(1799-1837)

Alexander Pushkin is considered the greatest Russian poet, and the founder of the contemporary

Russian literary language. He was born in Moscow into a noble family. Among his ancestors was

a captive Abyssinian who became the personal servant and then a protege of Tsar Peter the Great,

and Pushkin subsequently wrote about his great-grandfather in his unfinished novel,

Pushkin received an excellent education at the Lycee at Tsarskoe Selo, near St. Petersburg, an

exclusive boarding school established by Alexander I for the sons of noble families. His talent as

a poet was already evident during his early years at the lycee, where he wrote poems in both

Russian and French. While there, Pushkin was asked to recite one of his poems before the

celebrated Russian poet Gavriil Derzhavin, and Derzhavin was so impressed with the talent of

the young poet that he hailed him as his successor. Later Pushkin wrote about this meeting:

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 (The old Derzhavin noticed

us/ and entering his grave, he blessed us). The years spent at the lycee were very happy ones for

Pushkin. Throughout his life he maintained friendships with his close lycee friends Ivan Puschin,

Anton Del'vig, and Wilhelm and he wrote many poems reflecting on his time at

Tsarskoe Selo. His famous poem "19 written in 1825, was dedicated to the

anniversary of the opening of the lycee in 1811.

My friends, our union is beatiful!

It is, like the soul, indivisible and eternal -
Steadfast, free and carefree
It grew in the shelter of
friendly muses
No matter where fate might cast
us
And wherever fortune might lead us
We are still the same; the whole world is a foreign land for us
Our fatherland is Tsarskoe Selo.

After graduating from the lycee, Pushkin was given a position at the Collegium of Foreign

Affairs in St. Petersburg. For three years he led a carefree life immersed in Petersburg society

and its diversions. In this period he wrote many romantic poems influenced by Byron, and in

1820 he published his first long poem, t4Ruslan and Ludmila." Some of his poetry seemed too

liberal for Tsar Alexander I, and Pushkin was transferred from St. Petersburg to the south of

Russia, first to Kishinev in Moldova and then to Odessa, where he spent the years 1820-1824.

This period is known as the Romantic period in Pushkin's poetry. At that time he wrote his long

poems 'The Prisoner of the Caucasus" "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai"

"The Robber Brothers" of which only

fragments remain, and he began "The Gypsies"

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While in Odessa, Pushkin fell in love with Yelizaveta Vorontsova, the wife of Count Vorontsov,

who was the governor of the region at that time and stationed in Odessa. The relationship

between Puhskin and Count Vorontsov, who was his supervisor, was difficult from the beginning,

and Vorontsov's jealousy made it all the more acrimonious. Vorontsov began to persecute

Pushkin, and Pushkin offered his resignation. Finally, after the censors intercepted one of

Pushkin's letters, in which he wrote about his interest in "atheist teachings" (for more, see Yuri

Lotman's biography of Pushkin), he was dismissed from service in Vorontsov's office and exiled

to his estate, Mikhailovskoe, near Pskov, where he spent 1824-1826. There he wrote "Boris

Godunov"; continued to work on "The Gypsies" and Eugene Onegin; and wrote many love

poems, among which is the famous dedicated to Anna Kern,

who was visiting her aunt (and Pushkin's neighbor and friend) Praskovia Osipova at the nearby

estate of Trigorskoe. hi the evenings Pushkin listened to the many folktales of his nanny, Arina

Rodionovna, who became the prototype of Tatyana's nanny in Eugene Onegin. Pushkin's poem

describes one of those evenings.

After the Decembrist revolt of 1825, in which many of Pushkin's friends were involved, Pushkin

was brought by convoy from Mikhailovskoe to Moscow to meet the new tsar, Nikolai I, who

promised Pushkin "forgiveness" and assured him that he was going to be his personal censor, but

throughout Pushkin's life there were still many sunsequent clashes with censorship. Pushkin

hoped that the new tsar would bring long-awaited reforms to Russia, but these hopes wrere not

fulfilled.

