Vasily Tyorkin

Alexander Tvardovsky is a man of the era, a brilliant prose writer, a front-line poet, whose works have long entered the fund of world classics. He wrote about the war without embellishments or exaggerations, preserving and supporting that elusive warmth of soldierly friendship that arises in moments of the most severe trials. His poem “Vasily Tyorkin: A Book About a Fighter,” based on Russian folk traditions, became one of the main symbols of victory and heroism of our people in the Great Patriotic War. In it, the unforced sincerity and courage of the hero intertwine with the realities of hard times, giving birth to an honest tale of the deeds of Soviet soldiers. It is this poem that we remember first when talking about military lyrics of the 20th century, and it can rightly be called the pearl of this genre.