In his poem “On the Field of the Kulikovo,” Alexander Blok narrates a fictional scene of the Battle of Kulikovo— or more historically known as the war that birthed the Russian nation. In the last stanza of part II, Blok’s narrator anticipates battle, and in doing so, reflects on his status as “not the first, nor the last, [Russian] warrior,” implying that not only is he but one of the many present soldiers, but he is also just a single soldier out of the many past soldiers and future soldiers; all of whom have “suffered” for and will continue to “suffer” for their “country” (Blok, II. 13,14). Still, the narrator tells Russia to remember the “one” who had loved her, suggesting that “[his] darling Russia” should remember each, singular “one” that had defended and will defend his or her country (16). There is an emphasis on this pronoun “one”— even though there are innumerable Russian warriors, each individual “one” should be remembered and thus valued.

This notion of uniqueness despite similarity to one’s environment, reminds me specifically of Olénin’s accounts while hunting in Chapter XIX of The Cossacks. In this chapter, while Olénin shoots pheasants, “myriads of mosquitoes cover his face” (Tolstoy 366). Even though Olénin describes the very atmosphere that he inhabits as “[insect]-filled,” he remarks that each individual mosquito “is separate from all else” (Tolstoy 366). Similar to the narrator of Alexander Blok’s “On the Field of the Kulikovo,” the battle environment is described as a long road infested with “troops” (Blok, II. 8). Though there were many soldiers before and many soldiers to come, Blok’s narrator similarly states that Russia should remember him with the same outlook as Olénin: “separate from all else—“ unique in the narrator’s personal dedication to and love for “[his] darling Russia” (Tolstoy 366; Blok, II. 16). Comparing these two readings alongside one another makes it seems that while there is a great emphasis on the size and span of Russia, there is a necessary attentiveness to each of the singular parts that make up the Russian environment—whether that be humans, or even animals/nature.

Please let me know if you can think of any other pieces that we have read where similar themes are at play (i.e. the mosquitoes versus their mosquito-infested environment, and the narrator versus the many past and future Russian soldiers). What does this method of juxtaposition (singular aspect versus collective aspects) do for descriptions of the Russian environment? I would love to hear your thoughts!