The Fugitive (poem)

"The Fugitive" (Russian: Беглец, romanized: Beglets) is a poem by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1838 (according to Pavel Viskovatov, citing Akim Shan-Girey, the poet's relative) and first published in 1846, by the Sevodnya i Vtchera (Today and Yesterday) almanac.

[1] The poem, telling the story of a young man who left the battlefield, returned home and was rejected by his loved ones, was apparently a take on the piece of a local folklore.

The French author Tetbu de Marigny in his book The Voyage to Circassia (Brussels, 1821) mentions a song about a boy who "happened to be the only one who'd returned home from the fight with Russians where all of his comrades died and got banished by his own people.

"[2] Several literary historians noted similarities that "The Fugitive" had with the unfinished Alexander Pushkin's poem Tazit, published in Sovremennik (under the title "Galub") in the end of 1837.

[3] Pyotr Lavrov, speaking to members of the Society of Russian Students in Paris who gathered to celebrate Lermontov's 50th anniversary, stressed the relevance of "The Fugitive".