Poltava

About “Poltava”

Poltava is a narrative poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin in 1828–29. It tells the story of the Ukrainian Cossack hetman Ivan Mazepa and his involvement in the 1709 Battle of Poltava between Sweden and Russia. The poem includes a love story between Mazepa and a woman named Maria, as well as the account of Mazepa's betrayal of Tsar Peter I. Pushkin's work also details Peter's victory in the battle. While often seen as one of Pushkin's lesser works and criticized for its imperialistic tone, some critics have praised it for its character development and blending of different literary styles. The poem later inspired Tchaikovsky's 1884 opera Mazeppa. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)