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In 1826 Pushkin wrote (Letter to Siberia), which he addressed to his

Decembrist friends sentenced to hard labor in the Siberian mines, and Maria Volkonskaya took

the poem with her as she prepared to join her exiled husband in Siberia. During this period

Pushkin's interest in Russian history deepened, and he wrote the long poem "HojrraBa" (Poltava)

and the novel Apan Uempd BeJlUKO^o, which remained unfinished. At this time he also became

friends with a celebrated Polish poet, Adam Mickiewicz, who was in exile in Russia.

In 1829 Pushkin met sixteen-year-old Natalya Goncharova, who was considered the most

beautiful woman in Russia. He proposed to her but was not accepted at first; Natalya and her

family wanted to be sure that Pushkin's troubles with the government had been resolved and that

his position was stable, so only in 1830, after his second proposal, did Pushkin and Natalya

Goncharova become engaged. After the engagement, in the autumn of 1830 Pushkin went to the

family estate of Boldino on business but was forced to remain there for several months because

of a cholera epidemic in Moscow. This period in Pushkin's life later became known as

(the Boldino autumn) because of its rich creative legacy. In Boldino Pushkin

finished Eugene Onegin and wrote four "little tragedies" in verse and

a cycle of short stories, The Tales ofBelkin

In 1831 after a long courtship Pushkin married Natalya Goncharova. Her beauty attracted the

attention of the tsar, who awarded Pushkin the title of Kammerjunker, a very low court title

usually bestowed upon young officers, so that his wife could regularly attend the court balls.

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Pushkin was offended; he felt that this low rank was inappropriate for his age and reflected

Nikolai Fs opinion that poets were not of very high status in society. Court life with its balls and

receptions held no interest for Pushkin, and he felt that at court he had less time for poetry.

Natalya's beauty sparked the interest of a French baron, Georges d'Anthes, who started to pursue

her. Pushkin challenged d'Anthes to a duel; fortunately the first scheduled duel was averted

because d'Anthes married Natalya's sister, Yekaterina, claiming that he was in love with her and

not with Natalya. But the rumors about him and Pushkin's wife continued to circulate, and

eventually Pushkin recived an anonymous letter congratulating him on "having joined the order

of cuckolds." A second duel was scheduled and took place on January 27, 1837. Two days later

Pushkin died of a stomach wound in his apartment near the Moika River in St. Petersburg. He is

buried beside his mother in the Svyatogorsk Monastery cemetery near his family estate of

Mikhailovskoe.

Although Pushkin's life was tragically cut short by his death at the age of thirty-seven because of

the duel over the honor of his wife, he left a very rich and influential literary legacy. He worked

in all literary genres—from poems to fairy tales to historic chronicles to plays to his innovative

"novel in verse" (poivraH B Eugene Onegin. When Pushkin died, the celebrated Russian

literary critic Vissarion Belinsky said of him: (The sun

of Russian poetry has gone down). Pushkin's birthday, June 6, is celebrated as a holiday in

Russia and is known as

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 (1814, 1827)

1. What tenses and aspects are used for the verbs in the poem? List all the verbs, indicating their
aspect and tense.

2. Find all the usages of the pronoun "ece" in this poem. Indentify the case and the governing
verb (if present) in each instance.

3. Find the verbs that are in the first person and provide the infinitive forms for these verbs.

1. What is the argument between the gold and the sword?

2. How do you understand the opposition that the poet sets up?

3. Which do you think is more powerful? Explain your point of view.

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 (1815)

(Perf.)-to wilt, die off

-dawn

(Perf.) — to repeat

(Impf.) - to wilt, wither; (ft-joy

-soul

(Perf.) - to forgive; (Impf.) - to be sorry

(arch., poet.) - -lily

(Perf.) (KOMV Ha - to point out

i. means "to live." What is the meaning of in English?

2. means "children." What is the meaning of in English?

What is the shared root?
3. To what in the poem does "AHTH sapw" refer in the first stanza?
Why does the poet describe it like that?
4. Find the verbs in the imperative mood.

5. Find the verbs in the Perfective aspect and explain the aspectual choice.

6. Find the verbs in the Imperfective aspect and explain the aspectual choice.

7
1. What is the mood of the poem?

