The poems in Volume I cover Pushkin’s childhood and his years at the imperial Lycée at Tsárskoye Seló.  Despite his youth they show an astonishing degree of maturity, wit, sensitivity, learning, literary awareness and poetic virtuosity.  Some of the early poetry Pushkin wrote to order for school exercises, or for informal competitions, or as demonstration pieces in imitation or parody of other writers, not necessarily to express his own innermost feelings.  Others were written “under the desk” so to speak, to beguile potential girlfriends or amuse classmates.

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