Fedor Glinka left behind a small but remarkable body of work that encompasses poetry, historical prose, memoirs of the Napoleonic Wars, ballads, and plays. Though he took an active part in the literary and political life of the Golden Age of Russian literature, he remained one of its marginal figures. His poetry is original and imaginative, and he was a meticulous craftsman. Glinka's Romanticism, though, found its greatest expression in metaphysical realms rather than in formal perfection. His most important contribution to Russian literature is his religious poetry, which he wrote in his later years. Although he was a devout adherent of Russian Orthodoxy, his poetry is mystical and philosophically profound. Glinka has been neglected by posterity, a fate he does not deserve, especially since he may be one of the greatest religious poets Russia ever produced.

Although accounts differ on the date of Fedor Nikolaevich Glinka's birth...