2. How can the metaphor of the rose and the lily be understood?

(1829)

This poem is dedicated to Anna Olenina, the pretty and well-educated youngest daughter of
Alexei Olenin, the president of the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. Pushkin was in love
with Anna in 1828-1829 and even proposed marriage, but his proposal was not accepted by her
family because he was not considered a good match for Anna. Pushkin dedicated several poems
to Olenina, some of which—' He MHC . . . —are in this book.
As it became known later from her diary, Anna at the time was unhappily in love with Alexei
Lobanov-Rostovskv and was indifferent to Pushkin.

still; may be

soul; . (Perf.) - to be extinguished; fully

let; ne - no longer; (Impf.) - to

trouble

(Impf.) - to sadden; - not by anything (Instr. of

hopelessly

By shyness and by jealousy tormented

sincerely; • - tenderly

As may God grant you be loved by someone else

8
1. What do you think means in English?
2. means "to sadden." What is the meaning of in English?
. What is the root that the noun and the verb share?
2. Find all the usages of the pronoun "Bac" in this poem. What case is being used?

. Identify the governing verbs in each instance.

3. To which word in the poem does wcoHa" refer in the first stanza?
4. Find the words ana What do you think the prefix means?

5. Find all the adverbs in the poem.

6. Find all the uses of the Instrumental case.

1. What is the tone of the poem?

2. Are the poet's feelings reciprocated?

3. Does the poet still love her?

(1828)
This poem is dedicated to Anna Olenina, who once misspoke by saying mbi to Pushkin; the
following Sunday he brought her the poem. In standard Russian, 6bi is used as the appropriate
form of address between adults. Even now, in contemporary standard usage, the more intimate
mbi is reserved for family, very close friends, lovers, and God. In the nineteenth century it was
used even more rarely, and even children of the upper classes were expected to address their
parents as

- heartfelt

to replace

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 - dream

to arouse, awake

- in front of; - pensive

I can't take my eyes off her

- sweet, nice

1. means "to love." What is the meaning of in English?

What is the root that the verb and the participle share?

2. Find all the personal pronouns in the poem.

Identify their cases and the governing verbs in each instance.

3. Find the word Can you name the verb to which this adverb is related?

What is their common root?

4. Find all the uses of the Accusative case.

5. Find all the uses of the Instrumental case.

1. What happened in the conversation between the poet and his beloved?

2. How does he react to her slip of the tongue?

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3. How is the shift between mbi and 6bi played out in the poem?

He MHC . . .* (1828)
This poem was inspired by Anna Olenina (see the note above for who was
known for her musical talents as a singer and composer. The Russian composer Sergey
Rachmaninov set this noem to music in 1893.

- frnpf. - beauty; - in front of

- song; - Georgia; - sad

(KOMy) - to remind; - OHM

- another; - shore; - distant, faraway

-alas

- cruel; - melody

CTerib (f.) - steppe

- here: feature; - maiden

- phantom; - fatal

-past participle of

- before me

- to imagine

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1. means "to sing." Find the common root in nexb -

List other words with the same root.

2. "HanoMHHaxb" means "to remind." Find the common root in

Write down other words with the same root.

3. What is the case of "one" in the third line of the first stanza?

4. In the first stanza the pronoun "MHC" appears twice. What case is being used in each instance?

Indicate the governing verb.

5. In the third stanza what case is used for

6. To what does the pronoun "ero" refer in the third stanza?

7. Find all the adjectives in this poem (8).

Can you find the two that are synonyms? . What is the

shared root?

Bonpocbi

1. What are the main emotions in the poem?

2. What feeling does the landscape in the second stanza evoke?

3. Why is Georgia called "sad"?

4. How does the poem begin?

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5. What is the link between music and memory?

6. The poet refers to his past love as What can we infer about the
nature of their relationship? Was it a happy one?

7. Why do you think the last stanza repeats the first?

Ha . .. *(1829)
This poem, like the previous one, was written during Pushkin's journey to Georgia, which he
first visited in 1824 during his southern exile. The images of exotic mountains and nature in the
Caucasus were also very appealing to Lermontov and other Russian poets of the Romantic era.

