A Comparative Study of Pushkin’s 1829 Caucasus Travel Writings and “The Bronze Horseman”

Abstract

This study provides a comparative analysis of the works themed around Push- kin’s journey to the Caucasus from June to late September in 1829 and his epic poem “The Bronze Horseman”. During this time, he met with Decembrists in exile and later produced works inspired by the impressions of his travel. Following his journey, he composed lyrical poems and poetic fragments depicting the region’s landscapes during the first Boldino Autumn of 1830, collectively known as “The Caucasus Series.” In 1835, Pushkin published a travelogue titled “A Journey to Arzrum during the 1829 Campaign”. A study of this travelogue is crucial to understanding the development of the “Series” as it provides essential background information.

The poems in the “Series” incorporate motifs and episodes from the “Book of Genesis in the Bible,” as well as motifs and structural elements from “The Divine Comedy.” The “Series” not only contains allusions to the poems of the Decembrists but also echoes of Derzhavin’s “Waterfall.” These intertextual elements drawn from the Bible and various literary works parallel the elements, motifs, and structure found in the poetic world of “The Bronze Horseman”, a masterpiece Pushkin completed four years later. A comparative analysis of the above-mentioned works and “The Bronze Horseman” reveals that Pushkin’s journey to the Caucasus in 1829 constituted a crucial preparatory phase for the creation of his future masterpiece.

I conduct a comparative analysis focusing on several key aspects. First, I examine the poem “The Caucasus,” wherein the panoramic mountain landscape is reminiscent of the cosmic unity portrayed in “The Divine Comedy.” As in Dante’s classic, the symbolic appearances of the “eagle” and the “beast” represent the hierarchical realms of Heaven and Hell. Further, I show that in the poem “The Monastery on Kazbek” the story of the Flood and Noah’s Ark is referenced. A vertical contrast between the monastery on the top of the mountain and the dark, narrow, prison-like gorges, is employed to suggest the hierarchy of the heavenly and infernal realms. Such a hierarchy is also evident in the poetic fragments of “Behold, a Gorge of Dark Rocks” and “It is Terrifying and Tedious.” Finally, I argue that in composing the poem “Avalanche.” Pushkin deliberately employs the acoustic effects, drawing inspiration from Derzhavin’s “Waterfall.” The simple plot of “Avalanche” also parallels that of “The Bronze Horseman” in which peace and reconciliation follow the destruction of order. As stated above, a comparative study of the numerous works born out of Pushkin’s journey to the Caucasus in 1829 and “The Bronze Horseman” contributes to clarifying the complex intertextuality and the structure of the poet’s masterpiece.