I set out alone on the road...

Mikhail Lermontov is the pinnacle of Russian Romanticism, the youngest of Russia’s geniuses: before reaching the age of 27, he had already won fame as the country’s second greatest poet in terms of talent and significance. From childhood, his poems have accompanied Russian readers, embodying the human dignity, passionate spirit, and lofty talent of their author. In the works of the poet who, in Ivan Panaev’s words, astonished his contemporaries with his “bold, keen, and inquisitive mind,” readers will find a wide range of themes and moods, from profound philosophical lyricism to social and civic poetry.