-hill; - Georgia; - darkness

- river in Georgia

(f) - sadness; - light

- full

- melancholy

(Impf.) - to torment; - to trouble

- heart; (Imprf.) - to burn

- here: because

1. means "noise." What do you think means in English?

What is the aspect of this verb? . Make up a sentence with this

verb.

2. means "new." What does the adverb mean?

3. Find all the usages of the pronoun What case is being used?

4. What case is used in the fifth line for . What is the subject

of that sentence?

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5. To which word in the poem does "OHO" refer in the last line?

6. Of how many sentences does the poem consist?

Identify them by reading each sentence aloud.

7. Find all the adverbs in the poem.

1. What is the mood of the poem?

2. How do you understand the words Why does the poet describe his

3. What are the main emotions in the poem?

**(1822)
Significantly, this poem was written while Pushkin was in exile in the south of Russia in the
Crimea for his satirical epigrams against the Russian emperor and some highly placed officials.

- bar; - prison; - damp

- raised in captivity;

eagle

- to flap; -- wing

- bloody; - food; -to

peck

- here: to stop

- as if; - to think up

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 - look; - screech

- to utter; -to fly away

- free; - bird; - it's time

- storm cloud; - mountain

- sea; -edge

- only; - wind; -and

1. "He and share a common root. Find the root and write down its meaning in

2. The verb is derived from (white). Can you guess the meaning of the verb?

is similarly formed from (dark blue). Write down the meaning of the verb in
English. Using the same model, can you come up with any other examples of verbs denoting
color?

3. List all the examples of the Instrumental case (5).

4. Find the common root in and write down its

meaning in English. Make up two sentences with these words.

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1. What is the mood of the poem?

2. How does it change from the first to the third stanza?

3. Where does the eagle call the lyric hero?

4. What oppositions are set up in the poem?

**(1826)

Through undulating fogs

- to make one's way through; - moon

- glade

CBCT - light

(arch., in reference to a horse) - gallant

- bell; - monotonous

- tiring; - to ring

- familiar, dear

- coachman

- revelry; - here: spirited, bold

- sadness, melancholy

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 -hut

(f.) - depth of the country

(arch.) - a marker of distance (0.662 mile);

- striped

- to come up; (arch.) -

- having returned

- to lose oneself (as in reverie); - fireplace

I will feast my eyes on you, unable to look my fill

-hand (of the clock)

- measured; - circle; - to complete

- here: bothersome people; - having removed

- to separate

- foggy; (arch.) -

17
1. "TyMan" means "fog." Find the root in "oTyManeH." Make up a sentence with this word.

2. Find two roots in and write down their meanings in English.

3. List all the adjectives in the poem.

4. What tense and aspect are used in the first four stanzas?

5. What tense and aspect are used in the fifth and sixth stanzas? Why does the tense change?

1. What is the atmosphere of the poem?

2. Describe the winter landscape.

3. Where is the poet going?

4. Who is Nina?

5. What are his hopes for the following day?

**(1825)
This poem was inspired by the long winter evenings that Pushkin spent at Mikhailovskoe
listening to the tales of his old nanny, Arina Rodionovna.

- storm; - darkness; - to cover

- swirl; -whirling

TO ... TO - now. . . then; - beast; - to howl

18
 (Perf.) - to cry; (arch.) - baby

(arch.) - roof; - decrepit

- suddenly; - straw; (Perf.) - to make noise;

- traveler; -late

(dim.) - window; (Perf.) - to knock

- here: old, rim down; (dim.) - cabin

-cf. - dark

(Perf.) - to grow silent

— howling

-cf. - weary

(Impf.) - to doze; - humming

- spindle

(Perf.) - here: to have a drink

(f.) - youth

(idiom.) - to drown one's sorrows; -mug

- heart

- chickadee

- quietly; i MopeM - here: oversees

19
 - maiden

3a (colloq., arch.) - in the morning

To, KBK

To

1. Find the root in and write down its meaning in English.

List other words with the same root.

2. Find the root in and write down its meaning in English

List other words with the same root.

