The only poetry collection published in Lermontov’s lifetime was Poems of M. Lermontov (St. Petersburg, 1840; 1000 copies); it included 26 short poems and two long poems—“The Novice” and “The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov”—out of 30 long poems and 400 short ones written by this time; the compilation was released on 25 October (it passed the censor on 13 August). The selection was made by Lermontov himself. The collection included only his later verse, with a single exception. The book opens with the “The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov” and “Borodino”.