"You were corrupted by autocracy, "we read in Fyodor Tyutchev's poem" December 14, 1825", which was not published during the poet's lifetime. It was first published in 1881 in the Russian Archive magazine. For a long time, his autograph, along with other manuscripts of the poet, was kept by Prince I. S. Gagarin, an old acquaintance of Tyutchev, and then was transferred to Ivan Sergeevich Aksakov.
In a letter dated November 24 / December 6, 1874, Aksakov wholeheartedly thanks the prince for promising to give him Tyutchev's manuscript: "I see that the interests of Russian literature are still dear to you, that the Russian feeling is still alive in you, that, placed by your personal fate outside your native land, you have not severed your spiritual connection with it." Here Aksakov also speaks about the poem "December 14, 1825": "Of the two poems you sent, one, I believe, refers to the Decembrists ("You were corrupted by autocracy..."), so: written in 1826, when he was 23 years old. It is severe in its judgment. Neither Pushkin nor anyone at that time, for fear of being considered illiberal, would have dared to express such an independent opinion - and it was completely sincere, alien to any calculations, because, except for you, it has not been communicated to anyone for almost fifty years "(Lit. inheritance. Vol. 97: In 2 books. Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev. Book 2. Moscow, 1989, p. 56).
So, the poem dates back to the second half of 1826. The reason for writing it was the publication of the verdict in the Decembrist case.
You were corrupted by Autocracy,And his sword smote you ,and in incorruptible impartialityThis sentence was sealed by the Law.A people who shun treachery,Blasphemes your names -And your memory for posterity,Like a corpse in the ground, buried.page 6
Oh victims of reckless thought,You were hoping, maybe,What will make your blood lean,To melt the eternal pole!Barely, smoking, it glitteredOn the age-old mass of ice,Winter iron died -And there were no trac ...
Read more