SOURCE: "The Byronism of Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time," in Comparative Literature, Vol. I, No. 2, Spring, 1949, pp. 140-46.

In the following essay, the critic asserts that the Byronism of A Hero of Our Time is due to Lermontov's parallel development of qualities similar to those of Byron rather than to the influence or his imitation of the English poet.

That Lermontov modelled his conduct and verses on those of Byron has been said to satiety both by critics and by the Russian poet himself. He had indeed created presuppositions about his own work among his contemporaries which he felt bound to make an effort to dispel. He was, he asserted, not merely a Russian Byron, but someone different. But what Lermontov might be was still unrevealed in 1832, and this Russian writer of Hebrew melodies, ballads, romances, and album-pieces for ladies and gentlemen continued to sustain formal comparison...