External influence

British romantic poetry

Scottish poet Robert Burns became a 'people's poet' in Russia. In Imperialtimes the Russian aristocracy were so out of touch with the peasantry that Burns, translated into Russian, became a symbol for the ordinary Russian people. A new translation of Burns, begun in 1924 by Samuil Marshak, proved enormously popular selling over 600,000 copies.[23][24]

Lord Byron was a major influence on almost all Russian poets of the Golden Era, including Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Baratynsky, Delvig and, especially, Lermontov.[25]

French literature

Writers such as Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac were widely influential.[citation needed] Also, Jules Verneinspired several generations of Russian science fiction writers.