1831
1831 „Перед гробни́цею свято́й“ – “Before the revered tomb” The tomb in question is that of General Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (– ), who is widely credited with having saved Russia in the war against Napoleon . Kutuzov was interred in the Kazan Cathedral in Petersburg. The poem first appears in Pushkin’s letter to E. M. Khitrovo (Kutuzov’s daughter) from the middle of September . Russia had at this point successfully squelched the Polish uprising , and Pushkin explains: “Ces vers ont été écrits dans un moment où il était permis d’être découragé. Grâce à Dieu, ce moment n’est plus. Nous avons repris l’attitude que nous n’aurions pas dû perdre. Ce n’est plus celle que nous avait donn ée le bras du prince votre père, mais elle est encore assez belle.” (“These verses were written in a moment when it was permissible to be discouraged. God be thanked, that moment is no more. We have again taken the position that we could not lose. It is no longer that which the hand of your father the prince would have given us, but it is still quite good.”) Pushkin’s choice of subject may have been influenced by a poem that had appeared in Литературная газета at about this time by Dmitrii Iur’evich Struiskii (–), who published under the pseudonym of Trilunnyi. (Beliaev, ). The poem is written in iambic tetrameter with the rhyme scheme a-a-B-c-B-c. Tomashevskii (, ) traces the form to French poetic tradition: Malherbe used it in a number of poems addressed to eminent statesmen. Pushkin’s frequent use of paraphrase, archaism (сей, днесь, година), and his almost aggressive alliterations (грани́тные грома́ды, страж страны́, остально́й из стаи, etc.) recall the eighteenth-century ode. лампа́ды – icon lamps золотя́т – make golden Столбо́в грани́тные грома́ды – the granite masses of columns их знамён нави́сший ряд – the hanging row of their banners дружи́н – of troops. The word originally referred to the tsar’s retinue of warriors in ancient Rus’, but was also used in a broader sense. The archaic coloration fits in neatly with the lexicon and tone of this poem. – остально́й из стаи славной / Екатери́нинских орло́в – the last remaining of the glorious flock of Catherine’s eagles. On this figurative use of “eagle,” see commentary to “Воспоминания в Царском Селе,” line . Cf. Derzhavin’s poem “На кончину графа Орлова” (“On the Death of Count Orlov”) where, punning on the name of the deceased, Derzhavin calls him “Орел из стаи той высокой” (“An eagle from that lofty flock”). Additional support for the claim that Pushkin is alluding to this poem comes in the rhyme pair “славной” and “державной” (which through paronomasia suggests the name Derzhavin). о той годи́не – about that time наро́дной веры глас (=голос) – the voice of people’s belief (vox populi). People were annoyed with Kutuzov’s predecessor, Barclay de Tolly (see commentary to “Полководец”), who had chosen to retreat rather than face Napoleon ’s army in a major battle. днесь – (archaic) now дланию (=дланью) свое́й – (archaic) with your hand твое́й моги́лы бранной – of your military grave Клеветника́м Росси́и – To the Slanderers of Russia One of Pushkin’s most jingoistic poems, a defense of Russia’s brutal response to the recent Polish uprising and a saber-rattling rant against the French, whose free thinkers (e.g., Lafayette), had spoken out on behalf of the Poles. (For a detailed summary of French political opinion in prose and verse, see Frantsev, –.) Pushkin defends Russia by appealing to history. In his view, the relationship of Russia and Poland is a family feud that goes back centuries, and France harbors malice against Russia because of its defeat in . There is every indication – for example, his correspondence, especially the letter to Prince Viazemskii of June , which echoes this poem (“для нас мятеж Польши есть дело семейственное”) – that Pushkin was not writing these verses to curry favor with the authorities, but was expressing his own political convictions. The poem is written in a mixture of iambic hexameter and tetrameter with a markedly elevated lexicon. The numerous rhetorical questions recall the intonations of the eighteenth-century ode. (As Stennik [] notes, Pushkin explicitly refers to the poem as an ode in a letter to E. M. Khitrovo of September or October of , where he thanks her for “L’élégante traduction de l’ode.”) The rhyme scheme is unpredictable, with the final ten lines forming a reverse odic stanza (perhaps a coincidence). вити́и – orators Литвы́ – of Lithuania. Pushkin here uses the word as a synonym for Poland. взвешенный судьбо́ю – weighed by fate (the metaphor is presumably of the “scale” of justice) Кичли́вый лях – (archaic) haughty Pole росс – (archaic) Russian сии́ крова́вые скрижа́ли – these bloody tablets. Pushkin himself, in the above-mentioned letter to Khitrovo, translated “скрижали” into French as “tables, chroniques.” Прага – an eastern suburb of Warsaw (not to be confused with Prague). The word also appears in “Бородинская годовщина,” there – as here – in a rhyming position. The storming of Praga was the scene of Suvorov’s brutal suppression...
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