Pushkin was born in 1799. He wrote at a time when Russian secular literature emerged from a period of apprenticeship to one of mastery, a time which saw the composition of most of 'Russia's finest poetry, and finally one in which English literary influence predominated. He had himself an enormous field of creative activity which he was constantly enlarging, for his mind was always alive and receptive to new ideas. He found inspiration in English literature for his poetry, his drama and his prose.