PBC0154: bitterness about tsar

PBC 154 expresses bitterness toward the Imperial government and its supporters, aimed in particular at Tsar Nicholas II. Some works address the Sovereign directly, while others implicate him indirectly. An early work recalls the past, “Bonaparte wafted through my country,” suggesting empty arrogance and bombast (W459). On the occasion of Easter, Orthodoxy’s highest of holy days, the poet requests that the tsar stay away from the celebrations: “But now it’s Easter across the whole country, Sleep peacefully in your Village, Don’t see red banners in your sleep” (W456). Another poem bitterly asks a loved one serving in the White Army, “Do you want to do how the days pass,/ my days in the country of insults?” (W490).