Page:Russian Literature - A Study Outline.djvu/20

l6 STUDY OUTLINE ON IV PUSHKIN, BYELINSKI AND HERZEN 1. Aleksandr Sergyeevich Pushkin, 1799-1837. The uncrowned Tsar of Russian poetry. Gregor Alexinsky. The indescribable music of verse, its full sensuous- ness, plasticity too, with .nothing blurred or indistinct, are coupled with genuine and deep feeling, sincere melancholy, and lively whims ; if he lacks the pas- sionate glow of love as of hate, yet in his creations he always achieves that balance which he so painfully missed in life. A. Bruckner. a His ancestry, boyhood, education and life career. b His banishment and its effect on his work. c His choice of words and his influence on the Rus- sian language. d Byron's influence on Pushkin. e His poetry, especially "Evgeni Onyegin." f His dramas, especially "Boris Godunov." g His novels and short stories, especially "The Cap- tain's daughter." h His fairy tales. i His position in Russian literature. j Reading: "The prophet/' Recommended Reading Boris Godunov. In Warner's Library of the world's best literature, v. 20 or 30, p. 11912-17 (extract). Wiener. Anthology of Russian literature, v. 2, p. 143-7- (extract). The tragedy "Boris Godunoff" has a solemn and simple stateliness ; one feels all through that what is said is less than half of what is thought. The atmosphere of the unknown is around one from the start. Bernard Pares. The captain's daughter. In Wiener. Anthology of Russian liter- ature, v. 2, p. 125-31. (extract).