The prophet and his power. On Mikhail Lermontov’s poem ‘The Poet’ (‘My dagger glitters with gold...’)

Abstract

The article deals with an analysis of Mikhail Lermontov’s poem “The Poet” (“My dagger glitters with gold...”). The traditional Soviet interpretation is called into question here, since the ‘pro-Decembrist’ reception of that work now seems, at the very least, one-sided. At the time of writing the poem, Lermontov diverged in views from the Decembrists, and his radical individualism attains increasing significance. The might and aggressiveness of the dagger in the first part of the poem is directly related to the desire of the poet, the hero of the second part, for power over those around him. The image of the poetprophet in this poem is closely linked to the lyrical hero of Lermontov’s poem “The Prophet” and to the image of Lermontov’s Demon, who also has a prophetic nature. This similarity stems from the fact that, for Lermontov, the prophet is first and foremost an individualist, a ‘prophet of himself,’ striving for power. He may receive certain gifts from God, but for the prophet himself, that is insignificant for Novice (Mtsyri), who received from God the ability to perceive the thoughts of ‘dark rocks.’ At the same time, both Lermontov’s prophet (in any of his incarnations) and Novice perceive what they have received as a privilege that elevates them above other people. The article also contains a polemic with Boris Eikhenbaum and analyses the “alloying” of words in Lermontov’s poetry.