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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PRE-PYR |
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PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER (1799-1837) , Russian poet, was born at Moscow, on the 7th of June 1799. He belonged to an ancient family of boyars; his maternal great-grandfather, a favourite negro ennobled by Peter the Great, bequeathed to him curly hair and a somewhat darker complexion than falls to the lot of the ordinary Russian. In 1811 the future poet entered the newly founded lyceum of Tsarskoe Selo, situated near St Petersburg
capital , and it seemed as if he would turn out a mere man of fashion instead of a poet. But a very daring Ode to Liberty written by him had been circulated in manuscript in St Petersburg
At this time Pushkin was, or affected to be, overpowered by the Byronic " Weltschmerz." Having visited the baths of the Caucasus for the re- establishment of his health in 1822, he felt the inspiration of its magnificent scenery, and composed The Prisoner of the Caucasus, narrating the story of the love of a Circassian girl for a youthful Russian officer. This was followed by the Fountain of Bakhchisarai, which tells of the detention of a young Polish captive, a Countess Potocka, in the palace of the khans of the Crimea. About the same time he composed some interesting lines on Ovid, whose place of banishment, Tomi, was not far distant. To this period belongs also the Ode to Napoleon, which is inferior to the fine poems of Byron and Manzoni, or indeed of Lermontov, on the same subject. In the Lay concerning the Wise Oleg we see how the influence of Karamzin's History had led the Russians to take a greater interest
secret societies then rife throughout the country. He also became embroiled with his chief
original
Chenier
In 1825 the conspiracy of the Dekabrists broke out. Many of the conspirators were personal friends of Pushkin, especially Kuchelbecker and Pustchin. The poet himself was to a certain extent compromised, but he succeeded in getting to his house
Eugene
In 1837 the poet, who had been long growing in literary reputation, fell mortally wounded in a duel with Baron George Heckeren d'Anthes, the adopted son of the Dutch minister then resident at the court of St Petersburg. D'Anthes, a vain and frivolous young man, had married a sister of the poet's wife. Notwithstanding this he aroused Pushkin's jealousy by some attentions which he paid Natalia; but the grounds for the poet's anger, it must be confessed, do not appear very great. Pushkin died, after two days' suffering, on the afternoon of Friday the loth of February. D'Anthes was tried. by court-martial and expelled the country. In 188o a statue of the poet was erected at the Tver Barrier at Moscow, and fetes were held in his honour, on which occasion many interesting memorials of him were exhibited to his admiring countrymen and a few foreigners who had congregated for the festivities. Pushkin left four children; his widow was afterwards married to an officer in the army, named Lanskoi; she died in 1863. Pushkin's poetical tales are spirited and full of dramatic power. The influence of Byron is undoubtedly seen in them, but they are not imitations, still less is anything in them plagiarized. Boris Godunov is a fine tragedy; on the whole Eugene
together. The character-painting is good, and the descriptions of scenery introduced faithful to nature. The poem in many places reminds us of Byron, who himself in his mixture of the pathetic and the humorous was a disciple of the Italian school. Pushkin also wrote a great many lyrical pieces. Interspersed among the poet's minor works will be found many epigrams, but some of the best composed by him were not so fortunate as to pass the censorship, and must be read in a supplementary volume published at Berlin. As a prose writer Pushkin has considerable merits. Besides his History of the Revolt of Pugachev, which is perhaps too much of a compilation, he published a small volume of tales under the nom de plume of Ivan Byelkin. These all show considerable dramatic power: the best are The Captain's Daughter, a tale of the times of Catherine II.; The Undertaker, a very ghostly story, which will remind the English reader of some of the tales of Edgar Poe; The Pistol Shot; and The Queen of Spades. The academy of St Petersburg has recently issued a complete edition of the works of Pushkin, including his letters. See the bibliography in the editions of Gennadi (7 vols., St Petersburg, 1861) and Annenkov (6 vols., St Petersburg, 1855). (W. R. M.) End of Article: PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER (1799-1837) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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