is so bright that the poet seems as if she is always next to him. “I can’t believe that you have forgotten me when you are here in front of me,” the poet exclaims.

Already in last years Fet's life will become clear that he is terminally ill and suffers from clouding of reason. However, the reason for his illness lies in unrequited love. The poet is ready to sacrifice all his well-being in order to turn back time and correct fatal mistake committed many years ago. However, he is unable to do this, so he can only try to capture the features of his beloved in the images of other women, being content with the little that he can get from life.

It is noteworthy that over time, Fet convinces himself that he must definitely reunite with his chosen one. Therefore, he makes several suicide attempts, believing that there is no point in living, experiencing constant mental suffering. However, fate would have it that during another attempt to commit suicide, Fet died not from poison, but from a heart attack. Thus, he removed from his soul the grave sin of voluntary transition to eternity, which cannot be redeemed before God neither by prayers, nor by love, nor by the suffering that befell this amazing poet.

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet

No, I haven't changed it. Until old age
I am the same devotee, I am the slave of your love,
And the old poison of chains, joyful and cruel,
It still burns in my blood.

Although memory insists that there is a grave between us,
Even though every day I wander wearily to another, -
I can't believe that you would forget me,
When you're here in front of me.

Will another beauty flash for a moment,
It seems to me that I’m about to recognize you;
And I hear a breath of former tenderness,
And, shuddering, I sing.

The late period of Afanasy Fet’s work is inextricably linked with the name of Maria Lazic, a girl with whom the poet was once in love, but broke off relations with his chosen one for the sake of a more financially profitable marriage. Fet realized his mistake much later, when he received from life everything he had strived for. There was only one thing missing - pure and sincere love, which he had the opportunity to experience once in his life, but could not be preserved. Only after the poet’s death did it become clear from his diaries that all these years he truly loved not his legal wife, but Maria Lazic, who died tragically after breaking up with her beloved. And it was to this girl that the poet dedicated all his poems, hoping in this way not only to throw out the feelings he was experiencing, but also to beg his beloved for forgiveness.

One of these works is the poem “No, I haven’t changed. Until deep old age...", written in 1887. In it, the poet tries to assure the one who has long been buried in the earth that he is still a slave of her love. “The old poison of chains, joyful and cruel, still burns in my blood,” Fet notes. He understands that he is separated from his beloved not only by years, but also by a grave. But the image of Maria Lazic is so bright that the poet seems as if she is always next to him. “I can’t believe that you have forgotten me when you are here in front of me,” the poet exclaims.

Already in the last years of Fet’s life, it will become clear that he is terminally ill and suffers from clouding of reason. However, the reason for his illness lies in unrequited love. The poet is ready to sacrifice all his well-being in order to turn back time and correct a fatal mistake made many years ago. However, he is unable to do this, so he can only try to capture the features of his beloved in the images of other women, being content with the little that he can get from life.

It is noteworthy that over time, Fet convinces himself that he must definitely reunite with his chosen one. Therefore, he makes several suicide attempts, believing that there is no point in living, experiencing constant mental suffering. However, fate would have it that during another attempt to commit suicide, Fet died not from poison, but from a heart attack. Thus, he removed from his soul the grave sin of voluntary transition to eternity, which cannot be redeemed before God neither by prayers, nor by love, nor by the suffering that befell this amazing poet.