-> share a common root. Find the root and give its meaning in English.

. Make up a sentence with any of these words.

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4. share a common root. Find the root and

write down its meaning in English. . Make up two sentences with any

of these words.

5. share a common root. Find the root and write down its meaning in

English. . Make up a sentence with any of these words.

6. List all the verbs in the Perfective aspect (7).

Make up two sentences with any of these verbs.

1. How is the winter evening described in the poem?

2. What is the atmosphere of the poem?

3. How is the storm personified? Find specific examples in the text.

4. Whom does the poet call

**(1829)

- marvelous

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 - to doze; - lovely

- to wake up

- here: closed; nera - bliss; - here: eyes

- toward; - Aurora, goddess of the

dawn

- star; -north; - to appear

- last night; - blizzard; -to

rage

- cloudy; - darkness; - to rush

- pale; -spot

- storm cloud; - gloomy

- now; - to take a look

(poet.) - sky

- magnificent; - carpet

- sparkling

- transparent

- ice (on the trees)

- to sparkle

- amber; " - radiance

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 - lit up;TpecK — crackling

- to crackle; - burning;

stove

- sleeping ledge by the stove

- order; - sleigh

- mare; I (in reference to a horse) -

(arch.) - to harness

- gliding

- to give oneself to; - run

- impatient; - horse

- to visit; - field; - empty

- here: so; - thick

- shore

1. The poet describes a bright winter day as What else can be described with this

adjective?

List other words with the same root.

2. In the second and third stanzas find three verbs related to colors and write down their meaning
in English.

3. List all the imperatives in the poem.

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4. Reread the third and fourth stanzas. Can you find two pairs of verbs and nouns that share
common roots?

1. What is the tone of the poem?

2. How does the poet describe the change in the winter landscape? How does the description
differ from the night before to the morning? Give specific details.

3. What are the main emotions in the poem?

**(1833)

- gloomy; - time; (arch.) - eyes;

- enchantment

— here: parting; - beauty

- sumptuous; - nature;

withering

- crimson; - gold; - dressed;

woods

- here: umbrage; - wind; - fresh;

- breath

- here: mist; - here: sinuous;

covered

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 - ray; - frost

- distant; - gray (in reference to hair

only); - threat

1. means "sky." What do you think means in English? What

is the common root?

2. means "parting." Can you guess the meaning of the verb c

KCM/

Make up a sentence with this verb.

3. Find the root in , List other words with the same root

4. Find all the examples of the Accusative case.

5. The adiective describes the color of a person's hair. In your opinion, why does the
poet refer to winter as

1. What is the mood of the poem?

2. How does the poet describe fall?

3. What is special about the combination

4. What details of the fall landscape are mentioned in the poem?

**(1825)
This poem reflects an episode from Pushkin's life when he met Anna Kern briefly in St.
Peterburg in 1819. She was only eighteen, and Pushkin was struck by her charm and beauty.

25
They did not see each other for several years after that, but in 1825 they met again when Pushkin
was in exile at Mikhailovskoe and Anna was visiting her aunt, who lived nearby. Pushkin fell in
love again and wrote her this poem. Later the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka was in love with
Anna Kern's daughter Yekaterina, and he set the poem to music in 1840.

- wondrous; - moment

(Perf.) - to appear

- fleeting

- pure

- languor

- here: agitation; - bustle

(Inipf.) - to sound; - voice

(Impf, KOMy) - to appear in a dream; - feature

- storm; - gust; - rebellious

(Perf.) - to disperse; - former

- depth (of the country); - gloom;

- imprisonment
- to stretch, grow long

- the divine; - inspiration

-tear

26
 (Perf.) - to come; - awakening

- ecstasy

(Perf.) - to rise again, come back, reawaken

1. consists of two roots. Find them and write down their meanings in English.

What else can be described as

2. means "hope." What is the meaning of in English?
Find the root and the prefix and write down their meanings in English.
Can you think of any other adjectives with the prefix

3. What is the root of Can you think of a verb with

the same root?

4. To which word in the poem does refer in the last stanza?

5. Find all the neuter nouns in the poem (8).

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6. Find all the uses of the Genitive case (12) and indicate the governing prepositions.

