Sashka is a poem by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1835–1836 and first published by Pavel Viskovatov in No. 1, 1882, issue of Russkaya Mysl magazine. Belonging to the so-called "Ironic cycle" (alongside "The Fairytale for Children" and "Tambov Treasurer's Wife"), it is one of Lermontov's largest poems, containing 149 stanzas (11 lines each, written partly in dactylic pentameter, partly in modified Ottava rima format). The poem, with its sharp criticism of the contemporary Russian society, marked a radical detour from Lermontov's earlier romantic verses. Critics see it as a pivotal point in Lermontov's development as a realist and as a huge step from earlier, mostly derivative works towards his masterpiece A Hero of Our Time. Synopsis Sashka, whom the author refers to as his "best friend", makes his way to a house at Presnya, a brothel-type place, where he makes love to his beau, a Jewish girl Tizra. Fascinated by the story of a high society party he's just been to, the latter suggests that her lover takes her to one, introducing her as a rich noble girl. He agrees. As Sashka falls asleep, the narrator relates his life story, some details of which correspond with those of Lermontov (the French governor's characteristics were later reproduced in some biographies). Upon awakening, the young man goes home, receives financial aid from his aunt and gives money with some instructions (the nature of which remains unknown) to his black servant who also appears to be his friend. History For the first time, fragments of the poem (verses: 1–3, 5, 12–14, 27–28, 32, 45) were published by Pyotr Yefremov in Bibliograficheskye Zapiski (Bibliographical Notes, No. 18, 1861). These belonged to the so-called "Chicherin notebook" - a collection of verses and sketches written by Lermontov before his first exile and belonging to B.N. Chicherin. Judging by the first verses of this original rough copy, the author's initial intention was to write about his own adventures ("Sure, my predecessors' paths are slippery / And yet I'm eager to publish my own tale"). Having changed his mind, Lermontov re-worked Verses 1–4 and made his "best friend" the poem's central figure. Both versions relate to one particular plotline, concerning the "house in Presnya" where Tirza and several other women abide. Another one, dealing with Sashka's childhood, youth, his first love, has been worked upon in another notebook of Lermontov, the so-called "Geography lectures", dated 1835. In the