Description

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era, considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. He was born into the nobility in Moscow, published his first poem aged 15, and was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his graduation from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Upon graduation he recited his controversial poem Ode to Liberty, one of several that led to his exile by Tsar Alexander I. Whilst under strict surveillance by the Tsar's political police and unable to publish his work, Pushkin wrote his most famous play Boris Godunov, subtitled A Dramatic Tale, The Comedy of the Distress of the Muscovite State, of Tsar Boris, and of Grishka Otrepyev. Written in 1825, the play was published in 1831, but not approved for performance by the censor until 1866. Its subject is the Russian ruler who reigned as Tsar from 1598 to 1605, and it consists of 25 scenes, written predominantly in blank verse. Reprinted from the English language edition of 1918, rendered into English verse by the poet and translator Alfred Hayes (1857-1936).