Mikhail Lermontov

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov

We were not able to see the kids today, so we have decided to write about Mikhail Lermontov. Although he was not from here, he did spend a fair amount of his short life in this town, and is very important to the people here.  All children are required to memorize his poems.

With the help of our translator, we were able to take a brief tour of the parts of town that were important to him.  We saw the cave that he used to like to write in while he viewed out over his beloved Caucusus Mountains.  We followed the path down to the house that he lived in, and we went to his memorial park. We started our walk from Russian Spa Camp.   We took a path cut off, and walked to an overlook of the city.  If you look at the picture below (taken near the end of the walk) we walked on the hill behind the building down to an overlook, and then we climbed down the rock hill to the right of the building, down to the building and then up to Lermontov's cave, and then up to the viewing area overlooking the city.  We watched the city lights come on, and then we walked back to our room. This is very 3-D terrain! The building in the picture was built by an English Architect. He built if for his lovely wife Elizabeth.  She however, had an affair with the poet Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin which caused problems. Lermontov told his friend Pushkin that, since his affair was not known to the husband, this made the husband half a fool, and he should be made a complete fool! Lermontov was a witty sardonic and brilliant writer, but Lermontov's ideas of how to get along with people evetually led to him getting shot in a duel. These bad-boy Russian poets get all the girls!    

View of Pyatigorsk

 

Dave at the first overlook.  We could see the Caucusus Mountains in the distance, but not clear enough for a photo.

View from the far side of the hill, we hiked over to the overlook with the colonnade.

Elizabeth's building is now a museum.  They have a butterfly exhibit, this was over the door.

The cave where Lermontov liked to sit and write.

 Typical hike around here.

One of the overlooks on the way home.

 

The Prayer

M. Lermentov 1837

When my life is arduous,
If sadness freezes blood,
I say one prayer marvelous,
I learned it all by heart.

There's vigor unbelievable
In living words' accords,
And breathes unfamiliar
And holly charm in words.

A heart becomes not troublesome,
And doubts go awry,
And comes the truth and tears come,
And soul wants to fly.