1. What is the mood of the poem?

2. What happened between the poet and his beloved?

3. When did his feelings return?

4. What connection does the poem try to establish between the ability to love and to live life to
the fullest?

**(1818)

The philosopher and writer Pyotr Chaadaev (1795-1856) was one of Pushkin's close friends, a
prominent figure in Russian high society, a decorated veteran of Russia's war against Napoleon,
and a person with close ties to many of the Decembrists. Chaadaev first met Pushkin in 1816 and
made a great impression on him. Pushkin addressed three poems to Chaadaev in the epistle genre,
and this is the first of them. An epistle poem is written as a letter and addressed to a particular
person. The addressee is usually named in the title. This poem was written as a response to an
1818 speech by Alexander I in Warsaw-, where he promised the peaceful adoption of a
constitution for Russia.

- quiet; - glory

- here: coddle; < - deceit

- to disappear; -juvenile;

amusement

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 - fog

- to burn; - desire

- oppression; - power; - fatal

- impatient; - soul

We hear the call of fatherland; (arch.) - to listen

- yearning; (poet.) - expectation

(f.) - freedom; - sacred

- lover

- here: certain; - assignation

- as long as

- heart; (f) - honor

- fatherland; (D.) - to dedicate

- here: outburst

- to rise

- star; - captivating

(arch.) - here: to rise, wake up; OTO - OT - from

(pi) - here: remnants; - autocracy

1. Find the subject in the opening sentence. What case is used for

29
 2. Find and write down the subject in "HO B nac

3. What is the implied subject in

4. share a common root. Find the root and write down its

meaning in English. Make up two sentences with these words.

5. means "autocracy" in English. Find the two roots in Russian and write down

their meanings in English.

6. Find all the uses of the Instrumental case (4).

7. At the end of the poem (fifth line from the bottom) to what does "oHa" refer?

1. What is the main theme of the poem?

2. What does the poet urge his readers to do?

3. What is the mood of the final lines?

**(1827)
This poem was written after the Decembrist revolt on December 25, 1825, in St. Petersburg.
Among Pushkin's close friends there were many Decembrists. After the suppression of the revolt,
five participants were hanged, and others were exiled to Siberia and sentenced to hard labor.
Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya gave a farewell party in her mansion on Tverskaya Street in
Moscow in honor of her relative, Maria Volkonskaya, one of the wives of the Decembrists who

30
decided to follow her husband voluntarily to Siberia. Pushkin gave this poem to
MariaVolkonskaya, and she brought it to his exiled friends.

In the depth of the Siberian mines

- to keep; - proud; - patience

- to disappear; - dolorous; - labor

- thought; - high, lofty;

striving

— misery; - loyal

- gloomy; - underground

- to awaken; (f.) - vigor

- long wished for; - time

(poet.) — friendship

- bar, lock

-cf. - hard labor; nopa - hole

(arch.) - voice

- shackles; - heavy; - here: to fall

off

- prison; - to collapse; - freedom

- to receive

— sword

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1. means prison. Find the root in the word and write down its meaning in

English. Why do you think this particular word is used to

describe the prison?

2. Find the root and the prefix in and write down their meanings in English.

3. share a common root. Find the root and write down its

meaning in English. Make up two sentences with

these words.

4. Find all the verbs in the future tense (9) and identify the aspect used.

5. Find three verbs of motion and identify their tense, aspect, and meaning:

1. What is the theme of the poem?

2. In this letter to his friends wrhat does the poet say about the impact of the Decembrist
movement?
Can you find the specific lines in the poem?

3. What future does he envision for his friends?

4. What are the oppositions set up in the poem?

32
 **(1830)
Pushkin wrote this poem on January 5, 1830, to a celebrated Polish beauty, Carolina Sobanskaya,
who was known for her charm and wit. It was in answer to her request to inscribe his name in her
album.

