Poltava was published in 1829. It combines two narratives: the political-military story of the Battle of Poltava (1709) — the engagement that established Russia as a European power and ended Sweden’s dominance of the Baltic — and the romantic tragedy of the Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa, who betrayed his alliance with Peter the Great, sided with the invading Swedes, and was destroyed in their defeat.
Pushkin weaves the political and romantic threads through the figure of Maria (based on Matriona Kochubey), the young daughter of one of Mazepa’s officers, who falls in love with the elderly hetman despite her father’s opposition. Her father attempts to betray Mazepa to Peter; Mazepa has the father executed; Maria goes mad. The personal tragedy is inseparable from the political catastrophe: Mazepa’s treachery destroys not only himself but everyone connected to him.
The poem’s set piece is the battle itself — described with extraordinary kinetic energy, Peter appearing “terrible in his beauty” at the head of his troops, the Swedes breaking against the Russian lines. Pushkin’s Peter is simultaneously heroic and terrifying: a force of history that creates and destroys with equal indifference. The poem anticipates The Bronze Horseman’s central problem: how to reconcile admiration for Peter’s achievement with horror at its cost.
Collecting Poltava
First edition (St. Petersburg, 1829): Russian-language.
Market values:
- Original Russian editions: Extremely rare
- Fine translated editions: $10–$30