“I am waiting for you, my belated friend – come.” This is the invitation etched in stone near the \u041f\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0438\u043d \u0443\u0448\u0451\u043b Bench. It is a call to reflect on friendship poetry and the legacy of a literary giant.
This isn’t just a bench. It’s a sculptural composition named \”Pushkin is gone.\” You see before you a forged bench located between houses number 1 and 3 Savushkina street. The \u041f\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0438\u043d \u0443\u0448\u0451\u043b Bench opened on June 6 2016. This date marked the poet’s birthday.
Notice Pushkin’s cloak. His top hat rests there too. An open book lies beside a pen. It’s as if the poet just stepped away for a moment. He perhaps sought shade under the trees.
Behind the \u041f\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0438\u043d \u0443\u0448\u0451\u043b Bench stands a granite boulder. A polished side reveals an excerpt from Pushkin’s poem “October 19 1825”. The inscription reads: “I am waiting for you my belated friend – come; revive the heartfelt traditions with the fire of a magic story; Let`s talk about the stormy days of the Caucasus about Schiller about glory about love.”
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born in Moscow on June 6 1799. He died in St. Petersburg on February 10 1837. Although Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are famous worldwide Russian speakers consider Pushkin Russia’s greatest writer. He single-handedly created one of the world’s greatest literary traditions.
Pushkin was Russia’s Byron and Shakespeare. His romantic life included ill-fated love affairs and clashes with authority. He was in many duels. One of them with French cavalry officer George d’Anthès proved fatal. Pushkin’s life inspired lyric verse. Generations of Russian school children still study it.
Pushkin’s contribution to the Russian language is unparalleled. He provided educated Russians with quotations for almost any situation. He established Russian as a modern literary language. Pushkin developed literary forms. He added new words to the language.
Pushkin’s most famous ancestor was Abram Petrovich Gannibal. Gannibal was an African slave. Peter the Great ennobled him. Pushkin presented a fictionalized version of Gannibal’s life in the novel Peter the Great’s Negro.
In 1811 Pushkin joined the Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo. Emperor Alexander I founded it. It was a training ground for future statesmen. Pushkin received a liberal education. He developed his poetic skills. At fifteen he published his first verses. By 1817 his poetry had won attention in St. Petersburg’s literary circles.
The \u041f\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0438\u043d \u0443\u0448\u0451\u043b Bench invites us to remember Pushkin’s words. It reminds us of his impact on Russian culture. Consider his legacy as you sit here. Think about the stories he told and the language he shaped. This bench is a tribute to a poet who is forever gone but never forgotten.