- (irreg. Prep, of - name

(Perf.) - to die; - noise

- wave; - to splash; - shore

- sound; - in the thiek forest

- memorable; - sheet

- dead; - trace; - similar

- design; (f.) - inscription;

sepulchral

- forgotten

- excitement; - rebellious

— pure; - tender

- quietude

- to utter; - with longing

33
 (f.) — memory

- world; - heart

1. means "to remember." What do you think means in

English? What is the common root? Write down other

words with the same root.

2. means "to inscribe." What does mean?

What is the common root? Write down other words with the same root.

3. Find all the usages of the pronoun "OHO" in this poem. To what does it refer? What case is

being used in the first line of the third stanza in

4. Find all the verbs in the poem.

What tense and aspect are used throughout?

5. Find all the examples of the Prepositional case in the poem and write them down.

1. What are the main themes of the poem?

2. Whom is the poet addressing?

34
3. Who is speaking in the last stanza, MHe," and what is the final emotion? Is it
negative or affirmative? Explain your point of view.

***(1825) - bacchanal

- to grow silent; - cheer; (arch.) -

voice

- to sound; - here: song

— long live; - tender

-full; - glass

- resonant; - bottom

- thick ( i n reference to liquids only)

- cherished; - ring

, - to raise; - let's clink them at

once

- muse; - reason

- sacred; - to burn, shine

(arch.) - lamp; - to pale

- break; - dawn

- false; (f.) - wisdom; -to

flicker; - to smoulder

- immortal

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 - to hide; - darkness

1. What are the five things that the poet celebrates? List them here.

2. Find all the imperatives in the poem.

1. What is the mood of the poem?

2. What metaphor is used to describe reason?

3. The poem is written as a toast. What is the purpose of the toast? Indicate the specific lines.

***(1836)

This poem is a free translation of Horace's Ode XXX, "Exegi monumentum aere perennius. . . ."
Horace (65 BC-8 BC) was a leading Roman lyric poet during the reign of Emperor Augustus. In
addition to Pushkin, many great Russian poets, such as Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Lermontov,
Tyutchev, and Fet, translated Horace's odes. In the final poem of his third book of odes, Horace
claimed to have created for himself a monument more durable than bronze. Pushkin used
Horace's first line as an epigraph. A celebrated Russian poet of an earlier generation, Gavriil
Derzhavin, who met young Pushkin and named him his successor (see Pushkin's biography
above), also translated this ode. Thus, Pushkin's interpretation of this poem should be considered
in the context not only of Horace but also of Derzhavin, as a poetic testament of sorts stressing
the importance of poets and poetry for Russians.

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Exegi monumentum ( I built a monument)

— monument; - to construct;

- not made with human hands

- to become overgrown;

people's; . - path

- to rise; (poet.) - head;

- defiant

Column in Palace Square in St. Petersburg

commemorating Alexander I

- the whole; - cherished;

lyre

- here: ashes, remains; - to outlive;

- here: decay

- famous; (arch.) - as long as;

(arch.) - world

XOTB - only; (arch.) - poet

- rumor; - great

(arch.) - any; - existing

- proud; BiiyK - grandson; - Slav;

(arch.) - now; - savage

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 xyHryc - Tungus, member of an ethnic Siberian

group; CTerib (f.) - steppe; : - a native of

Kalmykiya, a southwestern part of Russia on the

Caspian Sea.

- here: pleasing; - people

- feeling; - to awaken

- cruel; BCK - century; -to

glorify

(f.) - mercy; - fallen;

- to call for

- will; - obedient

Not fearing the insult and not demanding the crown

- praise; - slander;

(arch.) - - to accept;

indifferently

(arch.) - ocnapHBaxb - to argue (with);

-fool

1. Find the prefix and two roots in and write down their meanings in English.

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2. share a common root. Find the root and

write down its meaning in English. Make up two sentences with these

words.

3. Find the roots in and write down their meanings in English.

Make up a sentence with this word.

4. share a common root. Find the root and write down its meaning

in English. Make up two sentences using these words.

1. What is the main theme of the poem?

2. What kind of a monument is the poet describing?

3. How do you understand the lines

4. According to the poem, for what will the poet be remembered?

5. hi the poem's conclusion the poet addresses his muse. What does he think the muse ought to
do?

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