The Bronze Horseman

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Alexandre Benois's illustration to the poem (1904).

"The Bronze Horseman" (Russian, Медный всадник, literally "The Copper Horseman") is a poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin in 1833. It is widely considered to be one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The title refers to the equestrian statue of Peter the Great by Etienne Maurice Falconet in Saint Petersburg, and the statue itself is now known as the Bronze Horseman thanks to the great influence of the poem.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Pushkin describes the fate of the poor young Yevgeny and his loved ones during a flood in which the Neva overflowed its banks. Tsar Peter the Great founded the new capital of Saint Petersburg to bring trade and prosperity to Russia, to open a "window on Europe," and to expand his military power westward. This strategic move, however, cost the lives of many thousands of common people who succumbed to diseases, floods, and hard conditions in draining the swamps and building the new city. Pushkin uses the flood of 1824 to show the conflict between the large interests of the state, represented by the Tsar's statue with its gaze fixed ahead and its arm reaching out towards the future, and the immediate needs of a simple person for life and safety. Although Yevgeny survives the flood, the home of his fiancee on one of the city's islands is completely washed away and all of its inhabitants drowned with it. The poor man is driven into despair and madness, and blaming Peter for his misery, eventually curses the Tsar's statue. At that, the bronze horseman appears to break free from its pedestal and begins to chase Yevgeny. After this misadventure, Yevgeny always treats the statue with great respect whenever he comes across it. But soon afterwards he is dead, his body having been washed up on a bleak little island and deposited on the threshold of a ruined little house. He is buried out of charity.