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| Mikhail Lermontov, portrait by Nikolai Pavlovich Ulyanov |
In a meadow, not far from the cemetery
of Pyatigorsk , a town lost in the
mountain range of the Caucasus , drenched by
torrential rain, a man sits in the grass. Cradling the head of a dying man in
his lap, deadly wounded by a fatal shot in the duel that just ended, Mikhail
Glebov, the second of the duelist, is trying to pull his grey coat over the
frozen face. The blood oozing out of the wound, caused by the bullet that
perforated the heart and lungs, mingles with the rain and taints the grass. The
thunder booms between the mountains. In the dark, the tethered horses neigh,
rear, and paw the ground with their hooves. The lightning illuminating the
scene is incessant and “frightening beyond words”.
Mikhail Lermontov, the writer of “A Hero of our Time”, second
in his talent only to the great Pushkin, has just been killed at the age of
twenty six.
“Lermontov, Tragedy in the Caucasus ”
written by Laurence Kelly is not only a very detailed and well researched
biography, it is also well worth reading just for the sake of the story and the
figure of Lermontov. More so, Kelly’s fluent prose drags you into the story and
keeps you on your toes till the fatal end. At times you have the impression
that Kelly regrets he is writing a scholarly piece of work for in his
enthusiasm with his subject his writing at times flirts with the lyrical in his
descriptions of the Caucasian and Russian nature and people.
The short live of Mikhail Lermontov is full of events. He is raised by his rich grandmother on their estate not far from St Petersburg,
after the early dead of his young, frail, delicate but consumptive mother (“An
incarnation of Pushkin’s Tatiana” they say). His father, Captain Yuri
Lermontov, keeps himself busy with the traditional distractions of serf girls
and drink. The rich grandmother has family in the Caucasus
and together with her grandson, her servants and a militia they will travel
three times, over several years, to visit them. These voyages at a young impressive
age mark young Mikhail for the rest of his live.
Says Kelly:
He began to learn
about this new, wild , Eastern world, so different from the monotony and
ageless routine of central Russia
It is this delicious rendering of an exotic vanished world of
the Caucasus which is one of the prime
attractions of this biography.
Educated at the military school, Lermontov soon turns into
“l’enfant terrible” of St Petersburg St
Petersburg world of the endless balls, the flirting between the
young cadets and the lovely debutantes, the drinking bouts (mostly Champagne Russia
It is the death of the great Pushkin, victim of a duel,
which halts this merry carousel for a moment. Lermontov, by then an aspiring
writer and poet, reacts with his famous poem “Death of a Poet”. The Czar gets a
copy and is not amused. To calm down this young lion, Lermontov is send to
Nijegorodtsy, on a first “Tour of duty” (two more will follow ) with the
Dragoon regiment based in the Caucasus .
Apart from the occasional skirmishes and sometimes real
battles with the locals, the officer’s life is a picnic variant of the life in Saint Petersburg
In restless Lermontov, a Byronique spleen, installs itself. It is this Romantic boredom which slowly turns into his negativism and
his awareness that he is part of a lost generation. Lermontov as a writer is
one of the first to try his hand at psychological development of his characters.
His book “ A hero…” is an important work of transition between between the neoclassical
and Romantic literature.
Lermontov’s writings are more and more appreciated by his
public and his works have increasing success as they are published. The
novel “A hero of our time” of course and his many splendid poems.
But when he is not writing, Lermontov does not act as is
expected from him.
It is with a self-destructing logic that his attitude will increasingly irritate the powerful people (including the czar) who have been
keeping a close eye on this wild element of the Aristocracy. The Decembrist
failed putsch is still fresh in most people's mind. Another duel to which he is challenged is the
proverbial drop and Lermontov is send once more to the Caucasus .
Kelly masterly explains the court machinations of
the Czar who has set up a trap for Lermontov to get rid of him definitively.
Back in the Caucasus ,
Lermontov neglects the orders to report to his squadron. Under the excuse of
being ill, he makes a detour to Pyatigorsk, a spa town with an interesting
night life. Dancing wild mazurka’s, with the local beauties in an endless
string of balls, enjoying himself with his companions in never ending games of
faro, day – long hunting parties and writing, Lermontov’s live slowly whirls
towards the moment when he, with a trifle, insults a fellow officer Martynov and is
challenged to a duel.
Kelly suggests that the organization of the duel was so un-serious
that it looked like the contestants would never have shot at each other,
finding a way to give satisfaction without bloodshed. There was no doctor
present for instance; there was also no cart to bring the wounded man back to
town. Both Lermontov and Martynov, were very relaxed about it all, Lermontov
even confirming to his seconds that he was not going to shoot.
But Lermontov at the most critical moment, standing 20 feet
from the muzzle of a loaded gun, quips “I shall not fire on that fool”. This
remark so infuriates Martynov that in his angry frustration he shoots his
pistol and kills Lermontov.
It is said that when he heard the news the Czar spitted out “A
dog’s death for a dog”
I prefer an excerpt of one of his poems…
And he is dead and taken by the grave,
Like that unknown beloved ministrel brave,
Prey of blind jealousy, whose story he
In mighty verse such deathless glory gave,
Slain, as he was, alas! So pitilessly!
