M. Yu. Lermontov and «Бородино»

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (1814–1841) was born in Moscow; he lost his mother at three and grew up with his grandmother Elizaveta Alekseyevna Arsenyeva at the Tarkhany estate. She took him to the Caucasus for treatment, so he came to love Caucasian nature from childhood. He studied at the Moscow Noble Boarding School, then at the university (law), and in 1832–1835 at the School of Guards Cornets. The poet was exiled to the Caucasus twice: in 1837 for the poem «Смерть поэта» and in 1840 for a duel; in those years he wrote «Мцыри», «Герой нашего времени» and «Три пальмы». Lermontov was killed in a duel on 15 July 1841 (old style). «Бородино» is a poem about the great battle of the 1812 war. Young soldiers ask an old soldier why Moscow was given to the French; he recalls the days before the battle, two days of skirmishing, the night and the decisive morning fight. He praises the courage of ordinary Russian soldiers.