Poems: With Introduction and Notes

Pushkin at his most intimate. This 1830 collection gathers poems that reveal the man behind the myth: his self-mockery, his restless heart, his belief that poetry should sound like speech but hit like lightning. Here you will find "My Monument," his declaration of artistic immortality, and "My Muse," a confession of the poet's dependence on that volatile gift. There are love poems that ache, poems of regret that sting, and poems about the ordinary miracle of putting pen to paper. The collection opens with Ivan Panin's substantial introduction, which serves as a guided tour through Pushkin's artistic ideals: the spontaneity, the emotional honesty, the refusal to be anything but himself on the page. For anyone who thinks they know Pushkin from Eugene Onegin alone, this volume reveals a more vulnerable, more unpredictable genius. He wrote in everyday language but elevated it to something eternal.