How did Lord Byron influence Aleksandr Pushkin’s early narrative poems?

Aleksandr Pushkin’s early narrative poems were significantly influenced by the Romanticism and style of Lord Byron. During his exile in the south, Pushkin produced a "southern cycle" of narrative poems—including The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1820–21) and The Gypsies (1824)—that are frequently characterized as Byronic.12

These works reflected the influence of Byron’s long poems, which were popular during the era. While Pushkin initially adopted this Byronic mode, he eventually sought to move beyond it. For instance, in his masterpiece Eugene Onegin, Pushkin utilized a formal structure that resembles Byron’s Don Juan but ultimately rejected Byron’s subjective, romanticized treatment. Instead, Pushkin favored objective description and grounded his characters in the realities of Russian life rather than exotic settings.12

Pushkin’s ability to engage with and eventually transcend the influence of writers like Byron, while maintaining a "universal sensibility," was a hallmark of his artistic development.34