Alexander Pushkin, the most distinguished poet of Russia, was born at
Saint Petersburg, 1799. When only twenty-one years of age he entered
the civil service in the department of foreign affairs. Lord Byron’s
writings and efforts for Greek independence exercised great influence
over Pushkin, whose “Ode to Liberty” cost him his freedom. He was exiled
to Bessarabia [A region of Moldova and western Ukraine] from 1820 to
1825, whence he returned at the accession of the new emperor, Nicholas,
who made him historiographer of Peter the Great. Pushkin’s friends
now looked upon him as a traitor to the cause of liberty. It is not
improbable that an enforced residence at the mouth of the Danube
somewhat cooled his patriotic enthusiasm. Every Autumn, his favorite
season for literary production, he usually passed at his country seat
in the province Pekoff. Here from 1825 to 1829 he published “Pultowa,”
“Boris Godunoff,” “Eugene Onegin,” and “Ruslaw and Ludmila,” a tale
in verse, after the Manner of Ariosto’s “Orlando Furioso.” This is
considered as the first great poetical work in the Russian language,
though the critics of the day attacked it, because it was beyond their
grasp; but the public devoured it.
In 1831 Pushkin married, and soon after appeared his charming novel,
“Marie,” a picture of garrison life on the Russian plains. Peter and
Marie of this Northern story are as pure as their native snows, and
whilst listening to the recital, we inhale the odor of the steppe, and
catch glimpses of the semi-barbarous Kalmouk and the Cossack of the Don.
A duel with his brother-in-law terminated the life of Pushkin in the
splendor of his talent. The emperor munificently endowed the poet’s
family, and ordered a superb edition of all his works to be published at
the expense of the crown. His death was mourned by his countrymen as a
national calamity. M. H. de Z.
Chicago, Nov. 1, 1876.