The time is not easy today. Russia, a country that many experts in geopolitical realities in the early 90s considered doomed and soon to be dismembered, suddenly began to show its eternal rebellious nature again. Attempts to ignore the interests of the state came across unexpected and active resistance. Against the backdrop of the tragic events taking place in neighboring states, there was a natural interest in how the best people of Russia centuries ago treated such situations. On the pages of print media and in electronic media was published a biting verse “Eternal lackeys of Europe”. Pushkin, the great Russian poet, was declared its author. According to another version, the work came out of Tyutchev's pen.
Is this information true? This issue should be carefully considered.
Philological objection, or What rhymes with the word "Europe"
Professionals of philology immediately questioned both of the major versions of the authorship of the work “Eternal Footmen of Europe”. Pushkin or Tyutchev were unlikely to rhyme “Europe” with “experience” - this does not fully correspond to the notions of elegant literature that dominated in the 1920s and 1930s. By the middle of the century, such attempts were rather maliciously ridiculed by the poets brothers Zhemchuzhnikovs, Alexei Tolstoy and A. Ammosov, who joined them, united in the collective pseudonym Kozma Prutkov. Such a modern rhyme testifies to the late origin of the work, possibly even modern. Stylistically, it resembles another Pushkin verse. "Eternal lackeys of Europe" is in tune with the ode of the "Sun of Russian poetry", known as the "Slanderers of Russia."
Pushkin poem of 1831
Russia is a country so vast that the temptation to reduce its size has repeatedly confused the minds of European rulers. For this purpose, they used any occasion. In 1830, unrest broke out on the territory of the empire, which was later called an uprising. Alexander Sergeevich, in spite of a very critical attitude to many aspects of the Russian life of his time, was a patriot, and all separatism (expressed in modern language) was hostile. He clearly outlined his position on this issue in a work he wrote - a rebuke to the slanderers of Russia. Apparently, most modern readers confuse this ode, written in Tsarskoye Selo on August 2, 1831, with the poem "Eternal lackeys of Europe." Pushkin was outraged by the French government’s intention to provide direct military assistance to the Polish rebels, and prophesied, not particularly embarrassed in expressions, to the enemies the mournful fate "among the ungodly coffins", recalling the events of eighteen years ago. History is known to repeat itself.
Primary sources
So did Pushkin write the poem "Eternal lackeys of Europe"? The history of the creation of this work, while trying to find out, remains unknown. Reference materials in the form of complete works of the great poet also do not provide any information. There are no chronological clues, it does not apply to any of the known periods of creativity. Attempts to find something similar in Tyutchev give the same results. Critics of this approach to ascertaining authorship may object that some particularly acute works were not included in the official MSS for various reasons. Perhaps Pushkin’s poem “Eternal Footmen of Europe” turned out to be so seditious that neither the tsar nor the Soviet Union decided to present it to the general reader? But there is nothing in the text that could outrage the “satraps,” even tsarist, even Soviet. And the information about the prohibited works is not entirely reliable. Most of the "secret" and obscene-abusive works attributed to the great poet, in fact, have nothing to do with him. This is indicated primarily by their mediocrity.
Why attribute authorship to Pushkin?
Alexander Sergeyevich became “our all,” and this fact, alas, played a strange role in popularizing the work of the great Russian poet. Schoolchildren are literally forced to memorize his works, often without making any attempts to captivate with that enchanting charm and wisdom that every poem of Pushkin radiates. "Eternal lackeys of Europe" is attributed to the "chief Russian poet", perhaps, sometimes consciously - in order to give weight to this work in the eyes of an uninitiated public. Nevertheless, there is no need for this. A.S. Pushkin has many poems of a bright patriotic direction, and if there are not enough of them, you can read his correspondence with friends, in which he clearly does not accept the contemptuous attitude to the motherland, especially from foreigners. And even more so, any distortion of the truth is harmful when the poem has a real author.
True author
Elena Fominichna Lavrentieva, who became a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR in 1971, published two dozen books (the first was published in 1964), collaborated with the Yunost magazine for a decade, a remarkable poet, and is the author of the poem “Eternal Footmen of Europe”. Pushkin did not write it. The first known publication took place on October 23, 2003. The title of the work: "The so-called Galician elite." It just so happened that it became more and more relevant, and therefore the popularity of the poem grew both in Ukraine and abroad. It was written in Donetsk and was dedicated to the "heroes of the Maidan", the first one. The poet, or rather, the poetess, was not heard by everyone.
Elena Fominichna was surely pleased that I attributed her verse not to anyone, but to Alexander Sergeyevich himself. This is not a disaster, this is glory. And with it, according to another wonderful poet, the masters of the word will be considered. His own people.