Chapter 2 Summary

The estate that Eugene dislikes so much is actually a beautiful country house and grounds. Eugene, though, has no care for the elegant house or the estate. As the new master he institutes rent instead of unpaid labor for the peasants, which upsets his neighbors. Eugene does not like his neighbors either and keeps a horse ready to ride off if a visitor is approaching. Soon, the local landowners stop coming by and spread rumors that he's crazy, a drunk, or a freemason.

At the same time, Vladimir Lensky, a poet, returns to his nearby estate from Germany. Unlike Eugene, Vladimir still longs for love, and he believes that poetry is salvation. At eighteen, he is full of youth's idealism, and his poetry is filled with images of love. Vladimir is bored with the rural gatherings of unintellectual landowners, and he is more...