In February 1837 Russia mourned the death of its most beloved poet Alexander
Pushkin. In those days, so full of sorrow, the attention of the public
was attracted by a verse of a young poet, Mikhail Lermontov. In this
poem, dedicated entirely to Pushkin’s death and called “On the Death of
the Poet,” the young Lermontov expressed his bitterness and anger over
the attitude to Pushkin in high society, where they justified the poet’s
murderer. The authorities responded by deporting Lermontov in exile to
the Caucasus, where a war with the Chechens was on. Strange as it may seem,
that very exile made the poet famous.
Mikhail Lermontov was born in Moscow, in 1814, into a noble family. His
ancestors on his father’s side came from an old Scottish dynasty, the Lermonts.
Members of the dynasty were scattered throughout the globe and one of the
branches settled in Russia and came to be known as Lermontovs.
His mother died when he was three and the boy was raised by his granny,
who was so doting on him that took him away from his loving father.
Later on his father would write in his will: “You have wits, my boy, so
don’t you ever neglect them but beware of wasting them on useless things:
this is an innate gift and you’ll report to God on how you used it one
day! You have a good heart, my dear. Thank you, my dear, for your gentle
love and attention.”
Undoubtedly, the family drama had an impact on the future poet. He grew
up an impressionable introvert, nervous but sensitive to other people’s
pain. That’s why his younger days’ lyrics are so painfully tragic and full
of profound emotion.
At 16, Lermontov read a book about Byron and was greatly impressed. He
envied this British fellow, who died in Greece, during the Greeks’ liberation
struggle. Byron’s works had a lasting effect on Lermontov and in many literary
reviews the two go together as close spirits. When identified with Byron,
Lermontov said: “Not Byron – of different kind chosen of fate, yet still
unknown, outcast as he and driven from home. Yet Russian I – in heart and
mind!”
Lermontov was dreaming of a literary career but became an officer graduating
from the Guards Officers and Cavalry Cadets School. Exiled to the Caucasus
for his verse on Pushkin’s death, Lermontov found himself at the core of
the Russian army’s military operations against the Chechens. For courage
in action he was repeatedly nominated for government awards in the form
of orders and golden weapons. But Emperor Nicholas I had his own view of
Lermontov and crossed his name out of the lists of candidates. The poet
was upset, since a higher rank would enable him to retire and take up literary
work. Nevertheless, while in exile Lermontov produced the best of his works,
such as the romantic poems “Mtsyri” and “The Demon,” the psychological
novel “A Hero of Our Time,” stories and verses that brought him fame.
According to contemporaries, Lermontov was not an easy-going person. Clever
and sarcastic, he was difficult to make friends with but was, nevertheless,
sensitive to love and endlessly devoted to those who had managed to make
it into his heart. That very devotion made him demanding. A false note
in a relationship caused him to withdraw into himself and struck him off
balance to a point where a start-over became unthinkable. In that case
he turned sarcastic sparing neither himself nor the people around him.
He grew sick of the high-flown and immoral atmosphere he had to live in.
His always-present snigger drove a wedge into his relations with a fellow
officer, Nikolai Martynov, which resulted in the poet’s tragic death in
a duel on July 15th, 1841.
Lermontov was killed at the age of 27, in the prime of his maturing personality.
Being at odds with the society around him, he would have overcome it in
time to indulge in what he was destined for – literary work. But he was
unprepared for that and cracked under the pressure of everyday life.
Pushkin and Lermontov always go together in Russian literature as two poetic
geniuses. They may change places, of course, depending on the reader’s
preferences…
|