Oleg Zaslavskii

The paper presents evidence that the poem is, in fact, not a fragment, but a complete work of art (although wanting some polishing) while the apparent "break" is based on the theme of the end of life. The poem is an example of a "pseudo-broken" text characteristic of Pushkin's poetics. There occurred an essential rearrangement of original elements when compared with works that were its sources (a poem by Robert Southey and a Spanish legend). As a result, the "sinner" and the "sasint" merged to become one person whose prehistory is brought to light by means of the analysis of the inner structure of the text.