Nikolai Iazykov would most likely have perceived his role in the development of Russian Romantic literature quite differently than did either his contemporaries or the subsequent generations of critics. He would have placed a greater value upon the works written during the latter stage of his career, whereas both his contemporaries and later critics extolled, and continue to extol, the virtuosity of his early lyric verse. These same critics and colleagues, who had earlier been dazzled by Iazykov's speedy rhythms, unusual rhymes, and daring innuendos, began around 1828 to view the poet's work as derivative and repetitious. Fellow poets who had appreciated the friendly Anacreontic verses of student life quickly found fault with the ponderous moralistic posing of Iazykov's late works. By then, however, his genius had already secured him a position in the Russian poetic pantheon, and any shortcomings accredited to the Muses of later years were overshadowed...