Michail Lermontov - "I go alone on a road"

History of Russia: Michail Lermontov
Who is the greatest Russian poet? Those of you who care probably answered "Alexander Pushkin". But who is the second?

Michail Lermontov lived shortly after Alexander Pushkin. In fact, his poem on the death of the poet #1 was a reason for serous problems in his own life -- he was exiled to the front line of Caucasian War. There are many things which are not completely understood about his biography, but there is one that nobody pays attention to, which hunts me for more than twenty years... That's his poem, "I go alone on a road..." written in 1841.

What's so puzzling about it? Let's see.

Lets start from the first fragment:

Выхожу один я на дорогу;
Сквозь туман кремнистый путь блестит,
Ночь тиха. Пустыня внемлет Богу,
И звезда с звездою говорит.

The first statement is hardly mysterious. "I go alone on a road..." Poetic - yes, but mysterious - hardly. So, he goes on a road, fine. What's next? "Silicon way glitters through a mist, the night is quiet..." Still not mysterious. Somewhat odd, yes, who would call a road "silicon" to indicate how it glitters? Referral to a water or a kind of dew would make sense, but silicon? Not so much. Of course, silicon is the third most spread element on Earth, but who would know about that in 19th century? Anyway, let's get ahead. "The night is quiet, the desert is listening to God." Hm-m-m... Something in a desert is listening to God? What does he mean? And, where did he found a desert in 19th century Russia? Forests, swamps, steppes, tundra, but a desert? Well, let's get to the last line: "And a star talks to a star." Think for a moment. Talks? In a quiet night? Star to a star?

So, let me summarize what we have in the first four lines of the poem:

Silicon way;
Listening post in a desert;
Interstellar communications.

Ok, could be a coincidence. Let's see if there is more:

В небесах, торжественно и чудно
Спит Земля в сияньи голубом...
Что же мне так больно и так грустно?
Жду ль чего? Жалею ли о чем?

"In the sky, solemnly and wonderfully, the Earth sleeps in a blue glow." Hey, wait a minute, so where is he, if the Earth for him is in the sky? Even more, how a 19th century poet found out that the Earth from space looks "blue"? Have you noticed, "in blue glow"?

Actually, there is one place where Earth is in the sky, still visible as Earth, not a mere star, and that place is quite a desert... That's Moon! Not that 19th century people visited it too often...

The rest of the poem is not that interesting, although there are some more hints there. Here it is:

Уж не жду от жизни ничего я,
И не жаль мне прошлого ничуть;
Я б хотел свободы и покоя,
Я б хотел забыться и заснуть.

Но не тем, холодным сном могилы,
Я б мечтал навеки так заснть,
Чтоб во мне дремали жизни силы,
Чтоб дыша, вздымалась тихо грудь.

Чтоб всю ночь, весь день, мой слух лелея,
О любви мне сладкий голос пел,
Надо мной, чтоб вечно зеленея,
Темный дуб склонялся и шумел.

"I don't expect anything from my life anymore, and I am not sorry about the past." What he is talking about? What past? What happened in the past that "he is not sorry about"?

"I'd want freedom and calm, I'd want to go asleep. But I don't want to sleep in a grave. I want to go asleep forever with the life sleeping in me, with my breathing going..." Sci-fi authors call such a sleep stasis or anabioz. The only confusing part is about "forever". Stasis is not forever. However, in Russian the word is "навеки", which is very close to "forever", but not an exact match. Literally, "навеки" means "for centuries". He does not want to sleep forever, he just wants to sleep for a very long time, probably, waiting... for what?

Now, let's retell the story in different words and see what have we collected so far:

A being, who is aware of interstellar communications, uses "Silicon Way" to get to Moon to a listening post. It's stuck on 19th century Earth and wants to sleep for a very long time, probably waiting for the means to get home, or maybe for a time when he will be permitted to return home, or for the time when the rescue mission could get to Earth.

Of course, it would be quite daring to state that this is the correct interpretation. Still, all this is said in the poem literally. The only thing why we don't see it instantly is our expectation of a poetic license. Even more, it contains information that was not known in 19th century: Silicon in relation to stellar communications, Earth's blue glow when looking from space... Could it be a coincidence?