BORIS GODUNOV. Under the influence of historical studies, chiefly Karamzin's (Russian History' and Shakespeare's chronicle dramas, Pushkin tried to give an objective ac count of the troubled period in Russian history, from February 1598, to June 1605, and for his subject matter he accepted Karamzin's version, which was based on a doubtful popular convic tion that Boris Godunov had been guilty of the death of the False Demetrius. As a drama 'Boris was a failure from the start, and has not been able to maintain itself on the stage, but as a literary production it is the greatest truly national historic tragedy dealing with those troubled times, and neither Schiller, nor Ostrovski, nor Alexis Tolstoy, who have treated the same subject, can compare with Pushkin's production as regards historic verac ity or vividness of individual scenes or splendid delineation of characters. The language of the poem-drama is a close imitation of that of the old chronicles. Certain passages in it have
justly become classical, such as the introductory scene, in which the monkish scribe Pimen in humility and simple faith expresses his pro found respect for the imperial power and his love for his country. Of similar interest are the domestic scenes, in which Tsar Boris ap pears at his best, and the popular scenes, such as that describing the saintly fool, in which Pushkin followed closely the historical annals. There are numerous German and French trans lations of 'Boris Godunov.' A study of the play, with synopses and specimen translations, will be found in N. H. Dole's (Shakespeare and the Russian Drama) (in Poet Lore, Vol. I, 'pp. 497-507, Vol. II, pp. 113-25, and his (Push kin's Boris Godunisf : the Closing Episodes? (in Vol. III, pp. 551-64). '