1 Poems by Ivan Krylov

Ivan Andreevich Krylov stands as one of Russia's most beloved fabulists, remembered for his humorous yet pointed fables that captured the essence of the human character and satirized societal flaws. While often compared to Aesop and La Fontaine for his skill in crafting allegorical fables, Krylov’s style is uniquely Russian and tailored to his particular social and political context. Over the course of his life, Krylov produced around 200 fables that resonated deeply with Russian audiences of the 19th century and continue to be celebrated today. His life and work offer a fascinating blend of personal resilience, social criticism, and a profound understanding of human nature that reflects both the Russia of his time and timeless human themes.

Born on February 13, 1769, in Moscow, Krylov came from a family with a military background. His father, Andrei Krylov, was an army captain, and the family moved often due to his father’s postings. However, Krylov's childhood was marked by hardship; his father died when Krylov was only ten years old, leaving the family in financial straits. This situation forced Krylov’s mother to rely on meager resources, and Krylov himself took on various low-paying jobs at a young age to support the family. Despite his difficult circumstances, he demonstrated an early aptitude for literature and showed an inquisitive mind. Self-education became a path for Krylov, as he read voraciously, learning not only from Russian classics but also from foreign literature, including the fables of La Fontaine, whose work would later influence his own writing style.

Krylov’s early forays into writing began in his teens when he penned his first play, *Coffeehouse*, which exhibited his early interest in satire and social commentary. His literary debut came in the 1780s and 1790s, a period of political upheaval in Russia and across Europe. This was a time of Catherine the Great’s reforms, Napoleon’s rise, and shifting social dynamics, all of which would later influence the themes of Krylov’s fables. Early in his career, Krylov experimented with various forms of writing, from dramas to journalism, and he became involved in the nascent Russian literary circles. His first journalistic endeavor came with his satirical magazine *The Spirits Post*, which was highly critical of social norms and the pretensions of the Russian aristocracy. However, his sharp satire and thinly veiled social critiques in the magazine soon attracted the attention of authorities, leading to its eventual suppression. 

Krylov’s pursuit of satire continued despite these setbacks, and in the early 1800s, he began publishing more plays and satirical works that questioned the moral fiber of Russian society and highlighted the gap between the elite and the common people. His observations of Russia’s ruling classes – their inefficiencies, pretensions, and frequent corruption – became the foundation of much of his work. After abandoning drama, which had limited success, Krylov turned to fable-writing, a form that offered both popular appeal and a degree of safety from censorship, as allegory allowed him to critique societal issues indirectly.

Krylov’s shift to fable-writing marked a turning point in his career and was met with immediate success. His first collection of fables was published in 1809, and his witty, insightful style quickly endeared him to readers. Krylov’s fables were not just simple moral lessons; they were keen social commentaries embedded in allegory. Drawing from the classical tradition but infusing it with a distinctly Russian perspective, he used animals and inanimate objects to convey complex messages about human society. His characters—often wolves, sheep, foxes, and bears—symbolized the human archetypes he saw around him. Krylov’s moral lessons often had a biting humor, and his fables became tools through which he critiqued the weaknesses of Russian society, such as servility, hypocrisy, greed, and incompetence among the aristocracy and bureaucrats.

One of Krylov’s best-known fables, “The Crow and the Fox,” is a retelling of Aesop’s classic, yet his version carries a distinctively Krylovian twist. In the fable, a fox flatters a crow to obtain a piece of cheese it holds, highlighting the pitfalls of vanity. Yet beyond this straightforward moral, Krylov’s version also reflects the manipulative relationships he observed among the Russian nobility, where false flattery and deceit often carried more weight than genuine virtue. In “The Wolf and the Lamb,” Krylov addresses the abuse of power, depicting a wolf who accuses a lamb of wrongdoing simply to justify his own aggressive actions. This fable speaks to the cruelty Krylov saw in those who wielded power in an unjust and arbitrary fashion. Such fables made his work widely relatable to Russian readers, who saw reflections of their daily lives and societal structures in Krylov’s sharp portrayals.

Krylov’s popularity grew rapidly, and his fables became part of Russia’s cultural fabric. They were read not only by the common people but also enjoyed by members of the aristocracy, many of whom were likely unaware of—or perhaps unbothered by—their satirical undercurrents. His works gained the favor of Tsar Alexander I, and Krylov was even appointed to a position in the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg. In this role, Krylov enjoyed a stable income, which allowed him to focus on his writing without the financial difficulties that had plagued his early life. He continued to produce fables steadily, each new collection eagerly anticipated by the public and reviewed widely.

Over time, Krylov’s fables took on a life of their own, being translated into numerous languages and becoming beloved by readers across Europe. His work was lauded for its universality, yet it remained uniquely Russian in character. His fables encapsulated a world both whimsical and sharply realistic, where the foibles of humanity were laid bare through clever humor and succinct moral lessons. Unlike La Fontaine’s fables, which often carry a tone of delicate irony, Krylov’s stories have a robust, earthy quality that resonates with Russian folklore traditions. They contain a sly, often dark humor that underscored the harsher realities of Krylov’s society.

Krylov’s personal life was somewhat enigmatic. Known for his eccentricities and unpretentious lifestyle, he was a man of large physique with a penchant for gluttony and a reputation for laziness. Stories circulated about his unusual habits, such as his tendency to sleep late and his lack of concern for the conventions of polite society. Despite his fame, Krylov shunned the sophisticated circles of the Russian aristocracy and was noted for his bluntness, preferring the company of common folk with whom he felt more comfortable. His life, in many ways, mirrored the morals of his fables; he was a man who remained true to himself, often ignoring the pretensions and superficialities that characterized so much of society at the time.

Though Krylov’s output slowed in his later years, his influence continued to grow. He had cemented his place as one of Russia’s greatest literary figures, and his fables became a staple of Russian literature, widely read in schools and cherished across generations. His works were instrumental in shaping the development of Russian literature, particularly in the realm of satire and social criticism. Krylov’s emphasis on using humor as a vehicle for truth resonated with later Russian writers, such as Gogol and Chekhov, who also used satire to reveal uncomfortable truths about society. In this way, Krylov's legacy lives on in the broader tradition of Russian literature.

Ivan Krylov passed away on November 21, 1844, but his legacy remains vibrant. His fables continue to be read and enjoyed by children and adults alike, admired not only for their entertainment value but also for their insight into human nature. Today, Krylov is often remembered alongside Pushkin and Tolstoy as a central figure in Russian literature. His works have been translated widely, with his fables appearing in countless editions across the world, making him one of the most widely read Russian writers of all time.

Krylov’s fables, with their mixture of humor, wit, and moral insight, reflect both the era in which he lived and universal truths about human nature. Through his masterful use of allegory, he created stories that not only entertained but also invited readers to reflect on their own lives and the society around them. In his hands, the fable—a genre often dismissed as simple or didactic—became a powerful tool for satire and social commentary, illuminating the quirks and contradictions of Russian society in a way that few writers of his time could match. The timeless appeal of his fables is a testament to Krylov’s genius as a writer, and his legacy endures as one of the greatest fabulists in literary history.