HISTORY OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA IN STEPAN P. SHEVYREV’S OFFICIOUS POEMS

This is an overview of officious poems written by S. P. Shevyrev in 1842–1856. The article also presents a list of Shevyrev’s lifetime publications and autographs preserved in the National Library of Russia and the Russian State Historical Archive in St. Petersburg. Shevyrev’s officious poems distinguished themselves by their rich informative content, which conveyed important and interesting details of events in the life of the Russian Empire. They reflect documents of that time — imperial manifestos and decrees, as well as wartime orders. The topics of Shevyrev’s officious poems were mostly related to Moscow and, for that matter, produced a kind of historiosophical «Moscow-centric» view. The article pays special attention to poems that were addressed to persons of the highest status in the empire but were not approved for publication. Shevyrev’s poems about the life of the state of the empire distinguished themselves by a high scholarly and cultural level. They constitute an integral branch of the ode genre, which was composed in the setting of Nicholas I reign.