FACETS OF PRAYER IN M.I. LERMONTOV’S POETRY
FACETS OF PRAYER IN M.I. LERMONTOV’S POETRY

Summary/Abstract: The given paper aims to bring to readers’ attention the various facets of prayer in M.I. Lermontov’s poetry, as a different means of communication (be it with God or with one’s own self). Written within a bit more than ten years (from 1829 to 1840), the poems we chose to analyse encompass a wide range of traits and beliefs, varying from pure suffering to savory satire, from looking for comfort to seeking a close end to all the internal(ised) turmoil. The lermontovian ‘lyrical I’ gravitates between two poles – himself and the others, while his prayer changes consequently from self apprehension to the unease caused by others’ ‘sins’, at the same time trying to find comfort and safety for both the ones he genuinely cares about and himself. Thus, the image of a torn young man shifts to that of a more mature one, who has contact with the inconvenience of leading a cadet’s life, but who has now learned how to satirize it in a luscious manner, then to that of a full grown-up man who wishes to protect his beloved at the cost of his own sinful soul and then back to the disappointment of standing on his own against the vengeance of his enemies and calumnies of his so-called friends. Making his last stand as a misunderstood genius, Lermontov leaves his imprint into eternity through his art of putting feeling into adequate words. This is, ultimately, a desperate prayer from him as a man to his inner self, to take life as it is and live it fully, despite the inevitable pain it seems to bring along.

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