to reach his soon bride-to-be. It combines fast-paced narration, with hopeless situations, gloomy natural descriptions, and a realistic, psychological portrait of the main heroine – and all that turns the love-conquers-all story into an enigmatic and thrilling read. Deservedly labelled "the best Russian poet", Pushkin’s short life (1799-1837) did not prevent him from ushering Russian literature into its modern era. A master of the vernacular language and multifarious and vivid writing style, Pushkin’s oeuvre was of great influence to a whole legion of Russian writers and literary styles. Among his best-known works are the narrative poems "Ruslan and Ludmila" and "Eugene Onegin", the drama "Boris Godunov", several novels, short stories, and fairy tales.