e was a
contemporary," and he "drew the man of the period as he understood him,
and as, unfortunately, he was too often met with." Lermontoff admitted
that in Petchorin he had tried to point out the "malady" which had
attacked all Russian society of that day. All this he said in a preface
to the second edition, after people had begun to declare that in the
novel he had represented himself and his own experiences. Naturally
Petchorin was drawn on Byronic lines, in keeping with the spirit of the
'30's, when individuality loudly protested against the oppressive
conditions of life. Naturally, also, all this now appears to be a
caricature, true to the life of the highest Russian society as it was
when it was written. Before he had quite completed this work, in
February, 1840, Lermontoff fought a duel with the son of Baron de
Barante, a well-known French historian, and was transferred, in
consequence, to an infantry regiment in the Caucasus, whither he betook
himself for the third time. A year later, after being permitted to make
a brief stay in St. Petersburg, he returned to the Caucasus, and three
months afterwards he was killed in a duel (on July 25, O. S., 1841) with
a fellow officer, Martynoff, and was buried on the estate in the
government of Penza, where he had been reared by his grandmother. The
latest work of the poet, thus cut off almost before his prime, consisted
of lyrics, which were full of power and perfection, and gave plain
promise of the approaching maturity of the still young and not fully
developed but immense talent.

His famous "Ballad of Tzar Ivan Vasilievitch, the Young Lifeguardsman,
and the Bold Merchant Kalashnikoff" must be given in a summary and
occasional quotations, as it is too long to reproduce in full. It lends
itself better to dignified and adequate reproduction than do his lyrics,
because it is not rhymed.[14] After a brief preface, the poet says: "We
have composed a ballad in the ancient style, and have sung it to the
sound of the dulcimer."

The red sun shineth not in the heaven,
The blue clouds delight not in it;
But at his banqueting board, in golden crown,
Sitteth the Terrible Tzar Ivan Vasilievitch.
Behind him stand the table-deckers,
Opposite him all the boyars and the princes,
At his side, all about, the lifeguardsmen;
And the Tzar feasteth to the glory of God,
To his own content and merriment.

The ballad goes on to relate how the T