The Novice

The Novice ("Mtsyri", Мцыри in Russian, distortion of Georgian მწირი /mts'iri/) is a poem by Mikhail Lermontov written in 1839 and first published in 1840, hailed as "one of the last examples of the classic Russian romantic poetry," according to the Lermontov Encyclopedia. Background Some Russian scholars (like S. Durylin) consider three poems – "The Confession", Boyarin Orsha and Mtsyry as three different executions of one original idea. In 1831 15-year-old Lermontov wrote in his diary: "To write the tale of a young 17-year old monk who's lived in a monastery from childhood. Read nothing but the sacred books. The passionate soul, he feels imprisoned..." The poem's central episode, Mtsyri's fight with a wild cat was apparently based on the traditional Georgian folklore; there are 14 versions of the old Georgian song "Young Man and a Tiger", one of which (the Khevsur song) has been used by Shota Rustaveli in his epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin. Citing the poet's relatives Akim Shan-Girey and Akim Khastatov, biographer Pavel Viskovatov suggested the following version of the poem's background:While travelling along the old Georgian Military Road and collecting the local tales and legends (which later have been incorporated into the new version of the Demon poem), Lermontov in Mtskheta came across an old Beri, a Georgian monk, a guardian and the last surviving member of the local monastery that had been closed earlier. Lermontov had a conversation with him and learned that he was a highlander imprisoned by General Yermolov during the latter's Caucasian campaign. The boy fell ill and the general left him for local monks to take care for. Here he grew up but couldn't get used to his new home and made several attempts to escape. One such attempt proved to be all but fatal: he fell severely ill, nearly died and after that apparently submitted to his fate and even became friends with an elderly Georgian monk. This emotional tale impressed Lermontov.