The Railway

The Railway is a poem by Nikolai Nekrasov written in early 1864. Banned by censors in May and first published on November 24, 1865, in the October issue of Sovremennik, it is regarded as one of the most powerful anti-capitalist statements of 19th-century Russian literature. Background The poem is based upon the real history of the construction of the Nikolayevskaya (now Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway) between 1843 and 1851. The builders, most of whom were peasant serfs, were paid the average 3 rubles per month, cheated even out of this by their supervisors and punished by lashes for misconduct. The loss of life among the workers was heavy, the exact number of victims remained unknown, although Nekrasov in his poem mentions five thousand. Responsible for the project was Count Pyotr Kleinmichel, then the Russia' Transport minister and a ruthless administrator. Hence the short introduction in the form of an epigraph: "Vanya (in cabman's jacket): "Father, who's built this railway?" Father (in a coat with red lining): "Count Pyotr Andreyevich Kleinmikhel, my dear!" History Nekrasov wrote the poem in the early 1864. In May of that year he tried to pass it through censorship but failed. Encouraged by the new law, abolishing the preliminary censorship procedures but toughening penalties for the actual publications, he published The Railway in Sovremenniks No.10, 1865, issue. On this very day, November 24, censor Yelenev sent his seniors the report condemning the "reprehensible nature" of the poem. After the Ministry of Press and Publishing Council's special meeting in the end of November, the Minister of Interior Pyotr Valuyev on December 4 gave Sovremennik his second notification bringing the magazine to the brink of closure. In May 1866 the magazine was after all shut, The Railway cited as one of its most politically dangerous publications. Plot summary Part I The narrator contemplates the beautiful moonlit autumnal landscapes from his wagon window. The boy travelling in the same compartment with his father asks the latter who the builders of this railway were, and the latter says, Count Kleinmikhel was.