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Abstract:

This article is a commentary on one passage from the fourth chapter of “Eugene Onegin” by Alexander Pushkin, where Onegin “preaches” his moral principles to Tatyana. These moralizing maxims not only have something in common with Tatyana’s letter to Onegin but also include ready-made rhetorical structures — first and foremost, ancient sayings. Already the first line contains the “momentous” maxim that “there is no return to dreams and years”, which derives simultaneously from two sources: Virgil and Horace. The expression “without anger and passion” entered the Onegin’s “sermon” from Tacitus’ “Annals”, while the lines “I love you with the love of a brother” echo the words of the prince from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is argued that Onegin’s “cold sermon” is based on the same type of stylistic devices as those used by Pushkin in his early romantic works.